Hi all,
I haven't mentioned this before anywhere else on my site, but I have been in the process of writing two screenplays, one of them for for six years now. I wanted to get this information out to others who are also interested in screenplays and making movies because one day I will finish these darn things.
The one that I have been working on most recently is, to me, the most interesting. It is a horror/thriller that is based on some of the most fascinating aspects of quantum physics, parapsychology, metaphysics and the paranormal. It is very loosely based on the horror classic Dracula by Bram Stoker. It is actually what I call a "re-imagination" of the tale based in the present year, but the main vampire character is not an undead creature like most vampires are based on. The idea comes from my own research into the world of physical parasites that live in the human body as well as "Entities: Parasites of the Body of Energy" by Samuel Sagan, "Mind Parasites, Energy Parasites and Vampires" by Jonathan Zap, "Psychic Vampires" by Joe Slate.
The creature is a parasitic entity from a lower astral dimension and under the right circumstances can enter into our physical dimension, unless it can continually feed off of the physical and psychic energy of humans. The creature, once able to feed from a human host takes on the physical form of that person's DNA and is in a sense a kind of clone of the original person. Once the entity is finished with its first victim it can walk around and interact like a human. Though it constantly needs both physical energy (blood) and psychic energy (life force or Chi). When it feeds from a human it absorbs the victims memories and knowledge as well as its DNA. So with each person that it feeds from it becomes smarter and smarter and harder and harder to destroy.
The heroes of the story are two brothers who are amateur paranormal investigators, a parapsychologist/quantum physicist, and a gifted psychic/energy worker. Together they battle the vampire and seek to destroy it. The Parapsychologist/Quantum Physicist is the "Van Helsing" of the group. The two brothers are younger late teens/early twenties and provide dark humor.
The two movies that are inspirations to this film are both Fright Night and The Lost Boys. The vampire will be an incredibly handsome man with the ability to psychically influence and seduce anyone with a weak mind like the Jerry Dandrige vampire in Fright Night. Thus there are scenes of captivation and seduction. This vampire is the real vampire that all the other mythological vampires are derived from such as Dracula. In history past there have been instances where these creatures, under specific conditions, can enter into our plane and wreck havoc and the most knowledgeable people rise up against them.
So this creature is the real vampire of mythology from ages past. These creatures feed off of fear and negative energy (vibrations/thought patterns). Thus the power of intention (positive intention) of others can repel the creature. This is why the religious icons were used in the past as means of defeating the vampire (crosses, holy water, holy wafers, and other religious items). The religious icons have no power within themselves but the intentions (positive thoughts) of people who used those items. This is thoroughly explained in the film and reveals that the christian means of dispatching the "evil" has no power except for what we give it. This is why in my film the creature is repelled without any religious means, but through the power of positive intention (Please watch the movies What the Bleep and The Secret to understand this concept).
This is it for now. I will share the other screenplay details with you if you all like this one. Please let me know your thoughts on this story. I'd like feedback if you're up to it.
Thanks!
John
*********************************
Cindy
Wow, I'm impressed. I like the fresh premise, I too, am a huge fan of the varied vampire genre. I'm intrigued by the actual creature itself, very fresh concept, I can't recall anything like this.
I'm interested in hearing more~
Posted by Cindy on Thursday, February 01, 2007 at 5:45 PM
Psychic Evolution
Thanks Cindy! Yeah, I am a real fan of the vampire genre as well and don't think that there has been anything similar to this. The creature is very interesting, since there are similar paranormal entities that are psychic or mind parasites in real life. Though I don't have any info on whether or not such entities or anything similar passes into our physical plane. There are some "Beings" that do come in and out of our plane of existence, such as Sasquatch (they are very psychic and explains why they can never be caught or killed), which is actually in the other screenplay that I have been working on for six years now.
As the vampire grows in power and energy it is able to control animals and use its mind for psychokinesis (move objects and even levitate and fly) which brings in the aspect of bats and wolves (dogs) from the vampire mythos.
Posted by Psychic Evolution on Thursday, February 01, 2007 at 8:36 PM
Moonflower
I'd read it and watch it, I have become so bored with the cliche vampire stories. I am one of those people who believe that vampires do exist. I swear I have met a few and they are not always as easy to identify as what one might think.
Posted by Moonflower on Thursday, February 01, 2007 at 9:43 PM
~JeNnY~
I just love this story, but one thing frustrates me.... I'm ready for it to come out in a theatre near me!! My fave parts are the 'positive intention' power and the vampires' ability to consume their preys knowledge.
Posted by ~JeNnY~ on Monday, February 05, 2007 at 6:31 PM
Monday, February 12, 2007
CHRISTIAN FASCISM: THE JESUS GESTAPO OF ST. ORWELL
CHRISTIAN FASCISM: THE JESUS GESTAPO OF ST. ORWELL
By Carolyn Baker
New York Times reporter, Chris Hedges, has written an extraordinary book, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America. Having survived a Christian fundamentalist background myself, I marvel at the timely urgency of Hedges' book, but also, at the obtuse disconnect most Americans have with the pivotal thesis of his book: the power of the religious right in the United States to bring forth a nation whose totalitarian repression could dwarf that of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. As Hedges notes, we are well on the path toward such a reality, and the Domionist Christian right is a principal player in the process. While the nucleus of that movement is small, measuring only about 1% of evangelicals and led by the likes of James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and John Hagee, those leaders are supported by throngs of evangelicals sympathetic to their theocratic views who dutifully preach the consummate tenet of the movement, submission. Citizens must submit to their government officials, particularly the ones who claim to be born-again Christians and receiving their orders from God; wives must submit to husbands; children must submit to parents; and everyone must submit to the teachings of the bible as interpreted by evangelical Christianity or burn in hell. I will herein use the term "Christian fascism" or "Cristo-fascism" as synonymous with a worldview and political philosophy which are both fundamentalist Christian and fascist in nature.
Recently, I viewed a chilling documentary "Jesus Camp", which examines "the evangelical belief that a revival is underway in America that requires Christian youth to assume leadership roles in advocating the causes of their religious movement." [1] The film follows a group of evangelical kids who attend a summer camp where they are taught to become dedicated Christian soldiers in God's army. Under the leadership of control-freak youth pastor, Becky Fischer, who makes Nurse Ratchet in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" look like Snow White, the children are told that theirs is a unique generation—perhaps the last on earth before the return of Christ to rapture his church, and that just as Musilm children learn at an early age to carry and use automatic weapons so that they can die for Islam, Christian kids must learn to fight in the Jesus army in order to save souls and take back America for God—and be willing to die for Jesus.
One not need be a licensed mental health professional to find the emotional manipulation, indoctrination, and outright brainwashing of the Jesus camp both repulsive and enraging. Its squeaky-clean, almost exclusively white, puerile participants mouth all the right jargon, concepts, and scripture verses impeccably and robotically like good little Christian boys and girls—or more chillingly, like Hitler youth. Jesus Camp is nothing less than childhood spiritual abuse on steroids, leaving me personally and eternally grateful that as a child growing up in fundamentalism, I wasn't subjected to anything worse in the context of religious services than the raspy screams of bible-thumping preachers.
Hedges' brilliant article, "The Christian Right And The Rise Of American Fascism" outlines several principles inherent in Christian fascism, and to his list, I will add a few of my own:
1) Apocalyptic Violence—A central tenet of Cristo-fascism is the belief that after the Rapture or Christ's returns to rescue Christian believers and take them to heaven, a period of seven years, or the Tribulation, will ensue in which an Anti-Christ will dominate the world, and every horror imaginable will be unleashed on humankind. Those who do not submit (again a pivotal word for Christian fascism) and accept Christ as their personal savior, will be martyred but will be assured of spending eternity in heaven with Christ. Those who do submit will be condemned eternally to hell. After the Tribulation period, Christ will return again with the "army" of Christians in heaven, and the battle of Armageddon will be fought against the Anti-Christ and his armies. The latter will be slaughtered by Christ and his followers who will set up Christ's kingdom on earth where he will reign for one thousand years, followed by the total and complete destruction of earth as Christ and his followers return to heaven.
Sounds like a scene from the movie "Independence Day"? Actually, that movie cannot begin to capture the heinous barbarity that Christian fascism fantasizes will befall the earth and those who reject Christ. That scenario is a bloodbath of unimaginable, avenging horrors. Note that not only will non-Christian human beings be decimated, but so will the earth itself, the outcome being twofold: Humans who do not submit to Jesus will be destroyed, and the planet itself will be annihilated. How delicious the vindication for the Cristo-fascist psyche! Not only will people who reject their Jesus be grotesquely punished, but their God will prove himself more powerful than the very planet on which they live. Obviously, no need here to worry about global warming—at least the kind created by humans. God will incinerate the earth--his own instantaneous global warming, triumphing over all enemies of both himself and the Christian fascists. As Hedges notes, these fantasies of monstrous cruelty are appealing to many within the Christian-fascist movement because "The loss of manufacturing jobs, lack of affordable health care, negligible opportunities for education and poor job security has left many millions of Americans locked out. This ideology is attractive because it offers them the hope of power and revenge. It sanctifies their rage."[2] And if any group of people on earth is enraged, it is the Cristo-fascists whose rancor is every bit as caustic and virulent as that of any Islamist fundamentalist on a suicide mission.
2) One reason Hedges labels these individuals fascist has not only to do with their positioning themselves on the political right, but specifically, their fanatical insistence on submission to theocratic government. Had George Orwell been a born-again Christian, twenty-first century Cristo-fascists would probably declare him a saint. (War is holy, and killing is sacred.) Their preferred polity is biblical totalitarianism in which the principles embraced by secular society are perceived as untrue and antithetical to their God and his Word. Unquestioning obedience to fundamentalist Christian theology and its resultant theocracy are the cornerstones of Cristo-fascism in twenty-first century America.
3) As a result, adherents are diametrically opposed to a secular world view and the tenets of modern science. As I have commented in other articles[3] in recent years, fundamentalist Christianity generally distrusts, and often despises human reason. Millions of children in America are being home-schooled, and 75% of them are children from fundamentalist Christian homes.[4] Home-schooling can offer an extraordinary alternative to attending public school, but for fundamentalist Christians, it serves, among other things, to shield their children not only from grappling with such issues as evolution and global warming, but learning the scientific method itself and the basic principles of critical thinking and logical analysis.
4) Cristo-fascism is overwhelmingly a white Anglo-American movement. While one sees growing numbers of African Americans and Hispanics joining their ranks, the movement remains predominantly white and rabidly Islamophobic. Most outspoken on this issue is San Antonio's megachurch pastor, John Hagee, who perceives Islam as the new Satan which must be destroyed by Israel and the United States.
5) While Christian fascism cannot give enough lip service to the "culture of life" it is morbidly death-obsessed in its raging support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and capital punishment. The popularity of the grisly, sado-masochistic "The Passion Of The Christ" among fundamentalist Christians, as well as the Jesus Camp's indoctrination of children to be willing and proud to "die for Jesus" further belie Cristo-fascism's death fetish.
6) A new Christian Gestapo is in the works as the Christian right is working vehemently to take control of military chaplaincies and create in Hedges words, America's Holy Warriors. He points out that during the last century communist and fascist movements each built paramilitary forces that operated beyond the reach of the law. The frightening popularity and proliferation of the private security firm, Blackwater, founded by a mega-millionaire right-wing Christian, Erik Prince, has not only become a giant mercenary force in Iraq, but was heavily used in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Increasingly, Cristo-fascists are becoming more blatant about their wish to force conversion to Christ through the barrel of a gun. A typical image of this concept, dripping with testosterone, may be viewed at the website of Force Ministries.
Just this week, conservative theologian, Doug Giles, appeared on Fox News arguing that Christian males should be tougher because "Jesus wasn't a bearded lady". Christians, he said, should stop raising nice boys and raise warriors who can fight terrorism.
In answer to the question of what is to be done, I would assert as I usually do: Knowledge is power. Fundamentalist Christianity is inherently delusional. One cannot reason with its adherents nor influence them with facts. What one can do is understand first of all that the United States has become a fascist empire. If one takes seriously Mussolini's definition of fascism, "the corporate state", then this nation was well on its way even before the ascendancy of the Bush II administration and September 11, 2001.
Furthermore, it is time for those who consider themselves politically progressive to stop "tolerating" Cristo-fascists. Certainly, these individuals have every right to believe whatever they choose to believe, but when one comprehends the inherently fascist nature of both their religion and their politics, one must necessarily confront not only their ghastly disregard for separation of church and state, but their implacable commitment to engineering a fundamentalist Christian theocracy in the United States.
The exponential growth of the Cristo-fascist movement in the past six years is yet another symptom of empire and a somnambulant society in the throes of collapse. Whether or not one embraces Christianity or any religion, for that matter, it is instructive to engage in reality-checking the actual teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, and specifically, the gospels and other sacred writings which were excluded from the bible in the fourth century for political and socio-economic reasons in order to streamline Constantine's hierarchical, imperial, Christian regime—the world's first but not last, Christian theocracy. With that in mind, I highly recommend The Jesus Mysteries, by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy.
******
Carolyn Baker, Ph.D. is author of a forthcoming book, COMING OUT FROM CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM: Affirming Life, Love and The Sacred. Her recent book U.S. History Uncensored: What Your High School Textbook Didn't Tell You is available at her website: www.carolynbaker.org.
[1] www.jesuscampthemovie.com
[2] www.thirdworldtraveler.com
[3] dissidentvoice.org/Dec2004/Baker1220.htm
dissidentvoice.org/May05/Baker0512.htm
dissidentvoice.org/May05/Baker0517.htm
[4] www.jesuscampthemovie.com
By Carolyn Baker
New York Times reporter, Chris Hedges, has written an extraordinary book, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America. Having survived a Christian fundamentalist background myself, I marvel at the timely urgency of Hedges' book, but also, at the obtuse disconnect most Americans have with the pivotal thesis of his book: the power of the religious right in the United States to bring forth a nation whose totalitarian repression could dwarf that of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. As Hedges notes, we are well on the path toward such a reality, and the Domionist Christian right is a principal player in the process. While the nucleus of that movement is small, measuring only about 1% of evangelicals and led by the likes of James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and John Hagee, those leaders are supported by throngs of evangelicals sympathetic to their theocratic views who dutifully preach the consummate tenet of the movement, submission. Citizens must submit to their government officials, particularly the ones who claim to be born-again Christians and receiving their orders from God; wives must submit to husbands; children must submit to parents; and everyone must submit to the teachings of the bible as interpreted by evangelical Christianity or burn in hell. I will herein use the term "Christian fascism" or "Cristo-fascism" as synonymous with a worldview and political philosophy which are both fundamentalist Christian and fascist in nature.
Recently, I viewed a chilling documentary "Jesus Camp", which examines "the evangelical belief that a revival is underway in America that requires Christian youth to assume leadership roles in advocating the causes of their religious movement." [1] The film follows a group of evangelical kids who attend a summer camp where they are taught to become dedicated Christian soldiers in God's army. Under the leadership of control-freak youth pastor, Becky Fischer, who makes Nurse Ratchet in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" look like Snow White, the children are told that theirs is a unique generation—perhaps the last on earth before the return of Christ to rapture his church, and that just as Musilm children learn at an early age to carry and use automatic weapons so that they can die for Islam, Christian kids must learn to fight in the Jesus army in order to save souls and take back America for God—and be willing to die for Jesus.
One not need be a licensed mental health professional to find the emotional manipulation, indoctrination, and outright brainwashing of the Jesus camp both repulsive and enraging. Its squeaky-clean, almost exclusively white, puerile participants mouth all the right jargon, concepts, and scripture verses impeccably and robotically like good little Christian boys and girls—or more chillingly, like Hitler youth. Jesus Camp is nothing less than childhood spiritual abuse on steroids, leaving me personally and eternally grateful that as a child growing up in fundamentalism, I wasn't subjected to anything worse in the context of religious services than the raspy screams of bible-thumping preachers.
Hedges' brilliant article, "The Christian Right And The Rise Of American Fascism" outlines several principles inherent in Christian fascism, and to his list, I will add a few of my own:
1) Apocalyptic Violence—A central tenet of Cristo-fascism is the belief that after the Rapture or Christ's returns to rescue Christian believers and take them to heaven, a period of seven years, or the Tribulation, will ensue in which an Anti-Christ will dominate the world, and every horror imaginable will be unleashed on humankind. Those who do not submit (again a pivotal word for Christian fascism) and accept Christ as their personal savior, will be martyred but will be assured of spending eternity in heaven with Christ. Those who do submit will be condemned eternally to hell. After the Tribulation period, Christ will return again with the "army" of Christians in heaven, and the battle of Armageddon will be fought against the Anti-Christ and his armies. The latter will be slaughtered by Christ and his followers who will set up Christ's kingdom on earth where he will reign for one thousand years, followed by the total and complete destruction of earth as Christ and his followers return to heaven.
Sounds like a scene from the movie "Independence Day"? Actually, that movie cannot begin to capture the heinous barbarity that Christian fascism fantasizes will befall the earth and those who reject Christ. That scenario is a bloodbath of unimaginable, avenging horrors. Note that not only will non-Christian human beings be decimated, but so will the earth itself, the outcome being twofold: Humans who do not submit to Jesus will be destroyed, and the planet itself will be annihilated. How delicious the vindication for the Cristo-fascist psyche! Not only will people who reject their Jesus be grotesquely punished, but their God will prove himself more powerful than the very planet on which they live. Obviously, no need here to worry about global warming—at least the kind created by humans. God will incinerate the earth--his own instantaneous global warming, triumphing over all enemies of both himself and the Christian fascists. As Hedges notes, these fantasies of monstrous cruelty are appealing to many within the Christian-fascist movement because "The loss of manufacturing jobs, lack of affordable health care, negligible opportunities for education and poor job security has left many millions of Americans locked out. This ideology is attractive because it offers them the hope of power and revenge. It sanctifies their rage."[2] And if any group of people on earth is enraged, it is the Cristo-fascists whose rancor is every bit as caustic and virulent as that of any Islamist fundamentalist on a suicide mission.
