This book is devoted to the subject of the development, cultivation and manifestation of Personal Power— Personal Power in all its phases, aspects and modes of manifestation and expression. “Personal Power,” as understood and taught in this book, may be defined as: “The ability or strength possessed by the human individual, by which he does, or may, accomplish desired results in an efficient manner, along the lines of physical, mental, and spiritual effort and endeavor.”

This book is not written with the purpose of reforming the world, nor of conducting a propaganda for the advancement of some particular creed, belief, body of teaching or doctrine; nor is it written on behalf of any particular organization, cult, society, or school interested in enlarging its membership, or in spreading its doctrines. Instead, it is written for YOU—YOU are the individual in whom we are interested, and for whom this instruction is intended.

You have been attracted to this book, and it to you, by reason of certain ever-operative though little-known laws of life and being. You have long awaited the coming of this book; you are now ready to absorb its teachings; “your own has come to you” after your period of watching and waiting; and you will recognize it as your own, by reason of a certain intuitive perception which comes to those who are ready to receive that which it contains. You have demanded this book: here it is.

This book is different in many respects from anything that you ever have read. A careful and earnest study of the truths presented in it will work a marked change in you, though you may not fully realize it at this time. You will never be exactly the same after its reading: it will have left its indelible impress upon you.

You may come to think that you have put it aside, and that you have no further interest in its teachings. But you will find that certain memories of the statements contained in it will abide with you, and that echoes of its teachings will ring in the ears of your mind. In the words of Whitman, its “words will itch in your ears till you understand them.” Its basic truths, and the suggestions as to their application, will stick in your mind as the burr sticks in the fleece of the sheep which has acquired it in its wanderings.

You can no more escape from the influence of the truths presented in its pages than you can run away from your own shadow. At every turn and cross-roads of the path of experience hereafter, you will find yourself almost unconsciously applying the principles of this instruction, and employing some of the methods taught in it. You are hereby warned that such will be the case: if you are not willing to experience such results, now is your time to put away the book.

If, however, you decide to proceed with the reading and study of this book, we have several suggestions to make to you. You need not expect to master this instruction at the first reading. There is much solid food contained in it—many things requiring careful mental mastication, digestion, and assimilation. You will need to read the book several times, from start to finish, with intervals between each reading. Yet the instruction is quite simple, and at each reading you will acquire many important facts, principles, and methods.

The proper way in which to read this book for the purpose of study—in which to extract from its pages that which is condensed in them—is to start by reading it carefully, from beginning to end, but without trying to memorize any particular portion, or to impress any particular detail upon your mind. Then lay it aside for a short time, while you think over its teachings in a general way. In this mental rumination try to classify the several most important topics and divisions of the general subject, but without direct reference to the book itself. Having done this, take up the book again, and this time carefully absorb each and every phase and feature of its instruction. Take your time in thus re-reading and restudying it. You will find something new in this book each and every time you take it up—no matter how many times you have previously “gone over it.”

Finally, you are not asked to accept as true the instruction contained in this book merely because we have asserted it to be true. You have at your disposal the means of testing and proving the truth of our assertions—the test of actual application, experiment, and experience. If you will earnestly and persistently put into practice the principles and methods set forth in it, you will find yourself actually manifesting and demonstrating the results logically flowing from them.

All that you are asked to do is to accept at least tentatively— as a “working hypothesis”—the general principles announced in this book, and to adopt as a “working plan” the methods it presents to you. Reserve for yourself the right to accept or to reject either principles or methods, or both, after you have subjected them to an earnest, faithful, diligent, and persistent trial in actual life and work. If you will do this, you will, in all probability, need no further argument to convince you of the truth of the underlying principles of this instruction, and of the efficacy of the methods suggested in it.

Here is the prophecy: If you will recognize, by means of your intellect, the Fundamental Principles of Personal Power; and will realize them in your feeling; then will you be able to manifest and demonstrate them in your everyday life and work, by means of the methods herein indicated, or by similar methods devised by yourself but based upon the same general principles. The principles are basic and fundamental; the methods are designed merely to enable you to apply effectively the principles—you are at liberty to adapt or to modify the latter to suit your own individual requirements.

If you attain the first two of the above stages, then assuredly you will attain the third stage—the stage of manifestation. These first two stages may be attained by any person of average intelligence, provided that he will faithfully and earnestly apply himself or herself to the task. You are hereby challenged to test the truth of this prophecy by such a trial and experiment: but that trial and experiment must be made in good faith, in an earnest, serious spirit, and must be pursued with diligence, persistence, and insistence.

Your Master Self

The active agent of all of your conscious experience is, of course, YOURSELF. The centre of your conscious experience is that “YOU” element of your being—that self-conscious Something or Somewhat, the actual existence and presence of which you assert when you say “I AM I.” This “I AM I” element of yourself is the one fact of your existence of which you are always absolutely certain, and concerning which you can never compel yourself to entertain any doubt.

Every time you say, or think, “I,” you assert the existence of your Self, and its presence in consciousness. No power of argument, no weight of evidence, no sophistry, no casuistry, no fallacy, can ever really convince you that your “I” does not exist; nor that it is not present in being at that moment of consciousness. You cannot truthfully assert, “I am not in existence, here and now”— for, even when you attempt to make such a denial and negation, you are conscious that it is the “I,” itself, making the attempt, and uttering the statement. Thus, even your very attempt at denial and negation is transmuted into an affirmation and assertion of your self-existence, and of the presence of Yourself at that particular time and place.

This conscious certainty of the existence and presence of the “I” is the axiomatic basis of all philosophy. It is the one indisputable, incontrovertible, irrefragable fact of your thought and consciousness—the one fact that cannot be gainsaid, denied, refuted or overthrown. It is the one point concerning which you can feel absolutely sure and certain. Even the most acute metaphysical or philosophical argument will fail to shake your belief in your own existence, and your presence in being.

You are always able to declare in the face of all arguments, “I AM I!” You may doubt the evidence of your senses—but you can never doubt this consciousness of your own existence as a conscious being. Here, at least, you feel that you are standing on the solid rock of certainty. Your uncertainties begin only when you start to ask yourself “What and why am I?” and “What else really IS?” But both of these questions imply your assurance that you, Yourself, are present in existence at that time and place. When you say “now,” you mean the particular period of time or duration which YOU are then experiencing. When you say “here,” you mean the particular position in space or extension which You are then experiencing. You must always say and think “I AM I, Here and Now!” but the Here and Now are relative to Yourself, and have no other meaning to you.

If you think that we are here “making much ado about nothing,” and that we are telling you something which everyone knows without being told, we will answer you by saying that upon this very point philosophers and metaphysicians have earnestly disputed from the beginning of human thought— this, because they realized that this one point, if absolutely established, furnished man with his one solid rock of reasoning; his one certain point from which he might chart and diagram his world of experience. That they have reported—as they have been compelled to report—its certainty and essential reality, is an indication of its ultimate truth. For they have made every attempt to undermine or to surmount it: they saw the folly of merely “taking it for granted.” They knew that too many things which men “took for granted” are illusions or delusions—the flatness of the earth, or the stationery position of the earth, for instance.

Moreover, those great minds which for thousands of years have been investigating the subject of Personal Power, long since discovered the fact that before one can hope to exercise any phase of Personal Power he must first arrive at a clear, distinct, and fundamental consciousness of HIMSELF— his “I AM I”—as a reality transcending all of his mental and physical instruments; and that upon the degree of his actual consciousness of the independent existence of this “I AM I” centre of his being depends the degree of his ability to manifest Personal Power.

So, you see, we are not wasting your and our time in telling you something not needing telling. Instead, we are endeavoring to awaken in you the actual and vivid conscious perception of a fundamental truth, without which you cannot hope to manifest or demonstrate Personal Power. Omitting this basic and fundamental instruction, there would be no reason for presenting the rest of the subject to you.

This Ego, Self, “I,” or “I AM I,” which stands at the centre of your conscious experience, and which is the real Seer, Doer, Feeler, Thinker, Willer, and Actor in your life journey, is the Master Self—the King on the Throne of your Personal Being. To omit reference to it here would be like omitting the character of Hamlet from the play of that name. Before you can hope to manifest and demonstrate Personal Power, you must become consciously aware of that Something or Somewhat which employs and manifests that power.

Personal Power might be present in abundance, but unless there were also something present able to employ and use it, there would be no manifestation or demonstration possible. YOU are that Something. You must become consciously aware of your essential and fundamental Self, before you will be able to employ the instruments at your hand. You must recognize your sovereignty, before you may mount your throne and rule your kingdom.

We wish, however, to state emphatically at this point that in our consideration of the Master Self—the Ego or “I” which asserts “I AM I”—we shall confine ourselves entirely to the reports of consciousness concerning its presence and existence, its nature and character. We shall point out to you just how you may discover its presence at the centre of your being, and how you may awaken its latent powers and possibilities so that they may be applied effectively as Personal Power.

We shall avoid entirely the advocacy of any particular one of the many various metaphysical, philosophical, or theological speculations or dogmas concerning its nature, character, source or origin, or its destiny. We prefer to leave these subjects in the hands of those who specialize upon them; we have no desire to invade their special fields of thought, conjecture or speculation. We prefer to base our thought upon the fundamental report of self-consciousness—that inevitable, invariable, and infallible report made by self-consciousness whenever it is awakened.

For the purpose of our consideration of the Master Self in this book, and that of the instruction to be based upon this, it is sufficient to assert merely: (1) that there exists in you a Master Self, Ego, “I,” or “I AM I” entity, to which all your personal faculties, powers and activities are subordinate; (2) that this Master Self (whatever else it may be or may not be) must be regarded as a focalized centre of Presence and Power manifested and expressed by the Ultimate Presence-Power in its manifestation and expression in the Cosmos.

These two general postulates are supported by all human thought on the subject, and in one form or the other are accepted by all phases of philosophical, metaphysical, or theological thought, though variously interpreted and explained. Moreover, actual human experience is in agreement with them. We shall present the general argument to you as we proceed, showing you how firmly based and grounded they are in human thought and experience. But, even so, you are not asked to accept them as truth until your own reason and experience so report them to you.

Let us begin, then, with the consideration of the first of the above-stated postulates, viz., “There exists in you a Master Self, Ego, “I,” or “I AM I” entity, to which all of your personal faculties, powers and activities are subordinate.” The argument and proof of this proposition is to be drawn entirely from your own conscious experience, and not from any philosophical, metaphysical, or theological theories or dogmas, whatsoever. Self-analysis will furnish you with the proof; that proof once so obtained will be far more satisfying than the mere “say so” or “thus saith” of others.

We earnestly ask you to proceed carefully with this process of self-analysis, for it will bring to you results of the most practical and vital character. Do not pass over this part of the instruction as being merely theoretical, or speculative—for it is far from being so. And, above all, do not take the position that “I am willing to take this for granted without actual proof, without bothering about the investigation”; for by so doing you will miss the very kernel of the instruction. For, know you, that the process of self-analysis will not only “prove the thing” to your satisfaction: it also will awaken within you the Power of the “I AM I,” or Master Self, in a way impossible by any other means. You must not only recognize this “I AM I” intellectually, but must also realize it in feeling, before you can manifest and demonstrate it in action.

In the following several sections of this book we shall, through your own self-analysis, make you acquainted with your Master Self, your Ego, your I or “I AM I.” You will be led not only to “see” it, but also to “feel” it within yourself. This “seeing” and “feeling” constitute the first two stages or steps in Personal Power—the “doing” stage or step is the third, and results from the attainment of the first two. The more thoroughly grounded you are in the first two stages or steps, the better will you be able to attain the final one.

Your “I Am I”

We ask you now to proceed to the discovery of your Master Self by the process of self analysis. In the most general sense, one’s self is a composite of personal mental and physical qualities, parts, factors, and elements. When you say, “myself,” (employing the term in this sense), you mean your entire personal being, outer and inner, body and mind, and possibly “spirit” as well. You use the term “self” to distinguish your entire personal being from that of another person, or those of other persons. Here you perform a process of analysis or separation. This is really the first stage or step of your self-analysis by which you proceed to discover your Master Self, or Real Self.

The second stage or step of self-analysis is that in which you abstract your Ego, “I AM I,” or Master Self from the physical self—the inner from the outer. You may do this by an act of consciousness, in which reason co-operates with the imagination. You find that the innermost report of consciousness is that the “I AM I” consciousness is not necessarily involved with your consciousness of your body; but that, on the contrary, the “I AM I” may conceive itself as existent even independent of the body which it inhabits. When self-consciousness says, “I AM I,” it means thereby that it, itself, the “I AM I” consciousness, is not the body, but rather is a Something or Somewhat inhabiting and occupying the body; the latter being merely a physical garment which it occupies; or the instrument or machinery which it employs in physical activity.

The “I AM I” may raise the hand attached to the physical body, by an act of will operating the physical muscles by means of currents of nerve-force directed by the mind. The “I AM I” may stand aside and contemplate the moving hand, and the act by which the hand is moved, just as it may contemplate any physical object not attached to the body. Try this, and you will see and feel this to be the case. You will find that you have the consciousness of your “I AM I” deliberately moving your hand by an act of will; the hand being merely a portion of your physical machinery. Move your hand up and down, then sidewise, until the full conception and consciousness of your true relation to it is fully grasped by you.

You will discover, by similar experiments, that you may likewise move any and every part of your physical body—even the whole body itself. Gradually there will dawn upon you the recognition and realization that your body, and each and every part or portion of it, is but a fine piece of physical machinery, the movements of which you control by your will and mind. You will, then, perhaps for the first time, realize that your body is merely your physical machinery, any part of which, or the whole of which, the “I AM I” may use, employ, control, direct, or set in motion, or render motionless, when it has learned the control of the nerves and muscles attached to and regulating the movement of the several parts of the body.

It is true that the involuntary nervous system has taken over to a great degree certain movements of the physical body—particularly those movements and processes having to do with the internal organs; but science informs you that all of the involuntary muscles were originally voluntary organs or tissues, and that they have been gradually transformed to the involuntary and subconscious field of activities, the change being made in the interest of vital economy, i. e., that the self may have time in which to attend more closely to its voluntary physical activities. For that matter, most of your important voluntary muscular movements you have had to learn by practice and experiment; as, for instance, the movements of walking, using your knife and fork, writing, dressing yourself, etc. Furthermore, it is known that the Hatha Yogis, of India, and others who have experimented along these lines, have regained the control of the involuntary muscles, and may start and stop their action, or reverse the same, at will—this being true not only of the muscles of the organs of digestion, assimilation, and elimination, but even of the heart itself.

Your reason recognizes the fact that the particles of your body are constantly changing; your body today being entirely different from that which you occupied a few years ago, and quite different from that which you occupied when you were a child. But, at the same time, your consciousness informs you that your “I AM I” or Ego, or Master Self is identical with that of a few years ago, or even that of your childhood. You are the same “I AM I” that you always have been, so far as your memory can report.

So, you see, that not only is your body something that is used, controlled, and moved at will by your “I AM I” or Master Self, through its established mental and physical machinery, but also that your body is not at all the same body which you owned and used a few years back. In short, you see that while your body is constantly being changed, repaired, made-over by the elimination of old, worn-out material and the substitution of new, fresh material, your “I AM I” remains unchanged in essential identity during your whole physical existence. The body is an impermanent and changing machine, while your “I,” which operates it, is the permanent and constant element of your being—the same operator engaged in running a constantly changing machine.

Moreover, by using your imagination, you will discover that while it is possible for you to fancy yourself as occupying bodies of a different kind, almost any kind in fact, one after another, yet it is absolutely impossible for you even to imagine yourself as being a different “I AM I” under such conditions. The imagination will report that while it is able to picture you as taking-on and laying-aside different bodies, just as you now change suits of clothing or costumes, yet it is unable to picture you as laying aside your identical “I AM I” and becoming another. Even when exerted to its wildest flights, the imagination will be compelled to report that the “I AM I” remains the same, no matter how different the various bodies successively occupied by it may be.

The imagination is even able to picture you as standing by your sleeping or dead body, viewing it as it would the body of another—in fact, many persons have had this experience in their dreams; but even in that case the “I AM I” is seen and felt to be “the same old ‘I’,” and as not having lost its sense of identity, continuity or completeness. You can never imagine yourself as standing aside and viewing your “I AM I” or Master Self in this way—for when you try it you will find either that (1) there is nothing to look at the “I AM I,” or else (2) that the “I AM I” has nothing at which to look. You may profitably try the above experiments with the imagination; they will serve to fasten upon your consciousness certain essential limitations of the imagination which it cannot transcend; and certain essential attributes of the “I AM I” of which it cannot be divested even by will and imagination. You will thereby gain a vivid experience of certain fundamental facts of your mental being which have heretofore been unknown to you.

The lesson taught in this second stage of self-analysis is this: That the physical body, in its parts, and in its totality, is not your “I AM I” or Master Self; but is merely something “belonging to,” and used by you in your task of expression and physical manifestation. What, ever else your “I AM I” or Master Self may be, or may not be, it certainly is not your physical body, in its parts or in its totality.

If you wish corroborative proof, you have but to inquire of persons who have lost their arms, or legs, or other important parts of their body. They will invariably inform you that their “I consciousness”—their consciousness of “Self”—is not in the least affected or diminished by the loss of portions of their body. They will tell you that “the same old I” is present, feeling as complete as ever, and not being conscious of any loss of real “selfhood.” More than this, authoritative medical annals inform you that in cases of paralysis extending over the greater portion of the body, the “I AM I” consciousness is still intact and undiminished—the report always is “I am still here; I AM I, just as much as I ever was.”

We ask that you master this first step of self-analysis, at least to the extent that you actually “feel” in consciousness that there is a Something or Somewhat which “owns,” occupies and uses your physical body as an instrument of expression, a machine for producing physical activity; but which, in itself, is superior to and master of that instrument or machine—and that that Something or Somewhat is YOU, yourself. Do not rest content with merely acquiescing in the statement, by reason of your “seeing” it intellectually. Seek to “feel” it as a fact of actual consciousness—for thereby you gain an important step in the unfoldment of Personal Power.

Do not hesitate to call to your aid your imagination, as well as your intellect—for both of these are valid instruments of your mental mechanism, each performing its own offices for you. Do not say “I can imagine anything,” for really you cannot— the above experiments will show you that the imagination, as well as the intellect, has its limits and boundaries, beyond which it may not proceed. Do not pass this by as mere fancy, or as unimportant; it is quite important, and has a distinct and particular part to play in the instruction which we are offering you in this book. We are seeking to have you “see” and “feel” that you are Something or Somewhat far more fundamental, essential and “real” than you have ever imagined yourself to be.

You may possibly think that now, having shown you that the “I AM I” or Master Self is not the physical body, we are about to tell you that therefore it must be “the mind”; if so, you now look forward to the usual talk upon the subject of “all is mind,” of which you have heard so much—possibly too much. But you are mistaken if you suppose this. You will be required to disentangle yourself from your “mind stuff,” as you have from your “body stuff,” before you are conscious of the full, clear, brilliant light of the “I AM I” or Master Self. You are like the fly which is endeavoring to disentangle itself from the “sticky fly-paper” in which it was caught; you have now released yourself from the body of the paper, but your legs and wings are still full of the “sticky stuff”; you must now proceed, like that fly, slowly and carefully to free yourself of the foreign materials which keep you from using your wings and legs in perfect freedom, and under perfect control.

The third stage of your self-analysis is that in which you abstract your “I AM I” or Master Self from that part of your mental nature which you call your “emotional nature,” i. e., your various feelings, emotions, agreeable or disagreeable mental states, and your desires. Remember, however, that you are not to be asked actually to discard this important part of your nature, any more than you are expected actually to discard your very useful physical body. On the contrary, you will be expected to employ still more efficiently both physical body and emotional nature, once that you have discovered that they are but your instruments and machinery, physical and mental, rather than being essential and inseparable elements of the “I AM I” or Master Self. You are being asked to learn how to use as a Master these instruments and that machinery, instead of being used by them as their Slave! But to be the Master, you must first discover that you are superior to, and essentially independent of these useful instruments and pieces of machinery. When you have learned this, then you may use these things as they should be used—by YOU as the Master, not as the Slave! First learn to know—then proceed to use!

You proceed to the attainment of the third stage of your self-analysis by three steps, viz.: (1) the discovery that your emotional states are temporary, impermanent, and changing; (2) the discovery that your emotional states may be observed, considered, examined, analyzed, and controlled by the “I AM I” or Master Self; and that in such processes they are able to be set aside as objects to which the attention of the “I AM I” or Master Self; is being directed, the latter always remaining as the subject which is conducting the examination; and (3) that after you have mentally abstracted or set aside all of your emotional states, there is still a Something or Somewhat left unchanged, unimpaired, constant, and permanent—which cannot be set aside as an object of attention—the “I AM I” or Master Self.

The first of the three above-mentioned steps is quite easy of accomplishment. You have already discovered that your emotional states are impermanent and changeable. You remember that only a few years ago—perhaps only a few months, weeks or days ago—you entertained an assortment of feelings, emotions, likes and dislikes, wishes, wants and desires, vastly different from those entertained by you today. Your loves and hates have changed many times—often exchanging places, perhaps—at least, changing in degree of intensity, and in direction of object. In some cases they have faded away so completely that it now requires a distinct effort of memory to recall them as having been previously experienced by you.

Some persons are more constant in their feelings than are others; but some degrees of change are experienced by all persons. The feelings of the child change as the period of adolescence is approached; the emotions of the adolescent are different from those of the child, and from those of the matured man or woman; the emotions of middle-age are different still; and those of old-age have their own particular character. Moreover, the constant play of circumstances and environment works changes in the emotional states of the individual. You have had personal experience of some of these changes; and observation and inquiry will satisfy you as to the rest.

But, your own experiences and your inquiries concerning those of others, will disclose to you that in all such cases the “I AM I” of the individual—his Master Self—remains constant, unchanged and identical through all these innumerable changes and transmutations of the emotional states. The “I AM I” or Master Self has survived these emotional storms; tempests, calms and “dead winds”—in fact, its memory has forgotten many of them. The individual frequently wonders “was it possible that I ever felt in this way about these things, or these persons?” The “I AM I” or Master Self, is the constant, permanent Something or Somewhat which survives the temporary and ever-changing winds and storms of the emotional states.

The second step likewise is easy, when you have once grasped the idea. It consists merely of the examination, consideration, observation, and analysis of your emotional states. You find it quite easy to turn the light of attention upon any particular emotional state previously experienced. Your attention being directed earnestly to it, you easily perceive its past history; how it originated; what called it into expression; how it rose to its height or climax; how it faded away or at least grew weaker; what ideas served to strengthen or weaken it, to feed or to starve it; how it became transmuted into another form of feeling; and so forth and so on. In short, you will find that you are able to examine, consider, observe and mentally analyze any emotional state experienced by you, just as you would a tiny creature under the microscope. You place the emotional state as the object, to be viewed under the microscope of attention; the “I AM I” or Master Self being always the subject conducting the examination at the observation end of the microscope.

Moreover, you remember many instances in which you have controlled, held back or urged forward, guided and directed and generally “managed” some of your emotional states— this in the degree of the awakening of your “I AM I,” and by its employment of the will. You have learned, at least to some extent, how to restrain or inhibit many of your emotional states, your feelings and impulses, your desires and your tendencies— this in response to the dictates of prudence, ethics, morality, justice, self-respect or self-interest, as the case may be. In short, you have demonstrated, at least to some degree, that the “I AM I,” or Master Self, is the driver of the emotional steeds— the latter being the creatures guided and directed by the reins, bit and curb of will. And, in doing this, you have demonstrated that the “I AM I” or Master Self is one thing, and the emotional states quite another thing—that the two are not identical, at all.

In the third step of this stage of your self-analysis, you proceed to the discovery of the fact that, after you have mentally abstracted and set aside all of your emotional states, there is a Something or Somewhat left, unchanged and unimpaired, fixed, constant and permanent—the “I AM I” or Master Self, abiding at the very centre of the kernel of your being. You may do this by the exercise of your memory, and of your imagination, aided by the employment of your power of pure self-consciousness.

You will see that just as in the past your emotional states have changed or been transmuted, leaving the “I AM I” or Master Self present in constant, unchanged and unaltered fullness of being, so may you now at the present time mentally picture your “I AM I” or Master Self experiencing several entirely different sets or assortments of emotional states, feelings, desires, etc.,—and yet ever remaining the same “I AM I” or Master Self in spite of the changes. You may imagine yourself as playing many different parts and characters in the Drama of Life, yet always remaining the same, identical “I AM I” or Master Self, abiding behind the mask and under the distinguishing emotional garments fitted to the role being played.

Moreover, you may mentally picture yourself as having no emotional feelings at all, at any given time, providing that the objects and ideas originally calling forth your emotional states have been wiped out of conscious or subconscious existence in your memory. But even in such an extreme case, you will be fully convinced that your “I AM I” or Master Self would remain the same constant, identical Something or Somewhat that it is now, and always has been.

The lesson taught in this third stage of self-analysis is this: That the emotional nature, in all of its stages, forms, aspects, modes, and manifestations, is not the “I AM I” or Master Self; but, instead, merely something “belonging to” that essential and permanent entity. Whatever else your “I AM I” or Master Self may be, or may not be, it certainly is not your emotional nature, in its parts or in its totality.

The fourth stage of self-analysis is that in which you abstract the “I AM I” or Master Self from your “thinking states.” Your “thinking states” are composed of “thoughts” of various degrees of complexity, ranging from the simplest perception arising from sensation or sense report of any kind, to the higher combinations of thought which we call “concepts,” “ideas,” “beliefs,” “judgments,” “conclusions,” etc.

By carefully examining your “thinking states,” you will discover there a condition which closely resembles that associated with your “feeling states.” That is to say, you will find your “thinking states” to be (1) impermanent and changing; (2) capable of examination, observation, experiment, analysis, control and direction—thus being capable of being set aside as objects of the attention directed by the “I AM I” or Master Self—the latter being the subject exercising the power of attention; and (3) that after you have mentally set aside and examined all of these “thinking states,” or thoughts, there is a Something or Somewhat left constant, unchanged, unimpaired, and permanent—the “I AM I” or Master Self, which remains identical throughout all the processes of thought and thinking, transcending them all.

Just as you found the “feeling states,” so now you find the “thinking states,” to be subject to the law of change, modification, alteration, transformation, and transmutation. You have but to look backward over your past life—even but a few years back, for that matter—to discover that there has been a constant evolution and development in your thoughts, judgments, beliefs, and conclusions. You know that new concepts, new ideas, new judgments, new conclusions have replaced those formerly held by yourself. Your experience has wrought many remarkable changes in this respect; many of your former beliefs, ideas, and convictions having been perhaps entirely reversed.

Moreover, you know that impaired health, old age, overwork, fatigue, or other physical causes have operated to alter, modify and determine your ideas, opinions, beliefs and convictions; and to alter and affect your powers of memory, reasoning and constructive imagination. Again, your experience has taught you that environment and changed conditions have tended to modify greatly your thoughts, ideals, and beliefs, as well as your feelings. In short, you perceive that your “thinking states” are changeable, shifting, impermanent things, and not fixed, constant, unchangeable and identical in nature.

But, equally are you convinced that back of, and at the centre of, these shifting currents of thought and thinking, there dwells, and has always dwelt, a Something or Somewhat—an “I AM I” or Master Self—which has remained constant, unchanged, unaffected and essentially identical. “You” are always “You,” and have always remained “You”—and naught but “You”— notwithstanding all of these changes of your “thinking states” or streams of thought. The “Thinker” has always been there— always the same—no matter how the thoughts may have come and gone, changed and altered, as the years have passed by.

Likewise, you know that the “I AM I” or Master Self is always the subject of the stream of thought which flows before it. Moreover, you know that by turning the attention upon any one set of ideas, it may detain them in consciousness, or thrust them out of consciousness, at will—if the will has been trained to the work. Likewise, you know that it may call upon the memory or the imagination to do their respective work. The “I AM I” or Master Self may create thoughts at will, combining the simpler elements into the more complex, comparing them, and passing judgment upon them—this constitutes the processes of reasoning. There is a clear distinction between That-which-knows, and That-which-is-known—between That-which-thinks, and That-which-is-thought. One is the subject, Thinker—the other the object, Thought. The “I AM I” is the substance or subject of consciousness, and is not identical with any known phase, aspect, or mode of Thought.

Finally, you will discover that having mentally abstracted and set aside all of the “thinking states,” in your process of self-analysis, there is still something left constant, unchanged, unimpaired, permanent and identical—the “I AM I” or Master Self. This step or stage of total abstraction from the “thinking states” is accomplished only by the use of the imagination, in the case of the ordinary individual.

There are found, it is true, certain individuals, some of the Oriental ascetics and mystics for instance, who have deliberately trained their minds so as to obtain a state of absolute quietude and freedom from the influence of the stream of thought; but such training is not advised for the ordinary individual, it having no practical advantage; but belonging rather to the category of abnormal psychology. There is no advantage to be gained by reaching the stage in which you “think of nothing”, although it is worthy of note that such mental states may be produced by those who are willing to undergo certain rigid and strenuous training of the power of attention.

By the use of the imagination, however, you may easily picture yourself as immune to the impressions from the outside world (as in the case of one whose sense-organs are inactive), and as having shut off or inhibited the reports of memory. Were your sense-impressions temporarily inhibited, then you would have no new “raw material of thought”; and if, also, your memory were likewise temporarily inhibited, then your mind would be an absolute blank, without any report of consciousness other than that of self-consciousness. But, even so, there would still be the report of self-consciousness—the report of your own existence, “here and now”—of that you could not divest yourself while you were conscious at all.

What, then, would be this report of self-consciousness, which would refuse to be inhibited, and which would persist in spite of the inhibition of the sense-reports and the memory-reports? The answer is suggested by the definition of the term “self-consciousness”, viz., “The consciousness of oneself as existent and in being”. With impressions from the outside world, and also the reports of memory, temporarily inhibited or shut-off, your consciousness would be driven back upon that fundamental, essential, and ultimate report: “I AM I”.

It is worthy of note here that those who have cultivated the methods of total abstraction from the “thinking states”, (the Oriental ascetics, for instance), report that even in the state of the utmost possible abstraction and detachment they still find the report of existence and being, the consciousness of “I AM I”, persisting, even though the consciousness of the details of the personality have been abstracted with the rest of the “not-I” states of consciousness. It would seem that, try as he may, man is never able to escape the “I AM I” consciousness while he is conscious at all—it is something from which he cannot abstract himself, and something which he cannot set-aside from his consciousness.

But, as we have said, you are not advised to experiment with the production of abnormal psychological states in order to prove to yourself that it is possible to absolutely inhibit the “thinking states,” and thus to discover the “I AM I” consciousness shining brightly in a mental world otherwise devoid of the light of consciousness; in fact, you are advised against indulging in any such extreme experiments. All that we wish you to do is to employ your imagination to the fullest, and thereby discover that it is possible for you mentally to picture yourself in such a condition—to realize that such a mental state is possible—this is sufficient for the purpose before you in this instruction.

We wish you to realize fully that there exists at the centre of your being—at the centre of your “thinking states” as well as of your “feeling states”—a Something or Somewhat which inevitably, invariably, and infallibly reports “I AM I” so long as there is even the faintest glow of consciousness manifested. This Something or Somewhat which reports “I AM I” is that Master Self which is your Real Self—YOU, in yourself, of yourself, and by yourself.

This “I AM I” or Master Self is the permanent subject of your thinking processes and activities, and yet is superior to them and capable of rising above them. The “thinking states” rise and fall, appear and disappear, to be succeeded by others manifesting the same process of appearance, expression, and disappearance—but the “I AM I” or Master Self remains constant, permanent and abiding throughout all of these processes of thought. The stream of thought may flow past, ever-changing, ever-passing, ever-becoming, never the same for even two consecutive moments; but the Thinker on the banks of the stream remains ever the same identical “I AM I” or Master Self—not a procession of “I’s,” nor a series of changing “I’s,” but ever the same identical “I,” constant, unchanged, unimpaired.

The lesson taught in this fourth stage of self-analysis is this: That the “thinking states,” in all of their stages, forms, aspects, modes or manifestations of their activities and processes, are not YOU—the “I AM I” or Master Self-but are merely something “belonging to” and used by YOU. Whatever else your Master Self may be, or may not be, it certainly is not your “thinking states,” in their parts or in their totality.

The fifth stage of your self-analysis is that in which you abstract your “I AM I” or Master Self, from that part of your mental being which is indicated by the term “Will,” i. e., the power by means of which you perform actions, mental or physical. Will is always concerned with action, mental or physical: the Will-process is complete only when it manifests in action along mental or physical lines. Will is called into manifestation by Desire, which in turn arises from Feeling or Emotion: it always goes out in the direction of an Idea which has aroused the Feeling, Emotion or Desire. Desire is the connecting-link between Feeling and Will.

That which we call “the Will” is far nearer to the “I AM I” or Master Self, than are the “feeling states,” or the “thinking states.” It lies closer than either to YOU—it has an intimate character, so intimate that it is almost impossible to divest yourself of it even in imagination. It is the body of the kernel of Self, the germ of which is your “I AM I” or Master Self.

Bigelow says: “Sensations originate outside of and inside of the body; emotions originate inside of the body; but the Will is deeper than either, and they are both objective to it. We cannot classify it with anything else. We cannot modify it by anything else; it, itself, modifies everything within its scope. Will is the assertion of a form of consciousness from the centre outward; when it is opposed by another form of consciousness from the circumference inward, we recognize a hindrance to the free action of the Will.” Barrett says: “We know little about the Will. We know that we have Wills, and that we Will. We are conscious that Willing is not thinking or imagining. Most of us know little more.”

Some philosophers and metaphysicians have held that Will is so intimately and closely bound up with the “I AM I” or Master Self, that it is impossible to disentangle them. But Practical Psychology has discovered that even Will, like Feeling and Thinking, is capable of being abstracted and set apart from the “I AM I” or Master Self, there to be examined, analyzed and subjected to experiments. Thus, it is discovered (1) that Will is impermanent and changing in its manifestations and processes; (2) that its processes may be set apart as objects, to be examined, observed, analyzed, and subjected to experiment by the subject “I AM I” or Master Self; (3) that you can conceive the “I AM ‘I’” or Master Self as existing unchanged, unimpaired and undisturbed in its totality—identical and constant—even when the Will-states have been abstracted from it. These processes may be performed with the Will-states as truly as with the “feeling states.”

You know from experience that there are different degrees of Will manifested by you at different times; that your Will-states vary at different times; that they change, are modified, are affected by changing feelings and emotions and changing ideas. You know from experience that by deliberately increasing the force of your emotional feeling, you can fan the Fire of Emotion so as to increase the supply and power of the Steam of Will. You know from experience that by deliberately directing and holding the attention upon certain ideas or objects you can cause the Will to move toward such ideas or objects. You know from experience that you may deliberately and systematically develop, train and cultivate Will Power, so as to increase enormously its effectiveness. In short, you know by actual experience that there is a Willer behind and back of the Will— and that the Will is but an instrument and machine operated by this Willer.

This Willer—this director and master of Will—can be nothing else but the “I AM I” or Master Self. There is nothing else to be the Willer—and nothing else which can control and direct the Will, that great mover of the other mental states and conditions.

The lesson taught in this fifth stage of self-analysis is this: That the Will, in all of its stages, forms, aspects, modes, or manifestations of its activities and processes, is not YOU, yourself, but is merely something “belonging to” and used by YOU. Whatever else your Master Self may be, or may not be, it certainly is not your Will, in its parts, or in its totality.

Conscious Egohood

There are seven stages of consciousness, as taught by the great masters of the Science of Being. Five of these stages we have just considered viz., the respective stages of (1) consciousness of separate existence—of existence as a separate and distinct individuality; (2) consciousness of the ownership and control of the instrument and machinery of the Physical Body; (3) consciousness of the ownership and control of the instrument and machinery of Emotion; (4) consciousness of the ownership and control of the instrument and machinery of Thought; (5) consciousness of the ownership and control of the instrument and machinery of Will. There are two other and higher stages of consciousness remaining to be considered.

In your consideration of the physical body, of the emotional-states, of the thought-states, of the will-states, respectively, you have found it possible to abstract your consciousness of each of these instruments from your consciousness of your “I AM I” or Master Self. Each and every one of these processes of self-analysis has found and left you conscious of the existence, “here and now,” of that “I AM I” or Master Self, independent of the several instruments and elements of machinery which it owns and uses. At the centre of each—even of Will—you found your “I AM I” existing in firm, constant and identical presence and power throughout all the changes in the activities and processes of its instruments and its machinery of expression and manifestation.

But, in the sixth stage of self-analysis, you will discover that you are unable to abstract a certain kind of consciousness from the “I AM I” or Master Self—you will be unable to set aside, examine, analyze, experiment with, and detach this form of consciousness from your Real Self, or “I AM I,” try as you may. Hence, you see, you will there have reached the stage of reality—of ultimate fact and being within yourself. This is a most important stage of your self-analysis—of your search for the “I AM I” or Master Self; therefore, you should approach it carefully, and conduct your inquiry with earnestness and diligence.

The sixth stage of your self-analysis is that known as Ultimate Self-Consciousness. First, you should clearly understand just what is meant, and just what is not meant, by us in this employment of the term “self-consciousness.” In the popular usage, the term means “an unpleasant and abnormal state of consciousness or awareness of one’s self as an object of observation by others.” The psychological usage, however, is quite different: it indicates that state of consciousness in which the “I AM I” is fully, keenly, and positively aware of its own existence as an actual entity, in being “here and now.” It is from this state of consciousness that the individual asserts positively, and with conviction, “I AM I, Here and Now!”

Comparatively very few individuals experience the full degree of this stage of consciousness. Many, of course, say “I AM I,” thereby distinguishing themselves from others—this, however, is merely the first stage of consciousness, not the sixth. Few proceed further in their realization of self-consciousness. Many are unable to differentiate in consciousness between the “I AM I” and the physical body. Still fewer are those who are able to make the distinction between the “I AM I” and the “feeling states”; and still fewer are those who can realize the “I AM I” as transcending the “thinking states.” Very rare and far between, indeed, are those who are able to distinguish between the consciousness of the will-states, and the consciousness of the “I AM I.” The great masses of the race think of the “self” as an aggregate or composite of mind and body, feelings, emotions, thoughts, will activities, etc., and seldom, if ever, catch even a glimpse of the essential and ultimate Selfhood of the “I AM I” or Master Self—the Real Self.

But the great individuals of the race—those who “stand out” from the masses—will usually be found to have evolved into quite a full state of Self-Consciousness; and, accordingly, they will have experienced that sense of Personal Power that comes with this recognition of the “I AM I,” Master Self, Real Self. This illuminating experience, once it comes to the individual, leaves him changed and different: he is never again the same man. A new world is opened to him. A new and positive sense of the reality of his essential being has impressed itself upon him. It comes to many as an awakening from a troubled sleep, or dream state—the dawning realization that “I AM I,” in spite of the dream illusion. In this dawn of the realization of Ultimate Self-Consciousness, the individual “finds himself” at last.

An old English writer once said: “Whether we try to avoid it or not, we must face this reality some time—this reality of our own Egohood—that which makes us say ‘I,’ and in saying ‘I’ leads to the discovery of a new world.” A leading American psychologist has said: “Self-Consciousness is a growth. Many persons never have more than a misty idea of such a mental attitude. They always take themselves for granted, and never turn the gaze inward.”

The dawn of Self-Consciousness—the awakening from the dream of Simple Consciousness—in the individual, is accompanied by a new awareness and consciousness of reality and actual existence; in fact, so strong often becomes this new consciousness of the certainty of real and actual existence, that compared with it all other forms of conscious existence fade into comparative insignificance. This consciousness, once firmly established, serves as a Tower of Strength for the individual, in which he may take refuge, and then defy the adverse conditions of the external world of thoughts and things.

The process of self-analysis, according to which you have proceeded to abstract, in turn, the consciousness of the physical body, the emotional-states, the thought-states, and the will-states, respectively, has now brought you to the point where you have nothing else left for you to analyze, for the purpose of possible abstraction, except the self-consciousness of the existence of the “I AM I” or Master Self—the Real Self. But when you undertake to subject that ultimate element of Selfhood to such process, you discover that further analysis, abstraction, simplification and reduction is impossible—you have reached something Ultimate which defies further analysis or simplification, or separation into parts, elements, or factors. It is the Irreducible Element—the Insoluble Residuum—of Selfhood: it is Egohood itself, in its final essence and principle.

You have discovered that this “I AM I” or Master Self, is not subject to changes, alteration or modification. It is not subject to Becoming, for it is Pure Being, always identical with itself, always constant, ever the same. It does not flow, nor is it in a state of flux. It is never transformed, nor is it transmuted. It does not change form, for it has no form. It does not manifest degrees, for it is absolute in its nature and being. It does not take on aspects, modes, or conditions of appearance. It is always itself, its whole self, and nothing but itself. In this respect it is seen to be entirely different from any of its instruments or machinery, mental or physical. It is not an instrument, nor a part of the machinery—it is That which owns and uses the instruments and the machinery of mental and physical expression and manifestation.

Moreover, your experiments will show you conclusively that you cannot set aside or abstract this “I AM I” or Master Self for the purpose of observation or experiment, as you have been able to do with the physical and mental instruments or machinery which belong to it. You can never make of it an object to be examined or observed by your subjective observer. Try the experiment! You will then find that if you place the “I AM I” at the objective end of your microscope of attention, there will be no subjective “I AM I” left to conduct the examination from the other end of the instrument. Likewise, if you place the “I AM I” at the subjective or observing—end of the instrument, then there will be no objective “I AM I” at the other end, ready to be observed.

Just as the eye sees all outside of itself, but can never see itself, so the “I AM I” may observe and examine everything outside of its essential self, but can never observe and examine its essential self. Here, you find a Something or Somewhat in which subject and object are inseparably joined and combined. Here, indeed, you find the hypothetical “stick with only one end” of the old metaphysicians. Here you find something which is always “subjective,” and never “objective”—something which is all “inside,” without any “outside” aspect or part.

Again, if you attempt to set it aside, as you did its instruments and machinery, mental and physical, you will find that you have nothing at all left of Selfhood—nothing to still assert “I AM I.” You cannot even think it out of existence, nor imagine it out of being, try as you will If you try to think of a world without this “I AM I” existent in it, and then proceed to examine this “I” less world, you will find that it is the “I AM I” itself conducting the examination. If you seek to get rid of it by some metaphysical casuistry or subtle sophistry, you will eventually discover that the “I AM I” is still there, “hidden behind some kindly metaphysical cloud, peering out cautiously, curious to observe how the world is getting along without it.” Throw the “I AM I” out of the door of your consciousness, and it will come in through the window; lock the windows and doors against it, and it will descend through the chimney—it will gain access, somehow, someway.

Even though in imagination you may picture yourself as occupying many different bodies, successively, each with its own emotional, thought, and will character, yet you will always find that it is the same identical “I AM I” playing the part of occupant. Or, though you may imagine yourself in the role of the King of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the President of the United States, yet you always find YOURSELF playing these several parts—at the last, you will realize that YOU, the “same old I,” are the real actor playing the several parts, under the various masks and wearing different costumes. You may change characters, garbs, and roles—but you never can change “I’s”. You are YOU, and never can be not-YOU.

The unfoldment of Ultimate Self-Consciousness—Conscious Egohood—will bring to you the realization that you are a focal centre of Power in the cosmos—a focal centre of Real Power and Real Being. You will gradually realize that YOU are a Centre in the Cosmos, just as the sun is a centre with multitudes of objects whirling around it, or flowing past it.

The occult teachers of ancient days were wont to remind each of their students that he, himself, was “a Centre in the Cosmos; for, in the Cosmos, the circumference is nowhere (because the Cosmos is infinite), and, consequently, the centre is everywhere.” Therefore, the student was introduced to himself, and to think of himself, as a Focal Centre of Power and Being—as a central pivot of the Cosmos—which all else revolved. Rightly understood and interpreted, this statement is Truth: for each individual “I AM I” is, in fact, the pivotal centre of his own universe, with all the rest revolving about him, or passing in review before him.

Do not for a moment imagine that this realization of Conscious Egohood—this “I AM I” consciousness—will unfit you for the duties, tasks and work of practical everyday life. On the contrary, it will render you many times more efficient in any particular phase of practical life. Realizing the nature of your real being, and your relations toward your mental and physical instruments and machinery, you will no longer be caught up in their movements as a man might be caught in the machinery which he is operating; instead, you will be able to detach yourself so that you may operate the machinery with increased skill, efficiency, and power.

Conscious Egohood will cause the muddy waters of your mentality to become as clear as crystal, so as better to reflect the light of that brilliant star of the “I AM I” which is shining above with a fierceness, clearness, and steadfastness inexpressible in ordinary words. The most practical of all men is the man who realizes the realities of his own nature and being, and the character of his relations to his mental and physical instruments of expression and manifestation. When you recognize the nature of your Power; when you realize the conscious feeling of that Power; then will you be able to express and manifest that Power to a wonderful degree, and with an excellence, otherwise impossible to you. Such recognition will make you a better business man, a better engineer, a better lawyer, a better doctor, a better nurse; it will enable you to reach a higher point in your life-work, and to acquire a higher recompense for your services, than would be possible without it.

Cultivate the perception and realization of Conscious Egohood. Seek to develop it by means of thought, of feeling, of imagination—use all of your mental powers to this end—employ every instrument at your disposal to discover YOURSELF, your Real Self. Assert and affirm your real being by saying, thinking, and acting “I AM I.” There is a magic in these words. Their vibrations will set into motion every atom of your being, and they will re-echo the statement to your ears. You will find the affirmation a tower of strength in hours of need. In moments of weakness it will revive your failing courage and dwindling determination. It will serve as a power-house from which you may send forth currents of power and energy; it will serve as a great magnet which will draw to you the things, persons, and circumstances which you will need in your tasks of life. Use the White Magic of the “I AM I” affirmation.

As we proceed with our instruction, you will see that this “I AM I” is even greater and grander than we are now stating it to be. It is a focalized centre of Something or Somewhat infinitely greater—the point of contact between the Universal and the Particular, the Unmanifest and the Manifest, the Uncreate and the Create, the Infinite and the Finite. YOU are far greater than you know. When you say “I AM I,” you are uttering a tremendous statement of Truth, the full meaning of which you as yet only faintly glimpse. The individual who can say “I AM I,” with full recognition in thought, and with full realization in feeling, has lighted for himself a lamp which can never be extinguished by the winds of adversity nor the rains of circumstances. Such a one is well on the path to Mastery!

The seventh stage of your self-analysis—the stage to which you proceed after you have discovered the ultimate nature of the “I AM I” or Master Self—is that which is known as the stage of “POWER-Consciousness.” In this stage of consciousness, while holding firmly and with doubt-defying conviction to the recognition and realization of the “I AM I” as the ultimate and essential base and ground of your individual being, you nevertheless intuitively are aware of the existence of an Underlying Reality, with which in some intimate and essential way your “I AM I” is united, connected, and co-ordinated.

When this consciousness is awakened by the proper methods, you will become as actually conscious of this intimate relationship, as you are now conscious of the existence of your “I AM I” or Master Self. In fact, the two phases of consciousness will seem gradually to coalesce and combine in your higher perception of Reality. Even when the intellect has not as yet been able to “work out the puzzle,” or to “free the riddle,” the intuitive faculties will report that “it is true nevertheless.”

In the following sections of this book, we shall point out the road whereby the intellect may logically approach the facts concerning this highest Truth; for the present, we wish merely to indicate the general nature of the subject, and possibly to cause your intuition to begin to unfold so as to receive the full strength of the rays of the sun of Truth which is beating upon it.

In the stage of POWER-Consciousness, you will know that not only is your “I AM I,” your Master Self, your Real Self a real Centre of Power in the Cosmos: you will also know that back of, under, and around that “I AM I” or Real Self, is the great Ultimate Principle of POWER itself; that the “I AM I” is in actual contact with that POWER—and that the rhythmic vibrations of POWER are at least faintly discernible as they throb and thrill through your being.

Feeling this, all fear will drop away from you, and a new and strange courage will take possession of you: you will thereafter proceed to the Great Adventure of Life, fearlessly and confidently. You will enter into the conscious realization that POWER—All-the-Power-There-IS—is back of and supporting you. You will enter into the conscious recognition that in the great substance and strength of POWER, you live, and move, and have your being. With the dawn of this consciousness, you will, in all truth, be “born again.”

While it is true that but comparatively few individuals actually experience this consciousness in full degree, yet it is true that many experience it in at least some degree; all may gradually unfold into it if they will but turn their attention to that direction. The men and women who have “done things” in the world of everyday life, if they would speak frankly and freely for publication, could give to the world the testimony that at some time in their lives had come to them a certain strange and wonderful, mysterious sense of actual contact with, and relation to, a great Something, the essence of which was felt to be Strength or Power. Varying as are the reports of the different individuals who have testified to this phenomenon there is found a common and general agreement upon the fact that there has been an “actual contact with, and intimate relation to, a Something or Somewhat Infinitely Powerful and Strong.” There is always the consciousness of Immanent Presence, and of Power and Strength.

These individuals have interpreted to themselves these experiences in many ways, each coloring it according to his previous trend of belief or general philosophy of life. To some it has appeared to partake of a religious nature and color—as if the Supreme Being, or at least one of His arch-angels has hovered near, brooded over them, and reflected a portion of the Infinite Power upon them. Many a successful man has experienced this strange phenomenon, and has been comforted by the conviction that he has God “on his side,” or that God is “working in and through me.” One of the richest men of our times has repeatedly made statements at least implicitly expressing this idea; and many of the lesser lights of the world of success have had similar experiences and resulting convictions.

Others have attributed the experience to the presence and aid of some friendly beneficent entity or supernatural personality—a friendly “spirit” from “the other shore.” Others have felt it to be a hint of the presence and power of a kindly Destiny or Fate, or the influence of a beneficent “star.” Napoleon’s belief in his “star,” and the influence it exerted over him for many years of his rapid rise, is said to have arisen from an experience of this kind occurring at the Bridge of Lodi. He was reticent concerning the actual experience; but he often spoke freely of his Star of Destiny, at times going so far as to indicate the particular star which he believed was favoring him.

Others do not attempt to explain the experience, even to themselves; they are content to think of it as “That Something,” the presence and strength of which they have felt—the resulting sense of power after the visitation of which, they have experienced. Many others could testify to these strange experiences of contact with POWER, and to the resulting remarkable increase of Strength and Power therefrom, which afterward flowed into them and through them; the experience, however, is of such an intimate nature, and so likely to be regarded as “queer” by others, that most of these individuals have but little or nothing to say concerning it. The following may be stated as the rule: The more successful the individual has been—the higher he has risen in his particular field of endeavor—the greater is the degree of probability that he has undergone some experience similar to that which we have just stated.

There may be some who will criticize the above as “impractical,” and “fantastic”; but such criticism is not likely to come from those who have been exceptionally successful—who have “done things,” and accomplished great achievements—and who also have good memories of their early experiences. Repeat this statement to some man or woman of this kind—then see that individual smile in a peculiar way, and note the strange expression which will pass over his or her face, though a direct answer may be avoided.

This phenomenal experience is not “supernatural,” nor is it “mystic”; on the contrary, it is quite natural, and intensely practical in its effect. It means simply that the individual in the course of his mental or spiritual evolution has arrived at a stage where in the natural course of things he “contacts” POWER itself—the Principle of POWER which animates, energizes, and vitalizes the Cosmos. He becomes actually aware of the contact, and of the influx of Power which results from it. Moreover, in many cases—in most cases of the kind, in fact—when this contact is once experienced and established, thereafter the individual finds it comparatively easy to make a “short cut” to POWER by opening himself to the inflow of Strength and Power from the POWER Principle.

It is the phenomenon of the spiritual trolley-pole coming in contact with the great service-cable of POWER. It is the most natural, and the most practical thing in the world. As we have said, it has been experienced in some degree by many of the most practical persons in the world; and much of the subsequent success of such persons has arisen therefrom— and many of such know this to be the cause of their success and power. Moreover, many of the world’s most practical individuals are recognizing the existence of this phase of natural phenomena, and are striving to effect this contact of the “spiritual trolley-pole.” There is more inquiry concerning these things on the part of such individuals than the great masses of the people even dream of.

This is not the statement of a “new religion,” nor of some strange philosophy or “ism.” It has nothing to do with “supernaturalism,” “spiritism,” or any other teaching of that character. It is, instead, the statement of a cold, scientific fact, or series of facts, all of which may be demonstrated by any person who will lay aside his prejudices and his skepticism sufficiently long for him to “try out” the idea and plan with earnestness and in good faith, for a reasonable length of time. The results are open to any such person who will place himself in the proper mental attitude toward the facts, and who will await confidently and expectantly the dawning of the experience, and the inflow of the Power from the Principle of POWER.

It is true that many religious, or semi-religious, or quasi-religious sects and cults—and many new popular schools of philosophy and metaphysics—have recognized and adopted the general and fundamental principles of this great truth; and have interpreted the same, each in the terms of its own particular belief or theory; coloring it with the shade, tint, or hue of its particular beliefs or dogmas; labeling it with one of many new and wonderful titles; expounding it in strange, and often weird and bizarre fashion; but the fundamental facts are greater than any of these attempts to interpret and explain them in the terms of cults, sects, and schools—too great to be dwarfed by the limitations of the doctrines and dogmas built around them in the attempt to confine them. There is no monopoly of this great truth—no one has a corner on it: though many attempts in that direction have been made.

Those who will seek the intellectual recognition of the relation of the “I AM I” (as we shall set it forth in this book); and who will open the doors of their being to the conscious realization of the contact with POWER which comes to those who await and are ready for it; will gradually unfold the power and ability to manifest the superimposed Strength and Energy of POWER, through their mental and physical channels of expression and manifestation. You are invited to test and prove this for yourself.

Cosmic Power

In the second section of this book, we announced the two basic postulates upon which are grounded the teachings and instruction contained in the book. These two basic postulates, which we shall here repeat, are as follows: (1) There exists in you a Master Self, Ego, “I,” or “I AM I,” entity, to which all of your personal faculties, powers and activities are subordinate; (2) This Master Self (whatever else it may be or may not be), must be regarded as a focalized centre of Presence and Power manifested and expressed by the Ultimate Presence-Power in its manifestation and expression in the Cosmos.

In the foregoing sections, we have directed you to the discovery of the “I,” the “I AM I,” the Ego, or the Master Self, which is the centre of your Selfhood—your Real Self. In the last preceding section, we have directed your attention to “POWER-Consciousness,” i. e., the conscious recognition of the Ultimate Presence-Power, the Cosmic POWER, of which the “I AM I” or Master Self is the “focalized centre” of expression and manifestation. We now ask you to consider what the reason of man, exercised to its limits along the line of logical reasoning, inevitably, invariably, and infallibly reports concerning the presence and being of the Principle of Cosmic POWER.

The essence of this report of human reason, exercised to its limits along the lines of logical thought, may be stated as follows: There exists and is present an Eternal, Uncaused, Self-Existent Principle of POWER, from which all manifestations of Power directly or indirectly proceed. Let us now consider how and why the human reason is compelled to accept this conclusion, which is inevitably, invariably, and infallibly reported when it extends itself to its limits along the lines of logical thought.

All human thought directed along philosophical lines of inquiry and reasoning to cognition concerning ultimate principles of being and “the ultimate cause of things,” you will find, finally arrives at a point at which it is forced to postulate the presence and being of an Ultimate Principle of Presence-Power underlying and supporting that manifestation which we know as the Cosmos, i. e., the universe conceived as proceeding according to “law and order.” The discovery of this Ultimate Principle of Presence-Power is the great aim and purpose, intention and end, of philosophy; and all schools of philosophy, metaphysics, and theology assume without question the necessary existence of such Ultimate Principle, though they differ greatly concerning its nature or character.

Human reason is forced to this conclusion principally by the fact of its recognition of the following three axioms as necessary and fundamental bases of logical thought, viz.: (1) That the undoubted presence and manifestation of coordination (i. e., state of common action, movement, and condition; and mutual adjustment, correlation, and interdependence) in all of the objects, forms and activities of the Cosmos, point inevitably, invariably, and infallibly to a common source and origin, and common essential nature, of everything in the Cosmos. (2) That “from nothing, no thing can proceed,” and, consequently, that everything is capable of being traced back by steps and stages to an ultimate cause, origin, or principle of being. (3) That the world of constantly changing things and activities may be accounted for and explained intelligently under no other conception than that of an Ultimate Principle of Presence-Power which is the base, ground, and support of the world of changing things—the constant element, essence, or principle which itself never changes, but which holds together and co-ordinates all the changing things.

These axioms are regarded by the best thinkers of the race as “self-evident, necessary truths,” the contrary of which is unthinkable. Truth so firmly established and universally accepted as axiomatic as is this truth, cannot be attacked unless the validity of reason is also attacked. Therefore, we shall not attempt to argue or to “prove” the truth of these three axioms of human reason. We are content to rest upon the statement that the best thought of the race accepts them as true axioms, or self-evident truths; and that the contrary is unthinkable, and repugnant to logical thought.

We wish here to call your attention to several subordinate propositions, attached to the three axioms above stated, which are generally accepted as being axiomatic in nature, and which logically follow the acceptance of the three basic axioms. These subordinate propositions are three in number, and are as follows:

(1) “The Ultimate Principle of Presence-Power is Eternal.” That the Ultimate Principle of Presence-Power is Eternal, logically follows from (a) the recognization of it as ultimate, i. e., incapable of possible resolution or analysis; final, basic and fundamental; and (b) that “from nothing, no thing can proceed.” Ultimate Principle, being ultimate, basic and fundamental in the absolute sense, cannot have had a preceding cause, origin or source. And, as “from nothing, no things proceed,” it cannot be conceived as having sprung from Nothingness. Therefore, it must always have existed, without beginning, without interruption, without cessation. If there ever had been a time in which it was not in existence, or ever a time in which it ceased to exist, then it could not be in existence now. “If there ever was a time in which there was but Nothing, then there would be but Nothing now,” is a self-evident statement of truth, accepted as such by all logical thought of whatever school.

(2) “The Ultimate Principle of Presence-Power is Uncaused.” That which is ultimate, must necessarily be uncaused. That which is eternal, must likewise be uncaused. The reasoning leading to this conclusion has been stated in the preceding paragraph, and need not be repeated here. There is, and never could have been, anything which could have caused or created Ultimate Principle; and that which is Eternal is, by the fact of its eternity, beyond cause or causing process.

(3) “The Ultimate Principle of Presence-Power is Self-Existent.” That which is ultimate, eternal, and uncaused, must also necessarily be self-existent, i. e., existing of and by itself, and not depending for origin, continuance, and support upon any other thing. There is nothing else but itself which can serve to support or sustain Ultimate Principle; and nothing, not even itself, which could have originally brought it into being—it being conceived as ultimate, eternal and causeless, and as “The Whole Thing” in its essence and state of fundamental being.

Thus, you see, we cannot escape from the conclusion that the Ultimate Principle of Presence-Power is “Eternal, Uncaused, and Self-Existent.” Moreover, being “the Ultimate Principle of Presence-Power,” it is seen that all things must proceed, directly or indirectly from it, as from a source or origin. A Principle (in this sense of the term) is: “An ultimate and essential cause, source, or origin, from which all derivative effects, events, or things of any and all kinds, proceed or flow.” As we have said, all philosophical and metaphysical speculative thought has for its end and aim the explanation of all separate and particular activities by some one common, Ultimate Principle. All theology, likewise, postulates a Supreme Ultimate Being as the common source and origin of all manifested and created things. Whether Ultimate Principle be thought of as Spirit, Matter, or Energy—as Person, Substance, or Force—the basic and fundamental conception of it as “Ultimate Principle,” is found to be essentially the same.

Whatever else the various schools of philosophy, metaphysics, and theology hold that Ultimate Principle must be, and must not be, they will be found in tacit agreement upon the point that POWER must be an essential attribute of its being—an attribute of which it cannot be divested. This, because unless Ultimate Principle is POWER, or else possesses POWER as an attribute, then it never could have manifested, expressed, or created the Cosmos and its activities. A powerless Ultimate Principle would be merely a passive, inactive Something or Somewhat, and there would be nothing to “flow or proceed from it”—in fact, it would not be a true Principle at all.

Theology, beyond question, conceives the Supreme Being to be possessed of Infinite Power as an essential attribute of which it cannot be divested, and without which we cannot think of it. Without Power, the Supreme Being could not have created the world, nor have brought anything into existence in anyway whatsoever. Again, the very essence of religious feeling is that concerning the existence of a POWER upon which the worshiper may safely depend, and upon which he may rest: take away this conviction, and the very spirit of religious feeling would fade into nothingness. God without Power, would not be God at all, according to the accepted theological conceptions of God. There is no escaping this basic fact of theological teaching.

But, outside of theology and religion—even among those who do not accept either—we find an equal certainty that POWER must exist in the Something or Somewhat which is held to be the Ultimate Principle of the Cosmos. Philosophers, metaphysicians, scientists—even the most materialistic thinkers—hold as thoroughly as do the theologians that Ultimate Principle must be, or else must possess, POWER, whatever else may be asserted of it. This, because without POWER, the Ultimate Principle “could not perform work”; without Cosmic Power, there would and could be no Cosmos at all. Hence POWER is held to be self-evident, and a necessity of thought on the subject of Ultimate Principle, or of Cosmic Activities.

Herbert Spencer indicated the spirit of his own philosophy, and also pointed out the path over which other thinkers have since traveled, when he made his famous statement affirming the existence and the power of “That Infinite and Eternal Energy, from which all things proceed.” John Fiske, in his great work entitled “Cosmic Theism,” presented the Following formula as a full and complete basic statement of his theory of the Cosmos: “There exists a POWER, to which no limit in space or time is conceivable, of which all phenomena are manifestations.”

Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, sums up the conclusions of modern philosophical and scientific thought, as follows: “A strong, and in my view, the dominant tendency in philosophy, powerfully supported by the results of scientific knowing, is that which sees Totality as ENERGY, which is Will.”

Authoritative statements, similar to those just given, might be multiplied almost indefinitely—but the above will serve to illustrate the general conviction on the subject. In whatever direction in the field of human thought we may look, whatever else we find, we are certain to find this report of the necessary presence and existence of POWER at the very centre and heart of things—as the common fount, source, and origin of all things—in the Ultimate Principle of Being, or the Ultimate Cosmic Principle, call it what we will. Setting aside all the points upon which the varying schools differ concerning the essential nature of the Ultimate Principle, we find remaining the constant element of POWER—this cannot be reasoned away, nor can it be discarded from the problem or proposition of Ultimate Principle.

The Ultimate Principle conceived of as Spirit, as Substance, as Energy or Force, or as Matter, the element and attribute, or the essential fact, of POWER must always be ascribed to it.

After the conflicting claims have canceled each other out of the calculation—or else have been reconciled—we still find POWER uncanceled, impossible of cancelation, needing no reconciliation, the one undisputed and indisputable factor of the calculation: it is that which remains when all else has been eliminated in the attempt to reach an absolutely essential factor—the one factor which, if omitted or disregarded, destroys the meaning and value of the whole calculation.

In view of the above facts, we feel that we are justified in employing the term “POWER,” in this instruction, to indicate that Something or Somewhat which we find termed Ultimate Principle of Presence-Power, Ultimate Cosmic Principle, etc., and “from which all manifestations of Power directly or indirectly proceed.”

In following with us this conception of Ultimate Principle as POWER, you are not asked, nor are you required, to discard your other conceptions of the nature and character of Ultimate Principle. Hold fast to these if you prefer to do so, but do not intrude them into the instruction: for there are other students, equally earnest and equally clear of thought, who hold fast to other and possibly contradictory conceptions concerning those other elements. For the purposes of the present instruction, we ask you, with them, to lay aside those points upon which all of you cannot agree, and to confine yourself to these particular points upon which all of you are in common agreement and mutual harmony: those points are discovered to be represented in the present conception of the element of POWER as an essential fact, element, and factor in the final conception of Ultimate Principle, which, accordingly, in this instruction is termed “POWER.”

All philosophical, metaphysical, theological, and scientific thought concerning the ultimate nature of the Fundamental Principle of Presence and Power eventually reaches a point where it is confronted with an Ultimate Mystery—the mystery of the “why and wherefore” of Ultimate Being or Existence itself. This Ultimate Mystery may be indicated by the question which has come to each and every great thinker who has pursued the quest of knowledge to this point—the question which may be stated in these words: “How and why is there Being and Existence at all? How comes there to be Something or Somewhat instead of Nothing?”

Philosophy, metaphysics, theology, and science each has wrestled with this problem, and each has been compelled to withdraw from it in confessed or implied defeat. Each has “come out the door in which it went.” The deeper the thought seeking to plumb the depths of this Ultimate Mystery, the greater is the mystery perceived to be. As a great thinker has said: “Not only is this Ultimate Mystery insoluble, but the degree and extent of the mystery itself is almost inconceivable—the average mind does not even begin to comprehend the nature of the problem, nor the unsurmountable obstacles confronting those who dare to approach it in the spirit of rational inquiry.”

There have been countless theories and hypothesis advanced, it is true; so many, in fact, that it has been said that philosophical, metaphysical, and theological thought along these particular lines cannot be regarded as logical and exact thought, for the reason that no two of such thinkers have ever come into exact and perfect agreement concerning these ultimate questions. Some cynical observer has said that the search for the answer to these ultimate questions is like the task of “a blind man, in a dark room, hunting for a black cat—which isn’t there.” Some very careful thinkers, indeed, hold positively that “the black cat isn’t there,” for the reason that not only is the question beyond the limits of the human reason, but that, also, from the very nature of the case, there can be no answer.

It has been pointed out that the human reason, understanding, and even the human imagination, being the products of the power of the Ultimate Principle of Being, and being finite and limited in their nature, cannot be so employed as to solve the secret of their source, or to express Infinity in the terms of finite thought or imagination. They point out that Thought, which is the result of Causation, cannot be expected to explain the Causeless Cause: that Thought which is temporal cannot be sufficient to explain the Eternal; that Thought which is produced by, and which manifests Change, cannot solve the riddle of the Immutable and Changeless. They point out that “The Universe withholds its ultimate secrets,” and that though “Veil after veil will lift—there must be veil upon veil behind.” Gautama, the Buddha, warned his followers against striving to “measure with words the Immeasurable,” or to engage in the futile task of “sinking the string of thought into the Fathomless.”

