Enclosed herewith I hand you Part Four. This part
will show you why what you think, or do, or feel, is an indication of
what you are.
Thought is energy and energy is power, and it is
because all the religions, sciences and philosophies with which the
world
has heretofore been familiar have been based upon the
manifestation of this energy instead of the energy itself, that the
world has been limited to effects, while causes have
been ignored or misunderstood.
For this reason we have God and the Devil in
religion, positive and negative in science, and good and bad in
philosophy.
The Master Key reverses the process; it is
interested only in cause, and the letters received from students tell a
marvelous
story; they indicate conclusively that students are
finding the cause whereby they may secure for themselves health,
harmony,
abundance, and whatever else may be necessary for
their welfare and happiness.
Life is expressive and it is our business to express
ourselves harmoniously and constructively. Sorrow, misery, unhappiness,
disease and poverty are not necessities and we are
constantly eliminating them.
But this process of eliminating consists in rising
above and beyond limitation of any kind. He who has strengthened and
purified his thought need not concern himself about
microbes, and he who has come into an understanding of the law of
abundance
will go at once to the source of supply.
It is thus that fate, fortune, and destiny will be
controlled as readily as a captain controls his ship, or an engineer,
his train.
PART FOUR
1. The "I" of you is not the physical
body; that is simply an instrument which the "I" uses to carry out its
purposes; the
"I" cannot be the Mind, for the mind is simply another
instrument which the "I" uses with which to think, reason, and plan.
2. The "I" must be something which
controls and directs both the body and the mind; something which
determines what they shall
do and how they shall act. When you come into a
realization of the true nature of this "I", you will enjoy a sense of
power
which you have never before known.
3. Your personality is made up of countless individual characteristics, peculiarities, habits, and traits of character; these
are the result of your former method of thinking, but they have nothing to do with the real "I."
4. When you say "I think" the "I"
tells the mind what it shall think; when you say "I go" the "I" tells
the physical body
where it shall go; the real nature of this "I" is
spiritual, and is the source of the real power which comes to men and
women
when they come into a realization of their true
nature.
5. The greatest and most marvelous
power which this "I" has been given is the power to think, but few
people know how to think
constructively, or correctly, consequently they
achieve only indifferent results. Most people allow their thoughts to
dwell
on selfish purposes, the inevitable result of an
infantile mind. When a mind becomes mature, it understands that the germ
of defeat is in every selfish thought.
6. The trained mind knows that every
transaction must benefit every person who is in any way connected with
the transaction,
and any attempt to profit by the weakness, ignorance
or necessity of another will inevitably operate to his disadvantage.
7. This is because the individual is a part of the Universal. A part cannot antagonize any other part, but, on the contrary,
the welfare of each part depends upon a recognition of the interest of the whole.
8. Those who recognize this principle
have a great advantage in the affairs of life. They do not wear
themselves out. They
can eliminate vagrant thoughts with facility. They can
readily concentrate to the highest possible degree on any subject.
They do not waste time or money upon objects which can
be of no possible benefit to them.
9. If you cannot do these things it
is because you have thus far not made the necessary effort. Now is the
time to make the
effort. The result will be exactly in proportion to
the effort expended. One of the strongest affirmations which you can use
for the purpose of strengthening the will and
realizing your power to accomplish, is, "I can be what I will to be."
10. Every time you repeat it realize
who and what this "I" is; try to come into a thorough understanding of
the true nature
of the "I"; if you do, you will become invincible;
that is, provided that your objects and purposes are constructive and
are
therefore in harmony with the creative principle of
the Universe.
11. If you make use of this affirmation, use it continuously, night and morning, and as often during the day as you think
of it, and continue to do so until it becomes a part of you; form the habit.
12. Unless you do this, you had
better not start at all, because modern psychology tells us that when we
start something and
do not complete it, or make a resolution and do not
keep it, we are forming the habit of failure; absolute, ignominious
failure.
If you do not intend to do a thing, do not start; if
you do start, see it through even if the heavens fall; if you make up
your mind to do something, do it; let nothing, no one,
interfere; the "I" in you has determined, the thing is settled; the
die is cast, there is no longer any argument.
13. If you carry out this idea,
beginning with small things which you know you can control and gradually
increase the effort,
but never under any circumstances allowing your "I" to
be overruled, you will find that you can eventually control yourself,
and many men and women have found to their sorrow that
it is easier to control a kingdom than to control themselves.
14. But when you have learned to
control yourself you will have found the "World Within" which controls
the world without;
you will have become irresistible; men and things will
respond to your every wish without any apparent effort on your part.
15. This is not so strange or
impossible as it may appear when you remember that the "World Within" is
controlled by the "I"
and that this "I" is a part or one with the Infinite
"I" which is the Universal Energy or Spirit, usually called God.
16. This is not a mere statement or theory made for the purpose of confirming or establishing an idea, but it is a fact which
has been accepted by the best religious thought as well as the best scientific thought.