2) One reason Hedges labels these individuals fascist has not only to do with their positioning themselves on the political right, but specifically, their fanatical insistence on submission to theocratic government. Had George Orwell been a born-again Christian, twenty-first century Cristo-fascists would probably declare him a saint. (War is holy, and killing is sacred.) Their preferred polity is biblical totalitarianism in which the principles embraced by secular society are perceived as untrue and antithetical to their God and his Word. Unquestioning obedience to fundamentalist Christian theology and its resultant theocracy are the cornerstones of Cristo-fascism in twenty-first century America.
3) As a result, adherents are diametrically opposed to a secular world view and the tenets of modern science. As I have commented in other articles[3] in recent years, fundamentalist Christianity generally distrusts, and often despises human reason. Millions of children in America are being home-schooled, and 75% of them are children from fundamentalist Christian homes.[4] Home-schooling can offer an extraordinary alternative to attending public school, but for fundamentalist Christians, it serves, among other things, to shield their children not only from grappling with such issues as evolution and global warming, but learning the scientific method itself and the basic principles of critical thinking and logical analysis.
4) Cristo-fascism is overwhelmingly a white Anglo-American movement. While one sees growing numbers of African Americans and Hispanics joining their ranks, the movement remains predominantly white and rabidly Islamophobic. Most outspoken on this issue is San Antonio's megachurch pastor, John Hagee, who perceives Islam as the new Satan which must be destroyed by Israel and the United States.
5) While Christian fascism cannot give enough lip service to the "culture of life" it is morbidly death-obsessed in its raging support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and capital punishment. The popularity of the grisly, sado-masochistic "The Passion Of The Christ" among fundamentalist Christians, as well as the Jesus Camp's indoctrination of children to be willing and proud to "die for Jesus" further belie Cristo-fascism's death fetish.
6) A new Christian Gestapo is in the works as the Christian right is working vehemently to take control of military chaplaincies and create in Hedges words, America's Holy Warriors. He points out that during the last century communist and fascist movements each built paramilitary forces that operated beyond the reach of the law. The frightening popularity and proliferation of the private security firm, Blackwater, founded by a mega-millionaire right-wing Christian, Erik Prince, has not only become a giant mercenary force in Iraq, but was heavily used in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Increasingly, Cristo-fascists are becoming more blatant about their wish to force conversion to Christ through the barrel of a gun. A typical image of this concept, dripping with testosterone, may be viewed at the website of Force Ministries.
Just this week, conservative theologian, Doug Giles, appeared on Fox News arguing that Christian males should be tougher because "Jesus wasn't a bearded lady". Christians, he said, should stop raising nice boys and raise warriors who can fight terrorism.
In answer to the question of what is to be done, I would assert as I usually do: Knowledge is power. Fundamentalist Christianity is inherently delusional. One cannot reason with its adherents nor influence them with facts. What one can do is understand first of all that the United States has become a fascist empire. If one takes seriously Mussolini's definition of fascism, "the corporate state", then this nation was well on its way even before the ascendancy of the Bush II administration and September 11, 2001.
Furthermore, it is time for those who consider themselves politically progressive to stop "tolerating" Cristo-fascists. Certainly, these individuals have every right to believe whatever they choose to believe, but when one comprehends the inherently fascist nature of both their religion and their politics, one must necessarily confront not only their ghastly disregard for separation of church and state, but their implacable commitment to engineering a fundamentalist Christian theocracy in the United States.
The exponential growth of the Cristo-fascist movement in the past six years is yet another symptom of empire and a somnambulant society in the throes of collapse. Whether or not one embraces Christianity or any religion, for that matter, it is instructive to engage in reality-checking the actual teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, and specifically, the gospels and other sacred writings which were excluded from the bible in the fourth century for political and socio-economic reasons in order to streamline Constantine's hierarchical, imperial, Christian regime—the world's first but not last, Christian theocracy. With that in mind, I highly recommend The Jesus Mysteries, by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy.
******
Carolyn Baker, Ph.D. is author of a forthcoming book, COMING OUT FROM CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM: Affirming Life, Love and The Sacred. Her recent book U.S. History Uncensored: What Your High School Textbook Didn't Tell You is available at her website: www.carolynbaker.org.
[1] www.jesuscampthemovie.com
[2] www.thirdworldtraveler.com
[3] dissidentvoice.org/Dec2004/Baker1220.htm
dissidentvoice.org/May05/Baker0512.htm
dissidentvoice.org/May05/Baker0517.htm
[4] www.jesuscampthemovie.com
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Blinding Light, Screams, Hovering Object
Blinding Light, Screams, Hovering Object
Brian Vike - Director
HBCC UFO Research
2-2-7
..>..>..>..>
Date: November 1975 (2 nights)
Witnesses: Myself (20 at the time)
My father - deceased 1977 (age 47)
Mother
Brother (19 at the time)
My now ex-wife (19, 6 months pregnant at the time)
2 German Shepherds
Co-worker of my mothers - deceased.
HBCC UFO Research Note: The report, or experience which was related to me by a really nice fellow wishes to remain anonymous which is totally fine with me. Also I completely understand why he would like it to remain this way. But, this is an important case and the witness, or witnesses to this unusual event are looking for answers, as I am. These folks are requesting anyone's help, in other words people who may have been witness to some unusual events around the time of this experience. Anyone with information on sightings in the Thousand Oaks, California area in November 1975 would you please contact Brian Vike, Director of HBCC UFO Research with your information on what took place. I then can pass along just the detailed information to the people who were involved in the November 1975 incident. Thank you very much, Brian Vike.
We lived in Thousand Oaks, California at the time, at 2130 Sapra (There are 2 Sapra's that were supposed to connect but never did. Our house was on the short one, connecting directly to Erbes Road). It was a new housing development when we moved in from Amarillo, TX in 1969 (My dad worked for Burroughs and was transferred from Texas to the Westlake Village branch). We were the last house on a dead end street at the end of town. The houses were on only the south side of the street, cut out of the hill, with a large horse field across the street. The house was perched quite high above Erbes Rd and we could see over the horse
field and into the valley below.
First Night:
My cousin lived next door and he and I were playing guitar on my front driveway along with my brother and a couple of other friends around 7:00 or 8:00 pm (close guess). Suddenly a blue light (size of a basketball?) streaked (super fast- no sound) over the house from the south and hit the horse field. I say hit, but it
seemed to dissolve on impact and sent blue, lightning like streamers shooting off across the ground in all 3 other directions, for hundreds of yards until they disappeared. Well, this was kind of strange to say the least, but we were kind of laughing about it as a couple of the people were facing away and saw nothing. We went back to playing guitar and 15 to 20 minutes later, this huge pine tree on the street down in the valley (Marview Drive - just looked it up on map quest) suddenly was fully engulfed in flames. We stood there for awhile ( I remember watching the fire truck come down Arboles and turn up Erbes down in the valley below). Eventually it was put out (the story was in the paper -News Chronicle- the next day).
That night my brother, ex and I were up in my old room (My ex-wife and I were up in Alaska that year and had just gotten back) watching TV and we had the window on the east side of the room open. About 10:00 or so my brother told me to turn down the TV, he thought he heard something. We went over to the window and, after a couple of minutes, heard a far off 'scream' way back in the hills to the northeast. We looked at each other with a 'what was that' look and a couple of minutes later heard it again, only it sounded farther away. I think we heard it a couple of other times and than didn't hear it again. Nothing else happened that night.
We all got home from work the next day, ate dinner, then my folks sat in the living room to watch TV and the 3 of us went upstairs to do the same. Around 7:00 my brother again said to turn down the TV (He always sat in a chair that we had next to that window) and immediately we heard the 'scream', only much closer.
How do I describe 'the scream'? I can't. I've never heard anything like it, before or since. Part human, part animal? Pain? Fear? Certainly wasn't happy. I can kind of imitate it, but I can't describe it.
Let me also take a break here and describe the terrain. The houses stepped up the street, each one higher than the other. They had a lot above ours, but it was too small to build on and they sold it to my dad and he put a pool on it. That lot was even with the window in my room so my window looked out on the pool. The hill behind both lots started very quickly up (steep) for about 30 feet to a small drainage ditch and then both were surrounded by a chicken wire fence we had put up to enclose both lots. Beyond that, thick, impenetrable sage brush. We owned that land but were never able to use it. You couldn't walk through it and
the sage brush covered the entire hill south and east of the house. The fire department occasionally came and cleared a little back from the drainage ditch, but it always grew back quickly. The hill went straight up for hundreds of yards to the houses on the top of the hill, which you could neither see or hear.
At this point we heard the scream coming from a point near a phone electric pole that was in the middle of the hill (50 yards away maybe). It screamed again and the 3 of us didn't need to hear it again to know it was time to get dad involved so we ran downstairs. A thought occurred to me - where are the dogs? I went left out to the garage and my brother and ex went right, into the living room.
I opened the back garage door (somewhat hesitant I might add). Usually at this point, I'm bowled over by a lovable, but hyper, 120 pound male German Sheppard who's favorite thing is to bound inside or in the garage and destroy everything in his tails path. But no dogs and then a scream up the hill to the left and I closed the door and headed inside.
My dad and brother were at the front door going out as I came in so I followed them outside. They went down the driveway while I went over to the gate on the west side of the house to see if I could find the dogs. I rattled the gate, and still no dogs but I heard the scream again, at the edge of our property, about near the drainage ditch. I went back to the front of the house and could see my brother and dad standing on the sidewalk in front of the 2nd lot, looking up at the hill.
I saw my dad and brother flinch down and the scream was thunderous. By far, the loudest we had heard, and the house was blocking me. My dad and brother came running up the driveway, asking me if I'd seen the fireballs (which I hadn't). They said 2 blue fireballs came shooting over their heads and hit the hill and
immediately the thing screamed it's shriek. This was the only time in my life I saw my dad scared.
We all went inside and I tried to call my cousin next door, but nobody answered the phone. My Dad then decided to call the police and he reported something was up on our hill to the Thousand Oaks PD. At that point, the 3 of us went out the back door with a flashlight to look for the dogs. The thing had stopped screaming after the fireball incident to the best of my memory, but it wasn't screaming now. We found both dogs in the doghouse,shaking. We finally got them out and into the garage.
Quick note about the dogs. Anything near the property, they went nuts on. Rabbits or birds? An hour bark-a-thon. They protected that yard relentlessly, but what ever was up there this night, they wanted no part of.
My dad, brother and I went back out front and heard nothing. We stayed out there, one of us going inside every few minutes to check on things. An officer arrived about 8:30 and my dad somewhat told him what was going on (He was a Korean war vet so he wasn't going to the unexplained just yet).
The officer stayed for a while, shined his spotlight on the hill and of course not a peep. I'd say he left after 20 minutes to 1/2 hour. We went back inside and talked about it for a while then we went upstairs.
Now it got weird. We were upstairs for a while (an hour maybe less) when we thought we heard it again. We went to the window and it screamed again just as we got there, loud from behind the main house. I ran downstairs and yelled at my dad, I remember him sitting in his chair and Johnny Carson was doing his
monologue so it was between 11:30 and 12:00. They were always in bed by 12:30 - 1:00 on work nights.
We ran upstairs, met my ex and brother at the top of the stairs, and headed into my folks bathroom which had the best vantage point at the back hill with a south facing window. I got there first and listened for a few seconds when suddenly a large scream bellowed forth followed by a very loud electronic 'beep'. My dad was at my side and I said 'Listen, I heard a beep' and on queue, loud scream - beep. It had moved about 5 feet east at that point with no sound (remember the sagebrush) and then it did it a third time (scream - beep) and had moved a little further. My ex was screaming about somebody putting a needle in her belly button (The Betty/Barney Hill movie had aired about a month ago) so I stepped back to the door to comfort her, I saw this blinding white light that seemed to fill the house and then we are all standing in the hallway and going off in different directions to go to bed. My brother decided he wanted to sleep in the chair instead of alone and when we got into my bedroom I saw the clock said 4:30 exactly. I remember I could hear the screams now from there original point by the poles on the hill, but we all went to sleep.
Everybody went to work the next morning, but I called in sick cause my ex didn't want to stay there alone. I went up the hill to the east of the property as far as I could get and there were 2 circular patterns in a clearing where there were weeds, about 8 feet in diameter. That was all I saw and that was the end of that.
A woman who worked at my mothers work (an optometrist's office) told her that day she was driving up Erbes road about 7:30 that night when she saw 2 cars stopped on Erbes with people looking up at our hill, and she looked and saw a bright white light hovering over the hill east of our house, and then it just disappeared.
Aftermath:
We talked to my cousin next door and they heard nothing (I have no explanation because they should have, that thing was LOUD) and they said they were home and never heard the phone ring.
The male German Sheppard went fast. He was 5 years old, and in the weeks following the incident, he lost control of his nervous system to the point he couldn't function and was put to sleep. The vet said he had no idea what was wrong with him. The female went blind (7 years old) over the next few months and she too was put to sleep.
My dad seemed to age rapidly for the next year and 1/2 and died of a heart attack at a company picnic in August 1977.
My daughter was born normally, but has had a few 'strange' incidents and I watched her lose her baby teeth then get in her adult teeth, only to lose them all at age 12 and get a third set of teeth, The dentist said it wasn't happening but we know it did.
A few months after the encounter, I went and laid down after work and spiked a 106 temperature. I was sick for a year, was put in the hospital and tested for hepatitis and cancer but they had no idea what was wrong with me. The only thing they told me was my blood work showed some irregularity and I was told not to give blood.
The lady that worked with my mom quit unexpectedly that day and I never had a chance to ask her about it as she committed suicide shortly there after.
That's it. The scream and fireballs were strange, but the fact we all went to bed and didn't seem to care that our 10 minutes in the bathroom turned into 4 hours was maybe the strangest. I have no explanation for any of it.
This was hard to write about. I had to stop once and thinking about it still causes Goosebumps.
A couple of days after that my dad, brother and I were on our front yard talking about this encounter, when my dad told us the following story. He joined the Air Force in 1950 after 2 years at the University of Minnesota and spent some time in Korea as a jet mechanic and then came stateside and was stationed at Sioux City Iowa, were he was trained as a radar technician. One night in 1954 the whole base went on alert suddenly and he was told there was an unknown object coming from the north. They got a radar reading that it was at 50000-80000 feet and traveling in excess of 1,200 mph (I recall him saying 1,800 mph but my brother said 1200 so we'll go with that). It went off the screen to the south, and everybody in the room was told to forget it even happened. He never told us about that before, but my mom confirmed today that he told her about it the next day (he was on the overnight shift).
Thank you to the person for relating this fascinating experience to me.
Brian Vike, Director HBCC UFO Research.
Brian Vike - Director
HBCC UFO Research
2-2-7
..>..>..>..>
Date: November 1975 (2 nights)
Witnesses: Myself (20 at the time)
My father - deceased 1977 (age 47)
Mother
Brother (19 at the time)
My now ex-wife (19, 6 months pregnant at the time)
2 German Shepherds
Co-worker of my mothers - deceased.
HBCC UFO Research Note: The report, or experience which was related to me by a really nice fellow wishes to remain anonymous which is totally fine with me. Also I completely understand why he would like it to remain this way. But, this is an important case and the witness, or witnesses to this unusual event are looking for answers, as I am. These folks are requesting anyone's help, in other words people who may have been witness to some unusual events around the time of this experience. Anyone with information on sightings in the Thousand Oaks, California area in November 1975 would you please contact Brian Vike, Director of HBCC UFO Research with your information on what took place. I then can pass along just the detailed information to the people who were involved in the November 1975 incident. Thank you very much, Brian Vike.
We lived in Thousand Oaks, California at the time, at 2130 Sapra (There are 2 Sapra's that were supposed to connect but never did. Our house was on the short one, connecting directly to Erbes Road). It was a new housing development when we moved in from Amarillo, TX in 1969 (My dad worked for Burroughs and was transferred from Texas to the Westlake Village branch). We were the last house on a dead end street at the end of town. The houses were on only the south side of the street, cut out of the hill, with a large horse field across the street. The house was perched quite high above Erbes Rd and we could see over the horse
field and into the valley below.
First Night:
My cousin lived next door and he and I were playing guitar on my front driveway along with my brother and a couple of other friends around 7:00 or 8:00 pm (close guess). Suddenly a blue light (size of a basketball?) streaked (super fast- no sound) over the house from the south and hit the horse field. I say hit, but it
seemed to dissolve on impact and sent blue, lightning like streamers shooting off across the ground in all 3 other directions, for hundreds of yards until they disappeared. Well, this was kind of strange to say the least, but we were kind of laughing about it as a couple of the people were facing away and saw nothing. We went back to playing guitar and 15 to 20 minutes later, this huge pine tree on the street down in the valley (Marview Drive - just looked it up on map quest) suddenly was fully engulfed in flames. We stood there for awhile ( I remember watching the fire truck come down Arboles and turn up Erbes down in the valley below). Eventually it was put out (the story was in the paper -News Chronicle- the next day).
That night my brother, ex and I were up in my old room (My ex-wife and I were up in Alaska that year and had just gotten back) watching TV and we had the window on the east side of the room open. About 10:00 or so my brother told me to turn down the TV, he thought he heard something. We went over to the window and, after a couple of minutes, heard a far off 'scream' way back in the hills to the northeast. We looked at each other with a 'what was that' look and a couple of minutes later heard it again, only it sounded farther away. I think we heard it a couple of other times and than didn't hear it again. Nothing else happened that night.
We all got home from work the next day, ate dinner, then my folks sat in the living room to watch TV and the 3 of us went upstairs to do the same. Around 7:00 my brother again said to turn down the TV (He always sat in a chair that we had next to that window) and immediately we heard the 'scream', only much closer.
How do I describe 'the scream'? I can't. I've never heard anything like it, before or since. Part human, part animal? Pain? Fear? Certainly wasn't happy. I can kind of imitate it, but I can't describe it.