The Ultimate Mystery, however, lies still deeper than the inability of the human mind to fathom it, which inability results from the finite nature of the human mind. As a few of the keenest thinkers have pointed out to us, the very attempt to “free the riddle” arises from an erroneous and fallacious fundamental mistake. This fundamental mistake consists in the illogical attempt to find an explanation, i. e., a “cause” for that Something or Somewhat which by its very nature is and must be “without cause,” having no “because” attached to it. The human mind is so accustomed to seek and to find “causes” in, of, and for things, that it falls into the childlike error of trying to find “causes” for the Causeless.

The very conception of Ultimate Principle carries with it the positive, fundamental and essential implication that such a Something or Somewhat must necessarily be Ultimate, Causeless, Absolute, and Eternal. That which is Ultimate cannot have had a Cause. That which is Absolute cannot have had a Cause. Such a Something or Somewhat must have always existed, without a Cause—such is the inevitable, invariable and infallible report of Reason extended to the full limits of its powers.

This, when rightly understood, does not really contradict experience, reason, or logic—though at first it may seem to do so. All that our experience, reason or logic insists upon is that: “Everything that comes into existence must be the effect of a preceding Cause, for Something cannot proceed from Nothing.” Reason, reporting that there must be conceded to be an Ultimate Principle of Being, is not postulating that Ultimate Being as ever having “come into existence”—indeed, it positively reports that such an idea is absurd and unthinkable. Therefore, there is no real demand for a Cause for Ultimate Principle, inasmuch as it is not in the class of “things which have come into existence.”

Here, then, we see that there is no explanation required for Being or Existence in its state of Ultimate Principle; as an eminent thinker has said: “It is unexplainable simply because there is nothing in it to explain.” The same thinker points out to us that even if the Ultimate Principle be conceived as being or having an Omniscient Mind, even then it could not explain its own Causeless Being, for there would be nothing to explain— even such an Omniscient Mind could only assert “I AM THAT I AM.” Again, this great thinker has told us that: “To ask ‘Why is Existence?’ is equivalent to asking ‘Why is the Possible?’”

Therefore, in the present instruction we shall make no attempt to explain the Ultimate Mystery of Being or Existence. We shall content ourselves with indicating the necessity of the conception of an Ultimate Principle of Presence-Power—this we call “POWER”—and to pointing out the ways in which it manifests and expresses itself in the activities of the Cosmos, and, particularly, to its manifestation as Personal Power in the individual—in YOU!

We may not be able to pierce the Veils of Nature, but we may at least report what has been learned concerning the appearance of that Something or Somewhat which not only conceals itself behind the Veil, but which also reveals and discloses its presence there by pressing up against the Veil, and by causing forms and movements in and of the substance of that Veil. As the Sufis say: “The Veils not only conceal the ONE—they also serve to reveal and disclose His presence and movements.”

We ask you to pause here for a moment, in order to fix upon your mind and memory a mental picture—a symbol by the means of which you may think of the Cosmic Manifestation of POWER, the Ultimate Principle of Power. Form a picture of the Cosmic Manifestation as a great Ocean of Power, in constant motion and activity, expressing on its surface many phases, forms, and aspects of its Power; and indicating below its surface many other forms, phases, and aspects of Power: but there abiding in its utmost depths a Something or Somewhat remaining Unmanifest, calm, peaceful, undisturbed, in Infinite and Eternal Presence, Being, and Power.

In this great Ocean of Cosmic Manifestation is contained all the Power manifested and expressed in Nature—even in yourself. YOU are a focalized centre of activity on the surface of that Ocean, yet with vibrating and whirling filaments extending far down beneath that surface, until finally they touch the Uncreate Depths of POWER. Verily, it has well been said that the Cosmos, and all contained therein, is bathed in a great Ocean of Power, in which, as the Greek poet, Aratus, quoted by Saint Paul, said: “we live, and move, and have our being”; the ultimate POWER of which, as Paul himself said, “is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

From POWER, all Power comes—including Personal Power. There is no other source or origin for Personal Power—YOUR Personal Power—than that of POWER, the Ultimate Principle of Power. All Power flows, directly or indirectly, from POWER, the Universal Source of Power, the Fount of Power, the Storehouse of Cosmic Power. All Power is in POWER—and he who would attain Personal Power must seek and obtain it from and through POWER. Let there be no mistake about this. There is no other source of Personal Power than POWER—there is nothing else competent to serve as the source of Personal Power. The heedless and ignorant are satisfied with Personal Power indirectly supplied them, after flowing through many winding channels. The wise seek to make a direct channel leading to POWER itself. There are “short cuts” to Personal Power, made by securing direct connection with POWER.

In the light of the above statements and teaching, re-read our second basic postulate, viz., “The Master Self, Ego, ‘I’, or ‘I AM I,’ is a focalized centre of Being and Power manifested and expressed by Ultimate POWER in its manifestations and expressions in the Cosmos.” Remembering that YOU are this “focalized centre”, you may begin to see the tremendous significance of that statement.

The Twin-Manifestation

In the preceding section of this book, we have shown you that it is impossible for the human mind to understand just what the Ultimate Principle of Power—POWER in itself—is in its essential nature and being. Likewise, we have shown you “just how” it is possible for us to know that there is such POWER at all. Just as you have seen that, when you consider the “I AM I” centre of being within yourself, you must rest content with the inevitable, invariable, and infallible report of self-consciousness that “I AM I”, so you find you must rest content with the inevitable, invariable, and infallible report of your reason that POWER, the Ultimate Principle of All-Power, IS and must be present and in being. In both cases you are confronted with a Final Mystery—not two final mysteries, however, but the two aspects of the one Final Mystery.

But, likewise, just as you find it possible to discover “just how” the “I AM I” manifests and expresses itself in your personal activities, so may you discover “just how” POWER manifests and expresses itself in the activities of the Cosmos; and “just how” you may draw upon POWER for Personal Power to be manifested and expressed in your personal activities: and, after all, that is the main point of practical instruction designed to aid and assist you in your life-activities in this very practical world of very practical things.

The Pragmatic Philosophy needed by you in your practical life, here and now, in this very practical world, properly concerns itself with the “just how” questions, and leaves the “just why” insoluble problems for those who enjoy the Sisyphean task of striving like “the blind man in the dark room, seeking to find the black cat—which isn’t there.” Sisyphus, you may remember, was that unfortunate character of ancient mythology who was subjected to eternal punishment in Tartarus; his task consisting of the eternal rolling of a huge stone to the top of a high mountain, the stone constantly recoiling, and thus rendering his task incessant, unceasing and unending—without possible accomplishment.

In considering what observation, experiment, and reason teach us concerning “just how” POWER proceeds to manifest its strength and energy in the activities of the Cosmos, let us begin by quoting to you an ancient Oriental fable, devised by the earliest teachers to illustrate the Cosmic Activities, as well as the human activities along the lines of Personal Power. By carefully grasping the principles set forth in this old fable, and by fixing them in your mind, you will have ever before you a most useful and practical diagram of the methods employed by POWER, and which also are to be followed in your manifestation and expression of Personal Power—both the Personal Power you now possess, as well as the cultivated, developed and trained Personal Power which you will acquire by applying the principles and methods embodied in the present instruction.

The ancient fable, which has been told by teacher to pupil in Oriental lands, for many thousand years, proceeds as follows:

Once upon a time, there dwelt in a vast forest two individuals, each of whom had been particularly blessed by the gods in certain ways, yet equally deprived of certain other particular blessings. Both of these individuals were giants in power, yet their power was so limited in certain directions that their lack was as great as was their possession.

The first of these forest-dwellers was a physical giant, filled with vigor and strength, and animated with a strong desire, longing and craving to move about, travel, and to play an important part in the world of men. But, alas! he had been born blind, and could find his way about the forest only by clumsily groping and feeling his way, stumbling along from tree to tree— always traveling in circles and never getting anywhere. He was never able to emerge from the forest, and to reach the world of men. The name of this giant was “VOLITION” which means, “The Power of Willing.”

The second of the forest-dwellers was a mental giant; possessed of wonderful powers of observation and perception, good judgment and discernment, able to reason and to plan, to imagine and invent. But, alas! he had been born with withered legs and paralyzed arms, and was unable to travel around and about by means of his own powers of locomotion, or to employ his arms in any natural activities. His great mental powers went to waste by reason of his physical deficiencies. In his way, he was quite as helpless as the physical giant. The name of this second giant was “IDEATION”, which means, “The Power of Thinking.”

And so, these two great giants—one a physical giant, the other a mental giant—dwelt apart from each other in the great forest; each being dependent upon friendly neighbors for his food and raiment; each living the life of a helpless beggar, and each unable to fulfill that destiny for which his great powers would seem to have fitted him. In neither existed that combination of “seeing” and “doing”—that necessary co-ordination of essential powers; yet each had what the other lacked, and each lacked what the other possessed. In each was Power going to waste— Power unable to express and manifest itself.

One day, the blind giant, groping and stumbling around in a circle, chanced to come near to the paralyzed giant. The latter called loudly to the former, and directed his steps to where the latter sat helpless. The two, meeting for the first time, conversed earnestly; before long a strong friendship was established between them. The bond of mutual sympathy, and of mutual need and lack, served to unite them in a mutual understanding and comradeship.

Then, there flashed into the mind of “Ideation” a brilliant thought. He saw at once, in a flash of intuitive insight, how the two giants might form a most advantageous partnership, to which each might contribute his own particular powers—the powers which the other lacked. “Volition” would contribute the body and physical strength—his strong body, strong legs, and strong arms; “Ideation” would contribute his strong sight, strong powers of observation and perception, strong powers of discrimination and judgment, strong powers of imagination, reasoning, and invention. The combination would be perfect, said “Ideation”; and “Volition” enthusiastically embraced the opportunity thus afforded him.

And so, “Volition”, the blind-giant, lifted up “Ideation”, the paralyzed-giant onto his shoulders; and the pair started forth through the forest, toward the world of men. Guided by the keen eyes and brain of “Ideation”, and carried by the sturdy legs and body of “Volition”, the pair traveled far and fared well.

The eyes of “Ideation” saw clearly and keenly; and his mind not only pointed out the best paths and roads to travel, but also planned well the journey. He mapped out new scenes of travel, and devised the best routes; and he discovered the places at which food and shelter were obtainable. He found work to be performed by “Volition”, and told him how to do it efficiently. In this way the pair supported themselves ably, under the direction of the keen-sighted and keen-witted “Ideation”.

On the other hand, “Volition”, the blind giant, with his superb physical strength, carried the pair easily and rapidly over the road, and performed the physical work which served to support the pair and to accomplish their joint-purposes. He did his work well—the work which such a strong, vigorous giant might be expected to do. Guided by “Ideation”, he no longer wasted time and effort in traveling about and in performing his tasks. His sturdy body, legs, and arms had found an equally strong pair of eyes, and a brain capable of functioning efficiently. And so, as has been said, the pair traveled far, and fared well.

The wise ancient Oriental teachers concluded their relation of the fable by the recitation of its moral and application, as follows:

“Here you have the story of Nature and of Man. Nature in her earlier years was like the blind-giant—filled with power and with longing to act, but unable to see its way before it. It stumbled and groped, often traveling around in circles and retracing its steps. Blind Nature, though strong of Will, was unable to perform its desired tasks as it wished to do; it made mistakes, it failed, it went ’round and ’round, ever trying to find a way—often proceeding into the ‘blind alleys’ of the forest, only to be forced to retrace its steps. It could not see; it often acted like a sleep-walker, with a strong purpose but lacking definite direction. Only when it evolved its Ideative powers and coordinated these with its blind Will, was it able to proceed with intelligence and in definite directions. This is the story of Nature, my sons. Thus does it work; thus does it proceed; thus does it create and accomplish.”

Then the sages continued: “And like unto it, is the story of Man. In each man there is the blind-giant of Will, full of energy and vigor, filled with the burning desire and urge to express and to manifest its powers of action; yet of itself capable merely of stumbling and blundering, groping and feeling its way, and usually traveling in circles. Likewise, in every man there is found the crippled and paralyzed Thought, keen-eyed and keen-witted, resourceful, observing, discerning; planning, inventing; but of itself incapable of moving about and of performing efficient work. Only when human Thought mounts the shoulder of human Will, and points out the way, the road, and the direction; and only when human Will permits and submits itself to this direction and guidance, and consents to use its strong body, strong legs, and strong arms to pursue the path, and to perform the work so pointed out to it by human Thought; only when this cooperative partnership is formed in the mind of Man, and proceeds to manifest and express its combined and co-ordinated powers—only then do the united pair, the ‘two-in-one’, become efficient, useful, and capable of effective and efficient expression and manifestation. This is the story of Man, my sons. Thus does he work; thus does he proceed; thus does he create and accomplish.”

Postponing for the moment the application of this principle to the Personal Power of Man, we would say that many of the brightest minds of philosophy have arrived at a similar conclusion concerning the character of Nature’s activities. But alas! many of them saw only one side of the story, and ignored the other. Some, like Schopenhauer, saw only the Will aspect, and sought to explain Thought as an evolution of WILL—a product of the activities of blind-Will in Nature. Others, certain of the great Idealists, saw only the Thought aspect, and sought to explain Will as a product of evolved Thought.

Each of these schools of philosophy explained matters quite satisfactorily up to a certain point—but each failed to perceive the dual-aspect of Nature’s activities the respective aspects of Will and Thought—the twin-manifestations, combined and co-ordinated as equal partners, each impotent without the other. Later philosophers, however, have seen the truth embodied in the ancient Oriental fable, and have sought to build systems of philosophy upon it—and the tendency is now in that direction. And this is well—for it is “the only way”

Schopenhauer postulated a Cosmic Blind Will as the Ultimate Principle of POWER, and explained the universe in its terms. Others followed him along these lines, with various modifications. Schopenhauer said: “Will is the innermost essence, the kernel of every living thing, and of the Totality of Existence”. Others held similarly, defining Will as “Desire with the Power to act; or Power with the Desire to act.” Wundt said: The Universe, as perceived by us, is the outer wrapper or sheath behind which is hidden a spiritual, creative activity—a striving, feeling sensing, like that which we experience in ourselves; the active principle of which is Conation, or impulse, tendency, desire, and Will.” In this connection you will recall the statement of Nicholas Murray Butler (previously quoted in this book), in which he says “The dominant tendency in philosophy, powerfully supported by the results of scientific knowing, is that which sees Totality as Energy, which is Will”

On the other hand, we find the Idealists, holding that the Ultimate Principle is Ideation, or Ideative Power; the universe being a purely ideative creation, a drama, a mental picture, a story, or perhaps even a day-dream or actual dream of a Universal Ideative Power. The Idealists hold that the universe, and everything in it, is but an Idea, or series of Ideas, in the Ideative Mind of a Supreme Ideator. Idealism (in this sense) is defined in the reference books as: “The philosophical doctrine which holds that the World is an Idea; and which teaches that material objects have no real existence, and that we have no rational grounds for believing in the reality of anything in the Cosmos but Ideas and their relations.” A variation of this philosophy is that which holds that Ideal Forms, existing eternally, constitute Reality; these have the power and ability to manifest and express outward semblances of themselves, which, however, usually appear more or less distorted or imperfect.

Von Hartmann came quite near to the combination of Volition and Ideation, in some portions of his “Philosophy of the Unconscious”. He said: “No one can will, without willing this and that. Only through a definite direction does the Will obtain the possibility of expression.” So in his philosophy he combined Cosmic Will and Cosmic Idea, the two combined forming his Cosmic Principle. He compared the two aspects of his Cosmic Principle to the color and the fragrance of the rose, neither of which contradict or oppose each other; or, again, with the two poles of the magnet, with opposite qualities, on whose relation and correlation the Cosmic activities depend. A modern psychologist says: “Will is called out by Ideas; it goes out only in response to ideas,” and, “An idea which is the object of Will, is transformed into a motive of voluntary action.” So, you see, the conception of the dual-aspect, or twin-manifestation, is coming into prominence, as it was bound to do in time.

If you will observe the processes and activities of Nature, you will see everywhere the evidences of Volition and Ideation—the blind Will moving into activity under the direction and impulse of Thought. The Idea is the Form or Pattern, which the Will is always endeavoring to manifest and express into objective and material existence. If you wish a “working philosophy” of the ways and manner in which Nature proceeds, and by which her creative activities seem to be accomplished, you can do no better than to employ, at least tentatively, the general idea of those philosophies which include the conception of the co-ordination and correlation of Will and Thought—of Volition and Ideation—as illustrated in the ancient Oriental fable.

By this, however, we do not mean to indicate that we believe that POWER, the Cosmic Ultimate Principle, IS, in itself, merely Volition and Ideation. On the contrary, we rest on our previous statement that all we can say of the essential nature of POWER is, simply, that it IS—and must be Eternal, Uncaused, and Self-Existent. All that we mean to imply concerning Cosmic Volition and Cosmic Ideation, is that these appear to constitute the Twin-Manifestation of POWER in the Cosmos, and seem to be the special and particular instruments or machinery by means of which POWER accomplishes its creative expression and manifestation in the Cosmos. Be sure that you understand us correctly in this distinction—for the differentiation is an important one. It is as illogical to identify POWER with its instruments and machinery, as it is to identify the “I AM I” or Master Self with its own particular instruments and machinery.

Personal Power, in Man, being a part of the general manifestation and expression of POWER in the Cosmos (for there is no other Power of which it may be the expression and manifestation) must come under the general rule of the expression and manifestation of POWER in the Cosmos. That is to say, it must be governed by the Twin-Manifestation along the lines of Volition and Ideation—of Will and Thought. Investigation and observation, aided by actual experiment, prove this to be the case, as might be expected.

The “I AM I” or Master Self, being a focalized centre of Presence and Power, created by POWER in its Cosmic Manifestation, naturally proceeds to express and manifest itself in activity, just as does POWER manifest and express itself in its greater activities, i. e., by employing the instruments and machinery of Volition and Ideation. All of Man’s activities are perceived to proceed under this rule.

In this connection, however, you must not overlook the fact that the mental and physical activities of Man proceed along the lines of subconscious processes as well as along those of the ordinary consciousness. There is subconscious Will, and subconscious Thought, as well as conscious Will and conscious Thought. In fact, a very large percentage of Man’s will-activities and thought-activities proceed on the subconscious planes or levels of his being.

Man’s physical growth, and the processes of his physical organism, proceed almost entirely along the lines of subconscious activity. There is ever present the Will, pressing forward to accomplish its work of growth, nutrition, repair, elimination, etc. There is also ever present Ideation, furnishing the mental pattern or design, which Will proceeds to objectify and materialize. The Idea of the oak-tree is implicit in the germ within the acorn; and the Will-power in the acorn, and in the growing tree ever presses forward to make that ideal real—to objectify and materialize the ideal form.

Ideation builds the inner form, and Will strives to materialize into outer form that which first existed in ideal form. This is as true of the human life as that of the oak; and of all forms of life in Nature. It is manifested equally, and as truly, in the formation of the crystals, as it is in living things. In every natural activity in which things and events are perceived to move according to law and order, and apparently toward a certain pattern, design, or plan, there exists first the ideal or inner form, around which the outer or material form or movement builds itself. One who carefully observes Nature’s processes cannot escape this conviction.

Then, viewing Man’s mental activities and processes, we perceive the same dual-principle in action. Man uses his Will in order to fasten his attention upon anything; he uses his Will when he strives to “think out” anything, when he tries to bring back an image from memory, when he tries to imagine or invent anything. Even in his “feeling states”, the Will is involved along subconscious lines. And, likewise, there is always present the mental pattern of Ideation. Will goes forth only in response to some idea. If ideas were shut out of the consciousness of Man, then he would “feel” nothing in the way of emotion, would desire nothing; and would not act to accomplish anything whatsoever.

If you wish to arouse the feelings or emotion of a man, you have but to present to him the appropriate ideas calling for those feelings and emotions. If you wish to arouse him to Will-activity, you have but to supply him with appropriate Ideas calling forth such action. Very few persons understand the dynamic force of Idea. To them an idea is merely an intangible something in the mind, having but little if anything to do with actual effort or activity.

But the psychologists know and teach that Ideation, by reason of its “pulling power” exercised over the Will, is one of the most active elements of all human action. Without Ideation there would be no Will-action; with heightened Ideation, the Will-action is enormously increased in power and efficiency. Practical psychologists now teach their students that it is possible to arouse, strengthen, and stimulate Desire and Will by repeatedly and constantly presenting to them the strong, clear, and definite ideas of the thing sought to be accomplished, objectified and materialized. They likewise teach that one may restrain, restrict or inhibit the activities of Desire and Will by resolutely withdrawing the attention from the idea in question, or else by directing the attention to an idea of an exactly opposite nature and character.

Professor Halleck, the eminent psychologist, says: “An idea always has a motor-element, however obscure; in other words, an idea is a practically incipient motor-action. A motor-action, unless restrained, tends to go out immediately in definite action. * * * It is a matter of dispute whether or not all that is necessary in voluntary effort has not been achieved when the mind has been kept filled with the idea, until action results as a natural consequence. In order to act in the direction of one idea in preference to another; we must first dismiss the one and voluntarily attend to the other. The motor-force thus developed in connection with the dominant idea lies at the bottom of every higher act of Will.”

During the last quarter-century, or perhaps longer, there has been a great revival of interest in the subject of Thought, Thought-Force, Mind-Power, or similar general conceptions involving the idea of the use of Thought in the direction of bringing about desirable conditions of physical health and strength, prosperity; happiness, and the general welfare of the individual. Under all of the many theories seeking to express the essential spirit of “this line of thought” (as many call it); and back of the various names, terms, and titles employed to indicate and to designate the same; there will be found the fundamental and basic idea and conception of the tendency of Thought, or Idea, to manifest itself in action, or in objective form and reality. The kernel of the conception is that of the power of the Ideal to become Real.

Thousands of persons, all over the world, have sought to demonstrate the power to create or to improve their environment, circumstance, health, success and ability, by means of Right Thinking. Many have fully demonstrated their ability to create (or at least to improve to a great extent) their own environment; to control circumstances; and to determine their own destiny; by the Power of Thought. They have proceeded upon the general principles expressed in the Biblical adage, “As a man thinketh, so is he”; and in the equally ancient Buddhistic adage, “We are that which we have thought.” Wrong Thinking is held by them to produce undesirable results and effects; while Right Thinking is held to produce desirable effects and results. The general conception may be expressed in the aphorism: “Ideas tend to reproduce themselves in external form and effects; the Ideal pattern tends to build around itself an objective material Reality.”

In most of these teachings, however, the element of Idea or Thought has been most strongly emphasized—over-emphasized, in some cases, many have thought—while, at the same time, the element of Will has been underemphasized. In fact, this last element—that of Will—has been practically neglected in some cases, and in others even denounced as evil by some who prefer explaining the subject in the terms of quasi-religious transcendentalism. But it is now being perceived by many of the most careful thinkers “along these lines” that a failure to include the Power of Will in connection with the Power of Thought results in depriving the individual of one-half of his Mental Creative Power. The effort to exclude Will from association with Idea is akin to trying to assert the existence of a magnet with only one pole.

As a matter of fact, all the results obtained through the Power of Thought have been in part due to the correlated and co-ordinated Power of Will, though the persons obtaining these results have not been aware of this fact. Ideation without Volition—Thought without Will—is but the paralyzed, keen-sighted giant of the fable, who can do nothing of himself, but who requires the strong body, strong arms, and sturdy legs of the blind-giant before effective results may be obtained.

But, at the same time, we must ever remember that it is equally true that the blind-giant of Will cannot proceed intelligently or effectively until he has raised the paralyzed, keen-sighted Ideation to his shoulders. In this union alone is there the real strength of that which is called Mind-Power, Thought-Force, or Thought-Power. Of these two combined, coordinated, and correlated mental elements may it be said: “‘United, they stand; divided, they fall.”

To the many persons who are earnestly seeking to manifest Thought in action, objective form, and material results, but who, while obtaining results sufficiently satisfactory to justify them in asserting that “there is something in it”, still feel that they have “somehow, someway, not quite got hold of it”, the idea of the correlation and co-ordination of Ideation and Volition— Thought and Will—the partnership of the two giants—will come as a welcome revelation. Many such persons, once this idea has been presented to them, will recognize its truth by reason of their own experience. They will realize that they have at last discovered the secret of Personal Power, and they will then proceed to a greater and fuller manifestation of that power than has heretofore been possible to them in their “one-sided” view of the principle involved.

On the other hand, there are many who have been striving for success by means of the application of Will-Power alone. But in many cases this method has failed to attain the desired end. Such persons are often found wandering around aimlessly, traveling around and around in circles, like the blind-giant—ever moving, but never “getting anywhere”. They feel strong Desire and strong Will stirring within them, but they do not know in what direction to apply these forces. They want to move and to act, but they do not know where to move or in what direction to act. They are like the squirrel in the cage, constantly on the move, but never making a step of real progress.

It should require no argument to convince one that without a pattern or mold, mental or physical, it is impossible to create anything. Idea is a mental image, form, pattern or mold which is followed by Will when it exercises its motive-power in creative activity and effort. This being seen, how can anyone reasonably expect to create environment, conditions or circumstances, unless he first mentally creates the idea, image, pattern or mold—the type or form of that which he wishes to create in the objective, material world? Likewise, it should require no argument to prove that the clearer, the stronger, and the more complete the mental pattern, mold, or image—Idea, in short— really is, then the better, the more efficient, and the more complete will be the materialization of that idea.

Just as in Nature, every process of materialization has been preceded by an “idealization”, so in Man every achievement in the direction of materialization—all of his creative work and results—has been preceded by his “idealization”—the image formed in the mind by Ideation. This being so, every intelligent person must see that if one wishes to attain success in any creative undertaking, he should first strive to “idealize” and create a clear, strong, definite mental picture, pattern, or design of that which he wishes to materialize in objective form. Successful men, indeed, have always followed this method, though they may not have understood the psychology underlying their action, nor the great Cosmic principle involved in it. Many failures in life are due, directly or indirectly, to a failure to understand and to apply this principle.

Those who hold to the teachings of the New Metaphysical Movement (under some of its many names) concerning the Power of Thought, and the Power of Mind, will find in the ideas advanced in this book not a contradiction of their own beliefs and convictions, but rather an addition to them, and an explanation of them. All that they now believe concerning the Power of Thought and its manifestations, this book also holds to be true in principle, perhaps even more strongly and with greater certainty than do they, themselves. But this book strives to lift the conception of Dynamic Thought from the realm of shadowy unreality and ghostly being, to that of a living, real, acting, striving, Creative Power—the body of which is Volition (Will) and the mind of which is Ideation (Thought).

We ask you boldly to face this truth—to recognize, realize, and to manifest the Twin-Giants of Personal Power, in whose being vibrates the energy, force and power of the Ultimate Principles of POWER Those whom POWER hath put together, let no man put asunder. In fact, no man can put them asunder if he would manifest Personal Power efficiently; for they are not two separate and distinct things—but rather the two poles or aspects of the same thing.

Let us now proceed to the consideration of the practical methods whereby the principles which have been considered, described and explained, may be manifested efficiently in actual effort in your life work. It is said that “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”: so let us proceed to the table upon which “the feast of good things” is spread.

The Three Formulas

The ancient sages of Oriental lands were wont to remind their pupils that the practical rules and methods of manifesting or expressing Personal Power could be reduced to three fundamental and basic rules, or formulas. The experience of modern investigators of the subject tend to corroborate this conclusion of their ancient brothers. Therefore, we have thought it well to present this phase of our subject to you in the form of these three ancient formulas, adapted to modern needs, and expressed in the plain terms of the western world rather than in the verbal imagery of eastern lands.

The Three Formulas of Personal Power are as follows: (1) The Formula of Idealization; (2) the Formula of Affirmation; and (3) the Formula of Actualization. A formula is, “a prescribed, set rule or method of application”. You are asked to consider carefully the description and instruction concerning these three several formulas, as hereinafter presented to you in detail under their respective headings and categories.

The Formula of Idealization. Idealization consists of the act or process of creating the ideal (mental) form, pattern, design, or mold of that which you desire to materialize in objective reality. Ideals, dearly defined in outline and sharply defined in configuration, well energized and vitalized by an inflow of Will-Power, tend to materialize themselves in objective reality, by means of (a) building up a corresponding ethereal pattern, outline, design or mold, around which is deposited the substance of materialization; and (b) by means of attracting to themselves the persons, conditions, things and environmental factors which aid in the process of materialization. Materialization is the act or process of investing with material form, or material properties, that which has previously existed in idealized form or condition.

In the Formula of Idealization there is embodied a wonderful truth concerning the manifestation of Nature’s Finer Forces, which truth was well known to the ancient esoteric schools of philosophy, and which has always been accepted (in one form or another) by the advanced students and teachers of the Ancient Wisdom or Esoteric Doctrines, of all lands, and in all times.

Our Western science, however, has heretofore been disposed to treat all such teachings as idle superstition, or “occult nonsense”. The wonderful discoveries of science during the past twenty years, however, have tended to break down the barrier between esoteric science and exoteric science, and, at the present time many careful advanced thinkers in the ranks of modern science are disposed to manifest a far greater tolerance toward these ancient teachings; and are furnishing explanations along the lines of modern scientific discoveries, which seek to account for the phenomena explained in other terms by the ancient thinkers.

In the meantime, however, thousands of persons are making wonderful demonstrations of these truths in their everyday life and work; and, consequently, are not much concerned over what modern science may or may not have to say concerning the explanation in modern scientific terms. They are interested far more in the fact that “the thing works”, and in learning “just how it works”, than in theories attempting to explain “why it works, if it does work as is claimed.”

The gist of the ancient and modern teachings upon the subject of the workings of the process of Idealization, may be stated as follows: A strongly projected Thought-Form, or Idealized Form, vitalized and energized by Will-Power, tends to attract to itself, and to build around itself, its materialized counterpart or material representation. In this way, the Ideal becomes Real (in the sense of objective and material existence and condition); and Idealization is transformed into Materialization.

It is not our intention, nor our purpose, in this book, to go into technical details nor to enter into academic discussions concerning the processes performed by Nature in working these wonders. To attempt this would be to enter into an endless discussion and explanation which would take the whole instruction out of the region of practical, popular examination and consideration. But, nevertheless, we wish to mention briefly the general principles involved, and thus to give you a hint as to the direction in which the technical explanation of these phenomena lies, and where it may be sought if one so desires to pursue the inquiry further in that direction.

A leading writer upon the teaching of Ancient and Modern Magic, says: “The central doctrine of Magic may be summed up as follows:

“(1) That a supersensible and real ‘cosmic medium’ exists, which interpenetrates, influences and supports the tangible and apparent world, and which is amenable to the categories of both philosophy and physics. This ‘cosmic medium’ or ‘astral light’ is first cousin to the intangible ether of the physicists. From the earliest times, occult philosophy has proclaimed its knowledge of this medium, always describing it as a scientific fact, outside the range of our normal senses, but susceptible of verification by the trained powers of the initiate. It was the first object of occult education and initiation to actualize this supersensible plane of experience, teaching the student how to impose upon its forces the directive forces of his own thought and will, as easily as he might impose these upon the material things of sense.

“(2) That there is an established analogy and equilibrium between the material and supermaterial world. This doctrine of Analogy, or correspondence between the seen and the unseen worlds, is the basis of the speculations of occultism. ‘As above, so below; as below, so above’, the first axiom of Hermes Trismegistus, is also agreeable to all Platonists. Says Éliphas Lévi: ‘Analogy is the last word of science, and the first word of faith; it is the key of all the secrets of nature’. It was admitted into the system of the Kabalah, and Boehme and Swedenborg gladly availed themselves of its method in presenting their intuitions to the world. Sir Thomas Browne said: ‘The severe schools shall never laugh me out of the philosophy of Hermes, that this visible world is but a picture of the invisible, wherein, as in a portrait, things are not in material shapes, but in ideal shapes which picture some material substance in that invisible framework’.

“(3) That the equilibrium between the material and supermaterial worlds may be controlled by the disciplined Thought and Will of man. In its essence, magical initiation is a traditional form of mental discipline, strengthening and focusing the will. Says Éliphas Lévi: ‘Just as the powers of the body can be developed to an amazing extent by athletics, so may the powers of the soul be likewise developed; learn how to will’. This power of the will is daily gaining recognition in the camps of science, as the chief factors in religion and in therapeutics— of the healing of the body and the healing of the soul—for our most advanced theories on these subjects are little more than the old wine in the new bottles.”

Modern philosophy, supported to a great extent by the facts of science, explain some of the asserted facts of “Magic”, as just stated, by the theory of Unconscious Will and Unconscious Idea as Cosmic Principles—the extension of this conception to Man, on the principle of Analogy, “as above, so below; as below, so above”, giving the key to the secret of the creative activities of Man. In short, it implicitly asserts that Man, the microcosm, may proceed to create by means of the deliberate employment of the same methods and processes, and through the same principles, as those employed by Nature, or the Cosmos, the macrocosm. And, as we shall show you in the following paragraphs, modern science postulates the existence of a counterpart of the “cosmic medium” or “astral light” of the occultists.

Modern science, in the conception of the Universal Ether, asserts the existence of an immaterial, imponderable substance similar to that postulated by the ancient Hindu philosophers under the name of “Akasha”, or “Prakriti”. This Universal Ether is held by modern Science to pervade all space, and to be “the ultimate state or condition of all materiality”; matter is held to be a derivative product of it, and to be destined eventually to return to it.

Stockwell says: “The Ether is coming to be apprehended as immaterial, superphysical substance, filling all space, carrying in its infinite throbbing bosom the specks of aggregated dynamic force called worlds. It embodies the ultimate spiritual principle, and represents the unity of those forces and energies from which spring, as their source, all phenomena, physical, mental, and spiritual, as they are known to us.” Bigelow speaks of: “That extraordinary entity upon whose inferential existence the lines of modern scientific thought seem to converge, the instellar Ether, which seems likely to prove the ultimate form of Matter out of which everything comes and to which everything must eventually return. The Ether is unconditioned, an entity of no properties, or more exactly not an entity at all, but an infinite possibility.”

So then, if you demand to know what support our Formula of Idealization has in ancient thought, or in modern science, you have it suggested to you in the foregoing. There is this intangible substance which is capable of being “worked up” into material form by Ideation animated by Will, in the Cosmic processes. It is but carrying the idea to its logical conclusion when it is asserted that the “I AM I,” being a focalized centre of the Universal Principle of POWER, may and does possess, in at least some degree, the power to create in the same general way, i. e. by Idealization energized and animated by Will Power.

Idealization, according to the formula, begins with the projection of an Ideal Form, or Thought Form, “clearly defined in outline and sharply defined in configuration, well energized and vitalized by an inflow of Will Power.” This Ideal Form, or Thought Form, is stated to tend to materialize itself into objective reality “by means of (a) building up a corresponding ethereal pattern, outline, design, or mold, around which is deposited the substance of materialization; and (b) by means of attracting to itself the persons, conditions, things, and environmental factors which aid in the process of materialization.”

You may project this Ideal Image, or Thought Form, by first creating a clear idea or mental picture, employing both thought and imagination in the process. You will find yourself aided in this by picturing the Ideal Image, or Thought Form, as superimposed upon the ethereal substance, whereupon it begins at once to crystallize into more substantial structure and body. You may be helped in this conception by employing the symbol of the projection of a picture by the familiar Magic Lantern. Think of your Ideal Image, or Thought-Form, as the picture painted or photographed on the lantern-slide; the Ethereal Substance as being the screen or sheet upon which the picture is thrown or projected; your Attention being the lens of the lantern or projecting apparatus which focalizes and concentrates the strength of the light; your Will as the light which projects the picture; your Desire as the fuel or energy which causes the light of Will to burn.

The Ideal Image, or Thought Form, must be kept energized by Will Power, as you have been told in the formula. This is a very important factor in the process. Be the Ideal Image, or Thought Form, ever so clear, sharp and strong, it will lack energy and power unless it be fed and kept supplied with the proper flow of Will Power. In order to so supply it, you should “keep your mind” on those features of the picture which make it desirable and wished for by you. You should frequently picture in your mind the pleasure, content and satisfaction which will be yours when the ideal is materialized when the dream comes true. By thus arousing Desire, you will keep flowing to the Ideal Image Thought Form, that energy, strength and vitality of the Will which it requires in order to grow and unfold itself.

You will find that the power of your Will, employed in this way, will be stimulated and strengthened by means of the cultivation of a strong craving, longing, hungry, thirsting Desire for the materialization of your Ideal Image, or Thought Form. By “craving” is meant: “urgently longing for; eagerly and strongly desiring and demanding; passionately longing for and demanding; insatiable longing for,” etc. The stronger and more persistent and insistent the craving of Desire, the greater is the Will-tension manifested in the Ideal Image, or Thought Form. The Flame of Desire must be kept burning brightly, in order that the Light of Will may be sufficient to do its work.

Likewise, the Will is stimulated to increased and intensified activity by the presence of the mental state of Hope, Faith, Belief—in short, Confident Expectation of the successful outcome of the attempt and task. Faith Power is an important element of Ideative and Volitional Power. It must not be overlooked in your practice of Personal Power.

The formula also states that the Ideal Image, or Thought Form, must be clear in outline and in configuration—clearly defined in both respects. Inasmuch as the Ideal Image, or Thought Form, is the pattern or framework around which your materialization is to be effected or built, it follows that the best effects are obtained when that pattern or framework is clearly defined and sharply outlined. The materialization proceeds to manifest along the lines of the idealization, and cannot be expected to be better than is its pattern and mold.

It is realized by us, of course, that, at least at first, you are not likely to find it easy to create or to build up a perfect, complete Ideal Image, or Thought Form, of that which you wish to become materialized. Moreover, we realize that you may wish to fill in the outlines of your pattern or framework, or to add some new details or features, or to make some improvements upon the original plan, as you proceed. These things are all possible under this method of Idealization; in fact, nearly everyone who accomplishes results by its means proceeds in just this way, from the very nature of the case. The principle of Idealization is not affected by such additions or changes—the Ideal Image, or Thought Form, is not rigid and fixed, but rather is flexible and capable of being remolded, re-shaped, altered, remodeled, and added to as you proceed. Even Nature proceeds according to evolution, trial, experiment, adaptation, improvement, and combination—so thus may you also proceed.

The best general rule for the practical performance of the projecting process of Idealization is as follows: Acquire the faculty of forming the clearest possible outline of the things and conditions you wish to materialize into objective form. If you cannot at first fill in the details of your projected Ideal Image, or Thought Form, you should at least build and draw strong, clear, firm general outlines; and then, as you proceed with your Idealization, and its materialization, you may add the missing or minor details; altering, changing, improving, remodeling, and reshaping the ideal pattern or framework. Do not hesitate to begin the process of Idealization simply because you cannot at first supply the details of your picture—the general outlines will be enough to start with, but let these be as clear, sharp, and strong as possible.

Finally, you should understand that by the term “Ideal Image, or Thought Form,” we always mean simply the IDEA of that which you wish to do, or to be, or to happen—the “object” of your Desire-Will-Faith-Idea, in fact. This object may be a plain, simple, and immediate thing; or, again, it may be an elaborate, complex, and remote thing; but the general principle remains unchanged, and the general method of applying it is the same.

The Ideal Image, or Thought Form, is the “form in the seed,” which you wish to materialize into the form of the plant, flower, and fruit. The following suggestions may aid you in forming your mental picture:

(1) Idealize the desired things, happenings, or conditions just exactly as if they were existent and active at that particular moment—right “here and now” before you.

(2) Idealize yourself as you wish to be or to do.

(3) Idealize others as you wish them to be or to do.

(4) Idealize happenings as you wish them to occur.

(5) Idealize conditions as you wish them to be.

(6) Idealize your environment as you wish it to be.

(7) Idealize your power, strength, and ability as you wish them to be.

Here is the method, in a nutshell: (1) Discover what you crave to be or to do, or to have happen. (2) Form a clear, strong, and distinct Ideal Image, or Thought Form, of such. (3) Vitalize and energize this by Will Power aroused by Desire and stimulated by Faith. (4) Project the Ideal Image, or Thought Form, into the Ethereal Substance, there to become materialized. (5) Keep the picture clear, strong, and corrected “up to date” in the same way. (6) Keep it supplied with continuous interest and attention, and energized by Desire, Faith, and Will Power. (7) Then wait confidently and expectantly its Materialization and Realization—for “lo! your own shall come to you.”

In the above condensed statement, you have the essence of that which many books have been written to express; many lessons have been given to teach; and which might be expanded into many volumes of instruction. Commit it to memory, and repeat it often to yourself.

The Formula of Affirmation. Affirmation consists of the act or process of expressing in verbal form—in words—the statement of the thought or idea of that which you desire to materialize in objective reality. Words are crystallized thought. When an idea is expressed in words, it takes on additional strength and power. The verbal expression of an idea gives to the latter a “body” and substance which it otherwise lacks. The “spoken word” was held by ancient occultists to have a mystical and esoteric significance and power. The experience of modern Mental Science (of various schools of interpretation of the basic principles of its teachings) has served to demonstrate the value of “Affirmations” in securing results of their idealistic thought directed toward practical ends.

The human race did very little intelligent or purposive thinking before it invented spoken language. Moreover, the greater and more adequate is the vocabulary of a people, or of an individual, the greater is the capacity for clear, definite thought on the part of that people or that individual. This does not mean that the more a person talks, or the more words he utters, the deeper is his thought—in fact, the reverse of such proposition is often found to be true. But it is true that the more terms that a person has at his command for use in his thinking, the clearer and more definite will be his thought. Words may be, and often are, employed to disguise or to conceal thoughts, or to conceal the lack of real thoughts and ideas: but without adequate terms, clear and close thinking is impossible.

Arnold Bennett says: “When a writer conceives an idea, he conceives it in the form of words. That form of words constitutes his style, and it is absolutely governed by the idea. The idea can only exist in words, it can only exist in one form of words. You cannot say exactly the same thing in two different ways. Slightly alter the expression, and you slightly alter the idea. A clear idea is expressed clearly, and a vague idea vaguely.” Hazlitt says: “Not only will an improvement in a thought improve its wording; an improvement in wording will improve the thought. To study clearness of statement is to study means of improving thought.”

Thus, you see, Affirmation has for one of its main purposes the strengthening of the thought or ideal, and the creation of a more clear, distinct, and definite outline of it. You may “hold the thought” of the thing or condition which you desire to materialize; you may form a strong mental picture of it; but neither the thought nor the picture will possess its full measure of strength or dearness until you embody the thought or idea, and describe the picture, in formal words. If you will carefully write down in words your thought or idea of the thing or condition which you desire to materialize, and will correct that written statement until you feel that you have reached the limits of your powers of effective verbal expression, you will then find that your thought and idea, and your mental picture as well, have taken on a new strength, vigor, body, and degree of definiteness and clearness.

We may mention in passing, rather for the purpose of suggestion and of indication of how men’s minds in the past have taken hold of this idea of the “power of words,” that many teachers of the ancient esoteric schools held that all true creative activities have proceeded from the original impulse imparted by words—this being true of the creation of the Cosmos and of the creations of Man. There was a mystic significance attached to the use of the term “The Word.” Poe refers to this old idea in his essay entitled “The Power of Words.” The oriental sages have much to say concerning the power of “mystic mantrams” to awaken vibrations in the Ether, and thereby to cause materialization.

The opening paragraphs of the Gospel of John are: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.” Moreover, reference to the first chapter of Genesis will show that God is pictured by the writer of that book as creating the world, in successive stages or by successive steps, by divine fiat, or authoritative spoken word; as, for instance, “And God said, ‘Let there be light’: and there was light.” Again: “And God said, ‘Let there be a firmament, in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters’.” And so on, verbal command succeeding verbal command, until the work of creation is completed. We shall not pursue this phase of the subject further; the above will serve to indicate the trend of Man’s thoughts concerning the Power of the Spoken Word.

There is no set rule or form for the expression of the verbal Affirmation. If you will state in words, positively and definitely, that which is involved in your Idea, and which you have sought to picture mentally in the process of Idealization, you will be performing efficiently the process of Affirmation. There is no special virtue in any particular combination of words, however; so do not fall into the superstitious fallacy concerning verbal “charms,” etc., nor strive to invent “mantrams.”

The virtue in Affirmations lies in the thought or idea back of the words—the spirit of the words, rather than their form— and not in any magic or mystical combinations of words or sounds. If the words of your Affirmation are clear, definite, and “right to the point,” they will serve the purpose effectively. Do not become a blind follower of “cut and dried” forms of Affirmations announced by teachers and others claiming authority: your own forms are just as good as these; they may really be better if they more clearly and effectively express your own thought in the matter.

Here, however, is an important point concerning the employment of Affirmations: Always make your Affirmative Statements in the present tense. Do not say: “So-and-so will be such-and-such, bye-and-bye,” but, instead, speak up boldly and affirm that “So-and-so is such-and-such, right here and now.” And, in truth, such is the case—you are speaking the Word of Truth which transcends time-limitations. The “so-and-so is such-and-such” in the idealized form—the materialized form is even now crystallizing itself around it. Also, make your Affirmative Statements earnestly and positively—avoid half-hearted or “maybe” statements, lest only half-hearted or “maybe” results may materialize for you. Exercise the Power of Faith—express the Confident Expectation. Do not assume the tone of asking a favor—speak the Word of Command and Demand. You are not a Beggar—you are a Master!

Denials, or Reversed Affirmations, are useful at times— particularly when you feel the need of protection, and the necessity for clearing away obstacles which hinder your advance. Otherwise, positive Affirmations should be employed— constructive rather than destructive. It has well been said that darkness is more speedily and effectively dispelled by letting in the light than by attempting to shovel out the darkness; as a general rule it is well to proceed upon this principle. But we are not among those who refuse to see any virtue at all in Denials— on the contrary, we advise such method in certain cases, this always to be followed and fortified by positive Affirmations.

In employing Denials, or Reversed Affirmations, you boldly, firmly and positively deny out of your world of experience the obstacle or obstruction which is impeding your legitimate progress; or the antagonistic influence which is being directed against you. It is marvelous to see how, at such times, these antagonistic or obstructive things and circumstances will disintegrate and dissolve into ineffective nothingness, so far as you yourself, are concerned. The following is an example of the general form of Denial or Reversed Affirmation:

“I deny power and reality to this influence or obstacle. Over me it has no power or influence; for me it has no obstructing power. For my Master Self, my ‘I AM I,’ it has no practical existence.” Accompany this with an idealized mental picture of the obstructing thing disappearing from the scene, leaving the remainder of the picture intact without the presence of the thing which has been denied out of your experience. Then follow up this process with those of Idealization and Affirmation along constructive lines, i. e., along the lines of the creation and materialization of that which you desire to be manifested and expressed in reality.

Finally, always fill your Affirmation with Feeling, Faith and Will. Make it alive with feeling and emotion, desire, craving, and insistent urge; make it glow with Faith; make it strong with an inflow of Will-Power. Throw Will, Faith and Feeling into your Affirmation as well as into your Idealization. Do not fall into the habit of affirming in dead words, repeated parrot-like. Instead, throw yourself into them. Speak with the air of authority, as if to those who are in the habit of obeying your commands and of expressing into action your wishes. Do not bluster, or rant, or rave, but rather cultivate the voice of real strength and authority, calm; well-poised, and confident of itself. If you speak from the “I AM I” consciousness, you will be able to do this effectively.

The Formula of Actualization. Actualization consists of “making actual by action” that which you desire to materialize in objective reality, and the idea of which is represented in your mental pictures of Idealization, and in your spoken words of Affirmation. In Actualization, you make the “mental paths” which lead to achievement and accomplishment. You also strengthen the idealized framework, pattern, design, or mold of your Idealization, and give expression and manifestation to your verbal statements of Affirmation. The greater your ability to “act and act out” the faith of realization that is in you, the greater will be your ability to bring about that material realization of that which is now real in idealized form.

In Actualization, you proceed to exhibit in real action the spirit of that which you have Idealized and Affirmed. In Actualization, as in Idealization and Affirmation, there is a potent natural law or principle involved. We are not inventing these principles, nor are we claiming any right of discovery of them. On the contrary, we are but applying terms to, and describing the operation of, certain basic principles of Nature’s activities which have always existed, and always will exist, at least so long as there is a Cosmos.

The secret of the efficacy of Actualization lies in the natural principle under which “the measure of available strength is determined by the degree of the use and employment of such strength.” In all Nature, it is found that “Use determines Supply.” The available muscular strength of a man depends materially upon the degree of the previous use, exercise or employment of his muscles. The man who exercises or employs a certain set of muscles will be found to acquire a marked development of those particular parts of his body; while the man who has not exercised or used these will be found to lack the special development and strength acquired by the first man.

In the same way, exercise, employment and use tend greatly to develop and cultivate any of the mental faculties. The increased rate of development of a mental faculty arises not alone by reason of acquaintance and familiarity with the task, but also from the increase of the available power of that faculty which comes from its use and employment—the power comes in response to the demand and necessity for it which arises in the course of its use and employment.

The rule of Nature is to send strength and power to those parts or faculties which are used, employed, and exercised in due measure; and to weaken and atrophy those which are either used to excess or else not employed in due measure. The norm, or natural degree of strength, depends largely upon the degree of the manifestation of the norm, or the reasonable degree of natural expression, employment, use and exercise. The physical giant and the mental giant each owes his power not alone to natural aptitude and equipment, but also, and in a large measure, to the natural use and exercise of his aptitude and equipment.

Without attempting to illustrate the principle at greater length, we say to you that if you will proceed to act “as if” the desired power and strength were gradually flowing into you, then there will come to you such a gradual inflow; and there will be manifested in you a greater capacity for Personal Power. Act out the part, for which you are preparing yourself. Rehearse the part which you are expecting to play in earnest in the Drama of Life. Acquire the motions, gestures, outward manifestations, inward feelings, viewpoints, outlook, etc., of the individual you desire and expect to be. Train yourself for the part by earnest, patient rehearsal. The process of Idealization and Affirmation will bring Power to the very gates of your individual irrigation channels; but you must actually raise the gates in order to permit the inflow of its power and energy—you must use, employ and apply its power in actual work and activity, if you wish the flow to continue.

Personal Power is given to you for USE, and not for hoarding. There is a Law of Use as well as a Law of Attraction in Nature. Just as the Will-process is not complete short of actual action; just as Idea is not complete until it moves into outward expression; so is your Personal Power not complete until you have begun to use, employ, manifest, and express it. So do not content yourself merely with Idealization and Affirmation, but, instead, get to work and complete the process by actually manifesting and expressing the rays of Power which are flowing into you in order to bring about the materialization of that which you desire to manifest in objective form. Do not overdo the expression and manifestation—but do not underdo it; strive ever to maintain the Golden Mean, the Balance between the two extremes. In Poise there is Power.

Much of the adverse criticism which has been directed toward the followers of the various school of the New Metaphysical Movement (under its many names) is based upon the theory that such individuals are mere “day dreamers”; that they shirk the real tasks of living, and refuse to look at the actualities confronting them in everyday life; and, instead, content themselves with building “castles in Spain”, and indulging in day-dreams of what they would like to be, and to do, and to possess. So far as many persons are concerned, such criticism is merited in some degree; but here the trouble arises not because of the true metaphysical teaching on the subject, but rather because these individuals see but two-thirds of the Truth, and ignore the remaining one-third. They are strong in Idealization and Affirmation—overstressing the latter, particularly; but are very weak in Actualization—in fact, they often tacitly or expressly deny the need of it.

One may dream—in fact he must do so if he wishes to create and construct; he may affirm his power—he must do so if he wishes to achieve; but he must also “manifest into action” the ideals and the power possessed by him. He must say “I Dare and I Do!” as well as “I Can and I Will!” He must act as well as think, feel, and plan. He must express himself in action, as well as impress his thought and will upon the responsive ethereal substance. The word “actual” is derived from the same root as are the terms “act”, “active”, or “activity”. Before a thing becomes “actual”, it must be the subject of “action” and “activity.” Actuality follows activity—and activity results from action, and action from act. Actualization is a necessary factor of Realization and Materialization—without it Idealization and Affirmation are aborted, and are never able to manifest in the world of Realization and Materialization.

So, then, remember always to transmute the Thought, and Word, into ACTION. Otherwise, you are but a mere dreamer of dreams, a speaker of words, and not a doer of deeds. ACTION is the end and goal of Thought and Word!

Realizing Your Ideals

By means of the application of the combined powers of Ideation and Volition—of Thought and Will—employed according to the methods of the Three Formulas of Idealization, Affirmation, and Actualization, respectively, you proceed to “realize”, (i. e., to make real; to convert into actual objective existence) that which you have first created in “ideal” form (i. e., in the form of ideal image or thought). In other words, by employing these powers according to the said methods you proceed to materialize your idealized forms. Inasmuch as these idealized forms represent your strongest desires, you are here proceeding to remake your world of experience according to your “heart’s desire”.

In addition to the instruction already given you along these lines, and for the purpose of summing up the essential features of the proceeding instruction, we shall now present to your attention and consideration the leading principles of the process of realizing your ideals—of materializing that which you have idealized—of creating conditions in accordance with your “heart’s desire”.

The Essential Base. To begin with, you must always proceed from the base, ground, and foundation of POWER—the Ultimate Principle of Power. You must never lose sight of the fact that all Personal Power—all the Personal Power you ever have had, have now, or ever can have—must have POWER as its original source and fount. This original source must never be lost sight of by you. The more you recognize and realize that POWER is your great reservoir and storehouse of Power, the closer will be your conscious relation to that original source, and the greater will be your ability to draw upon that great reservoir or storehouse. You must always remember that “recognition and realization must always precede manifestation”. In the degree of your conscious recognition of POWER in thought, and of your conscious realization of it in feeling, so will be the degree of your conscious manifestation of it in action.

Students often become so carried away by the wonderful possibilities and the actual manifestations of Personal Power arising from the application of the principles and methods involving Will-Ideative energy, force and power, according to the methods of the Three Formulas, that in time they tend to forget or to overlook this fundamental fact that all Personal Power must proceed from POWER. They ignore the source of their supply. This, however, is a grave error, for by proceeding in this manner you will tend to close the channel of Infinite Supply, and thereby to limit, lessen and restrict the inflow of Power from POWER. Such course is akin to that of the car-conductor who allows his trolley-pole to become detached from the supply-wire, and who thereby loses his connection with the power which operates the driving machinery of his car. It would really be better for you to forget or to overlook all the rest of this instruction, rather than this, its basic and fundamental principle.

The Focal Centre. Second only to the recognition, realization, and manifestation of POWER, is the similar recognition, realization, and manifestation of that focalized centre of POWER which is your “I AM I” your Master Self, your Real Self. This “I AM I”, as we have repeatedly told you, is “a focalized centre of Being and Power, created and established by POWER In its Cosmic Manifestation.” The “I AM I” is to your individual world of experience that which POWER is to the Cosmos. It is the Supreme Fact of your individual existence, just as POWER is the Supreme Fact of All-Existence. It is the focalized Centre through which POWER flows and operates in your individual activities. It is the reflection of the Sun of POWER in the dewdrop of your mental and physical being.

You must always think of, picture, and act according to the idea of your “I AM I” as being a central point in your world of experience, around which all the rest moves, and circles, and passes in review. You are the Real Thing in the Passing Show which passes before you in an ever-changing, ever-proceeding stream, and which is presented to you for your edification, instruction, and experience. YOU are “IT” in that World of Experience—the one thing which you know from actual experience to be Real. YOU are that Something or Somewhat which would continue to exist even were all that World of Experience wiped out of existence—which will remain constant and unaffected so long as it is maintained as a focal point by POWER. You must always keep in mind this fact of your own reality and your place in your World of Experience.

This consciousness of Egohood must be brought to a pivotal and focused point of intense recognition and realization in thought and feeling. The consciousness of your reality and constancy, amidst the world of changing things and passing scenes, must be acquired by you—it must become a part of your inmost consciousness of thought and feeling. It is the real essence of the practical application of Personal Power. You must grow to feel that whatever else may change or pass away, YOU—the “I AM I”—will remain, abiding, constant, and identical. You must strive to acquire the consciousness of the philosopher who, being told that the world was coming to an end, calmly replied: “Well, what of it? I can get along without it!” The thought of “the crash of worlds” must not disturb you—you must learn to think and to feel that, “These things move me not!”

But, remember always, that this “I AM I”, which is YOU, is not the “John Smith”, or the “Mary Jones”, part of you—the part made up of the instruments and machinery of your personal expression and manifestation. It is not to the mere garments of personality that you are ascribing such great facts of being— it is to That which bears those garments for the time being. These incidental trappings of personality are but the things of the impermanent, changing, passing, phenomenal world which you are now experiencing in consciousness. The “I AM I” is that Reality which transcends these phenomenal instruments, machinery, garments, or attachments which in their aggregate constitute the “John Smith” or “Mary Jones” aspect of your individuality. Do not allow yourself to become entangled in consciousness with this outer aspect of personality—free your inner individuality from it in consciousness. Do not allow yourself to become spiritually “hide-bound” by this outer skin of your personality. Do not exchange your birthright of permanent Individuality for the mess of pottage of transient Personality.

You must lay aside forever the erroneous notion that you are a mere “worm of the dust”, a lowly creature fit only to crawl along on its belly, begging that it may not be trodden upon. You must realize that You are YOU—a magnificent manifestation and expression of POWER. For YOU, the processes of Evolution have toiled and labored for many ages. For YOU, Nature has undergone countless labor-pains through an ages-long period of delivery. For YOU, Time has waited long. Now that YOU are here, in your present state of personal existence, it is your right and duty to express and to manifest the full might and power that is in you, and to move forward fulfilling your manifest destiny. You are YOU; and YOU are ready to express yourself to the full measure of your inherent capacities.

In all your work, in all your play, in all your activities, physical and mental, carry with you the consciousness that You are YOU—a Centre of Power in the great Cosmic Manifestation of POWER. Base upon this consciousness all that you do—all your mental work, all your physical work. Falter not: be strong. Recognize and realize always that you are a focused, focalized, concentrated point of Reality—a focal point and centre of the Presence-Power of POWER. Recognize and realize that back of you, around you, and in You, is POWER—All-the-Power-there-IS; and that in the measure that you allow it to flow freely through you, that will be the measure of your Personal Power. Learn to affirm the “I AM I”, in full consciousness of what the words mean; mentally picture yourself as that “I AM I”; and then live up to and act out the truth of your being so expressed in thought, in feeling and in words.

By the careful observance of the foregoing instruction concerning the “I AM I”, conceived as a focalized centre of the Power of POWER, and as being the permanent, constant, identical element and factor of your being, you will find yourself unfolding into a greater and far more efficient phase of Personal Power. You will not only be creating a more definite, more intensely concentrated, and more highly focalized centre of manifestation of Personal Power, the source and real nature of which you have recognized and realized abiding on the higher and hidden planes or levels of your consciousness, your subconsciousness and your superconsciousness; you will also proceed to the gradual unfoldment of a higher power of knowing, of feeling, and of doing, by means of the increased efficiency and power of your instruments and machinery of expression.

This teaching of the “I AM I”—its powers and its possibilities— is not “milk for babes”: it is rather nourishing food for strong men and those who wish to become strong. The practical test of Truth is: “Will this make me stronger, better, and more efficient?” This teaching will meet the test of Truth, for it will assuredly make you stronger, better, and more efficient. It is in accordance with the Law of Evolution, which law proceeds to manifest on the spiritual and mental planes, as well as the physical plane. Fall in line and proceed with the Law of Cosmic Evolution, and the Powers of the Cosmos will come to your aid, and you will become as one of the Elect: if you oppose or run contrary to the Law, you will be ruthlessly pressed to the wall, and discarded as unfit. In the one case, you are nourished, supported, strengthened and encouraged by the Law; in the other case, you are relentlessly crowded out by its operations.

We here quote from the statement of one of the present writers, made in a much earlier work from his pen; this statement is quite as true now as when it was written many years ago:

“If you are a true individual, this teaching is just what you want. This is also true if you are not yet a true individual, but earnestly desire to be one. But if you are a weakling, and prefer to remain so, instead of rising and claiming your birthright of Strength, your heritage of Power, then by all means remain as you are, and depart in peace. In that case, you leave these teachings for those of the race who will not sell their birthright of Power for the mess of pottage of negative content and sheeplike passivity and docility, but who boldly claim their own, and demand their rightful portion. For those strong brothers of yours are the individuals—the true individuals—who are the coming inheritors of the earth.”

By the employment of the principles of combined Ideation-Will, along the lines of Idealization, Affirmation, and Actualization, you may build or rebuild your physical body along the lines laid out and patterned in your mind. You may “make yourself over” physically in this way, your degree of successful manifestation depending upon your degree of successful recognition and realization of the principles involved, and upon your degree of the efficient application of those principles.

This is no new and strange doctrine. On the contrary, it is being taught and practiced by the many schools of Mind Cure, Mental Healing, Faith Cure, Metaphysical Healing, etc., etc., which have been so much in public view during the past quarter-century. Thousands have been transformed from weak, sick persons into strong, healthy individuals, by means of methods similar in general nature to those presented to you in this book. More over, by means of systems of physical culture employing at least some of the elements of Idealization, and the employment of Ideation-Will, many have literally “made over” their physical bodies, building them up from frail, puny, undeveloped forms into strong, sturdy, efficient, well-developed physical instruments of expression.

The general principles involved in the process of Realizing the Ideal Body are those already presented to you; the methods employed are those likewise presented to you in this book. You start with the consciousness that the physical body, and all of its parts and organs, is but the instrument of the “I AM I”, Master Self and Real Self—the latter being the focalized centre of POWER. The Master Self assumes control of its physical instrument and machinery, and proceeds to build it up according to the highest possible pattern, design or mold.

In doing so, it employs the combined principles of Ideation-Will—the Ideal Form energized by Will Power. It proceeds by Idealization, or the creation and projection of the Ideal Image, or Thought Form. It accompanies this by the appropriate Affirmation of the Idea or Thought. It also proceeds to apply the method of Actualization, by means of which it “lives out the idea”, “acts out the part”; and also performs such physical actions, exercises, and methods as may seem appropriate, and observes such basic, natural laws of Health and Physical Well-Being as are announced by the best thinkers along these lines.

Such are the general principles and methods employed in the processes of Realizing the Ideal Body—of materializing into objective reality the perfect, healthy, strong, efficient body pictured in the mind as the ideal form. If you will apply the principles previously announced and explained in the preceding sections of this book, particularly those included in the description of the Three Formulas; and will employ the methods also herein stated and explained, carefully and intelligently adapting them to the special requirements of your individual case; you should be able to manifest to a satisfactory degree the results which you seek.

All this will require careful and persistent effort, careful attention, and insistent perseverance. We are not offering you a “magic wand” by means of the waving of which you may gain in a moment perfect health and perfect physical well-being. But, if you will observe the proper methods, based upon the sound fundamental principles herein stated, and will manifest Definite Ideals, Insistent Desire, Confident Expectation, Persistent Determination, and Balanced Compensation, there is no reason why you should not acquire that which you seek. All this means “work”—earnest work, persistent work—but the end is worth all the work which you bestow upon the task.

Realizing the Ideal Mind. What has just been said concerning the process of Realizing the Ideal Body, may also be said concerning the process of Realizing the Ideal Mind. By the employment of the general principles of combined Ideation-Will, applied along the lines of Idealization, Affirmation, and Actualization, you may develop and cultivate your mind as a whole, or any of its special faculties or powers, to a high degree or state of efficiency. Here, as in the case of the physical body, the “I AM I” is in control of its instruments and its machinery of expression, and is able to cultivate and develop, train and direct the operation of those instruments or machinery.

The “I AM I” or Master Self assumes active control of the mental faculties, and begins the process of exercising, energizing, stimulating and generally building-up and rendering effective these instruments of its expression. In this work, the “I AM I” calls to its aid the combined powers of Ideation-Will, and employs the same along the lines of Idealization, Affirmation, and Actualization. All of the processes are familiar to you by reason of their repeated presentation to you in this book.

In Idealization, the mind, or its special faculties under “treatment”, is pictured by the Ideal Image or Thought Form as it is desired to become and to be; the ideal is kept constantly in mind, as a pattern or mold along the lines of which materialization shall proceed. Affirmations or verbal statements, tend to crystallize the idea or thought expressed in Idealization; it gives “body” and substance to the idea or thought so pictured, and thus furnishes a firmer substance upon which materialization may proceed.

In the processes of Actualization, however, the mind (or its special faculties) is furnished with tasks calculated to exercise, unfold, develop, cultivate, strengthen and train the faculties or faculty under “treatment”. Mental faculties, like physical muscles, may be fully developed only by use, exercise, and actual employment and work; they grow strong and efficient only by contact with, and exercise upon, the actual work for which they are designed.

One must actually “think” in order to develop “thinking power”; one must actually “will”, in order to develop “willing power”; one must actually “perceive and observe”, in order to develop “perceptive power”; one must actually “plan and invent” in order to develop “creative mental power”; and so on along the entire list of the mental powers. Mental development, cultivation and training always involve mental employment, exercise, use and work. There is no exception to this rule; and any attempt to escape it results only in disappointment. So, in Realizing the Ideal Mind the processes of Actualization are vitally important and essential; but they may be increased in power and effect, and given definite direction and form by following the processes of Idealization and Affirmation, respectively.

The Mental Faculties are classified as follows: (1) Faculties of Thought; (2) Faculties of Feeling; (3) Faculties of Will.

Thought consists of (a) Sensation; (b) Perception; (c) Conception; (d) Generalization; (e) Comparison; (f) Deliberation; (g) Judgment; the higher processes of Reasoning being conducted along the lines of Induction and Deduction, respectively. Memory and Imagination are also important phases of Thought-activities.

Feeling consists of (a) Simple Feeling; (b) Complex Feeling, or Emotion; (c) Desire.

Will consists of (a) Desire-Will; (b) Deliberative-Will; (c) Action-Will; in all of their various forms and phases.

In the process of Actualization directed toward the end of Realizing the Ideal Mind, you should consult the best text books treating upon the special subjects of the particular faculties, or groups of faculties, and containing scientific exercises for the cultivation, development, and training of such faculties. There are a number of such good text books on the market, which may be found at any good book store.

In the present volume the full general principles and the methods of applying them are given: by applying these principles according to these methods, wonderful results may be attained in the direction of general Mind Development by Actualization. But, it will be readily seen that owing to the general nature and broad field of the present book it is impossible to present here in extended form the details of the cultivating, developing and training by Actualization of the several sets of faculties above referred to; in fact, as we have stated, several separate volumes are required to contain such detailed presentation of these several important subjects. Therefore, we must refer to such separate and special books such students who may wish to pursue any of these special subjects in further detail.

Realizing the Ideal Conditions or Environment. To realize the ideal conditions and environment—to manifest in material objective existence and form those “day dreams” of

Realizing Your Ideals the conditions and environment in accordance with “the heart’s desire”—surely this is to work a miracle of everyday life. Yet such miracles are being performed by successful men and women on all sides, in our own times, and have been so performed in the past by those individuals who were able to transform thought into action, and to transmute the ideal conditions and environment into those of materialized and objective form.

