This is the Spirit of Infinite Plenty, the Power that has brought, that
is continually bringing, all things into expression in material form.
He who lives in the realization of his oneness with this Infinite Power
becomes a magnet to attract to himself a continual supply of whatsoever
things he desires.
If one hold himself in the thought of poverty, he will be poor, and the
chances are that he will remain in poverty. If he hold himself,
whatever present conditions may be, continually in the thought of
prosperity, he sets into operation forces that will sooner or later
bring him into prosperous conditions. The law of attraction works
unceasingly throughout the universe, and the one great and never
changing fact in connection with it is, as we have found, that like
attracts like. If we are one with this Infinite Power, this source of
all things, then in the degree that we live in the realization of this
oneness, in that degree do we actualize in ourselves a power that will
bring to us an abundance of all things that it is desirable for us to
have. In this way we come into possession of a power whereby we can
actualize at all times those conditions that we desire.
As all truth exists _now_, and awaits simply our perception of it, so
all things necessary for present needs exist _now_, and await simply
the power in us to appropriate them. God holds all things in His
hands. His constant word is, My child, acknowledge me in all your
ways, and in the degree that you do this, in the degree that you live
this, then what is mine is yours. Jehovah-jireh,--the Lord will
provide. "He giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not." He
giveth liberally to all men who put themselves in the right attitude to
receive from Him. He forces no good things upon any one.
The old and somewhat prevalent idea of godliness and poverty has
absolutely no basis for its existence, and the sooner we get away from
it the better. It had its birth in the same way that the idea of
asceticism came into existence, when the idea prevailed that there was
necessarily a warfare between the flesh and the spirit. It had its
origin therefore in the minds of those who had a distorted, a one-sided
view of life. True godliness is in a sense the same as true wisdom.
The one who is truly wise, and who uses the forces and powers with
which he is endowed, to him the great universe always opens her
treasure house. The supply is always equal to the demand,--equal to
the demand when the demand is rightly, wisely made. When one comes
into the realization of these higher laws, then the fear of want ceases
to tyrannize over him.
Are you out of a situation? Let the fear that you will not get another
take hold of and _dominate_ you, and the chances are that it may be a
long time before you will get another, or the one that you do get may
be a very poor one indeed. Whatever the circumstances, you must
realize that you have within you forces and powers that you can set
into operation that will triumph over any and all apparent or temporary
losses. Set these forces into operation and you will then be placing a
magnet that will draw to you a situation that may be far better than
the one you have lost, and the time may soon come when you will be even
thankful that you lost the old one.
Recognize, working in and through you, the same Infinite Power that
creates and governs all things in the universe, the same Infinite Power
that governs the endless systems of worlds in space. Send out your
thought,--thought is a force, and it has occult power of unknown
proportions when rightly used and wisely directed,--send out your
thought that the right situation or the right work will come to you at
the right time, in the right way, and that you will recognize it when
it comes. Hold to this thought, never allow it to weaken, hold to it,
and continually water it with firm expectation. You in this way put
your advertisement into a psychical, a spiritual newspaper, a paper
that has not a limited circulation, but one that will make its way not
only to the utmost bounds of the earth, but of the very universe
itself. It is an advertisement, moreover, which if rightly placed on
your part, will be far more effective than any advertisement you could
possibly put into any printed sheet, no matter what claims are made in
regard to its being "the great advertising medium." In the degree that
you come into this realization and live in harmony with the higher laws
and forces, in that degree will you be able to do this effectively.
If you wish to look through the "want" columns of the newspapers, then
do it not in the ordinary way. Put the higher forces into operation
and thus place it on a higher basis. As you take up the paper, take
this attitude of mind: If there is here an advertisement that it will
be well for me to reply to, the moment I come to it I will recognize
it. Affirm this, believe it, expect it. If you do this in full faith
you will somehow feel the intuition the moment you come to the right
one, and this intuition will be nothing more nor less than your own
soul speaking to you. When it speaks then act at once.