Let me also take a break here and describe the terrain. The houses stepped up the street, each one higher than the other. They had a lot above ours, but it was too small to build on and they sold it to my dad and he put a pool on it. That lot was even with the window in my room so my window looked out on the pool. The hill behind both lots started very quickly up (steep) for about 30 feet to a small drainage ditch and then both were surrounded by a chicken wire fence we had put up to enclose both lots. Beyond that, thick, impenetrable sage brush. We owned that land but were never able to use it. You couldn't walk through it and
the sage brush covered the entire hill south and east of the house. The fire department occasionally came and cleared a little back from the drainage ditch, but it always grew back quickly. The hill went straight up for hundreds of yards to the houses on the top of the hill, which you could neither see or hear.
At this point we heard the scream coming from a point near a phone electric pole that was in the middle of the hill (50 yards away maybe). It screamed again and the 3 of us didn't need to hear it again to know it was time to get dad involved so we ran downstairs. A thought occurred to me - where are the dogs? I went left out to the garage and my brother and ex went right, into the living room.
I opened the back garage door (somewhat hesitant I might add). Usually at this point, I'm bowled over by a lovable, but hyper, 120 pound male German Sheppard who's favorite thing is to bound inside or in the garage and destroy everything in his tails path. But no dogs and then a scream up the hill to the left and I closed the door and headed inside.
My dad and brother were at the front door going out as I came in so I followed them outside. They went down the driveway while I went over to the gate on the west side of the house to see if I could find the dogs. I rattled the gate, and still no dogs but I heard the scream again, at the edge of our property, about near the drainage ditch. I went back to the front of the house and could see my brother and dad standing on the sidewalk in front of the 2nd lot, looking up at the hill.
I saw my dad and brother flinch down and the scream was thunderous. By far, the loudest we had heard, and the house was blocking me. My dad and brother came running up the driveway, asking me if I'd seen the fireballs (which I hadn't). They said 2 blue fireballs came shooting over their heads and hit the hill and
immediately the thing screamed it's shriek. This was the only time in my life I saw my dad scared.
We all went inside and I tried to call my cousin next door, but nobody answered the phone. My Dad then decided to call the police and he reported something was up on our hill to the Thousand Oaks PD. At that point, the 3 of us went out the back door with a flashlight to look for the dogs. The thing had stopped screaming after the fireball incident to the best of my memory, but it wasn't screaming now. We found both dogs in the doghouse,shaking. We finally got them out and into the garage.
Quick note about the dogs. Anything near the property, they went nuts on. Rabbits or birds? An hour bark-a-thon. They protected that yard relentlessly, but what ever was up there this night, they wanted no part of.
My dad, brother and I went back out front and heard nothing. We stayed out there, one of us going inside every few minutes to check on things. An officer arrived about 8:30 and my dad somewhat told him what was going on (He was a Korean war vet so he wasn't going to the unexplained just yet).
The officer stayed for a while, shined his spotlight on the hill and of course not a peep. I'd say he left after 20 minutes to 1/2 hour. We went back inside and talked about it for a while then we went upstairs.
Now it got weird. We were upstairs for a while (an hour maybe less) when we thought we heard it again. We went to the window and it screamed again just as we got there, loud from behind the main house. I ran downstairs and yelled at my dad, I remember him sitting in his chair and Johnny Carson was doing his
monologue so it was between 11:30 and 12:00. They were always in bed by 12:30 - 1:00 on work nights.
We ran upstairs, met my ex and brother at the top of the stairs, and headed into my folks bathroom which had the best vantage point at the back hill with a south facing window. I got there first and listened for a few seconds when suddenly a large scream bellowed forth followed by a very loud electronic 'beep'. My dad was at my side and I said 'Listen, I heard a beep' and on queue, loud scream - beep. It had moved about 5 feet east at that point with no sound (remember the sagebrush) and then it did it a third time (scream - beep) and had moved a little further. My ex was screaming about somebody putting a needle in her belly button (The Betty/Barney Hill movie had aired about a month ago) so I stepped back to the door to comfort her, I saw this blinding white light that seemed to fill the house and then we are all standing in the hallway and going off in different directions to go to bed. My brother decided he wanted to sleep in the chair instead of alone and when we got into my bedroom I saw the clock said 4:30 exactly. I remember I could hear the screams now from there original point by the poles on the hill, but we all went to sleep.
Everybody went to work the next morning, but I called in sick cause my ex didn't want to stay there alone. I went up the hill to the east of the property as far as I could get and there were 2 circular patterns in a clearing where there were weeds, about 8 feet in diameter. That was all I saw and that was the end of that.
A woman who worked at my mothers work (an optometrist's office) told her that day she was driving up Erbes road about 7:30 that night when she saw 2 cars stopped on Erbes with people looking up at our hill, and she looked and saw a bright white light hovering over the hill east of our house, and then it just disappeared.
Aftermath:
We talked to my cousin next door and they heard nothing (I have no explanation because they should have, that thing was LOUD) and they said they were home and never heard the phone ring.
The male German Sheppard went fast. He was 5 years old, and in the weeks following the incident, he lost control of his nervous system to the point he couldn't function and was put to sleep. The vet said he had no idea what was wrong with him. The female went blind (7 years old) over the next few months and she too was put to sleep.
My dad seemed to age rapidly for the next year and 1/2 and died of a heart attack at a company picnic in August 1977.
My daughter was born normally, but has had a few 'strange' incidents and I watched her lose her baby teeth then get in her adult teeth, only to lose them all at age 12 and get a third set of teeth, The dentist said it wasn't happening but we know it did.
A few months after the encounter, I went and laid down after work and spiked a 106 temperature. I was sick for a year, was put in the hospital and tested for hepatitis and cancer but they had no idea what was wrong with me. The only thing they told me was my blood work showed some irregularity and I was told not to give blood.
The lady that worked with my mom quit unexpectedly that day and I never had a chance to ask her about it as she committed suicide shortly there after.
That's it. The scream and fireballs were strange, but the fact we all went to bed and didn't seem to care that our 10 minutes in the bathroom turned into 4 hours was maybe the strangest. I have no explanation for any of it.
This was hard to write about. I had to stop once and thinking about it still causes Goosebumps.
A couple of days after that my dad, brother and I were on our front yard talking about this encounter, when my dad told us the following story. He joined the Air Force in 1950 after 2 years at the University of Minnesota and spent some time in Korea as a jet mechanic and then came stateside and was stationed at Sioux City Iowa, were he was trained as a radar technician. One night in 1954 the whole base went on alert suddenly and he was told there was an unknown object coming from the north. They got a radar reading that it was at 50000-80000 feet and traveling in excess of 1,200 mph (I recall him saying 1,800 mph but my brother said 1200 so we'll go with that). It went off the screen to the south, and everybody in the room was told to forget it even happened. He never told us about that before, but my mom confirmed today that he told her about it the next day (he was on the overnight shift).
Thank you to the person for relating this fascinating experience to me.
Brian Vike, Director HBCC UFO Research.
"As A Man Thinketh" by James Allen
As A Man Thinketh
by James Allen
Foreword
This little volume (the result of meditation and experience) is not intended as an exhaustive treatise on the much-written upon subject of the power of thought. It is suggestive rather than explanatory, its object being to stimulate men and women to the discovery and perception of the truth that -
"They themselves are makers of themselves"
by virtue of the thoughts which they choose and encourage; that mind is the master weaver, both of the inner garment of character and the outer garment of circumstance, and that, as they may have hitherto woven in ignorance and pain they may now weave in enlightenment and happiness.
James Allen
Chapter One
Thought and Character
The aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he," not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.
As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts called "spontaneous" and "unpremeditated" as to those which are deliberately executed.
Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.
Thought in the mind hath made us. What we are
By thought we wrought and built. If a man's mind
Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes
The wheel the ox behind . . . If one endure in purity
of thought joy follows him as his own shadow - sure.
Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things. A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harboring of groveling thoughts.
Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master.
Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this - that man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.
As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.
Man is always the master, even in his weakest and most abandoned state; but in his weakness and degradation he is the foolish master who misgoverns his "household." When he begins to reflect upon his condition, and to search diligently for the Law upon which his being is established, he then becomes the wise master, directing his energies with intelligence, and fashioning his thoughts to fruitful issues. Such is the conscious master, and man can only thus become by discovering within himself the laws of thought; which discovery is totally a matter of application, self-analysis, and experience.
Only by much searching and mining are gold an diamonds obtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul. And that he is the maker of his character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny, he may unerringly prove: if he will watch, control, and alter his thoughts, tracing their effects upon himself, upon others, and upon his life and circumstances; if he will link cause and effect by patient practice and investigation, utilizing his every experience, even to the most trivial, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of himself. In this direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that "He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened"; for only by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity can a man enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge.
Chapter Two
Effect of Thought on Circumstances
A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.
Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts, By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also reveals, within himself, the laws of thought, and understands with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought forces and mind elements operate in the shaping of his character, circumstances, and destiny.
Thought and character are one, and as character can only manifest and discover itself through environment and circumstance, the outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state. This does not mean that a man's circumstances at any given time are an indication of his entire character, but that those circumstances are so intimately connected with some vital thought element within himself that, for the time being, they are indispensable to his development.
Every man is where he is by the law of his being. The thoughts which he has built into his character have brought him there, and in the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but all is the result of a law which cannot err. This is just as true of those who feel "out of harmony" with their surroundings as of those who are contented with them.
As the progressive and evolving being, man is where he is that he may learn that he may grow; and as he learns the spiritual lesson which any circumstance contains for him, it passes away and gives place to other circumstances.
Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions. But when he realizes that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master of himself.
That circumstances grow out of thought every man knows who has for any length of time practiced self-control and self-purification, for he will have noticed that the alteration in his circumstances has been in exact ratio with his altered mental condition. So true is this that when a man earnestly applies himself to remedy the defects in his character, and makes swift and marked progress, he passes rapidly through a succession of vicissitudes.
The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors; that which it loves, and also that which it fears. It reaches the height of its cherished aspirations. It falls to the level of its unchastened desires - and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.
Every thought seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and to take root there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later into act, and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance. Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit.
The outer world of circumstance shapes itself to the inner world of thought, and both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions are factors which make for the ultimate good of the individual. As the reaper of his own harvest, man learns both by suffering and bliss.
A man does not come to the almshouse or the jail by the tyranny of fate of circumstance, but by the pathway of groveling thoughts and base desires. Nor does a pure-minded man fall suddenly into crime by stress of any mere external force; the criminal thought had long been secretly fostered in the heart, and the hour of opportunity revealed its gathered power.
Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself. No such conditions can exist as descending into vice and its attendant sufferings apart from vicious inclinations, or ascending into virtue and its pure happiness without the continued cultivation of virtuous aspirations. And man, therefore, as the Lord and master of thought, is the maker of himself, the shaper and author of environment. Even at birth the soul comes to its own, and through every step of its earthly pilgrimage it attracts those combinations of conditions which reveal itself, which are the reflections of its own purity and impurity, its strength and weakness.
Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are. Their whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step, but their inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their own food, be it foul or clean. The "divinity that shapes our ends" is in ourselves; it is our very self. Man is manacled only by himself. Thought and action are the jailers of Fate - they imprison, being base. They are also the angels of Freedom - they liberate, being noble. Not what he wishes and prays for does a man get, but what he justly earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions.
In the light of this truth, what, then, is the meaning of "fighting against circumstances"? It means that a man is continually revolting against an effect without, while all the time he is nourishing and preserving its cause in his heart. That cause may take the form of a conscious vice or an unconscious weakness; but whatever it is, it stubbornly retards the efforts of its possessor, and thus calls aloud for remedy.
Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves. They therefore remain bound. The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set. This is as true of earthly as of heavenly things. Even the man whose sole object is to acquire wealth must be prepared to make great personal sacrifices before he can accomplish his object; and how much more so he who would realize a strong and well-poised life?
Here is a man who is wretchedly poor. He is extremely anxious that his surroundings and home comforts should be improved. Yet all the time he shirks his work, and considers he is justified in trying to deceive his employer on the ground of the insufficiency of his wages. Such a man does not understand the simplest rudiments of those principles which are the basis of true prosperity. He is not only totally unfitted to rise out of his wretchedness, but is actually attracting to himself a still deeper wretchedness by dwelling in, and acting out, indolent, deceptive, and unmanly thoughts.
Here is a rich man who is the victim of a painful and persistent disease as the result of gluttony. He is willing to give large sums of money to get rid of it, but he will not sacrifice his gluttonous desires. He wants to gratify his taste for rich and unnatural foods and have his health as well. Such a man is totally unfit to have health, because he has not yet learned the first principles of a healthy life.
Here is an employer of labor who adopts crooked measures to avoid paying the regulation wage, and, in the hope of making larger profits, reduces the wages of his workpeople. Such a man is altogether unfitted for prosperity. And when he finds himself bankrupt, both as regards reputation and riches, he blames circumstances, not knowing that he is the sole author of his condition.
I have introduced these three cases merely as illustrative of the truth that man is the cause (though nearly always unconsciously) of his circumstances. That, while aiming at the good end, he is continually frustrating its accomplishment by encouraging thoughts and desires which cannot possibly harmonize with that end. Such cases could be multiplied and varied almost indefinitely, but this is not necessary. The reader can, if he so resolves, trace the action of the laws of thought in his own mind and life, and until this is done, mere external facts cannot serve as a ground of reasoning.
Circumstances, however, are so complicated, thought is so deeply rooted, and the conditions of happiness vary so vastly with individuals, that a man's entire soul condition (although it may be known to himself) cannot be judged by another from the external aspect of his life alone.
A man may be honest in certain directions, yet suffer privations. A man may be dishonest in certain directions, yet acquire wealth. But the conclusion usually formed that the one man fails because of his particular honesty, and that the other prospers because of his particular dishonesty, is the result of a superficial judgment, which assumes that the dishonest man is almost totally corrupt, and honest man almost entirely virtuous. In the light of a deeper knowledge and wider experience, such judgment is found to be erroneous. The dishonest man may have some admirable virtues which the other does not possess; and the honest man obnoxious vices which are absent in the other. The honest man reaps the good results of his honest thoughts and acts; he also brings upon himself the sufferings which his vices produce. The dishonest man likewise garners his own suffering and happiness.
It is pleasing to human vanity to believe that one suffers because of one's virtue. But not until a man has extirpated every sickly, bitter, and impure thought from his mind, and washed every sinful stain from his soul, can he be in a position to know and declare that his sufferings are the result of his good, and not of his bad qualities. And on the way to that supreme perfection, he will have found working in his mind and life, the Great Law which is absolutely just, and which cannot give good for evil, evil for good. Possessed of such knowledge, he will then know, looking back upon his past ignorance and blindness, that his life is, and always was, justly ordered, and that all his past experiences, good and bad, were the equitable outworking of his evolving, yet unevolved self.
Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results. Bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world, and work with it. But few understand it in the mental and moral world (though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating), and they, therefore, do not cooperate with it.
Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself, with the Law of his being. The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure. Suffering ceases for him who is pure. There could be not object in burning gold after the dross had been removed, and perfectly pure and enlightened being could not suffer.
The circumstances which a man encounters with suffering are the result of his own mental inharmony. The circumstances which a man encounters with blessedness, not material possessions, is the measure of right thought. Wretchedness, not lack of material possessions, is the measure of wrong thought. A man may be cursed and rich; he may be blessed and poor. blessedness and riches are only joined together when the riches are rightly and wisely used. And the poor man only descends into wretchedness when he regards his lot as a burden unjustly imposed.
Indigence and indulgence are the two extremes of wretchedness. They are both equally unnatural and the result of mental disorder. A man is not rightly conditioned until he is a happy, healthy, and prosperous being. And happiness, health, and prosperity are the result of a harmonious adjustment of the inner with the outer, of the man with his surroundings.
A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life. And as he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts. He ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid progress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities within himself.
Law, not confusion, is the dominating principle in the universe. Justice, not injustice, is the soul and substance of life. And righteousness, not corruption, is the molding and moving force in the spiritual government of the world. This being so, man has but to right himself to find that the universe is right; and during the process of putting himself right, he will find that as he alters his thoughts toward things and other people, things and other people will alter toward him.
The proof of this truth is in every person, and it therefore admits of easy investigation by systematic introspection and self-analysis. Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his life.
men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot. It rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into habits of drunkenness and sensuality, which solidify into circumstances of destitution and disease. Impure thoughts of every kind crystallize into enervating and confusing habits, which solidify into distracting and adverse circumstances. Thoughts of fear, doubt, and indecision crystallize into weak, unmanly, and irresolute habits, which solidify into circumstances of failure, indigence, and slavish dependence.
Lazy thoughts crystallize into habits of uncleanliness and dishonesty, which solidify into circumstances of foulness and beggary. Hateful and condemnatory thoughts crystallize into habits of accusation and violence, which solidify into circumstances of injury and persecution. Selfish thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of self-seeking, which solidify into circumstances more of less distressing.
On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all crystallize into habits of grace and kindliness, which solidify into genial and sunny circumstances. Pure thoughts crystallize into habits of temperance and self-control, which solidify into circumstances of repose and peace. Thoughts of courage, self-reliance, and decision crystallize into manly habits, which solidify into circumstances of success, plenty, and freedom.
Energetic thoughts crystallize into habits of cleanliness and industry, which solidify into circumstances of pleasantness. Gentle and forgiving thoughts crystallize into habits of gentleness, which solidify into protective and preservative circumstances. Loving and unselfish thoughts crystallize into habits of self-forgetfulness for others, which solidify into circumstances of sure and abiding prosperity and true riches.
A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad, cannot fail to produce its results on the character and circumstances. A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.
Nature helps every man to the gratification of the thoughts which he most encourages, and opportunities are presented which will most speedily bring to the surface both the good and evil thoughts.
Let a man cease from his sinful thoughts, and all the world will soften toward him, and be ready to help him. Let him put away his weakly and sickly thoughts, and lo! opportunities will spring up on every hand to aid his strong resolves. Let him encourage good thoughts, and no hard fate shall bind him down to wretchedness and shame. The world is your kaleidoscope, and the varying combinations of colors which at every succeeding moment it presents to you are the exquisitely adjusted pictures of your evermoving thoughts.
You will be what you will to be;
Let failure find its false content
In that poor word, "environment,"
But spirit scorns it, and is free.
It masters time, it conquers space;
It cows that boastful trickster, Chance,
And bids the tyrant Circumstance
Uncrown, and fill a servant's place.