By the application of the principles and methods which we have asked you to consider in this book, you may reasonably expect to attain quite satisfactory results along these particular lines of manifestation; indeed, it is considered more than probable that the similar successes of the men and women above referred to have in a large measure been due to the more or less unconscious application of these basic principles, and the use of similar methods.

Many persons who never have heard these principles described, explained or illustrated, have intuitively become aware of them, and have applied them by methods similar to those herein announced by us. These principles and methods were not “discovered” nor “invented” by us—they are universal, and have always been employed to some extent, in some form and degree, by men. We have here merely stated them formally, explained their nature and action, and have pointed out the methods which the experience of the race has found to be the most effective.

In the present usage of the terms, “Conditions” means: “State or situation with regard to external circumstances or environment”; and “Environment” means: “That which environs or surrounds; surrounding conditions, circumstances, influences, or forces.” In short, “Conditions and Environment” are seen to mean “such portion of the external world as affects the individual by reason of its influence upon him.” If one is able to control and direct his conditions and environment, he is able to surround himself with conditions of life, and details of environment, in accordance with his “heart’s desire,” and with his day-dreams, ideals, plans, hopes, and ambition.

Our teaching is that man is not a slave of circumstances or conditions—not a prisoner to his environment. We hold, on the contrary, that the strong individuals of the race have always shown their power to modify, change, improve, transform and transmute, at least to a considerable degree, their original environment and their original conditions of life. The history of every successful man and woman will show such to be the case, and all the teaching of our young folks is based upon such premises. The difference between the slave-mind and slave-soul, and the master-mind and master-soul, is largely the submission of the former to its environment and its conditions, and the refusal of the latter so to submit, accompanied by its determination to create its own environment and to determine its own conditions of life.

The miracle of Realizing the Ideal Conditions and Environment—of making the dreams come true, and of materializing one’s ideal images—is none the less a miracle because it happens to be a common and familiar occurrence. Such miracles are being performed every day; they are possible of being so performed, anywhere and everywhere, now and at anytime, by anyone or everyone who will put into operation the right principles, and who will employ the most effective methods. We believe that the principles and methods set forth in this book contain the essence and cream of the best human thought on this subject, based upon the best experience of the race. We believe that the essential features of such principles and methods have been involved in the mental processes of the successful men and women who have conquered and re-created their environment, and broken down and then recreated their circumstances in life.

And now, to apply the principles and methods of our teaching to this process of Realizing the Ideal Conditions and Environment; how must you begin? Well, first of all, you must set into active operation the twin-powers of Ideation and Will. You must start with the creation and establishment, the support and maintenance, of a strong Dynamic Idea, or Creative Ideation, of the general conditions and environment which you wish to realize and materialize in objective form in the material world.

You should here carefully re-read and restudy what we have said to you in the section of this book entitled “The Twin-Manifestation of POWER”. You must raise the giant of Ideation to the shoulders of the giant of Will—and then bid the twin-giants to proceed to their task. You must pour into your Ideal Image the energizing and vitalizing power of Will. You must not only strengthen your Ideal Image by means of Idealization and Affirmation, but you must also strengthen and energize your Steam of Will by Faith and Confident Expectation, and by keeping fiercely burning the fires of Desire. You must fill yourself with Definite Ideals, Insistent Desire, Confident Expectation, and Persistent Determination so that that which you are holding in your mind in idealized form shall be manifested in materialized form and activity in your world of circumstances and environment. You must establish the “oneness of idea” and the “oneness of feeling” which distinguishes the Purposive Will.

Remember our illustration of the Magic Lantern, with its fierce flame of Desire supporting and sustaining the Light of Will; the Light of Will beats strongly and persistently upon the lantern-slide of Idealization, upon which is painted or photographed the Ideal Image or Thought Form; the picture is then thrown clearly and strongly upon the screen or sheet of the Ethereal Substance of the Cosmos, and there is reproduced in materialized form. Keep in mind this illustration, for it well symbolizes the process of the Materialization of the Ideal—the transmutation of the Ideal Image or Thought Form into the Material Form.

Now re-read and re-study carefully the preceding section of this book, entitled “The Three Formulas”. Read and study carefully every word of what we have there stated concerning the respective processes of Idealization, Affirmation, and Actualization. Then apply these processes to the task before you. Idealize the conditions and environment which you wish to materialize and realize in objective form. Affirm the idea by expressing it in words, and in affirming its reality. Actualize the idea by “acting out” the part which you must play in relation to the conditions and environment which you are now proceeding to materialize according to the idealized form and affirmed statement; and proceed to perform the actual work on the mental and physical planes which are necessary to perfect the process and to accomplish the end sought.

Form the clear mental image of that which you wish to materialize. Vitalize and energize that image or picture by Will Power aroused and sustained by Faith and Desire. Project that Ideal Image or Thought Form into the Ethereal Substance, there to be materialized. Keep the picture well defined and crystallized by positive Affirmation of its reality, and statements of your confident expectation of the outcome. Speak “the Word” of its Realization, early and often, and with the spirit and tone of certainty. Deny out of existence the obstructing and opposing obstacles to its accomplishment. Create the “mental path” by Actualization, and in the same way prepare the physical ground for the Realization. Perform each and all of these processes earnestly, confidently, persistently, patiently, insistently, with mind “one pointed”, and with every element of your being directed and devoted to the task.

Finally, we wish to direct to your careful attention and consideration a certain course of procedure to be followed by all individuals wishing to achieve success and to reach the heights of attainment in any line or field of human endeavor, physical, mental, or spiritual. This course of procedure was taught, at least in principle, by some of the oldest teachers of the race—it formed a part of the Inner Teaching of the Ancient Mysteries of many lands. It is based upon common-sense and also uncommon-sense—upon actual experience, and upon those intuitive glimpses of the Higher Truth which wise men and women have acquired through the channels of the superconscious faculties of the mind. It was and is followed in principle not only by the ancient “mystics” and their modern successors, but also by the most hard-headed, cold-blooded, practical “men of affairs” of today. It is universal in its field and scope, and in its application in actual practice. It is known as “The Master Formula of Attainment,” and it will be presented to you in the following section of this book.

“The Master Formula”

In the preceding section of this book we directed your attention to “The Master Formula of Attainment,” a working principle embodying the practical wisdom and extended experience of certain of the great ancient teachers, and of their modern followers, and which in this instruction is presented to our students in plain words and reduced to the condensed form of a definite formula, as follows:

“The Master Formula of Attainment consists of five elements:

I. Definite Ideals. II. Insistent Desire. III. Confident Expectation. IV. Persistent Determination. V. Balanced Compensation.”

Reduced to popular terms, the Master Formula may be expressed as follows: “You may have anything you want, provided that you (1) know exactly what you want, (2) want it hard enough, (3) confidently expect to obtain it, (4) persistently determine to obtain it, and (5) are willing to pay the price of its attainment.”

Definite Ideals consist of certain well-defined, clear, strong, and positive ideas, ideals, ambitions; aims, ends, intentions and purposes concerning the objects which you desire, hope, and will to attain. They necessitate strong, clear, definite purposes to attain and achieve. This element may be stated in popular terms as “knowing exactly what you want.” The clearer and more definite your ideas, ideals, and purposes, the greater is the strength of your process of Idealization, and the more powerful your mental element of Ideation.

The importance of having Definite Ideals—of “knowing exactly what you want”—cannot easily be overestimated. In fact, the failure to cultivate, develop and maintain this mental state may be said to constitute one of the great causes of failure or of imperfect expression on the part of men and women. One may be, and often is, quite strong in his development and exercise of the other four of the elements of the Master Formula, but if he is lacking in the element of Definite Ideals his efforts will be largely wasted and ineffective and he will fail to attain success and full achievement in his lifework.

A person lacking in Definite Ideals—one not “knowing exactly what he wants”—is like a man undertaking a journey without a definite idea of his destination, his route, and the other details of his journey. Like the man in the popular song of a few years ago, he sings: “I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way.” Or, again, such a one is like a man who fires his gun aimlessly, without pointing it toward any particular object, and still expects to “hit something.” Or, once more, he is like a man trying to build a house without having in his mind an idea of what kind of structure he desires to build, how many rooms it will contain, or what will be its dimensions.

Everything that man has ever succeeded in building has first existed in ideal form in his mind. Everything that he has ever succeeded in accomplishing has been attained largely by reason of a definite purpose existing in his mind and serving to direct and employ his will. The more clearly he is able to “idealize” his desires and purposes, the more direct will be his work of actualization. The more clearly he is able to “idealize his purpose,” the firmer and more stable will that purpose become.

The man who wishes to climb the Mountain of Attainment must have not only Ideals, but also Definite Ideals. He must not only have a general Idea which he wishes to materialize into reality; he must also have Definite Ideals which he wishes to take on definite objective real form and manifestation.

Hazy, indefinite Ideals result in scattered purpose and misdirected energy. The man who wants one thing today, and another thing tomorrow, will likely get neither. He must learn to want certain things, definite things, today, tomorrow, and the day after, if he wishes to obtain them. Shifting purpose and conflicting desires prevent that concentration and focalizing of will which is a necessary element of all successful striving and attainment. One must proceed to eliminate the less advantageous desires, one by one, in order to clear away the space around the “great desires.” By so doing he is able to focus his attention upon the objects represented by the dominant desires, and thus create a Definite Ideal concerning them.

Many persons have found it difficult to create Definite Ideals because of the conflict of desires which they find within them. They want so many things that they are unable to decide just which things they want most; this being the case, it is almost impossible for them to create and maintain the Definite Ideals which constitute the first requisite of attainment. In that volume of the present series which is entitled “Creative Power,” this phase of the subject is considered in detail. If you are one who has been subjected to the “embarrassment of riches” along the lines of “Wants,” and who has been unable to create a strong and effective Definite Ideal of that which you want most, then we feel justified in recommending to your attention the book in question.

Make a mental note of this axiom: “The first step on the Ladder of Attainment is that of Definite Purpose—the stage of ‘knowing exactly what you want’.” Unless your foot is firmly planted on that step, you will never be able to reach the successive steps above it on the ladder.

Insistent Desire consists of the insisting, persisting, persevering, demanding that your desire, wish, want, craving, longing urge be gratified and satisfied. To “insist” is to “take a stand and refuse to give way; to hold to something firmly and determinedly.” Examples of Insistent Desire are had in that statement employed so repeatedly in the several books comprising the present course of instruction, viz.: “Desire as the starving man desires food; as the thirst-cursed man desires water; as the drowning man desires air; as the mother desires the welfare and safety of her children; as the wild animal desires its mate.” When you can and will desire like this, then you will manifest Insistent Desire. In the popular phrase, this is “wanting the thing hard enough.”

Very few persons really know what it is to “want the thing hard enough.” They may think and say that they “want” the thing, even that they “want it the worst way.” But they have not learned to “want” with that fierce hunger or terrific thirst of Desire which distinguishes the living creature that “wants” with a force which refuses to be denied. The difference between the men who “do things” and “get things,” and those of the opposite type, often consists largely of the element of Insistent Desire—the element of “wanting the thing hard enough.”

What we call “a strong will” in a man is often found to be really an Insistent Desire—a Power of Desire which demands to be satisfied, and will not rest content unless it be satisfied. If you know persons of this type, as you probably do, you will remember that their Flame of Desire burns fiercely, and that it draws freely upon the world for its fuel. You will also remember that persons antagonizing this fierce flame, who come in contact with it, are very apt to be burnt or at least singed by it. The more you analyze the spirit of Will, the more you will see that its very essence consists of Insistent Desire. It is impossible for a man to have a strong will unless he first has Insistent Desire. Desire has been aptly spoken of as “The Flame which generates the Steam of Will.” The stronger the Flame, the greater the quality and power of the Steam.

A little self-analysis will serve to reveal to you just what an important part is played by Insistent Desire in the processes of Will Power. You will see that every time in which you displayed great Will Power you first were filled with Insistent Desire. Likewise, looking backward, you will see that in cases in which your Will Power failed you your Desire was weak, or lost its insistent quality. The more that you explore the regions of Will Power, the more convinced will you be that Insistent Desire constitutes the very spirit and essence of that great mental power.

To “want the thing hard enough” is not merely to “wish” it mildly, or to desire to have it come to you in some degree. To “want it hard enough” is to want it as the wild creature wants its food and its mate—as the mother wants her young when they have strayed away from her. Insistent Desire is a strong elemental urge—a primeval, aboriginal force. It is the force that animates all living things in their elemental conditions, and which seems to be present even in the inanimate forces of Nature. It is the power manifesting in all evolution, in all progress, in all achievement. It is a Raw Force—something essentially elemental and primitive. It is the Force that “does things,” that “gains things,” in the world of change and becoming.

In that volume of this series entitled “Desire Power,” we have considered the subject of Insistent Desire in detail, and have indicated scientific methods for its development and cultivation. If you feel the need of helpful instruction along the lines of Insistent Desire, we feel warranted in recommending to your attention the book in question. It cannot fail to strengthen you in this particular element of your character.

Make a mental note of this axiom: “The second step on the Ladder of Attainment is that of Insistent Desire—the stage of ‘wanting the thing hard enough’.” Unless you plant your foot firmly on that step, you will never be able to reach the successive steps above it on the ladder.

Confident Expectation consists of the certain confident, undoubting Faith that you will obtain that concerning which you have Definite Ideals and Insistent Desire. It is the quintessence of Hope-Faith—the Hope that is confident, and the Faith that knows. It is illustrated by your Confident Expectation that the sun will rise tomorrow morning, or that Effect will follow Cause, or that the sum of two plus two will be “four.” When you can and will entertain this feeling toward the object of your Definite Purpose and Insistent Desire, then will you manifest Confident Expectation.

Confident Expectation is the essential spirit of Faith; and Faith has been termed “The White Magic of Power.” The psychological principle involved in Expectant Attention, Confident Expectation, and Hopeful Faith is an important dynamic energy; the principle manifests and expresses itself in practically all forms of human endeavor. The figurative statement concerning the movement of mountains by the power of Faith has a far more real and substantial practical basis than is imagined by the average person hearing or reading the words. Men are moving mountains of circumstances every day, mainly by their Faith Power.

It is an axiom of practical business that a man can sell that in which he believes the most; every sales-manager knows why many of his salesmen sell certain styles or grades of goods in far greater quantity than their fellow-salesman, and in greater proportion to other styles or grades—they “believe in” those particular styles or grades, that’s all! Many a man has failed to succeed in business simply because he couldn’t “believe in” that which he was trying to sell or promote. So true is this that the efficient sales-manager knows that he must first “sell” to the prospective salesman before the latter can sell to his customers. Likewise, he knows that if the sales-force once gets the idea that a certain line of goods is not desirable—if the salesmen once get to “disbelieve” in the goods—then that line of goods is doomed so far as that house is concerned.

There is a subtle principle of psychology involved in the operation of Faith Power—of Confident Expectation and Expectant Attention. The mental attitude indicated by those terms is accompanied by a sharpening of the perceptive and reflective mental powers; by an increased draught operating upon the Flame of Desire; and by a generally stiffening and strengthening of the will. Lack of Faith, or, worse still, Confident Expectation of failure and disaster, will serve to deaden the Flame of Desire, to weaken the will, and to paralyze and stupify the faculties of perception and reflection. None of the mental faculties will operate to the full extent, and in the most efficient manner, if Doubt, Disbelief and Unfaith exist in the soul of that individual.

To lose Faith is to “lose heart,” and to “lose heart” is to lose Desire and Will. When such a negative mental attitude is manifested by you toward your undertakings, then, indeed, does “the bottom drop out” of them. Every individual does his best when he earnestly “believes” in the failure of the undertaking. Faith, Confident Expectation and Expectant Attention cannot be left out of the Master Formula of Attainment; nor may it be omitted from any other rule of practical, efficient action.

When Doubt, Disbelief, and Unfaith rise to the stage of Confident Expectation or Faith in the adverse outcome of your endeavors, plans, projects and undertakings, then the negative quality is transformed into a quasi-positive one. That is to say, it passes beyond the stage in which it serves merely to retard, restrict, and interfere with the success of your plans and tasks— it becomes a power which operates actively to bring about the failure and undesirable outcome which you Confidently Expect and “believe” will result. In this way, Faith Power is “set into reverse,” and your car of Progress runs backward. This is no mere fanciful statement, or form of superstition: it is the statement of an active, working psychological principle which manifests itself in the life of every individual who allows himself to fall into this unfortunate mental attitude. Proofs of it are to be found on all sides, in the experience of others and, perhaps, in your own past experience.

In that volume of this series entitled “Faith Power,” we have considered the subject of Confident Expectation in detail—its underlying laws and principles being explained fully, and rules and methods for its successful application being presented to its readers. We feel justified in recommending that book to your attention and study, if you are one of the many who are “weak on” Faith Power, and who have not as yet learned how to set into operation the mighty forces of Faith and Confident Expectation.

Make a mental note of this axiom: “The third step on the Ladder of Attainment is that of Confident Expectation—the stage of confidently expecting to obtain the thing.” Unless you plant your foot firmly on that step, you will never be able to reach the higher ones of the ladder.

Persistent Determination consists of the persistent, insistent, unchanging, fixed, stable, tenacious, unyielding and firm will, intent, determination, and purpose of obtaining that which is fixed in your mind as Definite Ideals, in your emotional nature as Insistent Desire, and in your faith as Confident Expectation. It is illustrated by Disraeli’s famous statement: “A human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it; nothing can resist a will which will stake even existence upon its fulfillment”; and by Buxton’s equally famous expression of faith in “Invincible Determination—a purpose once fixed, and then death or victory.” When you can and do will and determine action upon your Definite Ideals, Insistent Desire and Confident Expectation, in this way, in this degree, to this extent, then will you manifest Persistent Determination.

Persistent Determination is an attribute of Will Power, and represents the essential principle of that highly important mental faculty. It expresses the mental attitude of Indomitable Will—the persistent determination that you must and will accomplish that which you have set out to accomplish, and must and will succeed in obtaining that which is the object of your Ideals, Desire and Faith. To succeed, to accomplish, you must determinedly apply your will to the task before you, and must hold fast the cutting-edge of your cold chisel of Will to the work before you. Moreover, you must “will to-will,” persistently and determinedly, that the outcome of your endeavors must and shall be successful.

You will catch the spirit of Persistent Determination when you consider the essential meaning of the two elements composing the term. “Persistence” is, “Tenacity, doggedness, staying quality.” “Determination” is “Strength and firmness of mind; firm resolve or resolution; absolute direction to a certain end.” The composite term indicates the staying, tenacious, dogged Will manifesting in an absolute direction toward a set, certain, fixed purpose or end. Or, it may be said to indicate the fixed and tenacious aim, design, intention, resolution, determination, and will to accomplish or to reach some particular object or end.

Persistent Determination manifests its power in its work of steadying and holding to its task the Dynamic Power of Will. Will Power must not be scattered or dissipated—it must be held firmly to the task before it. The man of Strong Will Power accomplishes nothing until he is able to apply it effectively in a definite, determined direction. He must manifest his Will in the spirit of steadfastness, firmness, fixed intention and purpose, positive direction, and unfailing constancy. He must “set his hand to the plow, and look not backward.” He must persevere despite obstacles and discouragements; he must manifest steadfastness in the face of opposition and hindrances.

In the volume of this series entitled “Will Power,” we have dwelt particularly upon this particular element of Will Power. We take the liberty of asking you to consider carefully the following passages from the work in question:

“The characteristics of Persistent Determination are stability, perseverance, fixedness of purpose, tenacity, doggedness, and persistent application. Persistent Determination enables you to hold your Will close to its task—to hold it there firmly and continuously until success is attained and the victory is won. Success in many instances depends upon the application of Persistent Determination— the manifestation of the power and determination to hold on to the last. Many a man possessing the other qualities of Will Power has fought a brave fight, but just before the tide turned in his favor he has relinquished his efforts, and has dropped out of the fight—defeated, not by circumstances, but by his own lack of Persistent Determination. By studying the lives of the great inventors—Morse and Edison, for instance—you will see the utmost importance of this faculty of ‘holding on,’ and this spirit of ‘never say die.’

“In Persistent Determination, and the Voluntary Action based upon it, the Will deliberately chooses an end or object to be attained, and then proceeds to manifest the Determination in outward form and action. It proceeds to its end with intensity of purpose, and directness of aim. The end must be clear, definite, and capable of distinct visualization. The effort to gain that end must call into operation the whole nature of the Will, and the whole force and energy of the Will Power. As it has been said: ‘The whole, living strength of the Will must be literally hurled into it, not once or twice, but again and again, until it is accomplished.’ The Persistent Determination must be real—it must be meant by you with the full power of your soul. You must not trifle with such resolutions; you must be in deadly earnest about them. Remember that the honor and integrity of your Will is at stake, and that you must not bring discredit upon it. To break such a resolution is to bring shame upon yourself and to your Will. This is the essence and spirit of Persistent Purposeful Determination. Strive ever too attain, sustain, and manifest it. This is ‘the flash of the Will that can’.”

We feel warranted in recommending that volume of this series entitled “Will Power” (from which we have just quoted) to your attention and study if you feel the need of strengthening, “The Master Formula” developing and cultivating Will Power. It is devoted exclusively to the consideration of the principles and laws of Will Power, and contains practical instruction along the lines of the development of that great mental force.

Make a mental note of this axiom: “The fourth step on the Ladder of Attainment is that of Persistent Determination—the stage of ‘persistently determining to obtain the thing’.” Unless you plant your foot firmly on that step, you will never reach the goal which you seek by means of that ladder.

Balanced Compensation consists of the willingness to “pay the price” of attainment in the shape or form of (a) untiring and unyielding, persistent and persevering work leading toward your definite end and purpose, aim and intention; and (b) the sacrifice of desires, aims, purposes, ideas, feelings, likes and dislikes—of all mental or emotional states, in fact—which oppose or contradict your Definite Ideals, and which threaten to impair, obstruct, or defeat their definite purpose. The Law of Compensation and Balance runs through all Nature and all Life. One must always Pay the Price. Two ancient aphorisms illustrate this, viz.: “Said the gods to man: What you want? Take it—but pay the price’,” and “Do as thou wilt—but pay the price!” The man who really “wants anything hard enough” is always ready and willing to “pay the price”—in work, toil, effort; and in the relinquishment of all that obstructs, diverts, or obstructs the attainment of that which he desires and wills.

Balanced Compensation is a great law of Nature: none escape it, nothing is free from its laws. Everything is balanced by something else. Everything must “give” something in order to “get” something. Everything must “give up” something in order to “get more” or something else. Emerson has brought out this universal principle in his great essay entitled “Compensation’; and the experience of every individual serves to illustrate the operation of this law. Everything must be “paid for” in the price of something else; everything maintains its position by reason of Balance. The wise men of the race recognize this great principle, and proceed in accordance with it; the fools seek to overcome it, and fail by reason of their folly.

All men who have obtained, attained, or achieved anything at all worth while, have “paid the price.” The “price” paid by them consists of various elements. Work performed; persistent application; perseverance; industry; diligence—all these form a part of the “price.” Service rendered to others, for which one receives compensation in one form or another—this is a part of the “price,” and a very important part, too. Other forms of the “price” are found in the sacrifice and renunciation of ideas, ideals, feelings, desires, ambitions, aims ends, which are opposed to the subject or object representing the “top values” or “prime motives” of the individual. The successful man is found always to have sacrificed and renounced the lesser values for the greater ones.

In the work of increasing your Desire Power, and your Will Power, you will be called upon frequently to “pay the price.” Your great desires demand the sacrifice of many minor desires which have been drawing to themselves a portion of the fuel required by the great “wants.” By extinguishing these minor flames you serve to give to the great Flame of Desire all the fuel that is needed by it to generate the Steam of Will. Your Will Power, operating in the direction of Persistent Purposeful Determination, finds that of necessity it must restrain, control or even inhibit entirely certain tendencies of your nature which are perceived to work against the success of the main object of your Desire and Will. The Will is ruthless in these matters; it unhesitatingly sacrifices many of the little things of your emotional nature for the “one big thing” that represents your Summum Bonum or Greatest Good.

In the two volumes of this series entitled “Desire Power” and “Will Power,” respectively, considerable attention has been devoted to the particular subject of feeding the Great Desires and Great Objects of Will by means of deliberately starving and inhibiting the lesser desires and objects of will which are found to interfere with the successful attainment of the “big things.” These books are recommended to your attention in case you feel the need of further and special instruction along the lines of Balanced Compensation. Most persons require such instruction; many fail by a lack of understanding of this great principle of Life.

Make a mental note of this axiom: “The fifth and final step on the Ladder of Attainment is that of Balanced Determination— the stage of ‘paying the price of attainment’.” Even though you have successfully climbed the four lower steps, yet you will fail of attainment if you are unable or unwilling to plant your foot firmly upon this fifth and final one. Unless you are willing to “pay the price,” your Definite Ideals, your Insistent Desire, your Confident Expectation, your Persistent Determination be sufficiently strong and active, then the very force of their urge will often raise you up to this final step of the ladder, and will make you willing and glad to “pay the price.”

The Secret of the Master Formula. “The Master Formula of Attainment” which has been presented to you is found to contain the quintessence of those Dynamic Forces of Life and Mind known, respectively, as Ideation, Desire, Faith, Will, and Balance. The simplicity of the Master Formula may at first prevent you from fully realizing its tremendous importance; we trust, however, that you will mentally masticate and digest it, so that you may fully assimilate its great truths and effective ideas. The longer you consider it, the more you analyze and dissect it, the more you synthesize its several elements into a “working principle,” the greater will be your appreciation of its value and efficacy. Hold fast to the Master Formula, for it will prove a Tower of Strength to you. We suggest that you visualize the diagram of it which appears in the first portion of this book— directly facing the first page of reading matter. Make a mental picture of it; and let its statement be your Working Slogan.

This is all that can be told you in the way of general directions. The details of the application must be worked out by yourself— but the forces which you have set into motion and activity will render this task easy by awakening your subconscious and superconscious mental faculties which will supply you with the necessary ideas and thoughts. The actual work must be done by yourself—but these awakened and aroused forces of your being will give you the strength and the power to do the work and accomplish the task: they will awaken an unsuspected “second wind” of power and energy within you, and will make you equal to the task. But, above all, your spirit must not “weaken”—and it will not weaken if you manifest the “Master Formula of Attainment,” of which we have just told you. You remember it: “Definite Ideals, Insistent Desire, Confident Expectation, Persistent Determination, and Balanced Compensation.”

Not only will the work of the materialization of the ideal proceed in the manner which we have repeatedly indicated in this book: but you will also set into operation that wonderful law of Nature called “The Law of Attraction.” This law operates in the direction of correlating you to the things serving to aid you in your work of materialization, and in attracting them to you. You will find things and persons, circumstances and events, gravitating toward you as you proceed.

Nature’s forces once strongly set into operation tend to attract to them that which they need for the full materialization of the idea involved in the process. The materials needed to fill in the picture, to fill the mold, to work out the pattern— all these will move toward the materializing ideal. How? you ask. Well, just as they do toward the Idea in the acorn, as it proceeds to evolve into the oak tree; just as they do toward the well-energized germ of life from which evolves the final form of the adult living creature. You are here setting into operation a great Law of Nature—“your own will come to you” when you have aroused this law into activity.

In these pages you have been asked to consider some great truths, to examine some tremendous principles, to manifest some mighty powers of Being—things far more potent and potential than you now even begin to recognize or realize. As you proceed to manifest these in actual experience, the wonder will grow rather than lessen. You will soon become conscious that you are in close contact with some of the most elemental and fundamental laws of Nature—and of activities proceeding from that which lies back of and under Nature. Herein, you have had set before you some wonderful instruments and machinery of Being—use them well, but do not misuse them. Do not trifle or play with them—if you use them at all, use them earnestly and toward definite and worthy ends.

As we have said, these teachings are not for weaklings nor for babes—they are for full-grown, strong men and women, the true individuals of the race. They are for the fearless and the courageous—and they will make such still more fearless and still more courageous. They will make their users stronger, better, and more efficient—the ends sought by all true individuals. Those who master these principles—who recognize, realize and manifest the Truth therein contained—they constitute the very Elect of that World of True Individuals which is now opening its hidden treasure to the race of strong individuals who are ready to inhabit it. The elements of these principles will constitute the stuff out of which the Supermen will be made—the Supermen who will inherit the earth!

We have passed on this message to you, charged with the spirit of that which we wish to arouse within YOU—we trust that its vibrations will awaken responsive rhythms within your own being. We trust that our words will awaken in you Definite Ideals to achieve a certain end; Insistent Desire to express your inherent and latent powers, energies, and forces, and to manifest your real destiny; Confident Expectation which comes only to him or her who recognizes and realizes the Truth in thought and feeling; Persistent Determination, which will apply itself closely to the task of Realizing your Ideals and manifesting your latent and inherent powers of being and doing; and that willingness to “pay the price” of Balanced Compensation for the Realization of your Ideals.

Above all, we trust that we have started you well on the road to the recognition, realization, and manifestation of that POWER from which All Power proceeds; and of the focalized centre of being and power of POWER which is YOU, yourself— the “I AM I”, the Master Self, the Real Self of YOU. If so, then you will find yourself filled with the spirit of Reality, conscious of your own Egohood, and intuitively and superconsciously aware of the POWER which is around you, under you, back of you, above you—and in YOU; and in which you “live and move and have your being”, and which is your Eternal Source of Supply of Personal Power.

If we have succeeded in our task, you will have advanced in the scale of conscious being and existence. Your former fear has given way to Fearlessness; your former doubt, to Certainty; your former restless condition, to Poise and Power; your former weakness, to Strength. In that case, “Your battle-cry will be changed: you will plunge into the thick of the fight, filled with the Berserker spirit of old, fearing nothing, sure of victory. Shouting your battle-cry of Freedom: ‘I AM I!’, ‘I Can, I Will! I Dare, I Do!’, you will plough your way through the ranks of the horde of ignorance and negativity, and triumphantly reach the victorious heights of the Mount of Achievement.”

This is our Message of Personal Power, to YOU, the Individual who has found his Real Self, and his source of POWER. We trust that its seed will find lodgment in fertile soil prepared for its reception; and that in due time it will send forth strong roots, and sturdy stalks from which will unfold stems, and leaves, and blossoms, and finally will bear the Fruit of Realization and Achievement of that which for so long has been your Ideal. Begin today—NOW—to make your dreams come true: your ideals become real. You CAN, if you WILL: you will DO, if you DARE!

Creative Power: Your Constructive Forces

Imagination

In this book you are asked to consider a wonderful phase of Personal Power which is latent, inherent and abiding within you—the Power of Imagination. This power is a phase of your Personal Power. Your Personal Power, in turn, is a phase of the manifestation of that POWER which is the source of All-Power, and which is expressed, manifested, and employed in all phases of Power of which you have, or can possible have, any cognizance.

By “Imagination” is meant: “The power of the mind to create mental images or objects of sense previously perceived; the power to reconstruct or recombine the materials furnished by direct apprehension; the power to recombine the materials furnished by experience or memory, for the accomplishment of an elevated purpose; the power of conceiving and expressing the Ideal.”

By many (possibly even by you up to this time), the idea and concept of Imagination is confused and confounded with that of Fancy; but this is an error which must be removed from the very start in your serious consideration of the subject of the Constructive Imagination, which constitutes the field of the investigation and instruction set forth in this book. Let us pause a moment, that you may note and familiarize yourself with this distinction and differentiation.

Webster says: “A distinction is now made between Imagination and Fancy. Properly speaking, they are different exercises of the same general power—the plastic or creative faculty. Imagination is the higher form of mental activity of the two. It creates by laws more closely connected with the reason; it aims at results of a definite and weighty character. Fancy is governed by laws of association which are more remote, and sometimes arbitrary or capricious. Hence the term fanciful, which exhibits Fancy in its wilder flights.”

As you proceed with this instruction, you will perceive the special and particular characteristics which distinguish that phase of Imagination called “Constructive Imagination” from that other phase called “Reproductive Imagination”; you will also learn to differentiate between the Passive form of Constructive Imagination (which is little, if anything, more than Fancy), and that active form which constitutes the true Constructive Imagination with which we have to deal in this instruction.

We ask you here to fix in your mind two pictures—each of which represents primitive man manifesting one of the two forms of Constructive Imagination. By seeing and remembering these pictures, you will always have at your command the touchstone with which you may test your imaginative processes.

The first picture is that of primitive man “sitting and thinking”—either passively contemplating the flow of the stream of Reproductive Imagination or Memory in which is pictured the experiences of his past; or else “day dreaming,” and “imaging” himself playing a part in some new drama of experience, or seeing others engaged in a like occupation. This is the incomplete stage—all right so far as it goes, and often useful to the extent of supplying raw materials for higher efforts, but insufficient in itself—proper for purposes of recreation, but useless if it extends no further.

Leaving our primitive dreamer, we ask you now to contemplate the primitive man who “imagines for a purpose,” who “imagines to a definite end”—see how different is this picture from that just contemplated.

Our primitive man with the dawning Constructive Imagination perceived the inadequacy of his natural physical equipment employed in his work of self-preservation, offense and defense, protection of his family, and in his striving for comfort and well-being. By means of such “imagining” this class of primitive man raised the race from its position of physical weakness and comparative helplessness, to its present position of dominance over the entire world of living things. What nature had denied man in physical weapons, he supplied to himself through the exercise of his Constructive Imagination. Constructive Imagination raised Man from his original lowly place in the world of living things to his present eminence and rank. By means of its power, Man has attained heights which would have seemed far beyond him to one observing him in his original state.

Man, in his original or aboriginal state, might well have been regarded by a visitor from a higher world as a most unpromising candidate for survival in the struggle for existence—let alone for the position of mastery and rulership over the other living creatures contemporaneous with himself. He was a much weaker animal than most of the others; he was less fleet of foot, and less agile in his movements; he was less well equipped with tooth and claw. The great sabre-toothed tigers, the huge reptiles, and the other powerful and ferocious animals of his environment, were far better adapted for the struggle for existence than was this poor, puny, weak creature called Man. It would have required a courageous imagination to pick Man as the probable winner in the struggle for existence, and the victor in the process of the survival of the fittest.

But this weak creature—this puny and insignificant animal— possessed the latent power of Constructive Imagination by which he was enabled to overcome his natural obstacles. By means of this mental power he was enabled to invent and to employ the implements, tools, and weapons with which he waged a defensive and offensive warfare against the fierce creatures of his environment; and to create the material contrivances with which he was able to overcome the handicaps of his environment with which Nature at first might have seemed deliberately to have burdened him. By means of this latent power he proved himself to be the “fittest” to survive, and the true victor in the struggle for existence.

Man lacked the strong teeth and claws of the carnivorous animals—but he created artificial claws and teeth, imitating those which Nature had so freely bestowed upon the lower animals, by making from the hard flint the spears, axes and knives, specimens of which we now find buried in the earth. By creating strong clubs from the limbs and branches of trees, he equaled and even surpassed the striking-weapons of the great beasts. By creating bows-and-arrows, he managed to overcome the handicaps of space, and was able to touch his enemies while himself beyond their reach. He took a hint from the caves and dens of the beasts, and improved upon them for his own occupancy. He took a hint from the birds, and improved upon their elevated nests by building for himself safe refuges in the cliffs and the high trees, reaching these by ladders of his own construction. He “imagined” the plan of rolling great rocks before the entrances of his caves and dens; and he afterward “imagined” the protecting doors of wood, and windows—and later, chimneys.

He “imagined” the idea of hurling stones at his enemies by means of slings, great bows and primitive catapults, and of rolling large boulders down the mountain sides upon his enemies below. He “imagined” the idea of improving upon the floating log—in turn creating rafts, flat-boats, hollowed-out logs; he “imagined” the idea of the directing and propelling poles, paddles and oars. He observed the rolling log, and from it he “imagined” the solid clumsy wheel—then the lighter, spoked wheel—and was thus enabled to move heavy objects over long distances with comparative ease.

He “imagined” the pulley and the lever, and learned to apply them. He “imagined” implements with which to mash his food, and grind his grain. He “imagined” the primitive hoe, and the crude irrigation or draining ditch. He “imagined” the idea of using the skins of animals as clothing for himself, to protect him against the weather. He “imagined” the idea of employing portions of trees for tent-building. He adapted common natural things, and converted them into uncommon artificial appliances for his comfort and welfare. And, finally, oh, wonder of wonders! he “imagined” the art and science of making and using fire!

And ever since, Man has continued to “imagine” things— ways of overcoming natural obstacles and handicaps, ways of converting natural things to his own use, comfort, and happiness. He “imagined” all of these things, little by little— and created them in material, objective form, following the outlines of his mental subjective form. And he still continues to “imagine” things—greater things, larger things, more complex things. He will always continue to so “imagine” things—for that is his characteristic quality, his Constructive Imagination, which distinguishes him from the lower animals. Those of the race who were successful constructive “imaginers”—either as individuals or as tribes or peoples—survived in the struggle, while the failures were crowded to the wall, or “went under.” The “fittest” constructive imaginers survived, and passed on to their descendants their knowledge, and transmitted to them their mental tendencies. Thus Man has evolved into the “imagining” animal—the creating creature.

Those individuals, or peoples of the race; who failed to keep up with the procession of the constructive “imaginers,” if not actually crowded out and destroyed in the struggle, survived only to become the parasites or the slaves of the conquerors.

The slave races have always possessed less developed powers of Constructive Imagination than have their masters—when slaves develop Constructive Imagination, they cease to remain slaves. When the germ of Constructive Imagination begins to work in the minds of a subject people, that people is on the way to freedom—history may be read in the light of this fact. The physical might of the masters in the end surrenders to the mental might of the one-time slaves. The cunning of the fox has often overthrown the physical strength of the lion.

The struggle for existence is still underway. The survival of the fittest is a fact of modern human existence, as well as of the past history of the race—and of the world in general. But now, more than ever, Constructive Imagination is the great element of the struggle—the great standard of the fitness to survive, succeed and accomplish. The people, the race, the nation, and the individual possessing the greatest degree of development and application of continuous and persistent Constructive Imagination will be found to be the “fittest” to survive, all else being equal—will prove to be the ultimate winner in the struggle for existence. If Man is ever succeeded by the Superman, as some have predicted, it will be found that the Superman is possessed of superior powers of Constructive Imagination, and of a greater faculty of exercising and applying them. Such is the Law of Evolution—of Progress—of Life.

This then is the second picture. Look upon the first picture, and then upon the one just presented to you. In the first you will see the figure of the primitive man who “just sat and thought; and sometimes just sat”—the “thinking” being merely “day dreaming” and Passive Imagination. In the second you will see the picture of the Real Thinker—so well depicted in Rodin’s magnificent figure of “The Thinker”; but his “thinking” is not “just thinking”—it is thinking for a purpose, and toward an end—it is Constructive Imagination directed toward a definite end and aim, and firmly held there until the right image is created; the image then being transmuted into material form.

“The Thinker” of Rodin’s figure is using his Imagination just as he has learned to use his Attention and his Will— deliberately, purposively, to a definite aim and end, and in a particular direction. He and his modern counterparts are evolving Creators. They are constructing, contriving, inventing, designing, planning, projecting—building in the mind that which afterward will be built in physical form. They are the Dreamers whose dreams shall come true; the creators of Ideals which shall become Real.

This, then, is Constructive Imagination. This constitutes the subject-matter of this book. This is the main theme of the instruction which we shall impart to you in the following pages. This is a far cry from the “mere imagination,” the Fancy, of the self-satisfied masses of the people, is it not?

The Imaging Faculties

One of the most characteristic, essential and distinctive attributes of your mental being is the power of producing mental images. Without this power you would be unable to think, to remember, to act intelligently. If your sensations did not impress themselves upon your mind so that it was afterward possible for you to recall them as images, you would always remain a mere infant in mental development. Your experience would remain as a closed book to you, and you could never hope to profit by turning over the pages of its records. You would be no wiser at fifty years of age than you were at three. You would have no memory, no imagination, no power of rational thought based upon experience.

A “mental image” may be defined as: “a representation in the mind, by means of an ideal picture, of an experience originally obtained through the medium of the senses.” By “representation” is meant: “the act of re-presenting or presenting anew in consciousness, the form or picture originally experienced through sense-reports.” The “representative powers of the mind,” (whether of memory or of imagination) are: “those powers of the mind whereby it forms ideal images or mental pictures of things not present to the senses at the time: such ideal images or mental pictures being the mental reproduction of any experience whatsoever.”

While the term “image” is borrowed from optics in order to symbolize the retained mental impressions of past experiences, the figurative term must not be too literally interpreted. Not only are the images or pictures of visual impressions and experiences retained in the mind, and are possible of representation or reproduction in memory or imagination, but the impressions of sound, taste, smell, touch and muscular sensations are equally retained and are subject to reproduction. There are auditory, gustatory, olfactory, tactile and muscular images or pictures in the mind, as well as visual or optical images or pictures. In fact, the completed and composite mental image or picture of any particular thing usually is a complex product, made up of the interwoven material of several kinds of sense-reports.

There is a close relation, yet a marked difference, between the original sense-impression and its represented image or picture. After an object is removed from vision, or the eyes shut, there remains in the mind the image of the thing seen, actually existent though more obscure than when it was perceived in vision; the same principle applies to images of impressions received through the other senses. Aristotle called these images “the phantasms which have the form of the object without the substance, as the impression of a seal upon wax has the form of the seal without its substance.” Psychologists have held that sensations have their origin in the objective stimuli, while the represented image has its stimulation from within.

It is generally held by psychologists that no sensation is actually “perceived” by the mind until a mental image of it is formed. Likewise, that the mind cognizes no physical experiences unless they give rise to mental images; the mind perceives, understands, and remembers nothing but mental images. Recollection, imagination, and the processes of thought are held to be possible only by means of calling up and arranging the mental images of things which have originally arisen through sense-experience. Even the higher operations of thought, such as judgment, reasoning, abstraction, generalization, combination of ideas, proceed by means of the employment of previously acquired mental images.

The two great general classes of mental representation are (1) Memory, and (2) Imagination. In spite of the popular distinction between these two phases of mental activity, there is present in them a basic unity of nature and essential principle. Both are processes involving the employment of representative images, and there is really no absolute line of demarcation between them or their products. It was formerly held that there existed an actual distinction between the two respective processes, the line of which was drawn as follows: (1) Memory reproduces or represents the exact image of the original mental impression, while (2) Imagination reproduces or represents a variation of such original impression, or a new combination of the elements of original impressions. But this absolute distinction or differentiation is not held generally by the best modern psychologists.

The present opinion is that even the best memory-images do not exactly reproduce the original impression; instead, they always omit certain portions, add details not in the original, and exhibit changes in arrangement of details. It is now stated as a law of psychology that “Representative images never exactly reproduce the original impression; this is true of the images of memory as well as of those of imagination.” There is, of course, admitted that some representative images more closely approach exact reproduction than do others; some are more literal copies of things experienced than are others. But the elements of variation, change, addition or commission, are always present and active.

You may arrive at a correct understanding of the real distinction between the processes of Memory and those of Imagination by considering the four essential elements involved in the process of completed Memory, viz., (1) Retention, in which the mind retains the image of the impression made upon it by the sense-reports; (2) Reproduction, in which the mind brings again into consciousness the mental image which it has retained; (3) Recognition, in which the mind identifies the reproduced mental image with the object causing the original impression; and (4) Localization, in which the mind locates the original impression (which has been recognized) at a certain more or less definite time and place.

Now then, what are the elements involved in the processes of Imagination? First, you will see at once that the element of Retention must be involved, as, otherwise, the mental image could never be again brought into consciousness. Secondly, you will see that the element of Reproduction must be involved, as, otherwise, the mind would lack the power to bring again into consciousness the retained mental image. So far, at least, Imagination and Memory travel along the same road; for, in both cases, the mind must possess and exercise the power of retaining the mental image, and also the power of reproducing it in consciousness. But here the absolute identity of the two processes cease; the stream of Representation divides itself into two branches, each of which pursues its own special course. The course of the Memory stream has been described in the preceding paragraph; that of the stream of Imagination you are now asked to consider.

In what is called Reproductive Imagination the mind merely reproduces a more or less correct mental image or picture of a previously experienced impression which has been retained in its subconscious storehouse. This, you will note, is precisely what Memory does in its first and second processes. Here the process may be regarded as that either of the Reproductive Imagination or of the Memory. Or, the idea may be stated in another form, viz., Reproductive Imagination is but a special instance of incompleted Memory; or else, Memory is a special case of Reproductive Imagination. There is no absolute line of distinction between the images of Reproductive Imagination and those of Memory in its second stage; both are the same product of the representative or imaginative power.

But, as we have said, here the identity ceases. In true Memory the reproduced image is now referred to the object causing the original impression—it is identified with that object by the process of Recognition. But in Reproductive Imagination the mind does not perform the process of full Recognition, i. e., identification with the object causing the original impression. At the most, the Reproductive Imagination performs but a quasi-recognition, i. e., it identifies the image with some image previously experienced in consciousness, but with no special effort to identify it with the particular original object. In fact, the image may be a composite of several original impressions, not referable to any special object; as when we are conscious of the image of “a horse” (of a general picture of the horse-species, rather than of some particular horse).

There is a difference between (a) having a mental image in consciousness, and (b) knowing that image as the image of a particular something previously experienced in consciousness. The image may be there, though the recollection of the particular original object of the experience may be absent. As a writer says: “Having the image of an absent object, and remembering the object, are not the same. There is no complete act of memory of an absent object until the image in the mind is recognized as the image of some particular object or thing already experienced.”

Thus, you see, that an image may be reproduced in Imagination, but not recognized or identified with any particular object previously experienced. Likewise, it may be reproduced in Imagination without being “localized” according to time and place. Thus true reproductive imaginative images may exist without involving the third and fourth essential elements of Memory. In short, while Memory involves the four respective elements of Retention, Reproduction, Recognition, and Localization, the process of Reproductive Imagination involves but two of these elements, viz., Retention and Reproduction, respectively. The representative stream of Memory-Imagination divides into two streams just before the third stage (i. e., Recognition) is reached by Memory, and quite a bit before the fourth stage (i. e., Localization) is neared.

But though the stream of Imagination lacks the two additional elements of Memory, it takes on new and more complex powers of its own—powers lacking in the case of Memory. As the stream flows on, Reproductive Imagination may become transformed into what is known as “Constructive Imagination”: this by the exercise of certain powers inherent in the nature of Imagination. Constructive Imagination is that phase of the imaginative activities which is generally regarded as being typical of Imagination in general; in fact, it is the only phase of Imagination known as “Imagination” to most persons.

Categories of Imagination. The imaginative processes are classified into two respective categories, as follows, (1) Reproductive Imagination, and (2) Constructive Imagination.

Reproductive Imagination, which we have just considered, consists merely of mental reproduction of images of past experiences—an exercise of reminiscent imaging power, differing little if any from the representative or reproductive activities of Memory. Constructive Imagination, on the contrary, consists of (a) reproductive imaginative images, (b) subjected to the additional process of reconstruction, recombination, and re-adaptation.

Reproductive Imagination represents merely the images corresponding to particular past experience. Constructive Imagination, on the contrary, represents images of past experience—not in their original form, however, but instead recombined, rearranged, reconstructed, and re-adapted, thus forming a composite or complex mental image of things not previously experienced as “wholes” by the mind producing them; and often even of things having no actual existence as “wholes” in the external world. Thus, Constructive Imagination may form a mental image of a house, bridge, railway system, ship, etc., not yet built; or it may form a mental image of centaurs, winged-steeds, mermaids, winged-angels, Satanic forms with hoofs, horns and tails—which are entirely out of the realm of actual human experience.

In Constructive Imagination we have a most important element of the constructive intellectual work performed by the mind of man. Without it certain phases of reasoning would be impossible. Without it, the psychological processes of association would not be manifested. Without it, the inventive faculties could not function. Without it, there could be no artistic creation. Without it, there could be no progress, no improvement, no discovery of new relations, no creative thought, no adaptation of old things to new uses and new ends. As Halleck says: “The products of the Constructive-Imagination have been the only stepping-stones for material progress. The Constructive Imagination of primeval man, aided by thought, began to conquer the world. The chimney, the stage-coach, the locomotive, are successive milestones, showing the progressive march of the Imagination.”

Constructive Imagination may be said to have two phases, viz., (1) Passive Construction, or the employment of the constructive powers of the imagination along the lines of pure fancy, or idle “day dreaming”; and (2) Active Construction, or employment of the constructive powers of the imagination along the lines of definite, purposeful, creative effort.

In Passive Construction, the Imagination may dally with the reminiscent images of past experiences, rearranging and recombining them into new forms—picturing idly the “might have been” aspects of those experiences, and indulging in imaginative fancyings in which the past experiences are transformed into other experiences of a more agreeable or more exciting nature. Or, in the same way the Imagination may project itself into the future of the life of the individual, indulging in “day dreams” in which are anticipated or “imagined” the possible experiences of that future. Or, again, it may passively permit the stream of “imaginative images”—the moving-picture film of Fancy—to pass before its vision, picturing (as in a play or story) the various movements of actors, the various scenes, actions, voices, situations of the imaginative play or story; here the whole picture is composed of a series of separate though connected pictures (as in the moving-picture connected film), seen as an actual continuous movement.

This Passive Construction has about it many of the characteristic qualities of the dream-states, in which the Imagination “runs itself” without any special direction. Many cases of its activity have well been called “day-dreams”, for they, indeed, are practically composed of “the stuff that dreams are made of.” The imaginative stream flows along, obeying merely the law of association, and lacking direction or voluntary guidance. Or, stating it otherwise, the boat of Imagination is allowed to drift along, aimlessly, without the use of the helm— the pilot being wrapped in sleep or reverie.

Those who can see in Constructive Imagination merely the passive phases just noted, are perhaps justified in their sneers at “mere imagination”—for they judge only by what they see in that category. Those, on the other hand, who realize the tremendous importance of Active Constructive Imagination in the intellectual life of the individual, may well be pardoned for indignantly refuting the charges of the first-named critics, and for terming them “ignorant and thoughtless critics of that with which they have never met in their own experience.” Each is right according to his own viewpoint—but the viewpoints are as far apart as the poles. Yet the two poles of anything, at the last, are perceived to be necessary parts of a unified whole.

Let us endeavor to illustrate the case of Imagination by reference to the better-known phases of Will—here we shall find a surprising analogy—one not generally recognized. We ask you to give careful attention and thought to what follows.

Ribot says: “Which among the various modes of mind-activity offers the closest analogy to the Creative Imagination? I unhesitatingly answer, the voluntary activity of the Will. Imagination, in the realm of the intellect, is the equivalent of Will in the realm of movements.”

The analogy between Imagination and Will manifests from the very beginning of each of these mental processes. In voluntary action, there is gathered together the raw materials of instinctive, involuntary and reflex movements: the Will coordinates and associates these in order to proceed. In the same way, Active Constructive Imagination gathers together the raw materials of Reproductive Imagination and Passive Constructive Imagination—the various images existing in those fields of mentality—in order that it may proceed further.

Then again, the movement in both instances is from the inner mental state toward the outer expression. Will begins with vague feelings and emotions, these rising to more or less definite desire; this in turn proceeds to actual outward expression in actions. So Active Constructive Imagination begins with the inner images of Memory or Reproductive Imagination, these then rising to the rank and character of the images of Passive Constructive Imagination; these in turn rising to the rank and character of definite outward expression in the images of Active Constructive Imagination.

Again, in Will rising to its higher stages, we always find present a more or less definite movement toward a certain end to be attained. The same more or less definite object to be attained is present in the rising processes of Active Constructive Imagination. The Will always proceeds toward the attainment of some thing desired, something tending to satisfy some inner want. In Active Constructive Imagination there is always present the urge toward the invention, creation, or construction of something more or less clearly perceived. As Ribot says: “We are always inventing for an end—whether in the case of a Napoleon imagining a plan of campaign, or a cook making up a new dish. In both cases there is now a simple end attained by immediate means, now a complex and distant goal presupposing subordinate ends which are means in relation to the final end.”

Finally, we find in both Will and the Active Constructive Imagination certain frequent instances and manifestations of incomplete process—of aborted expression. Will, in its normal and completed expression, culminates in action. But in actual experience this final action often is not reached; one may desire to do a thing, and even deliberately decide and determine to do that thing—but the spring of action is never released. One may desire to arise from his bed on a cold morning, and may decide and determine to do so—but he still remains beneath the warm covers. So in Passive Constructive Imagination one may content himself with idle, passive “day dreaming”, and never proceed deliberately to make his “dreams come true.”

Ribot says, concerning this last point: “There are likenesses between the abortive forms of the Creative Imagination and the impotent forms of the Will. In its normal and complete form, Will culminates in an act; but with wavering characters, and sufferers from abulia, deliberation never ends, or the resolution remains inert, incapable of realization, of asserting itself in action. The Creative Imagination also, in its complete form, has a tendency to become objectified, to assert itself in a work that shall exist not only for the creative individual but for everybody. On the contrary, with dreamers pure and simple, the Imagination remains a vaguely sketched inner affair, it is not embodied in any esthetic or practical invention. Revery is the equivalent of weak desires and incompleted Will; dreamers are the abulics of the Creative Imagination.”

We wish to point out another analogy here. The Passive and Active respective forms of the Constructive Imagination may be aptly compared to the respective Involuntary and Voluntary phases of Attention.

Involuntary Attention is that form of Attention in which the mind goes out toward any passing object which serves to arouse mere curiosity or transient notice—this form of Attention is the one most strongly manifested by the child or by the savage—moreover, it is the kind of Attention which alone is generally manifested by the great masses of persons.

Voluntary Attention, on the other hand, is that form of Attention in which the mind is deliberately and determinedly directed toward, and held upon, some definite object or subject, to the end that knowledge concerning such may be acquired— this form of Attention distinguishes the mind of the true student, the scientific mind, and the trained mind in general. The analogy between these two respective forms of Attention and the two respective forms of Constructive Imagination, is so close that we need but to direct your attention to it, further comparison being unnecessary.

Thus, you have seen, there are two distinct forms or phases of Constructive Imagination, viz., (1) Passive, and (2) Active. The former you have just now considered; the latter you are now asked to consider.

Note: In our further consideration of Active Constructive Imagination, in the following sections of this book, we shall drop the term “Active Constructive Imagination”, and shall substitute the general term, “Constructive Imagination,” this latter term being far more convenient than the former cumbersome technical term—and equally well expressing the essential idea embodied in the general concept of, “Constructive Imagination actively employed toward definite ends and aims.”

Constructive Imagination

In Constructive Imagination (i. e., Active Constructive Imagination) we find the elements of Reproductive Imagination (previously described) gathered up by the mind, its materials separated and classified, accepted or discarded according to determined values, and then deliberately and purposively employed toward the attainment of a definite end or aim. In these processes not only the Imagination, but also the Intellect and the Will play their part—the activity thus being complex, and the result that of co-ordinated mental power; yet Imagination is the main factor of the process, and the work is that of the imaginative mentality, the other mental powers merely being called in to assist.

In order rightly to comprehend true Constructive Imagination—its nature, its powers, its possibilities—you must first of all perceive that while it employs the raw material of Reproductive Imagination in common with “Passive” Constructive Imagination, yet its processes carry these materials to a higher plane of activity, there deliberately making selection of them, accepting and rejecting them according to ascertained value, and then weaving and combining them into new forms and shapes, new arrangements and adaptations—building new structure of fact from the crude materials furnished it. Man, by his Constructive Imagination, exercises his true Creative Power—and thus becomes a true and real Creator, the Microcosm manifesting the principles of the Macrocosm.

Let us now proceed to the consideration of the various steps or stages of the processes manifested by the Constructive Imagination. It will be well for you to become acquainted with the details of these processes for they will be employed by you in your activities along these lines, and you should acquaint yourself thoroughly with the way “the wheels go round.”

Dissociation. The process of Dissociation is the preliminary stage of Constructive Imagination. Dissociation is “the act of disuniting, separating, breaking-up, or parting that which has previously existed in associated or united form or condition.” Practically every image of Memory or Reproductive Imagination is concrete, i. e., composed and made up of several parts or elements united in a single image. Association is the primary element in remembering experiences, or in calling them into consciousness in Reproductive Imagination. Constructive Imagination begins its work by first separating and tearing apart the associated elements or parts of the reproduced images. It finds it necessary to tear down the old image before it can form the new image by reassembling its parts in new forms, or by combining some of these parts with the parts of other images likewise broken up by Dissociation.

Constructive Imagination without preliminary Dissociation would be as impossible as the task set by the town-council, in the familiar tale, which passed a resolution (1) that a new town-hall be built; (2) that the new town-hall be constructed of the materials of the old town-hall, and on the site of the old building; but (3) that the old town-hall be left standing, and be occupied and used until the new town-hall is completed.

Dissociation of familiar images is often quite difficult of performance. It is not easy to dissociate the color of “white” from our image of a swan—yet black swans are found in Australia. It is difficult for a dweller in the tropics to dissociate the idea of fluidity from his image of water—for he has never seen ice nor snow. It is difficult to dissociate the idea of cold weather, bare trees, etc., from our image of a December day— yet, south of the Equator, December is a mid-summer month. It was difficult for the opponents of Columbus to dissociate the idea of flatness from the earth, and to construct the image of men walking on the other side of the globe with their heads pointing downward. It is difficult to dissociate the idea of youth from your mental image of the person whom you have not seen for many years—yet the person actually exists as a middle-aged man.

Reconstruction. The Constructive Imagination, having dissociated the elements of reproduced images, then proceeds to reconstruct these elements into new combinations and arrangements; this, either by simply rearranging the elements of a particular image, or else by combining certain of these elements with certain other elements of another dissociated image. The following are the more common forms of Imaginative Reconstruction:

(1) Simple Partition. You can construct a new imaginative image by simply parting some particular element of a reproduced image from its associated elements, and then discarding the latter in the reconstruction. Thus you can imagine a human hand writing a letter, but not attached to a body; or a mighty eye, seeing all things, yet not attached to a body; or a detached human head floating through space; or a headless horseman; or a tree without branches, or vice versa. In fact, you can easily form the mental image of anything parted and separated from its usual associated images. That is to say, you can form such a mental picture though you may not really believe that any such thing does or can actually exist in that form and free from its natural associations.

(2) Variation in Size. You can construct a new imaginative image, or mental picture, of a familiar image magnified to almost any size. You can easily imagine giants whose beards brush the clouds. Gulliver’s Travels can be read by you and easily accompanied by your own illustrative images. The gigantic figures of ancient mythology are not beyond the powers of your Imagination. Likewise, you have no trouble in imagining a world a thousand times larger than our own, with all the familiar objects of our world magnified in like proportion. Jack’s marvelous Beanstalk, rising to the skies, is an easy task for your lively Imagination, particularly in childhood.

In the same way, you can construct a new imaginative image, or mental picture, of a familiar image diminished almost to any size. Fairies, elves, gnomes, midgets, dwarfs—all are familiar to the eyes of your Imagination. You can imagine an oak-tree capable of being covered by a thimble. Gulliver’s Travels can be illustrated by your own mental pictures of the Lilliputians. The mushroom throne and acorn coach of the fairies are quite easily imagined. Elephants as small as mice, whales as small as minnows, worlds as small as grains of mustard-seed—all these are easily created by a lively Imagination. The scientific Imagination of today sees each atom as a tiny solar system composed of revolving planets—scientific fancy can easily picture each of these electronic-planets as being inhabited, and as being like our own planet in every way.

Size is comparative to the Imagination, and may be varied at will. You can imagine objects as being as large as you please, or as small, without regard to objective reality. The laws of the Imagination are very liberal in respect to size.

(3) Variation of Position, Form, and Color. You can construct imaginative images, or mental pictures, of familiar objects changed in Position, Form, or Color, or all these combined, without any difficulty. Here also the laws of the Imagination are very liberal.

You can imagine the familiar object in almost any new position. Thus, you may place a fountain in the middle of a valley; place a prairie on a hill-side; terrace a mountain into plains; plant a garden in a desert; combine hills, valleys, streams, rocks, in a fantastic manner having no correspondence in Nature. You can imagine men with their noses at the back of their heads, their arms and legs exchanging places, ears on their knees. In short, the Imagination can vary the positions of objects, or parts of objects, at will.

You can imagine new shapes for familiar animals, trees, features of the landscape. You can imagine willows as straight as a pine, or spruce trees with branches like those of an oak. You can imagine roses with triangular petals; cubic eggs; octagonal oranges; cows as fleet-footed as a gazelle; crows as graceful as humming-birds; and rhinoceroses as soft-footed and sinuous as a cat. In short, the Imagination can vary the forms of objects, or parts of objects, at will. As a writer says: “The forms of objects are as flexible in the hands of the Imagination, as the clay in the hands of the potter.”

You can imagine a green or red sky, blue fields of grain, red leaves on trees, white vegetation in the garden, black snow on the mountain tops. The Imagination can vary the color of objects, or parts of objects, at will. As a writer says: “The imagination can make the eye as dark as midnight, or give it a heavenly hue; paint the evening sky with golden colors, and robe the summer landscape with all the splendors of autumn.”

(4) Recombined Images. You can construct imaginative images, or mental pictures, in which the separated elements of several dissociated things are combined in new arrangements. Thus, you can imagine the head and trunk of a man combined with the body of a horse—here you have created a Centaur. You can imagine the body and head of a man combined with the horns, legs and hoofs of a goat, the wings of a bat, the tail of an ox—here you have Satan. You can imagine the body of a goat combined with the head of a lion, and the tail of a dragon—here you have the ancient Chimaera. You can imagine a monster with the body of a dog, with three heads—here you have Cerberus. You can imagine the head of a maiden, the body of a vulture, and the claws of the eagle—here you have a Harpy. You can imagine a woman with serpents serving for her locks of hair—here you have the Medusa. Mythology is rich in illustrations of this kind. The patient in delirium frequently “sees” pink elephants with bat-wings, dragon-tails, and eagle-claws, floating around the room. Our dreams sometimes acquaint us with similar monstrosities, when we have been unwise in choosing the elements of our late dinners. There is practically no limit to this exercise of the Imagination—the possible combinations are almost infinite in variety.

(5) Idealization. You can construct imaginative images, or mental pictures, in which the actual images of experience are given a more perfect, more beautiful, or more nearly an ideal form. Thus, you can picture a perfect circle, though you never have found one in Nature; a more beautiful woman than you ever have seen; a more perfectly formed horse than has ever been observed by you. The artist exercising this form of Imagination often pictures that which Nature seems to be striving to manifest. You can also imagine ideal events— pictures of dramatic beauty; also ideal characters representing the full development of qualities which are merely partially represented, or even merely hinted at, in real life.

The poets, great prose writers, and the dramatists, manifest this form of idealistic Imagination. Homer, Virgil, Dickens, Thackeray, Scott, Milton, and above all, Shakespeare, furnish us with typical illustrations. Shakespeare has created characters which seem even more real to us than many of the actual characters of our experience. The great composers of music drew upon this phase of their Imagination and have given us harmonies and melodies never heard in nature. Artists of all kinds depend upon this idealistic Imagination for their inspiration; then they attempt to express in outward form—in painting, in sculpture, in poem, in drama, in story, in musical composition—that which they have formed first as mental images.

(6) Invention. You can also construct imaginative images, or mental pictures, of familiar objects adapted to new uses and ends, or of new objects adapted to familiar uses and ends. Thus the inventor imagined electricity being adapted to the business of transmitting messages, running machinery, producing heat and light, etc. Likewise, he imagined sewing, washing, weaving, reaping, binding, plowing, being performed by power machinery instead of by hand. The entire history of inventions is but the history of the employment of the inventive Imagination. As we have previously stated, the progress of man from savagery to civilization has been along the path of invention. Every tool, every instrument, every appliance of any kind—anything made by the hand of man in order to accomplish a new end, or an old end in a new way—is the result of the activities of his inventive Imagination.

(7) Planning. You can construct imaginative images, or mental pictures of the plans according to which you intend to proceed in your picture work. The general plans his battles, the architect plans his building; the business man plans his campaign of manufacture, sale, or other work. The clearer and the more definite the plan, the truer will be the result, all being equal. The mechanic, if he be a good one, will plan out in his mind the work which he expects to perform with his hands. Every work of construction, building, or general action contemplated by man, is planned and worked out in his Imagination before it assumes material form. The subjective form must always precede the objective form.

(8) Induction. You can make constructive imaginative images, or mental pictures, of the probable causes of a number of particular events or happenings, along the general lines of induction. The great triumphs of scientific induction have been made in this way. The scientist groups together the mental images of a number of events or happenings seemingly operating under the same general law, or from the same general causes (the latter being unknown); he then seeks to discover the missing law or cause, and in doing so he sets into operation his inductive Imagination, He “makes scientific guesses” in this way, and then proceeds to test out the several hypotheses so obtained. Many of the great discoveries of science relating to physical laws have been made clear with the assistance of this form of Imagination.

All, or nearly all, of the observed processes of Constructive Imagination will be found to fit into one or more of the above categories without undue strain. The list, however, is not intended to be exhaustive, but is rather merely suggestive as a loose classification.

Mechanical Construction and Purposive Construction. Psychologists note a certain distinction between the different classes of the images of Constructive Imagination, i. e., of those imaginative images which do not represent with any reasonable degree of exactness any actual object of previous experience. This distinction proceeds according to the following classification, viz., (1) Images mechanically constructed, i. e., in which the images are combined merely by a purposeless and indefinite process of joining together or associating parts of different reproduced images or memories: as for instance, where the head and trunk of a man are joined to the body of a horse, and the image of a Centaur thus constructed; or where the body of a woman and the tail of a fish are joined to construct the image of a mermaid; (2) Images definitely and purposively constructed according to a preconceived design and toward a definite end and purpose; as, for instance, where the different parts of a machine, a play, a picture, a musical composition, etc., are constructed as a mental image, particularly with the end of objective reproduction in view.

In the first of the above-mentioned cases, the imaginative construction is known as Mechanical Construction; in the second case, the imaginative construction is known as Creative Imaginative Construction, i. e., as true Constructive Imagination. The first type proceeds practically without a definite plan and purpose, and is more or less lacking in continuity. The second type proceeds with a more or less definite purpose and aim, according to a more or less definite plan, and with more or less manifestation of continuity. With the first type, we have but little to do in this connection. With the second type, however, we are vitally concerned in this instruction; therefore, we shall now proceed to a further consideration of its distinctive characteristics.

