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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4507-h.zip b/4507-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8bfd051 --- /dev/null +++ b/4507-h.zip diff --git a/4507-h/4507-h.htm b/4507-h/4507-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1f4dbdb --- /dev/null +++ b/4507-h/4507-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1651 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: As a Man Thinketh + +Author: James Allen + +Posting Date: August 8, 2009 [EBook #4507] +Release Date: October, 2003 +First Posted: January 27, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AS A MAN THINKETH *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +AS A MAN THINKETH +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +JAMES ALLEN +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +Author of "From Passion to Peace" +</H4> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + <I>Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes,<BR> + And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes<BR> + The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills,<BR> + Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills:—<BR> + He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:<BR> + Environment is but his looking-glass.</I><BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +Authorized Edition +<BR><BR> +New York +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#thought">THOUGHT AND CHARACTER</A> +<BR> +<A HREF="#circumstances">EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON CIRCUMSTANCES</A> +<BR> +<A HREF="#health">EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON HEALTH AND THE BODY</A> +<BR> +<A HREF="#purpose">THOUGHT AND PURPOSE</A> +<BR> +<A HREF="#achievement">THE THOUGHT-FACTOR IN ACHIEVEMENT</A> +<BR> +<A HREF="#visions">VISIONS AND IDEALS</A> +<BR> +<A HREF="#serenity">SERENITY</A> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FOREWORD +</H3> + +<P> +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— +</P> + +<P> +"They themselves are makers of themselves." +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +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. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +JAMES ALLEN. +<BR> +BROAD PARK AVENUE, +<BR> +ILFRACOMBE, +<BR> +ENGLAND +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="thought"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +AS A MAN THINKETH +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THOUGHT AND CHARACTER +</H3> + +<P> +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 <I>what he thinks,</I> his character being the complete sum of +all his thoughts. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Thought in the mind hath made us, What we are<BR> + By thought was wrought and built. If a man's mind<BR> + Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes<BR> + The wheel the ox behind....<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + ..If one endure<BR> + In purity of thought, joy follows him<BR> + As his own shadow—sure."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +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 favour 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 harbouring of grovelling thoughts. +</P> + +<P> +Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armoury 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. +</P> + +<P> +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 moulder of character, and the maker and +shaper of condition, environment, and destiny. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +Man is always the master, even in his weaker 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 <I>conscious</I> master, and man can only thus become +by discovering <I>within himself</I> the laws of thought; which discovery +is totally a matter of application, self analysis, and experience. +</P> + +<P> +Only by much searching and mining, are gold and 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 moulder 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, linking cause and effect by patient +practice and investigation, and utilizing his every experience, even +to the most trivial, everyday occurrence, as a means of obtaining +that knowledge of himself which is Understanding, Wisdom, Power. 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. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="circumstances"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON CIRCUMSTANCES +</H3> + +<P> +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, <I>bring forth.</I> If no useful seeds are +<I>put</I> into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will <I>fall</I> +therein, and will continue to produce their kind. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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 +<I>entire</I> 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. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +As a 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. +</P> + +<P> +Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to +be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he +is a creative power, and 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. +</P> + +<P> +That circumstances grow out of thought every man knows who has for +any length of time practised 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. +</P> + +<P> +The soul attracts that which it secretly harbours; 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. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +Following the inmost desires, aspirations, thoughts, by which he +allows himself to be dominated, (pursuing the will-o'-the-wisps of +impure imaginings or steadfastly walking the highway of strong and +high endeavour), a man at last arrives at their fruition and +fulfilment in the outer conditions of his life. The laws of growth +and adjustment everywhere obtains. +</P> + +<P> +A man does not come to the almshouse or the jail by the tyranny of +fate or circumstance, but by the pathway of grovelling 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. +</P> + +<P> +Men do not attract that which they <I>want,</I> but that which they <I>are.</I> +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. Only himself manacles man: thought and action +are the gaolers 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. +</P> + +<P> +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 <I>effect</I> without, while all the time he is nourishing and +preserving its <I>cause</I> 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. +</P> + +<P> +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? +</P> + +<P> +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, and 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. +</P> + +<P> +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 viands +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. +</P> + +<P> +Here is an employer of labour 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. +</P> + +<P> +I have introduced these three cases merely as illustrative of the +truth that man is the causer (though nearly always is unconsciously) +of his circumstances, and that, whilst aiming at a 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, as 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. +</P> + +<P> +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 <I>because of his particular honesty,</I> and that the other +<I>prospers because of his particular dishonesty,</I> is the result of a +superficial judgment, which assumes that the dishonest man is almost +totally corrupt, and the 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. +</P> + +<P> +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, yet long before he has reached, that +supreme perfection, he will have found, working in his mind and +life, the Great Law which is absolutely just, and which cannot, +therefore, 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. +</P> + +<P> +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 co-operate with it. +</P> + +<P> +Suffering is <I>always</I> 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 no object in +burning gold after the dross had been removed, and a perfectly pure +and enlightened being could not suffer. +</P> + +<P> +The circumstances, which a man encounters with suffering, are the +result of his own mental in harmony. The circumstances, which a man +encounters with blessedness, are the result of his own mental +harmony. 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. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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; ceases to kick against +circumstances, but begins to <I>use</I> them as aids to his more rapid +progress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and +possibilities within himself. +</P> + +<P> +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 moulding 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 towards things and other people, things and other people +will alter towards him. +</P> + +<P> +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 circumstance. Bestial thoughts crystallize 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 +or less distressing. On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all +kinds 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. +</P> + +<P> +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 <I>directly</I> choose his circumstances, but +he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his +circumstances. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +Let a man cease from his sinful thoughts, and all the world will +soften towards 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 colours, which at every succeeding moment it presents to you are +the exquisitely adjusted pictures of your ever-moving thoughts. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "So You will be what you will to be;<BR> + Let failure find its false content<BR> + In that poor word, 'environment,'<BR> + But spirit scorns it, and is free.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "It masters time, it conquers space;<BR> + It cowes that boastful trickster, Chance,<BR> + And bids the tyrant Circumstance<BR> + Uncrown, and fill a servant's place.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "The human Will, that force unseen,<BR> + The offspring of a deathless Soul,<BR> + Can hew a way to any goal,<BR> + Though walls of granite intervene.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Be not impatient in delays<BR> + But wait as one who understands;<BR> + When spirit rises and commands<BR> + The gods are ready to obey."<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="health"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON HEALTH AND THE BODY +</H3> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +Strong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigour 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. +</P> + +<P> +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 +a corrupt body. Thought is the fount of action, life, and +manifestation; make the fountain pure, and all will be pure. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +Clean thoughts make clean habits. The so-called saint who does not +wash his body is not a saint. He who has strengthened and purified +his thoughts does not need to consider the malevolent microbe. +</P> + +<P> +If you would protect 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, and pride. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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 goodwill and +serenity. +</P> + +<P> +On the faces of the aged there are wrinkles made by sympathy, others +by strong and pure thought, and 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. +</P> + +<P> +There is no physician like cheerful thought for dissipating the ills +of the body; there is no comforter to compare with goodwill 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 +by day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring +abounding peace to their possessor. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="purpose"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THOUGHT AND PURPOSE +</H3> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to +petty 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. +</P> + +<P> +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 <I>strength of character gained</I> will +be the measure of <I>his true</I> success, and this will form a new +starting-point for future power and triumph. +</P> + +<P> +Those who are not prepared for the apprehension of a <I>great</I> 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 focussed, and resolution +and energy be developed, which being done, there is nothing which +may not be accomplished. +</P> + +<P> +The weakest soul, knowing its own weakness, and believing this truth +<I>that strength can only be developed by effort and practice,</I> will, +thus believing, 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. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +Having conceived of his purpose, a man should mentally mark out a +<I>straight</I> pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right +nor 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 accomplished 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. +</P> + +<P> +The will to do springs from the knowledge that we <I>can</I> 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. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force: he who +<I>knows</I> this is ready to become something higher and stronger than a +mere bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations; he who +<I>does</I> this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder of his +mental powers. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="achievement"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE THOUGHT-FACTOR IN ACHIEVEMENT +</H3> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is <I>willing</I> 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. +</P> + +<P> +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 amongst 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." +</P> + +<P> +The truth is that oppressor and slave are co-operators 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. +</P> + +<P> +He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish +thoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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 to manfully 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. +</P> + +<P> +There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice, and 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 and enduring will be his achievements. +</P> + +<P> +The universe does not favour 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. +</P> + +<P> +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 and arduous effort, and of +pure and unselfish thoughts. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +Victories attained by right thought can only be maintained by +watchfulness. Many give way when success is assured, and rapidly +fall back into failure. +</P> + +<P> +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 <I>the object of attainment.</I> +</P> + +<P> +He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would +achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must +sacrifice greatly. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="visions"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VISIONS AND IDEALS +</H3> + +<P> +THE dreamers are the saviours 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 as the <I>realities</I> which it shall one day see and know. +</P> + +<P> +Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage, these are the +makers of the after-world, the architects of heaven. The world is +beautiful because they have lived; without them, labouring humanity +would perish. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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." +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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 <I>within</I> and stand still <I>without.</I> Here is a youth +hard pressed by poverty and labour; 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 a +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 worldwide influence +and almost unequalled 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 remould their characters, and, +sunlike, he becomes the fixed and luminous centre round which +innumerable destinies revolve. He has realized the Vision of his +youth. He has become one with his Ideal. +</P> + +<P> +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 Davis, "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." +</P> + +<P> +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. Seeing a man grow rich, they say, "How +lucky he is!" Observing another become intellectual, they exclaim, +"How highly favoured he is!" And noting the saintly character and +wide influence of another, they 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; 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". They 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. +</P> + +<P> +In all human affairs there are <I>efforts,</I> and there are <I>results,</I> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="serenity"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SERENITY +</H3> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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, and 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. +</P> + +<P> +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 demeanour is strongly equable. +</P> + +<P> +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 of culture, 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! +</P> + +<P> +"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! +</P> + +<P> +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. +</P> + +<P> +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 the 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!