17. Herbert Spender said: "Amid all the mysteries by which we are surrounded, nothing is more certain than that we are ever
in the presence of an Infinite and Eternal Energy from which all things proceed."
18. Lyman Abbott, in an address delivered before the Alumni of Bangor Theological Seminary, said: "We are coming to think
of God as dwelling in man rather than as operating on men from without."
19. Science goes a little way in its
search and stops. Science finds the ever-present Eternal Energy, but
Religion finds the
Power behind this energy and locates it within man.
But this is by no means a new discovery; the Bible says exactly the same
thing, and the language is just as plain and
convincing: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of the living God?"
Here, then,
is the secret of the wonderful creative power of the
"World Within."
20. Here is the secret of power, of
mastery. To overcome does not mean to go without things. Self-denial is
not success. We
cannot give unless we get; we cannot be helpful unless
we are strong. The Infinite is not a bankrupt and we who are the
representatives
of Infinite power should not be bankrupts either, and
if we wish to be of service to others we must have power and more power,
but to get it we must give it; we must be of service.
21. The more we give the more we
shall get; we must become a channel whereby the Universal can express
activity. The Universal
is constantly seeking to express itself, to be of
service, and it seeks the channel whereby it can find the greatest
activity,
where it can do the most good, where it can be of
greatest service to mankind.
22. The Universal cannot express
through you as long as you are busy with your plans, your own purposes;
quiet the senses,
seek inspiration, focus the mental activity on the
within, dwell in the consciousness of your unity with Omnipotence.
"Still
water runs deep;" contemplate the multitudinous
opportunities to which you have spiritual access by the Omnipresence of
power.
23. Visualize the events,
circumstances and conditions which these spiritual connections may
assist in manifesting. Realize
the fact that the essence and soul of all things is
spiritual and that the spiritual is the real, because it is the life of
all there is; when the spirit is gone, the life is
gone; it is dead; it has ceased to exist.
24. These mental activities pertain
to the world within, to the world of cause; and conditions and
circumstances which result
are the effect. It is thus that you become a creator.
This is important work, and the higher, loftier, grander and more noble
ideals which you can conceive, the more important the
work will become.
25. Over-work or over-play or
over-bodily activity of any kind produces conditions of mental apathy
and stagnation which makes
it impossible to do the more important work which
results in a realization of conscious power. We should, therefore, seek
the Silence frequently. Power comes through repose; it
is in the Silence that we can be still, and when we are still, we can
think, and thought is the secret of all attainment.
26. Thought is a mode of motion and
is carried by the law of vibration the same as light or electricity. It
is given vitality
by the emotions through the law of love; it takes form
and expression by the law of growth; it is a product of the spiritual
"I", hence its Divine, spiritual, and creative nature.
27. From this it is evident that in
order to express power, abundance or any other constructive purpose, the
emotions must
be called upon to give feeling to the thought so that
it will take form. How may this purpose be accomplished? This is the
vital point; how may we develop the faith, the
courage, the feeling, which will result in accomplishment?
28. The reply is, by exercise; mental
strength is secured in exactly the same way that physical strength is
secured, by exercise.
We think something, perhaps with difficulty the first
time; we think the same thing again, and it becomes easier this time;
we think it again and again; it then becomes a mental
habit. We continue to think the same thing; finally it becomes
automatic;
we can no longer help thinking this thing; we are now
positive of what we think; there is no longer any doubt about it. We
are sure; we know.
29. Last week I asked you to relax,
to let go physically. This week, I am going to ask you to let go
mentally. If you practiced
the exercise given you last week fifteen or twenty
minutes a day in accordance with the instructions, you can no doubt
relax
physically; and anyone who cannot consciously do this
quickly and completely is not a master of himself. He has not obtained
freedom; he is still a slave to conditions. But I
shall assume that you have mastered the exercise and are ready to take
the
next step, which is mental freedom.
30. This week, after taking your usual position, remove all tension by completely relaxing, then mentally let go of all adverse
conditions, such as hatred, anger, worry, jealousy, envy, sorrow, trouble or disappointment of any kind.
31. You may say that you cannot "let go" of these things, but you can; you can do so by mentally determining to do so, by
voluntary intention and persistence.
32. The reason that some cannot do
this is because they allow themselves to be controlled by the emotions
instead of by their
intellect. But those who will be guided by the
intellect will gain the victory. You will not succeed the first time you
try,
but practice makes perfect, in this as in everything
else, and you must succeed in dismissing, eliminating and completely
destroying these negative and destructive thoughts;
because they are the seed which is constantly germinating into
discordant
conditions of every conceivable kind and description.
There
is nothing truer than that the quality of thought which we entertain
correlates certain externals
in the outside world. This is the Law from which there
is no escape. And it is this Law, this correlative of the thought with
its object, that from time immemorial has led the
people to believe in special providence