Elements of the Constructive Imagination. Halleck says: “The Mechanical Imagination joins dissociated parts without altering them. Such products are as inferior to those of the Creative Imagination as is a pile of bricks to a finished house.” The pile of bricks, to be sure, is “put together” and composed of a number of particular bricks; and so is the finished house: but in the former there is merely a haphazard throwing together, lacking plan, selection, and lack of purposive thought, while in the latter case there is a definite purpose, a selection of material according to its fitness for that purpose, and finally the employment of purposive thought directed to the end of the efficient construction of the building.

The elements of true Constructive Imagination, then are as follows: (1) Definite purpose; (2) Selection of materials according to estimated value; and (3) Employment of purposive thought, and logical reasoning based upon experience.

It is an axiom of psychology that no particular class of mental faculties manifests activity without calling to its aid certain other classes of mental faculties. There is always present a coordination of mental powers in all mental activities, one phase of power, however, always assuming the dominant role for the time being. Accordingly, as might be expected, we find evidences of such coordination in the processes of Constructive Imagination. You should acquaint yourself with the details of such coordinative activity, which we shall now present to your attention.

Emotion and Imagination. Emotional states, such as strong feelings or interest, play an important part in the processes of Constructive Imagination. The best psychologists hold that in the imaginative process there must be present not only the “fixed idea”, but also the “fixed feeling”. Ribot says: “The emotional factor yields in importance to none other; it is the ferment without which no mental creation is possible. The influence of the emotional life is unlimited; it penetrates the entire field of creative invention, with no restriction whatever. This is not a gratuitous assertion, but is, on the contrary, strictly justified by facts, and we are right in maintaining the following two propositions: (1) All forms of creative imagination imply elements of feeling; and (2) All emotional dispositions whatever may influence the creative imagination.”

In the process of Constructive Imagination, we find that Feeling and Emotion act as follows: (1) as an incentive to creative activity, and (2) as a coloring agent giving to the created product the shade or tint of itself. Some psychologists have sought to limit the influence of the emotional states to such forms of Constructive Imagination as are concerned with the productions of works of art and beauty; they would deny such influence to those phases of Constructive Imagination which are concerned with the production of intellectual and mechanical inventive images. But more careful investigators are fully convinced that even in the last mentioned phases of Constructive Imagination the emotional element plays its part, and manifests a decided influence.

Some careful teachers have gone so far as to hold that the emotional element is the primal, original factor in all invention, inasmuch as “all invention presupposes a want, a craving, a tendency, an unsatisfied impulse, often even a state of gestation full of discomfort.” This want, craving, often even a state of gestation and urging, of the unsatisfied impulse produces an emotional state of seeking for relief—for a relief which is possible only by the delivery of the completed idea of the invention. The inventor always experiences the changing emotional states resulting from partial success, temporary setbacks and discouragements, and, finally, the supreme joy of achievement, often reaching the stage of actual exaltation, accompanying the actual delivery of the child of the brain. An authority on the subject says: “I challenge anyone to produce a solitary example of invention wrought out in pure abstraction, and freed from any factors of feeling; human nature does not allow such a miracle.”

In cultivating and developing your power of Constructive Imagination, you will do well to begin by encouraging the emotional feeling which urges you toward creative invention. By stimulating and encouraging the feeling striving for creative expression, you are increasing the fire which generates the steam that runs the mental machinery of invention. Interest depends upon feeling—is, indeed, a phase of feeling. Interest is the mental force which directs the mind to the inventive task, and which holds the attention upon it. Interest is aroused and maintained by fanning the flame of feeling. In the activities of the Constructive Imagination, and of the Will, emotional feeling is the first requisite—the first element to be aroused.

Attention and Imagination. As might be expected, we find that Attention—Concentrated Attention—is also vitally involved in the processes of the Constructive Imagination. Definite, voluntary conscious mental activity of any kind or form requires the application of Concentrated Attention—the act of “holding one-pointed” the powers of consciousness. The “fixed idea” and the “fixed feeling” necessary in efficient Constructive Imagination are the results of Concentrated Attention.

The following quotations from eminent authorities will serve to illustrate the principle now under consideration.

Ribot says: “Psychologists always adduce the same examples when they wish to illustrate, on the one hand, tenacious attention, and, on the other, the developing labor without which creative work does not come to pass.” Newton says: “Genius is only long patience. * * * I keep the subject continually before me, and wait until the first dawning opens slowly little by little into a clear light. If I have made any improvements in the sciences, it was owing more to patient attention than to any other talent.” D’Alembert says: “Genius is always thinking of the thing.”

Kay says: “Possibly the most comprehensive definition of genius is the power of concentrating and prolonging the attention upon any one given subject.” Grillparzer says: “Inspiration is a concentration of that which, for the time being, represents all the forces and capacities upon a single point. The reinforcement of the state of mind comes from the fact that its several powers, instead of spreading themselves over the whole world, are contained within the bounds of a single object— they touch one another, and reciprocally help and reinforce each other.”

In that volume of this series entitled “Perceptive Power,” we have given the most approved scientific methods of cultivating and developing the faculty of Voluntary Attention.

Once more, we wish to impress upon your mind the fact that the mind is a unity, not a mere aggregation of particular mental faculties. Each faculty is found to call upon and to make use of the special powers of the other faculties. Each mental process is found to involve the elements of several faculties. The activities of the several faculties, or groups of faculties, are found to blend into each other in harmonious effective coordination. In the consideration of any one special faculty, or class of faculties, this important fact is often overlooked.

Observation and Imagination. You have seen that the Constructive Imagination depends upon the perceptive powers for its “raw materials.” Without a proper supply of these “raw materials” of perception and observation, the Constructive Imagination cannot proceed to continue and create those edifices of creative images which serve as the models or patterns of the subsequent materialization. Remember always, that the Constructive Imagination cannot create “something out of nothing.” Without having first sown the field of memory with the seed of perception and observation, there can be raised no crop of Constructive Imagination.

The child with three blocks is limited in his building operations—give him nine blocks, and he will be able to effect many more combinations. This is just as true of the individual who wishes to employed effectively his Constructive Imagination: his limits are determined by the amount of perceptive material at his disposal. The Eskimo dwelling in the Arctic regions can never hope to create imaginative pictures of the things of the temperate or the tropical zones, unless, by some chance, he has gained a knowledge of the latter by means of books, pictures, or the descriptions of travelers. Even in that exceptional event, as Halleck says, “He must interpret all that he reads in terms of the scant shrubbery with which he is familiar, and his best imaginative picture of tropical foliage will be meager and dwarfed.”

You will do well to cultivate your powers of Perception and Observation, in connection with your work of developing your powers of Constructive Imagination. Consult some good text book on this subject. We feel justified in calling your attention in this connection to that book of this series entitled “Perceptive Power”; it will be found to contain practical instruction based upon the best scientific methods of cultivating, developing and training the Perceptive Powers and the faculty of Observation.

We scarcely need to point out to you that a very large part of the mental processes of any and all kinds are performed, wholly or in part, on planes or levels of consciousness below the planes or levels of the ordinary consciousness. Modern psychology has so thoroughly demonstrated this fact that we need do no more than to mention it here. As might be expected, the processes of Constructive Imagination are performed to a great extent in this way.

We might even say that the conscious performance of Constructive Imagination is limited to (1) the initiatory stages in which the germ of the creative process is carefully considered in consciousness, and the initial impulse is imparted to it; after which it is placed in the subconscious field for incubation; (2) the intermediate stages in which the partially incubated creation is raised to the plane of consciousness, there to be examined by the conscious mentality; adjustments, adaptations and suggestions of improvement added; after which the incomplete process is again relegated to the subconscious levels; and (3) the last stage in which the practically completed creation is raised to the levels of consciousness for a final inspection; here the “finishing touches” are added and the work is completed. The greater part of the process, you will note, is performed on the subconscious levels or planes of the mind.

Hoffding says: “The interweaving of the elements of the picture in the imagination takes place in a great measure below the threshold of consciousness, so that the image suddenly emerges in consciousness complete in its broad outlines, the conscious result of an unconscious process.” The above statement, however, should have contained the proviso that the subconscious processes referred to were performed only after (and because) the conscious mentality previously had been actively employed in earnest and concentrated consideration of the subject in question.

The autobiographies and biographies of men of genius, great inventors, great scientists, and others actively employing Constructive Imagination, are filled with illustrations of the workings of the subconscious faculties of the mind; these show conclusively the important part played by these “below the surface” mental activities in all creative and inventive thought.

While the activities of the Constructive Imagination proceed more or less freely, or even spontaneously, and cannot properly be reduced to a mere mechanical form of procedure, nevertheless there are certain general stages or steps of the process which are sufficiently determined in form to be subject to classification. The following general classification is offered with the understanding that it is not rigid nor exclusive; it is merely an attempt to picture the several apparently separate steps or stages of a process which, in reality, is continuous rather than composed of separated parts.

(1) The Germ Stage. This is the stage of the first general thought concerning the nature of the thing sought to be created by the Constructive Imagination. A writer has stated it as, “the first idea coming to the mind as a possible solution of a problem which has been put to one, or has ‘struck’ him, by reason of his needs and requirements, or those of others, and which has assumed nebulous form by reason of his previous observations, studies and researches.”

The energy of this germ is supplied by the “desire Feeling” arising from the needs of the individual, or those of others which are known to him, and which represent obstacles to the efficient expression of his nature. This desired fuller expression may be in the direction of self-preservation, health, welfare, protection, or general comfort; or that of military or commercial supremacy or success; or that of sexual expression, with its many secondary forms of manifestation. Again, it may be in the direction of mechanical invention and construction, in response to the “mechanical instinct”; or that of artistic production; or that of social reforms and improvements. Likewise, it may be in the direction of knowledge of science or philosophy; or that of religious or theological interpretation or explanation, and all that pertains to these. In short, every form of desire, feeling, emotion, need, lack or want—every “frustrated purpose”—every emotional state which tends to manifest in will-action—may supply the motor or energizing element in the germ of Constructive Imagination.

Around this energizing element are loosely gathered the general ideas connected with the discovery and creation of that which will fill this want, satisfy this desire, comfort this feeling, fill this emotional void. The germ, so constituted, has been described by a writer as “an embryonic, unstable, and uncoordinated manifestation of the creative imagination—a transition stage between passive reproduction and organized construction.”

(2) The Incubation Stage. This is the stage in which the germ rests in the womb of the subconscious mentality. Here the mind operates along the lines of both conscious and subconscious activity. The conscious mentality observes the new ideas to which the interested attention now is directed by reason of the demands of the incubating germ in the subconscious mental womb, and then passes them down to the subconscious plane, there to be absorbed, assimilated and combined with similar ideative material. The subconscious mentality searches the stores of memory for associated facts, ideas and images which may be combined with the material of the germ or embryonic image.

Of this stage, a writer says: “The incubation is often very long and painful; or, again, even totally unconscious. Instinctively as well as voluntarily (subconsciously as well as consciously) the mind brings together all the materials that it can gather.” Another writer says: “Here is the germ, the principle of unity, the centre of attraction, suggesting, exciting, and grouping the proper association of images, in which it becomes enwrapped and organized into a structure—an ensemble of means converging to a common end.”

(3) The Delivery Stage. This is the stage in which the developed embryo—the evolved germ, with its accumulated associated and related images grouped around it in logical order—is raised to the plane or level of consciousness, and is “born” into the world of conscious thought and cognition. Here the happy subconscious and conscious parents exclaim: “Unto us a child is born!” As a writer says: “When the latent (subconscious) work is sufficiently complete, the idea suddenly bursts forth. It may be at the end of a voluntary tension of mind; or it may be on the occasion of a chance remark, tearing the veil that hides the surmised image.”

The child of Imagination, so born into the world of objectivity, must be carefully handled and provided for. It must be nursed until it is strong enough to adapt itself to its new environment. The Imagination must be drawn upon (as the breasts of the mother are drawn upon for milk) in order to provide for the off-spring. The young idea may perish if it is denied proper clothing and food. It must become gradually habituated to its new environment; undue exposure to the winds of objectivity may weaken or even kill it. This is more than a mere figure of speech—it bears a close resemblance to actual facts of experience, as many inventors and parents of new ideas know to their sorrow.

The Builder and the Plan

In the processes of Efficient Constructive Imagination, directed by a definite purpose and toward a determined end, you will find it advantageous to follow the general rule given below. This rule, which is the result of a careful study of the requirements of the case made by competent investigators of the subject, is not a hard-and-fast rule to be observed absolutely by you under all circumstances; rather it is a general framework of the actual method to be followed by you, the special details being supplied by yourself. Rightly understood and intelligently adapted by you to the special circumstances of particular cases, this rule will be found to meet the requirements of practically all the cases likely to require your attention.

General Rule

I. Create a clear mental picture of the general idea representing your Definite Purpose, i. e., the particular end which you wish to accomplish; the particular obstacle which you wish to overcome; the particular result which you wish to obtain; the particular desire which you wish to satisfy; the particular ideal which you wish to make real; the particular idea which you wish to materialize in objective form.

II. Form a comprehensive picture of the whole field of the proposed undertaking; get a comprehensive and inclusive view of the whole field of the business into which you purpose embarking; see the whole enterprise in all of its general aspects; compose a comprehensive idea including the whole matter under consideration.

III. Make a written list of all of the probable factors involved in the problem or undertaking; compile a list of all of the probable elements involved in the working out of the matter; gather together all of the ideas of the things at all likely to be called into the creative process; have within easy reach the ideas of all of the materials likely to be employed in the construction of the ideal form which you wish to materialize.

IV. Classify these ideas, elements and factors according to their general nature, their general uses, their known relations and associations; cross-indexing them under appropriate headings, and referring to the lesser elements, parts, or factors of which each is composed. Diagram and chart these ideas according to your system of classification, so as to have the whole matter under your mind’s eye, and so that you may be able to grasp the arrangement at a glance without having to hunt for scattered items.

V. Weigh the various factors one against the other, taking into consideration the associated and related values of each in the general idea, plan or purpose. Determine in this way which are the primary factors involved; which are the secondary; and which are the lesser values. Concentrate on the prime factors, and make these the central points in your process of Constructive Imagination—the focal centres around which you purpose grouping the associated factors or elements.

VI. Experiment by tentatively placing the secondary factors in association with and relation to the prime factors, regardless of how improbable or incongruous at first may seem such association and relation. Around the letter “A” build alphabet-block combinations of the letters B, C, D, E, F, G, etc., blocks, to see if they “make sense,” or if they suggest anything of rational meaning to you. Discard all combinations that seem lacking in utility—but only after actually making the test and experiment. Continue this until you have secured satisfactory results. Where there are several apparently satisfactory, or fairly promising combinations, weigh these one against the other to determine their comparative values, discarding the lesser values, and retaining the greater, until you have secured the “survival of the fittest.” Then proceed to test out the lesser factors in the same way, working out all the details of the plan.

VII. Having reached at least a fairly satisfactory working plan, idea, invention, or solution of your problem, you should then carefully detach yourself” from it—you should move from your personal point of view, and try to see it as others will see it. Try to imagine the effect it will have on the persons whom you wish to be interested in your finished product; how it will meet their requirements, satisfy their wants, arouse their desires for it. Your own created conjunction, plan, method, design or invention naturally will seem to you as the infant appears to its mother—no mother is an unprejudiced critic of her own baby. You must see the thing as others will see it, in order to arrive at an intelligent idea of the actual degree of utility possessed by your invention, creation, composition, or contrivance. You must employ past experience, reason, judgment, discrimination and cool decision in this final testing process.

In the present, and in several following sections of this book, we shall ask you to consider in further detail the several divisions or principles composing the above-mentioned General Rule, together with certain instructions designed to promote the effective application of each of these special points.

In the General Rule of Efficient Constructive Imagination, the first step is that of: “Creating a clear mental picture of the general idea representing your Definite Purpose, i. e., the particular end which you wish to accomplish; the particular obstacle which you wish to overcome; the particular result which you wish to obtain; the particular desire which you wish to satisfy; the particular ideal which you wish to make real; the particular idea which you wish to materialize in objective form.”

Definite Purpose is an essential characteristic of all true Constructive Imagination. This Definite Purpose may not be the actual purpose to objectify a subjective image already created in the mind—though often it is precisely this purpose of externalizing the created internal image. More often, however, the Definite Purpose is that of overcoming an obstacle; supplying a perceived want; discovering an efficient method of performing certain work. There is always present a “fixed idea” supported by a “fixed feeling.” The more definite the purpose, the more directly does the creative work proceed to its end. The more persistent the feeling and the desire inspiring it, the stronger is the urge toward the objective materialization.

Halleck says of this characteristic of the Creative Imagination: “The Constructive Imagination is always characterized by a definite purpose, which is never lost sight of until the image is complete. A child starts to build a house out of blocks. These are often changed and taken down many times, before the form in which they are built is such as to fix the growing, purposive image in the child’s mind. Before an architect builds a house, he must form successive images, which he alters whenever they conflict with the general plan of that special dwelling. An inventor often spends years in changing and re-combining the images of parts of his machine, but he is all the while dominated by a Definite Purpose. The images must be altered until matter poured into their mold fulfills the aim of the inventor.”

We would here, however, caution you against harboring the idea that the Definite Purpose is a crystallized, fixed, unchangeable archetype which the inventor strives to represent as best he can in material, objective form. Rather, the Definite Purpose is an evolving, developing Idea, moving forward as do all living forms. It advances and, usually, gradually takes on new and better forms and details; also, it frequently discards as inefficient or impracticable some of the forms or details which it had accepted at the start.

As a writer has said: “The Creative Ideal arises in the inventor and proceeds through him. Its life is a ‘becoming’ process, and not an unchangeable fixed form. Its ‘fixed’ character consists of its Continuity and Definite Purpose. * * * If we liken creative imagination to physiological generation, this Creative Ideal is the ovum awaiting fertilization in order to begin its development. * * * The Creative Ideal is a creative image tending to become real.”

Before you may expect successfully to accomplish creative mental work, you must know, at least in a general way, just what you wish to create. You must select at least the general goal toward which you desire to journey. You must not be content to sing, in the words of the familiar ballad, “I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on the way.” You must sketch at least the general map of the country over which you wish to travel, and to indicate with at least a fair degree of definiteness the place at which you hope to arrive at your journey’s end.

We do not hold that you must necessarily work out a detailed map of that country—the details you may fill in as you proceed. Neither do we hold that you should necessarily make a mark at some particular part of the map to indicate the place at which you expect to settle down—you will be better able to do this when you arrive at that general part of the country toward which you are journeying. We do insist, however, that you should know the general direction in which you are headed. The early settlers of America knew that they were “Going West,” and most of them had a very fair idea as to just what particular section of the Far West most attracted their interest and held their attention. The matter of the precise, exact location of the place at which they expected to “take up land” was usually left to be determined when they arrived on the general scene, and had a chance to “look over” the places still open to them for settlement. This is about as much as we can ask for from you in the matter now under consideration.

All true exercise of the Constructive Imagination is inspired by a want, a lack, an obstacle, a problem, or a “thwarted purpose”—the latter being stated by an eminent psychologist to be “the occasion for all reasoning.” If your every want were satisfied; if you suffered no lack; if there were no problem requiring solution, no obstacles to be overcome, no “thwarted purposes” present in your experience; then you would never be called upon to exercise your powers of Constructive Imagination. Your want, your lack, your unsatisfied desire, your “thwarted purpose”; these call into activity the creative powers of your mind.

It may not be always quite dear to you what constitutes the prime factors of your want, desire, lack, problem, or “thwarted purpose”; you may find it necessary to “boil down” the thing, evaporating the excess fluid in which this essence is dissolved. You must get to the real essential elements of the problem— get “down to brass tacks.” Here, as in many other instances and cases, you will find it helpful to “think with your pencil,” i. e., to express in written words the essence of the somewhat hazy general idea which is present in your mind as representing your problem or want. Unless you have practiced this plan, you can have no adequate conception of its value to you in thinking and planning.

In “thinking with your pencil” for the purpose of discovering the prime factors or essential elements of your problem or purpose; you must strive to get down to the bottom of the subject—to reach the centre of the thing. Once having found this, you may work backward and forward in any direction from that focal point. The focal point may be discovered by determined “pencil thought” upon the following two questions, viz.: (1) “What is the obstacle which I wish to overcome; what is the nature of this ‘thwarted purpose’; what is the gist of the difficulty; and (2) What is the first and main factor or element of my purpose in this matter; what is it necessary for me to accomplish; what is the general end to be accomplished; what is ‘the big idea’ which I wish to make real?”

Continue the task of analyzing and dissecting the subject until you finally reduce it to its ultimate elements of Definite Purpose. That Definite Purpose is always there, though usually hidden by a mass of comparatively nonessential ideas. It is your work to clear away this mass of encumbering material of thought, so that you may bring into plain view the precious thing at the centre of the mass. Or, employing another figure, it is “up to you” to carve away the mass of stone which hides the figure of your ideal—that ideal which is crying for release from the encumbering material; just as the sculptor with his chisel releases the hidden form of his ideal creation.

Your Definite Purpose once discovered, it becomes your Definite Ideal—the focal point around which is built the entire structure of your creation. The Definite Ideal is like the grain of sand which exists at the centre of every pearl, and about which the pearly material has gathered. It is “the big idea” around which your Constructive Imagination builds, deposits, and accumulates its wealth of material. Your Definite Ideal represents your desire, need, want, purpose, plan, design—it is the vital germ of the entire future organism—it is the seed from which will spring the downward-pressing roots, and the upward-pressing stalk. Without it there would be no creative growth. In the degree of its strength, definiteness, and clearness of form, so will be the degree of perfection and vigor in that which springs from it.

The importance of discovering and uncovering the Definite Ideal is not confined to its effect upon your conscious mental activities; its effect upon your subconscious faculties and powers of imagination is even greater still. By a clear conception of your Definite Ideal, and by its repeated impression upon your subconscious mentality, the idea becomes firmly, deeply and clearly “set” in the substance of the latter; and, thereafter, the subconscious faculties work steadily toward the end of the successful accomplishment of the purpose and ideal thus impressed upon it. The importance of this is realized only when you stop to think that over eighty-five percent of the activities of the mind are performed below the levels or planes of your ordinary consciousness. The fifteen percent of the work performed by your conscious faculties is confined largely to the task of supplying the subconscious faculties with the proper materials for their work, and to adapting, shaping, testing, and applying the manufactured product of the subconscious workshop.

Once having discovered and uncovered your Definite Ideal, you should strive to make as clear and definite a mental picture of it as possible. Keep the general picture in mind—either directly in consciousness, or else “at the back of your head” so that you will know that it is there even when you are not looking at it. Keep the “big idea” always in mind, consciously, subconsciously, and superconsciously. Get the “fixed idea” and the “fixed feeling” so firmly “set” in your mind that it could not be dug out without breaking up the mind itself. This Definite Ideal—this “big idea”—must be the mental picture, the ideal form which your entire mental being is striving to make real, to materialize, to objectify. Let no other mental picture rob this “big idea” picture of its prominent position. Hang it in your mental picture gallery in such a position that it will catch your mental eye the first thing in the morning, and the last thing at night.

Having firmly established your Definite Ideal, you should next proceed to map-out your general field and to note its prominent landmarks. In the words of the second section of the General Rule, you should: “Form a comprehensive picture of the whole field of the proposed undertaking; get a comprehensive and inclusive view of the field of the whole business into which you purpose embarking; see the whole enterprise in all of its general aspects; compose a comprehensive idea including the whole matter under consideration.”

In this process you need but to follow the general principles which already have been presented to you in the instruction concerning the discovery and visualization of your Definite Purpose—your Definite Ideal. These principles may be stated in condensed form as follows:

(1) “Think with your pencil.” Write down all of the ideas concerning the general field and plan, and then compare these for the purpose of selection. Eliminate the nonessentials, cancel the duplications and contradictories, and arrange the selected items in a logical and orderly classification. In short, make a chart or diagram of the general field and plan, showing the ground to be covered, the obstacles to be overcome, the strong places, the weak points, etc., etc., You will do well to bestow sufficient care and attention upon this task, for your chart will be to you what his map of the battle-field is to the commanding officer.

(2) “Visualize your Map.” Study your map until you can easily visualize it. Learn it “by heart” so that it will become as familiar as your “A, B, C’s,” or your Multiplication Table of childhood days. Impress your map upon your memory, so that you can bring it at will into conscious representation or recollection.

The Mental Laboratory

The third section of the General Rule tells you to: “Make a written list of all of the probable factors involved in the problem or undertaking; compile a list of all of the probable elements involved in the working out of the matter; gather together all of the ideas of the things at all likely to be called into the creative process; have within easy reach the ideas of all of the materials likely to be employed in the construction of the ideal form which you wish to materialize.”

Here you proceed to supply the Constructive Imagination with the raw materials for its creative processes. You have seen that the Constructive Imagination does not, and cannot, create “something out of nothing.” Instead, it creates by combination, adaptation, adjustment, transformation—always employing the material which you furnish it for the purpose. Therefore, you must supply it with the kind of mental images which are best adapted for the creation of the new forms, images or ideas which contribute to the manifestation of your Definite Purpose—your Definite Central Ideal. This material (composed of mental images) is then employed both by your conscious mentality and by your subconscious mentality, in their work of weaving or fusing the fabric or form of the necessary new images.

You must get busy at this point—you have much real work ahead of you here. You must begin by acquainting yourself with the list of the things which seem likely to come into use in the working out of your Definite Purpose—your Definite Ideal. You need not be absolutely certain that all of the material being gathered in by you for this purpose really will prove necessary or even valuable in the process; gather in all that seems “at all likely” to be of some use. In case of uncertainty on this point, give the material the benefit of the doubt, and add it to your list—you may discard it later, if need be. All that you need to do at this time is to gather together such materials as seem likely to be worth consideration in the matter. And, note this, make a written list of all such items of promising material; for you will be called upon to do considerable “thinking with your pencil” in the work ahead of you.

In the first place, you must fairly saturate yourself with the subject represented by your Definite Purpose and Definite Ideal, the achievement of which is so insistently desired, so confidently expected, and so persistently willed by you. You must learn at least the name and general character of every thing connected with or related to that subject—if but even remotely related to it. This, because the images or ideas of these related things are precisely the “stuff” upon which your Constructive Imagination must depend for the materials which it must weave or fuse into newer and more efficient images.

Every thing that ever was invented, created or composed by the Constructive Imagination, is constituted of several elements; and these elements previously existed as separate though related ideas—the same kind of ideas which you are now trying to accumulate as raw material. The men who invented, created or composed those new things were dependent upon these separate images or ideas for their material—without them these men could not, and would not have invented or created those new images. You are now in the same position as were they before their work was really begun—or rather, before their Definite Purposes and Definite Ideals had begun to assume clearly defined form and proportions.

Morse, Stephenson, Marconi, Edison, and the rest of the inventors, were once “in the same boat” in which you are now. To duplicate their processes, you must gather together the raw materials just as they did. This should be plain enough for you; but do not proceed further until this truth is thoroughly grasped and appreciated by you. You must be well grounded in the facts of this fundamental principle before you properly may proceed to set the same into creative activity. There is no royal road to Constructive Imagination. All, high and low, always have, must now, and must always hereafter, travel the same common road leading to the goal. This “all” includes yourself.

A moment ago, we told you that “you must fairly ‘saturate’ yourself with the subject represented by your Definite Purpose and Definite Ideal, the achievement of which is so insistently desired, confidently expected, and persistently willed by you. You must learn at least the name and general character of every thing connected with or related to that subject—even remotely related to it.” But just how are you to saturate yourself with such knowledge? Just how are you going to know at least the name and general character of everything connected with or related to that particular subject? The correct answer to these questions involves a most important method of the scientific application of Constructive Imagination, and you should consider carefully the following information given as the answer.

Consider this proposition: If some very wealthy man were to call you into his office and then make you the following offer, you would accept it at once, and would proceed to devise the proper means to accomplish the task and win the reward— there would be no hesitancy on your part about accepting it, we are sure. Here is the hypothetical rich man’s offer to you:

“Mr. Blank, I want someone to prepare for me the fullest and most complete list possible of the things concerning or related to this particular subject (here naming the subject of your Definite Purpose and Definite Ideal). I will give you a salary of double the amount you are now earning, and also pay all your expenses, while you are conducting the search and preparing the list. When you have completed the list, if it is found to meet the requirements of reasonable completeness and perfection, I will make you a present of one hundred thousand dollars. Will you undertake the task?” What would be your answer? You would accept, of course.

Then, what would be the first steps in your preparation of the list? Well, you would begin by reading the best text-books covering the general subject—starting off with the descriptive articles treating upon it which you would find in the best encyclopaedias. You would saturate yourself with the subject. You would consult with persons employed in occupations necessitating at least a working knowledge of the subject. You would read the trade journals circulating among those engaged in such callings—not forgetting to read the advertisements. You would carefully consider the price-lists and catalogues of houses dealing in the supplies required in those branches of work. In short, you would seek in every possible direction, and from every possible source, for the names of the things concerning or related to that special subject.

You would seek every possible “association” of that subject— the subjects closely associated with it, and having some practical relation to it. You would discover these associations by asking yourself:

(1) What is this thing?

(2) Of what is it composed?

(3) What is its purpose?

(4) For whose use is it intended?

(5) What is its past history—its evolutionary story?

(6) What are the things most resembling it?

(7) What thing is most unlike it—its “opposite?” and many more questions of that sort. You would seek to fill your mind with all the essential images connected with or related to your subject.

But you would not be satisfied with merely learning the names of these connected or related things—though even these are of great importance, and really form the first step of your task. You would seek also to learn the meaning of those names. You would consult the best dictionaries, reference works, encyclopaedias, etc., for the meaning of one term, you would uncover other terms closely associated with the one you are “running down”—then you would search for the meaning of these new terms. You would learn the past history—the story of the evolution of the prime factors of your special subject. You would learn the various attempts to solve certain of the problems involved; the failures and successes. You would learn the various theories advanced in the history of the subject, and the answer and objections to each. In short, you would fairly saturate yourself with the known facts concerning the subject, and the subjects associated with it. You would know the name of every thing involved in the subject, and the meaning of that name.

Briefly, you would fill your mind with the “mental images,” concepts, or ideas of each and every thing connected with or related to that subject. Of course, you would use your pencil in noting down these names and their meaning—you would “think with your pencil.” You would arrange your facts into classes—minor classes forming greater classes and so on. You would have on your list every important element involved in the matter. You would know what each of these meant—you would have an adequate conception of each and every one of these elements. You would not be satisfied until your list was made as complete and as comprehensive as possible. The one hundred thousand dollar reward would inspire you; but, as you worked, the growing interest in the task itself would urge you on—you would have awakened the “creative instinct” which had been lying dormant within you.

Well, then; this is just the way for you to go to work concerning the subject of your Definite Purpose and Definite Ideal. What you would do for the millionaire, you must do for yourself. You must work for yourself just as faithfully as you would work for such an employer. The same spirit must inspire you—the same interest must urge you on—the same “creative instinct” must be awakened. Here is what you must accomplish in this stage: You must make an inventory of all the essential elements involved in your special subject; and each name on that inventory must be so well understood by you that it constitutes a definite mental image, concept, or idea.

The ideal inventory of “important elements” must include (1) every discoverable important thing employed or used in connection with the subject; (2) every discoverable important fact concerning that subject; (3) every discoverable important item of information concerning the essential application of that subject; (4) every discoverable important event or experience in the history of that subject; (5) every discoverable important cause affecting that subject; (6) every discoverable important effect produced by that subject; and (7) every discoverable important law, principle, or method employed in the processes connected with that subject.

You must know (1) of what the thing is made; (2) how it is made; (3) who makes it; (4) who uses it or may use it; (5) what the users need it for, and how they use it—and how others may use it, and the other ways in which persons may use it; (6) how it is sold (or may be sold) to those who use it; (7) the general methods of its distribution, and the extent of such. The above are but general suggestions: you must adapt them and add to them according to the special requirements of the case.

For the purposes of such list-making, we make the following suggestions: Use freely a good encyclopaedia, preferably one having a classified index, or an efficient system of cross-indexing.

Use trade or professional textbooks, encyclopaedias, dictionaries, reference works, etc. Read the trade or professional journals relating to your subject—paying due attention to the advertisements—for advertisements, properly read, constitute a rich mine of suggestive ideas.

Before we pass on to the next step in the process of Constructive Imagination, we would again emphasize the importance of having a definite, clear idea or mental image back of every name or term representing an essential element of your problem or subject. A name or term without an associated meaning is like a skeleton without flesh, nerves and muscles— and, above all, without life. You do not know a thing merely by knowing its name—you know it only in the degree that you grasp the meaning sought to be expressed by that name. Get acquainted with your dictionary—turn its pages and put flesh and meat on the bare bones of the mere names and terms that you know—breathe life into them.

Halleck says concerning this point: “The formation of accurate images is essential to the right culture of the imagination. A good house cannot be built out of shapeless brick. The use of words without definite corresponding images is fatal to imagination. If we study any branch of science without representing to ourselves by imaginative power the meanings of the various terms, our time is somewhat more than wasted, for we are forming a bad habit. ‘Molecular vibrations: ‘tension of the ether,’ ‘undulations of varying amplitude and length,’ ‘valves of the heart,’ ‘stamens,’ ‘peltate leaves,’ ‘Gothic arches’— these are terms which should never be used without the ability to form sharp images in each case. A person who had been talking about defective flues as causes of fires, was asked to state plainly what he meant by ‘a defective flue.’ It was then seen that he had no clear image corresponding to the term, which was simply a mask for his ignorance. Persons who allow themselves to use terms in this way must not expect to have much imaginative power.”

Let your “meanings” of names and terms take on the aspect of mental pictures, or images, of the thing represented by the names. “See” the thing in your “mind’s eye” when you are intently thinking of it—visualize it into mental life and vigor— and it will take on a world of new meaning to you when you wish to employ it as an element of Constructive Imagination. A “lively imagination,” in the true meaning of that term, is an imagination in which the images are “alive,” and not mere lifeless verbal skeletons of things long since passed out of actual, moving existence. Breathe the breath of life into your mental images.

The fourth section of the General Rule tells you to: “Classify these ideas, elements and factors according to their general nature, their general uses, their known relations and associations; cross-indexing them under appropriate headings, and referring to the lesser elements, parts, or factors of which each is composed. Diagram and chart these ideas according to your system of classification, so as to have the whole matter under your mind’s eye, and that you may be able to grasp the arrangement at a glance without having to hunt for scattered items.”

By following this method, after having accumulated your materials of Constructive Imagination, i. e., your concepts, ideas, or mental images of the elements involved in the future creation of new images, you will arrange them according to some logical system of classification. In this way you file away each particular concept or idea according to its proper place in a more general class, and, thereby, you are able more easily to find it when you need it. This plan, as compared with that of simply piling your ideas and concepts in a miscellaneous heap, is akin to the scientific method of filing away correspondence in a filing cabinet as compared with that of simply throwing the letters together in a barrel, box, or large drawer.

A business man is able to find the letter he needs, simply by going to his file and placing his hand on the proper compartment; he has an immense advantage over the one who has to hunt through a large mass of unfiled correspondence. It is not enough to have the idea of a thing—it is necessary to know where to find that idea when you want it. Psychology informs us that one may far more easily remember facts filed in the memory records according to some system of logical classification, than where the facts simply exist “‘somewhere in the mind.”

Your classification of concepts or ideas should be according to the general nature of the ideas, their natural associations with other objects, their uses. For instance, in your mental file of “Building Materials,” there would be contained the concepts of Stone, Clay, Brick, Iron, Steel, Lumber, Concrete, Cement, Tile, etc. In your mental file of “Metals,’” there would be found the records of Iron, Copper, Gold, Silver, Nickel, Zinc, Platinum, Lead, Tin, Antimony, Manganese, Mercury, Aluminum, Cobalt, Tungsten, etc. In your mental file of “Mechanical Devices,” there would be filed your records of Axles, Shafting, Wheels, Levers, Pulleys, Cranks, Cams, Eccentrics, Winches, Windlasses, Inclined Planes, Wedges, Toggle Joints, Endless Screws, Belts, Gear-Wheels, Gearing, Couplings, etc. In your mental file of “Fibres and Textiles,” there would be placed your records of Cotton, Flax, Hemp, Jute, Linen, Manilla Hemp, Noils, Ramie, Shoddy, Silk, Organzine, Floss Silk, Wool and Worsted, Coir, Artificial Silk, Artificial Cotton, Vegetable Silk, etc. In your mental file of “Dairy Products,” you would place your records of Milk, Skim Milk, Casein, Cream, Butter, Cheese, Buttermilk, Milk Sugar, Ghee, Kephir, Koumiss, Whey, etc. The above illustrative examples should be sufficient to indicate the general idea of efficient and practical classification.

Each general classification, moreover, should be subjected to sub-classification. Large classes should be divided and subdivided into the lesser classes. Small classes should be raised to higher and still higher classes, and so on until the highest general class is reached. The following table illustrating “Geometrical Figures” will serve as an example of such classification;

Plane

Rectilinear
- Trilateral
- Quadrilateral
- Multilateral

Curvilinear
- Circular
- Elliptic
- Parabolic
- Hyperbolic

Solid

Rectilinear
- Tetrahedral
- Pentahedral
- Sextahedral, etc.

Curvilinear
- Spherical
- Conical
- Cylindrical
- Paraboloidal

In the above illustration we have the smallest class of figures grouped according to its most positive quality; this group raised to the respective class of Plane or Solid, as the case may be; and this last class included in the general class of “Figures.” One having at hand this table, would have a complete index of his mental images representing the various forms included in the general class of “Geometrical Figures.” He would have a map or diagram of his knowledge of the subject; it being understood that each of the above terms must be accompanied by a clear mental concept of each figure—a dear “meaning” of each, capable of being stated in the terms of logical definition.

The ideal theoretical system of classification would really be that in which each article was classified according to all its characteristics, its uses, its possible combinations, its associations, its relations, etc. Such a system, however, would be well nigh impossible; and, for that matter, would be far too complex and cumbersome for ordinary practical use. But you should not lose sight of the general principle, nevertheless.

The ideal for practical use would be a classification showing: (1) every possible use or end to which a certain thing might be applied, employed or directed; and (2) every possible thing which might be applied, employed, or directed to a certain use or end. The nearer you approach to this ideal, in your work of classification of the things concerned with, connected with or related to the general subject of your Definite Purpose and Definite Ideal, the better will be your chances of the successful achievement of that purpose, the successful realization of that ideal.

It is said that a certain eminent inventor possesses a very complete index, and series of cross-indexes, of nearly everything concerned with the general field in which he is working. For instance, he has lists showing (1) all the discovered uses to which each and every such thing has been put; the discovered effects of its combinations with other things; the things most nearly related to or resembling it; and, (2), each and every such thing which has been discovered to be possible of use, employment and effect in the direction of producing or effecting a certain result, effect, combination or composition. In short, he has the cause-relations and the effect-relations of every object on his list, noted and classified, indexed and cross-indexed.

When this inventor wishes to know the possible causes of a desired effect, he turns to his indexes, and the information is at hand. Likewise, when he wishes to know the possible results and effects related to a particular thing, he puts his hand on the information in the same way. The list is kept checked up and posted by a corps of assistants who note the reports contained in the scientific journals, etc., and also the results of their employer’s own original experiments. He has built up, and maintained, a veritable encyclopaedia of information relating to the things concerned with his own particular line of work. Consequently, he not only has a wealth of valuable information on hand, but he also saves an immense amount of time and labor when he is engaged in actual experimental and inventive work.

While the illustrated instances above cited represent extreme cases, yet they serve to bring out the principle involved. It is not expected that you should undertake any such elaborate system of classification; yet you should not fail to employ its general principle to the highest degree of which you are capable, or which you find possible under the circumstances. All else being equal, the person who has (1) the greatest store of concepts or mental images concerning the general subject of his Definite Purpose and Definite Ideal; and who (2) has that material the most thoroughly classified and indexed, either in his memory or mechanically; that person will manifest the highest degree of success in his work of Constructive Imagination.

You will do well to impress upon your memory all new facts arranged according to their logical classification. You will do well also to use your pencil in making written lists of the things involved in your creative work. In short, in every possible manner and by every possible method seek to (1) Acquire concepts, ideas, or mental images related to your Definite Purpose and Definite Ideals; and then (2) Classify these concepts, ideas, or mental images according to a definite, logical, scientific plan, so that you may find them easily and quickly when you need them in the work of Constructive Imagination. With well-selected materials, in sufficient amount and stored away systematically so that you may “put your hand on them” when needed, you will have progressed very far on the road to the achievement of your Definite Purpose and Definite Ideal by the processes of the Constructive Imagination.

Now then, when you have (1) acquired the concepts, ideas, or mental images related to your Definite Purpose and Definite Ideal; have (2) ascertained and thoroughly apprehended the full meaning of each of these items of material; and have (3) properly classified, indexed, and charted them so that you have The Mental Laboratory them arranged for efficient reference; what have you at your command?

In the first place, you have compiled what may be called a “Thesaurus” of your Image-Ideas. A “Thesaurus” is, “A treasury, or repository: the term often applied to a comprehensive reference work, a lexicon, containing lists of words arranged according to the ideas or concepts which they express.” A Dictionary contains a list of words, with the definition of each— the statement of the idea or concept which each expresses. A Thesaurus, on the other hand, contains lists of words arranged in groups, each group representing a certain general idea or concept which its several particular words express. When you wish to know the meaning of a word or term, you consult your Dictionary. When you wish to find the several words or terms expressing a certain idea or concept, you consult your Thesaurus; discovering there the term denoting the general class of ideas or concepts which you have in mind, you find arranged opposite it the several particular words or terms employed to express that class of ideas or concepts.

In the Thesaurus of Image-Ideas which you have compiled, you will find the image-ideas related to, or associated with, the general idea or concept which you are employing in your work of Constructive Imagination. The smaller classes are grouped into greater classes, and these into still greater, and so on and so on, until under your Central Image-Idea you will find classified and grouped each and every particular related or associated image-idea. Stop a moment, and consider how valuable such a Thesaurus of Image-Ideas will be to you, or to any thinker, discoverer, investigator, researcher, or inventor, or business man, in the work of Constructive Imagination! The individual here performs his creative work surrounded by all the materials which he will require—all at hand!

Employing another illustrative figure of speech, we may say that, by following the previously mentioned plan of the collection and classification of the materials of image-ideas, you have built and stocked for yourself a great and valuable Mental Laboratory. You have proceeded upon the same general plan as that employed by scientists in the creation of their experimental laboratories. In these laboratories—their workshops in which these scientists perform their experimental work—are to be found the various elements which, when combined in certain arrangements and proportions, produce the sought-for synthetic compositions. The scientist in his laboratory, and in his actual work, follows the Same general plan which you are to follow in your experimental work along the lines of Constructive Imagination, i. e., he tries first this combination, and then that one, until he reaches the best working combination—the most satisfactory composition.

It is stated that Edison has perfected a similar laboratory, which he employs in his work of creative invention. It is reported that, several years ago, he proceeded to test out every conceivable substance which seemed at all possible of being used as a filament for the electric-light bulb; and that, step by step, by experiment after experiment, employing the process of test, trial, elimination, and selection, he finally settled upon the best possible known substance for that special purpose.

Luther Burbank is said to conduct his experimental work in Plant Creation in a similar way: he tests, trys, experiments; combines, separates, eliminates; and finally, selects and preserves the “fittest.”

Moreover, Nature, herself, in her creative evolutionary processes, is discovered to proceed along the same general lines; the history of Natural Evolution is but a record of ages-long series of experiments, tests, combinations, adaptations, and “natural selection,” ending in the “survival of the fittest” for the particular purpose at each particular stage of the process. The plan is but the taking of a leaf from the Book of Nature—it is based upon the sound, fundamental principles of Natural Creation.

Herbert Spencer once thought out a plan whereby the patterns for fabrics, woven, knitted, or printed, and for wall papers and other decorative material, might be easily and systematically discovered or created by means of the same general plan to which we have referred, and which is followed in laboratory work. His plan was that of combination and re-combination of certain elemental patterns, figures, and designs according to a definite and systematic plan of test for desirable combinations and conjunctions. He said concerning this plan: “Could there not be a methodical use of components of designs, so that relatively few ideas should, by modes of combination, be made to issue in multitudinous products? And could not this be so done that draughtsmen might produce them with facility, the system serving, as it were, not as a physical kaleidoscope, but as a mental kaleidoscope?”

Elmer Gates, the psychologist-inventor, is stated to have made many of his important discoveries and inventions in precisely the way indicated in our preceding consideration of Effective Constructive Imagination—the method of combining the elements of previously classified concepts and images. In fact, he is said to attribute his success in his inventive work directly to the psychological methods based upon this general principle, which he had previously worked out and systematized.

It is stated that Professor Gates has secured practically all of his many important discoveries and inventions in electricity and accoustics—his special branches of inventive work—in just this way. He is said to have spent several years and much money in acquiring the materials for his list of concept-images which formed the elements of his constructive work in these branches. He is reported to have worked with a list of about 2,000 simple concept-images in electricity alone, from which he has produced about 15,000 complex idea-images. In acoustics, he is said to have worked with over 3,000 simple concept-images, from which he has evolved nearly 10,000 complex idea-images. Many believe that his methods and ideas, when finally known and adopted, will work a revolution in the world of inventive thought.

The general plan of the Mental Laboratory, or of the Mental Thesaurus, which we have outlined for you in this section of this book, is applicable not only for the inventor, the investigator, the researcher, but for the business man, the clerk, the salesman, the stenographer, or the worker in each and every line of business, trade or profession. The principle is universal and may be applied in every field of human endeavor and industry. In fact, it is not too much to say that some of the elements of this plan have been consciously or unconsciously employed by every individual who has worked his way up from a subordinate position to one of authority and command.

The essence and substance of the general idea is the gathering up and storing away of as many as possible of the facts associated with the work in which you are engaged—the ideas of the things likely to be needed at some time in that work—so that you may have them within easy mental reach at such times in which you have need for them. The task is two-fold, viz., (1) the task of acquiring the necessary concepts, ideas and mental images in question; and (2) the logical, scientific classification and filing away of these facts, concepts and ideas, so that you may be able to “put your finger on them” easily and quickly when you have need for them. The individual who will saturate himself with these essential facts, and who will classify and store them away for future use, is certain to reap his reward of success, appreciation and achievement in his particular line of work.

Now then, let us proceed in the following section of this book to the consideration of the final steps or stages of the processes of Constructive Imagination; in them is performed the work of combination, adaptation, arrangement and composition of the elements or image-ideas which form the “stock in trade” of your Mental Laboratory.

The Laws Of Invention

Having accumulated a sufficient store of idea-image materials, selected according to the principle of probable value in your work of Constructive Imagination, with the intent of achieving your Definite Purpose and Definite Ideal; and having classified these materials according to logical order or special relations of use, etc.; you are now ready to proceed to the task of combining, adjusting, adapting and creating these materials into new images, ideas or concepts, according to new plans of association, correlation or coordination.

You should never lose sight of the fact that all work of Constructive Imagination consists of joining together things already known—but in new combinations and orders of arrangement, correlation, or coordination. All great inventions are the result of evolution in recombination. We may trace the history of the evolution of the electric telegraph, the telephone, the electric light, the steam engine, the automobile, etc., through their many stages. Someone invented some simple recombination, but was unable to complete the task. Another added some new recombination; still another discovered an improvement; and so on, until at the last, some inventor by a bold stroke of Constructive Imagination effected a more complete recombination, adding some new and important combinations, and the invention was perfected. No, not perfected fully; for in after years many other “improvements” were added, and the simple thing grew into greater perfection.

In the Field Museum, in Chicago, at one time were exhibited a series of models showing the evolutionary history of the locomotive. From the simplest and crudest beginning, the invention was traced along the course of its history, each decided improvement being shown. It was almost impossible at first to realize that the crude contrivances, the clumsy machines representing the first attempts, were the actual ancestors of the latest and most improved types of the modern locomotive— but such was the fact. In this connection, it is interesting to note that some of these earlier types were as truly the ancestors of the automobile, as of the locomotive.

The rapid progress in the late stages of the evolution of the modern automobile from the crude “horseless carriage” of a quarter-century further back, is a matter of personal knowledge to the middle-aged man of today. But the automobile had a much earlier history, as you may see by reading the article upon “Automobiles, in any good encyclopedia. It may surprise you to learn that as far back as 1802 a steam road-carriage was driven from Cambridge to London, England—a distance of over 90 miles.

It is said that the inflated rubber tire of the bicycle was an important factor in the rapid development of the modern automobile; and that the improvements in the gasoline engines, made possible by the development of the automobile, solved the great difficulty in the case of “flying machines,” and thus made possible the modern aeroplane. Here you have typical examples of the “recombination” principle in Constructive Imagination. The history of the evolution of the telephone is also worth study in this connection; look it up in some standard encyclopedia.

Ribot says concerning this fact of the evolution of inventions: “Mechanical and industrial imagination, like esthetic imagination, has its preparatory period, its zenith and decline: the periods of the precursors, of the great inventors, and of mere perfecters. At first a venture is made, effort is wasted with small result,— the man has come too early, or he lacks clear vision. Then a great imaginative mind arises, blossoms; after him, the work passes into the hands of pupils, imitators, or perfecters, who add, abridge, modify. Such is the order.”

The history of the application of steam as a power for operating machinery is a long one; its beginnings are found in the Eolipile of Hero of Alexandria, its critical and thrilling period is found in the work of Newcomen and Watt, its period of fruit-bearing lies in the present. The history of time-keeping, or time-measuring, instruments furnishes us with another example of the evolutionary progress of invention. First, came the simple Clepsydra, or water-clock, in which time was measured by the flow of water; then came a water-gauge causing a hand to move around a dial; the two hands, indicating hours and minutes, respectively. Then came a great improvement, i. e., the addition of weights, by means of which the Clepsydra became a true clock; this improved clock was at first cumbersome and massive, but gradually became smaller and lighter. Then, Tycho-Brahe contrived a clock-form capable of measuring seconds of time. Then came another great improvement, i. e., Huygens’ invention of the spiral spring replacing the weights; the clock gradually evolved into the crude, large and cumbersome watch. The watch, in turn, by gradual steps evolved into the thin, small, and marvelously accurate modern watch.

Man observed the efficient natural instruments and implements of the lower animals—and began to improve upon them. He employed the models of the sharp cutting teeth of the rodents as the designs for his evolution of the axe, the chisel, the saw. From the woodpeckers, he borrowed the idea which he gradually worked out in the form of the auger, the gimlet, the wimble. From the tigers and other carnivorous animals, he took his model for his crude knives and other cutting implements. From the beaver, he learned how to make and use the trowel. From the claws of the digging animals, he evolved the idea of the hoe and the rake. From the fish’s fin, he secured the rudimentary idea of the oar. From the wing of the bird, he acquired his first idea of the sail. From the spinning insects, he learned the nature and use of the spindle and distaff. From these humble beginnings arose the marvelous array of the highly efficient implements, tools and machinery employed by civilized man today.

More than this: from his original weapons of offense and defense, the battle-axes and clubs, he evolved his tools of work such as the hatchet, the tree-cutting axe, the hammer. The lifting power of the battle-axe, or war-club, empirically discovered, gave him his first idea of the principle of the lever. The use of the rude sail developed the idea of the wind-mill; the rolling log in the water suggested the water-wheel to him— the water-wheel, first employed to grind grain, afterward was used to saw wood, lift heavy materials, move great hammers. From these rude applications of natural power, he gradually developed the higher and more complex forms now in common use. The use of the horse and the ox to pull trees and logs, itself an adaptation, gradually evolved into the use of these animals to pull chariots and wagons; these in turn were the beginnings of the motor-vehicles of today.

Ribot says: “Every invention, great and small, before becoming a fixed and realized thing, was first an imagined idea, a mere contrivance of the brain, an assembly of new combinations or new relations. In inventions, man has imagined to a great extent. By the very law of the complexity of inventions, all inventions are found to be grafted upon one another. In all the useful arts, improvements have been so slow, and so gradually wrought, that each one of them passed unperceived, without leaving its author the credit for its discovery. The immense majority of inventions are anonymous—some great names alone survive. But, whether individual or collective, Imagination remains Imagination. In order that the plow, at first a single piece of wood hardened by the fire and pushed along by human hand, should become what it is today, through a long series of modifications described in special works, who knows how many imaginations have labored! In the same way, the uncertain flame of a resinous branch, guided vaguely in the night, leads us through a long series of inventions to gas and electric lighting. All objects, even the most ordinary and now common, that now serve in our ordinary, every-day life, are ‘condensed Imagination’.”

One is impressed by the striking analogy between the processes of Invention, as just described, and the processes of “grafting” in horticulture. Horticultural “grafting” is defined as: “The process of taking a shoot or scion cut from one tree or shrub, and inserting it in a vigorous stock of its own or a closely allied species, so as to cause them to unite, and thus to cause the graft to derive a larger supply of nutritive power than it could otherwise obtain.”

By reference to the history of any invention—we have given actual illustrations of several—you will see that the new idea-image always is grafted upon the stock of some older idea-image. The new contrivance is the graft of a new contrivance upon an earlier contrivance either of Nature or of Man. Nature also is seen to proceed in the same way in her processes of Creative Evolution.

Bergson tells us that “Creation” and “Evolution” are but two names for the same universal creative process: all Creation is Evolution and all Evolution is Creation. He says: “A great creative process is in progress, sweeping everything along in its course. The actual present is all existence gathered up in this creative process. The past is also gathered up into it, exists in it, is carried along in it, as it presses forward toward the future. It is an unceasing becoming, which preserves the past and creates the future. It is Creative Evolution—a process in which Past, Present, and Future are involved.”

Psychologists and philosophers alike are in agreement concerning the fundamental fact that even the highest forms of Constructive Imagination are dependent upon the raw materials of reproduced sense-experiences; and that Constructive Imagination can build only with these materials, for it has no others with which to build. But this fact has been over-emphasized—in some cases to even such an extent that the term “creative” has been tacitly denied to even the highest activities of the Constructive Imagination. This particular view is too often presented as “the whole truth,” the other half of which must be supplied in order to perfect the whole. We ask you to consider the following statements expressing and illustrating the opposing viewpoints; for we wish you to perceive the truth in both of its aspects, and thus see the thing as it is.

Thought from the first of these two respective viewpoints furnishes the report that even the most efficient Constructive Imagination is “tied to the stake of perception by a cord of greater or less strength.” In this view, the Imagination is held to be entirely dependent for its working materials upon the perceptions arising from sense-experience. Those holding to this view argue that, because of this fact, the Imagination is not truly a “creative” power; that, inasmuch as it does not create its own materials, and must draw its materials from outside of its own realm, it does not truly “create,” but merely “puts together,” in more or less new combination, the materials which it obtains from without. Say these reasoners, the Imagination is entirely dependent upon outside materials for its constructive work; it is limited to the materials obtained through the experience of its owner, or those of others.

These thinkers point out that the Imagination is like a builder who uses the material of a disorderly pile of bricks in order to build a fine house; or like the watchmaker who puts together the numerous parts of the intricate timekeeper; or like the artisan who; employing masses of metal, makes an engine, a sewing machine, a bicycle. Carrying this idea to its logical conclusion, we may say (as one writer points out) that: “Thus a painting is a mere combination of forms and colors; an oratorio, of sounds; an epic poem, of words or ideas previously existing in the mind. The elements of a poem like ‘Paradise Lost’—its streams, flowers, angels and deities—were all in the mind of the poet before he began to write, and all that Imagination did was to combine them into one harmonious whole.” In short, in this view, Imagination is merely the power of combination— it does not include the true creative element; its materials are previously existent—all that Imagination does it to put them together.

Thought from the second viewpoint furnishes a somewhat different report—its argument being more or less of the nature of what in legal procedure is known as a “demurrer.” A “demurrer” (in plain language) asks the question: “Well, even admitting that what you say is so—what of it? The “demurrer” asks judgment on this point: whether the matter alleged by the opposite party, even assuming it to be true, is sufficient in law to sustain the action or the defense, as the case may be.

Say this set of reasoners: We admit that the Imagination does not “create something out of nothing”; and that its creative work is performed by combining, arranging, adapting, or weaving the raw materials furnished by perception, apperception and experience. But is this not true of all other kinds of creative work of which the human mind has any knowledge? Does the human mind know of anything having been “made from nothing?” Can it form a conception of any such happening? Is not the term “creative” a statement of the act of putting-together, combining, manufacturing, making, composing, constituting “something from other things”? If this be so—and it is beyond question true—then the opposing side is merely quibbling over the meaning of a word and are not dealing with facts!

These thinkers say further: The opposite side has told but a half-truth—not the whole truth; that which is withheld is as important as that which has been stated. Every work of art, every process of reasoning, every product of hand, brain, reason, imagination, or their combinations, is a composition, a joining, a fusing, a welding, a putting-together. Sounds are combined in music; words are combined in a poem; colors are combined in a painting; but do sounds, words, and colors alone make these productions works of art? Shakespeare’s immortal works are, in this view, but aggregations of letters of the alphabet; but did Shakespeare play no part in the creation—was he not a creator of his works? The omitted portion of the truth is this: It is not alone the materials employed in the construction, but also the manner in which these materials are combined, arranged, and put together, that constitutes the creation. As a writer has said: “This power of ideal conception which uses these dead elements to express its living ideals, is the work of the Constructive Imagination!”

Brooks gives us the essence and spirit of this second viewpoint, in the following able statement made many years ago:

“Imagination can combine objects of sense into new forms, but it can do more than this. The objects of sense, in most cases, are merely the materials with which Imagination works. Imagination is a plastic power, moulding the things of sense into new forms to express its ideals; and it is these ideals that constitute the real products of Imagination. The objects of the material world are to it like clay in the hands of the potter; it shapes them into forms according to its own ideals of grace and beauty. He who sees no more than a mere combination in the great creations of the Imagination, misses the essential element, and elevates into significance that which is merely incidental.”

You will readily see that here, as in many other cases, the truth of the matter is found only in the reconciliation of the two opposing sides; each side voices a half-truth—the whole truth is found by uniting the two halves. It is true that the Imagination must do its work by employing the materials of perception, apperception, and experience; but there is the marvelous “combining power” required to “put together” these elements, factors, and parts of the material so furnished. A child has the necessary twenty-six letters plainly marked on its alphabet building-blocks; but it might try for eternity to compose a “Paradise Lost,” one of Shakespeare’s Plays, a Synthetic Philosophy, an Emerson’s Essay, or a work on the Higher Mathematics, by means of an accidental “putting together” of those letters! It needs that “something else” to accomplish the task; and that “something else” is the discriminating, selecting, combining faculties and powers of the efficient Constructive Imagination!

Finally, there is another element usually involved in the higher products of the Constructive Imagination. In the processes of the Constructive Imagination, just as in many of Nature’s subtle processes, the work of “creation” is accomplished, not by the mere more or less purposive “setting in place” of separate bits of material, as, for example in the building of a toy-house with the materials of building-blocks, or of a card house with a pack of playing cards; there is often, rather, a “fusing” of material and its subsequent hardening, as, for instance, in the fusing of copper, tin and zinc, into the “new” metal called bronze; or the crystallization of the particles of water into ice. Water is “created” from particles of oxygen and hydrogen, but these two elements become fused by chemical action, and really form a new substance, not merely a “put together” mixture. Thus, things may be put together in such a subtle way as to constitute a new thing differing from either of its constituents.

A thing is often more than “the mere sum of its parts”—to this sum must be added the new element of “mutual relation” or “working relation.” This new element figures largely in the creative processes of Constructive Imagination. Thus, King Milanda’s Chariot, in the ancient Buddhist story, consisted not alone of its several parts, but also of the arrangement, mutual relations, and working unity of those parts—these last-mentioned elements being supplied by the Constructive Imagination of the designer of the chariot. Again, the color, Green, is composed of Yellow and Blue—yet Green is a true color, differing from either of its compositive parts, or from both of them when not united.

Ribot says: “All creation whatever, great and small, shows an organic character; it implies a unifying, synthetic principle.” Colozza says: “We know nothing of a complex psychic production that remains simply the sum of its component elements, each preserving its own character, with no modifications. The natures of the components disappear in order to give birth to a novel phenomenon that has its own and particular features. The construction of the imaginative ideal is not a mere grouping of past experiences; in its totality it has its own individual characteristics, among which we no more see the composing lines than we see the components, oxygen and hydrogen, in water.” Wundt says: “In no scientific or artistic production does the whole appear as made up of its parts, like a mosaic.” Mill says that imaginative creations are cases of “mental chemistry”; the facts bear him out in the statement.

Neither should it be forgotten that a very high order of mental activity is manifested in every process of true Constructive Imagination. The mental powers of Comparison, Discrimination, Deliberation, Judgment, and Selection are involved in the higher processes of Constructive Imagination. The imaging powers produce and exhibit a great number of images, each of which is a candidate for the office which Constructive Imagination is striving to fill properly and adequately. Here we have another instance of the “struggle for existence,” and the “survival of the fittest.” Here, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Image after image is produced, examined, tested, and then either rejected or else either tentatively or permanently accepted.

The processes of Comparison, Deliberation, Discrimination, Selection, and Judgment are manifested in Constructive Imagination as truly as in the processes of the Will. Constructive Imagination selects its material quite as truly as does the builder of houses or bridges. Imperfect material is rejected, and doubtful material is subjected to a test or experiment. Constructive Imagination is not at the disposal of every image that appears in its field of mental vision: instead, it exercises its power and prerogative of choice and decision, as truly as do Reason and Will.

In fact, the presence of Logical Thought is manifest in the higher processes of Constructive Imagination, the two classes of mental activities being so closely interwoven in many cases that it is quite difficult to distinguish between them. Reason scrutinizes closely the images which present themselves as candidates for admission to the inner chambers of the mind. Many appear, but few are accepted. Only those are admitted which comparison determines to be fitted for the requirements of the purpose occupying the field of attention.

As a writer says: “The inventor never thinks harder than when he is comparing his images with each other, and rejecting the unfit. Thought also enables him to change an image in conformity with a certain plan.” Another says: “The predominance of the exact logical processes establishes from the outset the difference between the ‘imaginative dreamers’ and the ‘imaginative thinkers’.” Wundt, indeed, goes still further, when he lays down the rule that: “Imagination is, in reality, a thinking in particular sense ideas; as such it is the source of all logical or conceptual thought.” And a leading teacher says: “The man who does not think in images will never be a clear thinker, and those who are compelled to follow him are to be pitied!’

Thus, you see, that just as in your Logical Thought you should avail yourself of the powers of Constructive Imagination, so in the processes of Constructive Imagination you should always endeavor to coordinate the powers of Logical Thought with those of the strictly imaginative faculties.

Creative Composition

The General Rule tells you to: “Weigh the various factors one against the other, taking into consideration the associated and related values of each in the general idea, plan or purpose. Determine in this way which are the primary factors involved; which are the secondary; and which are the lesser values. Concentrate on the prime factors, and make these the central points in your process of Constructive Imagination—the focal centres around which you purpose grouping the associated factors or elements.”

The General Rule also tells you then to: “Experiment by tentatively placing the secondary factors in association with and relation to the prime factors, regardless of how improbable and incongruous at first may seem such association and relation. Around the letter “A” build alphabet-block combinations of the letters B, C, D, E, F, G, etc., blocks, to see if they make sense, or if they suggest anything of rational meaning to you. Discard all combinations that seem lacking in utility—but only after actually making the test and experiment. When there are several apparently satisfactory, or fairly promising combinations, weigh these one against the other to determine their comparative values, discarding the lesser values, and retaining the greater, until you have secured the survival of the fittest. Then proceed to test out the lesser factors in the same way, working out all the details of the plan.”

In the above-stated principles of the General Rule there is condensed the statement of the general methods employed by Man in all of his inventive processes, from past time to the present—and in fact, the methods seemingly employed by nature herself. There is, therefore, nothing entirely new in the method. The “newness,” however, is there: it consists of the fact that Man has discovered how to apply this method consciously, deliberately, systematically and scientifically, instead of blindly, instinctively, hap-hazardly, and in a hit-or-miss manner. Modern psychology has simply harnessed this mental process, and now drives it under perfect control. Thus, the old method becomes a new one, because applied in a new way.

The old-new method has been given several names. Perhaps the name, “Creative Composition” fits it as well as any, so we shall employ it here. “Composition” means: “The act of composing, putting together, joining together, uniting, associating, correlating.” “Creative Composition,” then, means: “The act of recomposing, recombining, readapting, rearranging, or newly putting together the mental image-ideas of Man or of Nature, in the process of Constructive Imagination proceeding toward the achievement of a Definite Purpose and the realization of a Definite Ideal.”

In Creative Composition, you begin with the building materials of mental image-ideas which you have gathered together and arranged according to a convenient and efficient classification. For the purpose of a familiar illustration of the scientific principle involved, let us ask you to think of these building materials of mental image-ideas as resembling the familiar building-blocks of childhood.

You have the general idea of your Definite Purpose and Definite Ideal before you. You perceive clearly the obstacle which you wish to overcome; the new means to an old end, or new ends for old means; the bridge which you wish to build over the space separating the two sides of the stream of Ideas. How shall you proceed to accomplish these ends by means of your imaginative building-blocks? The answer is: Simply as the child proceeds when he wishes to build the structure which he has in mind, i. e., by taking up the various building-blocks of various sizes and forms, and experimenting with them. The child puts this block alongside of that block, and finding that the combination will not answer, he continues to make new and still newer combinations, until at last he discovers the combination that will work.

If you will examine the history of inventions and scientific discoveries, you will find that the great triumphs in these respective fields have been made in just this way. The two terms “Experiment” and “Experience” are closely connected; both have the same origin—both spring from the Latin word “experior,” meaning, “to try.” Experiment is a trial or test made with the hopes of discovery. Experience is the knowledge gained from experiments. All inventions, all scientific discoveries, all results of Constructive Imagination, proceed along the line of Experiment, trial, tests, “putting this and that together” to “discover how it will work.” This is the whole story, told in a few words.

In working toward the achievement of your Definite Purpose and Definite Ideal through the Constructive Imagination, you must “put this and that together,” along the lines of experiment, trial and test. You must arrange your imaginative building-blocks, first in this new combination, and then in that one; you must at times even break apart some of the blocks, using portions of them to add to others, and thus to form new combinations. You must proceed with the idea that: “Somewhere in these blocks there abides the certainty of a successful combination; and it is ‘up to me’ to find it.” In your imaginative building-blocks there is hidden the secret of the exact combination for which you are seeking; you can discover this only by experiment; and if you continue to experiment faithfully and intelligently you will surely discover the solution of the problems.