The human Will, that force unseen,
The offspring of a deathless Soul,
Can hew a way to any goal,
Though walls of granite intervene.
Be not impatient in delay,
But wait as one who understands;
When spirit rises and commands,
The gods are ready to obey.
Chapter Three
Effect of Thought on Health and the Body
The body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed. At the bidding of unlawful thoughts the body sinks rapidly into disease and decay; at the command of glad and beautiful thoughts it becomes clothed with youthfulness and beauty.
Disease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in thought. Sickly thoughts will express themselves through a sickly body. Thoughts of fear have been known to kill a man as speedily as a bullet, and they are continually killing thousands of people just as surely though less rapidly. The people who live in fear of disease are the people who get it. Anxiety quickly demoralizes the whole body, and lays it open to the entrance of disease; while impure thoughts, even if not physically indulged, will soon shatter the nervous system.
Strong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigor and grace. The body is a delicate and plastic instrument, which responds readily to the thoughts by which it is impressed, and habits of thought will produce their own effects, good or bad, upon it.
Men will continue to have impure and poisoned blood so long as they propagate unclean thoughts. Out of a clean heart comes a clean life and a clean body. Out of a defiled mind proceeds a defiled life and corrupt body. Thought is the fountain of action, life and manifestation; make the fountain pure, and all will be pure.
Change of diet will not help a man who will not change his thoughts. When a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer desires impure food.
If you would perfect your body, guard your mind. If you would renew your body, beautify your mind. Thoughts of malice, envy, disappointment, despondency, rob the body of its health and grace. A sour face does not come by chance; it is made by sour thoughts. Wrinkles that mar are drawn by folly, passion, pride.
I know a woman of ninety-six who has the bright, innocent face of a girl. I know a man well under middle age whose face is drawn into inharmonious contours. The one is the result of a sweet and sunny disposition; the other is the outcome of passion and discontent.
As you cannot have a sweet and wholesome abode unless you admit the air and sunshine freely into your rooms, so a strong body and a bright, happy, or serene countenance can only result from the free admittance into the mind of thoughts of joy and good will and serenity.
On the faces of the aged there are wrinkles made by sympathy, others by strong and pure thought, others are carved by passion. Who cannot distinguish them? With those who have lived righteously, age is calm, peaceful, and softly mellowed, like the setting sun. I have recently seen a philosopher on his deathbed. He was not old except in years. He died as sweetly and peacefully as he had lived.
There is no physician like cheerful thought for dissipating the ills of the body; there is no comforter to compare with good will for dispersing the shadows of grief and sorrow. To live continually in thoughts of ill will, cynicism, suspicion, and envy, is to be confined in a self-made prison hole. But to think well of all, to be cheerful with all, to patiently learn to find the good in all - such unselfish thoughts are the very portals of heaven; and to dwell day to day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring abounding peace to their possessor.
Chapter Four
Thought and Purpose
Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment. With the majority the bark of thought is allowed to "drift" upon the ocean of life. Aimlessness is a vice, and such drifting must not continue for him who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction.
They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to worries, fears, troubles, and self-pityings, all of which are indications of weakness, which lead, just as surely as deliberately planned sins (though by a different route), to failure, unhappiness, and loss, for weakness cannot persist in a power-evolving universe.
A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing point of his thoughts. It may take the form of a spiritual ideal, or it may be a worldly object, according to his nature at the time being. But whichever it is, he should steadily focus his thought forces upon the object which he has set before him. He should make this purpose his supreme duty, and should devote himself to its attainment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away into ephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings. This is the royal road to self-control and true concentration of thought. Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome), the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting point for future power and triumph.
Those who are not prepared for the apprehension of a great purpose, should fix the thoughts upon the faultless performance of their duty, no matter how insignificant their task may appear. Only in this way can the thoughts be gathered and focused, and resolution and energy be developed, which being done, there is nothing which may not be accomplished.
The weakest soul, knowing its own weakness, and believing this truth - that strength can only be developed by effort and practice, will at once begin to exert itself, and adding effort to effort, patience to patience, and strength to strength, will never cease to develop, and will at last grow divinely strong.
As the physically weak man can make himself strong by careful and patient training, so the man of weak thoughts can make them strong by exercising himself in right thinking.
To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment; who make all conditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly, and accomplish masterfully.
Having conceived of his purpose, a man should mentally mark out a straight pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right nor to the left. Doubts and fears should be rigorously excluded; they are disintegrating elements which break up the straight line of effort, rendering it crooked, ineffectual, useless. Thoughts of doubt and fear never accomplish anything, and never can. They always lead to failure. Purpose, energy, power to do, and all strong thoughts cease when doubt and fear creep in.
The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do. Doubt and fear are the great enemies of knowledge, and he who encourages them, who does not slay them, thwarts himself at every step.
He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure. His every thought is allied with power, and all difficulties are bravely met and wisely overcome. His purposes are seasonably planted, and they bloom and bring forth fruit which does not fall prematurely to the ground.
Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force. He who knows this is ready to become something higher and stronger than a mere bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations. He who does this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder of his mental powers.
Chapter Five
The Thought-Factor in Achievement
All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe, where loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual responsibility must be absolute. A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own, and not another man's. They are brought about by himself, and not by another; and they can only be altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own, and not another man's. His suffering and his happiness are evolved from within. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains.
A strong man cannot help a weaker unless the weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself. He must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition.
It has been usual for men to think and to say, "Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor." Now, however, there is among an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment, and to say, "One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves." The truth is that oppressor and slave are cooperators in ignorance, and, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality afflicting themselves. A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in the weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor. A perfect Love, seeing the suffering which both states entail, condemns neither. A perfect Compassion embraces both oppressor and oppressed.
He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish thoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free.
A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak, and abject, and miserable by refusing to lift up his thoughts.
Before a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things, he must lift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence. He may not, in order to succeed, give up all animality and selfishness, by any means; but a portion of it must, at least, be sacrificed. A man whose first thought is bestial indulgence could neither think clearly nor plan methodically. He could not find and develop his latent resources, and would fail in any undertaking. Not having commenced manfully to control his thoughts, he is not in a position to control affairs and to adopt serious responsibilities. He is not fit to act independently and stand alone, but he is limited only by the thoughts which he chooses.
There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice. A man's worldly success will be in the measure that he sacrifices his confused animal thoughts, and fixes his mind on the development of his plans, and the strengthening of his resolution and self reliance. And the higher he lifts his thoughts, the more manly, upright, and righteous he becomes, the greater will be his success, the more blessed an enduring will be his achievements.
The universe does not favor the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious, although on the mere surface it may sometimes appear to do so; it helps the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous. All the great Teachers of the ages have declared this in varying forms, and to prove and know it a man has but to persist in making himself more and more virtuous by lifting up his thoughts.
Intellectual achievements are the result of thought consecrated to the search for knowledge, or for the beautiful and true in life and nature. Such achievements may be sometimes connected with vanity and ambition but they are not the outcome of those characteristics. They are the natural outgrowth of long an arduous effort, and of pure and unselfish thoughts.
Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He who lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts, who dwells upon all that is pure and unselfish, will, as surely as the sun reaches its zenith and the moon its full, become wise and noble in character, and rise into a position of influence and blessedness.
Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort, the diadem of thought. By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity, righteousness, and well-directed thought a man ascends. By the aid of animality, indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion of thought a man descends.
A man may rise to high success in the world, and even to lofty altitudes in the spiritual realm, and again descend into weakness and wretchedness by allowing arrogant, selfish, and corrupt thoughts to take possession of him.
Victories attained by right thought can only be maintained by watchfulness. Many give way when success is assured, and rapidly fall back into failure.
All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought, are governed by the same law and are of the same method; the only difference lies in the object of attainment.
He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little. He who would achieve much must sacrifice much. He who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.
Chapter Six
Visions and Ideals
The dreamers are the saviors of the world. As the visible world is sustained by the invisible, so men, through all their trials and sins and sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions of their solitary dreamers. Humanity cannot forget its dreamers. It cannot let their ideals fade and die. It lives in them. It knows them in the realities which it shall one day see and know.
Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage, these are the makers of the afterworld, the architects of heaven. The world is beautiful because they have lived; without them, laboring humanity would perish.
He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it. Columbus cherished a vision of another world, and he discovered it. Copernicus fostered the vision of a multiplicity of worlds and a wider universe, and he revealed it. Buddha beheld the vision of a spiritual world of stainless beauty and perfect peace, and he entered into it.
Cherish your visions. Cherish your ideals. Cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.
To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to achieve. Shall man's basest desires receive the fullest measure of gratification, and his purest aspirations starve for lack of sustenance? Such is not the Law. Such a condition of things can never obtain - "Ask and receive."
Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be. Your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.
The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.
Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it. You cannot travel within and stand still without. Here is a youth hard pressed by poverty and labor; confined long hours in an unhealthy workshop; unschooled, and lacking all the arts of refinement. But he dreams of better things. He thinks of intelligence, of refinement, of grace and beauty. He conceives of, mentally builds up, an ideal condition of life. The vision of the wider liberty and a larger scope takes possession of him; unrest urges him to action, and he utilizes all his spare time and means, small though they are, to the development of his latent powers and resources.
Very soon so altered has his mind become that the workshop can no longer hold him. It has become so out of harmony with his mentality that it falls out of his life as a garment is cast aside, and with the growth of opportunities which fit the scope of his expanding powers, he passes out of it forever.
Years later we see this youth as a full-grown man. We find him a master of certain forces of the mind which he wields with world-wide influence and almost unequaled power. In his hands he holds the cords of gigantic responsibilities. He speaks, and lo! lives are changed. Men and women hang upon his words and remold their characters, and, sunlike, he becomes the fixed and luminous center around which innumerable destinies revolve. He has realized the Vision of his youth. He has become one with his Ideal.
And you, too, youthful reader, will realize the Vision (not the idle wish) of your heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both, for you will always gravitate toward that which you secretly most love. Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts; you will receive that which you earn, no more, no less. Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your Vision, your Ideal. You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration.
In the beautiful words of Stanton Kirkham Dave, "You may be keeping accounts, and presently you shall walk out of the door that for so long has seemed to you the barrier of your ideals, and shall find yourself before an audience - the pen still behind your ear, the ink stains on your fingers - and then and there shall pour out the torrent of your inspiration. You may be driving sheep, and you shall wander to the city - bucolic and open mouthed; shall wander under the intrepid guidance of the spirit into the studio of the master, and after a time he shall say, 'I have nothing more to teach you.' And now you have become the master, who did so recently dream of great things while driving sheep. You shall lay down the saw and the plane to take upon yourself the regeneration of the world."
The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck, of fortune, and chance. See a man grow rich, they say, "How lucky he is!" Observing another become intellectual, they exclaim, "How highly favored he is!" And noting the saintly character and wide influence of another, the remark, "How chance aids him at every turn!"
They do not see the trials and failures and struggles which these men have voluntarily encountered in order to gain their experience. They have no knowledge of the sacrifices they have made, of the undaunted efforts they have put forth, of the faith they have exercised, that they might overcome the apparently insurmountable, and realize the Vision of their heart. They do not know the darkness and the heartaches; they only see the light and joy, and call it "luck"; do not see the long and arduous journey, but only behold the pleasant goal, and call it "good fortune"; do not understand the process, but only perceive the result, and call it "chance."
In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not. "Gifts," powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort. They are thoughts completed, objects accomplished, visions realized.
The vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart - this you will build your life by, this you will become.
Chapter Seven
Serenity
Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.
A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself as a thought-evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates the understanding of others as the result of thought. As he develops a right understanding, and sees more and more clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause and effect, he ceases to fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and remains poised, steadfast, serene.
The calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knows how to adapt himself to others; and they, in turn, reverence his spiritual strength, and feel that they can learn of him and rely upon him. The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Even the ordinary trader will find his business prosperity increase as he develops a greater self-control and equanimity, for people will always prefer to deal with a man whose demeanor is strongly equable.
The strong calm man is always loved and revered. He is like a shade-giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm. Who does not love a tranquil heart, a sweet-tempered, balanced life? It does not matter whether it rains or shines, or what changes come to those possessing these blessings, for they are always sweet, serene, and calm. That exquisite poise of character which we call serenity is the last lesson culture; it is the flowering of life, the fruitage of the soul. It is precious as wisdom, more to be desired than gold - yea, than even fine gold. How insignificant mere money-seeking looks in comparison with a serene life - a life that dwells in the ocean of Truth, beneath the waves, beyond the reach of tempests, in the Eternal Calm!
"How many people we know who sour their lives, who ruin all that is sweet and beautiful by explosive tempers, who destroy their poise of character, and make bad blood! It is a question whether the great majority of people do not ruin their lives and mar their happiness by lack of self-control. How few people we meet in life who are well-balanced, who have that exquisite poise which is characteristic of the finished character!"
Yes, humanity surges with uncontrolled passion, is tumultuous with ungoverned grief, is blown about by anxiety and doubt. Only the wise man, only he whose thoughts are controlled and purified, makes the winds and the storms of the soul obey him.
Tempest-tossed souls, wherever ye may be, under whatsoever conditions ye may live, know this - in the ocean of life the isles of Blessedness are smiling, and sunny shore of your ideal awaits your coming. Keep your hand firmly upon the helm of thought. In the bark of your soul reclines the commanding Master; He does but sleep; wake Him. Self-control is strength; Right Thought is mastery; Calmness is power.
Say unto your heart, "Peace, be still!"
The End
by James Allen
Foreword
This little volume (the result of meditation and experience) is not intended as an exhaustive treatise on the much-written upon subject of the power of thought. It is suggestive rather than explanatory, its object being to stimulate men and women to the discovery and perception of the truth that -
"They themselves are makers of themselves"
by virtue of the thoughts which they choose and encourage; that mind is the master weaver, both of the inner garment of character and the outer garment of circumstance, and that, as they may have hitherto woven in ignorance and pain they may now weave in enlightenment and happiness.
James Allen
Chapter One
Thought and Character
The aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he," not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.
As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts called "spontaneous" and "unpremeditated" as to those which are deliberately executed.
Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.
Thought in the mind hath made us. What we are
By thought we wrought and built. If a man's mind
Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes
The wheel the ox behind . . . If one endure in purity
of thought joy follows him as his own shadow - sure.
Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things. A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harboring of groveling thoughts.
Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master.
Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this - that man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.
As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.
Man is always the master, even in his weakest and most abandoned state; but in his weakness and degradation he is the foolish master who misgoverns his "household." When he begins to reflect upon his condition, and to search diligently for the Law upon which his being is established, he then becomes the wise master, directing his energies with intelligence, and fashioning his thoughts to fruitful issues. Such is the conscious master, and man can only thus become by discovering within himself the laws of thought; which discovery is totally a matter of application, self-analysis, and experience.
Only by much searching and mining are gold an diamonds obtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul. And that he is the maker of his character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny, he may unerringly prove: if he will watch, control, and alter his thoughts, tracing their effects upon himself, upon others, and upon his life and circumstances; if he will link cause and effect by patient practice and investigation, utilizing his every experience, even to the most trivial, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of himself. In this direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that "He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened"; for only by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity can a man enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge.
Chapter Two
Effect of Thought on Circumstances
A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.
Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts, By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also reveals, within himself, the laws of thought, and understands with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought forces and mind elements operate in the shaping of his character, circumstances, and destiny.
Thought and character are one, and as character can only manifest and discover itself through environment and circumstance, the outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state. This does not mean that a man's circumstances at any given time are an indication of his entire character, but that those circumstances are so intimately connected with some vital thought element within himself that, for the time being, they are indispensable to his development.
Every man is where he is by the law of his being. The thoughts which he has built into his character have brought him there, and in the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but all is the result of a law which cannot err. This is just as true of those who feel "out of harmony" with their surroundings as of those who are contented with them.
As the progressive and evolving being, man is where he is that he may learn that he may grow; and as he learns the spiritual lesson which any circumstance contains for him, it passes away and gives place to other circumstances.
Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions. But when he realizes that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master of himself.
That circumstances grow out of thought every man knows who has for any length of time practiced self-control and self-purification, for he will have noticed that the alteration in his circumstances has been in exact ratio with his altered mental condition. So true is this that when a man earnestly applies himself to remedy the defects in his character, and makes swift and marked progress, he passes rapidly through a succession of vicissitudes.
The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors; that which it loves, and also that which it fears. It reaches the height of its cherished aspirations. It falls to the level of its unchastened desires - and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.
Every thought seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and to take root there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later into act, and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance. Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit.
The outer world of circumstance shapes itself to the inner world of thought, and both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions are factors which make for the ultimate good of the individual. As the reaper of his own harvest, man learns both by suffering and bliss.
A man does not come to the almshouse or the jail by the tyranny of fate of circumstance, but by the pathway of groveling thoughts and base desires. Nor does a pure-minded man fall suddenly into crime by stress of any mere external force; the criminal thought had long been secretly fostered in the heart, and the hour of opportunity revealed its gathered power.
Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself. No such conditions can exist as descending into vice and its attendant sufferings apart from vicious inclinations, or ascending into virtue and its pure happiness without the continued cultivation of virtuous aspirations. And man, therefore, as the Lord and master of thought, is the maker of himself, the shaper and author of environment. Even at birth the soul comes to its own, and through every step of its earthly pilgrimage it attracts those combinations of conditions which reveal itself, which are the reflections of its own purity and impurity, its strength and weakness.
Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are. Their whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step, but their inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their own food, be it foul or clean. The "divinity that shapes our ends" is in ourselves; it is our very self. Man is manacled only by himself. Thought and action are the jailers of Fate - they imprison, being base. They are also the angels of Freedom - they liberate, being noble. Not what he wishes and prays for does a man get, but what he justly earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions.
In the light of this truth, what, then, is the meaning of "fighting against circumstances"? It means that a man is continually revolting against an effect without, while all the time he is nourishing and preserving its cause in his heart. That cause may take the form of a conscious vice or an unconscious weakness; but whatever it is, it stubbornly retards the efforts of its possessor, and thus calls aloud for remedy.
Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves. They therefore remain bound. The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set. This is as true of earthly as of heavenly things. Even the man whose sole object is to acquire wealth must be prepared to make great personal sacrifices before he can accomplish his object; and how much more so he who would realize a strong and well-poised life?
Here is a man who is wretchedly poor. He is extremely anxious that his surroundings and home comforts should be improved. Yet all the time he shirks his work, and considers he is justified in trying to deceive his employer on the ground of the insufficiency of his wages. Such a man does not understand the simplest rudiments of those principles which are the basis of true prosperity. He is not only totally unfitted to rise out of his wretchedness, but is actually attracting to himself a still deeper wretchedness by dwelling in, and acting out, indolent, deceptive, and unmanly thoughts.
Here is a rich man who is the victim of a painful and persistent disease as the result of gluttony. He is willing to give large sums of money to get rid of it, but he will not sacrifice his gluttonous desires. He wants to gratify his taste for rich and unnatural foods and have his health as well. Such a man is totally unfit to have health, because he has not yet learned the first principles of a healthy life.
Here is an employer of labor who adopts crooked measures to avoid paying the regulation wage, and, in the hope of making larger profits, reduces the wages of his workpeople. Such a man is altogether unfitted for prosperity. And when he finds himself bankrupt, both as regards reputation and riches, he blames circumstances, not knowing that he is the sole author of his condition.
I have introduced these three cases merely as illustrative of the truth that man is the cause (though nearly always unconsciously) of his circumstances. That, while aiming at the good end, he is continually frustrating its accomplishment by encouraging thoughts and desires which cannot possibly harmonize with that end. Such cases could be multiplied and varied almost indefinitely, but this is not necessary. The reader can, if he so resolves, trace the action of the laws of thought in his own mind and life, and until this is done, mere external facts cannot serve as a ground of reasoning.
Circumstances, however, are so complicated, thought is so deeply rooted, and the conditions of happiness vary so vastly with individuals, that a man's entire soul condition (although it may be known to himself) cannot be judged by another from the external aspect of his life alone.
A man may be honest in certain directions, yet suffer privations. A man may be dishonest in certain directions, yet acquire wealth. But the conclusion usually formed that the one man fails because of his particular honesty, and that the other prospers because of his particular dishonesty, is the result of a superficial judgment, which assumes that the dishonest man is almost totally corrupt, and honest man almost entirely virtuous. In the light of a deeper knowledge and wider experience, such judgment is found to be erroneous. The dishonest man may have some admirable virtues which the other does not possess; and the honest man obnoxious vices which are absent in the other. The honest man reaps the good results of his honest thoughts and acts; he also brings upon himself the sufferings which his vices produce. The dishonest man likewise garners his own suffering and happiness.
It is pleasing to human vanity to believe that one suffers because of one's virtue. But not until a man has extirpated every sickly, bitter, and impure thought from his mind, and washed every sinful stain from his soul, can he be in a position to know and declare that his sufferings are the result of his good, and not of his bad qualities. And on the way to that supreme perfection, he will have found working in his mind and life, the Great Law which is absolutely just, and which cannot give good for evil, evil for good. Possessed of such knowledge, he will then know, looking back upon his past ignorance and blindness, that his life is, and always was, justly ordered, and that all his past experiences, good and bad, were the equitable outworking of his evolving, yet unevolved self.
Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results. Bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world, and work with it. But few understand it in the mental and moral world (though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating), and they, therefore, do not cooperate with it.
Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself, with the Law of his being. The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure. Suffering ceases for him who is pure. There could be not object in burning gold after the dross had been removed, and perfectly pure and enlightened being could not suffer.
The circumstances which a man encounters with suffering are the result of his own mental inharmony. The circumstances which a man encounters with blessedness, not material possessions, is the measure of right thought. Wretchedness, not lack of material possessions, is the measure of wrong thought. A man may be cursed and rich; he may be blessed and poor. blessedness and riches are only joined together when the riches are rightly and wisely used. And the poor man only descends into wretchedness when he regards his lot as a burden unjustly imposed.
Indigence and indulgence are the two extremes of wretchedness. They are both equally unnatural and the result of mental disorder. A man is not rightly conditioned until he is a happy, healthy, and prosperous being. And happiness, health, and prosperity are the result of a harmonious adjustment of the inner with the outer, of the man with his surroundings.
A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life. And as he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts. He ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid progress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities within himself.
Law, not confusion, is the dominating principle in the universe. Justice, not injustice, is the soul and substance of life. And righteousness, not corruption, is the molding and moving force in the spiritual government of the world. This being so, man has but to right himself to find that the universe is right; and during the process of putting himself right, he will find that as he alters his thoughts toward things and other people, things and other people will alter toward him.
The proof of this truth is in every person, and it therefore admits of easy investigation by systematic introspection and self-analysis. Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his life.
men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot. It rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into habits of drunkenness and sensuality, which solidify into circumstances of destitution and disease. Impure thoughts of every kind crystallize into enervating and confusing habits, which solidify into distracting and adverse circumstances. Thoughts of fear, doubt, and indecision crystallize into weak, unmanly, and irresolute habits, which solidify into circumstances of failure, indigence, and slavish dependence.
Lazy thoughts crystallize into habits of uncleanliness and dishonesty, which solidify into circumstances of foulness and beggary. Hateful and condemnatory thoughts crystallize into habits of accusation and violence, which solidify into circumstances of injury and persecution. Selfish thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of self-seeking, which solidify into circumstances more of less distressing.
On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all crystallize into habits of grace and kindliness, which solidify into genial and sunny circumstances. Pure thoughts crystallize into habits of temperance and self-control, which solidify into circumstances of repose and peace. Thoughts of courage, self-reliance, and decision crystallize into manly habits, which solidify into circumstances of success, plenty, and freedom.
Energetic thoughts crystallize into habits of cleanliness and industry, which solidify into circumstances of pleasantness. Gentle and forgiving thoughts crystallize into habits of gentleness, which solidify into protective and preservative circumstances. Loving and unselfish thoughts crystallize into habits of self-forgetfulness for others, which solidify into circumstances of sure and abiding prosperity and true riches.
A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad, cannot fail to produce its results on the character and circumstances. A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.
Nature helps every man to the gratification of the thoughts which he most encourages, and opportunities are presented which will most speedily bring to the surface both the good and evil thoughts.
Let a man cease from his sinful thoughts, and all the world will soften toward him, and be ready to help him. Let him put away his weakly and sickly thoughts, and lo! opportunities will spring up on every hand to aid his strong resolves. Let him encourage good thoughts, and no hard fate shall bind him down to wretchedness and shame. The world is your kaleidoscope, and the varying combinations of colors which at every succeeding moment it presents to you are the exquisitely adjusted pictures of your evermoving thoughts.
You will be what you will to be;
Let failure find its false content
In that poor word, "environment,"
But spirit scorns it, and is free.
It masters time, it conquers space;
It cows that boastful trickster, Chance,
And bids the tyrant Circumstance
Uncrown, and fill a servant's place.
The human Will, that force unseen,
The offspring of a deathless Soul,
Can hew a way to any goal,
Though walls of granite intervene.
Be not impatient in delay,
But wait as one who understands;
When spirit rises and commands,
The gods are ready to obey.
Chapter Three
Effect of Thought on Health and the Body
The body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed. At the bidding of unlawful thoughts the body sinks rapidly into disease and decay; at the command of glad and beautiful thoughts it becomes clothed with youthfulness and beauty.
Disease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in thought. Sickly thoughts will express themselves through a sickly body. Thoughts of fear have been known to kill a man as speedily as a bullet, and they are continually killing thousands of people just as surely though less rapidly. The people who live in fear of disease are the people who get it. Anxiety quickly demoralizes the whole body, and lays it open to the entrance of disease; while impure thoughts, even if not physically indulged, will soon shatter the nervous system.
Strong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigor and grace. The body is a delicate and plastic instrument, which responds readily to the thoughts by which it is impressed, and habits of thought will produce their own effects, good or bad, upon it.
Men will continue to have impure and poisoned blood so long as they propagate unclean thoughts. Out of a clean heart comes a clean life and a clean body. Out of a defiled mind proceeds a defiled life and corrupt body. Thought is the fountain of action, life and manifestation; make the fountain pure, and all will be pure.
Change of diet will not help a man who will not change his thoughts. When a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer desires impure food.
If you would perfect your body, guard your mind. If you would renew your body, beautify your mind. Thoughts of malice, envy, disappointment, despondency, rob the body of its health and grace. A sour face does not come by chance; it is made by sour thoughts. Wrinkles that mar are drawn by folly, passion, pride.
I know a woman of ninety-six who has the bright, innocent face of a girl. I know a man well under middle age whose face is drawn into inharmonious contours. The one is the result of a sweet and sunny disposition; the other is the outcome of passion and discontent.
As you cannot have a sweet and wholesome abode unless you admit the air and sunshine freely into your rooms, so a strong body and a bright, happy, or serene countenance can only result from the free admittance into the mind of thoughts of joy and good will and serenity.
On the faces of the aged there are wrinkles made by sympathy, others by strong and pure thought, others are carved by passion. Who cannot distinguish them? With those who have lived righteously, age is calm, peaceful, and softly mellowed, like the setting sun. I have recently seen a philosopher on his deathbed. He was not old except in years. He died as sweetly and peacefully as he had lived.
There is no physician like cheerful thought for dissipating the ills of the body; there is no comforter to compare with good will for dispersing the shadows of grief and sorrow. To live continually in thoughts of ill will, cynicism, suspicion, and envy, is to be confined in a self-made prison hole. But to think well of all, to be cheerful with all, to patiently learn to find the good in all - such unselfish thoughts are the very portals of heaven; and to dwell day to day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring abounding peace to their possessor.
Chapter Four
Thought and Purpose
Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment. With the majority the bark of thought is allowed to "drift" upon the ocean of life. Aimlessness is a vice, and such drifting must not continue for him who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction.
They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to worries, fears, troubles, and self-pityings, all of which are indications of weakness, which lead, just as surely as deliberately planned sins (though by a different route), to failure, unhappiness, and loss, for weakness cannot persist in a power-evolving universe.
A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing point of his thoughts. It may take the form of a spiritual ideal, or it may be a worldly object, according to his nature at the time being. But whichever it is, he should steadily focus his thought forces upon the object which he has set before him. He should make this purpose his supreme duty, and should devote himself to its attainment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away into ephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings. This is the royal road to self-control and true concentration of thought. Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome), the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting point for future power and triumph.
Those who are not prepared for the apprehension of a great purpose, should fix the thoughts upon the faultless performance of their duty, no matter how insignificant their task may appear. Only in this way can the thoughts be gathered and focused, and resolution and energy be developed, which being done, there is nothing which may not be accomplished.
The weakest soul, knowing its own weakness, and believing this truth - that strength can only be developed by effort and practice, will at once begin to exert itself, and adding effort to effort, patience to patience, and strength to strength, will never cease to develop, and will at last grow divinely strong.
As the physically weak man can make himself strong by careful and patient training, so the man of weak thoughts can make them strong by exercising himself in right thinking.
To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment; who make all conditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly, and accomplish masterfully.
Having conceived of his purpose, a man should mentally mark out a straight pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right nor to the left. Doubts and fears should be rigorously excluded; they are disintegrating elements which break up the straight line of effort, rendering it crooked, ineffectual, useless. Thoughts of doubt and fear never accomplish anything, and never can. They always lead to failure. Purpose, energy, power to do, and all strong thoughts cease when doubt and fear creep in.
The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do. Doubt and fear are the great enemies of knowledge, and he who encourages them, who does not slay them, thwarts himself at every step.
He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure. His every thought is allied with power, and all difficulties are bravely met and wisely overcome. His purposes are seasonably planted, and they bloom and bring forth fruit which does not fall prematurely to the ground.
Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force. He who knows this is ready to become something higher and stronger than a mere bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations. He who does this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder of his mental powers.
Chapter Five
The Thought-Factor in Achievement
All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe, where loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual responsibility must be absolute. A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own, and not another man's. They are brought about by himself, and not by another; and they can only be altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own, and not another man's. His suffering and his happiness are evolved from within. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains.
A strong man cannot help a weaker unless the weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself. He must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition.
It has been usual for men to think and to say, "Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor." Now, however, there is among an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment, and to say, "One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves." The truth is that oppressor and slave are cooperators in ignorance, and, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality afflicting themselves. A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in the weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor. A perfect Love, seeing the suffering which both states entail, condemns neither. A perfect Compassion embraces both oppressor and oppressed.
He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish thoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free.
A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak, and abject, and miserable by refusing to lift up his thoughts.
Before a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things, he must lift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence. He may not, in order to succeed, give up all animality and selfishness, by any means; but a portion of it must, at least, be sacrificed. A man whose first thought is bestial indulgence could neither think clearly nor plan methodically. He could not find and develop his latent resources, and would fail in any undertaking. Not having commenced manfully to control his thoughts, he is not in a position to control affairs and to adopt serious responsibilities. He is not fit to act independently and stand alone, but he is limited only by the thoughts which he chooses.
There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice. A man's worldly success will be in the measure that he sacrifices his confused animal thoughts, and fixes his mind on the development of his plans, and the strengthening of his resolution and self reliance. And the higher he lifts his thoughts, the more manly, upright, and righteous he becomes, the greater will be his success, the more blessed an enduring will be his achievements.
The universe does not favor the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious, although on the mere surface it may sometimes appear to do so; it helps the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous. All the great Teachers of the ages have declared this in varying forms, and to prove and know it a man has but to persist in making himself more and more virtuous by lifting up his thoughts.
Intellectual achievements are the result of thought consecrated to the search for knowledge, or for the beautiful and true in life and nature. Such achievements may be sometimes connected with vanity and ambition but they are not the outcome of those characteristics. They are the natural outgrowth of long an arduous effort, and of pure and unselfish thoughts.
Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He who lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts, who dwells upon all that is pure and unselfish, will, as surely as the sun reaches its zenith and the moon its full, become wise and noble in character, and rise into a position of influence and blessedness.
Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort, the diadem of thought. By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity, righteousness, and well-directed thought a man ascends. By the aid of animality, indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion of thought a man descends.
A man may rise to high success in the world, and even to lofty altitudes in the spiritual realm, and again descend into weakness and wretchedness by allowing arrogant, selfish, and corrupt thoughts to take possession of him.
Victories attained by right thought can only be maintained by watchfulness. Many give way when success is assured, and rapidly fall back into failure.
All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought, are governed by the same law and are of the same method; the only difference lies in the object of attainment.
He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little. He who would achieve much must sacrifice much. He who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.
Chapter Six
Visions and Ideals
The dreamers are the saviors of the world. As the visible world is sustained by the invisible, so men, through all their trials and sins and sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions of their solitary dreamers. Humanity cannot forget its dreamers. It cannot let their ideals fade and die. It lives in them. It knows them in the realities which it shall one day see and know.
Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage, these are the makers of the afterworld, the architects of heaven. The world is beautiful because they have lived; without them, laboring humanity would perish.
He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it. Columbus cherished a vision of another world, and he discovered it. Copernicus fostered the vision of a multiplicity of worlds and a wider universe, and he revealed it. Buddha beheld the vision of a spiritual world of stainless beauty and perfect peace, and he entered into it.
Cherish your visions. Cherish your ideals. Cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.
To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to achieve. Shall man's basest desires receive the fullest measure of gratification, and his purest aspirations starve for lack of sustenance? Such is not the Law. Such a condition of things can never obtain - "Ask and receive."
Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be. Your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.
The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.
Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it. You cannot travel within and stand still without. Here is a youth hard pressed by poverty and labor; confined long hours in an unhealthy workshop; unschooled, and lacking all the arts of refinement. But he dreams of better things. He thinks of intelligence, of refinement, of grace and beauty. He conceives of, mentally builds up, an ideal condition of life. The vision of the wider liberty and a larger scope takes possession of him; unrest urges him to action, and he utilizes all his spare time and means, small though they are, to the development of his latent powers and resources.
Very soon so altered has his mind become that the workshop can no longer hold him. It has become so out of harmony with his mentality that it falls out of his life as a garment is cast aside, and with the growth of opportunities which fit the scope of his expanding powers, he passes out of it forever.
Years later we see this youth as a full-grown man. We find him a master of certain forces of the mind which he wields with world-wide influence and almost unequaled power. In his hands he holds the cords of gigantic responsibilities. He speaks, and lo! lives are changed. Men and women hang upon his words and remold their characters, and, sunlike, he becomes the fixed and luminous center around which innumerable destinies revolve. He has realized the Vision of his youth. He has become one with his Ideal.
And you, too, youthful reader, will realize the Vision (not the idle wish) of your heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both, for you will always gravitate toward that which you secretly most love. Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts; you will receive that which you earn, no more, no less. Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your Vision, your Ideal. You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration.
In the beautiful words of Stanton Kirkham Dave, "You may be keeping accounts, and presently you shall walk out of the door that for so long has seemed to you the barrier of your ideals, and shall find yourself before an audience - the pen still behind your ear, the ink stains on your fingers - and then and there shall pour out the torrent of your inspiration. You may be driving sheep, and you shall wander to the city - bucolic and open mouthed; shall wander under the intrepid guidance of the spirit into the studio of the master, and after a time he shall say, 'I have nothing more to teach you.' And now you have become the master, who did so recently dream of great things while driving sheep. You shall lay down the saw and the plane to take upon yourself the regeneration of the world."
The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck, of fortune, and chance. See a man grow rich, they say, "How lucky he is!" Observing another become intellectual, they exclaim, "How highly favored he is!" And noting the saintly character and wide influence of another, the remark, "How chance aids him at every turn!"
They do not see the trials and failures and struggles which these men have voluntarily encountered in order to gain their experience. They have no knowledge of the sacrifices they have made, of the undaunted efforts they have put forth, of the faith they have exercised, that they might overcome the apparently insurmountable, and realize the Vision of their heart. They do not know the darkness and the heartaches; they only see the light and joy, and call it "luck"; do not see the long and arduous journey, but only behold the pleasant goal, and call it "good fortune"; do not understand the process, but only perceive the result, and call it "chance."