If you get the situation and it does not prove to be exactly what you
want, if you feel that you are capable of filling a better one, then
the moment you enter upon it take the attitude of mind that this
situation is the stepping-stone that will lead you to one that will be
still better. Hold this thought steadily, affirm it, believe it,
expect it, and all the time be faithful, _absolutely faithful_ to the
situation in which you are at present placed. If you are _not_
faithful to it then the chances are that it will not be the
stepping-stone to something better, but to something poorer. If you
are faithful to it, the time may soon come when you will be glad and
thankful, when you will rejoice, that you lost your old position.
This is the law of prosperity: When apparent adversity comes, be not
cast down by it, but make the best of it, and always look forward for
better things, for conditions more prosperous. To hold yourself in
this attitude of mind is to set into operation subtle, silent, and
irresistible forces that sooner or later will actualize in material
form that which is today merely an idea. But ideas have occult power,
and ideas, when rightly planted and rightly tended, are the seeds that
actualize material conditions.
Never give a moment to complaint, but utilize the time that would
otherwise be spent in this way in looking forward and actualizing the
conditions you desire. Suggest prosperity to yourself. See yourself
in a prosperous condition. Affirm that you will before long be in a
prosperous condition. Affirm it calmly and quietly, but strongly and
confidently. Believe it, believe it absolutely. Expect it,--keep it
continually watered with expectation. You thus make yourself a magnet
to attract the things that you desire. Don't be afraid to suggest, to
affirm these things, for by so doing you put forth an ideal which will
begin to clothe itself in material form. In this way you are utilizing
agents among the most subtle and powerful in the universe. If you are
particularly desirous for anything that you feel it is good and right
for you to have, something that will broaden your life or that will
increase your usefulness to others, simply hold the thought that at the
right time, in the right way, and through the right instrumentality,
there will come to you or there will open up for you the way whereby
you can attain what you desire.
I know of a young lady who a short time ago wanted some money very
badly. She wanted it for a good purpose; she saw no reason why she
shouldn't have it. She is one who has come into an understanding of
the power of the interior forces. She took and held herself in the
attitude of mind we have just pointed out. In the morning she entered
into the silence for a few moments. In this way she brought herself
into a more complete harmony with the higher powers. Before the day
closed a gentleman called, a member of a family with which she was
acquainted. He asked her if she would do for the family some work that
they wanted done. She was a little surprised that they should ask her
to do this particular kind of work, but she said to herself, "Here is a
call. I will respond and see what it will lead to." She undertook the
work. _She did it well_. When she had completed it there was put into
her hands an amount of money far beyond what she had expected. She
felt that it was an amount too large for the work she had done. She
protested. They replied, "No; you have done us a service that
transcends in value the amount we offer to pay you." The sum thus
received was more than sufficient for the work she wished to accomplish.
This is but one of many instances in connection with the wise and
effective use of the higher powers. It also carries a lesson,--Don't
fold your hands and expect to see things drop into your lap, but set
into operation the higher forces and then take hold of the first thing
that offers itself. Do what your hands find to do, _and do it well_.
If this work is not thoroughly satisfactory to you, then affirm,
believe, and expect that it is the agency that will lead you to
something better. "The basis for attracting the best of all the world
can give to you is to first surround, own, and live in these things in
mind, or what is falsely called imagination. All so-called imaginings
are realities and forces of unseen element. Live in mind in a palace
and gradually palatial surroundings will gravitate to you. But so
living is _not_ pining, or longing, or complainingly wishing. It is
when you are 'down in the world,' calmly and persistently seeing
yourself as up. It is when you are now compelled to eat from a tin
plate, regarding that tin plate as only the certain step to one of
silver. It is not envying and growling at other people who have silver
plate. That growling is just so much capital stock taken from the bank
account of mental force."
A friend who knows the power of the interior forces, and whose life is
guided in every detail by them, has given a suggestion in this form:
When you are in the arms of the bear, even though he is hugging you,
look him in the face and laugh, but all the time keep your eye on the
bull. If you allow all of your attention to be given to the work of
the bear, the bull may get entirely out of your sight. In other words,
if you yield to adversity the chances are that it will master you, but
if you recognize in yourself the power of mastery over conditions then
adversity will yield to you, and will be changed into prosperity. If
when it comes you calmly and quietly recognize it, and use the time
that might otherwise be spent in regrets, and fears, and forebodings,
in setting into operation the powerful forces within you, it will soon
take its leave.