Here is the process reduced to a familiar illustrative formula: You have twenty-six imaginative “alphabet blocks” before you for your experiment, each block having a letter of the alphabet stamped on its face, from “A” to “Z,” inclusive. You start by taking the “A” block and combining it with the “B” block, then the “C” block, and so on until the “Z” block is reached. If the desired combination is not reached in this way, you begin with the “B” block and test it with all the blocks from “C” on to the end of the list. Then try the combination of the “C” block with all the others, in turn, from “D” downward. By continuing this process sufficiently long, you will exhaust the possibilities of the two-letter combinations.

If necessary, you may then proceed to experiment with the three-letter combinations, following the same general rule. Then, if necessary, proceed with the four-letter combinations, in the same way. And so on, if the desired result is not obtained, until the blocks have been tried and tested in every possible combination or arrangement, order and sequence.

By this process (extended to its utmost limits), you will in turn have formed the combination of every one of the many thousands of words in the largest English Dictionary. Stop to think of it for a moment: Every word in any or all of the great dictionaries is made up and composed of combinations of certain of 26 letters—no more. And a list of new words, exceeding in number the known words, could be composed and made-up in the same way.

But, of course, in the actual practice of Creative Composition, you will not be faced with so formidable and so complicated a task as that above illustrated. Your combinations will be far more simple, owing to the fact that your imaginative image-ideas are classified properly. For instance: if you wish to conjoin your “house” block with your several “building material” blocks, you have but to go to your “building material” compartment, and Creative Composition pick out the following respective “building material” blocks, i. e., “brick,” “stone,” “wood,” “iron,” “steel,” “concrete,” etc. If you wish to form a combination between the image-idea of some utensil and some undetermined particular kind of metal, you have but to test your “metallic utensil” block with each of the following “metal-class” blocks, i. e., “iron,” “copper,” “gold,” “silver,” “nickel,” “zinc,” “platinum,” “lead,” “tin,” “antimony,” “manganese,” “mercury,” “aluminum,” “cobalt,” “tungsten,” etc.

If you wish to associate your image-idea of a textile fabric with that of some particular kind of textile material not yet decided upon, you have but to test out the respective blocks of “cotton,” “flax,” “hemp,” “jute,” “linen,” “wool,” “silk,” etc., until the desired combination is discovered. If you wish to employ a geometrical form, you will take out each of the image-idea blocks named in our diagram of Geometrical Figures in a preceding section of this book, until you discover the one best suited for the purpose.

If you wish to invent or to discover some new particular color, you need but to take out the three blocks of the Three Primary Colors, i. e., Red, Blue, and Yellow, and then by experimental combinations, employing shade and tint agencies, you will in time reach any possible tint, shade or hue in the great world of colors. Nature has proceeded in just this way, for she has made a world of almost infinite variety of material things, by the combination and “Creative Composition” of about eighty elements of material substance, these in turn having been created and recombined from still more elementally material.

As we have said, all inventions and discoveries have been made in just this way, viz., by the process of Creative Composition. The locomotive is a combination of “wagon,” certain mechanical agencies and appliances, “stove,” “tea-kettle” and “engine.” The automobile is the combination of “wagon,” “stove,” “gas,” “explosion,” “engine,” and certain mechanical contrivances. The wagon was the primary building block of both locomotive and automobile. The wagon, in turn is but the combination of wheel, axle, and body; the wheel itself being an evolution from the rolling log.

The aeroplane is but a combination of “kite,” “engine,” and “propeller”—all old ideas formed by Creative Composition into a new one. The steamboat is but the idea of “boat,” plus “steam-engine” and “mill-wheels.” The primitive boat, itself, was but the combination of “floating log,” plus the idea of “hollowing-out.” The farm-tractor now employed in plowing, etc., is but the combination of “plow’” and “automobile.” The plow itself was the combination of the image-idea of “hard sharpened stick,” and magnified “spear-head” or “battle-axe.”

In short, every contrivance of Man, every tool, every instrument, every utensil, every article designed for use, of each and every kind, will be found to have been evolved from very simple beginnings along the line of experimentation and Creative Composition. Every thing made by Man is “put together,” made up of material parts; and the idea of every such thing is “made up” of simpler and more elemental ideas, united and combined in Creative Composition. This is the only way in which Man has ever invented or contrived anything; and this is always the way in which you must proceed in your work of Constructive Imagination. The truth of the matter is so simple that most persons entirely overlook it: you have possibly never thought of it until you now have it presented to you in this book—and this without any reflection on your intelligence, we assure you.

But here is an important point. While Man has always employed this principle in his inventive and creative work, he has done so almost entirely instinctively and unconsciously— and with an almost entire absence of scientific system and logical order. Now that modern psychology has uncovered the process for us—has taken off the cover so that we may see “how the thing works,” and “how the wheels go ’round”—we may hope for much more effective and efficient exercise of the power of the Constructive Imagination in the future. Already a number of great inventors and scientific investigators have taken advantage of the new teaching of psychology concerning this phase of mental operation, and they have thereby attained results far superior to those possible under the old hit-or-miss methods.

Artists and writers, also, employ the same general methods of Creative Composition, though in most cases in a more or less haphazard and instinctive way. The various characters, situations, scenes and combinations of pictures, stories and plays, are gathered together from a comparatively small list of elements—the great variety of results arising from the many possible combinations and arrangements of these few elements. If this seems incredible to you, you have but to remember the almost infinite number of possible combinations of the 26 letters of the alphabet—the largest dictionary contains only a small proportion of the possible word-creations by such combinations. Again, from 52 playing cards, are derived all of the numerous combinations of “hands” dealt out in card games—in many games, in fact, a smaller number of cards is used.

That modern writers are turning this principle of Creative Composition to practical account is evident to those who study the advertising columns of magazines devoted to the writing craft. For instance, there is advertised a book for story-writers called “The 36 Dramatic Situations,” which is described as follows: “A catalogue of all the possible situations that the many relations of life offer to the writer. The author has read and analyzed thousands of plays and novels, and resolved their basic story material into fundamental categories. A true philosophic consideration, but practical in every respect, that makes available to every writer all the possible material that life offers him.” Again, there is advertised a book called “The Fiction Factory,” which is described as follows: “A writer who wrote thousands of stories and made thousands of dollars by setting up a story-mill, tells how he did it, and gives a record of his work in this instructive, stimulating book. * * * It should be in the hands of everyone interested in how authors do their work.” You may smile at these advertisements, and shrug your shoulders—but you buy and read the stories so composed.

Jack London, the popular novelist, in his story of “Martin Eden” (which many regard as being largely autobiographical) pictures his hero as busily engaged in writing “newspaper storiettes” for the syndicates which supply them to the newspapers in all parts of the country. These productions were what are known as “pot boilers,” of course—written hastily to meet the popular demand and to gratify the popular taste. Martin had not yet arrived at the place and time where his more finished, more subtle, and more realistic efforts were appreciated by readers and accepted by publishers.

London pictures Martin busily engaged in reading over his rejected storiettes, and thus finding out how not to write such productions, as well as “just how” to write them. He found out what to put in, and what to leave out. In this way he worked out a perfect formula. This formula consisted of three parts, viz., (1) A pair of lovers jarred apart; (2) They are united by some deed or event; (3) Wedding bells. He reached the conclusion that the third part was an unvarying quantity; but that the first and second parts could be varied an infinite number of times.

The application of the formula, in London’s own words, was as follows: “Thus, the pair of lovers could be jarred apart by misunderstood motives; by accident or fate; by jealous rivals; by irate parents; by crafty guardians; by scheming relatives; and so on and so forth. They could be reunited by the brave deed of the man-lover; by a similar deed of the woman-lover; by change of heart in one lover or the other; by forced confessions of a crafty guardian, scheming relative, or jealous rival; by voluntary confession of same; by lover storming girl’s heart; by lover making long and noble self-sacrifices; and so on, endlessly. It was very fetching to make the girl propose in the course of being united, and Martin discovered, bit by bit, other decidedly piquant and fetching ruses. But marriage bells at the end was the one thing that he could take no liberties with.”

The author relates that Martin soon worked out half a dozen stock forms, which he always consulted when constructing storiettes. “These forms,” he adds, “were like the cunning tables used by the mathematicians, which may be entered from top, bottom, right, and left, which entrances consist of scores of lines and dozens of columns, and from which may be drawn, without reasoning or thinking, thousands of different conclusions, all unchallengeably precise and true. Thus, in the course of half an hour, with his forms, Martin could frame up a dozen or more storiettes, which he put aside and filled in at his convenience. * * * The real work was in constructing the frames, and that was merely mechanical. * * * He had no doubt whatever of the efficacy of his formula. * * * His machine-made storiettes, though he hated them and derided them, were successful.”

We have also read the story of the early life of a great painter of whom it is told that in order to keep the wolf from the door he painted stock pictures for the trade-pictures bearing a fictitious name—which were designed for sale at the popular auction houses of that time. He could paint such pictures in a day or two—sometimes in a few hours, in fact—and, in spite of their hasty preparation, they showed signs of merit and skill (if not of genius), and appealed to the taste of those attending the auction sales; they sold well and served to keep the pot boiling. His main difficulty was that of providing subjects for his pencil and brush; so he set to work to overcome this difficulty. Like Martin Eden, he discovered a formula—he invented a system.

He prepared a series of cardboard disks; upon each disk he wrote the name of some main element or detail of a picture. The four seasons each were thus noted—each suggesting the associated facts of scenery. Mills, meadows, hills, mountains, the sea, lakes, forests, etc., each were noted down. Thus he had at his disposal several hundred elements or details of a popular picture. He made a great combination wheel of his disks, so arranged that when he gave the wheel a twirl, it would finally come to rest with a number of details appearing directly under the arrow point placed just over the top of the wheel. Thus he would read, for instance: “Autumn,” “hill,” “lake,” “old-mill,” etc., etc., and he would then have the general subject of his picture—the details and treatment to be supplied from “fancy,” inclination, and the mood of the moment. In this way he avoided too marked monotony, too much repetition, and, above all, too much time and thought expended upon hunting for subjects.

“Sordid”—“mere mechanical construction”—“prostitution of talent”—you may say. Well, perhaps so; yet the plan accomplished the purpose, and overcame the obstacles—in each case it served as a stepping-stone to better things. The real fault was in the cheapness and superficiality of the work— in its absence of animating “spirit”—not in the mechanism of arranging and combining details. For even the greatest artist and writer must have his “mechanism,” as well as his “genius” and “inspiration.” You would be surprised to learn how laboriously the materials and the combinations of the great artists, writers and playwrights, are obtained and conjoined. You see only the finished product—you lose sight of the mental mechanism which built it up. Yet that mechanism is always there—it must be there. Art serves to conceal it, but not to dispense with it. The machinery is always present and active—though there be also present “the god in the machine.” Even God or Nature employs machinery in Creation!

We shall close our consideration of the methods of Efficient Constructive Imagination by reminding you that the General Rule finally tells you: “Having reached at least a fairly satisfactory working plan, idea, invention, or solution of your problem, you should then carefully detach yourself from it—you should move from your personal point of view, and try to see it as others will see it. Try to imagine the effect it will have on the persons whom you wish to be interested in your finished product; how it will meet with their requirements, satisfy their wants, arouse their desires for it, etc. Your own created conjunction, plan, method, design, or invention naturally will seem to you as the infant does to its mother—no mother is an unprejudiced critic of her own baby. You must see the thing as others see it, in order to arrive at an intelligent idea of the utility of your idea. You must use past experience, reason, judgment, discrimination and cool decision in this latter testing process.

The above statement speaks for itself, and is sufficiently comprehensive to stand alone. All that we wish to add is these few words: If your detached inspection and survey convinces you that your work will not fill the requirements of those for whom it is intended, then, back to the mental work-shop with it; you will be able to cure the defects, strengthen the weak points, and to reshape the form in accordance with “the heart’s desire” of Those-Who-Must-Be-Satisfied, by precisely the same methods already employed. Find out first what is required, then adapt these new factors to the old form by the same old method, and the desired result will be obtained. The principle is universal in its application, and will fit any case to which it is applied. It is as invariable as the Laws of Mathematics; but, like those Laws, it requires skill, patience, work and determination to apply it to difficult problems.

We can close our treatment of the subject of Efficient Constructive Imagination in no better way than by quoting the statement of Herbert Spencer, in which he attributes to Constructive Imagination the rank of “the highest intellectual faculty.” His statement follows: “Instead of Constructive Imagination being, as commonly supposed, an endowment peculiar to the poet and writer of fiction, it is questionable whether the man of science, truly so-called, does not possess even more of it. When Imagination rises into the constructive form, there is an ever-increasing originality which tells at once on the industrial arts, on science, and on literature.” Spencer might as truly have added: “and on business, on manufacturing, on selling, on distribution, or service of all kinds wherein wants are met, demands filled, obstacles overcome, and ‘thwarted purposes’ set aright.”

Without the power of Constructive Imagination, man will never be all that there is in him to be; never do all that is in him to do; never reach all that is in him to reach. “It lights up the whole horizon of thought, as the sunrise flashing along the mountain-top lights the world.”

The Art Of Creation

Passing on from the consideration of the more familiar forms of the application of Efficient Constructive Imagination, you are now asked to enter into a consideration of a still higher phase of that Creative Power which is a mode of manifestation of your Personal Power. Your Personal Power, in turn, is but a phase of the All-Power—that POWER in which you live and move and have your being, and which is that ALL which is in All-Things, and in which All-Things are. You are now asked to consider the subject of your Creative Power in its higher phases of manifestation.

Creation is an attribute of the highest Power of which you can have any knowledge, or of which you may dream. Whatever else the Supreme Power may be, or may not be, it must be conceived as Creative Power. The fact that the Power behind Creation must be Creative; and the fact that Creation must be the result of Power; must bring to the mind of the true thinker the conviction that in Creative Power is to be found Power in its most essential and elemental aspect. In Creation you participate with the Supreme Power!

To “create” is to “bring into being; to cause, to produce.” Man may be said apparently to create in several ways, yet at the last he is found to be able to create in only one essential way; and that one essential way in which he can create is found to be the way in which the Ultimate Creative Power proceeds in its own creative work. It will be well for you to become convinced of the essential and elemental nature of your own Creative Power, in order that you may realize the majesty and dignity of the forces and energies which you call into play and operation in your own creative activities.

First of all, you can create material objects by means of combining other material objects. Thus you bring into being houses, boats, railroads, shoes, and every other class of things which are manufactured or made from material things.

Secondly, you can create material things by changing the arrangement of the constituent parts of other material things, as for instance, you create butter by means of churning cream, or you create ice by freezing water.

Thirdly, you can create things by analysis or separation of the parts of other things, for instance, you create certain chemical substances by separating them from more complex substances of which they have formed a part; or you create a statue by cutting away the surrounding marble from about the form of the created thing.

The above classification will be found roughly to include practically all the forms and phases of creation with which you are most familiar. But we have omitted from it its most essential element—that element which constitutes the spirit of all of your creative work, namely the element of Mental Creation. At the last, all of the above-mentioned forms of creation are discovered to be merely the objectification of the subjective Mental Creation.

In the three forms of creation, above mentioned, you have merely employed the materials at hand, and formed new combinations with them. You brought none of these original materials into being. You merely found them in being and gave new objective forms to them. But how did you arrive at a knowledge of those forms which you afterward objectified? Here we come to the heart of the subject. The answer is: The forms of your creations, each, any, and all of them, existed in your mind before you objectified them. Your, creations, then, at the last, are seen to be Mental Creations in the sense that they were mentally designed and deliberately caused by you.

Of course, if you merely threw the materials together without any design, then you cannot be said to have mentally created the new thing—in that case the latter was created, not by you, but by the forces of Nature. This, also, would be the case in the event that you discovered a chemical process “by accident” and without design, or where you unwittingly set into operation some of Nature’s forces, and thereby called into appearance certain new forms, arrangements, separations or combinations. But wherever and whenever you have deliberately employed your Creative Power toward definite ends, then your first step and stage has been that of Mental Creation.

Everything that man has ever created, contrived, built, invented or manufactured has first been created in his mind as a Mental Image. The Brooklyn Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids, and also the simplest mechanical construction, each and all existed in the minds of their inventors, architects and builders before they took on objective form. There can be no such thing as constructive or creative work by man without the antecedent mental creation by means of mental images. Therefore, in its essential and elemental nature, all human creation is Mental Creation.

Philosophers have carried this idea up to the realm of metaphysics, and have asserted that we are compelled to think of the Supreme Creative Power as having first formed the mental image of the Universe before the form of the physical world could have come into being. More than this, they hold that the actual creation of the “materials” of the Universe must have been mental, because the material substance could not have been present until it was called into being by the mental forces—that, at the last, the material world is but a “materialization” of previously existing mental images or forms, and that the very work of the “materialization” was performed by mental powers and energies, for there were no material powers present and existent in the beginning.

Edward Carpenter illustrates this idea in the following statement contained in one of his books: “There is now a disposition to posit the mental world as nearer the basis of existence than is the material world, and to look upon material phenomena rather as the outcome and expression of the mental. In observing our own thoughts and actions and bodily forms coming into existence, we seem to come upon something which we may call a law of Nature, just as much as gravitation or any other law—the law, namely, that within ourselves there is a continued movement outwards, from feeling toward thought, and then to action; from the inner to the outer, from the vague to the definite; from the emotional to the practical; from the world of dreams to the world of actual things and what we call reality.

“We may fairly conclude that the same progress may be witnessed both in our waking thoughts and in our dreams—namely, a continual ebullition and birth going on within us, and an evolution out of the Mind-stuff of forms which are the expression and images of underlying feeling; that these forms, at first vague and undetermined in outline, rapidly gather definition and clearness and materiality, and press forward toward expression in the outer world. And we may fairly ask whether we are not here within our own minds witnessing what is really taking place everywhere and at all times—in other persons as well as in ourselves, and in the great Life which underlies and is the visible universe.

“You may say that there is no evidence that man ever produces a particle of Matter out of himself; and I will admit that this is so. But there is plenty of evidence that he produces shapes and forms: and if he produces shapes and forms that is all we need. For, what Matter is in the abstract no one has the least experience and knowledge. All that we know is that the things we see are shapes and forms of what we call Matter. And if (as is possible and indeed probable) Matter is of the same stuff as Mind—only seen and invisaged from the opposite side—then the shapes and forms of the actual world are the shapes and forms of Mind, thus projected for us mutually to witness and to understand.”

But we do not need to fall back upon metaphysical speculations in order to support our general contention that there is Mental Image back of every phase and form of Physical Creation. Throughout all Nature we may find striking instances and illustrations of the general principles that there is an “idea,” or “mental image or form,” present in all of Nature’s creative processes, from the formation of a crystal to the development of the forms of living creatures. The formation of a crystal; the development of the plant or tree from the seed; the evolution of the living form from the egg-cells; all of these reveal to us the fact that “idea” or “mental form” is immanent and involved in every process of birth and growth in Nature. This being perceived, we are justified in claiming that “All Creation is Mental Creation”—the materialization of a mental form, image, or idea.

Throughout all Nature we may perceive the presence of an Inner Image or Form which serves as the framework or pattern upon which Nature materializes her objective forms. These ideal forms have attracted the attention of the philosophers, and they have sought to account for their presence. From the time of Plato down to the present, philosophers have speculated concerning the nature and evident presence of these ideal forms upon which Nature builds her material shapes and structures. In the above quotation from Carpenter you will note the reference to “the evolution out of Mind-stuff of forms which are the expressions and images of underlying feeling; these forms, at first vague and undetermined in outline, rapidly gather definition, and clearness, and materiality, and press forward toward expression in the outer world.”

Paul Carus, a modern philosopher, also says: “All science consists in describing forms, and tracing their changes. All differences that we can scientifically comprehend are the forms of matter or energy. All that we can do or try to do is by molding and remolding things. Forms are the types of possible entities, and do not exist as such in the shape of material realities, but we cannot say that they are nonexistent, nor that they are nought. They are ‘may-bes’ or potentialities, and according to the law of their combination the things of the material world are molded. They are the factors which determine material reality; and in this sense pure forms are more important than are material and actual things. They are super-real, and their super-reality contains the norms of all existence. Pure Form looks like nonentity, and yet the laws of Pure Form are the factors that determine existence in all of its details. Pure Form conditions the Cosmic Order and governs the universe.”

The “Pure Form” of the philosophers is undoubtedly immaterial in its nature; it clearly must be Mental Form; In other words, Nature is seen to proceed just as does man in his work of creation. She builds the material universe upon mental patterns, or upon mental frameworks. Just how or why this is so the human mind is unable to grasp, but all investigation reveals the fact that the creative processes proceed in just this way. In this correspondence between human creative activity, and that of the Cosmos, we have a striking illustration of the principle embodied in the ancient Hermetic axiom: “As above, so below; as within, so without.” The Macrocosm and the Microcosm evidently work under the same laws, and manifest according to the same general principles.

Beginning with the particles of which the atoms are composed, and with the atoms of which all forms of matter are composed, we see the creation of material forms apparently proceeding in accordance with some pre-existing pattern, ideal form, type or idea. Atoms group themselves in certain combinations, forming certain elements of matter, all of which forms are true to general types, and are as nearly identical as the bits of metal which are cut out by the same die or else produced from the same mold. This uniformity and adherence to type certainly is explainable only upon the hypothesis that before the material form is produced there must exist some pattern, type, idea or mental form which governs the materialization. There is no hit-or-miss, or higgledly-piggledy arrangement of the atoms—they group themselves according to typical forms, and these forms must exist ideally before the material form can be produced.

That which we call the “inner nature” of anything is really a combination of certain inherent “mental forms” which are constantly striving to express themselves in action and objective appearance. The “inner nature” of the atom is clearly represented in and by its activities—the “inner nature” of the animal is likewise so represented by its action and its physical form. The voluntary, self-moved, spontaneous actions of any particular thing clearly represent the “inner nature” of that particular thing. The differences between classes of things result from the difference in the “inner natures,” and the “inner natures” are merely the ideal forms or types, the mental images, which constitute the elemental and essential basis of the character of those things.

The operation and manifestation of these “inner natures,” or creative ideal forms, has a striking illustration in the case of the crystallization of the minerals or chemical elements. These crystals are formed in the “mother liquor” according to well-known and clearly defined shape, form and order. Each species of crystal has its own particular form and arrangement— some have a range of several of such forms, each, however, being true to type and pattern. Each species of crystal obeys its own order and rule concerning its form. Crystals grow just as do plants, according to a certain pattern and type-form. These forms and orders of arrangement are not caused by outside forces or energies—they result from the “in forces” of the mineral or chemical substance—from the operation of internal, inherent energy, and in response to some inner idea, form or pattern which constitutes the “inner nature” of the mineral or chemical compound.

In the same way, we find that in the material form of the germ of the acorn there dwells an “inner nature” composed of these ideal forms or mental images, these inner patterns. These inner forces determine the material form which the sprout, root, leaves, and the complete tree shall assume. The deviations from the ideal forms result from the influence of external forces serving to modify and deflect, to cramp and to hinder, the expression of the inner form—but the inner pattern is always there doing the best it can to represent itself truly in material appearance. In every acorn there abides the design, pattern, form, and idea of the future oak—and the acorn never evolves and unfolds anything not according to that pattern, design or idea. In the same way, the seed or germ or every plant, animal, or human being contains within itself its “inner nature” composed of ideal form and pattern, type or mold.

It is this “inner nature” or ideal form that causes the acorn to develop into the oak, instead of into the pine-tree. It causes the egg of the chicken to develop into a chick, and not into a baby hawk. It causes the creature to develop from seed-germ into completed adult form, always true to type and ideal pattern. Scientists who have witnessed the unfoldment of living forms from the reproductive cells, or egg-body, have testified in glowing words of wonder and admiration to the evident presence of “something like a directive mind” at work in the processes under way in the tiny speck of protaplasm which we call the reproductive cell or egg of the animal.

Huxley, describing the development of the tiny egg of a newt (small aquatic salamander) said: “The plastic matter undergoes changes so rapid, and so purpose-like in their succession, that one can only compare them to those operated by a skilled modeler upon a formless lump of clay. As with an invisible trowel, the mass is divided and subdivided. Then, it is as if a delicate finger traced out the lines to be occupied by the spinal column, and molded the contour of the body; pinching up the head at one end, the tail at the other, and fashioning flank and limb into due salamanderine proportions, in so artistic a way, that, after watching the process hour by hour, one is almost involuntarily possessed by the notion that some more subtle aid to the vision than the achromatic lens would show the hidden artist, with his plan before him, striving with skilful manipulation to perfect his work.”

The same great scientist, speaking of the continued life of the newt, says: “As life advances, and the young amphibian ranges the waters, the terror of his insect contemporaries, not only the nutritious particles supplied by its prey (by the addition of which to its frame, growth takes place) are laid down, each in its proper spot, and in due proportion to the rest, so as to reproduce the parent stock; but even the wonderful powers of reproducing lost parts, which are possessed by these animals, are controlled by the same governing tendency. Cut off the legs, the tail, the jaws, separately or all together, and these parts not only grow again, but the new limb is formed on the same type as those which were lost. The new jaw, or leg, is a newt’s, and never by an accident more like that of a frog.”

In the above graphic word-picture of Huxley, we catch a glimpse of the subtle, silent manifestations of this materialization of mental images in Nature; for the same kind of processes are under way on all sides of us, on all planes of Nature’s activities, and in all of her phases of life-processes. There is constantly under way a process of growth, production, reproduction, building, repairing, replacing and general creative construction; and in each and all such forms and phases we may see the presence of a given pattern, form, type or mold—an ideal design or scheme upon which the materialization is effected.

The “governing tendency” referred to by Huxley is seen to be none other than the operation of that principle of Creative Mental Form upon which all materialization depends.

Moreover, we may see the operation of the same principle in the direction of the variation of form, faculty and function in the life forms—indeed, this principle constitutes the directing force of Evolution. Lamarck and other scientists have shown us that Evolution proceeds not only by Natural Selection, but also by the Unfoldment of Ideal Forms, or Mental Images. Thus, the new needs and requirements of the evolving life-forms are first manifested as ideal forms, or mental images, patterns, molds, or types, in the subconscious mentality of the creature; these then moving toward representation, expression and manifestation on the objective, material plane. Thus the “inner nature” gradually becomes modified by environment, and the “outer form” gradually responds to these changes.

Illustrating this principle, we call your attention to the fact that certain schools of scientific thought hold that the long legs and long neck of the giraffe were evolved in response to the Creative Idea working through many generations of its ancestors. The ancestors found it difficult to reach the tender, juicy branches of certain trees, which were needed as food. This need and this difficulty were recognized by the subconscious mentality of the animal, and the Creative Idea began to shape and fashion the ideal form or mental image of the long legs and long neck which afterwards manifested in physical form in the descendants of the animal. In the same way were evolved and perfected the long legs and long bills of the wading, fish-catching birds. Again, thus were evolved the cruel beaks and talons of the hawks, eagles and other carnivorous, prey-capturing birds; and the claws and fangs of the carnivorous animals.

In short, many thoughtful scientists recognize the existence and activity in Nature of a principle which tends to manifest in objective, material form that which has previously existed as a mental form or ideal image in the subconscious mentality of living creatures; the mental form or ideal image having arisen in response to a strong need, want, lack or desire of the creature—as in the illustrative cases above cited. The advance guard of the new psychology carries this principle to its logical conclusion when it asserts that the human being is able to set into operation great natural forces tending to produce similar objective results when he deliberately creates strong ideals, and then passes the same down to his subconscious mentality. Here is a hint at a mighty principle.

Many persons are disposed to regard as more or less unreal and unsubstantial anything that is purely ideal and mental in its nature. To such we would cite the celebrated rule of Spinoza, viz.: “A thing has only so much reality as it possesses power.” Applying this rule to the ideal forms or mental images underlying material forms, you will discover that such possess a very high degree of reality and substantiality. Ideal forms and creative mental images are not merely such stuff as dreams are made of, but in reality are strong, powerful forces. In fact, many manifestations of natural forces are really efforts toward the expression of the Creative Idea. The inner form striving to manifest in the outer form often exercises a tremendous force. The inner form of a growing plant has been known to crack a heavy concrete block; and the power of growing roots, arising from the inner urge of the ideal form, has been known to tear asunder heavy foundation stones.

John Burroughs, the great naturalist, says concerning this force of the inner form striving for outward expression: “We know that the roots of trees insert themselves into seams in the rocks, and force the rocks asunder. This force is measurable, and often is very great. Its seat seems to be in the soft milky substance called the cambium layer under the bark. These minute cells, when their force is combined, may become regular rock-splitters. One of the most remarkable exhibitions of plant force I ever saw was in a Western city where I observed a species of wild sunflower forcing its way up through the asphalt pavement. The folded and compressed leaves of the plant, like a man’s fist, had pushed against the hard but flexible concrete until it had bulged up and then split, and let the irrepressible plant through. The force exerted must have been many pounds. I think it doubtful if the strongest man could have pushed his fist through such a resisting medium. If it was not Life which exerted this force, what was it?”

In the same way, the great giants of the forest have pushed their way up toward the skies, counteracting the pull of gravitation, and lifting weights which it would have required mighty machinery to move. The mental pattern in the giant redwood trees proceeds to the materialization of the gigantic outer form of the tree, and the “inner urge” of the ideal form calls to its aid the mighty latent forces of Nature in order to materialize that which is contained in the ideal form or mental image of the living organism of the tree. Nature seems ready to furnish such power to the inner urge, provided that such is sufficiently needed, insistently desired, and persistently demanded, and provided that it is called for in the right way. If man ever obtains the inner secret of this demand, he will have the creative powers and forces of Nature in his hands. Already he has acquired a portion of this secret, and is able to perform mighty creative work by directing his mental powers toward the physical plane. In this instruction we seek to disclose the principles of this process to you.

The attention of certain philosophers has been attracted by this manifestation in Nature’s activities of a process closely resembling Constructive Imagination. They venture the hypothesis that the creative powers and processes of the human mind have an equivalent in Nature’s processes of growth in living forms, vegetable and animal. A little-known, though worthy, metaphysician has gone so far as to elevate to the rank of the Ultimate World Principle that which we know as the Constructive Imagination. He asserts that there is a Cosmic Constructive Imagination working in Nature, producing the myriad forms and varieties of vegetable and animal forms. He holds, further, that the same principle, in the form of the human Constructive Imagination, enables man to become a Creator on his own plane of life.

This metaphysician holds that Constructive Imagination is the essential characteristic attribute of the Ultimate Principle of the Cosmos. He holds that this essential attribute is inherent in the very essence of all things, and in the world as a whole. He postulates its existence in the All-Thing as an immanent principle, just as in the kernel of the plant-seed there exists an immanent principle which will give to the evolving plant its form and its type of organism. This Cosmic principle, he asserts, has manifested the myriads of vegetable and animal forms which have existed, or now exist; and will so manifest those forms which shall in the future exist in the world. He holds that the first creations were quite simple, but that little by little the Cosmic Constructive Imagination increased its energy and manifested in more complex forms. He cites Darwin as testimony that in Nature there has been a slow evolution of organized forms, proceeding from the simple to the more complex, and so on.

We are not here concerned with philosophical hypotheses, nor with metaphysical speculations, but, at the same time, we feel it proper to direct your attention to the fact that there is manifest in all Nature the operation of a powerful principle which proceeds from the inner form to the outer manifestation—from the ideal image to its materialization in objective form. We have given you in the foregoing pages certain typical illustrations of the operation of this natural principle or process. By looking around you at the world of living and growing things, you will be able to perceive countless instances of the operation of the same power, once your attention has been called to it.

Likewise, we wish to call to your attention the fact that many earnest thinkers hold that that which is called the Constructive Imagination in the mind of man is but a special form of the same great natural principle; and that man himself, like Nature as a whole, has within himself the power of Creation by means of the materialization of his Ideal Forms. Your experience has taught you that the men who have accomplished the great creative achievements in art, literature, mechanics, invention, building and business construction, have created the outer manifestation in accordance with the inner ideal or mental picture—the latter serving as the model, type, mold or pattern of the former. But the principle operates over a much wider area, and extends to a much deeper level of being, than you have realized.

It is a fact acknowledged by many very careful observers and reasoners that the man of strong ideals—he whose mind contains strong, dear mental pictures of that which he hopes to accomplish—actually sets into operation the forces, powers and energies of his entire mental and physical being. These, in turn, draw upon the common source of Nature for their nourishment and subsistence, and all the power so generated tends toward manifestation and expression in the material form which is being built upon the mental framework or pattern of the Creative Idea. Just as the oak is able to draw upon Nature for power with which it may lift itself far above the surface of the earth, and to send forth mighty limbs and branches; just as the growing plant is able to secure from Nature sufficient force to enable it to push aside, or break through the obstacles in the path of its progress—even through concrete blocks as we have seen; so may the Creative Idea of the “man who knows” be able to draw upon Nature for the still more subtle forces of her laboratory needed to materialize his ideal forms—to make his ideals become real.

Not only this, but there is a rapidly growing body of human thinkers who hold that man, in such cases, is not necessarily limited to the mechanism of his own organism in the expression of his inner urge by means of the forces which he has attracted to him. They hold that he even may (and often really does) throw out mental or spiritual filaments which contact the things of the outside world, thereby attracting to himself the external forces and things requisite for the successful materialization of his inner ideal, his mental forms, his Creative Idea.

In this book we have sought to present to you the essential principles of this great subject of Creative Power—of the materialization and actualization of your Creative Ideas. In doing so, however, we first asked you to become far better acquainted with an existing field of mental activity which you have previously undervalued and grossly misunderstood— your Power of Constructive Imagination. This mental stone, heretofore rejected by the builders of the Temple of Mental Power, is now being recognized by advanced thinkers as quite worthy of being given the place of honor as the cornerstone of the great structure. We are fast approaching the place in which we shall see the inner meaning of the ancient philosophers who asserted that in Will and Imagination—combined and harmonized—are to be found the Secret of Power.

Dynamic Idealization

In the instruction contained in the several books of the series of which the present volume is a part, there is frequent reference made to “The Master Formula of Attainment,” which is as follows:

I. Definite Ideals;

II. Insistent Desire;

III. Confident Expectation;

IV. Persistent Determination;

V. Balanced Compensation.

The spirit of the Master Formula is expressed in popular phrasing as follows: “You may have anything you want, provided that you (1) know exactly what you want; (2) want it hard enough; (3) confidently expect to obtain it; (4) persistently determine to obtain it; and (5) are willing to pay the price of its attainment.”

In other books of the series these several elements of the Master Formula are considered in detail, are fully explained, and methods for their effective application are indicated. In this concluding section of the present book, however, we ask you to consider the first element (i. e., that of “Definite Ideals”) from an angle somewhat different from that adopted in the other books of the series.

In these other considerations of the subject of “Definite Ideals,” that important element of the Master Formula generally has been treated as practically synonymous with the idea of “Definite Purpose.” But Definite Purpose really is but one of the several phases or forms of Definite Ideals—the particular phase or form which is involved in the manifestation of Will Power; to some extent, in that of Desire Power; and in that of Logical Power. In Faith Power, however, there is manifest a somewhat higher form of Definite Ideals. Likewise, in some of the higher mental and spiritual activities there is found present and active a transcendental phase or form of Definite Ideals. Thus, you see, the term “Definite Ideals” represents a general concept or idea which has several lesser elements; it includes the concept of Definite Purpose and also several other important secondary concepts.

In our present consideration of the subject, we shall confine our attention to that aspect of Definite Ideals which may be called “Creative Ideals.” The term is appropriate, for the essential nature and characteristic activities of such Ideals are primarily creative. Creative Ideals call into operation the strongest and most intense activities of Desire Power; the most earnest and inspiring Faith Power; the most persistent and determined Will Power; the most capable and efficient Subconscious Power. In fact, it acts upon and through the most potent energies of all of the mental, emotional, and volitional elements of the mind, soul, or spirit of man. More than that, it reaches out into the great world beyond the personal limits of the individual, and operating through some of Nature’s subtle but potent forces, it sets into motion and activity many things, persons, events, causes and processes over which (in the ordinary view) the individual apparently has no direct control.

Perhaps it will be as well to begin by arriving at a clear and definite understanding of the term, “Ideal,” as employed in this instruction. It has well been said that, “There is a mighty magic in words, rightly understood.” The old Chaldean Oracle announced this ancient thought in these lines:

“There are Names in every nation, God-given, Of unexplained power in the Mysteries.”

First of all, we find that our term has its origin in the term, “Idea,” which evolved from an old Greek word meaning “to see.” Idea is defined as: “(1) A mental image of any visible object, object of sense, or spiritual object; (2) a general notion, or a conception formed by generalization; hence (3) any object apprehended, conceived, or thought of, by the mind; also, (4) a belief, opinion, doctrine, or principle; and, (5) a plan or purpose of action.” Underlying all of these meanings is found the essential notion of “existing in the mind.” An “idea” is always mental; never material.

The term, Ideal (as an adjective) means: (1) Existing in idea or thought; (2) existing in imagination only; and (3) reaching an imaginary standard of excellence, efficiency, beauty, utility, etc. As a noun, the term is defined as: “A mental conception regarded as a standard of perfection; a model of excellence, beauty, efficiency, utility, etc.” Here we have the blending of the two essential attributes, viz., (1) existing in thought or imagination; and (2) a standard of excellence. “Excellence” is synonymous with “superiority, worth, goodness, greatness.”

So, in the end, we have a concept of an Ideal, defined as: “A mental image of something of superior worth, goodness and value, serving as a standard of excellence, beauty, efficiency, utility, etc.” As we always desire, hope for, and strive to attain things of “superior worth, goodness and value” (the degree of “worth, goodness and value” being determined by the comparative resemblance of such things to the accepted “standard of excellence, beauty, efficiency, utility, etc.,”) it follows that Desire, Faith, and Will are always (consciously or unconsciously) striving to reach, achieve, or attain an Ideal. To the end of such achievement or attainment, the forces of Creative Power, Desire Power, Faith Power, and Will Power are set into activity.

In many cases the Ideal manifests in the form of “purpose or plan of action” (one of the above definitions of Idea, you will remember); but in other cases it manifests rather as “a mental or spiritual germ, striving to express and manifest itself in objective, material form; drawing to itself, and reaching out after, that which promises to contribute to or aid in such objective and material expression and manifestation.”

Here, then, we have the concept of the Ideal seeking to express and manifest itself in objective and material expression and manifestation, and, by reason of this inner urge, drawing to itself and reaching out after that which promises to contribute or aid in such expression and manifestation. But, you may ask, “Why and how is this Ideal entitled to be termed ‘Creative’?” Let us answer this question, in the first place, by asking you another question: “Thinking over the subject discussed in the preceding section of this book, of what does this concept of the striving, seeking, acting ‘mental or spiritual germ’ remind you?” We think that the following several paragraphs will represent the essence and spirit of your answer.

You will be reminded, first of all, of the fact that in all man’s material creations there has been, and necessarily must have been, a preceding “mental image or form”—an Ideal, in fact—of which the later material, objective form of the created thing was merely a copy; that there must always be the “mental pattern, map, design, or mold” which is reproduced in the material creation. There must always be the Inner Form, before there can be the Outer Form! “But,” you may object, “here the Ideal is merely the pattern, model, or mold, which the Imagination and Will employ in their creative work; the Ideal, in itself, is not ‘creative’.” This is true, at least to a certain extent; we need not here argue the fine distinctions, however, for we have a clear case presented in Nature’s activities, to the consideration of which we shalt now proceed.

Letting your mind dwell upon the subject considered in the preceding section of this book, you will remember that in all material creations of form—in all purposive groupings, arrangements, conformations, configurations—there is found to be present an inner Ideal Form, composed of the aggregate of mental forms, striving to express itself in action and objective manifestation. You will remember that we found this inner Ideal Form operative in the cases of the grouping of the atoms (and of the smaller particles composing the atoms); in all chemical processes; in the processes of crystalization; in the life-processes and the growth of plants; in the sprouting of seeds; of the development and evolution of the germ in the egg. You will remember the interesting description of the development of the newt’s egg given by Huxley. You will remember the instances of great power exerted by growing roots, plants, and sprouting seeds. You will remember what was said concerning the evolution of needed physical instruments manifested by the lower animals—the explanation of the long legs of the wading-birds, the claws and beaks of the birds-of-prey, the long neck and legs of the giraffe.

Finally, you will remember the logical conclusion arrived at by those observing these and similar instances of this wonderful working of Nature’s Forces, viz., “That there exists, and is manifest in all Nature, the operation of a mighty principle which proceeds from the inner form to the outer manifestation—from the ideal image to its materialization in objective form.” You will find yourself compelled to think that in all of Nature’s activities and processes, in which is performed the work of “creation” of form, combination, composition, or coordination, there certainly exists an Ideal Form serving as a pattern, plan, mold, map, chart or design, upon which and by means of which, Nature builds and creates.

More than this: when you carefully reason concerning this matter, you will find yourself becoming impressed by the idea and conviction that the essence and spirit of such manifestations and expressions abide in the germ Ideal Form itself and that instead of being a mere inert pattern, model or mold, the Ideal Form is a living, acting, creative Force, drawing to itself the materials needed for its outward, objective expression and manifestation—such expression and manifestation being the essential desire, need, and energizing principle of its being. Thus the Ideal Form is seen to be not only an Inner Form, but also a Something or Somewhat which may be described as “a Power with the Desire to act, or a Desire with the Power to act”—a definition which has also been applied to Will, it may be noted. Here, once more, is seen the close relation of Imagination to Will; a resemblance which by many philosophers (and by all occultists) is regarded as of the deepest significance.

That there is a dynamic force in the Ideal Forms which are found to be present in Nature’s creative processes, cannot be doubted. Everything points to this conclusion. On all sides proofs supporting this contention may be found. In Nature, it is seen that there is a Creative Ideal Form as the nucleus of every creative process. Forms, combinations, coordinated activities,— arrangements of parts, elements and factors of composition— are found to group themselves around the nucleus furnished by the Creative Ideal.

Just as the germ in the seed or egg gathers to itself the material that it needs for growth; just as the seed or egg freely employs the natural forces at its disposal (and they are always at its disposal, you should note) in order to manifest and express itself in creative growth; so in every Creative Ideal Form there is found to be present that power to employ natural forces for its purposes; the instinctive knowledge how and when to employ those forces efficiently; and the desire, will and ability to draw to itself the material needed for its growth, development, expression and objective manifestation.

Proceeding from the Macrocosm to the Microcosm—from Nature to Man—and applying the ancient Hermetic axiom, “As above, so below,” we would consider it logically certain that in Man, the individual, we should find a corresponding condition of things, i. e., the presence and power of the Creative Ideal Form; the action of the latter in the direction of drawing to itself the material required for its objective expression and manifestation; and the capacity for employing natural forces for the purpose of accomplishing its end. We should expect to find that, in Man as in Nature, the Creative Ideal Form not only seeks to express and manifest itself in objective form and action, but also actually does so express and manifest itself, and also is able to press into its service the subtle forces of Nature— provided, always, that the Creative Ideal Form be (1) sufficiently strong and active, and (2) sufficiently clear and definite; the spirit of the requirements being that of Concentrated Power, discover that we have not been deceived nor Conducting the above-mentioned inquiry, we mocked; we find that the axiom, “As above, so below,” holds good in this as in many another case. We find that the men and women who have accomplished great things have always possessed these Dynamic Creative Ideals; and that those who have so possessed them have found operating within themselves a mighty power of Nature, and have been conscious of the effects of these activities manifesting in the world outside of themselves.

The individuals of great attainments sooner or later have become aware of this correspondence between the inner Dynamic Creative Ideal, and the events and happenings of the outside world which are correlated to the inner purpose. The individual with the Dynamic Creative Ideal has established within himself a great focal centre of Energy and Power—and to that centre are being attracted and drawn things, persons, circumstances, thoughts, ideas, powers, and other things which are needed for the objective expression and manifestation of the Inner Ideal Form.

Even in the lesser activities of man, in the more mechanical forms of work, he is able to perform better work, and to perform his work more efficiently, if he maintains a sufficiently clear and strong Creative Ideal Form of that which he wishes to materialize in objective form. Psychologists have told us that the best workmen are those who visualize the whole of what they propose to do, before they take a tool in their hands; this being equally true of strategists, artists of all kinds, physicists who contrive new experiments, and all others who do not follow mere routine. They have told us, for instance, that no man can be a good plumber unless he uses his Imagination— the Ideal and its mental image must precede the actual laying of the pipe. Likewise, that the blacksmith is efficient only in the degree in which he employs his Imagination; every time he strikes the red-hot iron, he makes it approximate the ideal image in his mind.

Kay says: “A clear and accurate idea of what we wish to do, and how it is to be effected, is of the utmost value and importance in all of the affairs of life. A man’s conduct naturally shapes itself according to the ideas in his mind, and nothing contributes more to success in life than having clear, strong ideals, and keeping them continually in view. Numerous unexpected circumstances will be found to conspire to bring it about, and even what seems at first hostile may be converted into means for its furtherance; while by having the Ideal constantly before the mind, one will be ever ready to take advantage of any favoring circumstances that may present themselves.”

Bain says: “By aiming at a new construction, we must clearly conceive what is aimed at. Where we have a very distinct and intelligible model before us, we are in a fair way to succeed; in proportion as the Ideal is dim and wavering, we stagger and miscarry.” John Burroughs says: “No one ever found a walking fern who did not have the walking-fern in his mind. A person whose mind is full of Indian relics picks them up in every field through which he walks. They are found and quickly recognized, because the eye has been commissioned to find them.”

In the great field of activities comprising the realm of Desire, we find that the energizing force of Desire is called forth in proportion to the degree of clearness, definiteness and distinctness of the Ideal presented to it. Desire always is called into action by the presence and power of Ideas and Ideals. Desire is always the “want” of this thing, or the “want to do” that thing; it cannot “want” or “want to” unless an Idea or Ideal is present in sufficient force and definiteness to call forth its activities. In fact, a strong Ideal often arouses and attracts to itself such a degree and amount of Desire that the Ideal itself seems to be but a focal point of Desire, or the Desire seems to be the very soul of the Ideal. In Desire Power, the dominant “want” or “want to” is the Definite Purpose; the idea of the achievement or attainment of the end of the “want” or “want to” is the Definite Ideal.

Likewise, in the activities of Faith Power there is always found present a Definite Ideal. Faith must always have its object—the more definite and certain its object, the greater and more stable is the Faith. Faith is one of the great elemental spiritual powers. In its form of Confident Expectation and Expectant Attention it powerfully moves the Will. But, Faith Power is but latent and static unless it be aroused into dynamic power by the presentation to it of an appropriate Idea or Ideal.

Finally, the activities of Will Power are called forth only in response to the Idea or Ideal which has, in the first place, aroused the Desire which rises into Will; and which, in the second place, has served as a standard of measurement of Will-values; and, which in the third place, now serves as a beacon, standard, or mark placed far ahead on the Path of Attainment, serving to point out the way to be traveled and the direction to be followed.

It is an axiom of psychology that “the Will goes out in action only toward an Idea or Ideal presented to it.” It might be added that “the Will is held to its path only by the perception of the Idea or Ideal which marks its course and indicates its direction.” Certain philosophers and psychologists have noted that it is almost impossible to distinguish between concentrated Will and a highly developed, definite, concentrated Idea or Ideal— the two seem to have been combined and blended into one mental power. This correspondence between Imagination and Will frequently has been noted in the present work.

But, in pursuance of the rule of the Unity of the Mind, we find that just as truly as Desire, Faith, Imagination and Will may be, and are, called into action, power, and strength by the presentation of an Idea or Ideal, so is it true that the Creative Ideal may be strengthened, energized, and given definite form by the application of the respective powers of Desire, Faith, Imagination and Will.

There is always action, reaction, and interaction in the realm of the mind; its powers are correlated and coordinated—each is bound up with the others, and each aids and helps the others when needed. We may concentrate our attention upon any one of the great powers of the mind, and that particular power will seem to be the dominant one. When, however, we proceed to contemplate and to study the others, we find that each, in turn, seems to be the dominant power. The truth is that no one of these great powers can operate effectively unless the other powers co-operate with it, and proceed with it in coordinated action.

The Creative Ideal, in order to be effective—indeed, in order to be truly creative—must be (1) Strong, and (2) Definite. Its strength is increased by the energizing power of Desire, the inspiring power of Faith, and the determining power of Will. Moreover, by means of Imagination presenting to it mental pictures of itself as actually expressed and manifested in objective, material form, the Creative Ideal is further aroused into action, in response to that essential urge, instinct, or appetency of its nature which causes it to strive ever to manifest itself in outward action and form. In strengthening an Ideal Form which you wish to raise to the rank and power of a Dynamic Creative Ideal, you should bring to bear upon it the combined powers of your Desire, Faith, Imagination, and Will.

The Creative Ideal, in order to be effective and truly creative, must be dear, positive, and definite. Here the Ideal calls upon those mighty twin elements of the spirit—the ideative and volitional faculties—namely, Imagination and Will. Imagination supplies the definite pattern, model, or design which the Ideal wishes to manifest; while Will proceeds to cut away the encumbering marble or granite which hides the definite form of the Ideal as represented by the artist’s pattern, design, or mold.

Will, however, does not create the Ideal—the Ideal is self-created, or else is originally created by that “I AM I” which is the centre and focal point present in the mental kingdom. But Will serves a necessary purpose and an essential task when it proceeds to chip away, to chisel away, to hammer away, all the great mass of mental granite or marble which hides the beautiful Inner Form of the Ideal—its Pure Form. The Ideal Form is actually existent—never forget that; but, before it maybe perceived and employed as a model, standard and guide, it must be released from that which encumbers its Pure Form and hides it from view.

In the Master Formula of Attainment, the first element is that of “Definite Ideals”—not merely Ideals, but particularly Definite Ideals. In all of the principal books of this series, this element of Definite Ideals is dwelt upon at considerable length, in one form or another. In the preceding sections of the present book, you will find it presented under the form of “Definite Purpose.”

The factor of definiteness is emphasized in all such presentations; for upon such definiteness depends much of the power of the Ideal Standard, or Purpose. It must “stand out” in attention, perception, and thought. It must represent the “just what” of the want, ambition, faith, effort, or thought. It denotes “just what” you like, desire, believe in, adopt as a standard of values, use as your guide on the road of attainment, and strive to manifest and express in thought, word, and deed.

An Ideal, Standard, or Purpose is “definite” in the degree in which it is “certain, clear, plain, distinct, specific, exact, precise, fixed in understanding and meaning”; its mental form must be “distinct, clear, sharp, clear-cut, sharp-cut.” Indistinctness, indefiniteness, ambiguity; uncertainty, vagueness, and obscurity of understanding and meaning, are to be avoided in your Ideals—that is, if you wish to have them creative and dynamic.

Strong and Definite Creative Ideals are properly called “Dynamic Ideals,” for they manifest all the qualities and powers which are indicated by the term, “dynamic.” Dynamic means: “Powerful; filled with energy; capable of manifesting force, energy, power, motion and action.” The dynamic aspect or phase of anything is that in which the thing manifests motion, action, activity; its static aspect or phase is that in which it exists in a state of rest and inaction.

Your Dynamic Ideals are those Ideals existing in your mind which are (1) sufficiently powerful to move into action, and to manifest their inherent force and energy; and (2) sufficiently definite to concentrate those forces and energies into a “one pointed” focus of Ideas and Will. Only a Dynamic Ideal can be a Creative Ideal; and all Dynamic Ideals are, and must be, Creative Ideals, by reason of their very nature. The Dynamic Ideal must create, for creative activity is its essential nature. Creation, as you know, consists of compounding, composing, building, putting-together, making, manufacturing new forms from the materials at hand.

The Dynamic Ideal tends to express and manifest itself in creating a new environment for its possessor, in building a new set of conditions for him—such environment and conditions, however, being in harmony and agreement with the spirit of the Ideal. In short, the Dynamic Ideal tends toward “making the Ideal become Real”—in building up a material world of experience corresponding to its inner mental world of experience. It “experiments” in order to build up the “experience.” It tears down, re-builds, builds anew, just as the mind of the inventor, the artist, the writer, proceeds in creating its particular form of expression.

The Dynamic Creative Ideal, in fact, is composed of two associated elements, namely (a) the element of definite and concentrated Idea, and (b) the element of definite and concentrated Will. The Idea plans, invents, and points out the direction of the action; the Will executes the action according to the plan thus furnished it.

This brings us back once more to the teachings of the ancient occultists, who held that, at the last, there are but two fundamental mental or spiritual forces—and these really are but twin-aspects of Spirit. These two fundamental forces, or aspects, are (1) Imagination, which was held to involve all thinking, reasoning, and mental imaging of any sort; and (2) Will, which was held to involve all feelings and desires, all voluntary action, all determination, judgment, decision, and volition. All other mental faculties or powers were held to be but (a) phases or derivative forms of Imagination or Will; or (b) combinations and compositions of Imagination and Will, in which the elements of each are blended.

In that book of this series entitled “Personal Power,” we have shown you that the Twin-Giants of Personal Power are Ideation-Volition, or, in other words, Idea-Will. The more you ponder over this teaching, the stronger will grow your conviction of the underlying identity of Ideation and Volition; that Imagination and Will are Twin-Giants, inseperable, always operating in conjunction with each other. This being so, you will begin to understand how and why a strong, vigorous Definite Ideal may become a Dynamic Creative Ideal by means of calling into operation and effect its twin-aspect of Dynamic Will. For the purposes of easy thought on the subject and the manifestation of this principle, you may think of the Dynamic Creative Ideal as having the soul of Idea and the bodily strength of Will.

You may render your Ideals dynamic and creative by means of the employment of Desire, Faith, Imagination and Will. Applying the principle of the Master Formula, you (1) must know exactly what you want that Creative Ideal to be; (2) you must desire insistently that it be such; (3) you must confidently expect that it will be such; (4) you must persistently determine that it will be such and (5) you must pay the price of work, service, application, concentration, and of the relinquishment of opposing ideas and ideals, desires and feelings. By means of Insistent Desire, Confident Expectation, and Persistent Determination, the Creative Ideal may be raised to the rank and power of Dynamic Idealization.

Keep your Creative Ideals always before you; think of them, dream of them, make them a part of your very soul. Encourage them by visualizations of their realization in objective form; “brace them with affirmations”; give to them the force of habit by endeavoring to act upon their principles as often and so far as is possible. Think, feel, and act in their terms. Assimilate them to such an extent that your personal mental and physical instruments of expression may become their outward machinery. Let even your personal being become as the willing instrument of the manifestation into objective form of these Dynamic Creative Ideals. Live for the purpose of making your Ideals become Real.

What will be the result of the creation and maintenance of such Dynamic Creative Ideals? you may ask. Here is the answer of those wise and illumined members of the race who established the esoteric schools of ancient philosophy—and of the equally wise and illumined members of the race of today, who are striving to sow the seeds of the Inner Teachings in the minds of those who are prepared to receive them, nourish them, and allow them to develop, grow, and bear blossom and fruit. Here is the answer of such great souls:

“You are the creator of your own world of experience. Consciously or unconsciously, you are molding your world of experience, and determining your own destiny. In ignorance or in wisdom, for good or for evil, you are creating, building, constructing the scenery of that world in which you live, and move, and have your being. For weal or for woe, you are thus building. For better or for worse you are thus constructing. Your personal world of experience is largely what you, yourself, have made it. Your Ideals ever tend to become Real. You are always realizing your Ideals. What you have been doing unconsciously, you may now proceed to do consciously. By creating and controlling your Ideals, you create and control your world of experience. You may become an active master of Creation, instead of a passive slave.”

The strong, definite Dynamic Creative Ideal will call forth the full powers of your body, of your mind, and of your spirit. Reason, Imagination, Invention, will perform their best work under its influence; Desire will energize more intensely, and Will determine more persistently, under its influence. The wonderful storehouse of the Subconscious will open wide its doors when the Creative Ideal gives “the right knock.” The still higher realm of the Superconscious will superimpose its wisdom and knowledge upon the conscious mind, when this be demanded by the Dynamic Ideal. All things will work together for good for him in whom the Dynamic Creative Ideal is manifesting its power. “I call them all forth; and forth come they in answer to my call,” says the Spirit of the Ideal in the old allegory of the Orient, “and chief of all, and the first to come forth, is my twin-brother WILL!” concludes that Ideal Spirit.

Definite Ideal and Concentrated Will—these are the Twin-Giants of your Creative Power. Cultivate and develop both of them, and to an equal extent. Do not let your Definite Ideals suffer by reason of the lack of pulling and pushing power of your Concentrated Will. Neither let your Concentrated Will become static and inert, by reason of the lack of the directing and guiding power of your Definite Ideals. Grasp the hands of the Twin-Giants, one on the right of you, one on your left; and then let the “I AM I” give the command, “Forward; March!” Naught can oppose the phalanx composed of your Definite Ideals, your Real Self, your Concentrated Will. Rightly may such a combination shout its battle-cry: “I Can, I Will; I Dare, I Do!”

The “Will that Can” is the “Will that Knows.” The ancient Buddhists had an old aphorism which ran something like this: “To Know rightly, is to Think rightly; to Think rightly, is to Will rightly; to Will rightly, is to Act rightly; the root of Action is Knowledge; the fruit of Knowledge is Action.” The ancient Chaldeans had a similar proverb: “He who Knows, is able to Will effectively; he who Wills effectively, Creates his World!” All through the Secret Doctrines runs this song of “Ideal-Will”—of Knowing and Doing; and the most practical thinkers of our own times and lands echo the ancient reports.

Perhaps the highest phases of philosophical and metaphysical thought are those which hold that the only adequate explanation of the Universe is to be had in that hypothesis which postulates the existence of an Eternal, Infinite Spiritual Principle, the essence of which is Life, Will, and Ideative Consciousness—the essential Powers of which are Animation, Ideation, and Volition, respectively. In this view, Universal Creation (Creative Evolution) is accomplished by means of the Power of the Living Will, taking the forms and configurations patterned by the Living Idealizing Power.

Daring thinkers have likened the Universe to a Cosmic Dramatization of the Ideas and Ideals evolved by the Infinite Consciousness of SPIRIT, the machinery of Creation being operated by the Infinite Will of SPIRIT. Be this as it may, every careful and honest thinker has been compelled (at least at times) to admit that there is no escape from the conviction that the Universe shows the progressive working-out and manifestation of a Cosmic Purpose, Intention, End, Aim; in short, that the Universe is the Materialization of a pre-existing Cosmic IDEA or IDEAL!

The processes of Cause and Effect show the presence and operation of something like Pure Deductive Logic in the activities of the Universe. Many poets, writers, and dramatists have pointed out that in the processes of the Universe there is manifested the presence and action of something that might he called “The Author”; a Something or Somewhat that develops a Cosmic Plot of Creation, and then logically, consistently, and artistically proceeds to perform the work of material Evolutionary Creation upon the lines of that ideal Plot. They point out that the characters, circumstances, actions and events of the Universe always “hang together”— always manifesting that Unity, Coherence and Balance which distinguish the literary compositions of the best writers.

This lofty conception may be but the fanciful expression of the perception by competent observers of that “something at work in the Universe” which bears a close resemblance to the “something at work” in their own minds; or, again, it may be the result of a deep intuition of Truth. Whatever it may be at the last, it certainly expresses a conviction that has come to many deep thinkers in all ages and all lands, many of whom had never heard the like expression of others of their kind.

Whatever may be the Ultimate Truth, it is certain that Man has at his disposal a mighty Creative Power, which in its more familiar phases is called “Constructive Imagination”; and which in its less familiar, esoteric, transcendental phase is called— What? Man, in his own realm is a Creator—and the limits of his realm are determined by himself, by his Imagination, by his Will!

Desire Power: Your Energizing Forces

Emotive Power

Desire Power is one of the many phases of Personal Power—of that Personal Power which flows into and through the individual from that great source of the All-Power of All-Things which in this instruction is known as POWER.

You do not create your own Personal Power of any kind, though you may modify it, adapt it, develop it, and direct it. POWER, the source of All-Power, has always existed and will always exist. You generate Personal Power by drawing upon the great Source and Fount of All-Power; by opening your natural channels to its inflow; and by supplying it with the proper physical and mental mechanism by means of which it is enabled to express and manifest itself efficiently.

There are not, in reality, many distinct kinds of Personal Power— though there are many forms and phases of its expression and manifestations. Just as, by means of being supplied with the appropriate apparatus, Electricity is transformed into light, heat, energy, motive-power, telegraphic power, telephonic power, and “wireless message” power, so is your Personal Power transformed into mental power and physical power; into thinking power, feeling power, and willing power; by reason of the various channels of expression and manifestation supplied to it.

Personal Power manifests along the lines of mental activity in three great forms, viz., along the respective channels of (1) Feeling, (2) Thinking, and (3) Willing. These three channels, however, are not absolutely set apart and separated from each other, but, on the contrary, have many intersecting and connecting lines or channels of intercommunication; their activities are closely coordinated. Accordingly, in practically all instances of mental activity, we find the coordination and blending of the activity of these great phases of mental activity.

Desire is the highest wave of the waters of Feeling or Emotion. Feeling is “the agreeable or disagreeable phase of a mental state.” Emotion is a complex form of Feeling, into which is blended the element of the representative ideas of memory or imagination. Desire is the strong urge or pressure of Emotion toward an idea or object which promises emotional satisfaction and content; or away from an idea or object which threatens emotional dissatisfaction or discontent. If the emotional urge becomes sufficiently strong, the Desire develops a conational activity, i. e., an activity tending toward will-action along the lines of the satisfaction and gratification of the Desire. On one side, Desire arises from Emotion; on the other side, Desire evolves into Conation—and Conation is the elementary active phase of Will.

Before you can expect to understand the nature of Desire, its laws, the principles of its development and application, you must first know something of the general form of mental activity of which it is the highest and most active phase, i. e., the mental activity known as Emotion.

Emotion is defined as: “An excitement of the feelings, whether pleasant or unpleasant”; Feeling being “the agreeable or disagreeable side of any mental state.” Feeling may be described as “a simple emotional state”; and Emotion may be described as “a complex state of Feeling”—the difference is a matter of degree and not of kind. Emotion, however, has Idea blended with it—memories of previous experiences supplied by recollection or instinct (the latter reporting race-memories). Feeling (simple) may arise from a purely physical cause, and no definite Idea may be involved in it. But Emotion (complex) necessitates the presence and influence of representative Idea to direct it and to continue it beyond the stage of simple Feeling.

A leading teacher of psychology illustrated this distinction to his pupils by directing their attention to the analogy of the junction of the Upper Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. He pictured the Missouri as a stream of Representative Ideas, and the Upper Mississippi as a stream of simple Feeling arising from sense-impressions. The two streams meet; their waters join and, blending, compose the complex Lower Mississippi of Emotion now flowing to the Gulf of Desire and Will. The teacher, however, always cautioned his pupils to remember that this illustration was used merely for convenience: for Feeling and Idea are never so far apart (before the junction) in the mind as are the waters of the two rivers.

The highest activities of Feeling and Emotion are known as Affection and Desire, respectively.

Affection is defined as: “An emotional drawing of the mind toward any person or thing, which does not necessarily depart even when that person or thing is absent.” In its latent state, Affection may be termed a “disposition or tendency toward a person or thing.” In its active state, Affection may manifest as Passion, especially in the presence of its object. The term is usually employed to denote the state of emotional feeling toward persons, but it is also properly employed in connection with anything capable of exciting regard. Affection, likewise, has its negative aspect; in such aspect the tendency or disposition is that of drawing-away-from, instead of drawing-toward, the object or person arousing the emotional feeling. Positive Affection arises from Attraction; Negative Affection arises from Repulsion. Affection, then, is seen to be composed of the following two elements, viz., (1) the Emotional Feeling, and (2) the tendency or disposition to be attracted toward (or repelled from) the object arousing the emotional feeling.

Desire is a more complex, and a more active phase of Emotional Feeling than is Affection. Desire combines and includes the element of Affection, but it goes beyond the latter. It may be defined as: “The strong wish or inclination to attain, secure, reach, or to retain, hold, and own, the object which has attracted it; or to get away from, escape or be free from, the object which has repelled it.” Desire always reaches out to the object of Positive Affection, or withdraws from the object of Negative Affection. Affection simply is attracted toward or repelled by its objects; Desire takes up the task where Affection drops it, and then wishes to lay hold upon the object, to possess it or attain it, or (in its negative aspect) to avoid or escape from that object. Affection (in its positive phase) loves the object; Desire (in its positive phase) not only loves it but also “wants” it and is not satisfied without its attainment or possession: Note this distinction, for it is important in the application of the fundamental principle involved in Desire.

The power inherent in Emotion is indicated by the term designating it. The term “Emotion” is derived from the Latin term “emotio,” meaning “a moving out.” The latter term, in turn, was derived from the Latin prefix “e,” meaning “out,” and the verb “moveo,” meaning “to move.” The essence and spirit of the term, as indicated by its origin, is that of “movement,” motion, activity. It is significant that the same Latin verb “moveo” which supplies us with our English term “Emotion,” also supplies us with our English term “Motion.” Both terms mean “to move”; the “e” in “Emotion” specially indicating “outward motion; to move outward.” So that Motion and Emotion are seen to be closely connected in origin and meaning. Motive Power and Emotive Power are but forms and phases of the same thing, at the last analysis—some philosophers, indeed, claiming that they are one in essential principle.

Too many persons have fallen into the habit of undervaluing Emotion, and of rather being inclined to apologize for its presence and manifestation in and by themselves. They seek to give it a subordinate place in the Trinity of Mind, and to exalt above it the coordinated elements of Thinking and Willing, respectively. This, principally because the term “emotional” has been attached to and associated with certain unattractive phases of emotional activity; as for instance, the sickly sentimentality, maudlin sentiment, the “slushy gushing” and the neurotic hysterical hyper-emotionality manifested by certain persons who are regarded as being “quite emotional.” The abnormal has been mistaken for the normal—the morbid, for the natural and healthy state.

Emotion includes not only some of the richest and most noble elements of our mental and spiritual natures, but also much that is of the most practical pragmatic value in our everyday work and activity. Not only does it manifest its presence in those experiences and activities which we usually include in the category of “the things of the soul,” but it also is found to play a quite important part in the activities of the intellect and of the will. In fact, Emotion illustrates the aptness of the term, E-motion, by imparting motion and activity to both intellect and will. The promise implicit in its name is fulfilled in its actual accomplishment.

Emotion includes in its category that which thrills the heart of man, and which causes him to manifest the fine forces of affection, love and friendship. It contains within its realm the desires which urge him forward on the path of life, and which direct his vision to the banner of Victory placed far ahead over the portals of the future. Emotion lies much closer to the heart and nearer to the springs of human action than does Intellect, great as are the achievements of the latter; and it plays a highly important part in the determination of the character of the individual. While we extol the virtues of Intellect, let us not ignore or undervalue those of Emotion. Man does not live by Intellect alone: Emotion must be present to add spirit and soul to the body of Personal Power.