In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not. "Gifts," powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort. They are thoughts completed, objects accomplished, visions realized.
The vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart - this you will build your life by, this you will become.
Chapter Seven
Serenity
Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.
A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself as a thought-evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates the understanding of others as the result of thought. As he develops a right understanding, and sees more and more clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause and effect, he ceases to fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and remains poised, steadfast, serene.
The calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knows how to adapt himself to others; and they, in turn, reverence his spiritual strength, and feel that they can learn of him and rely upon him. The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Even the ordinary trader will find his business prosperity increase as he develops a greater self-control and equanimity, for people will always prefer to deal with a man whose demeanor is strongly equable.
The strong calm man is always loved and revered. He is like a shade-giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm. Who does not love a tranquil heart, a sweet-tempered, balanced life? It does not matter whether it rains or shines, or what changes come to those possessing these blessings, for they are always sweet, serene, and calm. That exquisite poise of character which we call serenity is the last lesson culture; it is the flowering of life, the fruitage of the soul. It is precious as wisdom, more to be desired than gold - yea, than even fine gold. How insignificant mere money-seeking looks in comparison with a serene life - a life that dwells in the ocean of Truth, beneath the waves, beyond the reach of tempests, in the Eternal Calm!
"How many people we know who sour their lives, who ruin all that is sweet and beautiful by explosive tempers, who destroy their poise of character, and make bad blood! It is a question whether the great majority of people do not ruin their lives and mar their happiness by lack of self-control. How few people we meet in life who are well-balanced, who have that exquisite poise which is characteristic of the finished character!"
Yes, humanity surges with uncontrolled passion, is tumultuous with ungoverned grief, is blown about by anxiety and doubt. Only the wise man, only he whose thoughts are controlled and purified, makes the winds and the storms of the soul obey him.
Tempest-tossed souls, wherever ye may be, under whatsoever conditions ye may live, know this - in the ocean of life the isles of Blessedness are smiling, and sunny shore of your ideal awaits your coming. Keep your hand firmly upon the helm of thought. In the bark of your soul reclines the commanding Master; He does but sleep; wake Him. Self-control is strength; Right Thought is mastery; Calmness is power.
Say unto your heart, "Peace, be still!"
The End
"Create Your Life" by Brad Jensen
Create Your Life
by Brad Jensen
How to put 'It Works' to work for YOU!
The powerful idea presented so simply and well in
'It Works' will change your life. I know this
because it has changed mine. The fantastic results
that I have created using this idea have motivated
me to investigate these principles for 25 years.
I want you to be rich with things that make you
happy. I'm going to give you ideas and images you
can use to help you be more successful with the list
technique presented in 'It Works'.
What I have Done With 'It Works'
My annual income is now 35 times greater than it
was the day I first read this little book. I have
gained houses, cars, boats, businesses, friends, a
family, and numerous creative and prospering
ideas using the principles set forth in this book.
In the last 25 years I have spent thousands of hours
teaching these ideas to other people. I've seen
many people use the ideas in this book to create
something new in their life, and I have seen others
who are not so successful with it. I want you to be
one of the successful ones.
How to Succeed with your List
First, let's take a little test. Take a sheet of paper
(or your word processor) and without looking at
the book write down the 'Three Positive Rules of
Accomplishment' that are the key to this technique.
Then go back and compare them to the text. How
did you do?
Did you miss a few? I did when I first tried this
test myself.
If you read this book and it never goes farther than
words and ideas in your mind, then you have lost
the advantage of it.
The key to success with this method it to DO IT,
not just think about it. Don–t think that by
reading it, even many times, that you will know it.
That would be like thinking that you know how to
ride a bicycle just by reading about it. In order to
master the bicycle, you have to get on it and ride,
learning to keep your balance as you move
forward. That is exactly the way you learn the
principles of conscious creation taught by "It
Works."
When I first started using the technique in this
book, I wrote my first list, and started getting
great results. Then after a month or so, I stopped
writing and reviewing the list, and tried to 'do it in
my head'. I didn't get the same results.
I went back to using the list, and the great results
started happening again. Then I got what I wanted
and let things slide, and the cycle repeated.
Meanwhile I started studying the ideas and
teaching them to others. In the process I learned
some interesting things I am sharing with you.
What I learned is that each of us has a spark
from the Creator which is our own personal
creator, like a genie from a magic lamp. The
problem with this genie is that he responds to
every thought in my mind as if it were a command.
If I think of something with desire, he starts
creating that for me. If I start to worry or fear, he
starts to erase that creation.
Wherever I put my attention, the genie starts
multiplying that attention into a real experience in
my life. All of this creation takes place in a part of
my mind called the subconscious mind. The
subconscious mind is the part of my mind that
holds the tremendous creative power that I can
learn to tap into and use. Whoever it has a special
way of working that I must understand if I want to
use my subconscious mind power effectively.
If my attention wanders all over the place, my
subconscious becomes full of half-created
thought-forms and my life is chaotic or boring.
That–s because the genie is busy trying to do a
million different things at once, many of which
contradict each other. His efforts always follow in
the track of my attention, and until I get my
attention going in a constant direction, I don–t get
the results I would like.
The plan given in 'It Works' helps me to control
my attention, and put that genie to work with
enough time and focus to produce real and
complete results. It will work the same way for
you.
My conscious mind sets the agenda, but I often
get distracted by the half-formed and
malformed effects of previous wishes and
desires. Many of those desires are unconscious,
created with incomplete understanding or fear or
worry. The genie does what I tell him, but he
listens to my daydreams and worries and treats
them as commands.
This creative power responds to what I believe.
I have come to realize that what I believe is not
necessarily the same as what I think. It's easy to
know what I believe - it is what I act on. It is
what I do. Even while I am unable to admit to
myself what I really believe, my subconscious
mind is working to make circumstances,
opportunities, and events in my life to experience
those beliefs.
How do I change what I believe, so that I can
get what I want? There is a simple way to do this.
It has been discovered and rediscovered by
teachers and writers throughout the ages.
Here it is:
I can imagine what I want, I can pretend that it
is so, and I can repeat this over and over.
The creative genie of my subconscious mind
responds to imagination, focused attention, and
repetition. That's what the book 'It Works' is all
about.
How to Get Faster and Better Results
Here are things that will help you create more
successfully when you use the technique presented
in 'It Works–. These are things that I have
discovered in the last 25 years of using 'It Works.'
Each of these is a suggestion based on actual
experiences with using the list. Use the ideas that
sound good to you.
The most important thing is to do exactly what
it says. Follow the plan exactly: Create a list,
include what you really desire in order of its
importance to you, read the list three times a day,
think of the items on the list as often as you can,
and don't tell anyone what you are doing.
For faster demonstration of results, you can
rewrite the list each day, even if it hasn't
changed. Reorder the items on the list according to
their importance to you. Doing this makes the
ideas new again, and will lead to more rapid
success. It–s also important to do something
physical with your ideas, as soon as possible.
Writing them out is a way to give them entry into
the outer world of manifestation. It creates a
toehold for their growth into physical reality.
If you have a tape recorder, you can read the
list out loud in a firm voice and tape it. Then
play the tape over and over again (perhaps in your
car as you commute to and from work). This needs
to be done and played in private. That's easy
nowadays since you can get an inexpensive tape
player with headphones.
I found a little digital recorder that records into
it's own computer memory, and then plays it back
over and over again through headphones. You can
also do this with the 'Sound Recorder' program that
is built into most personal computers.
Put real amounts, specific items, and specific
dates in your list. Some people worry that this is
'outlining' and delays manifestation. But what good
is it to get Coke when you want Pepsi, or Pepsi
when you want Coke? You don–t plant
strawberries and expect to harvest watermelons.
The most important thing is not a particular item
on your list, but developing your power of
conscious creation.
Do you have trouble remembering the items on
your list? If so, it may be that they are not really
that important to you. Try memorizing the items
on your list.
Are you having trouble finding ten things to put on
your list? Are you unsure which things should
really be on the list? Here"s an easy way to build
your list: ask yourself- 'What do I think about all
day?– That is what should be on your list. You may
have to start by listing your worries, and then turn
each of them into a positive desire. For example,
what do I worry about? What would need to
happen for me to not worry about this any more?
If you have trouble finding things that you want,
try thinking of it in another way. What would you
like to see happen?
How will you know it is working?
When you receive an idea about something that
is on your list, act on it in a positive way.
Sometimes the thing you want requires a few
intermediate steps. Be ready to go through several
doorways as they open before you, to reach your
goal. If you want a car, perhaps you will find
yourself creating a new set of tires first, or a
garage to keep the car in.
Realize that many of the things you want will
find you. You will be tempted to say, 'but I didn't
do anything, it just happened.' Your inner mind
genie will use the simplest and most efficient way
to create the results you imagine. It doesn't care
who gets the credit. After a while you won't either!
Remember that your genie is working nonstop,
according to the program that you set for him. If
you say, 'this can"t be working", he will do his
best to make that seem true é even while he
continues his nonstop creation of the other things
you ask for.
How will you know it is working? For most
people it is not one thing, or two things, but the
fact that one thing after another manifests in their
lives. The first thing you get from your list seems
to be a coincidence, the second is luck, the third is
serendipity, and the forth is a miracle. Finally after
many creations, when your friends start wondering
what the heck is going on, you will realize that
there is a simple and rational law in operation,
and that you know how to use it.
Get excited and enthusiastic about the good
things coming into your life. If this doesn't seem
natural to you, go ahead and use your 'power of
pretend' to fake it until you make it. Appreciation
is the oil of the engine of creation. Enthusiasm
and excitement are manifestations of your
appreciation, and confirmation of your positive
expectation.
The attitudes that will delay your success or
confuse your creation are jealousy, envy,
resentment, reservations, uncertainty, and
indecisiveness. Put all of those to the side. The
more you recognize your own creative ability, the
less you will care about those things that these
attitudes have been attached to. You just won–t
have time for those ways of thinking any more.
There is no such thing as a negative thought -
every thought has a positive result in
reproducing itself. Every thing you think about
grows in your mind and becomes part of your
physical life. That–s why it is so important to
control what you are thinking. The key to
controlling your mind is replacing the thoughts
that create what you don't want, with the thoughts
that create what you do want. You do not resist the
old thoughts, you replace them by putting your
attention somewhere else. Using your list is your
key to accomplishing this. Use this physical tool to
reinforce the thoughts that you want.
Think of your subconscious mind as being like a
sailboat in the middle of the ocean. The sailboat is
blown everywhere, back and forth, by the wind,
which is the power of thought. It needs a keel and
a rudder to be able to set a course and make way to
a certain destination. Your list is the keel and the
rudder of your subconscious sailboat.
Thought follows a certain structure in your mind.
The idea comes first, then the belief, then the
attitude, and then the behavior. Your strongest
foundation, the anchor of your thinking, begins
with your behavior. Change your behavior, then
change the attitude that changing the behavior
reveals, then change the belief that inspires the
attitude. Grab hold of an idea that is bigger and
more inclusive than the small ideas that have kept
you poor and unhappy.
When you are tempted to tell everyone what
you are doing to make the changes in your life,
send them a copy of this book instead. After you
have received 40 things you have asked for, you
can start talking about the process you are using.
Keep a list of everything you get until you receive
40 things you have asked for.
Many people find this book, and use it to get one
How did this book come into your life? Your genie
brought it to you, or brought you to it, in
response to your conscious or unconscious desire
to create a specific experience, or to understand
creation itself. Take advantage of this experience,
and make this intelligent, conscious creation a
way of life, not a one-time experience.
Trying to control other people and make
decisions for them is a misuse of them, and of
your own creative power. The most important
thing you can make is a decision. Trying to take
that opportunity for creation away from others is
based on fear, not love. Fear in your mind will
generally create things you do not want.
I learned something wonderful long ago, that will
give you freedom. I can"t prove anything to you
about anything important or meaningful.
However, I can tell you how you can experiment
and prove these things to yourself. If I walked on
water, you would be looking for the rocks. If you
walk on water, you will know that there are no
rocks. Using this list will show you how to walk
on the water of your life. You will have to learn to
politely ignore your friends as they yell: "Hey, get
back in the boat!"
The Toyota Principle
The subconscious mind creation process goes on
all the time. You don't have to be good to make
it work. You don't have to chant, exercise, or
repeat magic words. You are rich now with the
results of what you have been thinking about. Your
life is always full of something. If you want to be
rich with something else, change what you are
thinking about.
As you develop your ability to consciously direct
your creation process, as you build your
confidence and increase your will power, your
results will come more quickly and be more
satisfying. Don't delay this process by calling the
results coincidence. Wait until you have received
at least 40 items on your list (by receiving
something and replacing the list item with a new
item) before you judge the results as coincidence
or creation.
You are already a success at creating what you
are thinking about - everyone is. The biggest
enemy of conscious control is self-importance -
which may manifest in disguise as self-deprecation,
worry about what others think of you,
or the desire to have others approve of you. Don't
let your ego distract your from taking control of
your mind and your life.
Everything in your life is there because you have
asked for it through either desire or fear. Nothing
comes to you by itself. I call this the "Toyota
Principle" because there used to be a commercial
advertisement on television for a certain car
company with the catchphrase "You asked for it -
you got it - Toyota!' When you have used your
list for a while, you will begin to see this is true,
and then vast realms of possibility will open in
your life
It's a friendly universe.
I am firmly convinced that learning how my
mind works, and how to use it more effectively
to help myself and others, is what my Self wants
me to do. How about you?
You don't have to believe in God to use the list.
However, don't be surprised if using the list shows
you that there is order and structure to the
universe, including your mind as a part of that
universe. Your world is a lot closer to you and
more responsive to you, than you may have
considered it to be. It's a friendly universe.
Be careful about including other people on your
list. If you want joy and happiness with Jane or
Bill, is the joy and happiness more important, or
the relationship with Jane or Bill? Maybe the best
way to be happy with Jane is let her go find Bill,
and let Suzy come find you. As long as you are
focused on what someone can give to you, you
aren't yet completely experiencing love.
It may be tempting to think your success is
dependent on the channel it happens to come
through - your job, your family, a particular
relationship or thing you possess. Time and
experience will show you that this is not so.
In the meantime, place your sense of appreciation
and thankfulness on the Creator within you, who has
made you in his image as a creator. When the
river of your life changes its channel, you had
better be ready to go with the flow.
How fast will it work? Faster than you will
expect. I put the number one item on my list last
week and it manifested in two days and I thought
it would be six months or maybe never.
Fortunately, while writing and then rereading that
list item, I suspended my disbelief. Even before
your pen finishes the sentence, the act of creation
has begun. Of course there is no magic in the pen
or paper é the magic is in making the decision a
physical thing instead of just a mental idea. No
matter how long you use this method, there will be
times when you are just utterly amazed at what
'happens– to you. (It isn't happening, you are
creating it.) How fast can it happen? Don't blink
twice - you'll miss it.
Everything you think will try to prove itself
including your skepticism. If you are afraid of
what others will think of you, or of what you will
think of yourself, then you may be fooling yourself
while thinking you are being completely rational.
The world is plastic to the molding power of
your thoughts even while you think this is
untrue, or don't have a thought about it at all.
Everything lives and moves and has its being in a
sea of self-modifying thought. You can prove this
to yourself, and put it to effective use, with the
simple experiment of work with the list for a few
weeks or months.
It doesn't take much time or effort. You have
nothing to lose. No one will even know you are
doing it. They will just think that you have
suddenly become incredibly lucky, intelligent,
charming, and good looking. It helps to smile a
lot.
Creating complete mind pictures is very
helpful. That is another book in itself. Feeling joy
and enthusiasm about your mental creation is very
helpful. It will start to happen naturally as you use
this process over and over, because -
It Works!
by Brad Jensen
How to put 'It Works' to work for YOU!
The powerful idea presented so simply and well in
'It Works' will change your life. I know this
because it has changed mine. The fantastic results
that I have created using this idea have motivated
me to investigate these principles for 25 years.
I want you to be rich with things that make you
happy. I'm going to give you ideas and images you
can use to help you be more successful with the list
technique presented in 'It Works'.
What I have Done With 'It Works'
My annual income is now 35 times greater than it
was the day I first read this little book. I have
gained houses, cars, boats, businesses, friends, a
family, and numerous creative and prospering
ideas using the principles set forth in this book.
In the last 25 years I have spent thousands of hours
teaching these ideas to other people. I've seen
many people use the ideas in this book to create
something new in their life, and I have seen others
who are not so successful with it. I want you to be
one of the successful ones.
How to Succeed with your List
First, let's take a little test. Take a sheet of paper
(or your word processor) and without looking at
the book write down the 'Three Positive Rules of
Accomplishment' that are the key to this technique.
Then go back and compare them to the text. How
did you do?
Did you miss a few? I did when I first tried this
test myself.
If you read this book and it never goes farther than
words and ideas in your mind, then you have lost
the advantage of it.
The key to success with this method it to DO IT,
not just think about it. Don–t think that by
reading it, even many times, that you will know it.
That would be like thinking that you know how to
ride a bicycle just by reading about it. In order to
master the bicycle, you have to get on it and ride,
learning to keep your balance as you move
forward. That is exactly the way you learn the
principles of conscious creation taught by "It
Works."
When I first started using the technique in this
book, I wrote my first list, and started getting
great results. Then after a month or so, I stopped
writing and reviewing the list, and tried to 'do it in
my head'. I didn't get the same results.
I went back to using the list, and the great results
started happening again. Then I got what I wanted
and let things slide, and the cycle repeated.
Meanwhile I started studying the ideas and
teaching them to others. In the process I learned
some interesting things I am sharing with you.
What I learned is that each of us has a spark
from the Creator which is our own personal
creator, like a genie from a magic lamp. The
problem with this genie is that he responds to
every thought in my mind as if it were a command.
If I think of something with desire, he starts
creating that for me. If I start to worry or fear, he
starts to erase that creation.
Wherever I put my attention, the genie starts
multiplying that attention into a real experience in
my life. All of this creation takes place in a part of
my mind called the subconscious mind. The
subconscious mind is the part of my mind that
holds the tremendous creative power that I can
learn to tap into and use. Whoever it has a special
way of working that I must understand if I want to
use my subconscious mind power effectively.
