God is not becoming; God Is. God is not growing; God is Complete. God is not trying to find out something; God already knows. Evolution is not the expression of a becoming God, but is simply one of the ways that a God Who already Is, expresses Himself; and as such, it is the logical result of involution and is eternally going on.
DEMONSTRATION BY PROOF
If one is in a position which is distasteful, subject to circumstances over which he apparently has no control at the time, how should he act? He should not leave the place where he is until his thought has drawn him to a better one. In making a demonstration, we should not shove anything before us, carry anything with us nor drag anything after us. We should stay where we are until our word takes us somewhere else; for this is the only proof that we have demonstrated.
HANDLING A SCHOOLROOM
A teacher, in dealing with the thought of pupils, should treat their thought as a unit. The individuality of the room, of which each pupil is a part, is a perfect idea. There is One Mind operating in, around and through all these pupils, controlling them, directing them and inspiring them; there are peace, calm, satisfaction and enlightenment here. Realize the Active Presence of the One Mind, working in, around and through all, and you will find that this will harmonize the most discordant state, provided the teacher, the one who is thinking, really knows the Truth.
THE LAW OF CORRESPONDENCE
The limit of our ability to demonstrate depends on our ability to provide a mental equivalent of our desire; for the law of correspondences works from the belief to the thing. But we can provide a greater mental equivalent through the unfolding of consciousness; and this growth from within will finally lead to freedom.
What we demonstrate to-day, to-morrow and the next day is not as important as THE TENDENCY WHICH OUR THOUGHT IS TAKING. If, every day, things are a little better, a little happier, a little more harmonious, a little more health-giving and joyous; if, each day, we are expressing more life, we are going in the right direction.
And so we meditate daily upon the Universe of the All Good, that Infinite Indwelling Spirit which we call God, the Father, Incarnate in man; trying to sense and to feel this Indwelling Good as the Active Principle of our lives. This is what the mystics call "The Man of the Heart," or "The Angel of God's Presence." This is why they taught that there are always Two; for there is what we seem to be and what we really are; and as we contact this Higher Principle of our own lives—Which is Perfect and Complete, needing nothing, wanting nothing, knowing everything, being happy and satisfied,—and as we daily meditate upon this Indwelling God, we shall acquire a greater mental equivalent.
For those who have thought small thoughts all of their lives a very good practice is to dwell upon the bigness of the universe. Think how many stars there are; think of how many fish there are in the seas, and how many grains of sand on the beach. Think of how big the ocean is; of the immensity of space, the bigness of everything, the grandeur of everything, Mechanically, if necessary, compel the mentality to cognize Reality. Compel the consciousness to recognize the Truth through pure reason, if no other conviction comes.
Think, see and feel activity. Radiate Life. Feel that there is that within which is the center and circumference of the universe. The universe is the result of the Self-Contemplation of the Lord. Our lives are the results of our self-contemplations, and are peopled with the personifications of our thoughts and ideas. Accept this without question, for it is true.
Nothing is real to us unless we make it real. Nothing can touch us unless we let it touch us. Refuse to have the feelings hurt. Refuse to receive any one's condemnation. In the independence of your own mentality, believe and feel that you are wonderful. This is not conceit; it is the truth. What can be more wonderful than the manifestation of the Infinite Mind?
"Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." "Prove Me, now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." "Be firm and ye shall be made firm." "Act as though I am and I will be." "Onlook thou the Deity and the Deity will onlook thee." "As thou hast believed so be it done." Ask and it shall be given unto you." "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth—it shall prosper."
Note: Read and study "That Something"; "The Edinburgh Lectures," T. Troward; "The Law and the Word," T. Troward; "Creative Mind and Success," E. S. Holmes; "How to Visualize," Behrend; "Financial Success Through Creative Thought," Wattles.
Lesson Four: Recapitulation
Limitation and poverty are not things but are the results of restricted ways of thinking. We are surrounded by a Subjective Intelligence which receives the impress of our thought and acts upon it. This Intelligence is a natural Law in the Mental World, and consequently It is neither good nor bad. It can only be said of It, that It Is, and that we may consciously use It.
The Law is a Law of Reflection; for life is a mirror, reflecting to us, as conditions, the images of our thinking. Whatever one thinks tends to take form and to become a part of his experience.
The Medium of all thought is the Universal Mind, acting as Law. Law is always impersonal, neutral, receptive and reactive.
A sense of separation from good causes us to feel restricted; and a sense of our Unity with Good changes the currents of Causation and brings a happier condition into the experience.
Everything in the so-called material universe is an effect and exists only by virtue of some mental image behind it.
Man's individuality enables him to make such use of the Law as he desires; he is bound, not by limitation, but by a limited thought. The same power which binds him will free him when he understands the Law to be one of Liberty and not one of bondage. The power within man can free him from all distasteful conditions, if the Law governing this power is properly understood and utilized.