Man has a heart as well as a head. In fact, the heart plays a greater part than does the head in the actions of mankind as a whole. Rob human action of the inspiration of the heart, and you have left but a cold mechanical product. Remove Emotion from human life, and you will have taken away the source of its greatest beauties and charm. The Man of Personal Power has Intellect, Emotion, and Will well balanced—this constitutes the Balance of Poise and Power. Intellect is not to be undervalued: Will is to be viewed with respect and admiration; but Emotion is seen to be the essence of the life and soul of the other two elements, and of the individual as a whole. Well says the old adage: “Keep thy heart with all diligence, out of it are the issues of life.”

But, more to the point, at least in the case of the practical men of the world who may read these words, is the fact that in Emotion is to be found a practical phase of Personal Power—a force or energy which enables men to attain, to accomplish, to succeed, to do things worth while. It is one of the tragedies of our modern educational system that, while the greatest attention is devoted to training “the head,” training “the heart” is practically neglected. It is generally considered quite practical and according to common sense to train and cultivate the intellect; but usually even to hint at the desirability of training and cultivating the emotions lays one open to the charge of being “impractical and visionary.” It is only when persons are shown the important part played by Emotion in all the activities of Intellect and Will, that they will even seriously listen to suggestions that Emotion should be accorded attention in the educational field.

Yet, as all psychologists know, the Intellect is influenced, swayed, directed and often entirely controlled by Emotion. Many of man’s greatest intellectual triumphs have resulted from the motive power supplied by Emotion. Moreover, the Will has its very roots embedded in Emotion; the motives which move the Will to action are always found to arise from Emotion These are not mere general or careless statements made to strengthen the argument; on the contrary, they express the cold, hard facts of scientific psychology. The fact that such statements may be new to you is but another proof of the public neglect of this important subject.

Ribot, in the following statement, ably sets forth the conclusions of those philosophers, psychologists and physiologists who maintain that Emotional Feeling is the most fundamental aspect of the life of all conscious creatures, and that it underlies the phase of Intellect in the scale of evolutionary development; that, in fact, it constitutes the very kernel of Life and Mind as these are found to be manifested in living forms. He says:

“Concerning the place of the Feelings in the total psychic life, I wish to say that that place is first. The Feelings appearing first, it is clear that they cannot be derived, and are not a mode or function of Intellect, since they exist by themselves and are irreducible: thus stated the question is simple and quite evident. The physiological evidence in favor of the priority of the Feelings need only to be recalled; it all centres in one point: organic vegetative life always and everywhere appears before animal life; physiologists constantly repeat that the animal is grafted on the vegetable which precedes him.

“Organic life is directly expressed by the needs and appetites, which are the stuff of the affective life. The myriads of animals are only bundles of needs, their psychology consisting in the search for food, in defense, in propagation; but even closed in as they are from the outside world, desire in them is not less intense. Even in man, foetal life, and that of the first months after birth, is much the same: almost made up of satisfied or unsatisfied wants, and consequently of pleasures and pains. From the purely physiological point of view, Intellect appears not as mistress, but as servant.

“The psychological evidence is not difficult to supply, and indeed it has already been presented by Schopenhauer in so brilliant and complete a manner that it would be a bold task to present it afresh. For Schopenhauer, ‘to Will’ is to desire, to aspire, to flee, to hope, to fear, to love, to hate: in a word, all that directly constitutes our good and our ill, our pleasure and our pain. Will (in the sense indicated by Schopenhauer) is universal. The basis of consciousness in every animal is Desire. This fundamental fact is translated into the impulse to preserve life and well-being, and to propagate. This foundation is common to polyp and to man. The differences between animals are due to a difference in knowledge: as we descend in the series, intelligence becomes weaker and more imperfect, but there is no similar degradation in Desire. The smallest insect wills what it desires as fully as does man.

“Desire-Will is always equal to itself. It is fundamental. It is a fact anterior to all intelligence and independent of it. It is the basis of character: ‘the man is hidden in the heart and not in the head.’ Its power is sovereign. It is not Reason which uses Desire, but Desire which uses Reason to reach its ends. Under the influence of intense Desire, the Intellect sometimes rises to a degree of vigor of which none would believe it capable. Desire, love, fear, render the most obtuse understanding lucid. Desire, guided by experience, rests upon proved pleasure and pain, seeking one and avoiding the other. Impulse is the primordial fact in the life of the feelings. Spinoza sums up the whole spirit of the question in his passage: ‘Desire is the very essence of man, from which necessarily flow all those things which tend to preserve him’.”

Indeed, philosophers have even dared to speculate that just as Desire-Feeling is the essence and kernel of the life of the individual, so a Cosmic Desire-Feeling must be postulated as being the very essence and kernel of the Cosmos—of All-Nature; in all of her manifestations and forms of expression, inorganic as well as organic. Along this same line are those metaphysical conceptions of the Infinite Power, or Infinite Being, as necessarily having Desire-Feeling as its attribute; for, otherwise, it is asked, how may we conceive of the Infinite ever having begun its manifestation and expression of the created world? Say certain metaphysicians: “The Infinite must have felt that Creation was ‘desirable,’ else it would never have created anything at all.” Such speculation, however, is outside of our field here; we have mentioned it merely to illustrate how fundamental is the idea, and how it ever asserts its power in man’s philosophical thinking.

Emotion, then, is perceived to be the great incentive to individual motion and action in human life, at least. It is no longer to be regarded as a merely internal, subjective mental state. On the contrary, it is seen to be the internal phase of a mental activity striving to express itself in outward and external activity. Emotion is well called E-Motion. Emotion is an incentive to action—to mental and physical motion. Emotion strives ever to express itself in action. On its lower side, It blends into certain forms of Sensation; on its upper side, it blends into Will.

Emotion is not that manifestation or expression of fanciful, sentimental, neurotic, hysterical feelings or impulses— something to be apologized for by the person manifesting it. Emotion is no more to be gauged by the neurotic, hysterical, hyper-emotionality miscalled “emotion,” than is Intellect to be gauged by the fantastic so-called “reasoning” of the inmate of a lunatic asylum, or that of the many “out patients of Bedlam” whom we meet in everyday life. Neither Emotion nor Intellect is to be gauged by the perverted forms of these great mental activities.

Men are accustomed to speak of Intellect as the most potent of the powers of the mind; but they reckon ill who leave out Emotion. Descartes said: “I think; therefore, I am!” But Feeling is even more fundamental than is Thought: and men say with even greater certainty, “I Feel; therefore, I am!” Likewise, we are in the habit of quoting with satisfaction the aphorism: “As a man thinketh, so is he”; but we fail to remember that the actual words of the aphorism are, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Here, “thinketh in his heart,” really means “feeleth in his heart”—for “the heart” is the familiar figurative term employed to denote the seat of Feeling, just as “the head” is employed to denote the seat of Thinking. So, at the last, then, our favorite aphorism is seen to read, “As a man feeleth in his heart, so is he.”

We are here not endeavoring to exalt Emotion over Thought and Will, but are merely seeking to restore to its place in the Trinity of Mind a most important element of the Mental Power of Man which many persons have become accustomed to overlook and neglect. Or, changing the figure of speech, we may say that in Emotion we have that cornerstone of the Temple of Mental Power which has been rejected by many of the modern builders. Without the element of Emotive Power there can be no Motive Power in the human mind.

Desire and Actions

Desire, as we have seen, is the crest of the wave of Emotional Feeling. At the same time, Desire may be said to be the elementary stage or phase of Will. Emotion, rising to Desire, tends to become transformed into Will. Before reaching the stage of Desire, we find Emotion manifesting the stage of Affection, under the several forms of the latter known as Love, Liking, Fondness, Attraction, Passion, Admiration, respectively. The spirit of Affection is represented by the phrase, “I like.”

Desire evolves from the stage of Affection, and manifests the inclination to wish, to want, to long for, to hanker after, to crave eagerly, to obtain or to enjoy the object of its Affection. Desire manifests in several forms, as for instance, Aspiration, Ambition, Craving, Hunger or Thirst (employed figuratively), for Attainment; or, the simple ‘Wish or Want. The spirit of Desire is represented by the phrase, “I want.”

Desire, however, only moves toward that to which it is attracted by Affection. It “wants” only that which it “likes.” That which it neither likes nor yet dislikes fails to stir it into activity. That which it dislikes, it positively “wants not”; it seeks to avoid, or to escape from, or to be rid of or free from such things.

The degree of Desire depends materially upon the degree of Affection for the object, though other elements enter into the calculation. As Gordy says: “I will to do this, or that, because of some pleasure or benefit—and that, when analyzed, will be found to consist of some form of pleasure which I hope to gain, or of some pain which I hope to avoid.”

Here is the working principle, briefly stated: We entertain an Affection or “like” for that which gives us pleasurable feelings or emotions; we Desire or “want” that for which we entertain an Affection or “like,” i. e., that which gives us pleasurable feelings or emotions; and we Will or “act” to do that which seems to tend to satisfy or accomplish our Desire or “want.” In this working principle we may find the Secret of Action—the workings of the inner machinery of Will which causes us to “do things.” We must find a thing pleasurable in order that we may “like” it; we must “like” it before we may “want” it; we must “want” it before we will move into action to “do things” tending to attain, secure, gain, and accomplish that which will satisfy the Desire.

Desire is stirred into activity, and moves out into expression, only in response to an object—it is moved only by an incentive of an emotional character. Professor Halleck gives us the simple rule in his celebrated statement: “Desire has for its object something which will bring pleasure or get rid of pain, immediate or remote, for the individual or for some one in whom he is interested. Aversion, or a striving away from something, is merely the negative aspect of Desire.”

You will find that all forms and phases of Desire are covered by the above statement. To be Desire, a mental state must include and possess the above-stated elements; if a mental state includes the above-stated elements, then it must be Desire. You are advised to commit the definition, or statement, to memory; and to test your feelings by means of it, when you are in doubt as to whether you desire a thing, or not.

Desire exerts a tremendous influence upon all phases of human action. It is the motive power of Will; the latter tends to move toward the object of the greatest Desire, and to flow through its channels. The Will is always moved by a “motive,” i. e., a cause, or reason inciting to action; and that “motive” always is found in Desire and the ideas attached to it. It is an axiom of psychology that “The Will goes out toward the strongest motive present in conscious or subconscious attention at the time of action.” The “strongest motive” always is that idea representing the object of the strongest desire, or of the aggregate or average of the strongest desires, present in attention at the moment of action.

Desire also plays an important part in our thought, reasoning, and judgments. It quickens our perception, and energizes our thought processes. It is proverbial that our judgments are affected by our feelings, emotions, affections and desires. It has been truly said that most persons, when they seek to reason, strive rather to find “excuses” for their previous decisions, rather than to advance logical reasons for new decisions; the decisions themselves have already been made, in most cases, because of feelings, emotions, affections and desires. Our feelings and desires frequently cause us to perceive only the facts which we wish to discover, and to overlook those which we do not wish to be uncovered.

Johnson says: “Affection and Desire put the magnifying end of the telescope to our intellectual eye where our own interests are concerned, and the minimizing end when we are looking at the interests of others for whom we entertain no affection.” Halleck says: “Thought is deflected when it passes through an emotional medium, just as a sunbeam is deflected when it strikes water.” Gulick says: “Our hopes, fears, ambitions, loves and likes are the controlling factors of our lives. The purely mental, logical, or reasoning function is chiefly the servant of our desires and fears.”

That men are influenced more easily, more readily and more frequently through their emotions, desires and affections, than through their reasoning faculties, is well known. The orator, lawyer, statesman and preacher, the salesman and the advertising man, all know that the road to men’s heads runs through men’s hearts. The great orators have been men of emotional power—men who put their hearts into their words,, and thus aroused the hearts of their hearers. Rochefoucauld said: “The passions are the only orators that always succeed.” Henry Clay said: “Caesar controlled men by exciting their fears; Cicero by swaying their passions.” Brooks says: “It is the tender sentiment, the quivering lip, the trembling accent, the moistened eye, that are often the must eloquent pleaders.”

Davenport says: “The cool, rational speaker has little chance beside the skillful orator. The crowd thinks in images, and speech must take this form to be accessible to it ... The crowd is united and governed by emotion rather than by reason. Emotion is the natural bond, for men differ less in this respect than in intellect.” Burke said: “There is a moving tone of voice, an impassioned gesture, which affects independently of the things about which they are exerted. So are there words, and certain dispositions of words, which being peculiarly devoted to passionate subjects, and always used by those who are under the influence of any passion, always touch and move us more than those which far more clearly and distinctly express the subject matter. We yield to sympathy what we refuse to description.”

An old writer once said: “Few speakers succeed who attempt merely to make people think—they want to be made to feel. People will pay liberally to be made to feel or to laugh, while they will begrudge a sixpence for instruction or talk that will make them think. The reasons are palpable and plain: it is heart against head; soul against logic; and soul is bound to win every time.” Cardinal Newman once said: “The heart is commonly reached, not through reason, but through the imagination, by means of direct impressions, by descriptions. Persons influence us, voices melt us, deeds inflame us.”

One has but to recall instances of the great influence exerted over the public mind by the emotional appeals to affection or dislike, to prejudices for or against, to desires, ambitions, aspirations, cravings, longings and things eagerly “wanted,” made by orators, politicians, statesmen, actors, and preachers, in order to realize the potent effect of Emotion, Affection and Desire upon men’s thoughts, opinions, beliefs and convictions.

A modern writer says: “A large part of the business of life consists in moving the emotions and desires of men so as to get them to act.” Another says: “The successful man is he who is able to persuade the crowd that he has something that they want; or that they want something that he has.” The successful salesman, advertising man, or any other man who has things to sell other men, all bring into play the force of Desire in those whom they are seeking to interest in their projects. They appeal to the “want” or “want to” side of the mind of men. They play upon men’s sympathies, their prejudices, their hopes, their fears, their desires, their aversions.

Men “do things” and “act” because of the motive power of their emotional nature, particularly in the form of Affection and Desire. This is the only reason impelling or influencing men to “do things.” Were this motive power absent, there would be no action or doing of things; there would be no reason or cause for such action or doing, in that event. We act and do solely because we “like” and “want.” Were the emotional element absent, there would be no element of volition. Without Desire we would make no choices, would exercise no decision, would perform no actions. Without the “want” and “want to,” there would be no “will to do,” and no “doing.” Desire is the motive power of Action; take away the motive power and there cannot be and will not be any movement, activity or volition. Without the motive power of Desire, the machinery of voluntary action ceases to operate, and comes to a complete standstill.

An old writer, whose words have been preserved for us though his name is unknown to the present writers, enunciates a profound truth in the following rather startling statement:

“Every deed that we do, good or bad, is prompted by Desire. We are charitable because we wish to relieve our inner distress at the sight of suffering; or from the urge of sympathy, with its desire to express its nature; or from the desire to be respected in this world, or to secure a comfortable place in the next one. One man is kind because he desires to be kind—because it gives him satisfaction and content to be kind. Another man is unkind because he desires to be so—because it gives him satisfaction and content to be so. One man does his duty because he desires to do it—he obtains a higher emotional satisfaction and content from duty well done than he would from neglecting it in accordance with some opposing desires. Another man yields to the desire to shirk his duty—he obtains greater satisfaction and content from refraining from performing his duty, in favor of doing other and contrary things which possess a greater emotional value to himself.

“The religious man is religious in his actions, because his religious desires are stronger than are his irreligious ones—he finds a greater satisfaction and content in religious actions than in the pursuits of the worldly-minded. The moral man is moral because his moral desires are stronger than his immoral ones—he obtains a greater degree of emotional satisfaction and content in being moral than in being immoral. Everything we do is prompted by Desire in some shape or form, high or low. Man cannot be Desireless, and still act in one way or another—or in any way whatsoever. Desire is the motive-power behind all action—it is a natural law of Life. Everything from the atom to the monad; from the monad to the insect; from the insect to man; from Man to Nature; and possibly from Nature to God; everything from lowest to highest and from highest to lowest—everything that is—is found to act and to do things, to manifest action and to perform work, by reason of the power and force of Desire. Desire is the animating power, the energizing force, and the motive-power in, under, and behind all natural processes, activities and events.”

In order to appreciate fully the influence and power of the emotional states, culminating in Desire, upon the decisions and actions of men, it may be necessary for you to indulge in a little introspective speculation, employing your imagination in the task. You may start out with the assumption that no thing has a greater emotional value to you than any other thing; that you feel no greater desire to attain, possess, or enjoy any one thing more than another; that you do not “want” or “want to” in any particular direction any more than in any other. Admitting the existence of such a state of mind and feeling, you may then proceed logically to create an imaginative picture of the state of affairs certain to result from such mental state.

In such event, you would find that not only would “all things look alike to me,” but that you would feel alike concerning all things. All things having an equal emotional value to you, you would really experience no emotional “wanting,” craving, or desiring for anything. Hunger and thirst having ceased to exist for you; comfort and discomfort would have passed away from you; love and hate, like and dislike, no longer would have any meaning for you. You would quite as willingly starve or suffer extreme thirst as to satisfy hunger or thirst. You would quite as willingly suffer extreme discomfort and pain, as to enjoy comfort and experience pleasure. You would be quite as willing to experience insult, revilement and cruelty directed toward yourself, or those near to you, as you would be to be shown kindness, consideration, respect and kind treatment. Poverty and wealth would alike be valued or not valued by you—one would be quite as good as the other.

You would no longer feel affection toward your parents, your mate and your offspring, and you would not raise your hand to protect them from any assault or injury. All love and all sympathy would be foreign to you, as would also all hate, dislike, or desire to avoid anything or anybody. You would have no love of friends, nor of home, nor of country. The impulses of sex, high and low, would not affect you. You would have no liking or desire for truth and honesty, and yet no desire to lie or to be dishonest. You would have no desire to create, to construct, to invent. You would have no sense of love, of beauty, of art, of music—no desire to think, learn, read, or to use the mind in any way. You would have no moral or religious instincts or tendencies, yet you would suffer no temptations to indulge in vice or courses frowned upon by ethics and religion. All feelings, high and low, good and bad, virtuous or vicious, all would be lacking in you.

In such an event, you would have no tastes concerning anything, no preferences about anything, no love or hatred for anything, no like or dislike of anything, no desire or aversion for anything; and consequently you would not exert your will to attain or to avoid anything—you would not will at all, you would not act at all in any direction. You would be a “living dead man,” for all that constitutes the meaning of life would be absent from your being. Apathy and Lethargy would be your lot. You would not even live long, for you would feel no desire to act to supply yourself with nourishment, nor to secure protection from the elements or from hostile forces or things.

If the world were Desireless there would be no activity in it. Not only would all living things cease to manifest their natural characters and natures, but even the inorganic forms would cease to act, and move, and perform their natural processes. For, know you. Desire dwells even on the lower planes of Nature— even on the planes of the so-called “lifeless” things. Everything that has the power of “self movement” is found to move to or away from certain other things for which it may be said to have “like or dislike.” The attraction and repulsion among the atoms and molecules of matter are held by scientists to proceed according to well-defined “like and dislike,” love and hate,— Desire, in an elementary form. The “chemical affinity” between the chemical elements clearly proceeds along the lines of “like and dislike.” This being so, a Desireless World would lack the activities of these inorganic elements, the cessation of the natural forces—and all would be at a standstill.

This idea has been objected to by some on the grounds that most of our actions—and those of all other creatures and things—proceed along the lines of habit rather than of actual Desire. The answer to this is (1) all habits, original or inherited through race-memory and instinct, have been created and established by repetitions of actions found “agreeable,” and hence according to Desire—they are derivative or secondary manifestations of Desire; and (2) your own experience will prove to you that it is decidedly more “comfortable” and “agreeable” to act according to habit, than in the opposite direction. The difficulty experienced by one in overcoming an objectionable habit is sufficient proof that one “wants to” act in the habitual manner, and finds it agreeable and pleasant so to do; Desire reigns in the field of habit, as in every other mental field. The “line of least resistance” runs along the path of habit, and in response to a marked feeling of comfort.

We feel assured that you have now convinced yourself that all of your actions are directly or indirectly caused by your Desires; and that the latter are based upon your particular emotional values. i. e., upon the kind, character, direction and degree of your “likes and dislikes.” The more closely you study and analyze the actions and doings of yourself and other individuals, the more firmly established will be your conviction that: “All voluntary action proceeds along the lines of Desire, and arises from the presence and activity of Desire.” There is no known exception to this rule; the more extended the observation and experiment, the greater is the proof of the rule.

In testing out the truth of the above-announced rule of action, you should always bear in mind the true and full definition of Desire. For convenience, we here again quote the Halleck rule, viz., “Desire has for its object something which will bring pleasure or get rid of pain, immediate or remote, for the individual or for some one in whom he is interested. Aversion, or a striving away from something is merely a negative aspect or Desire.” Observation and experiment will prove conclusively to you the truth of the rule that all voluntary actions arise from Desire (in the above-stated sense of the term), and always proceed along the lines of Desire.

However, there is another step in our reasoning on the subject—a step which many hesitate to take, and over which many stumble and fall, in their reasoning—a step which logically follows the acceptance of the foregoing rule, and which is the inevitable, invariable and infallible conclusion of the premise or proposition advanced in that rule. This second, or derivative rule, is as follows: “All voluntary action proceeds along the line of the strongest Desire-motive, or the aggregate or average of such motives, present in conscious or subconscious attention at the moment of decision or action.”

Stated in simpler terms this rule is: “‘You always act according to the greatest ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ of which you are cognizant at the time.” So true and invariable is this rule, that it may be truthfully asserted that you not only always do so act, but that you cannot act to the contrary—if you act at all, ‘you must act according to this rule. This last is a hard saying for most persons when it is first presented to their notice; but it is a true one, and the repugnance to it arises from a misunderstanding concerning, or at least a failure to comprehend fully, the real meaning of the proposition. We ask you to give the matter careful attention, for it is important.

The principal objection urged against this rule by many persons when it is first presented to them is that which may be expressed in the statement, “But, I actually often do things against my desires and inclinations, and which I really do not want to do at all.” At first, this statement may seem to express the truth; but a little analysis will soon uncover the fallacy. The analysis may begin with the following question, “But why did you do the thing which you say you did not want to do?” There is always an answer, and that answer usually begins with the word “because.” A “because” is a “cause,” or “reason”—it is a motive to action. And that “because,” “reason,” or motive is always discovered to be some form or phase of Desire—a “want” to secure or to avoid or escape something. The “why?” implies a motive, the “because” states the motive, and the “want” is the essence of the motive.

You may desire very much to attend the opera, but you decide to stay home at the last moment. Why? Because of the wishes of your wife, the illness of your child, the notice of the visit of a friend, or some other “because” based upon a desire, wish, or “want to.” There may be a conflict of desires, but the strongest desire at the moment wins the battle. You may discard even a strong desire for a present and immediate pleasure or benefit in favor of a desire for a remote one promising greater benefit or satisfaction. You may inhibit and suppress a strong desire, because of your desire to give pleasure, or to avoid causing pain, to some one for whom you care; or, for fear of condemnation and disapproval on the part of others; or, because of the promptings of “conscience,” and the feeling that you would afterward repent or feel remorse because of the action; or, because the force of habit, custom, usual mode of action, etc., brings down the balance of Desire against the proposed action. In short, you may decide not to do the thing you first desired and “wanted to” do, so strongly,—but only because of the greater desire for something else or to escape something else.

These illustrations might be continued almost indefinitely, but the above examples indicate the general principle involved. You will find that the strongest element of Desire to have, or to avoid or escape, will win the day. The rule is: “‘You always act according to your greatest ‘like’ or ‘dislike,’ of which you are cognizant at the time.”

When you feel regret, repentance or remorse because of past actions or failure to act, it is simply because time has added new elements, or has given you new points of view. Your emotional values have changed, and the problem no longer is the same which confronted you when you made the decision. New facts, new ideas, new conditions may add to the emotional values of one course of action, and subtract from the values of others. But the action you now wish you had taken, like the one which you now wish you had not taken, always is based upon the same rule of the strongest like or dislike present at the moment of the decision.

Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) presented his philosophy based upon this principle of voluntary action in a somewhat blunt and startling form. Helvetius, the French philosopher, had announced the same conclusions in the Eighteenth Century— but few have heard of Helvetius, while many have heard of Mark Twain.

Helvetius, in his main work, advanced the principle that, “The grand lever of all human conduct is self-satisfaction!” He admitted, however, that self-satisfaction may assume many and widely contrasted forms. For instance, said he, the self-satisfaction of a good man consists in his subordination of private to more general interests—first to the circle of persons in which he moves, then to the general community, and finally to the world at large. Self-satisfaction, he held, may be base or noble, egotistic or altruistic, immoral or moral, irreligious or religious, low or high, selfish or unselfish (in the ordinary usage of these terms), and so on—but it remains self-satisfaction all the time, in all cases, and is never self-dissatisfaction or the refusal to satisfy the self, at the last.

Helvetius taught, in short, that man acts in the direction of satisfying and contenting his own strongest feelings, emotions, and desires. This seems to be a harsh doctrine, until it is thoroughly understood and appreciated; but all of our moral and ethical training is based upon its fundamental truth. We endeavor to have the individual “feel right,” in order to have him “act right.” If we can not get him to love the right, we then proceed to get him to fear the consequences of wrong-doing. We work upon his Desire-nature in either case. This is all that Helvetius meant, i. e., that men act according to inner motives—the strongest motives of self-satisfaction deciding the nature of the action.

Clemens uses the term “contenting the spirit” in place of Helvetius’ term “self-satisfaction”—but both mean the same, at the last. Clemens says: “There is only one impulse which moves a person to do things. That sole impulse is the impulse to content his own spirit—the necessity of contenting his own spirit and winning its approval. The act must do him good, first; otherwise he will not do it. He may think he is doing it for the other person’s sake, but it is not so; he is contenting his own spirit first—the other person’s benefit has to always take second place. There is but one law, one source, of men’s acts. Both the noblest impulses and the basest proceed from that one source. This is the law, keep it in your mind: From his cradle to his grave a man never does a single thing which has any first and foremost object but one—to secure peace of mind, spiritual comfort, for himself. He will always do the thing which will bring him the most mental comfort—for that is the sole law of his life. * * * Always spirit-contenting reasons. There are no others.”

There is another general rule concerning Desire which it is important that you should note and remember. The rule is as follows: “The degree of force, energy, will, determination, persistence and continuous application manifested by an individual in his aspirations, ambitions, aims, performances, actions and work is determined primarily by the degree of ‘want’ and ‘want to’ concerning that object.”

So true is this principle that some who have studied its effects have announced the aphorism: “You can have or be anything that you want—if you only want it hard enough.” To “want a thing hard enough” is equivalent to “paying the price” for it—the price of the sacrifice of lesser desires and “wants”; the casting off of the non-essentials, and the concentration of Desire upon the one essential idea or thing, and the application of the will to its attainment or accomplishment.

Much that we have been in the habit of ascribing to the possession and the manifestation of a “strong will” has really been due to the element of Will which is called Conation, i. e., Desire tending toward expression in Will-action. The man filled with an ardent, fierce, burning, craving and urge for and toward a certain object, will call to his aid the latent powers of his Will, and of his Intellect—these under the motive power and stimulus of Desire will manifest unusual activity and energy toward the accomplishment of the desired end. Desire has well been called the Flame which produces the heat which generates the Steam of Will.

Very few persons, comparatively, know how to Desire with sufficient intensity and insistence. They content themselves with mere “wishing” and mild “wanting.” They fail to experience that Insistent Desire, which is one of the important elements of the Master Formula of Attainment. They do not know what it is to feel and manifest that intense, eager, longing, craving, insistent, demanding, ravenous Desire which (to use a favorite and oft-repeated expression of ours) is akin to the persistent, insistent, ardent, overwhelming desire of the drowning man for a breath of air; of the shipwrecked or desert-lost man for a drink of water; of the famished man for bread and meat; of the fierce, wild creature for its mate; of the mother for the welfare of her children. Yet, if the truth were known, the desire for success of the men who have accomplished great things has often been as great as these.

We are not necessarily slaves to our Desires; we may master the lower or disadvantageous desires by Will, under the Power of the “I AM I,” or Master Self. We may transmute lower desires into higher, negatives into positives, hurtful into helpful, in this way. We may become Masters of Desire, instead of being mastered by it. But before we may do so, we must first desire to do so, to accomplish and to attain this end. We may even rise to the heights of Will—the place where the “I AM I” may say, truthfully, “I Will to Will” and “I Will to Desire”; but even there we must first desire to so “Will to Will” and “Will to Desire.”

Even at these sublime heights of Egohood, we find Desire to be the fundamental and elemental Motive Power: this because it abides at the very heart of things—the heart of ourself—the Heart of Life. Even there, we essay and accomplish the highest deeds and acts of Will solely and simply because they serve to “content our spirit,” to give us the highest degree of “self satisfaction”—to gratify, satisfy and give expression and manifestation to our greatest, most insistent, most persistent and strongest “want” and “want to.”

The Evolution Of Desire

Desire is the one mental element, attribute or quality which is discovered to be present universally in all living things. Differ as do the various forms and varieties of living things in respect to the qualities, attributes or faculties of observation, perception and thinking, nevertheless in each and every living creature is to be found present and active the fundamental element, quality or attribute of Desire. Though the thinking powers decrease as the scale of life is descended, the element of Desire is found to lose nothing in power in the tower forms of life, though the degree of complexity of manifestation of course is lessened.

As the evolutionists have pointed out, and as the philosophers of certain schools have been quick to note and to assert, the element of Desire appears earlier in the scale of life than does Intellect, and therefore is perceived to be far more fundamental and basic than is the latter. Even in vegetable life there is manifest the presence and activity of unconscious Desire, though there is no sign of Intellect. The new-born human babe can scarcely be held to manifest Intellect, but there can be no mistake concerning the presence of Desire as a fundamental element of its mental being. When Intellect first appears in living creatures, it seems to have been evolved for the purpose of serving Desire.

In view of the discovered facts concerning the elemental and fundamental character of Desire, certain philosophers have asserted that in Desire is to be found the primal stuff from which the entire psychic being of living creatures has been evolved. In short, this view holds that Nature—the inner nature of Nature— is spiritual; and that the basic and fundamental essence of that spiritual nature of Nature is Desire in its elemental form. They claim, in the words of Schopenhauer, that “Desire is the kernel of all life, in the individual creature and in the entire universe.” To these philosophers, Desire is not a mere mental quality, but is rather the essential element of Life, and, therefore, of all living things.

The Buddhists go so far as to assert that Desire (called by them “Tanha,” or “The Will to Live”) is the real Creative Power of and in Nature—and which is the “cause” of the continuous process of Creative Evolution. The following quotation from Subhadra Bhikshu, a Buddhist writer, gives a general idea of the Buddhistic conception of the power and offices of Desire as the Creative Principle of Nature. This writer says:

“The Will-to-Live (Tanha) inherent in all of us, and the essential factor in our being, is the true creative power; it is the cause of our existence, and is, in fact, the Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer of all things. The term ‘the Will-to-Live,’ in the Buddhist sense of the word, does not merely imply what the Western world understands by ‘conscious will,’ but rather that instinctive life-love which, partly consciously, partly unconsciously to themselves, is inherent in all living beings, animals and plants, as well as man. In this term, ‘the Will-to-Live,’ or craving for existence, are summed up all those functions, powers, desires, inclinations and disinclinations, which tend to the preservation of life, and the acquisition of comfort and enjoyment.

“The Western student of Buddhism must be repeatedly reminded not to confound ‘the Will-to-Live’—that is, the desire for life, the cleaving to existence—with the ‘conscious will’ or the so-called ‘free will.’ Conscious will is but a fraction of the whole ‘Will-to-Live’—namely, such portion as passes through the organ of the brain, which is the vehicle of consciousness. But the greater portion of ‘the Will-to-Live’ never reaches consciousness in plants and animals, and but imperfectly in men. It shows itself as a mere blind instinct, an inveterate cleaving to existence, an effort to grasp at everything that makes life pleasant, and to avoid whatever hurts or endangers it.”

Schopenhauer, von Hartmann, and, to some extent, Bergson, tend to regard the “Spirit of Nature,” or the “Universal Life Principle,” as having Desire as its essential element or factor. Schopenhauer postulated the existence of a World Spirit, or Universal Life Principle, the essence of which is Desire—the spirit of longing, craving, lusting for, wishing, seeking for, tending toward outward expression and action. He held that this principle of Desire manifests itself in various degrees and phases in physical, chemical, magnetic, and vital force in Nature; its most striking phase, however, being “the Will-to-Live” which manifests in all living forms, seeking expression and objective manifestation—its characteristic phases being the striving to maintain and to perpetuate life, the struggle for existence and the instinct to perpetuate the species.

We have presented to you the above characteristic forms of this school of philosophical thought, that of the Buddhists and that of the Western Voluntarists, not as necessarily representing the philosophical thought of the present writers, nor for the purpose of awakening an interest in such schools of philosophy on the part of our readers, but merely for the purpose of directing your attention to the recognition by careful thinkers of the fact that Desire is fundamental, elemental and omnipresent in Nature’s processes, activities, and forms. We direct your attention to the facts, the reference to the philosophies built upon them being merely incidental and secondary.

We can never hope to know what Desire is “in itself”; like all great forces, it is to be known only through its manifestations and expressions. We know it most intimately by reason of its presence in ourselves, but even so we thus know it merely in the particular phase of development it has reached in ourselves; for the rest we must look at its manifestation in other forms of life. The philosophers assert, and with apparent support of facts, that the principle of Desire is to be found actively manifesting in inanimate things—in atoms, molecules, and masses of inorganic matter, and in the physical forces and energies of matter. But we shall not go that far back in our examination; instead, we shall begin with the elementary living forms.

Even in the most lowly life forms—even in the forms of plant-life—we find Desire manifesting along three general lines, viz., (1) the line of the preservation of the physical form or body; (2) the line of the satisfaction of hunger, or the desire for nourishment; and (3) the line of the preservation of the species, or satisfaction of the desire for reproduction. These three lines of Desire, and the activities resulting from their expression, are the three phases of the great elemental Desire for Life, or “the Will-to-Live.” They represent the elemental Desire of Life to live, maintain life, and to secure the transmission of life to offspring.

These three phases of Desire are present in the moneron, and are present in man. Even in the single cells of which the bodies of plants and animals are constituted, these three phases of Desire are manifested actively—each living thing, cell to man, strives to protect its physical form intact, to secure food and nourishment, and to propagate itself. This Desire is elemental and basic—it proceeds along the lines of appetency, or instinct, and of conscious feeling. It is manifested with as great vigor in the lowly life-forms, as in the higher. Nature (in its Spirit of Desire) works ever to preserve and maintain the life of the individual form through which it manifests; to cause it to secure the proper nourishment to sustain life; and to cause it to propagate its kind, and to reproduce itself through offspring.

Here then we have a basic foundation of Desire, upon which the entire structure is built.

The Desire to Live. The desire to live, to preserve and protect the physical body from danger and injury; the “will-to-live”; the “fight for life”; all these are forms and phases of that basic, instinctive Desire to Live which is found in all living creatures, vegetable or animal, from single cell to man. The living creature does not need to reason itself into this belief—it is instinctive. Even the most pessimistic individual, while asserting that his reason shows him the valuelessness of life, will flee from anything threatening his life—he cannot help this, for it is instinctive.

From this Desire to Live spring many other likes and dislikes, with their appropriate desires. The things believed to be conducive to life and health, are held to be “good”; those believed to be harmful are held to be “bad.” Man instinctively seeks the life and health-giving things, and avoids the opposite. Pain is the danger signal of Nature, warning against things threatening life or health. Primitive and elemental pleasure-producing things are usually found to have been originally conducive to physical well-being.

The qualities or feelings of combativeness and destructiveness, the elements of courage and bravery, as well as the traits of caution, cunning, prudence observed in the lower animals, in primitive man, and in civilized man, arose chiefly in response to the instinctive feeling and desire for life and self-preservation. The living creature found it necessary to protect itself from its enemies, and developed the qualities of self-defense; those individuals or species lacking in these qualities perished in the struggle for existence. These tendencies became “set” in the early history of the human race—in fact, they were probably well established in the inherited nature of primitive man, having reached him through evolution. That these qualities, and their desires, have persisted in civilized man in their original force, though usually hidden beneath the surface, is evidenced by man’s reversion to his primitive emotional states and desires during times of war, and by his taste for witnessing and engaging in physical sports in which the elements of strife, combat, struggle, and competition are involved.

Here is a good place in which to call your attention to an interesting and important fact of psychology. The principle may be stated as follows: “A habit originally formed in the race by reason of necessity, and becoming set by repetition during many generations, gradually acquires the quality of pleasure-producing; and as a pleasure-producing activity such habit persists, firmly fixed, in the race long after the original necessity has disappeared.” This explains the fact that hunting, fishing, trapping, tests of physical skill and strength, games requiring physical strength and agility, etc., are found to be “pleasure-producing” by men who are no longer compelled to exercise these powers and arts for self-protection, self-preservation, and physical well-being.

Many of man’s instinctive fears and dislikes have originally arisen from the early experiences of the race in which the element of self-preservation was called into play. These aversions caused actions and courses of conduct which preserved primitive man from injury or death in the fierce struggle for existence on the physical plane which raged in his day. That they persist even to this day, when the necessity for them has largely disappeared, is not to be wondered at in view of the fact that countless generations of men manifesting them have given to them a “set” habit form in human instinct and character.

Professor Schneider says: “It is a fact that men, especially in childhood, fear to go into a dark cavern, or a gloomy wood....... It is quite sure that this fear at a certain perception sometimes is directly inherited. Children who have been carefully guarded from all ghost-stories are, nevertheless, terrified and cry if led into dark places, especially if sounds are made there. Even an adult can easily observe that an uncomfortable timidity steals over him in a lonely wood at night, although he may have a fixed conviction that not the slightest danger is near. This feeling of fear occurs in many men even in their own homes after dark, although it is much stronger in a dark cavern or forest. The fact of such instinctive fear is easily explicable when our ancestors through innumerable generations were accustomed to meet with dangerous beasts in caverns, especially bears, and were for the most part attacked by such beasts during the night and in the woods, and that thus an inseparable association between the perceptions of darkness, caverns, woods, and fear took place, and was inherited.”

The Desire for Nourishment. The desire for nourishment in the shape of food, drink, etc., is also an elemental, primitive, instinctive feeling and want. The continuance and the well-being of every physical body depends upon nourishment, and the “Will-to-Live” implants in each creature the strong, insistent urge toward obtaining such. So elemental is this phase and form of Desire that the terms “hunger” and “thirst” represent the strongest ideas and feelings of want, craving, and desire of which the human mind is capable. The terms “Tanha,” and “Trishna,” which the Buddhists employ to indicate the nature of the “Will-to-Live,” mean “hunger” and “thirst,” respectively. One of the definitions of “hunger” is “a strong or eager desire or longing.”

Many of the secondary desires of animals and men are derived from the elementary desire for food and nourishment. For instance, they long for the places in which food abounds; they desire the means of obtaining that food: man desires the qualities and powers which will enable him to secure food. The desire for food is the prime economic necessity, and the actions of individuals and of nations proceed along the lines of this need and desire. In times of famine, this elemental urge pushes aside the later tendencies of civilization, and causes men to revert to the condition of their primitive ancestors with whom hunger was a common experience. A starving man often becomes like a savage, or a wild beast, in many respects. In the state of civilization, men are not so keenly aware of this strong elemental desire, because they scarcely ever become really hungry; but let them be deprived of food for a short time, and the old savage demand manifests itself in its original vigor.

The Evolution of Desire (Continued)

The Will-to-Live, or the Life Forces of Nature, are concerned not merely with the preservation and continuance of the life of the individual, but also quite as truly and forcibly with that of the propagation and transmission of life to the offspring—with the life of the species as well as that of the individual.

Desire for Reproduction. The elemental desire for reproduction of the species, for the transmission of life through offspring, is one of the most fundamental and basic, and also one of the most powerful desires of all living things. Its essential spirit manifests along subconscious lines, and the living creature acts instinctively to manifest and express the urge of the desire usually without any conscious recognition of the end in view of Nature, or “the Will-to-Live”—but those ends are definite and certain, nevertheless. So strong is this desire, in its various forms and phases, that the individual creature will often sacrifice its own life in the pursuit of the objects of the desire.

This elemental desire manifests in two general forms or phases—each of which proceeds with the same original end in view, though existing only subconsciously. These two general forms or phases are as follows: (1) love of and desire for mates; and (2) love of, desire for, and desire to protect and provide for the offspring. The love of home, country, people—and its derivative emotions of patriotism and loyalty to race—also spring from the same general source. Nature, or “the Will-to-Live” has here in view the perpetuation of the tribe, family, species, and race.

The Love of Mates is a very strong emotion, and its associated desires are of the very strongest nature. Men have willingly laid down their lives in the pursuit of and the protection of their mates; the lower animals manifesting the same general tendency in quite as strong degree. As the scale of life is ascended, this form of desire takes on an additional complexity and an increased degree of refinement and delicacy—but the elemental urge is always underneath and back of the feeling and desire.

The “call of sex,” and the “mating instinct” distinguishes the race of men, as well as the lower animals. In primitive man this desire is but little above that of the lower animals; while in cultured man it rises far above its source, and is closely involved with other feelings and desires. But even in its higher forms, the elemental and primitive urge is there—the flavor of its salt pervades the entire ocean of love of man for woman and of woman for man, penetrating even into its most sheltered bays, inlets, and ocean-flowing rivers. Even in the so-called Platonic Love its tang is perceptible, though seemingly unsought and often ignored for a time.

Nature—whatever we may mean by that term—is seemingly inspired by the “Will to Live” to manifest existence through her manifold forms of life; she finds it necessary to cause her creatures to perpetuate their kind, in order that she may so manifest that “Will-to-Live” in the futurity of life-forms. Unless her creatures are inspired in some way to pass the Flame of Life from the torches of one generation to those of another, she will not be able to manifest continuous and unbroken existence. This being the case, Dame Nature proceeds to arrange adroitly for the maintenance of the Cycle of Life. She works in wondrous ways to bring about the fulfillment of her desires and purposes, and but few escape her net.

Instead of employing merely a driving force, however, she also employs an attracting energy. This energy is manifested in the feelings, emotions, affections, and desires of the Love of Mates—the “mating instinct,” the “call of sex.” Keeping her massive form in the background, and well out of sight, Nature employs the rosy-cheeked, plumply-formed cherub named Cupid to awaken the heart of man to love. She employs diplomacy to effect her purposes.

Emerson tells us: “The lover seeks in marriage his own private felicity and perfection, and no prospective end. But Nature hides in his happiness her own end—the perpetuity of the race. We are made alive and kept alive by the same means.” Bronson says: “When the man and maid meet, exchange glances, and experience those peculiar little flutterings of the heart, there is something more than this really happening. Nature is then at work—her best beloved work. In the happiness of the lovers is concealed the cheerful content of Nature. In their ecstatic smiles may be discerned the complacent expression of satisfaction on the face of Nature. In their ardent avowals, protestations, and promises, may be heard the echoes of Nature’s contented sigh. The lovers feel so exalted by the Song of Love, that they think that Nature must stand still, observe, and listen. Nature, indeed, does observe, and listen—and very keenly, too; but she does not stand still—not even for a moment. She is too busily engaged in working out things for the lovers, and, incidentally, for herself as well.”

In the case of primitive man, the mating instinct was but little more than the sex instinct of the lower animals; the mating was for but a brief period, and mates were changed with the seasons. But, as man ascended the scale, the mating instinct took on a higher, more complex, and more permanent form. There gradually dawned upon the race-consciousness the idea of Home and Family—of a more permanent union. The idea of companionship began to manifest its wondrous powers with ever-increasing force. The idea of a “mate” began to take on a new meaning—the meaning of companionship and comradeship.

In the beginning, man wanted merely a physical mate. Then he wanted a companion—a social mate. Then he began to want his mate to share his emotional nature, his likes, his tastes— he wanted her to “love the things that I love.” The aesthetic emotions and desires also came into play. The intellectual feelings and desires also entered into the combination. Finally, man now wants to be mated physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We hear now of mental mates, physical mates, and even of “soul mates.” The primitive element of sex is always there, however, though manifesting along more complex and more subtle lines. To all prospective mates, Sex utters this warning: “They reckon ill who leave me out.” Nature and “the Will-to-Live” are still managing affairs in their own interests.

The Love of Offspring. Another phase of the Desire for Reproduction is that which manifests in the love of offspring, and in the desire to protect and provide for the young. The love of offspring, and the desire to protect and provide for the young, is one of the strongest and most persistent forms of feeling and desire. It is found highly manifested in the higher species of the lower animals, and it is one of the chief motives of human conduct and activity. The parent animal or human being frequently does not hesitate to risk or even to sacrifice life in defense of the offspring; it is common for the parent to suffer hunger and privation in order that the wants of the offspring be satisfied.

Here, again, Nature or “the Will-to-Live” is strongly in evidence in its careful and persistent endeavor to secure the welfare of the young creature. The “will to protect and provide for the young,” manifest in Nature, is evidenced not only in the implanting in the race of the feeling and desire to maintain more or less permanent mating-union on the part of the parents. Nature has in view not merely the birth of the young creature, but also its protection after birth until such time as it is able to take care of itself. For the first end, it superimposes the “mating instinct” upon the emotional nature of the living things; for the second, it superimposes the “love of offspring,” and the “family feeling” upon the nature of the animal or man. In this last, we have the key to many important desires and activities of man and of the lower animals.

Science has established the truth of the general proposition that, “The degree of the manifestation of the mating instinct in the direction of a more or less permanent association between the male and female animal, and in the establishment and maintenance of the family group, is directly determined by the degree in which the male parent is needed to provide for, and to aid the mother and the offspring.” This statement refers to the species, not to the particular individual.

In many cases, the association of the mates extends over merely the period of the immediate needs of the offspring and the nursing mother. The young of the reptiles and fishes require no paternal or parental care, and as a consequence there is no real union or mated association between the parents; even where there is a semblance of permanency in the union, it will be found that the female requires some degree of temporary protection for a short period preceding the birth of the young. All such association among the reptiles and fishes is seen to depend entirely upon the welfare of the future offspring.

Birds mate and form a union which lasts only during the nesting season, as a rule. The male is needed to protect the nest, to feed the brooding hen-bird, and to feed the young. The cuckoo, and similar nest-stealing birds which lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, and are thereby relieved of any care of hatching the eggs or feeding the young, display no real attachment for their mates beyond the period of the temporary sexual impulse, and they form no mating unions of even the most brief duration. Such birds, always relieved of the responsibilities of parenthood, are the “varietists” of the bird family, associating promiscuously and indiscriminately, and not remaining in each other’s society for any definite period.

Not only this, but even the real mothers in the animal kingdom manifest material affection only in the degree of the requirements of the young, and only during the period in which such protection is needed. For instance, the reptile-mothers and the fish-mothers have no responsibility for their offspring, the young creatures being able to take care of themselves from birth; consequently the mother-fish or mother-reptile in such cases shows no sign of maternal affection; this is also true of the insects. Yet, strange to say, such creatures usually are found to possess an instinctive affection for their eggs, and will even risk or sacrifice their lives in order to protect their eggs, or else in order to deposit the eggs in conditions favorable for their protection and development; this done, the emotional feeling, affection, and desire pass away, having served Nature’s purpose adequately.

The instinctive care and trouble manifested by the female insect in providing a promising and appropriate place for depositing her eggs is one of the great wonders of natural history. The housewife experiences proof of this instinct when she discovers valuable clothing destroyed by the moth, because the mother-moth has sought a nice dark closet containing soft woolen fabrics in which to deposit her eggs. The wasp which stings into insensibility the spider, in order to deposit her eggs in the living body of the latter so that her future offspring may be provided with fresh food, is another illustration of this law of Nature. The ordinary dung-beetle evidences a similar care and solicitude for the welfare of her eggs. Yet none of these creatures manifests even the slightest degree of affection for their young when they are hatched—their young do not need such affection and care, and, consequently, the mother creatures are not endowed with the feelings and desires leading to these.

Professor William James says: “Why does the hen submit herself to the tedium of incubating such a fearfully uninteresting set of objects as a nestful of eggs, unless she have some sort of a prophetic instinct of the result? Why does a particular maiden turn our wits upside down? The common man can only say, ‘Of course we love the maiden,—that beautiful soul clad in that perfect form, so palpably and flagrantly made from all eternity to be loved!’ And so, probably, does each animal feel about the particular actions it tends to perform in response to certain stimuli. To the broody hen, the notion seems monstrous that there should be a creature in the world to whom a nestful of eggs was not the utterly fascinating, precious and never-to-be-too-much-sat-upon object which it is to her. What a delicious thrill may not shake a fly, when at last she discovers the one particular leaf (or other object or material) that out of all the world can stimulate her egg-laying? Need she care or know anything about the future maggot and its food?”

You have noticed how, when the offspring no longer require attention, care, and food, the mother-animal thrusts them away from her and compels them thenceforth to conduct their business of life “on their own.” When that period has passed, all her maternal affection seems to die out; and thenceforth the young animals are no more to the mother than are any of the many other animals of her acquaintance. The need of the offspring has passed—the emotion has played its part, and the desire passes away.

Even in human life we often see the strongest affection grow up in the heart of a woman for some motherless child not connected with her by ties of blood; this particularly if the care of the young child has temporarily devolved upon her. Even the coldest-hearted woman usually will learn to love a babe for whom she is compelled constantly to care and provide; and even the hardest-hearted man will feel an affection for a child for whom he is compelled to care in person—there is “something inside of them” which makes them act and feel that way. Farmers know that if a motherless lamb is once permitted by a mother-sheep to nurse at her teats, then that lamb will thereafter be carefully protected by that mother-sheep, even though she did not welcome it before the nursing, and, indeed, had to be coaxed into allowing it to nurse in the first instance. The need of the young creature awakens the instinctive affection and desire of the older animal.

It is held that the instinctive feeling and desire of the human creature for a permanent mating and union—the creation and maintenance of “the family”—arose from the long-continued needs of the human mother and child for the protection of the father. By the time that one child was comparatively able to take care of itself, another infant was there to be protected and provided for. Says Saleeby: “The unique helplessness of the human baby—one of the most wonderful and little appreciated facts in the whole of Nature to eyes that can see—has a supremely practical point of view. The principle of Marriage is that of survival-value. Nature’s invariable criterion is that of survival-value or service to race-culture. That form of Marriage which does not permit the babies to survive, the babies do not permit it to survive. It is not a question of the father’s taste and fancy; but of what he leaves above ground when he is under ground.”

This then is the deep soil from which has sprung and grown the wonderful love of man and woman for each other, in its highest and most beautiful forms, as well as in its crudest and ugliest phases. From this soil also has sprung the beautiful love of parents for their children, of children for parents. It is the cause of the “cling to” feeling and desire so marked in the woman and the child; of the desire to be “clung to” by the woman and the child which lies deeply embedded in the soul of the man. The soil is “Nature’s needs for the welfare and perpetuation of the race”; the blossoms and flowers are due to man’s and woman’s cultivation of the soil, and tender care for the growing plant.

The Evolution of Desire (Concluded)

The Desire for Property. The desire for property is another elemental feeling and motive to action. Property means: (1) “The exclusive right to possession, enjoyment, and disposal of anything, vested in the individual”; and (2) “that which is possessed, enjoyed, and subject to disposal of the individual.” The love of and desire for possessions is imbedded in the deep soil of human nature. Some of the lower animals possess it to a marked degree; and nearly all the lower animals feel the right of possession of places, positions, etc., as well as their supply of food.

In the case of primitive man, this feeling and desire arose from the necessity of providing for his welfare and that of his family. It was necessary for him to possess a place of abode—a cave, a tree, a tent, etc. It was necessary for him to lay by and accumulate a supply of food at certain seasons; and to have land to till and cultivate for food production. The individuals manifesting this desire, tended to survive and to have their families survive; those in whom it was weak tended to fall in the struggle with environment. The survivors transmitted their tendencies to their descendants; the losers left no descendants to whom their improvident tendencies were transmitted. And so the tendency became “set” as a habit in the mental and emotional nature of the race.

The wants of primitive man were few and simple. A little food laid by for himself and his family; a few skins to cover their bodies; a rude cave, hut, or tent to shelter them; implements of war and of the hunt—this was about all. As man rose in the scale, his wants multiplied, and consequently he began to desire to acquire and to accumulate not only a greater number of things, but also a greater variety of things. The rest is merely a matter of the evolution of this form of desire—a proceeding from the simple to the more complex, from the few things to the many, and so on. This is the story of the Desire for Property, with its accompanying feelings and emotions. Originally based upon necessity, it has now extended to comforts and even luxuries. Normally manifested, it is to the interest of the individual and of the race; abnormally manifested, it is a curse to both.

The Derived Desires. In the course of the Evolution of Desire, man has acquired many forms of feeling and desire derived from the elementary desires which are instinctive to him, and which have been considered by us in some detail. Thus his love for his family has extended to his affection for his general family, his tribe, his nation. From this has developed in him the desires of love of country, patriotism, and loyalty to his government, and also the social feelings of friendship, companionship, sympathy, justice, truth, politeness, as well as the desire for the observance of moral codes, laws, rules of right conduct.

In the same way, the necessities of procuring food, defending himself and family, acquiring possessions, and so forth, have aroused in him the feelings and desires connected with invention, creative work, constructive imagination, thought, reasoning and other intellectual powers and activity. The old adage that “Necessity is the mother of invention” may be extended to include in the brood of Necessity the activity of Thought and Reasoning—the entire Rock of the family of Intellect.

From less well-defined sources have sprung the feelings and desires connected with the Aesthetic Emotions—the love of beauty, art, music, literature, culture, refinement, etc. That they sprung from the elemental soil, there can be no doubt; though the line of ascent is not so clearly discernible. From the original enjoyment of the experiences of the hunt, the battle, the conflict with nature, beasts and hostile men, have arisen the feelings and desires connected with games, sports, the drama, stories and other forms of recreation, exercise and “play.” Play has evolved directly from activities concerned with necessity, as all psychologists know; the desires based upon it are reflections of the older and cruder desires of the elemental nature.

From the deep recesses of man’s nature have sprung the feelings and desires connected with what is called “religion.” From the crudest beginnings, and the grossest forms of superstition, have sprung the beautiful plant and flower, blossom and fruit, of the highest conception of religion held by the most advanced of the race today. As Herbert Spencer said: “The ultimate form of the religious consciousness is the final development of a consciousness which at its outset contained a germ of truth obscured by multitudinous errors.” John Fiske said: “That inward conviction, the craving for a final cause, the theistic assumption, is itself one of the master facts of the universe, and is as much entitled to respect as any fact in physical nature can possibly be.” Darwin holds that the religious feelings, emotions, affections and desires are highly complex, consisting of love, complete submission to an exalted and mysterious superior being, coupled with a strong sense of dependence, fear, reverence, gratitude, hope for the future, and perhaps many other elements.

And so, the evolution of man’s desires has proceeded from lowly elemental beginnings and sources to wonderful heights and endings. But the sources and soil must never be forgotten when you consider the subject of the essential nature of Desire. Moreover, be it noted, in times of great stress, necessity, or unusual conditions, it is found that the forms and phases of Desire which have evolved last in the scale—the latest comers into the family of Desire—are the first to be discarded by the man or woman; then follow the next recent, and so on, until if the necessity be sufficiently great and the pressure of circumstances sufficiently strong, the individual tends to revert to the primitive type and to manifest only the most elemental and primitive forms and phases of feeling and Desire. The “cave man” is far nearer to the surface of civilized humanity than most persons realize. Shipwrecked men, men lost in the wild places of earth, men in times of famine and pestilence, often have shown a surprising tendency to revert in a remarkably short time to the plane of their primitive ancestors. It has well been asserted that “Civilization in man is only skin deep.”

Some idealistic thinkers who have become hypnotized by the dream of the culture and refinement which to them seems destined to be the common possession of the coming human race—a state of culture and refinement in which the elemental and fundamental instincts, feelings, emotions and desires of man will have been buried deep beneath the surface of things as unworthy and “un-nice”—are greatly disturbed when they are forced to see that at present, at least, the buried instincts are not entombed so very deep after all, and that they will not stay interred in times of storm and stress. They regard these facts as regrettable, and as something to be deplored by the race. To them the “elemental” is detestable—something to be apologized for. To them the surface feelings and desires are the only worthy ones—the feelings and desires of the great depths of human nature are unworthy, and to be regarded as bearing “the mark of the beast” upon them.

These idealistic thinkers overlook the fact that the Fires of Desire create the Steam of Will, and that the accomplishments of the race depend materially upon the fact that these inner fires be kept burning fiercely, with a dear draught, and free from clinkers and ashes. Civilization and refinement have brought much to man, without doubt, but many men reaching for their ideals of culture and refinement have lost much of their original, elemental power of Desire. They have allowed their fires of Desire to become deadened by the ashes of artificial civilization, and clogged with the clinkers of non-essential feelings and desires. They fail to see that the Fires of Desire require proper supervision and control; their drafts must be kept at least partially open, and their grates kept free from dead ashes and clinkers.

The men and women who have accomplished great success in any line of human effort have cleared away the ashes and clinkers of their Fires of Desire—they have kept the furnace clear and clean, and have opened wide the drafts when necessary. If you will carefully consider the strong, successful men and women in any walk of life, you will find that each and every one of them is filled (or has been filled during his or her period of intense activity) with this strong, insistent, elemental Desire-force of Nature—this active principle of Desire which manifests in a degree of “want” and “want to” which will not be denied. Differ as they may in their secondary qualities, these strong individuals nevertheless possess in common this essential primal quality, and they manifest it when required— it is one of the characteristic qualities of their class. It is this basic quality which has done much for them in their respective successful careers.

If you would succeed, you must get acquainted with that fierce, burning, insistent, elemental “want” and “want to” within your own nature, which perhaps has been hidden from sight under the accumulated ashes of the centuries of culture and refinement of the race, with its years of artificial methods of living which have followed in the train of civilization. Your primitive and elemental “want” and “want to” must be as strong as the vital demand of the drowning man for air; of the demand of the desert-lost or shipwrecked man for water; as the demand of the famishing man for food or the demand of the wild creatures of the forests and jungles for their mates; as the demand of the mother for the welfare of her children.

All of these forms of deep and burning Desire are expressions of the elemental forces and energies of Nature—of “the Will-to-Live”—the motive power of which Nature employs in the performance of her work, and by means of which she accomplishes her purpose. You do not need to employ this elemental energy in the same manner or in the same direction as that followed by the primitive man or the wild creature, however—you may transmute it into a higher order of expression, and a higher plane of manifestation. You may transform Desire into Ambition or Aspiration—but in doing so you must not fail to preserve every ounce of the essential and elemental energy and strength of this fundamental principle of Nature—the Principle of Desire.

The Principle of Desire in Nature, in its constant pressure toward manifestation and urge toward expression, while apparently concerned more with the preservation and welfare of the species, and of the race, than with the welfare of particular individuals—while often apparently indifferent to the welfare of the individual creature, and concerned apparently only with the preservation of the species—nevertheless acts always upon the principle that the species and the race can be served only by means of service rendered to the individual. Therefore, while it manifests a tremendous amount of energy in the maintenance of the reproductive desires and activities, at the same time it serves highly important offices in the support and development of the individual creature.

Biologists hold that the principle of Desire, working along subconscious lines, is the moving cause of the physical and mental evolution of the life-forms. The presence of an obstacle to progress is seemingly noted by the Life Principle, or the Will-to-Live, and thereupon an increased degree of Desire Power is generated and manifested in the life-form. The Desire Power always moves toward the securing of that which will promote the efficiency of the creature, and which thereby increases its chances of survival in the struggle for existence—the fight against environment. It sets into operation the life-processes which make for change in the physical and mental equipment of the creature, and which proceed by evolutionary development to unfold the needed physical or mental equipment.

A writer on the subject of the Hindu philosophies, in considering the teachings of those philosophies concerning the presence and power of Desire in Nature, says:

“In the Hindu classic, the ‘Mahabarata,’ it is related that Brahma created the most beautiful female ever known, and called her Tillotama. He presented her to all the gods in turn, in order to witness their wonder and admiration. Siva’s desire to behold her was so great that it developed in him four faces, in succession, as she made the tour of the assembly; and Indra’s longing was so intense that his body became all eyes. In this myth may be seen exemplified the effect of Desire in the forms of life, function, and shape—all following Need and Desire, as in the case of the long neck of the giraffe which enables him to reach for the high branches of the trees in his native land; and in the long neck and high legs of the fisher-birds, the crane, the stork, the ibis, and others of the great family.

“The Will-to-Live finds within itself a desire to create suns, and they are evolved. It desires planets to revolve around the suns, and they are thrown off the suns in obedience to the law. It desires plant-life, and the plant forms appear, working from lower to higher form. Then came animal life, from monad to man. Some of the animal forms yielded to the desire to fly—and lo! wings were gradually evolved, and the world was filled with birds. Some of the animals felt a desire to burrow in the ground, and lo! came the moles, the gophers, and other burrowers, each fitted with physical and mental equipment for their particular modes of life. Nature wanted a thinking creature, and lo! man-like forms began to evolve, and finally Man with his wonderful brain came and manifested his powers.”

Lamarck’s theory of evolution follows the line of the Hindu thought above noted far nearer than does that of Darwin. Darwin taught that evolution was due primarily to, or was accomplished chiefly through, Natural Selection and the Survival of the Fittest. Lamarck, while admitting the importance of these elements, nevertheless insisted that in that impulse of Nature which is akin to “Desire arising from Need” is to be found the primal urge toward evolution and progress in the living forms. Lamarck held that Need and Desire are back of, and precede, function and form in living things, the latter being the consequences of the Desire.

The Oriental teaching concerning the power of Desire in evolutionary development, which is being closely followed in some of the most advanced forms of our Western philosophy, does not hold that this Creative Desire is manifested chiefly along the lines of consciousness as we know it. On the contrary, it manifests far more commonly below the plane of ordinary consciousness—on the planes of subconsciousness, instinct, appetency, etc. The “want” is there, though the creature does not experience it in its surface consciousness. It exists in plant-life, as well as animal—manifesting in each according to its needs.

In response to this “below consciousness” Desire, the plants have evolved means of protection for themselves and their seeds—bark and the hard-covering of the nuts, the spines of the cactus, the thistles, etc., have been evolved in accordance to this Creative Desire. The sweetness of the berries, designed to attract the birds which eat them and thus distribute the seeds, have resulted from the same cause—this rule holding good in the case of the color of the flowers, and the honey contained within them, both of which has been evolved in order to attract the insects which serve to carry pollen and thus fertilize the flowers. The burrs, containing seed, which fasten to the wool of the sheep and other animals, and are thus carried to a distance and are distributed—these too have been evolved in response to Need and Desire.

In the same way the tusks, teeth, fangs, and claws of animals—the stings of insects—and all the wonderful offensive and defensive equipment of living things, have been evolved in response to Need and Desire. The hard shells of the crustaceans, the turtles, the armadillos—the spines of the porcupine and the hedgehog—the keen eye and powerful wings of the eagle— the swiftness of the hawk—the bill of the woodpecker—all have been evolved under the same law.

The story of the evolution of the horse from its original form of the Eohippus to its present form gives us a striking illustration of the principle. In response to the law of Need and Desire, manifesting along the lines of evolution, the Eohippus—a small animal no larger than a domestic cat, with several toes on each foot, with teeth resembling those of the monkey or the pig, with short neck, arched back, and rather short legs—has developed by eleven or more distinct stages to the horse of today—with its long legs, long neck, straight back, complex and long grinding teeth, hoofs, and large size. This almost incredible development has been due to the Need of the animal arising from its changing environment, and the Desire proceeding from that Need.

Man, today, has evolved into the conscious and self-conscious plane of life; but his Desire Power still is latent within him, awaiting his call upon it. Just as it has built up the bodies and brain of the animals through the slow stages of evolution, so it will build for man the mental and physical characteristics indicated by his Need—provided that he will only “want it hard enough,” and will arouse and stir into activity the great store of elemental, primitive Desire Power within himself. He may set it to work for himself along conscious lines, just as Nature set it to work for herself along subconscious lines in the past. That which has performed such great creative work in the past, can and will perform equally wonderful creative work now, provided that it is called upon properly, and is set to work under the direction of Intellect and Will, definitely and purposively employed.

Attraction of Desire Power

Not only does the principle of Desire Power manifest itself in the direction of unfolding, evolving and developing new attributes and powers in living things, so as to supply the demand created in them by Need, as we have explained in the preceding section of this book, but it also proceeds to accomplish similar purposes and ends by means of another important phase of power possessed by it, i. e., the power of Attraction.

“Attraction” is defined as, “an invisible power in a body by which it draws anything to itself; the power in Nature acting mutually between bodies or ultimate particles, tending to draw them together, or to produce their cohesion of combination, and conversely resisting separation.” The term, “Attraction,” is derived from two Latin terms, viz., “ad,” meaning “to”; and “trahere,” meaning “to draw”; the two being combined in the derivative Latin term, “attractus,” meaning “a drawing together.”

In physical science, the principal forms of Attraction are gravitational attraction, the chemical affinity of the atoms, the cohesive attraction of the molecules, the attraction of electrified bodies, and the attraction of the magnet exerted upon iron or steel. In psychology, the principal forms of attraction are those arising between living beings by reason of their mutual “likes”—the force called “Repulsion” (being the negative form of Attraction) acting in the same manner but in an opposite direction, and resulting from mutual “dislikes.”

While freely admitting that the Attraction and Repulsion existing in and manifested between living things is the result of the action of “in-forces” rather than of outside forces, physical science has usually held that the Attraction and Repulsion existing in and manifested between non-living objects and things is the result of some outside stress or strain operating on the objects or things, though the nature of such outside forces is admitted to be unknown and mysterious.

Of late years, however, there has been a decided tendency toward the acceptance of the hypothesis that even non-living objects and things (as, for instance, the chemical elements and particles of matter) possess the property of “like or dislike” for certain other objects and things, and the power to respond to such inner states. This hypothesis attributes Attraction and Repulsion in inanimate things to “in-forces” rather than to outer forces,—thus bringing inanimate and animate objects under the same general Law of Attraction.

While this new hypothesis throws a most interesting light upon the subject of “chemical affinity” and other forms of physical Attraction and Repulsion—showing that even the atoms have their “loves and hates” and their response thereto— we shall not consider this aspect of the subject, inasmuch as it lies outside of the field of our present work. Instead, we shall consider that phase of the new knowledge which has an important bearing upon the subject of the nature and power of the Attraction of Desire in living things. If “chemical affinity,” magnetism, etc., are really manifestations of the power of “like and dislike”—in short, of Desire—then the Attraction of Desire in living things is seen possibly to possess a power of “drawing” which is but little suspected by the average person.