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AS A MAN THINKETH *** + +***** This file should be named 4507-h.htm or 4507-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/5/0/4507/ + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo. HTML version by Al Haines. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: As a Man Thinketh + +Author: James Allen + +Posting Date: August 8, 2009 [EBook #4507] +Release Date: October, 2003 +First Posted: January 27, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AS A MAN THINKETH *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + +AS A MAN THINKETH + + +BY + +JAMES ALLEN + + +Author of "From Passion to Peace" + + + + _Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes, + And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes + The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills, + Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills:-- + He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass: + Environment is but his looking-glass._ + + + +Authorized Edition + +New York + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +THOUGHT AND CHARACTER + +EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON CIRCUMSTANCES + +EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON HEALTH AND THE BODY + +THOUGHT AND PURPOSE + +THE THOUGHT-FACTOR IN ACHIEVEMENT + +VISIONS AND IDEALS + +SERENITY + + + + + + +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. + +BROAD PARK AVENUE, + +ILFRACOMBE, + +ENGLAND + + + + + +AS A MAN THINKETH + + + + +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 was 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 favour 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 harbouring of grovelling thoughts. + +Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armoury 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 moulder of character, and the 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 weaker 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 and 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 moulder 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, linking cause and effect by patient +practice and investigation, and utilizing his every experience, even +to the most trivial, everyday occurrence, as a means of obtaining +that knowledge of himself which is Understanding, Wisdom, Power. 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. + + + + +EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON CIRCUMSTANCES + + +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 a 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 +is a creative power, and 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 practised 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 harbours; 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. + +Following the inmost desires, aspirations, thoughts, by which he +allows himself to be dominated, (pursuing the will-o'-the-wisps of +impure imaginings or steadfastly walking the highway of strong and +high endeavour), a man at last arrives at their fruition and +fulfilment in the outer conditions of his life. The laws of growth +and adjustment everywhere obtains. + +A man does not come to the almshouse or the jail by the tyranny of +fate or circumstance, but by the pathway of grovelling 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. Only himself manacles man: thought and action +are the gaolers 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, and 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 viands +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 labour 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 causer (though nearly always is unconsciously) +of his circumstances, and that, whilst aiming at a 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, as 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 the 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, yet long before he has reached, that +supreme perfection, he will have found, working in his mind and +life, the Great Law which is absolutely just, and which cannot, +therefore, 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 co-operate 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 no object in +burning gold after the dross had been removed, and a perfectly pure +and enlightened being could not suffer. + +The circumstances, which a man encounters with suffering, are the +result of his own mental in harmony. The circumstances, which a man +encounters with blessedness, are the result of his own mental +harmony. 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; 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 moulding 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 towards things and other people, things and other people +will alter towards 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 circumstance. Bestial thoughts crystallize 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 +or less distressing. On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all +kinds 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 towards 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 colours, which at every succeeding moment it presents to you are +the exquisitely adjusted pictures of your ever-moving thoughts. + + "So 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 cowes 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 delays + But wait as one who understands; + When spirit rises and commands + The gods are ready to obey." + + + + +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 vigour 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 +a corrupt body. Thought is the fount 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. + +Clean thoughts make clean habits. The so-called saint who does not +wash his body is not a saint. He who has strengthened and purified +his thoughts does not need to consider the malevolent microbe. + +If you would protect 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, and 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 goodwill and +serenity. + +On the faces of the aged there are wrinkles made by sympathy, others +by strong and pure thought, and 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 goodwill 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 +by day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring +abounding peace to their possessor. + + + + +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 +petty 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 focussed, 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, +thus believing, 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 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 accomplished 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. + + + + +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 that 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 amongst 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 co-operators 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 to manfully 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, and 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 and enduring will be his achievements. + +The universe does not favour 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 and 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. + + + + +VISIONS AND IDEALS + + +THE dreamers are the saviours 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 as the _realities_ which it shall one day see and know. + +Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage, these are the +makers of the after-world, the architects of heaven. The world is +beautiful because they have lived; without them, labouring 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 labour; 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 a +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 worldwide influence +and almost unequalled 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 remould their characters, and, +sunlike, he becomes the fixed and luminous centre round 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 Davis, "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. Seeing a man grow rich, they say, "How +lucky he is!" Observing another become intellectual, they exclaim, +"How highly favoured he is!" And noting the saintly character and +wide influence of another, they 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; 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". They 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. + + + + +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, and 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 demeanour 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 of culture, 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 the 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!" + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AS A MAN THINKETH *** + +***** This file should be named 4507.txt or 4507.