If my attention wanders all over the place, my
subconscious becomes full of half-created
thought-forms and my life is chaotic or boring.
That–s because the genie is busy trying to do a
million different things at once, many of which
contradict each other. His efforts always follow in
the track of my attention, and until I get my
attention going in a constant direction, I don–t get
the results I would like.
The plan given in 'It Works' helps me to control
my attention, and put that genie to work with
enough time and focus to produce real and
complete results. It will work the same way for
you.
My conscious mind sets the agenda, but I often
get distracted by the half-formed and
malformed effects of previous wishes and
desires. Many of those desires are unconscious,
created with incomplete understanding or fear or
worry. The genie does what I tell him, but he
listens to my daydreams and worries and treats
them as commands.
This creative power responds to what I believe.
I have come to realize that what I believe is not
necessarily the same as what I think. It's easy to
know what I believe - it is what I act on. It is
what I do. Even while I am unable to admit to
myself what I really believe, my subconscious
mind is working to make circumstances,
opportunities, and events in my life to experience
those beliefs.
How do I change what I believe, so that I can
get what I want? There is a simple way to do this.
It has been discovered and rediscovered by
teachers and writers throughout the ages.
Here it is:
I can imagine what I want, I can pretend that it
is so, and I can repeat this over and over.
The creative genie of my subconscious mind
responds to imagination, focused attention, and
repetition. That's what the book 'It Works' is all
about.
How to Get Faster and Better Results
Here are things that will help you create more
successfully when you use the technique presented
in 'It Works–. These are things that I have
discovered in the last 25 years of using 'It Works.'
Each of these is a suggestion based on actual
experiences with using the list. Use the ideas that
sound good to you.
The most important thing is to do exactly what
it says. Follow the plan exactly: Create a list,
include what you really desire in order of its
importance to you, read the list three times a day,
think of the items on the list as often as you can,
and don't tell anyone what you are doing.
For faster demonstration of results, you can
rewrite the list each day, even if it hasn't
changed. Reorder the items on the list according to
their importance to you. Doing this makes the
ideas new again, and will lead to more rapid
success. It–s also important to do something
physical with your ideas, as soon as possible.
Writing them out is a way to give them entry into
the outer world of manifestation. It creates a
toehold for their growth into physical reality.
If you have a tape recorder, you can read the
list out loud in a firm voice and tape it. Then
play the tape over and over again (perhaps in your
car as you commute to and from work). This needs
to be done and played in private. That's easy
nowadays since you can get an inexpensive tape
player with headphones.
I found a little digital recorder that records into
it's own computer memory, and then plays it back
over and over again through headphones. You can
also do this with the 'Sound Recorder' program that
is built into most personal computers.
Put real amounts, specific items, and specific
dates in your list. Some people worry that this is
'outlining' and delays manifestation. But what good
is it to get Coke when you want Pepsi, or Pepsi
when you want Coke? You don–t plant
strawberries and expect to harvest watermelons.
The most important thing is not a particular item
on your list, but developing your power of
conscious creation.
Do you have trouble remembering the items on
your list? If so, it may be that they are not really
that important to you. Try memorizing the items
on your list.
Are you having trouble finding ten things to put on
your list? Are you unsure which things should
really be on the list? Here"s an easy way to build
your list: ask yourself- 'What do I think about all
day?– That is what should be on your list. You may
have to start by listing your worries, and then turn
each of them into a positive desire. For example,
what do I worry about? What would need to
happen for me to not worry about this any more?
If you have trouble finding things that you want,
try thinking of it in another way. What would you
like to see happen?
How will you know it is working?
When you receive an idea about something that
is on your list, act on it in a positive way.
Sometimes the thing you want requires a few
intermediate steps. Be ready to go through several
doorways as they open before you, to reach your
goal. If you want a car, perhaps you will find
yourself creating a new set of tires first, or a
garage to keep the car in.
Realize that many of the things you want will
find you. You will be tempted to say, 'but I didn't
do anything, it just happened.' Your inner mind
genie will use the simplest and most efficient way
to create the results you imagine. It doesn't care
who gets the credit. After a while you won't either!
Remember that your genie is working nonstop,
according to the program that you set for him. If
you say, 'this can"t be working", he will do his
best to make that seem true é even while he
continues his nonstop creation of the other things
you ask for.
How will you know it is working? For most
people it is not one thing, or two things, but the
fact that one thing after another manifests in their
lives. The first thing you get from your list seems
to be a coincidence, the second is luck, the third is
serendipity, and the forth is a miracle. Finally after
many creations, when your friends start wondering
what the heck is going on, you will realize that
there is a simple and rational law in operation,
and that you know how to use it.
Get excited and enthusiastic about the good
things coming into your life. If this doesn't seem
natural to you, go ahead and use your 'power of
pretend' to fake it until you make it. Appreciation
is the oil of the engine of creation. Enthusiasm
and excitement are manifestations of your
appreciation, and confirmation of your positive
expectation.
The attitudes that will delay your success or
confuse your creation are jealousy, envy,
resentment, reservations, uncertainty, and
indecisiveness. Put all of those to the side. The
more you recognize your own creative ability, the
less you will care about those things that these
attitudes have been attached to. You just won–t
have time for those ways of thinking any more.
There is no such thing as a negative thought -
every thought has a positive result in
reproducing itself. Every thing you think about
grows in your mind and becomes part of your
physical life. That–s why it is so important to
control what you are thinking. The key to
controlling your mind is replacing the thoughts
that create what you don't want, with the thoughts
that create what you do want. You do not resist the
old thoughts, you replace them by putting your
attention somewhere else. Using your list is your
key to accomplishing this. Use this physical tool to
reinforce the thoughts that you want.
Think of your subconscious mind as being like a
sailboat in the middle of the ocean. The sailboat is
blown everywhere, back and forth, by the wind,
which is the power of thought. It needs a keel and
a rudder to be able to set a course and make way to
a certain destination. Your list is the keel and the
rudder of your subconscious sailboat.
Thought follows a certain structure in your mind.
The idea comes first, then the belief, then the
attitude, and then the behavior. Your strongest
foundation, the anchor of your thinking, begins
with your behavior. Change your behavior, then
change the attitude that changing the behavior
reveals, then change the belief that inspires the
attitude. Grab hold of an idea that is bigger and
more inclusive than the small ideas that have kept
you poor and unhappy.
When you are tempted to tell everyone what
you are doing to make the changes in your life,
send them a copy of this book instead. After you
have received 40 things you have asked for, you
can start talking about the process you are using.
Keep a list of everything you get until you receive
40 things you have asked for.
Many people find this book, and use it to get one
How did this book come into your life? Your genie
brought it to you, or brought you to it, in
response to your conscious or unconscious desire
to create a specific experience, or to understand
creation itself. Take advantage of this experience,
and make this intelligent, conscious creation a
way of life, not a one-time experience.
Trying to control other people and make
decisions for them is a misuse of them, and of
your own creative power. The most important
thing you can make is a decision. Trying to take
that opportunity for creation away from others is
based on fear, not love. Fear in your mind will
generally create things you do not want.
I learned something wonderful long ago, that will
give you freedom. I can"t prove anything to you
about anything important or meaningful.
However, I can tell you how you can experiment
and prove these things to yourself. If I walked on
water, you would be looking for the rocks. If you
walk on water, you will know that there are no
rocks. Using this list will show you how to walk
on the water of your life. You will have to learn to
politely ignore your friends as they yell: "Hey, get
back in the boat!"
The Toyota Principle
The subconscious mind creation process goes on
all the time. You don't have to be good to make
it work. You don't have to chant, exercise, or
repeat magic words. You are rich now with the
results of what you have been thinking about. Your
life is always full of something. If you want to be
rich with something else, change what you are
thinking about.
As you develop your ability to consciously direct
your creation process, as you build your
confidence and increase your will power, your
results will come more quickly and be more
satisfying. Don't delay this process by calling the
results coincidence. Wait until you have received
at least 40 items on your list (by receiving
something and replacing the list item with a new
item) before you judge the results as coincidence
or creation.
You are already a success at creating what you
are thinking about - everyone is. The biggest
enemy of conscious control is self-importance -
which may manifest in disguise as self-deprecation,
worry about what others think of you,
or the desire to have others approve of you. Don't
let your ego distract your from taking control of
your mind and your life.
Everything in your life is there because you have
asked for it through either desire or fear. Nothing
comes to you by itself. I call this the "Toyota
Principle" because there used to be a commercial
advertisement on television for a certain car
company with the catchphrase "You asked for it -
you got it - Toyota!' When you have used your
list for a while, you will begin to see this is true,
and then vast realms of possibility will open in
your life
It's a friendly universe.
I am firmly convinced that learning how my
mind works, and how to use it more effectively
to help myself and others, is what my Self wants
me to do. How about you?
You don't have to believe in God to use the list.
However, don't be surprised if using the list shows
you that there is order and structure to the
universe, including your mind as a part of that
universe. Your world is a lot closer to you and
more responsive to you, than you may have
considered it to be. It's a friendly universe.
Be careful about including other people on your
list. If you want joy and happiness with Jane or
Bill, is the joy and happiness more important, or
the relationship with Jane or Bill? Maybe the best
way to be happy with Jane is let her go find Bill,
and let Suzy come find you. As long as you are
focused on what someone can give to you, you
aren't yet completely experiencing love.
It may be tempting to think your success is
dependent on the channel it happens to come
through - your job, your family, a particular
relationship or thing you possess. Time and
experience will show you that this is not so.
In the meantime, place your sense of appreciation
and thankfulness on the Creator within you, who has
made you in his image as a creator. When the
river of your life changes its channel, you had
better be ready to go with the flow.
How fast will it work? Faster than you will
expect. I put the number one item on my list last
week and it manifested in two days and I thought
it would be six months or maybe never.
Fortunately, while writing and then rereading that
list item, I suspended my disbelief. Even before
your pen finishes the sentence, the act of creation
has begun. Of course there is no magic in the pen
or paper é the magic is in making the decision a
physical thing instead of just a mental idea. No
matter how long you use this method, there will be
times when you are just utterly amazed at what
'happens– to you. (It isn't happening, you are
creating it.) How fast can it happen? Don't blink
twice - you'll miss it.
Everything you think will try to prove itself
including your skepticism. If you are afraid of
what others will think of you, or of what you will
think of yourself, then you may be fooling yourself
while thinking you are being completely rational.
The world is plastic to the molding power of
your thoughts even while you think this is
untrue, or don't have a thought about it at all.
Everything lives and moves and has its being in a
sea of self-modifying thought. You can prove this
to yourself, and put it to effective use, with the
simple experiment of work with the list for a few
weeks or months.
It doesn't take much time or effort. You have
nothing to lose. No one will even know you are
doing it. They will just think that you have
suddenly become incredibly lucky, intelligent,
charming, and good looking. It helps to smile a
lot.
Creating complete mind pictures is very
helpful. That is another book in itself. Feeling joy
and enthusiasm about your mental creation is very
helpful. It will start to happen naturally as you use
this process over and over, because -
It Works!
"It Works" By RHJ
It Works
By RHJ
What is the Real Secret of Obtaining
Desirable Possessions?
Are some people born under a lucky star or other
charm which enables them to have all that which
seems so desirable, and if not, what is the cause of
the difference in conditions under which men live?
Many years ago, feeling that there must be a
logical answer to this question, I decided to find
out, if possible, what it was. I found the answer to
my own satisfaction, and for years, have given the
information to others who have used it
successfully.
From a scientific, psychological or theological
viewpoint, some of the following statements may
be interpreted as incorrect, but nevertheless, the
plan has brought the results desired to those who
have followed the simple instructions, and it is my
sincere belief that I am now presenting it in a way
which will bring happiness and possessions to
many more, "If wishes were horses, beggars would
ride," is the attitude taken by the average man and
woman in regard to possessions. They are not aware
of a power so near that it is overlooked; so simple in
operation that it is difficult to conceive; and so
sure in results that it is not made use of
consciously, or recognized as the cause of failure
or success.
Gee, I wish that were mine," is the outburst of
Jimmy, the office boy, as a new red roadster goes
by; and Florence, the telephone operator, expresses
the same thought regarding a ring in the jeweler's
window; while poor old Jones, the bookkeeper,
during the Sunday stroll, replies to his wife, "Yes,
dear, it would be nice to have a home like that, but
it is out of the question. We will have to continue
to rent." Landem, the salesman, protests that he
does all the work, gets the short end of the money
and will some day quit his job and find a real one,
and President Bondum, in his private sanctorum,
voices a bitter tirade against the annual attack of
hay-fever.
At home it is much the same. Last evening, father
declared that daughter Mabel was headed straight
for disaster, and today, mother's allowance problem
and other trying affairs fade into insignificance as she
exclaims "This is the last straw. Robert's schoolteacher
wants to see me this afternoon. His reports are terrible,
I know, but I'm late for Bridge now. She'll have to wait
until tomorrow." So goes the endless stream of
expressions like these from millions of people in
all classes who give no thought to what they really
want, and who are getting all they are entitled to
or expect.
If you are one of these millions of thoughtless
talkers or wishers and would like a decided change
from your present condition, you can have it; but
first of all you must know what you want and this
is no easy task. When you can train your objective
mind (the mind you use every day) to decide
definitely upon the things or conditions you desire,
you will have taken your first big step in
accomplishing or securing what you know you
want.
To get what you want is no more mysterious or
uncertain than the radio waves all around you.
Tune in correctly and you get a perfect result, but
to do this, it is, of course, necessary to know
something of your equipment and have a plan of operation.
You have within you a mighty power, anxious and
willing to serve you, a power capable of giving
you that which you earnestly desire. This power is
described by Thomson Jay Hudson, Ph.D., LL.D.,
author of "The Law of Psychic Phenomena," as
your subjective mind. Other learned writers use
different names and terms, but all agree that it is
omnipotent. Therefore, I call this Power
"Emmanuel" (God in us).
Regardless of the name of this Great Power, or the
conscious admission of a God, the Power is
capable and willing to carry to a complete and
perfect conclusion every earnest desire of your
objective mind, but you must be really in earnest
about what you want.
Occasional wishing or half-hearted wanting does
not form a perfect connection or communication
with your omnipotent power. You must be in
earnest, sincerely and truthfully desiring certain
conditions or things -- mental, physical or spiritual.
Your objective mind and will are so vacillating
that you usually only WISH for things and the
wonderful, capable power within you does not function.
Most wishes are simply vocal expressions. Jimmy,
the office boy, gave no thought of possessing the
red roadster. Landem, the salesman, was not
thinking of any other job or even thinking at all.
President Bondum knew he had hay fever and was
expecting it. Father's business was quite likely
successful, and mother no doubt brought home
first prize from the Bridge party that day, but they
had no fixed idea of what they really wanted their
children to accomplish and were actually helping
to bring about the unhappy conditions which
existed.
If you are in earnest about changing your present
condition, here is a concise, definite, resultful plan,
with rules, explanations and suggestions.
The Plan
Write down on paper in order of their importance
the things and conditions you really want. Do not
be afraid of wanting too much. Go the limit in
writing down your wants. Change the list daily,
adding to or taking from it, until you have it about
right. Do not be discouraged on account of
changes, as this is natural. There will always be
changes and additions with accomplishments and
increasing desires.
Three Positive Rules Of Accomplishment:
1. Read the list of what you want three times
each day: morning, noon and night.
2. Think of what you want as often as
possible.
3. Do not talk to any one about your plan
except to the Great Power within you which
will unfold to your Objective Mind the
method of accomplishment.
It is obvious that you cannot acquire faith at
the start. Some of your desires, from all practical
reasoning, may seem positively unattainable, but,
nevertheless, write them down on your list in their
proper place of importance to you.
There is no need to analyze how this Power within
you is going to accomplish your desires. Such a
procedure is as unnecessary as trying to figure out
why a grain of corn placed in fertile soil shoots up
a green stalk, blossoms and produces an ear of
corn containing hundreds of grains, each capable
of doing what the one grain did. If you will follow
this definite plan and carry out the three simple
rules, the method of accomplishment will unfold
quite as mysteriously as the ear of corn appears on
the stalk, and in most cases much sooner than you
expect.
When new desires, deserving position at or about
the top of your list, come to you, then you may rest
assured you are progressing correctly.
Removing from your list items which at first you
thought you wanted, is another sure indication of
progress.
It is natural to be skeptical and have doubts,
distrust and questionings, but when these thoughts
arise, get out your list. Read it over; or if you have
it memorized, talk to your inner self about your
desires until the doubts that interfere with your
progress are gone. Remember, nothing can prevent
your having that which you earnestly desire.
Others have these things. Why not you?
The Omnipotent Power within you does not enter
into any controversial argument. It is waiting and
willing to serve when you are ready, but your
objective mind is so susceptible to suggestion that
it is almost impossible to make any satisfactory
progress when surrounded by skeptics. Therefore,
choose your friends carefully and associate with
people who now have some of the things you
really want, but do not discuss your method of
accomplishment with them.
Put down on your list of wants such material
things as money, home, automobile, or whatever it
may be, but do not stop there. Be more definite. If
you want an automobile, decide what kind, style,
price, color, and all the other details, including
when you want it. If you want a home, plan the
structure, grounds and furnishings.
Decide on location and cost. If you want money,
write down the amount. If you want to break a
record in your business, put it down. It may be a
sales record. If so, write out the total, the date
required, then the number of items you must sell to
make it, also list your prospects and put after each
name the sum expected. This may seem very
foolish at first, but you can never realize your
desires if you do not know positively and in detail
what you want and when you want it. If you cannot
decide this, you are not in earnest. You must be
definite, and when you are, results will be
surprising and almost unbelievable.
A natural and ancient enemy will no doubt appear
when you get your first taste of accomplishment.
This enemy is Discredit, in form of such thoughts
as: "It can't be possible; it just happened to be.
What a remarkable coincidence!"
When such thoughts occur give thanks and assert
credit to your Omnipotent Power for the
accomplishment. By doing this, you gain assurance
and more accomplishment, and in time, prove to
yourself that there is a law, which actually works -
at all times - when you are in tune with it.