The “mental scientists,” and the other schools of practical metaphysics, for the last quarter-century or more have been teaching “the attractive power of thought,” i. e., the doctrine that thoughts have an attractive power tending to attract or to draw toward a person the things and conditions corresponding to the character of his general thought. The new knowledge concerning Desire Power in inanimate things serves to explain scientifically the undoubted facts advanced by the metaphysicians to support their own theories. Here, however, it is seen that Desire rather than Thought is the chief mental attracting power. Inasmuch, however, as the “attractive thought” of the metaphysicians is usually inspired and energized by the Desire Power of the person exercising it, it is seen that the two teachings incline to blend and harmonize with each other rather than to oppose and contradict each other.

The many instances of the coordination between different living things—between plant and insect, for instance—by means of which each supplies to the combination that which the other lacks, which has long puzzled the scientific observer, is now explainable under this new hypothesis of the Attraction of Desire. The plant requires the services of the insect in order to perpetuate its species. It attracts the insect by reason of its Desire Power having evolved the honey which the insect requires for food; and by means of advertising the presence of the honey through the colors of the flowers. There is a correlation between flower and insect which has arisen by reason of Desire Power. The curious adaptations of the food requirements of certain plants, and the apparently instinctive response of certain chemicals to these, furnish us with other striking examples. Different things “need” each other in order to express their respective natures and to manifest their respective destinies—and so they “attract” each other. Science furnishes us with many examples of this reciprocal service and correlation.

Passing by the more general aspects and phases of this important and wonderful operation of Nature’s Finer Forces, and proceeding directly to those phases of the general process which are immediately concerned with the human individual, we would say that the essential spirit of this particular operation may be stated in the following aphorism: “The strongest and most persistent desires of the individual tend to attract to him (or him to) that which is closely related to or correlated with those desires.” That is to say: the strong insistent desires of a person tend to attract to him those things which are closely related to such desires; and, at the same time, tend to attract him toward those related things. The Attractive Power of Desire operates in two general ways, viz., (1) to attract to the individual the things closely related to his desires; and (2) to attract the individual to such related things.

It is as yet not known exactly how Nature proceeds in this important process of Attractive Desire or Desire Power, but in a general way it may be said that the action is chiefly performed on the planes of the subconscious mentality rather than on the planes of ordinary consciousness; and that the general class of mental activity known as “telepathy” undoubtedly is called into play in the process. The entire subject is involved in the general activities of “the subconscious,” as, indeed, are all similar subjects. Whatever may be the correct hypothesis, however, the truth of the main facts of the Attraction of Desire is a matter of the actual experience of the race, and is corroborated by the incidents of actual experience occurring in the life of nearly every person manifesting definite purpose, insistent desire and determined will.

In your own experience, in all probability, you have experienced many cases of the operation of this subtle law of Nature. You have become intensely interested in some particular subject, and your desire for further ‘progress and attainment along the lines of that subject has been actively aroused. Then you have noticed the strange and peculiar way in which persons and things related to that subject have come under your observation and attention—sometimes even being apparently forced upon you apart from any act on your part. In the same way, you have found yourself attracted in certain directions in which, unknown to you, were to be found persons or things related to the subject of your desire, information concerning that subject, conditions in which the subject was involved or being manifested. In short, you have found that things happened “as if” you were either attracting persons, things, and circumstances to you, or else that you were being attracted, drawn, or “led” to such persons, things, or circumstances.

Under such conditions, you will find arising on all sides certain events connected with and related to the subject of your desire; books containing information concerning it; persons having some connection with it; conditions in which that subject plays an important part. You will find, on the one hand, that you seem to have become a centre of attraction for things, persons and circumstances related to that subject; or, on the other hand, that you are being attracted to certain centres of attraction related to that subject. In short, you will discover that you have set into operation certain subtle forces and principles which have “correlated” you with all related to that subject.

More than this, you will find that if you will maintain for a considerable time a continuous and persistent interest and desire in that particular subject, you will have established a vortex-centre of attraction for that which is related to the subject. You will have set into operation a mental whirlpool, steadily spreading its circumference of influence, which draws into itself and to your central point the related and correlated things, persons, and circumstances. This is one of the reasons why after you “get things going” in any particular line of interest and desire, things tend to “come easier” to and for you as time passes. In such cases, that which required enormous effort in the earlier stages seems to move almost automatically in the later ones. These are matters of common and almost universal experience with those who have been actively engaged in any particular line of work in which strong interest and insistent desire have been aroused and maintained.

You must not, however, hastily jump to the conclusion that all forms of Mental Attraction are Desire Attraction. The general Mental Attitude has its corresponding attractive power; the mental states of Confident Expectation—of Hope and Fear, respectively—also have their attributes of attractive influence. But the attractive power and influence of Desire is far more fundamental than are the other forms and phases of Mental Attraction, and, in a way, may be said to be the basic form. These matters are mentioned here solely for the purpose of preventing misunderstanding and confusion.

So, you see, Desire Power tends not only to develop and evolve within you the qualities and powers necessary to enable you to manifest and express yourself along the lines of the desires persistently held by you; it also tends to attract to you, and you to them, the things, persons, circumstances and conditions related to or correlated with the subject of such desires. In other words, Desire Power employs every means at its disposal in order to express and manifest itself more fully, and (through you) to attain its object and end—its greatest possible degree of satisfaction and realization. When you have thoroughly aroused Desire Power within you, and have created for it a strong, positive focal centre of influence, you have set into operation powerful forces of Nature, operating along subconscious and invisible lines of activity. In this connection, remember the adage: “You may have anything you want—if you only want it hard enough.”

The attractive force of Desire Power operates in many different ways. In addition to the “drawing power” operating along the lines of “something like telepathy” of which we have spoken, it also operates in other ways on the subconscious planes of the mind in order to influence, guide and direct the person to the other persons, things, conditions, and circumstances related or correlated to or with the particular desire which is being persistently and insistently held by that person. Under its influence, the subconscious mentality raises to the levels of consciousness new ideas, thoughts, plans, which if applied will tend to “lead” the person in the direction of the things which will serve to aid him in the realization of those desires which he is insistently harboring.

In this way, the person is led to the related things, just as in the other ways the things are led to him. Desire Power pushes, as truly as it pulls—it urges you forward as truly as it attracts things to you. In some cases the process is entirely subconscious, and the person is amazed when he finds “by chance” (!) that he has “stumbled upon” helpful things in places in which he had least expected to find them, and in places to which he had apparently been led by Chance. But there is no Chance about it; persons are undoubtedly “led to” helpful things and conditions, but by Desire Power operating along the lines of the subconscious mentality, and not by Chance.

Many successful men could tell (if they would) how often in their respective careers, at critical times, the most peculiar happenings have been experienced by them, seemingly “by chance” or “by accident,” which served as the means of transforming defeat into victory. In this way they acquired “by chance” some important bit of information serving to supply the missing link in their mental chain, or else giving them a clue to that which had previously escaped their thought. Or, perhaps, they unexpectedly “ran into” the person who afterward turned out to be the one particular person who alone could have helped them in certain ways. Or, again, they have picked up at random the particular newspaper, magazine, or book which either gave them the required information, or else mentioned some other book or thing which filled the need.

These things happen so often, and in such a striking way, that many men of active experience have learned to expect them, to rely upon them, and to act upon them. Not knowing the true underlying causes of the happenings, they usually refrain from mentioning their experiences to their friends for fear of being regarded as superstitious or credulous; but if the subject happens to be introduced in confidential conversation between men of this kind, it will be found that the instances cited are numerous, and are so strikingly similar in general nature that the careful thinker is forced to the conclusion that there is some fundamental principle involved in the events, and that there is a logical sequence of cause and effect indicated.

Not knowing the true cause of these happenings, men are prone to ascribe them to “luck,” fate, destiny, chance, or else to think of them simply as “one of those things beyond explanation.” Some men who have become familiar with them have learned to recognize them readily when they experience them, by reason of a “feeling” that “here is another of those things.” They learn to distinguish between a mere general and vague notion, and a “sure enough hunch.” Sometimes, men think that these things are the result of the aid of a kindly Providence operating in their behalf; others feel that they have helpers “on the other side”; still others feel that there is “something almost uncanny” about the whole thing; but so long as it is perceived to operate in their behalf all are willing to take advantage of the aid of the Unknown Power.

Of course, the subconscious mentality of the individual is the “helper,” or “directing genius” in such cases, and the happenings are merely phases of the general phenomena of the Subconscious. But, nevertheless, Desire Power is the animating principle involved. The subconscious mentality, like the conscious mentality, is energized and aroused into activity by the urge of Desire Power. Desire Power employs every possible form of energy, activity and motive-power at its command; and also presses into service all kinds of machinery and instruments, mental and physical. The Fire of Desire kindles every faculty of the mind, on conscious and subconscious planes, and sets them all into active work on its behalf. Without Desire Power in some form or phase, none of these faculties would manifest activity; where activity is manifested by them, there is always implied the presence and urge of Desire Power.

Sometimes Desire Power will operate in strangely indirect ways in order to accomplish its results. By means of the “under the surface” perception of the subconscious faculties, Desire Power seemingly perceives that “the longest way ’round is the quickest way home,” and it proceeds to cause the individual to pursue that “longest way ’round” in order to attain his desire in the shortest possible time. In such cases it often acts so as to upset and overturn the plans which one has carefully mapped out; the result makes it seem to one that failure and defeat, instead of victory and success, have come to him. It will sometimes tear the person away from his present comparatively satisfactory environment and conditions, and then lead him over rock roads and hard trails; and finally, when he has almost despaired of attaining success, he finds it literally thrust upon him.

Such instances are not invariable, of course, but they occur sufficiently often and with such characteristically marked features that they must be recognized. It often happens that, as one who has experienced it has said, “It seems as if one were grabbed by the back of his neck, lifted out of his set environment and occupation, dragged roughly over a painful road, and then thrust forcibly but kindly upon the throne of success, or at least into the throne-room with the throne in plain sight before him.”

But, at the last, those who have experienced these strenuous activities of Desire Power operating through the subconscious nature and in many other ways are found to agree universally in the statement, “The end justified the means; the thing is worth the price paid for it.” It requires philosophy and faith to sustain one when he is undergoing experiences of this kind, but the knowledge of the law and principle in operation will of course greatly aid him. The right spirit to maintain in such cases is that expressed in the phrase of the A. E. F. in France, “It’s a great life, if you don’t weaken.”

Desire Power employs freely the subconscious faculties in its work of Realization through Attraction. It employs these in man just as it employs them in the case of the homing pigeon, the migrating birds, the bee far from its hive—it supplies the “homing instinct” to the man seeking success, as well as to the animal seeking refuge. It is said that animals separated from their mates, seemingly are attracted to them over long distances. Lost animals find their way home, though many miles over strange country have to be traveled. Let a person establish a “refuge” for birds, and the birds will soon begin to travel toward it—even strange species from long distances putting in an appearance. Water fowls travel unerringly toward water; the roots of trees manifest the same sense of direction toward water and rich soil.

In high and low, the Law of Desire Attraction manifests its power. Man is under the law, and may even cause the law to work for him when he understands its nature. Man may harness Desire Power just as he has harnessed other great forces of Nature—may harness it and set it to work for him. Once set to work for him, this power will work “without haste, and without rest” toward the end impressed upon it—it will work for him while he is awake and working otherwise, and when he is asleep and resting from his conscious work. Desire is the “force of forces,” because it is the inmost kernel of all the other forms of natural force, physical or mental. All force depends upon inner Attraction or Repulsion—and these are but the manifestation of Desire Power, positive or negative.

Knowing What You Want

In the preceding sections of this book we have called your attention to the aphorism, “You may have anything you want—if you only want it hard enough.” This aphorism is embodied in the Master Formula of Attainment which is set forth constantly in the instruction contained in the series of books of which the present volume forms a part. The Master Formula of Attainment, stated in popular form, is as follows:

“You may have anything you want, provided that you (1) know exactly what you want, (2) want it hard enough, (3) confidently expect to attain it, (4) persistently determine to obtain it, and (5) are willing to pay the price of its attainment.”

We shall now ask you to consider three of the above five elements of the Master Formula of Attainment, viz., the element of Definite Ideals, or “knowing exactly what you want”; the element of Insistent Desire, or “wanting it hard enough”; the element of Balanced Compensation, or “being willing to pay the price of its attainment.” Each of these three elements is highly important, and should be carefully examined and considered. Let us begin with the first requisite, i. e. “Knowing exactly what you want.”

When you consider the question, “Exactly what do I want?” you will be apt to regard it as one quite easy to answer. But after you begin to consider the question in detail, and in real earnest, you will discover two very troublesome obstacles in your way on the road to the correct answer. The two obstacles are as follows: (1) the difficulty in ascertaining a clear and full idea of your desires, aspirations, ambitions, and hopes; and (2) the difficulty in ascertaining which ones of a number of conflicting desires, aspirations, ambitions, and hopes you “want” more than you do those opposing them.

You will find yourself filled with “the divine discontent” of a general dissatisfaction with your present condition, circumstances, possessions, and limitations. You will feel, perhaps strongly, the “raw desire” of the elemental Desire Power within you, but you will not have clearly outlined in your mind the particular directions in which you wish that elemental force to proceed into manifestation and expression.

You will often feel that you wish that you were somewhere other than where you now are; that you were doing something different from what you are now doing; that you possessed things other and better than you now possess; or that your present limitations were removed, thus giving you a wider and fuller expression and manifestation of the power which you feel to be within you: all these general feelings will be experienced by you, but you will not be able to picture clearly to yourself just what “other things” you really want to take the place of those which are now your own.

Then, when you attempt to form the clear picture, and definite idea, of what you want, you will find you want many things, some of them opposing each other, each offering attractive features, each bidding actively for your favor and acceptance— thus rendering a choice and definite decision very difficult. You find yourself suffering from an embarrassment of riches. Like the perplexed lover in the song, you say, “How happy would I be with either, were t’other fair charmer away.” Or, like the psychological donkey who was placed at an equidistant point between two equally tempting haystacks, and who died of hunger because he couldn’t make up his mind which one he wanted most, you may remain inactive because of strong conflicting desire-motives.

It is because of one or both of the above-mentioned conditions that the great masses of persons do not avail themselves of the great elemental urge of Desire Power. It is there, ready to exert its power, but they lack definite direction and power of decision, and so remain, like the vegetables or the lower animals, content to allow Nature to work along the instinctive lines of self-protection, propagation, etc., without employing initiative or self-direction.

The few of the race who break these barriers, and who strike out for themselves, are found to have known very clearly “just what they wanted,” and to have “wanted it hard,” and to have been willing to pay the price of attainment. In order to set to work the forces of Desire Power in a special direction, the individual must make clear an ideal path over which they may travel, as well as to arouse the forces so as to cause them to travel over that path.

Self-Analysis. You will find that a scientific application of the principle of Self-Analysis, or mental stock-taking, will aid you materially in overcoming the two great obstacles in the Path of Attainment, which we have just mentioned. Self-Analysis in this case consists of a careful analysis of your elements of Desire, to the end that you may discover which of these elements are the strongest, and that you may clearly understand just what these strongest elements are really like in character. You are advised to “think with pencil and paper” in this work of self-analysis—it will greatly aid you in crystallizing your thought and, besides, will give a definite and logical form to the results of your work.

The following suggestions and advice will aid you materially in this task.

Begin by asking yourself the question: “What are my strongest desires? What do I ‘want’ and ‘want to’ over and above anything and everything else? What are my highest Desire-Values?” Then proceed to “think with pencil and paper,” and thus to answer your important question above stated.

Take your pencil and begin to write down your strongest desires—your leading “wants” and “want tos”—as they come into your consciousness in response to your inquiry. Write down carefully the things and objects, the aims and ideals, the aspirations and ambitions, the hopes and confident expectations, which present themselves for notation in the course of your mental stock-taking. Note all of them, without regard to the question of whether or not you ever expect to be able to secure or attain them.

Put them all down on the list, no matter how ridiculous and unattainable they may seem to you at the time. Do not allow yourself to be overcome by the magnificent aims and ideals, aspirations and ambitions, which thus present themselves. Their very existence in your Desire-nature is, in a measure, the prophecy of their own fulfillment. As Napoleon once said: “Nothing is too magnificent for a soldier of France!” You are that soldier of France! Do not impose limitations on your Desire-nature in this way. If a magnificent desire is within you, it should be respected—so put it down on the list.

By this process of Self-Analysis you bring to the surface of your consciousness all the various feelings, desires; longings; and cravings which have been dwelling in your subconscious mind. Many of these deep desires are like sleeping giants—your exploration of your subconscious mental regions will arouse these—will cause them “to sit up and take notice,” as it were. Do not be frightened by these awakening sleepers. Nothing that you find there is alien to you. Even though you may find it necessary to transmute them, or to inhibit them in favor of more advantageous desires, at a later stage of your work, do not now deny them a place on your list—put them down on paper. The list must be an honest one, therefore be honest with yourself in the analysis.

At first, you will find that your list is a more or less higgledy-piggledy conglomeration of “wants” and “want tos,” apparently having but little or no logical order or systematic recitation. Do not let this disturb you, however—all this will be taken care of as you proceed; order and arrangement will establish themselves almost automatically when the proper time arrives. The main thing at this stage is to get all of your stronger desires into the list. Be sure to exhaust your subconscious mine of strong desires—dig out of that mine anything and everything that has strength in it.

The next step is that of the cold-blooded, ruthless, elimination of the weakest desires, with the idea and purpose that in the end there will be a “survival of the fittest” on your list. Begin by running over your list, striking off the weaker and less insistent—the mere temporary and passing—desires, and those which you clearly recognize as likely to bring you but little if any permanent satisfaction, continued happiness and lasting content.

In this way you will create a new list of the stronger desires, and those having a greater permanent and satisfying value. Then, examining this list, you will find that some of the items will still stand out from the others by reason of their greater comparative strength and greater degree of permanent value. Make a new list of these successful candidates, including only those possessing the greatest strength and value to you, and dropping the others from the list. Then continue this process of elimination of the weakest and the least satisfying until you reach that point where you feel that any further elimination would result in cutting away live wood.

By this time you will have become aware of a most significant and important fact, namely, that as your list has grown smaller, the strength and value of the surviving desires have grown greater. As the old gold-miners expressed it, you are now “getting down to pay dirt”—getting down to the region in which the nuggets and rich ore abide. When you have reached this stage, you will do well to stop work for the time being; this will give you a needed mental rest, and will also furnish your subconscious mentality with the opportunity to do some work for you along its own particular lines.

When you again take up your list for consideration, you will find a new general order and arrangement of its items pictured in your mind. You will find that these remaining desires have grouped themselves into several general classes. Your subconscious mental faculties will have performed an important task for you. Then you will be ready to compare these general classes, one with the other, until you are able to select certain classes which seem stronger than the others. Then you will be ready to proceed to the task of eliminating the weaker general classes, making a new list of the stronger ones.

After working along these general lines for a time, with intervals of rest and recuperation, and for subconscious digestion and elimination, you will find that you have before you a list composed of but a comparatively few general classes of “wants” and “want tos”—each of which possesses a far greater degree of strength and value than you had previously suspected. Your subconscious mind has been working its power upon these classes of desires, and they have evolved to a higher stage of strength, definiteness, clearness and power. You are beginning at last to find out “just what you want,” and are also well started on your way to “wanting it hard enough.”

General Rules of Selection. In your task of selection, elimination, “boiling down,” and chopping away the dead wood, etc., you will do well to observe the three following general Rules of Selection:

I. The Imperative Requisite. In selecting your strongest desires for your list, you are not required to pay attention to any fears lurking in your mind that any of the particular desires are apparently unattainable—that they are beyond your power of achievement, and are rendered impossible by apparently unsurmountable obstacles. You are not concerned with such questions at this time and place—ignore them for the present. You are here concerned merely with the question of whether or not your “want” or “want to” concerning a certain thing is felt “hard enough” for you to sacrifice other desirable things— whether you feel that the particular desire is of sufficient value for you to “pay the price” of its attainment, even though that price be very high. Remember the old adage: “Said the gods to man, ‘Take what thou wilt—but pay for it!’” If you are not willing to “pay the price,” and to pay it in full, then you do not “want it hard enough” to render it one of your Prime Desires.

II. The Test of Full Desire. We have told you that, “Desire has for its object something that will bring pleasure or get rid of pain, immediately or remote, for the individual or for some one in whom he is interested.” Therefore, in passing upon the comparative strength and value of your respective desires, or general classes of desires, you must take into consideration all of the elements of Desire noted in the above definite statement—the indirect as well as the direct elements of personal satisfaction and content.

You must weigh and decide the value of any particular desire, or class of desires, not only in the light of your own immediate satisfaction and content, but also in the light of your own future satisfaction and content; not only in the light of your own direct satisfaction and content, but also in the light of your indirect satisfaction and content derived from the satisfaction and content of others in whom you are interested. Your future satisfaction and content often depend upon the sacrifice of your present desire in favor of one bearing fruit in the future. You may be so interested in other persons that their satisfaction and content has a greater emotional value to you than the gratification of some desire concerned only with your own direct satisfaction and content. These Desires-values must be carefully weighed by you. If you leave out any of these elements of Desire, you run the risk of attaching a false value to certain sets of desires. You must weigh and measure the value of your desires by the use of the standard of the full content of Desire.

III. Seek Depth of Desire. You will find it advisable to omit from your list all purely superficial and transient feelings, emotions and desires. They have but a slight value in the case. Instead, plunge into the deep places of your mental being or soul; there you will find abiding certain deep, essential, basic, permanent feelings, emotions and desires. In those regions dwell the “wants” and the “want tos” which when aroused are as insistent and as imperative as are the want of the suffocating man for air; the want of the famished man for food; the want of the thirsting man for water; the want of the wild creature for its mate; the want of the mother for the welfare of her child.

These deep desires are your real emotional elements—the ones most firmly and permanently imbedded in the soil of your emotional being. These are the desires which will abide when the transient, ephemeral ones have passed and are forgotten. These are the desires for which you will be willing to “pay the price,” be that price ever so high in the form of the sacrifice and relinquishment of every other desire, feeling or emotion. Measure your desires by their essential depth, as well as by their temporary weight. Select those which are embedded so deeply in the soil of your emotional being that they cannot be uprooted by the passing storms of conditions and circumstances.

The Struggle for Existence. You are now approaching the final stages of your discovery of “just what you want.” You now have a list of Insistent Desires—the survivors in the Struggle for Existence on the part of your many desires and classes of desires. If you have proceeded earnestly and honestly in your work of Self-Analysis and Selection, you will have a group of sturdy Desire-giants before you for final judgment. By a strange psychological law these surviving candidates have taken on much of the strength and energy of those which they have defeated in the struggle; the victors will have absorbed the vitality of those whom they have defeated, just as the savage hopes to draw to himself the strength of the enemies killed by him in battle. Your Desire Power has now been concentrated upon a comparatively small group of desires, with a consequent focusing of power.

You will now find that your “wants” and “want tos” have arranged themselves into two great classes, viz., (1) the great class of those desires which while different from other desires, or classes of desires, are not necessarily contradictory to them nor directly opposed to them; and (2) the great class of those desires which are not only different, but are also actually contradictory and opposed to other desires or classes of desires.

The merely “different” classes may abide in mutual harmonious existence and relation with or to each other, just as do light and heat, or the color and odor of a flower. But two contradictory and opposing classes of desires cannot co-exist and coordinate their energies in the same individual; both remaining in the fore, there will be friction, inharmony, strife, and mutual interference.

One might as well try to ride two horses moving in different directions, as to try to maintain in equal force two opposing or contradictory sets of desires. The two sets, each one pulling in an opposite direction and with equal strength, will bring the Will to a standstill. The individual, in such a case, will either oscillate between the two attracting poles, or else he will come to a “dead centre” between them. Something must be done when you find an opposing set of desires of this kind well to the fore in your category of strong desires. You must set in operation a process of competition, from which one set must emerge a victor and the other set be defeated.

In this process of competition, you will need to employ your best and keenest powers of analysis and judgment. In some cases the matter may be settled quickly, and the decision easily arrived at, because when your full attention is turned upon the two competitors, one will be seen to stand out so much more clearly than the other that the latter will be almost automatically retired. The full power of Reason and Feeling focused in such a case will usually result in a quick and sure decision.

But there are instances in which both of the opposing sets of desires seem to possess an equal power and value in your emotional and intellectual scale. Here you are apparently in the condition of the poor donkey, previously mentioned, who starved to death because he was unable to decide which of the two haystacks was to be eaten. The matter must be decided by the introduction of an additional element which will add weight to one set or the other, and thus bring down the balance on that particular side. This added element is usually found in one or the other of the following two classes of mental processes, viz., (1) Imagination, and (2) Association. Let us consider each of these.

The Element of Imagination. The imagination, employed in the case of the desire-conflict now before us, usually is very effective in bringing about a decision. In employing it, you have but to imagine yourself, first, in the actual possession of the object of the one set of desires; and then, instead, in possession of the object of the second set. In this process you draw upon your own recollections and experiences, and upon your recollection of the experiences of others. You imagine “how it would feel” to have attained the object of, first, this “want” or “want to,” and then that one. You place yourself in imagination in the position that you would occupy in case you should attain the object of this desire or of that one. Then you pass judgment as to which seems to be the better, i. e., to afford the greater degree of satisfaction and content, present and future, direct and indirect.

This process has the advantage of overcoming the handicap placed upon a future satisfaction in favor of a present one. The future experience is brought into the field of the present, and thus may be compared with a present experience relieved of the handicap of time. This is a matter of great importance, for ordinarily the present-time value of an emotional feeling or desire is far greater than that of a past-time or future-time value of a similar experience. The test of imagination usually results in (1) strengthening the present value of a really advantageous emotional feeling and desire, and (2) in weakening the present value of an apparently advantageous, but really disadvantageous, one. The use of the memory and the imagination is to be highly recommended in the task of deciding the real and actual value of an emotional state or desire.

The Element of Association. The element of association introduced into a desire-conflict will often result speedily in a determination and decision in favor of one side as against the other. Association will add strength to one set of desires, and will weaken the opposing set, in most cases. The Association of Ideas is that psychological law which binds one set of ideas, or mental states, to others; so that by bringing one set into consciousness we tend to bring there also the associated sets. In the present case we bring into consciousness the associated consequences of each set of desires.

You may proceed to apply the test of Association as follows: Seek to uncover and discover as many as possible of the associated results of the attainment of the set of desires in question—strive to think of “what else will happen” in case you attain that set of desires. This is something like inquiring into the family and social connections of two rival suitors or sweethearts—weighing their respective relations and associations and the probable future consequences of marriage with either of them.

It is always well, in cases of doubt concerning the comparative value of conflicting sets of desires, to consider carefully just what other things are associated with each of the two respective sets of desires—just what other results are likely to accompany the attainment of the object or end of each set of desires under consideration. In other words, you should ascertain the kind of relations and friends possessed by each of the rival suitors or sweethearts. In this way you will often find that one of the two apparently equal sets of desires has some very agreeable and advantageous relations and associates, while the other has some very disagreeable and disadvantageous ones.

You thus discover, figuratively speaking, “just what kind of family you are marrying into”; and you thus take stock of the respective associated and related “in laws,” friends, associates, and entanglements of each of the suitors. This is of great value, since in spite of the oft asserted statement that “I am not marrying the whole family,” one usually really does do just that very thing.

The idea of the application of the test of Association in such cases may be expressed in a few words, as follows: The real test of any particular desire depends not alone upon the immediate results likely to accompany its attainment, but also upon the associated and related results which follow in its train of association and correlation—the results which necessarily “go with it,” and which are so closely bound up with it that they cannot easily be detached from it. In some cases, the test of Association will reveal the fact that the price of the attainment of a certain set of desires is excessive—often actually prohibitive. In other cases, on, the contrary, you will find by this test that you are getting a great bargain by reason of the “extras” which go with the thing itself. The objects of some desires are thus found to be “damaged goods”; while those of others are found to have an associative value not apparent to the casual observer.

An Appeal to the Touchstone. In cases in which careful analysis, deliberation, the tests of imagination and association, and all other means of weighing and measuring, trying and testing, fail to reveal the advantage of one set of desires over the opposing set, resort must be had to the Touchstone of Positivity so often referred to in this instruction. The Touchstone by which the Positivity of any mental state, thought, feeling, desire, or action is determined is as follows: “Will this tend to make me stronger, better, and more efficient?” In the degree that any mental state meets the requirements of this test, so is its degree of Positivity and consequent desirability.

In testing two sets of conflicting desires in this way, you ask yourself: “Which of these two desires, if attained, will tend to make me stronger, better, and more efficient?” This is the Test Question. The answer should represent your final decision in the matter. The Touchstone is your Court of Last Resort, to be appealed to when all other tests have failed. Its report represents the best, highest, and most valuable elements, mental, moral, and spiritual, within your nature; all that is worst in you is absent therefrom. It represents your Summum Bonum—your Chief Good.

The Survival of the Fittest. By this time, your list of desires has resolved itself into a schedule or inventory of a few strong, dominant, prime desires, and of a larger number of lesser ones. The strongest desires should be finally tested in order to discover whether they are merely “different” from each other, or whether they are essentially mutually antagonistic and contradictory.

If they come under the latter category, then they must be pitted against each other until one of the pair wins the victory, and one goes down in defeat; for two sets of this kind must not be permitted to dwell permanently in your region of Desire: “a house divided against itself shall not stand.” There must be fought a fight to the finish. One of the opposing sets must be rolled in the dust, while the other stands proudly erect as the victor. The defeated one, thereafter, must be compelled to say, “After you, monsieur,” as our French cousins politely express it.

If two sets of desires are merely “different,” and are not essentially and necessarily conflicting and antagonistic, then they may be permitted to remain dwelling in mutual peace and harmony, at least for the time being. This permission, however, is conditioned by the fact that there must not be too many of such sets occupying the front seats of Desire at the same time.

The tendency should always be in the direction of concentration and focused energy; you should beware of scattered power and energy arising from a great diversity of desires and aims.

If you discover that there are too many strong “different” desires left after you have reached this stage of selection and elimination, you should carefully weigh each remaining set, subjecting it to the tests of memory, imagination, association and rational judgment, discarding all that are not found profitable and sufficiently advantageous. If you find that any of your desires cost you more than you get out of them; get rid of all those which do not pay for their keep.”

Continue until you have left only a comparatively few sets of desires, all of proved value and superlative emotional strength and depth. These should be recognized as well worth the price which you are prepared to pay for their maintenance and support. Treat in the same way any new desires which arise within you. Test them just as you have tested their predecessors, and insist that they prove that they are “worth while” before you decide to keep them. If they cost you more than you get out of them, discard them. Insist that they shall “pay their keep” and yield you some emotional profit beside. Run your emotional and desire establishment on business principles.

You have now finally reached the stage in which you have on your list nothing but your Dominant Desires—the survivors in the Struggle for Existence—the Survival of the Fittest. These Dominant Desires must thereafter rule your emotional realm. Any new comer must prove its worth by a test of strength with these Dominant Desires—if it shows its strength, and is able to hold its place, very well; it may be added to the list. Those going down in defeat must be eliminated. This will require strength and determination on your part—but you are a strong and determined individual, or at least are becoming one.

The process of Self-Analysis and Selection which you just considered will furnish you with two classes of reports, viz., (1) it will demonstrate to you your strongest classes of desires—your Dominant Desires; and (2) it will cause you clearly and definitely to picture and form a strong idea of each of such Dominant Desires. In both reports it will cause you to “know exactly what you want,” which is the first requisite of the Master Formula of Attainment.

Wanting It Hard Enough

According to the Master Formula you must not only know exactly what you want,” but must also “want it hard enough,” and be “willing to pay the price of its attainment.” Having considered the first of the above stated three requisites for obtaining that which you want, we ask you now to consider the second requisite, i. e., that of “wanting it hard enough.”

You may think that you “want it hard enough” when you have a rather keen desire or longing for anything, but when you compare your feeling with that of persons manifesting really strong, insistent desire, you will find that you are but merely manifesting a “wish” for that for which you have an inclination or an attachment. Compared to the insistent “want” or “want to” of thoroughly aroused Desire, your “wish” is but as a shadow. The chances are that you have been a mere amateur—a dilettante—in the art and science of “wanting’ and “wanting to.” Very few persons really know how to “want” or “want to” in such manner as to arouse fully the elemental forces of Desire Power.

An old Oriental fable illustrates the nature of Desire aroused to its fullest extent. The fable relates that a teacher took his pupil out on a deep lake, in a boat, and then suddenly pushed him overboard. The youth sank beneath the surface of the water, but rose in a few seconds, gasping for breath. Without giving him time to fill his lungs with air, the teacher forcibly pushed him under once more. The youth rose to the surface the second time, and was again pushed under. He rose for the third time, almost entirely exhausted; this time the teacher pulled him up over the side of the boat, and employed the usual methods to restore him to normal breathing.

When the youth had fully recovered from his severe ordeal, the teacher said to him: “Tell me what was the one thing that you desired above all other things before I pulled you in—the one desire to which all other desires seem like tiny candles compared with the sun?” The youth replied, “Oh, sir; above all else I desired air to breathe—for me at that time there existed no other desires!” Then said the teacher, “Let this, then, be the measure of your desire for those things to the attainment of which your life is devoted!”

You will not fully realize the measure of Desire pointed out in this fable, unless you employ your imagination in the direction of feeling yourself in the drowning condition of the youth— until you do this, the fable is a mere matter of words. When you can realize in feeling, as well as recognize in thought, the strength of the desire for air present in that youth, then, and then only, will you be able to manifest in expression a similar degree of Desire for the objects of your prime “wants” and “want tos.” Do not rest satisfied with the intellectual recognition of the condition—induce the corresponding emotional feeling in yourself to as great a degree as possible.

Varying the illustration, you will do well to induce in yourself (in imagination) the realization of the insistent, paramount desire for food experienced by the starving man lost in the dense forest in mid-winter. The chances are that you never have been actually “hungry” in the true sense of the term; all that you have mistaken for hunger is merely the call of appetite or taste—the result of habit. When you are so hungry that an old, stale, dry crust of bread will be delicious to your taste, then you are beginning to know what real hunger is. Those men who, lost in the forest or shipwrecked, have tried to satisfy intense hunger by gnawing the bark of trees, or chewing bits of leather cut from their boots—these men could give you some interesting information concerning hunger. If you can imagine the feelings of men in this condition, then you may begin to understand what “insistent desire” really means.

Again, the shipwrecked sailors adrift at sea with their supply of water exhausted; or the desert-lost man wandering over the hot sands with a thirst almost inconceivable to the ordinary person; those men know what “insistent desire” means. Man can live many days without food; but only a few days without water; and only a few minutes without air. When these fundamental essentials of life are withdrawn temporarily, the living creature finds his strongest and most elemental feelings and desires aroused—they become transmuted into passions insistently demanding satisfaction and content. When these elemental emotions and desires are thoroughly aroused, all the derivative emotional states are forgotten. Imagine the emotional state of the starving man in sight of food, or the thirst-cursed man within reach of water, if some other person or thing intervenes and attempts to frustrate the suffering man’s attainment of that which he wants above all else at that time.

Other examples of insistent desire may be found in the cases of wild animals in the mating season, in which they will risk life and defy their powerful rivals in order to secure the chosen mate. If you ever have come across a bull-moose in the mating season, you will have a vivid picture and idea of this phase of elemental desire raised to the point of “insistent demand.”

Again, consider the intense emotional feeling, and the accompanying desires experienced by the mother creature in connection with the welfare and protection of her young when danger threatens them—this will show you the nature and Desire Power character of elemental desire aroused to its fullest extent. Even tiny birds will fight against overwhelming odds in resisting the animal or man seeking to rob their nests. It is a poor spirited mother-animal which will not risk her life, and actually court death, in defense of her young. The female wild creature becomes doubly formidable when accompanied by her young. “The female of the species” is far “more deadly than the male” when the welfare of its young is involved. The Orientals have a proverb: “It is a very brave, or a very foolish, man who will try to steal a young tiger-cub while its mother is alive and free in the vicinity.”

We have called your attention to the above several examples and illustrations of the force of strongly aroused elemental emotions and desires, not alone to point out to you how powerful such desires and feelings become under the appropriate circumstances and conditions, but also to bring you to a realization of the existence within all living things of a latent emotional strength and power which is capable of being aroused into a strenuous activity under the proper stimulus, and of being directed toward certain definite ends and purposes indicated by the stimulus. That this strength and power is aroused by, and flows out toward, the particular forms of stimulus above indicated is a matter of common knowledge. But that it may be aroused to equal strength, power, and intensity by other forms of stimulus (such stimulus having been deliberately placed before it by the individual) is not known to the many; only the few have learned this secret.

We ask you to use your imagination here, once more, for a moment. Imagine an individual who has “his mind set upon” the attainment of a certain end or purpose to such a degree that he has aroused the latent Desire Power within him to that extent where he “wants” or “wants to” that end or purpose in the degree of strength, power, insistency, and fierceness, manifested by the drowning man who “wants” air; by the desert lost man who “wants” water; by the starving man who “wants” food; by the wild creature who “wants” its mate; by the mother animal who “wants” the welfare of its young. This is the individual in whom the elemental Desire Power has been aroused to such an extent, and directed toward the attainment or achievement of his Dominant Desire. How would you like to compete with such a man for the attainment of that object of his Desire Power? How would you like to be the opposing obstacle standing directly in his path of progress and attainment? How would you like to play with him the part analogous to that of one who would try to snatch away the bone from a starving wolf, or pull the tiger cub from the paws of its savage mother?

This is an extreme case or illustration, of course. Very few individuals actually reach the stage indicated—though it is not impossible by any means; but many travel a long way along that road. The strong, successful men who have “made good,” who have “arrived,” who have “done things,” in any line of human endeavor, will be found to have travelled quite a distance in that direction, on the road of Desire. They have aroused within themselves the strong, elemental Desire Power which abides in latency in the depths of the mental and emotional being—the “soul,” if you will—of every human creature; and have caused that elemental force to pour through the channels of the particular Dominant Desires which they have brought to the surface of their nature from the depths of the subconscious self.

Look in any direction you may, and you will find that the strong, masterful, dominant, successful men are those in whom Desire Power has been aroused and directed in this way. These men “know what they want”—just as the drowning man, the starving man, the thirst-cursed man, the wild mating creature, the mother creature, each knows what he or she wants—they have no doubts concerning their Dominant Desires. And these men also “want hard enough” that which represents their Dominant Desires—just as did the drowning man, the starving man, and the rest of our illustrative examples. And, like those examples, these men were also “willing to pay the price.”

Run over the list of the successful men and women with whose careers you are acquainted. Place on that list the great discoverers, inventors, explorers, military men, business men, artists, literary men and women, all those who have “done things” successfully. Then check off name after name, as you discover the biographical report of the Desire Power manifested by these individuals. You will find that in each and every case there were present the “Definite Ideals, Insistent Desire, Confident Expectation, Persistent Determination, and Balanced Compensation,” which constitute the Master Formula of Attainment of our instruction. And this second requisite—the “Insistent Desire”—is found to be this elemental Desire Power directed into the appropriate channels of manifestation and expression. These individuals “knew just what they wanted”; they “wanted it hard enough”; and they were “willing to pay the price.”

It is this spirit of “wanting it hard enough” that distinguishes the men and women of strong purpose and determination from the common herd of persons who merely “wish for” things in a gentle, faint, conventional way—that distinguishes the true “wanters” from the dilettante “wishers.” It was the recognition of this spirit in men that caused Disraeli to say that long meditation had brought him to the conviction that a human being with a settled purpose, and with a will which would stake even existence itself upon its fulfillment, must certainly accomplish that purpose.

“But,” you may say, “admitting the truth of your premise, how am I to proceed in order to arouse the dormant latent Desire Power within me, and to cause it to flow forth in the direction of the attainment of my Dominant Desires?” Answering the question, we would say, “Begin at the very beginning, and proceed to arouse and draw forth the latent Desire Power, by presenting to it the stimulus of suggestive and inciting ideas and pictures.” For, from beginning to end, there prevails the principle expressed in that axiom of psychology which says:

“Desire is aroused and flows forth toward things represented by ideas and mental pictures; the stronger and clearer the idea or mental picture, the stronger and more insistent is the aroused desire, all else being equal.”

You should proceed to apply this principle from the very beginning even at the stage of semi-awakened Desire Power. There abides within you a great store of latent, dormant Desire Power—a great reservoir of Desire Power which is almost dormant, but which contains within itself the latent and nascent powers of wonderfully diversified manifestation and expression. You will do well to begin by “stirring up” this great reservoir of Desire Power—arousing it into activity in a general way, to the end that you may afterward direct its power and cause it to flow forth into and along the channels of expression and manifestation which you have provided for it.

In the great crater of a mighty volcano of Hawaii, in plain sight of the daring visitor to the rim of the abyss, there abides a large lake of molten lava, seething and bubbling, boiling and effervescing in a state of hissing ebullience—a lake of liquid fire, as it were. This great fiery lake is comparatively calm on its surface, however, the ebullition proceeding from its depths. The whole body of fiery liquid manifests a rhythmic tide-like rise and fall, and a swaying from side to side of the crater. The observer is impressed with the recognition of a latent and nascent power of almost immeasurable possibilities of manifestation and expression. He feels borne upon him the conviction that this seething, rising and falling, swaying, tremendous body of liquid fire, if once fully aroused into activity, would boil and seethe up to the edge of the crater, and overflowing would pour down into the valleys beneath carrying before it and destroying every obstacle in its path.

This great lake of molten lava—this great body of liquid fire— is a symbol of the great body of latent and nascent Desire Power abiding within every individual—within YOU. It rests there, comparatively inactive on the surface, but ever manifesting a peculiar churning ebullition proceeding from its great depths. It seethes and boils, effervesces and bubbles, rises and falls in tide-like rhythm, sways in rhythmic sequence from side to side. It seems ever to say to you, “I am here, restless and disturbed, ever longing, craving, hankering for, hungering and thirsting for, desiring for expression and manifestation in definite form and direction. Stir me up; arouse my inner force; set me into action; and I will rise and assert my power, and accomplish for you that which you direct!”

In this stage of Desire Power, its most general stage, you will be filled with a vague discontent and dissatisfaction—a longing, wishing, lusting for, and striving toward expression and manifestation of some kind, though you know not just what it is you want nor just what you wish to do. The inclination and urge is there, but the direction is lacking. Here, Desire Power manifests in but a vague sense of unrest—in an almost unconscious urge and striving toward outward expression—in an almost unconscious inclination or tendency toward outward manifestation and action toward more or less definite ends. But even here there is the presence of Idea which has stirred up and is calling forth the latent and nascent Desire Power; but that Idea is merely that of a general urge toward outward expression and manifestation—it arouses but a general discontent with the present state, accompanied by the conative urge toward the achievement of a better condition, state, or channel of expression.

Some good teachers maintain that there is no possible development of Desire Power at this stage, and, indeed, no need for it. But we, the present writers, feel that this is a mistake. We believe that even at this early stage or phase of Desire Power, it is possible to arouse and stimulate it into activity, to the end that it may later be directed into definite channels of expression and manifestation. Moreover, we believe that Nature has proceeded in just this way in her numerous sharp advances, rises, and “jumps” in the evolutionary process, in which the living things have made progress at a rate far beyond the normal. We believe that Nature has caused a “bubbling over” at such periods, and has caused the overflowing Desire Power to seek new and wider channels of manifestation.

Of course, we realize that this stirring up or agitation of your latent Desire Power is apt to—in fact, certainly will—create additional Discontent on your part; but what of it? Some philosophers praise the Spirit of Contentment, and say that Happiness is to be found only therein. Be that as it may, it may be as positively asserted that all Progress proceeds from Discontent.

It is, of course, very philosophical to follow the advice, “If you can’t have what you like, you must like what you have,”—this idea produces a certain feeling of content. But we would add to the aphorism the following qualifying clause, viz., “but you can’t be sure that you can’t have what you like, until you have exhausted all possible means of getting it.”

While admitting the value of Content, at the same time we believe in preaching the “Gospel of Discontent” to a sane degree and extent. We believe that Discontent is the first step on the Path of Attainment. We believe that it is just this very Divine Discontent that causes men and women to undertake the Divine Adventure of Life, and which is back of and under all human progress. Content may be carried quite too far. Absolute Content results in Apathy and Lethargy—it stops the wheels of Progress. Nature evidently is not Content, else it would cease to manifest the process of Evolution. Nature has evidently been ever filled with the Spirit of Discontent, judging from her invariable manifestation of the Law of Change. Without Discontent and the Desire to Change, there would be no Change in Nature. The Law of Change shows plainly Nature’s opinion on the subject, and her prevailing feelings and desires in the matter.

You will do well to begin by “treating” your great body of elemental Desire Power for increased activity, and for the transmutation of its static power into dynamic power— bringing it from its state of semi-rest into the state of increased restlessness and tendency to flow forth into action. You may do this in the same way that you will later employ in the case of specific, particular, and definite desires, i. e., by presenting to it suggestive and inciting ideas and mental pictures!

Begin by presenting to your elemental Desire Power the suggestive idea and mental picture of itself as akin to the great lake of molten lava, or liquid fire, filled with latent and nascent energy, power, and force; filled with the elemental urge toward expression and manifestation in outward form and action; able and willing to accomplish anything it desires to do with sufficient strength, providing a definite channel is provided for its flow of power. Show it the picture of itself as ready and willing to transmute its static energy into dynamic force, and to pour forth along the channels which you will provide for it— and above all else, quite able to do this if it will but arouse itself into dynamic action. In short, present to its gaze your idealistic and ideative mental equipment in the form of the surface of a great mirror, reflecting the picture of the elemental Desire Power as it presents itself to that mirror—let Desire Power see itself as it is. Supply Desire with its complementary Idea.

You will do well to accompany this mental picture with a verbal statement or affirmation of the details of that picture. Treat your elemental Desire Power as if it were an entity—there is a valid psychological reason for this, by the way—and tell it in exact words just what it is, what are its powers, and what is its essential nature displaying the disposition to express and manifest itself in outward form and activity. Pound these suggestive statements into it, as firmly, earnestly and persistently as you can. Supply the Desire Power with the element of Idea and Mental Pictures. Give it the picture of what it is, and the pattern or diagram of what it can do if it will.

The result of this course of “treatment” applied to your elemental Desire Power will soon show itself in an increased feeling of more vigorous rhythmic tidal-movement and side-to-side movement, as previously described; and in an increased rate and vigor of its seething, boiling, effervescing ebullition. From its depths will arise mighty impulses and urges, upheavals and uprisings. The great molten-lake of Desire Power will begin to boil with increased vigor, and will show an inclination to produce the Steam of Will. You will experience new and strange evidences of the urge of Desire Power within you, seeking expression and manifestation along the channels which you have provided for it. As yet, however, the desires will not have taken on definite form or direction; they will manifest merely in the state which has been called that of “Raw Desire”—the great elemental general Desire Power immanent in all things.

But before reaching this stage, you must have created the channels through and in which you wish the overflowing Desire Power to flow when it reaches the “boiling over” stage. These channels must be built along the lines of those desires which you have proved to be your Dominant Desires. Build these channels, deep, wide and strong. From them you can afterward build minor channels for your secondary and derivative desires arising from your Dominant Desires. At present, however, your main concern is with your main channels. Let each channel represent the clear, deep, strong idea and mental picture of “just what you want” as you clearly see and know it. You have found out exactly what you want, when you want it, and how you want it; let your channels represent as closely as may be just these ideas. Build the banks high, so as to obviate any waste; build the walls strong, so as to stand the strain; build the channel deep and wide, so as to carry the full force and quantity of the current.

By “creating the channels” of your Dominant Desires; we mean establishing the paths to be traversed by the overflowing current of Desire Power which you have aroused from its latent and nascent condition. These channels or paths are created mentally by the employment of Creative Imagination and Ideation. These mental forces proceed to manifest in the direction of creating and presenting to your consciousness the ideas and mental pictures of your Dominant Desires which you have discovered in your process of Self-Analysis. The work of creating these channels is really but a continuation of the mental work performed by you in the discovery of your Dominant Desires.

In creating these channels you should observe three general rules, as follows:

(1) Make the Channels Clear and Clean by creating and maintaining a clear, clean, distinct, and definite idea of each of your Dominant Desires, in which idea the entire thought concerning the Dominant Desire is condensed and in which there is no foreign or non-essential material.

(2) Make the Channels Deep and Wide by forming mental pictures or suggestive ideas appealing to the emotional feelings associated with the Dominant Desires, and thus tempting the appetites of those desires by the representation of the objects of their longing, and by the presentation of imaginative pictures of the joys which will attend their final achievement and attainment.

(3) Make the Banks Strong by means of the employment of the Persistent Determination of the Will, so that the powerful swift current may be confined within the limits of the Dominant Desire and not be permitted to escape and waste itself by scattering its energy and force over the surrounding land.

When your current is flowing freely, you will find it necessary to build minor channels serving to bring about the attainment of objects and ends helpful to the accomplishment of the objects and ends of the major channels. In building these minor channels, follow the same general rules and principles which we have given you. From the great main channels down to the tiniest canal the same principle is involved. Always build clear and clean, by means of definite ideas and aims; always build deep and wide, by means of suggestive ideas and mental pictures; always build strong banks, by means of the determined will.

In concluding this consideration of the second requisite, i. e., the element of “wanting it hard enough,” we wish to impress upon your mind the tremendous vitalizing, and inciting power exerted by Suggestive Ideas and Mental Pictures upon Desire Power. Suggestive Ideas and Mental Pictures act upon Desire Power with a tremendous degree of effect in the direction of inciting, arousing, stirring, stimulating, exciting, spurring, goading, provoking, moving, encouraging, animating, and urging to expression and manifestation. There are no other incentives equal to these. All strong desires are aroused by such incentives, consciously or unconsciously applied.

For instance, you may have no desire to visit California. Then your interest in that part of the country is aroused by what you read or hear concerning it, and a vague desire to visit it is aroused in you. Later, information in the direction of giving you additional material for suggestive ideas and mental pictures serves to arouse your desire to “go to California.” You begin to search eagerly for further ideas and pictures, and the more you obtain the stronger grows the flame of your desire. At last, you “want to hard enough”, and brushing aside all obstacles you “pay the price” and take the trip across the plains. Had you not been furnished with the additional suggestive ideas and mental pictures, your original desire would soon have died out. You know by experience the truth of this principle; you also know how you would use it if you wished to induce a friend to visit California, do you not? Then start to work using it on your Desire Power when you wish to incite it into “wanting hard enough” something that you know to be advantageous to you!

It is customary to illustrate this principle by the figure of pouring the oil of Idea upon the flame of Desire, thereby keeping alive and strengthening the power of the latter. The figure of speech is a good one—the illustration serves well its purpose. But your memory and imagination, representing your experience, will furnish you with one a little nearer home. All that you need do is to imagine the effect which would be produced upon you if you were hungry and were able to form the mental picture or create the suggestive idea of a particularly appetizing meal. Even as it is, though you are not really hungry, the thought of such a meal will make your mouth water.

Again, you may readily imagine the effect produced upon you, when you are parched and intensely thirsty on a long ride, by the vivid mental picture or strong suggestive idea of a clear, cold spring of mountain water. Or, again, when in a stuffy, ill-ventilated office you think of the fresh air of the mountain-camp where you went fishing last Summer,—when you picture plainly the joys of the experience—can you deny that your Desire Power is intensely aroused and excited, and that you feel like dropping everything and “taking to the woods” at once.

Raising the principle to its extreme form of manifestation, try to imagine the effect upon the famishing man of a dream of plentiful food; the dream of the thirst-cursed man in which is pictured flowing fountains of water. Try to imagine the effect upon the mate-seeking wild bull-moose of the far-off bellow of the sought-for mate—would you like to impede his path on such an occasion. Finally, picture the emotional excitement and frenzy of desire on the part of the tigress when she comes in sight of food for her half-starved cubs; or her force of desire when she hears afar-off the cry of distress of her young ones.

In order to “want” and “want to” as hard as do these human beings and wild things which we have employed as Illustrations, you must feed your Desire Power with suggestive ideas and mental pictures similar in exciting power to those which rouse into action their dominant and paramount “want” and “want to.” Of course, these are extreme cases—but they serve to illustrate the principle involved.

In short, in order to “want it hard enough,” you must create a gnawing hunger and a parching thirst for the objects of your Dominant Desires; this you must intensify and render continuous by repeatedly presenting with suggestive ideas and mental pictures of the Feast of Good Things, and the Flowing Fountain, which awaits the successful achievement or attainment of the desires.

Or, you must be like the half-drowned youth wanting “a breath of air” above all else—wanting it with all the fierce energy of his soul and being; and you must ever keep before you the suggestive idea and mental picture of “all the air there is” which is to be found just above the surface of the water of Need in which you are now immersed. When you can create these mental and emotional conditions within yourself, then, and then only, will you really know just what it is to “want hard enough.”

Think well over this idea, until you grasp its full meaning!

Paying the Price

According to the Master Formula, in order to get what you want you must not only know exactly what you want,” not only “want it hard enough,” but also “be willing to pay the price of its attainment.” We have considered the first and the second of these elements of successful attainment; let us now consider the third one, and learn what it means to “be willing to pay the price of attainment.”

This final element of successful attainment—this last hurdle in the race—often is the point at which many persons fail: riding gallantly over the first several hurdles, they stumble and fall when they attempt to surmount this final one. This, not so much because of the real difficulty in passing over this obstacle, but rather because they are apt to underestimate the task and, accordingly, to relax their energies. Thinking that the race is practically over, they fail to observe care and caution and thus meet failure. With the prize almost in hand, they relax their efforts and lose it.

The Law of Compensation is found in full operation in the realm of Desire, as well as in every other field and region of life and action. There is always present that insistence upon Balance which Nature invariably demands from those who seek her prizes. There is always something to be given up, in order that something else may be gained. One cannot have his pie and his dime at the same time—he must spend the dime if he would buy the pie. Neither can one keep his dime and yet spend it. Nature boldly and plainly displays her sign, “Pay the Price!” Once more let us quote the old adage: “Said the gods to man, ‘Take what thou wilt; but pay the price’.”

When in actual experience you perform the process of selection of the Dominant Desires, with its attendant Struggle for Existence and Survival of the Fittest among the competing desires, even then you are beginning to “pay the price” of the attainment of your Dominant Desires; this because you are setting aside and relinquishing one or more sets of desires in favor of a preferred set. Every set of desires has its opposing set, and also other sets which would to some extent interfere with its full manifestation; you must “pay the price” of attainment of the one set of desires by relinquishing the other sets.

In order to attain the object of your desire for wealth, you must “pay the price” of relinquishing desires for certain things which would prevent you from accumulating money. In order to attain the object of your desire for all possible knowledge in some particular field of study and research, you must “pay the price” of relinquishing your desires for a similar degree of knowledge in some other field of thought and study. In order to attain the object of your desire for business success, you must “pay the price” of hard work and the passing by of the objects of your desires for play, amusement, and enjoyment which would necessitate the neglect of your business. And so on; to attain the object of any one set of desires, you must always “pay the price” of the relinquishing of the objects of other sets of desires.

In some cases, this process of the inhibition of opposing desires is akin to that of weeding your garden, or of pruning your trees—getting rid of the useless and harmful growths which interfere with the growth and development of the useful and advantageous thing. In other cases, however, the desires which you must inhibit and put away from you are not in themselves harmful or useless. On the contrary, they may be very advantageous and useful in themselves, and may be actually worthy of being adopted as Dominant Desires by others; but, at the same time, they are of such a nature as to prove an obstacle to your progress along the line of your own chosen Dominant Desires.

Things may oppose and antagonize each other without either of them being harmful or “bad” in themselves. You cannot travel at the same time both forks of the road; nor can you travel north and south on any road at the same time; though either of these courses of travel may be good in itself. You cannot very well be a successful clergyman and a successful lawyer at the same time; if you have strong desires for both of these careers, you must choose the one you desire more and set aside the other. The girl with the two attractive suitors—the man with the two delightful sweethearts—the child with the dime, gazing longingly at the two different tarts—each must choose one and pass by the other, and thus “pay the price.”

Not only in the preliminary process of discovering and identifying your Dominant Desires are you called upon to “pay the price,” but you are equally called upon to do so at almost every subsequent step and stage of your progress in actual experience. There is always something presenting itself to tempt you into “sidetracking” your Desire Power; some alluring desires which beckon you from the straight Path of Attainment. Here you will find that it is hard to “pay the price”; and often you will gravely question yourself, asking if the things represented by the Dominant Desires are, after all, worth the price you are being called on to pay for them. These temptations and struggles come to all—they constitute one of the tests whereby it is determined whether you are strong or whether you are weak in regard to your Desire Power. Here is the real test of whether or not you “want it hard enough” to make you willing to “pay the price.”

Particularly difficult to overcome and conquer are those temptations which induce you to relinquish your desire for future attainment in favor of the gratification of present desires; or which tempt you to forego the attainment of permanent future benefits in favor of temporary, ephemeral present benefits. The tempter whispers in your ear that you are foolish to content yourself with the skim-milk of the present in the hope of obtaining the full cream of tomorrow. The ever-present suggestion to “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die” must be boldly confronted and conquered if you wish to attain the object of that which your reason and judgment, as well as your self-analysis, has shown that you really want above everything else. The habit of saying: “Get thee behind me Satan!” must be cultivated; and when you have got him behind you, look out lest he give you a push from behind!

Here you determine whether or not you really “want it hard enough.” The drowning man is in no doubt concerning the value of the breath of air. He is willing to “pay the price of it,” no matter how high that price may be. The famishing man knows the value of food—the parched man knows the value of water: they are willing to “pay the price,” and are not liable to be sidetracked from their Dominant Desire. The bull-moose seeking his mate is willing to “pay the price” of danger and possible death lying in his path—but you cannot sidetrack him. The mother tiger cannot be sidetracked from the pursuit of food for her hungry cubs—she is willing to “pay the price” of risk of life without hesitation. When you begin to “want it hard enough” along the same lines, and reaching toward the same degree of intensity and insistence manifested by these creatures, then you will not hesitate to “pay the price”—to pay it in full, and without hesitation; when you reach this stage the tempter will whisper into ears deaf to his voice.

In order to hold the current of Desire Power within the bounds of your channels of Dominant Desire, the banks must be erected and kept in a state of strength by Will Power. The “Will to Will” must be called into manifestation. While Desire is one of the fundamental elements of Will, it is not all of Will. Will is a subtle combination of Conative Desire and of Purposeful Determination. It springs from Desire, but it evolves into something which is capable of mastering Desire by its power of “Willing to Will.” In the book of this series entitled “Will Power” the subject of Will in all of its phases is considered in detail. Those who are specially interested in this phase of the general subject are referred to the said book—it should prove helpful to them.

Here follow three general rules which you should note very carefully in connection with the subject of inhibiting and setting-aside the temptations of conflicting desires—of those desires which are constantly springing up and tempting you to forego “paying the price,” or to become “sidetracked” from the Path of Attainment of your Dominant Desires. Two of these rules are along the lines of which we have spoken in connection with the influence of Representative Ideas upon Desire Power.

I. Under temptation by sidetracking desires, use every effort to feed the Flame of Desire of your Dominant Desires, by an increased supply of suggestive ideas and mental pictures tending to stimulate its beat and incite its energy.

II. At the same time, strenuously avoid feeding the flame of the tempting desires by suggestive ideas and mental pictures likely to arouse or incite them. On the contrary, carefully and positively refuse to admit such ideas and pictures to your mind so far as is possible; seek to starve the fires of such desires by withholding from them the fuel necessary for their continuance and support.

The third rule involves another psychological principle, and is as follows:

III. So far as is possible, transmute the sidetracking desires into forms more in accordance with the general trend of the Dominant Desires, thereby converting them into helpful rather than harmful emotional energy.

In the case of the first rule above stated, you tend to inhibit the energy of the sidetracking desires by imparting additional energy to the Dominant Desires. When the attention is strongly attracted or held by the suggestive ideas and mental pictures of a strong set of desires, it is not easily diverted by those of a weaker set. The strong light of the former tend to cast the latter into a comparative shadow. The attention firmly concentrated and held upon one particular set of ideas and mental pictures refuses to accept the demand of another set. Keep the attention busy with the advantageous set, and it “will have no time” for the consideration of the opposing set. With these opposing suggestive ideas and mental pictures kept out of the field of conscious attention, the desires associated with them tend to die down and finally to disappear.

In the case of the second rule above stated you deliberately and determinedly refuse to feed the flame of the sidetracking desires with the fuel of suggestive ideas and mental pictures. Instead, you proceed deliberately and determinedly to starve that flame. No flame of desire can long continue to burn vigorously if its supply of suggestive fuel be cut off from it. Cut off the fuel supply of any desire, and it will begin to decrease in vigor and force. Refuse to allow your mind to dwell upon the ideas or mental pictures tending to suggest the sidetracking desires. When such ideas and pictures intrude themselves and seek to attract the attention, you must deliberately turn your attention to something else—preferably to the suggestive ideas and pictures of your Dominant Desires.

The Roman Catholic Church evidently recognizes the value of this rule, for its teachers instruct their pupils to form the habit of turning their attention to prayers and certain forms of devotional exercises when temptations assail them. The attention being directed to and held firmly upon the devotional exercise or ceremony, it is withheld from the suggestive ideas and mental pictures of the tempting desire; and, accordingly, the latter loses strength and in time dies away. Without detracting from the value of the religious element involved, we may say that it is certain that the purely psychological effect of such course is highly advantageous. You would do well to apply the principle in your own case.

In the case of the third rule above stated, you transmute the energy of the sidetracking desire into that of desires more in accordance with the general trend of your Dominant Desires. In this way you not only obviate the danger of the interference and distraction of the sidetracking desires, but also actually employ the basic energy of Desire Power to feed the flame of the advantageous desires. Here, the principle involved is not so well known as are those involved in the other rules; but that principle is sound, nevertheless, and is capable of being employed with remarkable results by the individual possessing sufficient will power and determination to apply it.

As an example of this principle of the transmutation of the form of Desire Force, let us point you to a fact well known to scientific observers, viz., that the energy of the sexual passions may be transmuted into the energy of any kind of mental or physical creative work. This fact is also known to priests and others who are called on for advice from those wishing to control passions of this kind. The explanation probably lies in the fact that sexual desire is essentially creative in its fundamental nature, and therefore is capable of being diverted to other forms of creative activity. But whatever may be the true explanation, it is a fact that the person experiencing strong intruding sexual desires may proceed to master and control them by means of engaging in some form of creative work in which the elemental creative energy is transmuted into other forms of creative force.

For instance, one may create by writing, musical composition, artistic work, or making and constructing things with the hands—in fact, by any kind of work in which things are made, put together, constructed, or created in any way. In all of such work, provided that sufficient interest is thrown into the task, it will be found that the strong impulse of the intruding sexual passions will gradually lose its force, and that the person will then experience a sense of new energy in the creative work which he has undertaken in order to transmute the previous form of Desire Power.

The experienced physician knows that the best possible prescription for certain classes of cases of this kind coming to him for treatment and advice is that of “interesting work” for head or hands or both. There is much truth in the old saying that “An idle brain is the devil’s workshop”, and the similar one that “The devil finds plenty of work for idle hands to do.” This principle may be set to work against “the devil,” by simply reversing its action by giving head and hands plenty to do.

Another illustration of this principle is found in the case of the beneficial effect of certain games—in fact, of nearly all games played in moderation. Here the sidetracking and distracting desires which seek to take one away from his appointed tasks, and from the manifestation of his Dominant Desires, are transmuted into the interest, feeling, and desires of Play. Play is a safety-valve of emotional feeling. It serves to transmute many a distracting desire into the conative energy expressing itself in an interesting game. This is true of games involving purely mental skill, as well as those in which physical skill is also involved. Baseball has been a wonderful benefit to the American people in this way. Golf is playing an important part in the direction of affording a “transmutation channel” of energy for busy men who tire under the somewhat monotonous strain of the strenuous pursuit of the object of their Dominant Desires. In cases of this kind, not only are the distracting desires transmuted in this way, but the games themselves give recreation, exercise and a restful change of occupation to the individual.

“Paying the price” of your Dominant Desires does not necessarily imply that you must give up everything in life not actually concerned in furthering the interests of those particular desires—in such case, indeed, you would probably actually injure your own interests by too closely restricting your circle of interest and attention. The real meaning of the injunction is that you must “pay the price” of giving up, inhibiting, or at least transmuting any and all desires which; directly and certainly oppose and seriously interfere with the attainment of the objects of your Dominant Desires. That price, indeed, you must be prepared to pay. In many cases, such desires may be transmuted into forms which will in a sense “run along with” the pursuit of the objects of your Dominant Desires, and thus be rendered helpful rather than harmful. Many emotional elements may be turned to account in this way by the process of transmutation. You should give some thought to this matter of transmutation when you are threatened by distracting and sidetracking desires.

Another form of “paying the price” is that of the labor and work to be performed by the individual in his task of attainment of the object of his Dominant Desires. This work and labor, however, is not alone performed by the exercise of the Persistent Determination of the Will, though this is the active element involved; there is needed also the inhibition and starving out of the conflicting or sidetracking desires which strive to draw the individual away from his appointed tasks and toward the actions requiring less work, and which for the time being seem to be richer in promise of pleasure and satisfaction.

The price paid by the men and women who have achieved marked success almost always is found to include self-denial, and sometimes even actual privation during the earlier days of the undertaking; work far in excess of that rightfully demanded of the wage earner, both in amount and in time is demanded of them; application and unwearied perseverance are required of them; indomitable resolution and persistent determination must be “paid” by them. There is here the constant giving up of the present pleasure in favor of that hoped for in the future. There is here the constant performance of tasks which might easily be avoided, and which are really avoided by the average person, but which are required to be performed by the individual who is inspired by the Dominant Desire and who is working for the accomplishment of “the one big thing.”

Napoleon “paid the price” in his earlier days when he refused to indulge in the frivolous pursuits of his fellow-students at Brienne, and instead, deliberately devoted his spare time to the mastery of the elements of military science and history. Abraham Lincoln “paid the price” when he studied the few books he could find by the light of the fireplace, instead of indulging in the pleasures and dissipations of the other young men of his neighborhood. Read the history of any successful man and you will find this invariable “paying the price” of study, application, work, self-denial, economy, thrift, industry, and the rest of the needful things.