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/5/0/4507/ + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo. HTML version by Al Haines. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + + + +Edited by Charles Aldarondo Aldarondo@yahoo.com + + + + + +AS A MAN THINKETH + +BY + +JAMES ALLEN + +Author of "From Passion to Peace" + +_Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes, +And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes +The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills, +Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills:-- +He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass: +Environment is but his looking-glass._ + +Authorized Edition + +New York + + + + + + +CONTENTS + + + + + +THOUGHT AND CHARACTER + +EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON CIRCUMSTANCES + +EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON HEALTH AND THE BODY + +THOUGHT AND PURPOSE + +THE THOUGHT-FACTOR IN ACHIEVEMENT + +VISIONS AND IDEALS + +SERENITY + + + + + + +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. + +BROAD PARK AVENUE, + +ILFRACOMBE, + +ENGLAND + + + + + + +AS A MAN THINKETH + +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 was 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 favour 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 harbouring of grovelling thoughts. + +Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armoury 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 moulder of character, and the 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 weaker 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 and 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 moulder 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, linking cause and effect by patient +practice and investigation, and utilizing his every experience, even +to the most trivial, everyday occurrence, as a means of obtaining +that knowledge of himself which is Understanding, Wisdom, Power. 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. + + + + + + +EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON CIRCUMSTANCES + + + + + +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 a 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 +is a creative power, and 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 practised 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 harbours; 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. + +Following the inmost desires, aspirations, thoughts, by which he +allows himself to be dominated, (pursuing the will-o'-the-wisps of +impure imaginings or steadfastly walking the highway of strong and +high endeavour), a man at last arrives at their fruition and +fulfilment in the outer conditions of his life. The laws of growth +and adjustment everywhere obtains. + +A man does not come to the almshouse or the jail by the tyranny of +fate or circumstance, but by the pathway of grovelling 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. Only himself manacles man: thought and action +are the gaolers 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, and 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 viands +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 labour 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 causer (though nearly always is unconsciously) +of his circumstances, and that, whilst aiming at a 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, as 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 the 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, yet long before he has reached, that +supreme perfection, he will have found, working in his mind and +life, the Great Law which is absolutely just, and which cannot, +therefore, 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 co-operate 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 no object in +burning gold after the dross had been removed, and a perfectly pure +and enlightened being could not suffer. + +The circumstances, which a man encounters with suffering, are the +result of his own mental in harmony. The circumstances, which a man +encounters with blessedness, are the result of his own mental +harmony. 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; 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 moulding 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 towards things and other people, things and other people +will alter towards 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 circumstance. Bestial thoughts crystallize 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 +or less distressing. On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all +kinds 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 towards 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 colours, which at every succeeding moment it presents to you are +the exquisitely adjusted pictures of your ever-moving thoughts. + +"So 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 cowes 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 delays +But wait as one who understands; +When spirit rises and commands +The gods are ready to obey." + + + + + + +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 vigour 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 +a corrupt body. Thought is the fount 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. + +Clean thoughts make clean habits. The so-called saint who does not +wash his body is not a saint. He who has strengthened and purified +his thoughts does not need to consider the malevolent microbe. + +If you would protect 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, and 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 goodwill and +serenity. + +On the faces of the aged there are wrinkles made by sympathy, others +by strong and pure thought, and 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 goodwill 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 +by day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring +abounding peace to their possessor. + + + + + + +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 +petty 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 focussed, 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, +thus believing, 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 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 accomplished 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. + + + + + + +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 that 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 amongst 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 co-operators 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 to manfully 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, and 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 and enduring will be his achievements. + +The universe does not favour 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 and 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. + + + + + + +VISIONS AND IDEALS + + + + + +THE dreamers are the saviours 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 as they _realities_ which it shall one day see and know. + +Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage, these are the +makers of the after-world, the architects of heaven. The world is +beautiful because they have lived; without them, labouring 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 labour; 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 a +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 worldwide influence +and almost unequalled 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 remould their characters, and, +sunlike, he becomes the fixed and luminous centre round 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 Davis, "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. Seeing a man grow rich, they say, "How +lucky he is!" Observing another become intellectual, they exclaim, +"How highly favoured he is!" And noting the saintly character and +wide influence of another, they 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; 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". They 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. + + + + + + +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, and 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 demeanour 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 of culture, 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 the 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!" + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg Etext of As A Man Thinketh, by James Allen + diff --git a/old/mntkh10.zip b/old/mntkh10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..87b75d8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/mntkh10.zip |