Faith, absolute dogmatic faith, is the only law of true success. When
we recognize the fact that a man carries his success or his failure
with him, and that it does not depend upon outside conditions, we will
come into the possession of powers that will quickly change outside
conditions into agencies that make for success. When we come into this
higher realization and bring our lives into complete harmony with the
higher laws, we will then be able so to focus and direct the awakened
interior forces, that they will go out and return laden with that for
which they are sent. We will then be great enough to attract success,
and it will not always be apparently just a little ways ahead. We can
then establish in ourselves a centre so strong that instead of running
hither and thither for this or that, we can stay at home and draw to us
the conditions we desire. If we firmly establish and hold to this
centre, things will seem continually to come our way.
The majority of people of the modern world are looking for things that
are practical and that can be utilized in every-day life. The more
carefully we examine into the laws underlying the great truths we are
considering, the more we will find that they are not only eminently
practical, but in a sense, and in the deepest and truest sense, they
are the only practical things there are.
There are people who continually pride themselves upon being
exceedingly "practical," but many times those who of themselves think
nothing about this are the most practical people the world knows. And,
on the other hand, those who take great pride in speaking of their own
practicality are many times the least practical. Or again, in some
ways they may be practical, but so far as life in its totality is
concerned, they are absurdly impractical.
What profit, for example, can there be for the man who, materially
speaking, though he has gained the whole world, has never yet become
acquainted with his own soul? There are multitudes of men all about us
who are entirely missing the real life, men who have not learned even
the a, b, c of true living. Slaves they are, abject slaves to their
temporary material accumulations. Men who thinking they possess their
wealth are on the contrary completely possessed by it. Men whose lives
are comparatively barren in service to those about them and to the
world at large. Men who when they can no longer hold the body,--the
agency by means of which they are related to the material world,--will
go out poor indeed, pitiably poor. Unable to take even the smallest
particle of their accumulations with them, they will enter upon the
other form of life naked and destitute.
The kindly deeds, the developed traits of character, the realized
powers of the soul, the real riches of the inner life and unfoldment,
all those things that become our real and eternal possessions, have
been given no place in their lives, and so of the real things of life
they are destitute. Nay, many times worse than destitute. We must not
suppose that habits once formed are any more easily broken off in the
other form of life than they are in this. If one voluntarily grows a
certain mania here, we must not suppose that the mere dropping of the
body makes all conditions perfect. All is law, all is cause and
effect. As we sow, so shall we also reap, not only in this life but in
all lives.
He who is enslaved with the sole desire for material possessions here
will continue to be enslaved even after he can no longer retain his
body. Then, moreover, he will have not even the means of gratifying
his desires. Dominated by this habit, he will be unable to set his
affections, for a time at least, upon other things, and the desire,
without the means of gratifying it will be doubly torturing to him.
Perchance this torture may be increased by his seeing the accumulations
he thought were his now being scattered and wasted by spendthrifts. He
wills his property, as we say, to others, but he can have no word as to
its use.
How foolish, then, for us to think that any material possessions _are
ours_. How absurd, for example, for one to fence off a number of acres
of God's earth and say they are _his_. Nothing is ours that we cannot
retain. The things that come into our hands come not for the purpose
of being possessed, as we say, much less for the purpose of being
hoarded. They come into our hands to be used, to be wisely used. We
are stewards merely, and as stewards we shall be held accountable for
the way we use whatever is entrusted to us. That great law of
compensation that runs through all life is wonderfully exact in its
workings, although we may not always fully comprehend it, or even
recognize it when it operates in connection with ourselves.
The one who has come into the realization of the higher life no longer
has a desire for the accumulation of enormous wealth, any more than he
has a desire for any other _excess_. In the degree that he comes into
the recognition of the fact that he is wealthy within, external wealth
becomes less important in his estimation. When he comes into the
realization of the fact that there is a source within from which he can
put forth a power to call to him and actualize in his hands at any time
a sufficient supply for all his needs, he no longer burdens himself
with vast material accumulations that require his constant care and
attention, and thus take his time and his thought from the real things
of life. In other words, he first finds the _kingdom_, and he realizes
that when he has found this, all other things follow in full measure.