The Law of Mind, which is the Medium of all action, is a Law of perfect balance; the Objective World perfectly balances the images within the Subjective World. Water will reach its own level by its own weight; and, according to the same law, consciousness will externalize at its own level by its own weight. Cause and effect are but two sides of the same thing, one being the image in Mind and the other the objective condition.
The manifest universe is the result of the Self-Contemplation of the Lord. Man's world of affairs is the result of his self-contemplation. He is, at first, ignorant of this, and so binds himself through wrong ideation and action; reversing this thought will reverse the condition.
There is neither effort nor strain in knowing the Truth. Right action will be compelled through right knowing; therefore, when we know the Truth, It will compel us to act in the correct manner.
Attraction and repulsion are mental qualities, and may be consciously utilized for definite purposes. Man, automatically and according to Law, attracts from without the correspondences of his inner mental attitudes. Inner mental attitudes may be induced through right thinking and correct knowing. The subjective state of thought is the power always at work; it is the result of the sum total of all beliefs, consciously or unconsciously held. The subjective state of thought may be consciously changed through right mental action. The conscious thought controls the subconscious, and in its turn, the subconscious controls conditions.
Visualizing, or mentally seeing right action, tends to produce the picture in external affairs.
Since the Law is mental, one must believe in It, in order to have It work affirmatively for him; but It is always working according to our belief, whether we are conscious of this fact or not.
Demonstration takes place through the field of the One Universal Mind; we set the Power in motion; the Law produces the effect. We plant the seed and the Law produces the plant.
One should never allow himself to think of, or talk about, limitation or poverty. Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it.
God's plan for man is a
perfect one, and when we harmonize with it we will become free from all bondage. The more spiritual the thought, the higher the manifestation. Spiritual thought means an absolute belief in, and reliance upon, Truth; this is both natural and normal.
All is Love yet all is Law; Love is the impelling force and Law executes the will of Love. Man is a center of God-Consciousness in the great Whole; he cannot deface his real being, but may hinder the Whole from coming into a complete expression through his life. Turning to the One with a complete abandonment and in absolute trust, he will find that he already is saved, helped and prospered.
There is One Infinite Mind from which all things come; this Mind is through, in and around man; It is the Only Mind that there is, and every time man thinks he uses It. There is One Infinite Spirit, and every time man says, "I am," he proclaims It. There is One Infinite Substance; and every time man moves, he moves in It. There is One Infinite Law, and every time man thinks he sets It in motion. There is One Infinite God, and every time man speaks to This God, he receives a direct answer. One! One! One! "I Am God and there is none else." 73 There is One Limitless Life which returns to the thinker what he thinks into It. One! One! One! "In all, over all and through all."
Talk, live, act, believe and know that you are a center in the One. All the Power there is; all the Presence there is; all the Love there is; all the Peace there is; all the Good there is and the Only God that is, is Omnipresent; consequently, the Infinite is in and through man and is in and through everything. "Act as though I am and I will Be."
Lesson Five: Introduction
A mystic is not a mysterious person; but is one who has a deep, inner sense of Life and Unity with the Whole; mysticism and mystery are entirely different things; one is real while the other may, or may not, be an illusion. There is nothing mysterious in the Truth, so far as It is understood; but all things, of course, are mysteries until we understand them.
A mystic is one who intuitively perceives Truth and who, without mental process, arrives at Spiritual Realizations. It is from the teachings of the great mystics that the best in the philosophy of the world has come.
The civilization of to-day is built around the teachings of a few people who have intuitively perceived Spiritual Truth. Our great code of law was given by Moses, a man who through the mystic sense perceived that we live in a Universe of Law. Our greatest code of ethics was given through the perception of the prophets, culminating in such teachings as those of Jesus and Buddha. Who was there who could have taught such men as these? By what process of mentality did they arrive at their profound conclusions? We are compelled to recognize that Spirit Alone was their Teacher; they were, indeed, taught of God.
The mystic intuitively senses Reality and instinctively knows The Truth; and in this way all of the best in literature, music and art have come.
Our great religions have been given by a few who climbed the heights of spiritual vision and caught a fleeting glimpse of Ultimate Reality. No living soul could have taught them what they knew, and it is doubtful if even they themselves knew why they knew.
The great poets have been true mystics and have revealed, through their poems, the Presence of God. Men like Robert Browning, Tennyson, Wordsworth, Homer, Walt Whitman, Edward Rowland Sill, and others of like nature, have given us poetry which is immortal, because they had a mystic sense of life: the perception of a Living Presence. All true philosophers are mystics; the old prophets were mystics; David, Solomon, Jesus, Plato, Buddha, Plotinus, Emerson, and a score of others, all had the same experience: the sense of a Living Presence.