Sincere and earnest thanks cannot be given without
gratitude and it is impossible to be thankful and
grateful without being happy. Therefore, when you
are thanking your greatest and best friend, your
Omnipotent Power, for the gifts received, do so
with all your soul, and let it be reflected in your
face. The Power and what it does is beyond
understanding. Do not try to understand it, but
accept the accomplishment with thankfulness,
happiness, and strengthened faith.
Caution
It is possible to want and obtain that which will
make you miserable; that which will wreck the
happiness of others; that which will cause sickness
and death; that which will rob you of eternal life.
You can have what you want, but you must take all
that goes with it: so in planning your wants, plan
that which you are sure will give to you and your
fellow man the greatest good here on earth; thus
paving the way to that future hope beyond the pale
of human understanding.
This method of securing what you want applies to
everything you are capable of desiring and the
scope being so great, it is suggested that your first
list consist of only those things with which you are
quite familiar, such as an amount of money or
accomplishment, or the possession of material
things. Such desires as these are more easily and
quickly obtained than the discontinuance of fixed
habits, the welfare of others, and the healing of
mental or bodily ills.
Accomplish the lesser things first. Then take the
next step, and when that is accomplished, you will
seek the higher and really important objectives in
life, but long before you reach this stage of your
progress, many worthwhile desires will find their
place on your list. One will be to help others as
you have been helped. Great is the reward to those
who help and give without thought of self as it is
impossible to be unselfish without gain.
In Conclusion
A short while ago, Dr. Emil Coue came to this
country and showed thousands of people how to
help themselves. Thousands of others spoofed at
the idea, refused his assistance and are today
where they were before his visit.
So with the statements and plan presented to you
now. You can reject or accept. You can remain as
you are or have anything you want. The choice is
yours, but God grant that you may find in this
short volume the inspiration to choose aright,
follow the plan and thereby obtain, as so many
others have, all things, whatever they may be, that
you desire.
Read the entire book over again, and again, AND
THEN AGAIN.
Memorize the three simple rules on pages thirteen
and fourteen. Test them now on what you want
most this minute.
This book could have extended easily over 350
pages, but it has been deliberately shortened to
make it as easy as possible for you to read,
understand and use. Will you try it? Thousands of
bettered lives will testify to the fact that It Works.
How Others Are Attaining Personal Independence
Salesman Quadruples Pay
A Salesman, F.P.D., of Houston, Texas, writes:
Working your plan has done this for me. My pay
check in February was $73.03, in March, $273.84,
in April $480.86, and I'll double this in time."
(Editors Note - this was a lot of money in 1923,
when this was written.)
Sold More Insurance
"I left 'It Works' with an agent, and he promised to
follow the rules, with the result that he wrote
sixteen applications for insurance in one week." -
C.O.A.,
Minneapolis, Minn. Performed Miracles
"The Little Red Book certainly has performed
miracles for me. It is so clear and so easily
understood that a child can grasp it. A million
good wishes to you. -M.L.H., Oakland, Calif.
Twenty Persons Read this Copy
"Your little book, 'It Works', has been read by
no less than twenty people. I often read it aloud to
members of my staff or visitors who call. Even my
doctor is favorable to it."-Chas S., Los Angeles,
Calif.
A Copy for Each Employee
"Just a line of appreciation for the many good
things that I have had from your little book 'It
Works.' I have ordered one for every employee." -
R.G.L., Peoria, Ill.
His Pastor Quotes From It
"It works for me and for others to whom I send it.
The pastor of my church often quotes It Works' in
his sermons. He, too, is sold on it."-E.A.O.,
Louisville, Ky.
Read What Others Say About The Famous
Little Red Book "IT WORKS"
"I have just read 'It Works'. You have made a very
interesting presentation . . . very stimulating. . . I
congratulate you."-Walter Dill Scott, President,
Northwestern University.
"I quite agree with you, it does work. God has
made us masters of our destiny if we will but widen
our understanding." -James L. Houghteling, Chicago.
"It would be a great thing if some philanthropist
would, in one grand action, present a copy of 'It
Works' to every man and woman able to appreciate
its simple and inspiring philosophy."-Tim Thrift,
Advertising Executive.
"The law has worked for me. Some wonderful
things have come." -Evan Johnson, Publ. Office
Appliances.
"1 have been thoroughly helped. This one book
would well be any man's rule of life."-O.
Eacksteder, Jr.
"I owe the man who wrote 'It Works' a debt I can
never repay." -May L. Harlow.
"I always recommend 'It Works' and place a copy
in the hands of those seeking greater
understanding."-Caroline Wellborn, Dew, N.Y.
A Letter to You From the Author
of 'It Works'
Dear Reader:
The great possessions of life are all GIFTS
mysteriously bestowed: sight, hearing, aspiration,
love or life itself.
The same is true of ideas-the richest of them are
given to us, as for instance, the powerful idea
which this book has given you. What are you
going to do with it? Are you surprised when I tell
you the most profitable thing you can do is to give
it away?
You can do this in an easy and practical way by
having this book sent to those you know who
NEED IT. In this way, you can help in the
distribution of this worthwhile effort to make the
lives of others better and happier.
You know people who are standing still or who are
worried or discouraged. The is your chance to
HELP THEM HELP THEMSELVES. If you
withhold this book form them you will lose the
conscious satisfaction that comes from doing good.
If you see that this get this book, then you put yourself
in the line of the Law of Life, which says
"You get by giving," and you may rightly expect
prosperity and achievement.
At the very least, you will have the inner sense of
having done a good deed with no hope of being
openly thanked and your reward will come secretly
in added power and large life.
THE AUTHOR - RHJ
By RHJ
What is the Real Secret of Obtaining
Desirable Possessions?
Are some people born under a lucky star or other
charm which enables them to have all that which
seems so desirable, and if not, what is the cause of
the difference in conditions under which men live?
Many years ago, feeling that there must be a
logical answer to this question, I decided to find
out, if possible, what it was. I found the answer to
my own satisfaction, and for years, have given the
information to others who have used it
successfully.
From a scientific, psychological or theological
viewpoint, some of the following statements may
be interpreted as incorrect, but nevertheless, the
plan has brought the results desired to those who
have followed the simple instructions, and it is my
sincere belief that I am now presenting it in a way
which will bring happiness and possessions to
many more, "If wishes were horses, beggars would
ride," is the attitude taken by the average man and
woman in regard to possessions. They are not aware
of a power so near that it is overlooked; so simple in
operation that it is difficult to conceive; and so
sure in results that it is not made use of
consciously, or recognized as the cause of failure
or success.
Gee, I wish that were mine," is the outburst of
Jimmy, the office boy, as a new red roadster goes
by; and Florence, the telephone operator, expresses
the same thought regarding a ring in the jeweler's
window; while poor old Jones, the bookkeeper,
during the Sunday stroll, replies to his wife, "Yes,
dear, it would be nice to have a home like that, but
it is out of the question. We will have to continue
to rent." Landem, the salesman, protests that he
does all the work, gets the short end of the money
and will some day quit his job and find a real one,
and President Bondum, in his private sanctorum,
voices a bitter tirade against the annual attack of
hay-fever.
At home it is much the same. Last evening, father
declared that daughter Mabel was headed straight
for disaster, and today, mother's allowance problem
and other trying affairs fade into insignificance as she
exclaims "This is the last straw. Robert's schoolteacher
wants to see me this afternoon. His reports are terrible,
I know, but I'm late for Bridge now. She'll have to wait
until tomorrow." So goes the endless stream of
expressions like these from millions of people in
all classes who give no thought to what they really
want, and who are getting all they are entitled to
or expect.
If you are one of these millions of thoughtless
talkers or wishers and would like a decided change
from your present condition, you can have it; but
first of all you must know what you want and this
is no easy task. When you can train your objective
mind (the mind you use every day) to decide
definitely upon the things or conditions you desire,
you will have taken your first big step in
accomplishing or securing what you know you
want.
To get what you want is no more mysterious or
uncertain than the radio waves all around you.
Tune in correctly and you get a perfect result, but
to do this, it is, of course, necessary to know
something of your equipment and have a plan of operation.
You have within you a mighty power, anxious and
willing to serve you, a power capable of giving
you that which you earnestly desire. This power is
described by Thomson Jay Hudson, Ph.D., LL.D.,
author of "The Law of Psychic Phenomena," as
your subjective mind. Other learned writers use
different names and terms, but all agree that it is
omnipotent. Therefore, I call this Power
"Emmanuel" (God in us).
Regardless of the name of this Great Power, or the
conscious admission of a God, the Power is
capable and willing to carry to a complete and
perfect conclusion every earnest desire of your
objective mind, but you must be really in earnest
about what you want.
Occasional wishing or half-hearted wanting does
not form a perfect connection or communication
with your omnipotent power. You must be in
earnest, sincerely and truthfully desiring certain
conditions or things -- mental, physical or spiritual.
Your objective mind and will are so vacillating
that you usually only WISH for things and the
wonderful, capable power within you does not function.
Most wishes are simply vocal expressions. Jimmy,
the office boy, gave no thought of possessing the
red roadster. Landem, the salesman, was not
thinking of any other job or even thinking at all.
President Bondum knew he had hay fever and was
expecting it. Father's business was quite likely
successful, and mother no doubt brought home
first prize from the Bridge party that day, but they
had no fixed idea of what they really wanted their
children to accomplish and were actually helping
to bring about the unhappy conditions which
existed.
If you are in earnest about changing your present
condition, here is a concise, definite, resultful plan,
with rules, explanations and suggestions.
The Plan
Write down on paper in order of their importance
the things and conditions you really want. Do not
be afraid of wanting too much. Go the limit in
writing down your wants. Change the list daily,
adding to or taking from it, until you have it about
right. Do not be discouraged on account of
changes, as this is natural. There will always be
changes and additions with accomplishments and
increasing desires.
Three Positive Rules Of Accomplishment:
1. Read the list of what you want three times
each day: morning, noon and night.
2. Think of what you want as often as
possible.
3. Do not talk to any one about your plan
except to the Great Power within you which
will unfold to your Objective Mind the
method of accomplishment.
It is obvious that you cannot acquire faith at
the start. Some of your desires, from all practical
reasoning, may seem positively unattainable, but,
nevertheless, write them down on your list in their
proper place of importance to you.
There is no need to analyze how this Power within
you is going to accomplish your desires. Such a
procedure is as unnecessary as trying to figure out
why a grain of corn placed in fertile soil shoots up
a green stalk, blossoms and produces an ear of
corn containing hundreds of grains, each capable
of doing what the one grain did. If you will follow
this definite plan and carry out the three simple
rules, the method of accomplishment will unfold
quite as mysteriously as the ear of corn appears on
the stalk, and in most cases much sooner than you
expect.
When new desires, deserving position at or about
the top of your list, come to you, then you may rest
assured you are progressing correctly.
Removing from your list items which at first you
thought you wanted, is another sure indication of
progress.
It is natural to be skeptical and have doubts,
distrust and questionings, but when these thoughts
arise, get out your list. Read it over; or if you have
it memorized, talk to your inner self about your
desires until the doubts that interfere with your
progress are gone. Remember, nothing can prevent
your having that which you earnestly desire.
Others have these things. Why not you?
The Omnipotent Power within you does not enter
into any controversial argument. It is waiting and
willing to serve when you are ready, but your
objective mind is so susceptible to suggestion that
it is almost impossible to make any satisfactory
progress when surrounded by skeptics. Therefore,
choose your friends carefully and associate with
people who now have some of the things you
really want, but do not discuss your method of
accomplishment with them.
Put down on your list of wants such material
things as money, home, automobile, or whatever it
may be, but do not stop there. Be more definite. If
you want an automobile, decide what kind, style,
price, color, and all the other details, including
when you want it. If you want a home, plan the
structure, grounds and furnishings.
Decide on location and cost. If you want money,
write down the amount. If you want to break a
record in your business, put it down. It may be a
sales record. If so, write out the total, the date
required, then the number of items you must sell to
make it, also list your prospects and put after each
name the sum expected. This may seem very
foolish at first, but you can never realize your
desires if you do not know positively and in detail
what you want and when you want it. If you cannot
decide this, you are not in earnest. You must be
definite, and when you are, results will be
surprising and almost unbelievable.
A natural and ancient enemy will no doubt appear
when you get your first taste of accomplishment.
This enemy is Discredit, in form of such thoughts
as: "It can't be possible; it just happened to be.
What a remarkable coincidence!"
When such thoughts occur give thanks and assert
credit to your Omnipotent Power for the
accomplishment. By doing this, you gain assurance
and more accomplishment, and in time, prove to
yourself that there is a law, which actually works -
at all times - when you are in tune with it.
Sincere and earnest thanks cannot be given without
gratitude and it is impossible to be thankful and
grateful without being happy. Therefore, when you
are thanking your greatest and best friend, your
Omnipotent Power, for the gifts received, do so
with all your soul, and let it be reflected in your
face. The Power and what it does is beyond
understanding. Do not try to understand it, but
accept the accomplishment with thankfulness,
happiness, and strengthened faith.
Caution
It is possible to want and obtain that which will
make you miserable; that which will wreck the
happiness of others; that which will cause sickness
and death; that which will rob you of eternal life.
You can have what you want, but you must take all
that goes with it: so in planning your wants, plan
that which you are sure will give to you and your
fellow man the greatest good here on earth; thus
paving the way to that future hope beyond the pale
of human understanding.
This method of securing what you want applies to
everything you are capable of desiring and the
scope being so great, it is suggested that your first
list consist of only those things with which you are
quite familiar, such as an amount of money or
accomplishment, or the possession of material
things. Such desires as these are more easily and
quickly obtained than the discontinuance of fixed
habits, the welfare of others, and the healing of
mental or bodily ills.
Accomplish the lesser things first. Then take the
next step, and when that is accomplished, you will
seek the higher and really important objectives in
life, but long before you reach this stage of your
progress, many worthwhile desires will find their
place on your list. One will be to help others as
you have been helped. Great is the reward to those
who help and give without thought of self as it is
impossible to be unselfish without gain.
In Conclusion
A short while ago, Dr. Emil Coue came to this
country and showed thousands of people how to
help themselves. Thousands of others spoofed at
the idea, refused his assistance and are today
where they were before his visit.
So with the statements and plan presented to you
now. You can reject or accept. You can remain as
you are or have anything you want. The choice is
yours, but God grant that you may find in this
short volume the inspiration to choose aright,
follow the plan and thereby obtain, as so many
others have, all things, whatever they may be, that
you desire.
Read the entire book over again, and again, AND
THEN AGAIN.
Memorize the three simple rules on pages thirteen
and fourteen. Test them now on what you want
most this minute.
This book could have extended easily over 350
pages, but it has been deliberately shortened to
make it as easy as possible for you to read,
understand and use. Will you try it? Thousands of
bettered lives will testify to the fact that It Works.
How Others Are Attaining Personal Independence
Salesman Quadruples Pay
A Salesman, F.P.D., of Houston, Texas, writes:
Working your plan has done this for me. My pay
check in February was $73.03, in March, $273.84,
in April $480.86, and I'll double this in time."
(Editors Note - this was a lot of money in 1923,
when this was written.)
Sold More Insurance
"I left 'It Works' with an agent, and he promised to
follow the rules, with the result that he wrote
sixteen applications for insurance in one week." -
C.O.A.,
Minneapolis, Minn. Performed Miracles
"The Little Red Book certainly has performed
miracles for me. It is so clear and so easily
understood that a child can grasp it. A million
good wishes to you. -M.L.H., Oakland, Calif.
Twenty Persons Read this Copy
"Your little book, 'It Works', has been read by
no less than twenty people. I often read it aloud to
members of my staff or visitors who call. Even my
doctor is favorable to it."-Chas S., Los Angeles,
Calif.
A Copy for Each Employee
"Just a line of appreciation for the many good
things that I have had from your little book 'It
Works.' I have ordered one for every employee." -
R.G.L., Peoria, Ill.
His Pastor Quotes From It
"It works for me and for others to whom I send it.
The pastor of my church often quotes It Works' in
his sermons. He, too, is sold on it."-E.A.O.,
Louisville, Ky.
Read What Others Say About The Famous
Little Red Book "IT WORKS"
"I have just read 'It Works'. You have made a very
interesting presentation . . . very stimulating. . . I
congratulate you."-Walter Dill Scott, President,
Northwestern University.
"I quite agree with you, it does work. God has
made us masters of our destiny if we will but widen
our understanding." -James L. Houghteling, Chicago.
"It would be a great thing if some philanthropist
would, in one grand action, present a copy of 'It
Works' to every man and woman able to appreciate
its simple and inspiring philosophy."-Tim Thrift,
Advertising Executive.
"The law has worked for me. Some wonderful
things have come." -Evan Johnson, Publ. Office
Appliances.
"1 have been thoroughly helped. This one book
would well be any man's rule of life."-O.
Eacksteder, Jr.
"I owe the man who wrote 'It Works' a debt I can
never repay." -May L. Harlow.
"I always recommend 'It Works' and place a copy
in the hands of those seeking greater
understanding."-Caroline Wellborn, Dew, N.Y.
A Letter to You From the Author
of 'It Works'
Dear Reader:
The great possessions of life are all GIFTS
mysteriously bestowed: sight, hearing, aspiration,
love or life itself.
The same is true of ideas-the richest of them are
given to us, as for instance, the powerful idea
which this book has given you. What are you
going to do with it? Are you surprised when I tell
you the most profitable thing you can do is to give
it away?
You can do this in an easy and practical way by
having this book sent to those you know who
NEED IT. In this way, you can help in the
distribution of this worthwhile effort to make the
lives of others better and happier.
You know people who are standing still or who are
worried or discouraged. The is your chance to
HELP THEM HELP THEMSELVES. If you
withhold this book form them you will lose the
conscious satisfaction that comes from doing good.
If you see that this get this book, then you put yourself
in the line of the Law of Life, which says
"You get by giving," and you may rightly expect
prosperity and achievement.
At the very least, you will have the inner sense of
having done a good deed with no hope of being
openly thanked and your reward will come secretly
in added power and large life.
THE AUTHOR - RHJ
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