It is as hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven, said
the Master,--he who having nothing had everything,--as it is for a
camel to pass through the eye of a needle. In other words, if a man
give all his time to the accumulation, the hoarding of outward material
possessions far beyond what he can possibly ever use, what time has he
for the finding of that wonderful kingdom, which when found, brings all
else with it. Which is better, to have millions of dollars, and to
have the burden of taking care of it all,--for the one always involves
the other,--or to come into the knowledge of such laws and forces that
every need will be supplied in good time, to know that no good thing
shall be withheld, to know that we have it in our power to make the
supply always equal to the demand?
The one who enters into the realm of this higher knowledge, never cares
to bring upon himself the species of insanity that has such a firm hold
upon so many in the world today. He avoids it as he would avoid any
loathsome disease of the body. When we come into the realization of
the higher powers, we will then be able to give more attention to the
real life, instead of giving so much to the piling up of vast
possessions that hamper rather than help it. It is the medium ground
that brings the true solution here, the same as it is in all phases of
life.
Wealth beyond a certain amount cannot be used, and when it cannot be
used it then becomes a hindrance rather than an aid, a curse rather
than a blessing. All about us are persons with lives now stunted and
dwarfed who could make them rich and beautiful, filled with a perennial
joy, if they would begin wisely to use that which they have spent the
greater portion of their lives in accumulating.
The man who accumulates during his entire life, and who leaves even all
when he goes out for "benevolent purposes," comes far short of the
ideal life. It is but a poor excuse of a life. It is not especially
commendable in me to give a pair of old, worn-out shoes that I shall
never use again to another who is in need of shoes. But it is
commendable, if indeed doing anything we ought to do can be spoken of
as being commendable, it is commendable for me to give a good pair of
strong shoes to the man who in the midst of a severe winter is
practically shoeless, the man who is exerting every effort to earn an
honest living and thereby take care of his family's needs. And if in
giving the shoes I also give myself, he then has a double gift, and I a
double blessing.
There is no wiser use that those who have great accumulations can make
of them than wisely to put them into life, into character, _day by day
while they live_. In this way their lives will be continually enriched
and increased. The time will come when it will be regarded as a
disgrace for a man to die and leave vast accumulations behind him.
Many a person is living in a palace today who in the real life is
poorer than many a one who has not even a roof to cover him. A man may
own and live in a palace, but the palace for him may be a pool-house
still.
Moth and rust are nature's wise provisions--God's methods--for
disintegrating and scattering, in this way getting ready for use in new
forms, that which is hoarded and consequently serving no use. There is
also a great law continually operating whose effects are to dwarf and
deaden the powers of true enjoyment, as well as all the higher
faculties of the one who hoards.
Multitudes of people are continually keeping away from them higher and
better things because they are forever clinging on to the old. If they
would use and pass on the old, room would be made for new things to
come. Hoarding always brings loss in one form or another. Using,
wisely using, brings an ever renewing gain.
If the tree should as ignorantly and as greedily hold on to this year's
leaves when they have served their purpose, where would be the full and
beautiful new life that will be put forth in the spring? Gradual decay
and finally death would be the result. If the tree is already dead,
then it may perhaps be well enough for it to cling on to the old, for
no new leaves will come. But as long as the life in the tree is
active, it is _necessary_ that it rid itself of the old ones, that room
may be made for the new.
Opulence is the law of the universe, an abundant supply for every need
if nothing is put in the way of its coming. The natural and the normal
life for us is this,--To have such a fullness of life and power by
living so continually in the realization of our oneness with the
Infinite Life and Power that we find ourselves in the constant
possession of an abundant supply of all things needed.
Then not by hoarding but by wisely using and ridding ourselves of
things as they come, an ever renewing supply will be ours, a supply far
better adapted to present needs than the old could possibly be. In
this way we not only come into possession of the richest treasures of
the Infinite Good ourselves, but we also become open channels through
which they can flow to others.