The greatest music ever composed was written by the hand of a mystic; and the highest and best in art has come from the same source.
Man has compelled nature to do his bidding; he has harnessed electric energy, caught the wind, trapped steam and made them all obey his will. He has invented machines to do the work of thousands; he has belted the globe with his traffic and built up a wonderful civilization; but in few cases has he conquered his own soul.
The highest and best that we have in civilization is the result of the mystic sense which has been perceived by a few in each age. All that modern appliances and inventions give us in the way of comfort and luxury, good and necessary as they are, may be counted as nothing compared to the teachings of Jesus. By this, we do not mean to decry modern civilization, education or anything that goes with it; for we are firm believers in anything and everything that makes life interesting and worth living. We believe in science, art, religion, education, commerce, government, industry, agriculture, and all that goes to make up a well-rounded experience in life; but we repeat, what would they amount to, if thought of in any other light than as passing things?
The mystic has revealed things that do not pass as ships in the night; he has revealed Eternal Verities and has plainly taught us that there is a Living Presence indwelling All.
TRUE MYSTICISM AND THE PSYCHIC SENSE
There is a vast difference between mysticism and psychism, between a mystic and an ordinary psychic. The psychic capacity will be thoroughly discussed in Lesson Six, and the reader will remember that it is the power to read subjectively; it may be dealing with a reality or with an illusion. The average psychic must become more or less subjective in order to do good work. At best, and even though in a normal state of mind, he can only read subjective pictures and tendencies; at best, he is generally dealing with human thought. Should he penetrate that thought, he would then become a mystic.
A mystic does not read human thought but senses the Thought of God. The question might be asked, "How do you know that he senses the Thought of God?" Because the mystics of every age have seen, sensed and taught THE SAME TRUTH. Psychic experiences more or less contradict each other, because each psychic sees a different kind of mental picture; but the mystic experiences of the ages have revealed ONE AND THE SAME TRUTH.
WHAT THE MYSTICS HAVE TAUGHT
Without exception, all of the mystics have taught that there is but One Ultimate Reality; and that this Ultimate Reality is HERE NOW, IF WE COULD BUT SEE IT.
Strange as it may seem, the great mystics have all believed in a Personal God; that is, a God who is Personal to all who believe in Him. They have not, of course, believed in an ANTHROPOMORPHIC GOD; but they have believed in a God who consciously works in and through man; and they have adored and worshiped this God.
The great mystics have been illumined, that is, they have, at times, seen through the veil of matter and perceived the Spiritual Universe. They have taught that the Kingdom of God is NOW PRESENT AND NEEDS BUT TO BE REALIZED; and they have, apparently, sensed that this Kingdom is within.
A psychic sees only through his own subjective mentality; consequently, everything that he looks at is more or less colored by the vibration of his own thought; he is subject to hallucinations and false impressions of every description. This is why, generally speaking, no two psychics ever see the same thing.
Mystics have all seen the same thing, and their testimony is in no way confusing; this is because the Spirit within them has borne witness to the Truth.
NO ULTIMATE EVIL
One of the most illuminating things that mysticism has revealed, is that evil is not an ultimate reality. Evil is simply and experience of the soul on its journey toward Reality; it is not an entity but an experience necessary to self-unfoldment; it is not a thing of itself but simply a misuse of power. It will disappear when we stop looking at, or believing in, it. We cannot stop believing in it as long as we indulge in it; so the mystic has always taught the race to turn from evil and do good.
ULTIMATE SALVATION OF ALL
The mystics have taught the ultimate salvation of all people and the immortality of every soul. Indeed, they have taught that immortality IS HERE AND NOW, IF WE WOULD BUT WAKE TO THE FACT. "Beloved, now are we the Sons of God." Since each soul is some part of the Whole, it is impossible that any soul can be lost. "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." Damnation has been as foreign to
the thought of the mystic as any belief in evil must be to the Mind of God.
FREEDOM FROM BURDEN
The great mystics have taught that man should have no burdens, and would have none, if he turned to "The One." "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." As Jesus must have known that it would be impossible for all men to come unto Him as a Personality, He must have meant that we should come into His understanding of Life and Reality; that is, to come unto the Great God. Some day we will learn to lay our burdens on the Altar of Love, that they may be consumed by the fire of faith in the Living Spirit. Man would have no burdens if he kept his "High watch" toward "The One"; that is, if he always turned to God.
UNITY OF ALL
Jesus prayed that all might come to see the Unity of Life. "That they may be One, even as we are One," was His prayer as He neared the completion of His great work on this planet. All mystics have sensed that we live in One Life. "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being." The Unity of Good is a revelation of the greatest importance; for it teaches us that we are One with the Whole, and One with each other. This realization alone will settle the question of human inequality. The real Fatherhood of God and the Actual Brotherhood of Man will be made apparent on earth to the degree that men realize True Unity.
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