Never delude yourself with the thought that you can escape “paying the price” of the attainment of the objects of your strong desires. The price must always be paid—the greater the object of attainment, the greater is the price demanded. But you will find that if you have learned how to “want it hard enough” then the price will be comparatively easy to pay—the thing will be deemed well worth it.

If you feel that the price that you are being called upon to pay for the object of your Dominant Desires is more than the thing is worth, then there is something wrong about the whole matter. In such case, you should carefully “take stock” of your feelings, weighing and comparing them carefully as we have suggested in our consideration of Self-Analysis, and selection of Dominant Desires. You may find that what you had supposed to be a Dominant Desire is not really such at all. Or you may find that you have failed to include some necessary element or phase of the Dominant Desire. Or, that you have failed to make some possible transmutation of distracting desires; or have failed to inhibit or starve out sidetracking desires. Or, possibly, that you have failed to feed the flame of your Dominant Desire properly. At any rate, there is something wrong in such a case, and you should seek the remedy.

While the Law of Nature provides that you must “pay the price” of the attainment of any and all desires, it also provides that the attainment must always be worth the price. If you find that the present and probable future value of any object of your desire is not worth the price you must be called upon to pay for it, then you should carefully consider the whole matter most critically, viewing it from all angles, and in the light of all possible relations and associations, with full deliberation concerning the probable consequences of an opposite course, and with thoughtful judgment concerning all alternative courses. The dissatisfaction may be merely temporary and passing, or on the other hand, it may be growing in strength and promise of permanency.

Any desire which upon careful consideration, deliberation, and judgment may seem not to “pay for its keep”—to be not worth its storage charges or floor space in your emotional nature—is a fit object for a final retrial upon its merits, a re-valuation of its points, in order to decide whether it shall be retained and treated for additional strength, energy, and emotional value, or else discarded and rejected. The test should always be: “Is this really worth while—worth the price I am called on to pay for it; would its rejection cost me more than its retention?” The Touchstone of Merit should be: “Does this render me stronger, better, and more efficient—and, therefore, more truly and permanently happier?”

In the history of philosophy we find many theories concerned with the matter of the satisfaction of pleasurable desires and the avoidance of pain—the achievement of the greatest possible amount and degree of “contenting of the spirit” of the individual. The ancient Greek philosophers especially devoted much attention to this particular subject—but they failed to come to a common understanding. The Epicureans held that the chief end of life is to obtain the greatest satisfaction of the pleasurable desires; the Stoics, on the contrary, held that the chief end of life is to avoid and escape pain. Between these two poles raged the conflict of thought on the subject. Some emphasized the fact that an excess of pleasure brings about a reaction of satiety and even actual pain; while even in continued pain there is to be found a compensating element of resignation and inner content of a spiritual nature.

Here, as elsewhere, the truth seems to lie between the two extremes—at the point of the Golden Mean. “Nothing too much” is the axiom of those who perceive the danger of proceeding to extremes in anything. They hold that while the satisfaction of the pleasurable desires is proper and good, yet there is an element of benefit even in a moderate degree of pain. Without pain, they say, there is no contrast by reason of which pleasure is appreciated, The escape from pain, or the avoidance of pain, is doubly pleasurable when the nature of the pain is known by experience. But, even here, we find the tacit admission that the chief end of life is the attainment of Happiness—the “content of the spirit”—for which all living things, consciously or unconsciously strive.

Perhaps the most practical of all the philosophical theories upon the subject of the securing of the maximum of pleasure and the minimum of pain is that theory without a name, but which is followed by many of the strongest and most successful men of the world. This theory combines the principles of both Epicurianism and of Stoicism, and seemingly blends them in a practical harmony. The cardinal principle of this practical philosophy may be expressed in the Following adage: “Sacrifice the lesser pleasure to the greater, taking into consideration the element of permanency and ultimate value. If any desire is found to result in a greater degree of pain than of pleasure, sacrifice it, unless it contributes to the success of a greater desire; if it results in a greater degree of pleasure than of pain, preserve it, unless it tends to weaken or to interfere with the success of a greater desire.”

In the consideration of the above, you must never lose sight of the fact that the “greater desires,” or the “greater pleasure,” may consist of the satisfaction arising from the performance of Duty, and of the practice of rational Altruism,—in fact, it often does so, for acts of duty, altruism, patriotism, self-sacrifice for an ideal, etc., are performed only when there is secured a greater “content of spirit” by the performance or practice, than by the opposite course.

So, at the last, recognizing that you must always “pay the price,” you are justified in seeking to get the greatest satisfaction for the price paid, and to refuse to accept emotional goods which are not worth the price demanded for them. There should be observed an “economy of desire,” by means of which the Law of Compensation is made to yield a full return for every expenditure. You should always “get your money’s worth” when you “pay the price”, and it behooves you to examine carefully the wares offered for sale on the counters of Desire. If you find that you have any unprofitable desires, not worth the price which you are continually being called upon to pay for them— do not hesitate to “scrap” them at once. At least, strive to retain only such Dominant Desires as will in the end enable you to say, honestly, to yourself: “It was well worth the price it cost; I am satisfied!”

You have seen that Desire is that emotional state which is represented by the phrase, “I want!” You have seen that “Desire has for its object something which will bring pleasure or get rid of pain, immediate or remote, for the individual or for some one in whom he is interested.” You have seen that “You always act according to your greatest ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ of which you are cognizant at the time.” You have seen that “The degree of force, energy, will, determination, persistence, and continuous application manifested by an individual in his aspirations, ambitions, aims, performances, actions and work is determined primarily by the degree of his desire for the attainment of the objects thereof—his degree of ‘want’ and ‘want to’ concerning that object.” You have seen that “Desire is the Flame that produces the Steam of Will,” and that, therefore, Desire is the source from which all human action springs.

You have seen that not only does Desire Power directly or indirectly cause all human action, but that it also sets into operation the Life Forces which develop the mental and physical faculties and powers of the individual along lines designed to further and more efficiently manifest and express the dominant desires of the individual. You have seen how Desire Power presses into service the powers of the subconscious mentality in the work of manifesting and expressing the strong desires. You have seen how the subconscious powers act so as to attract to the individual the things, persons, conditions, and circumstances serving to enable him to better manifest and express his sovereign desires; and how, in the same way, they tend to attract the individual to those things, persons, conditions, and circumstances. You have seen how Desire Attraction works silently, even when one is asleep, toward the end impressed upon it by the character of the strong desires.

You have discovered the importance of “knowing exactly what you want,” and have learned how to gain such important knowledge by Self-Analysis and Selection. You have discovered the importance of “wanting it hard enough,” and have learned how to feed the Flame of Desire so as to cause it to burn fiercely. You have learned how to set into motion and activity the great body of Elemental Desire, and how to cause it to flow forth through the channels of manifestation and expression which you have carefully built for its flood. You have discovered the necessity of “paying the price of attainment” of the objects of your desire, and have learned the general rules concerning such payment.

You have been informed concerning the tremendous power of the Desire Power within your being, and have become acquainted with the laws governing its manifestation and expression, and the rules regulating its control and direction. If you have entered into the spirit of this instruction, and have allowed its influence to descend into the subconscious depths of your mentality, you have already become aware of the aroused energy of the Desire Power in those depths. You will have found yourself filled with a new and unfolding consciousness of Personal Power within you. You will have experienced that intuitive feeling that there have been set into operation in you certain subtle but dynamic forces which will tend to make you “stronger, better, and more efficient.”

As you proceed to arouse into further activity these great forces of your nature, and to direct their channel of manifestation and expression, you will from time to time receive actual evidence and proof that you are travelling along the right road, and are employing the proper methods. You will be astonished to receive proofs and actual results in the most unexpected manner, and from sources and directions never dreamt of before. You will realize more and more, as you proceed, that you have set into operation one of Nature’s most potent forces, in fact, “the force of forces.” Finally, you will begin to realize that the very actual presence within you of a Dominant Desire which has won its place in the “struggle for existence,” and which has stood all the tests, is practically “the prophecy of its own fulfillment.”

Unconscious Desire

No modern consideration of the general subject of Desire Power would be complete without at least a passing reference to the psychological theories and teachings of the Freudian school—the school popularly known under the name “Psycho-Analysis.”

In the teachings of the founder of this school, Dr. Sigmund Freud, of Vienna, and in those of his followers, there is found the basic postulate of “the Unconscious,” i. e., a subconscious psychical element of our mental being the essence of which is Desire manifesting along the lines of subconscious mentation; this Unconscious Desire is held to employ the forces and powers of the subconscious mentality in order to effect its purposes and to satisfy its longings.

Freud employed the term “libido” to indicate the conative impulse of this Unconscious Desire. That term, however, having acquired a somewhat unpleasant connotation for English and American minds, the later writers in these two countries have frequently substituted the term “craving.” But whether it is called “libido,” or “craving,” the same essential striving and conative impulse of Unconscious Desire is sought to be indicated; and this craving, striving, and impulse to action constitute the essential nature of the Unconscious Desire of the Freudian philosophy.

Dr. Wilfrid Lay, one of the most popular American exponents of the Freudian philosophy, in his excellent work entitled “Man’s Unconscious Conflict,” says of the power of Unconscious Desire, and of its essential nature:

“In the Greek mythology the Titans are the children of Earth and Heaven and; because they warred with the gods, were cast into the gulf of Tartarus, where they lie prostrate, but occasionally, becoming restive, they shake their bonds, and in so doing cause the earth to tremble. In each one of us there lives a Titan. As the Titans represented the crude forces of nature that were later brought into subjection by the gods who introduced a reign of order, so the Titan that is in each one of us represents the primal impulses of animal life which have through the ages been brought into some semblance of order by the force of society. But just as the Titans in the old mythology made themselves felt in disturbances of the equilibrium of the world, so sometimes do the Titans residing in us all break loose and do much damage in our daily life. And as the Titans were chained in the deep pit, and could never show their faces to the light of day, so these primordial vital forces are generally controlled by the restraints of organized society, and are as little in evidence to most people as if they, too, were chained at the bottom of a pit. Their writhings, however, are not without effect on our daily thoughts and on our bodily functions. That part of our mental life of which as a general rule we know nothing, but which exerts a great influence upon our actions, is known in the newer psychology as the Unconscious, and in this book I frequently refer to it as the unknown Titan. * * * *

“These two theories—first, that a large part of our mental life is unconscious (unknown or unknowable), and second, that a creative force, by whatever name it may be called, is constantly impelling all animate life—have been used together in working out the science of Psycho-Analysis. The prime mover of the human soul, then, is its continual Craving for Life, for Love, and for Action. * * * The will to live, love and act, conditioned as it is by the power that has gone on living and loving and acting for countless generations, is the only source of all human strength.”

Thus, from the above-quoted statement concerning the nature and actions of the Unconscious Desire of the Freudians, you will see that the basic postulate of Freud and his followers is quite similar to that of Schopenhauer, von Hartmann, and others of the Voluntaristic school of philosophy referred to in the preceding sections of this book: in fact, the Freudians have built upon the original foundations of older philosophers just mentioned—the latter, in turn, had built upon still older foundations of Buddha, Heraclitus, and others of the ancient schools of philosophy. In all of such teachings will be found the fundamental postulate of a universal Something or Somewhat, the very essence or kernel of Nature, the inmost characteristic of which is an Insistent Desire, a craving, longing, striving, hungering, thirsting, moving toward action promising to “content its spirit.” In short, to employ the figure so often quoted by us in this instruction, it is “A Power with the Desire to Act; or a Desire with the Power to Act.”

The Freudians, however, do not pursue the metaphysical road in their treatment of the Unconscious Desire; they prefer the nearer and safer highway of psychology. They emphasize the fact that in human life and behavior the Unconscious Desire is the predominant moving-power. They labor strenuously to uncover the hidden unconscious sources for many of our supposed free, conscious actions; and in many cases they make out a very good case for the supremacy of the Unconscious, though in others their explanations and conclusions seem to be more or less forced or even fantastic. Passing by the extreme and radical theories of some of this school, it must be admitted that its teachings have done a great work in revealing to us the hidden springs from which flow the streams of thought, feeling and action which constitute our respective personalities.

Likewise, they have bestowed upon the race certain valuable, efficient methods of correcting abnormalities and faults arising from the uncontrolled operations of the Unconscious.

The Freudians throw an interesting light upon the real causes of many of our common everyday actions which we fondly imagine that we are performing of our own free will and by reason of certain conscious motives. The teachers show us that these “certain conscious motives” are not at all the real motives of our actions; the real motives are to be found in certain far-below-the-surface buried and hidden desires, cravings, longings, desires. These real motives are often completely concealed from us, and are revealed only through methods of Psycho-Analysis conducted along scientific lines.

Our so-called “reasons” are often mere excuses or pretexts, evolved in order to quiet our minds and consciences while the Unconscious Desire proceeds to manifest and express itself through us. Ernest Jones, in his works treating upon the subject of Psycho-Analysis, employs the term “Rationalization” to indicate that tendency on our part to ascribe a conscious reason or motive to those of our actions which are really caused and motivated by the wishes, desire and craving of the Unconscious. Lay also gives numerous examples of actions “which seem unaccountable, and indeed are unaccountable except on the grounds of their having been motivated by the unconscious wish.”

Freud gives the keynote of his general theory concerning the influence of our past experiences, and of the feelings resulting from them, upon our present thoughts, feelings and actions, in his statement: “We are what we are because we have been what we have been.” A writer on the subject, adds: “Down in the dark hidden mental pit of the Unconscious that even we ourselves do not know, and yet from which impulses are always springing and affecting our reactions to life, are many instinctive cravings, many anti-social, egotistic, jealous, hostile thoughts. We often have to repress them consciously, but much oftener they are unconsciously repressed. Sometimes a slip comes and they are revealed against our own will—at least discovered to those who understand something of the operation of the subconscious mind—an increasing number now.”

Dr. Drysdale says: “Experiences long buried and long forgotten continue to exercise a dynamic force in the life of individuals, influencing their reactions and apparent motives. They are subconscious undercurrents, repressed usually in the normal person, but active. In breaks such as lapses in speech, gaps in memory, the cue to the underlying repressed thought may often be found. Every experience possesses the power to reflect its influence upon our later life. No experience is ever wholly lost. Our present actions are to a large extent the outcome of antecedent acts or impressions. It must be admitted that life is a constant conflict between our natural instincts, motives and desires and the standards established by the society in which we move and have our being. We repress from conscious memory many experiences that date back to days of childhood, but they lurk in the mind subconsciously. Apparently long-forgotten, it may be that the recollection of the incident will crop out at any time, resurrected by some idle word or fleeting thought, as a disturbing or antagonistic mental influence.”

We shall not go further in this brief consideration of the teaching of the Freudian school concerning the subject of Unconscious Desire as expressed and manifested by “the Unconscious” or Hidden Self of the individual. In that volume of this series entitled “Subconscious Power,” we have explained the general teaching of that school, as well as having given a careful statement of the entire general subject of the Subconscious, Superconscious, or Unconscious planes of mental activity: we recommend that book to your attention if you are especially interested in that particular phase of psychology. The more technical features of the Freudian teaching are foreign to the field and scope of the present instruction, and we must refer you to the special textbooks of that school for more detailed information concerning these. We have sought here merely to point out to you that the Freudian teaching is found to fit in with our general teaching concerning Desire Power—it serves to corroborate our basic theories, and to sustain our principal facts, rather than to oppose or contradict them.

The better and more practical writers and teachers on the subject of the Freudian philosophy and Psycho-Analysis, instead of following the example of those other teachers who emphasize the abnormal and unpleasant phases of Unconscious Desire, strive rather to point out the benefits which may be secured by means of acquiring a control of Unconscious Desire and then setting its forces to work in your behalf rather than against your best interests. This, again, you will see is in accord with our own teachings. We have insisted early and late, from beginning to end, that you must be the Master of your Desire Power—not its Slave. Desire Power, conscious or unconscious, may be a terrible master; but once you acquire control of it, it becomes your willing and faithful servant.

Especially helpful and practical is the teaching of exponents of the Freudian philosophy concerning the process of “Sublimation”—the process of sublimating the crude and gross desires into the finer metal approved of by the cultured and trained conscious mentality of the individual, just as the ancient alchemists sought to sublimate the baser metals into gold. The elemental force of Desire Power may be drawn through proper channels to higher levels of activity and accomplishment, there to be set to work in the direction of that which makes you “stronger, better, and more efficient,” and which also serves better the purposes of civilization and the welfare of the race. This teaching concerning Sublimation also is found to accord with our own teaching as contained in the present book and others of this series; in fact, many of the methods set forth in these books, and presented to you in this instruction, are based upon this precise principle, i. e., that of transmutation or sublimation of the elemental Desire Power into the higher forms of its expression.

In this book you have been asked to consider the facts which have been discovered concerning the nature, character and modes of activity of Desire Power, that great elemental psychic energy which is seen to pervade all existence and to be present universally. Analyze the actions of any or every living thing, and you will find Desire Power inspiring and motivating it. Nay, examine the motions of the so-called inanimate objects of Nature, and you will find even there the energizing forces of “something like Desire Power.”

If Nature be regarded as a magnificent Cosmic Machine— then Desire Power is the motive-power that runs that universal machinery. If Nature be regarded as a Living Macrocosm—then Desire Power is the living motive-power inspiring and causing its activities. From whatever angle Nature may be viewed, under whatever hypothesis or theory it may be regarded, Desire Power is perceived to be the Something or Somewhat directly responsible for making “the wheels go ’round.” The old Hermetic axiom, “As above, so below; as within, so without; as in great, so in small,” is seen to apply here: the individual and the Cosmos both are seen to have as their essential motive-power that original, aboriginal, elemental, fundamental Something which we know as Desire Power.

In view of this fact, you scarcely need to be urged to study the methods of operation of this mighty Force, so that you may harness it to your machinery of life and action. Like Gravitation or Electricity, its power is available to all who have the courage, intelligence, and perseverance to master it and to press it into service. It is as free as the air or the sunshine; it costs nothing to run your living machinery with it—nothing but persistence and determination. You do not have to supply it with power, or to add energy to it: it has within itself far more power, energy or force than you will ever have occasion to make use of. All that you need do is to tap on to its free energy, and to set it to work for you in the direction of running the mental and physical machinery with which you have provided it.

Let us ask you to consider the following remarkable statement of Dr. Wilfrid Lay, to whom we directed your attention in the first pages of the present section of this book. Speaking of the Desire Power of the Unconscious, Dr. Lay says:

“I call your attention to the enormous power of the Unconscious. It is the accumulated desire in each one of us, of aeons of evolution, the present form, in each individual, of that vital force which has kept itself immortal through thousands of generations of men behind us, and millions of generations of animals behind them. It need not be anything but a source of power to us, power that we can draw upon, if we rightly understand it, just as we can turn on power from a steam pipe or an electric wire. It need not be destructive, indeed it is not destructive, except in the most distracted souls, but on the contrary ought in each one of us, when we have learned to manage it rightly, to be as much and as completely at our command as is the power in the automobile. As in the automobile, there are a few simple things that we have to learn and the rest is furnished by the maker of the car, and we do ill to tamper with it. The experience of having a fifty-horsepower auto placed at one’s command (if it is to be driven by oneself) is a situation into which there are many persons, both men and women, who are very loath to enter. And similarly there are many persons who for various causes would not be willing to have developed the fifty-thousand-generation-power which resides in them. * * * * To all intents and purposes, and as far as human flesh is able to bear the strain, this power which is largely in the hands of the Unconscious in most men and women is illimitable.”

Desire Power is a Cosmic Force designed for the controlled and directed use of the strong. It is at the disposal of all—but only few are courageous and determined enough to avail themselves of its services. The masses of men merely dally with it, play with it, handle it gingerly: the Masters of Men boldly grasp its controlling levers, and turn its power into their mental and physical machinery. It is a Master Force fitted only for the service of Masters. It is the rightful servant only of those whose slogan is: “I Can, I Will; I Dare, I Do!”

You can be a Master of Desire Power, and thus a Master of Men, a Master of Circumstances, a Master of Life, if you but will to be so. You are the Master of your Fate—the Captain of your Soul—if you will but recognize, realize and manifest the Power of the “I AM I” which is your Real Self, and of which Desire Power is the willing servant.

Faith Power: Your Inspirational Forces

The Power of Faith

In this book you are asked to consider the facts concerning the presence and manifestation of a most potent form of Personal Power, and, therefore, of that Universal Principle of POWER of which all Personal Power is the direct or indirect expression and manifestation. This form of Personal Power is one of the five great elements or factors involved in the expression and manifestation of Personal Power in general— the others being, respectively, Ideative Power, Desire Power, Will Power, and Compensative Power. This particular element or factor of Personal Power is equal in importance, efficacy, and power to either of the elements or factors which we have just mentioned—it is their peer and equal in every respect. Its name is Faith Power.

You may experience a sense of surprise, mingled with incredulity, when you hear Faith Power mentioned as an equal of Ideative Power, Desire Power, Will Power, and Compensative Power—particularly of Will Power. You may, indeed, approach the consideration of this particular phase of Personal Power with mental reservations, and with lurking doubt concerning the value and importance, the power and efficacy, of Faith Power in this special connection. This, because to you the idea of Faith has heretofore represented certain things, and involved certain meanings, which were not associated in your mind with the activities of the practical world of men and action. To you, Faith has doubtless been a term properly applied in sermons and theological books, but which has but little or no practical place or meaning is the world of action and deeds—in the world in which most of us live most of our time, and perform most of our actions.

But we hasten to assure you that the Faith Power which forms the subject-matter of this book, is not at all the kind of Faith Power which you have in mind, and of which you are uncertain so far as is concerned its efficacy and power in practical everyday life. We assure you that the Faith Power of this book is something having a most intimate and important relation to Personal Power along practical lines, and is something which, in the current phrase, “you need in your business.” Moreover, we are certain that you will admit the truth of this contention by the time you finish the study of this book—or even when, much earlier in the study, you discover just what we mean by Faith and Faith Power.

The term “Faith,” and the concept embodied in the term, has undergone a process of evolution in which several distinct stages are in evidence, and has finally been subjected to a division into several distinct concepts each of which has its own particular meaning, import and significance.

Originally, it seems to have been employed solely for the purpose of indicating fidelity to promise or duty—faithfulness, fealty, honesty, integrity, truth, constancy. Thus, one was said to act “in good faith,” to be “faithful to his trust,” to be “faithful and true”—in short to manifest the quality of “faith” in the direction of honesty of purpose, steadfastness, constancy and loyalty toward that or those to whom one was bound by duty, promise or honor.

In time, the term took on the additional meaning of “firm belief, and confidence, particularly in regard to moral or religious precepts or doctrines.” Faith, in this usage, became the term indicating a lively and firm belief in and assurance of the truth of presented facts, doctrines, dogmas and propositions, particularly in absence of immediate and personal knowledge of their truth. In this sense, the term indicated a certain surrendering of the rational demand for immediate and certain intellectual conviction, in favor of the claims of real or assumed authority. Thus, the faithful believer expressed and manifested a “faith” concerning certain dogmas and authoritative teaching of which he had, and could have, no immediate knowledge, and which in many cases seemed to be beyond his understanding, and even contrary to his actual experience. Thus, Faith became the expression of a belief based upon confidence in and reliance upon authority rather than upon logical reasoning or actual knowledge.

Later, from the combination of the two older concepts, there arose a new concept—a new meaning—involved in the old term, Faith. Faith, in this new meaning, consisted of (1) confidence, (2) earnest belief or conviction of truth, and (3) hope, or expectation of the realization of the object of faith. In this meaning, Faith may be defined as: “Earnest belief in the power of certain causes to produce certain effects; an abiding confidence that such effects will be so caused; and a confident expectation of the happening of such caused effects.” Here, you will see, there is a mingling of the original concepts of Faith and Hope, respectively.

Hope, alone, indicates “a desire for some good, accompanied by at least some expectation, confidence or trust that it is obtainable or will be obtained.” But Faith, in the later meaning, took over this concept of Hope, and added to it the “firm and earnest belief, trust, confidence and expectation, of the fulfillment of the Hope. Moreover, it indicated that not only the “good” which was the object of Hope may be “confidently expected,” but that, likewise, a “bad” thing may be the subject of the confident expectation. In this way “the bad thing feared,” as well as the “good thing desired,” might become the object of the “confident expectation and belief”—the object of Faith, in fact.

Analyzing this last conception and meaning of Faith, seeking to eliminate the non-essential factors and elements, and to preserve all the essential ones, we find that at the last we have left merely the concept of “Confident Expectation and Expectant Belief.”

Think over the above mentioned concept for a few moments, and you will see that Faith, in this usage, is identical with “Confident Expectation.” The term, Confident, means: “Having full confidence, belief, and expectation; sure, certain, positive.” The term, Expectation, means: “State of expecting, or looking forward to, something that is believed about to happen or occur, or to come about; the act or state of awaiting confidently some approaching event.” Here, you see, there is the idea of (1) a firm belief, accompanied by (2) the firm conviction of the realization; it is a combination of Faith and Hope raised to their highest degree of certainty.

In the several books of this series, the general subject matter of which is the recognition, realization, and manifestation of Personal Power, frequent reference is made to The Master Formula of Attainment, which consists of the following elements: (1) Definite Ideals, or the mental attitude of “knowing exactly what you want”—of creating and maintaining strong, clear, definite ideas, ideals and purposes; (2) Insistent Desire, or the mental attitude of “wanting it hard enough”— the strong, authoritative element of Desire manifesting itself; (3) Confident Expectation, or the mental attitude of undoubting Faith, unfailing Hope, in the success of your efforts, and the realization of your Ideals and Desires; (4) Persistent Determination, or the mental attitude of Indomitable Will, persisting in its determination that you shall succeed in the attainment and realization of your Ideals and Desires; and (5) Balanced Compensation, or the mental attitude of willingness to “pay the price” of attainment.

In other volumes of this series we have considered in detail the respective elements of Ideative Power, Desire Power, Will Power, Compensative Power. In the present volume we shall direct your attention to that additional element of Personal Power—the Power of Confident Expectation, which is properly termed Faith Power.

Though perhaps not so familiar to the general reader as are the other four elements mentioned, this element of Faith plays a part equal to that of any of them, mighty as their power undoubtedly is. He who leaves out of the calculation this element of Faith, is discarding or neglecting to use one of the five great instruments of Personal Power, each of which is equal in importance to the other—such a one is robbing himself of one-fifth of his available Power, and that missing part may bring to him defeat in place of victory.

We shall not attempt to decide, or to explain, just why Faith, or Confident Expectation, should play such an important part in the activities of Personal Power. Such an attempt would take us to the very heart or centre of POWER—the Universal Principle of Power—itself; and even there it might be difficult to find that which we seek. Enough for the present purpose is for us to state that extended and careful investigation establishes the truth of this contention concerning Faith Power—and to point out to you the evidences of its presence and strength. The “just why” phase of the subject is quite difficult; but the “just how” phase is easily stated and explained. Faith Power meets the test of Pragmatism.”—it works,” and produces results when properly applied.

By reason of your familiarity with the idea, you will readily admit that the man in whom has been kindled the fierce Flame of Desire, will brush aside obstacles, and surmount obstructions in his path—and if you have learned the “inside facts” you will also realize how such a man will attract to himself that which fits in with his Insistent Desire. In the same way, you will readily admit that the man of the Persistent Will cut and bore through the obstructing rock of circumstances, and reach his goal—circumstances themselves seeming to fall in with the purpose of such a Will.

But when it comes to ascribing similar virtues and power to Faith—to admitting that Faith Power is equal in force and efficacy to either Desire Power or Will Power—your unfamiliarity with this phase of the subject may cause you to withhold your judgment and assent. Yet, as you will presently discover, Faith Power is as strong, efficacious and powerful as is Desire Power, or as is Will Power. We insist upon this fact, not for any academic reasons, but simply and solely because we wish you to realize this important truth to the end that you may set it to work for you in your own manifestations of Personal Power.

We have referred above to the several elements of the Master Formula of Attainment. Let us now examine in further detail these elements, leaving the third element, that of Confident Expectation, for the last.

(1) Definite Ideals. One must know as certainly, as positively, as dearly, and as definitely as possible “exactly what he wants.” The man who lacks this clearness of direction cannot be expected to walk straight toward the object of his desires. Many men, otherwise well equipped mentally, fail to obtain or to attain success, simply because they do not know “exactly what they want.” Lacking a specific and definite goal, they wander along by-paths and side-roads, traveling often in a circle. The definite aim is necessary if the straight road to attainment is to be traveled. The better one knows “exactly what he wants”—the more clearly he is able to visualize and picture it in his mind— the straighter and more direct will be his path to it, and the less will be his danger of becoming confused and bewildered, and of becoming “side-tracked.” This proposition is axiomatic— self-evident.

(2) Insistent Desire. One must insistently desire that which he wants—must “want it hard enough”—in order that his full powers of application and endeavor may be awakened, aroused and called into action. The men who, as the Americans say, “get there”—or, as the French say, who “arrive”—are not those of faint wishes or wants, of feeble desires and cravings, but rather those who are filled with the ardent urge of desire and longing— with the fierce lust of “wanting that which they want, when they want it.” The world is filled with “pink tea” wishers—and their names comprise a large portion of the list of the failures. The small list of the really successful individuals is filled with the names of those who “wanted it hard enough.” In order to attain a thing, you must “want it the worst way,” as the saying goes; you must “want it so hard that it hurts.” Otherwise, your energies and powers of will are not called forth. This, also, is axiomatic—self-evident.

(4) Persistent Determination. One must persistently will, determinedly resolve, and firmly apply one’s full powers of Will to the attainment of that which one knows that he wants, and which he wants “hard enough” to cause him to “pay the price” of attainment. This final stage of mental power must be present and applied, else the whole enterprise fails. This element, perhaps, is the one most strongly emphasized in the popular opinion and thought on the subject—so strongly, in fact, that the other elements are often under-emphasized. The need of the “strong will” is universally recognized—and the handicap of the “weak will” is universally admitted. One must “will to will,” if he would attain success. This, also, is axiomatic—self evident.

(5) Balanced Compensation. One must obey the Law of Compensation—the Rule of Balance—manifest in all Nature. He must be prepared to “pay the price, of attainment in the form of (a) diligent work; (b) service to others; and (c) relinquishment of desires, aims, and performances opposed to the subject or object of his Definite Ideals, Insistent Desires, and Persistent Determination. This also is axiomatic—self-evident.

Now, let us return to the consideration of the third element, i. e., that of Confident Expectation:

(6) Confident Expectation. One must confidently expect to realize that which he knows definitely that he wants, which he earnestly and insistently desires, which he persistently and determinedly wills to attain, and for which he is willing to “pay the price.” In the measure that he does this, he also opens the draft of his mental furnace in which burns the Flame of Desire, and as a consequence, he generates a greater supply of the Steam of Will. Doubt is the shutting-off of the drafts of the furnace, which results in the deadening of the Fire of Desire, and the decreasing of the supply of available Steam of Will. Faith is the stimulation of Desire and Will; Doubt, their deadener; and Unfaith, the destroyer of both. Let us, however, drop all figures of speech and proceed to consider concrete examples.

In your own experience you have known the power and energy of the Desire and Will which have come to you by the introduction of the element of Faith into the mental equation. When you have become tired and wearied, so much so that your desires have burned low and your volition has become less intense, you have discovered something which re-aroused your Faith in the outcome, your Hope in the attainment—your Confident Expectation, in short—and lo! your desires once more asserted their power, and your will again sprang back to the task. On the other hand, when you have been going along nicely, and have seemed to be succeeding, a series of depressing circumstances, the appearance of unfavorable conditions, have caused Faith to droop and Doubt, Distrust, and even Unfaith to manifest itself. When this has occurred, you have found that you “lost heart”—and to “lose heart” means that your Desire loses its insistent urge, and your Will loses its persistent application and determination.

Again, you have been pursuing some plan, have been building upon some idea in which you had Faith, have been selling goods in which you believed, and have been doing well in that direction. Then, alas! Doubt and Distrust have crept in; you lost your Faith in the idea; you lost confidence in the goods handled by you; and, as a consequence, “the bottom dropped out” of the thing, and you found your Desire weakening and your Will losing its power of application and its determination. Most of us do our best when we “believe in” the thing which we are doing; and but few of us can do creditable work if we “don’t believe in it.” Thus, Faith is found to exert a tremendous influence over Desire and Will, in either direction. Faith can truly say, “They reckon ill, who leave me out!”

We feel that we are justified in asking you to regard as axiomatic—self-evident—these statements concerning Faith, or Confident Expectation, just as truly as you so regard the similar statements made concerning Thought, Desire and Will, respectively. We feel that we are warranted in asking you to admit to an equal place of importance with Thought, Desire and Will this element or factor of Personal Power known as Faith, or Confident Expectation, even though you have not previously recognized its importance and power. Moreover, we feel that we need not apologize to you when we ask you to analyze your own mental and emotional make-up for the purpose of discovering whether you have not, heretofore, omitted this important element from your characteristic mental attitude; or, at least, whether you will not do well to take it into greater account in the future.

Before proceeding to the elaboration of this idea of Faith or Confident Expectation, however, we wish to call your attention to a fact of even as great importance as those just presented to you. We allude now to the positive effect of Faith, or Confident Expectation, wrongly applied. You have seen and undoubtedly now realize, that Doubt, Distrust, and Unfaith exert a strong negative influence in the direction of deadening the Fire of Desire, and restricting the Steam of Will; but you have probably failed to realize that this Doubt, Distrust, and Unfaith may become transmuted into an active Faith and Confident Expectation in the wrong direction, and may thus become an active power working to produce failure, non-success, and defeat. Faith may, and does, cause “mine own to come to me”; but, reversed in its direction, it may, and does, often cause the condition of “that which I have feared hath come upon me.”

Analyzing Faith as you have done, and finding that its essence is Confident Expectation, viz., the belief and expectation of the happening or coming-about of things, you will readily perceive that if that Confident Expectation is directed to something bad rather than good, something “feared” instead of “desired,” it may work with equal effect though in the wrong direction. Confident Expectation of evil—the Fear of dreaded results— is as truly Faith as is the Confident Expectation and Hope of good and desired things; though very few persons even begin to realize this fact—this very important fact of life and action. This realization brings to mind many corroborative facts—facts serving to support it—which go far toward explaining many things in your personal experiences which have heretofore perplexed you greatly, and which have been laid aside by you as beyond explanation.

Leaving aside for later consideration in this book the psychological (or even “spiritual”) causes which operate to produce the above state of affairs, we wish here to call your attention to certain general facts concerned with the operation of this law and mental action.

You are more or less aware of the Law of Attraction in the mental world by means of the operation of which ideas, things, men, conditions and environment are correlated to your habitual thoughts and general mental attitude, and by means of which such things are attracted to and drawn toward you, or you toward them. This is no longer deemed to be “moonshine” and idle fancy; too many practical men have discovered its truth, and applied its principles successfully, to allow of this old accusation. Despite the sometimes fanciful theories employed to interpret and explain this class of facts, the facts themselves are most real and far from fanciful.

Well, then, we wish to remind you here—or perhaps to inform you for the first time—that this is a rule that “works two ways—in either direction.” Faith, i. e., Confident Expectation, if directed toward evil and feared things, operates with as much force as if directed toward good and desired things. It serves to fill the mind with visualized pictures of the undesirable things, in place of those desired; it arouses the negative aspect of Desire, which is Aversion—and which has a force of its own, sometimes operating in the wrong direction; it arouses the negative aspect of Hope, which is Fear—which has a strong attracting power in the wrong direction. In short, it reverses the entire mental and spiritual machinery of the individual, and causes his forces to travel in the wrong direction—in the same way and with the same power with which they travel in the right direction when energized by Faith and Confident Expectation of the right kind. Negative Faith, i. e., Doubt, Distrust, and Unfaith, sometimes transmutes itself into positive Faith—but Faith in the wrong set of things, in the wrong direction. So, you see, it is of the utmost importance to you that you should learn the laws of Faith Power, and to acquire the art of running its machinery properly, in the right direction, and to avoid the reversed process above indicated. There is much more to this subject of Faith Power than you have imagined.

The Psychology of Faith

The general conception of Faith—the idea of Faith held by most persons—is that it is an emotional state independent of, if not indeed actually contrary to Reason. This idea arises by reason of the tendency to view Faith only from one particular angle. If Faith were subjected to an “all around” view, the observer changing his position and shifting his viewpoint in his observation, it would be seen that while Faith often seems to transcend Reason and to be independent of its reports, yet it is not contrary to or opposed to Reason, and, in fact, depends largely upon Reason for its direction and application.

Faith, in its essence and fundamental substance, may be said to be beyond Reason—to transcend Reason. Yet, without the employment of Reason and experience, Faith degenerates into mere blind credulity. While not dependent upon Reason for its basic foundation, and while not having Reason as its fount and spring, yet Faith must needs employ Reason as its useful instrument of manifestation and expression, and must use the sign-posts of Reason as guides pointing out the road over which it travels.

It is equally true that Reason must be based upon Faith, for, of itself it has no ultimate foundation. Reason and Faith are not antagonistic, when they are rightly understood: rather are they brothers-in-arms, each helpful and useful to the other. The ideal is the well-balanced coordination and correlation of Reason and Faith.

Intellect, of which Reason is a manifestation and form of expression, is an instrument evolved by Life, or Spirit—call it what you will—for special purposes. In its own field it is supreme. But its own field is a limited one—though this fact is not generally recognized. There are other fields of mentation in the vast domain of Life or Spirit. When Intellect is pushed beyond its limits it becomes dazed and confused, and seems to lose its normal powers.

As Bergson has strikingly pointed out to us, there are things which Reason, of itself, can never know—yet which, when discovered by Intuition, require the use of Reason to manifest efficiently; likewise, though Intuition knows these things by reason of its essential nature, very often the knowledge is not raised into consciousness until Reason demands to be furnished with it.

When Reason recognizes this fact, and is willing to call upon Intuition for these reports, and to apply them when thus revealed, then, and then only, does Reason rise to its greatest heights of attainment.

So, in the same way, only when Intuition recognizes Reason as its most effective instrument of manifestation does Intuition proceed properly and efficiently along the road of practical accomplishment.

The intellectual pride which seeks to banish Intuition from the field of Thought, and which strives to make Reason the sole occupant of that realm, is as one-sided and as illogical as is that anti-intellectual tendency which would exalt Intuition and Faith to the position of absolute rulers of the domain of Thought, denying to Reason any right of entrance to it. These are twin-errors—each one insisting upon gazing at but one particular side of the shield while refusing to walk around it so as to perceive its reverse side.

The truth of the matter as indicated in the above statements is not generally recognized. There are many, of course, who see that Faith is more or less inefficient unless Reason is called in to aid and direct its expression and manifestation. The examples of the effect of blind credulity and unreasoning Faith are numerous, and are readily recalled as illustrations of the need for Reason in the manifestation of Faith. The intellectualists seem to have the matter all their own way, at first sight; but a little closer examination will reveal the other side of the question—the twin-truth. For when we demand to be shown the roots, bases, and foundations of Reason, we are reluctantly pointed to what?—Faith!

All deductive reasoning is based upon a premise or proposition—the Major Premise is the sacred truth upon which the deduction is made. There is always the tacit assumption that the truth of the Major Premise is axiomatic, i. e., self-evident and not requiring proof, argument, or demonstration. If this be admitted, the subsequent reasoning is mechanical, and almost mathematical in its certainty.

But when one claims that the person asserting the premise or proposition is “begging the question,” i. e., assuming without warrant, the truth of the premise, or tacitly implying that it is accepted or not disputed—when the objecting one states, “I dispute your Major Premise”—then the trouble begins. The Burden of Proof, in Logic, rests upon the person advancing the premise or proposition, and he then may be called upon to “prove” the truth of his premise or proposition.

When such person attempts to furnish such proof, and to support it by logical argument, he simply shifts his position a step or two backward. When that step is reached, he halts, and re-commences his argument—how? By advancing another premise or proposition—usually another Major Premise which he assumes to be axiomatic, or self evident. If this be objected to, he must again retreat and erect another line of entrenchments; and so on, and so on.

If his opponent be sufficiently persistent and determined, this retreat is continued indefinitely, unless the first man disgustedly discontinues the argument, and refuses to “play”— this, of course, being his right, and in no way being a confession of defeat or in any way a victory for the skeptical opponent: the discussion simply is “off” in such case.

All this brings us to the point where we perceive that sooner or later we reach a stage in reasoning in which there is something “taken for granted,” something “assumed for the purposes of the argument,” something which has not as yet been proved, but which is to be employed as the basis of the proof of something else—in short, something which is based on Faith, expressed or implied. That basis of Faith, however, need not be blind Faith, or unreasoning credulity—it should, indeed, not be so. It may be, and usually is, something which seems “reasonable” and not inconsistent with Reason—but, nevertheless, it is accepted by an act of Faith, as Logic defines that term, for it is not positively known, nor has it been “proved” logically. There is no escape from this conclusion, disagreeable as it may be to the extreme intellectualists; the better the logician, the more freely will he confess to this fact of logic—it is usually only the amateurs who seek to dispute it.

Leaving the field of Formal Logic, and entering that of the Practical Logic of everyday thought and life, we find the same state of affairs existing. The most important reasoning of practical everyday life is based upon Faith. We do not know positively that the sun will rise tomorrow morning—all that we know is that in the history of the race the sun always has risen in the morning, and we “believe” that it will continue the practice on the morrow; but we do not “know” absolutely that such will be the case, we cannot prove it absolutely by argument—even by mathematics—unless we admit the existence of Universal Law, or the Law of Causation, whereby “the same causes, under the same conditions, will produce the same effects.”

You may object to all this as silly—but, instead, it is the strictest application of the rules and laws of logical thought. Of course, you say that we “know” that the sun will rise tomorrow morning, and may even tell to a second the time of its rising. Certainly we “know” this—but we know it only by an act of Faith. That Faith, moreover, is the belief that there exists Universal Law—that “natural things act and move under Law”—that “the same causes, under the same conditions, produce the same results.” That law, and every other natural law, is to us merely an hypothesis, well established by experience, observation, and experiment, it is true—but still an hypothesis, a “guess,” an assumption based upon Faith. The conviction of “knowing” is really intuitive—it is an act of Faith. The Faith, it is true, is directed by Reason—but in its essence it still is Faith!

Science, that supposedly cold intellectual school of thought, has its foundations in Faith—though it is usually thought to turn its back upon Faith, and to stand upon the “solid rock” of Reason and Intellect. Its “laws,” at the last, are merely “the way things work,” which means “the way that observed things have been found to work in the past”—the “habit of procedure observed by Nature.”

The Law of Causation is a tremendous statement of Faith. The laws of Chemistry; the laws of Physics; these are statements of Faith. The molecules and atoms of matter have never been perceived by the senses—they are “unknown” so far as sense-knowledge is concerned. Things act “as if” molecules and atoms exist, so we assume that they do exist—we take them on Faith. The keenest minds in Science admit this—they frankly state that “of the ultimate nature of things we know absolutely nothing.”

Science adopts hypotheses by acts of Faith; when subsequent investigations shake the faith in them, they are discarded in favor of others likewise based on Faith. Faith blended and harmonized with Reason—but not blind Faith or unreasoning credulity—is the Faith of Science. The combined hypotheses of Science, raised to the dignity of “principles” and “laws” in many cases, constitute the Creed of Science, i. e., that which begins with the statement: “I believe in,” etc. This Creed, like all others, is a Confession of Faith—Faith directed and regulated by Reason, it is true, but still Faith.

Philosophy, like Science, is based on Faith—Faith rationally interpreted, but still Faith. Philosophy holds as axiomatic, self-evident, the contrary of which is unthinkable, the basic proposition that “From Nothing, no thing can arise, flow or proceed,” and its corollary: “Had there ever been a time in which Nothing was, and no thing was in existence, then no thing would be in existence now.” But it does not positively “know” that such is the fact; it cannot prove that Something cannot arise from Nothingness. All that it knows is that it cannot think such a thing to be possible, and that it has had no experience with anything of that sort. You may say that it knows this truth “intuitively”—and so it does, as a fact, just as it knows many other things intuitively; but that which is the report of Intuition is a report arising from fields of mentation outside those of Reason—though the reports are not necessarily conflicting with or opposed to each other. All “intuitive knowledge” is belief based upon Faith, at the last.

Geometry is an “exact science”—yet it is based solely upon certain laws and principles which are accepted by Faith, for they cannot be proved absolutely by Reason. The Laws of Geometry are articles of the Creed—of the Confession of Faith—of Geometry. Geometry begins With a series of “I believes”; these are called axioms, self-evident facts requiring no proof, and assumed to be truth. Yet these are all “I believes,” not “I knows”; for they cannot be proved as universal truths. They act “as if” they were universal truths—everything tested by them indicate their correctness; yet until each and every thing in the universe is so tested, until infinite space is measured, there can be no positive “proof” that they are universal laws and truths. In fact, there are certain schools of “transcendental geometry” which have found quite different, and often quite contradictory laws which act “as if” they were true.

This does not mean that there is no truth in such laws and the conceptions based upon them; we would be insane to ignore them in our practical life. Moreover, this does not mean that men do not “know” these things to be true—they do “know” them to be true so far as they may be conceived, but the “knowing” is intuitive, not purely intellectual: Intellect discovers them through its reasoning processes, and Intuition reports the conviction of their truth. They represent acts of Faith— Faith rationally interpreted. This may be a hard saying to many of us, but it is one made by the keenest minds of the race. The most certain laws of Physics, Chemistry, and Geometry are, in the end, based upon Faith, rationally interpreted. Such Faith is justifiable—that is freely admitted and approved of; but we insist that Faith must be accorded its proper place in the consideration, and not merely bidden to stand in the ante-room of thought while Intellect is made the honored guest, the “lion,” in the reception room.

In the ordinary affairs of life and action you act according to Faith. You do this so naturally and instinctively, so constantly and habitually, that you are not aware of it. You start on a railroad journey. You buy your ticket, having faith that the train will start from the station named on the time-table, and approximately on the time noted in it. You have faith that it will proceed to the destination promised. You do not “know” these things from actual experience—for you cannot so know what lies in the future: you take them for granted, you assume them to be true, you act upon Faith.

You take your seat. You do not know the engineer or the conductor—you have never seen them, nor do you even know their names. You do not know whether or not they are competent, reliable, or experienced. All that you know is that it is reasonable to suppose that the railroad company will select the right kind of men for the task—you act upon Faith, upon Faith rationally interpreted. You have Faith in the company, in the management, in the system of conducting the matter, in the equipment, etc., and you stake your life and wholeness of body upon that Faith. You may say that you only “take a chance” in the matter; but, even so, you manifest Faith in that “chance,” or else you wouldn’t take it. You wouldn’t “take a chance” of standing in the path of a rushing express train, or of leaping from the Eiffel Tower, would you? You manifest Faith in something—even if that something be no more than the Law of Averages.

You place your money in a bank; here again you manifest Faith—Faith rationally interpreted. You sell goods on credit to your customers—Faith again. You have Faith in your grocer, your butcher, your lawyer, your physician, your clerks, your insurance company. That is to say, Faith of some kind, or of some degree—else you would not trust anything whatsoever to them. If you “believe” that a man is dishonest, incompetent, or insane, you do not place confidence in him, nor trust your affairs or interests to him; your Faith is in his “wrongness,” and not in his “rightness”—but it is Faith, nevertheless. Every “belief” short of actual, positive knowledge, is a form or phase of Faith.

You may say that these things denote, not Faith, but rather Confidence or Expectation of some degree. This is merely changing the terms but not the meaning. In the preceding section of this book we have shown you that the very essence and substance of the present usage and meaning of the term and concept, Faith, is “Confident Expectation.” The expectation may not be very pronounced, the confidence may be limited, but, nevertheless, it is Confident Expectation of some kind, form, phase, or degree. Even the “belief” that some undesirable and feared thing may happen is the negative phase of Faith. Fear is a form or phase of Faith—of Faith mingled with the negation of Hope. Fear and Hope are both forms or phases of Expectation; when raised to the degree of Confident Expectation they are markedly forms of Faith.

You have the Faith that if you step off a high building into space, you will fall and be injured, perhaps killed: this is your Faith in the Law of Gravitation. You have a similar Faith in certain other physical laws—you have the Confident Expectation that evil results to you will follow certain courses of action concerning these physical laws. You have Faith that poisons will injure or destroy your physical body, and you avoid such. You may object that you “know” these things, not merely “believe” them; but you don’t “know” anything directly and immediately until you experience it—and you cannot experience a future happening before its time. All that you can do concerning each and every future experience is to “believe” certain things concerning it— and that “belief” is nothing else but Faith, interpreted more or less rationally and correctly.

You do not “know” certainly and positively, by direct experience, or by pure reason, a single thing about the happenings of tomorrow, or of some day next week, or of the corresponding day of next year. Yet you act as if you did possess such knowledge—but why? Simply because of your Faith in the Law and Order of the Universe; of the operation of the Law of Causation, whereby effects follow causes; of the Law of Probabilities, or the Law of Average; or of some other Natural Law. But your knowledge of and belief in such Laws are but forms of your Faith, i. e., Confident Expectation that “things will work out according to the rule observed in past actions.” You cannot get away from Faith in your thoughts and beliefs concerning the present and the future, any more than you can run away from your shadow in the bright daylight.

Without Faith rationally interpreted, without Confident Expectation in at least some degree, there could be no rational action or procedure. All human intercourse and communication, all human coordination and correlation between individuals, all dealings between man and man, all enterprises designed and carried on by man, and all the plans and purposes of the race of men—all these, each and every one of them, are based on some form of Faith, of Faith more or less rationally interpreted. We know certainly only the events of the present moment; or of the past—the events and happenings of the future, even of one moment hence, we know only by and through Faith more or less directed and guided by Reason. We live by Faith—we act through Faith.

From the foregoing, and the reflections aroused in your mind by the consideration of it, you will perceive that Faith has as true and as sound position and place in the psychology of the human being as have Reason and Intellect. Faith is not an alien intruder—it is a native of the mental realm which it inhabits, and its claims to citizenship are quite well founded. In its place, and within its normal limits, its work is as useful as is that of Intellect or Reason; outside of that place, and beyond those limits, however, its work is as ineffective, or even as harmful, as is that of Intellect which so transcends its normal field of activity. The mind may be “debauched by arrogant Intellect,” as well as “outraged by unreasoning Faith.” It is only in the well-balanced, thoroughly harmonized, combination of Faith and Reason, Intellect and Intuition that the human mind manifests its highest efficiency and performs its best work.

Intellect and Reason are comparatively late comers to the mind; in the history of mental evolution. Instinct (which is a phase of, or reflection of Intuition) was there long before Reason. Faith, by reason of its relation to Intuition, is more deeply rooted in the mental soil than is Reason—hence its wonderful power, manifested often in the very face of Reason. By reason of this relation to the most elementary and essential, fundamental and basic facts of mental substance and process, Faith has a motive-power and an attractive-power closely resembling that of Desire and Will. Indeed there are many thinkers along the lines of esoteric philosophy who indicate that the element of Faith, or Confident Expectation, plays a much more important part in the activities and accomplishments of Desire and Will than is apparent to those who view only the exoteric phase of the subject.

As we proceed with this consideration of Faith Power, in the present instruction, you will perceive many instances of this elemental power of Faith; and of the results arising from it. Faith not only blazes the trail which is followed by us in subsequent travels of Will; it also digs the channels through which flow to us the currents of things, events, happenings and persons from the outside world. Well did the ancient sages accord to Faith an equal position in the Mental Trinity with Desire and Will, respectively. “Insistent Desire, Confident Expectation, and Persistent Determination”—Desire, Faith, and Will: truly a Trinity of Personal Power!

Without the Confident Expectation, there will be no kindling of the flame of Insistent Desire—no application of the steel of Persistent Determination. Unless Faith expresses itself in the Confident Expectation of the obtaining or attainment of the thing desired and willed, then will Desire find it difficult to “want it hard enough,” and Will will find it impossible to “persistently determine to obtain it.” Desire and Will depend upon Faith for their Inspirational Forces—by means of the latter, the Energizing Forces of Desire and the Dynamic Forces of Will are inspired and vitalized, and have the Breath of Life breathed into them.

Expectant Attention

Psychologists have noted the effect of, and realized the important part played by that mental state known as Expectant Attention. Expectant Attention is that concentrated direction of attention toward some action, event or happening which the individual expects to occur, i. e., to which he looks forward, with more or less confidence and belief, as likely to occur or to come to pass. This mental attitude, you will note, is a form or phase of Faith or Confident Expectation such as we have considered in the foregoing sections of this book.

It is an axiom of psychology that the laws of Attention operate so as to cause the individual to perceive far more clearly the objects or facts toward which his attention is specially directed, and to perceive far less clearly those objects or facts which are outside of the field of his special attention. In fact, Attention always proceeds by manifesting a selective action. In such selective action it more or less unconsciously (or, rather, subconsciously) brings and holds in the field of consciousness those objects which have attracted its notice, and shuts out of that field those objects which have not so attracted the same.

Out of the multiplicity of sights and sounds which knock at the door of consciousness at almost every moment of your life, you select those which fit in with the general subject, idea, or line of thought to which your attention is directed, and at the same time reject the consideration and perception of those not so fitting in with such. If you are especially interested in violin music, you will hear clearly the notes of the violins, while the remainder of the instruments manifesting sound in the performance of a large orchestra are relegated to the “fringe of consciousness” and are perceived only as a general background. Another person would ignore the violins and would hear only the notes of his favorite instruments. In the same way, at a theatrical performance where a number of persons are on the stage at the same time, you are apt to see the actions and to hear the words of your favorite actor, while those of the others are far less distinct in your consciousness. Likewise, you read from the pages of a book only that which is associated with your previous ideas concerning its subject: hence the old saying, “We get from a book only what we give to it.”

The professional magician understands and employs these laws of Attention. He manages to direct your attention to one of his hands, and to hold it there, while his other hand performs the baldest and boldest kind of deception upon you without detection. Or, he manages to direct your attention to some other part of the stage, while under your very eyes (though unobserved by you) he makes certain changes which are necessary for the successful performance of his feat. Pickpockets and swindlers take advantage of this same state of affairs; they cause us to direct our attention to some other thing or place, while we leave unguarded the receptacle containing our possessions. We are all keenly awake to that to which our interested attention is directed, while we are all more or less asleep concerning the things from which such attention is diverted.

This rule applies not only to your perception of objects through the senses, but also to your thoughts concerning any subject. You may imagine that you are exercising your reasoning powers judiciously, impartially and without bias, but in most cases you are considering only the facts, data and arguments which are in accord with your preconceived notions, beliefs and prejudices in the matter. You tend to see only that one particular side of the question—that one set of facts—that one line of argument, the opposite aspect or phase being practically ignored by you. Or, even if you are particularly careful not to fall into this error, you at least tend to overemphasize the favorite set of facts or arguments, and to underemphasize the other and opposed group.

Moreover, once having made up your mind concerning a subject, you fall into the habit of unconsciously or subconsciously selecting from your world of experience those facts and data which serve to corroborate your own belief, and those which serve to contravert the opposite belief. You find on all sides facts, data and arguments sustaining your position, and overturning the opposite contention. You tend to become blind to undesired and unwelcome facts, data and arguments, though you may not realize this unless you are especially watchful over your mental processes. From the same experience, however, you would gather a similar array of desired evidence on the other side were you committed to the views of that side of the case. When we say “you,” we mean “all of us” as well. Our subconscious minds are strong partisans; they eagerly search for and select the desired objects of thought, and determinedly shut the door to the opposite class of objects.

The axiom of psychology, “Attention follows Interest,” is exemplified by common experience. We tend to perceive that in which we are especially interested, and to ignore that which is uninteresting. The man interested in trees perceives a world of facts while walking through a park, which facts are totally unperceived by the average man. The man interested in stone arrow-heads finds them in walking through a field, though others pass them by unobserved. As John Burroughs has told us, the man with the walking-fern in mind finds walking-fern in every bit of woods, while the rest of us are not aware of its presence there. In short, all of us tend to perceive in the outside world that which corresponds with what already exists in our inner mental world.

You, yourself, have often experienced the operation of this law of the mind when once you have become interested in some new subject, idea or set of facts. While up to that time you have never observed any special facts or data connected with that which has become your object of interest, now you will have come to the conclusion that the whole world is apparently becoming aroused to an interest in that particular subject, just as you have been. You will feel this to be so because now every newspaper, magazine or book which you pick up seems to contain special references to that subject, and items of interest concerning it; likewise, you will hear the subject discussed in the trains and street-cars, in the clubs, and wherever a number of persons meet and enter into conversation. On every hand you find something which “fits into” this subject of your new interest.

But, the fact is that the change is not in the outside world—it is in yourself. That which is within your mind is seeking for, and finding, that in the outside world which agrees and harmonizes with itself. Another person not so interested, or even you, yourself, were you not so interested, would be almost, if not indeed totally unaware of these same interests on the part of others, even in the same places, conditions and surroundings. A new object of interest on your part acts like a pair of colored spectacles—you see the outside world of things and happenings tinted in harmony with your glasses. Technically stated, your Attention follows your Interest, and in so doing it manifests its characteristic selective power.

The application of the mental laws just called to your attention is quite important in view of their practical effects upon your everyday life. By reason of these laws, the degree of your success in any particular line of work depends materially upon the degree of interest which is aroused in you concerning such work. If your interest is keen, then you will perceive and discover on all sides, in every day of your life, certain facts, data and other things which will serve the purposes of that work— you will find yourself dwelling in a world surrounded by such facts. If, on the contrary, you manifest little or no interest in your work, but perform the same almost mechanically, then this world of helpful things, ideas and facts will not exist for you—you will dwell in another world. There will be nothing in you to call out of the outer world that which is in harmony with itself.

The above-mentioned psychological laws, and their effects may be stated briefly as follows: (1) You perceive only that toward which your attention is attracted and directed, and only in the degree to which that attention is so called forth; (2) Attention follows Interest, and is called forth by it only in a direct ratio to the degree of that Interest: therefore you perceive only that in which you are to some degree interested, and only according to the measure of the degree of Interest manifested; (3) your world of perceptive experience is created by your Interested Attention, by reason of the fact that such Interested Attention selects from the outside world such facts as are in agreement with its inner states, and rejects those facts which are opposed to such; (4) the same state of affairs is manifested in your mental world of memory, recollection, and selection of ideas—you select and perceive those which accord with your Interest, and reject the opposite class.

Now, the above brings us back to our consideration of the subject of Expectant Attention, which, as we have said, is a phase of Faith or Confident Expectation. Expectant Attention is a very potent and active form of Interested Attention. In it you not only are interested in an object, subject or state of affairs, but, in addition, you “believe” in certain conditions or facts, and “expect” that certain results will occur by reason of their presence. You not only have your Attention directed toward the thing by reason of your Interest in it, and see that which is in accordance with this, but you also “expect,” i. e., confidently believe, that certain events will happen or come to pass concerning those things, or proceeding from them.

The cat watching at a mouse-hole, or the dog digging out a woodchuck, manifests the keenest and most active kind of attention imaginable. This, not only because the animal is intensely interested in the object of obtaining his prey, but also because he hopes to capture it, “expects” to secure it—because he “believes” that he will get it in the end. If the animal did not so keenly believe and expect the successful result, his interest and attention would lack that intensity which is now present; and his energies would not be so actively called forth and manifested.

This rule is equally true of human endeavor. When you believe in the probability of a successful outcome of an undertaking, you experience the keenest interest in the work leading to it; your work is in direct relation to that expectation. If, on the contrary, you entertain grave doubts of the efficacy of your efforts and work, your energies will slacken, your interest will abate, and your attention will relax—and, as a consequence, your work will become less effective. Again, if you not only doubt and question the successful outcome, but also go so far as to actually “believe” that the effort will result in failure, then your interest will become dead, your attention weak, and your work of the poorest and most ineffective quality. More than this, if your “belief,” and “expectant attention” be that of the certainty of failure, then you will actually find yourself unconsciously working with that idea in mind, and toward that end—you will be deliberately (though subconsciously) “riding to a fall.”

What has been said above concerning the effect of Interest, Attention and Expectancy, upon the conscious activities of your mind, is trebly true concerning your subconscious activities. The subconscious mind is peculiarly liable to be affected by “beliefs” of the kind noted, to “suggestions” in accordance with these coming from your conscious mentality. It accepts as true your beliefs and convictions, your confident expectations, your earnest hopes concerning the probable result of courses of action or existing causes—and it proceeds to manifest its powers in the direction so pointed out to it. Accordingly, it blinds the Attention to facts, ideas and conditions running contrary to your beliefs and expectations, and it renders keen your powers of perception of those facts, ideas, and conditions which agree with your beliefs and expectations.

The subconscious mentality is very active—it works even while you sleep, and while you are thinking of other things— and, though in the first place it is influenced greatly by your conscious thoughts and beliefs, it eventually acquires control over the latter to a marked degree. Inasmuch as over seventy-five percent of your mental operations are performed on the sub-conscious planes of mentation, you will see that this subconscious mentality is capable of influencing your mental attitude, and your mental direction of effort, to a very considerable extent. Accordingly, you will realize how important it is to have your “beliefs” and “expectant attention” under control, and to have them working in the right direction.

Let us give you a few illustrations of the above-stated principle, drawn from the experiences of everyday life experiences on the physical plane, but in which the subconscious mental influence is manifest. These illustrations may be deemed trivial by those who fail to perceive that the principle operating in them is also involved in far more important happenings and action. We ask you to accept these as simple illustrations of a far from simple general class of phenomena.

Several years ago, one of the writers of this book knew a young man who was an expert bowler. He was a very careful player, with mind and muscles well under control, with great powers of concentration on his play, and with nerves not easily “rattled.” When questioned carefully by the writer concerning the mental operations leading to his careful play, he gave some very interesting and instructive answers.

Among other things, he said that he attributed his successful play largely to his gradually acquired habit of arousing a mental state of certainty, assurance, and confident expectation that his aim would be perfect. He said that sometimes it was rather difficult to arouse that feeling; as he expressed it, “it is sometimes slow a’coming,” but that he would wait a few moments until “it came.” This “coming,” as he called it, was manifested by a certain “sort of ‘click’ in my mind,” which was the signal to send the ball forward. When that “click” came, he “just knew for certain” that his aim was perfect. The Confident Expectation, or Expectant Attention, served so to coordinate his mental calculation and his muscular effort that success was assured.

He told the writer that early in his bowling experience he was subject to being “rattled” by the remarks and chaffing of opposing players, and, so, often failed to make a “strike” which ordinarily was quite easy. He said that he managed to overcome this difficulty by cultivating the power of shutting out from his consciousness the remarks of others. He added, however, that even quite late in his experience he lost a game by reason of having accepted the adverse suggestion of a bystander. As nearly as the writer can recollect the conversation, he used the following words in describing this occurrence:

“I was at a close stage of the game, and I could win only by putting the ball between the 1 and 2 pins, which ought to have been easy for me to do, judging from my past record. Just as I was about to bowl, a friend of my opponent said, quietly, as if to his friend: ‘Just watch him hit the 4 pin.’ Somehow, or someway, there crept into my mind the idea that I was going to hit the 4 pin, which was about the worst thing I could do just then. I can’t say that I was exactly afraid; but I got the notion that I was going to hit that 4 pin in spite of myself—I actually believed and expected it. I aimed with my usual care, straight between the 1 and 2 pins, and then let the ball go. I never could tell how it happened, but my ball rolled right toward that 4 pin, and struck it fair and square. And so, instead of making a ten strike I got only a split. That fellow sure hoodooed me, all right. I never knew how he did it, but do it he did.”

Here was evidently a case of misdirected Expectant Attention—Faith reversed! He believed and expected the bad shot, and, although he used his habitual care, his subconscious mind manifested his belief and unconsciously to him influenced his muscular action at the critical moment. His “click” of certainty in ordinary cases was the result of the same psychological principle. In either case, in each case, the subconscious mentality was striving to make true in outer action the inner belief. It was a case of “Thought taking form in action”: of the response of the physical muscles to the subconscious mental state.

We understand that baseball players report a similar state of affairs. They often “just know” the probable result of their batting, or of their catching of the ball in the field—they experience that certain state of Expectant Attention which is a phase of Confident Expectation, and their muscles become a perfectly coordinated machine. Again, when a player allows himself to be “rattled” by the shouts from the benches—when he allows the adverse suggestions to obtain lodgment in his subconscious mind—then the Faith is reversed, and “that which he fears comes upon him.” In either case there is manifested in action the mental picture formed in the mind of the player. The ideal tends to become real; Expectant Attention creates the ideal, and the subconscious mentality performs the action.

The writer was once told by an ex-manager of noted pugilists that a similar condition is found to exist among prize fighters. He said: “If a boy believes that he is going to be licked, then licked he is in advance of the match. If, on the contrary, he feels in his heart that he is the better man, then his chances of success are enormously increased. There’s a whole lot of this mind-stuff in ring fighting, believe me!”

The writer personally met with a similar case, occurring twenty years ago—in the days of bicycles and cable-cars. He was riding on the “grip-car,” on the front part of the bench of the open car then used. Hearing the gripman using strong language, he looked ahead, and there saw a young colored man riding a bicycle and trying to cross the street on an angle, just in front of the car. Ordinarily there would have been no difficulty in his making the crossing—there was plenty of room and plenty of time for it. But when the gripman swore at him, and called out “Look out, there, you’re going to run into the car,” the young man’s hand seemed to turn in spite of himself, and he (seemingly deliberately) turned his wheel and ran straight into the car. When picked out of the wreck of his bicycle, badly shaken up but uninjured, he was asked why he turned his wheel toward the car. He answered: “I dunno, I dunno; I ’speck dat wheel just got skeered and runned away with me.” The real truth was that his Expectant Attention was active, and the wheel acted just as he looked for it to act—his subconscious mentality performing the action. Many old-time bicycle riders will understand and appreciate this illustration—they “have been there” themselves!

The same principle may be seen in operation in the actions of children; children are very apt to take on the suggestions of their elders, and to act upon them subconsciously even when they “don’t want to.” We have witnessed the unfortunate result of the admonition: “Look out, Myrtle, you’ll drop that vase; look out, its slipping now!” Of course, “bang” went the vase! Again: “Look out, Johnny, be careful; you’ll slip off the banister!” Johnny accepts the suggestion, his subconscious mentality believes it, and the action follows.

We once saw a little boy walking along the top of a high brick wall; he made the trip backward and forward several times without trouble. But when, finally, a grown-up shouted a warning of danger, coupled with the assertion that the boy would fall off, the boy’s Expectant Attention was aroused, and down he came. A leading tight-rope performer has stated in a newspaper interview that if he entertains the thought that he will fall, he is almost certain to become “wobbly,” and then needs to exert considerable will-power to maintain his balance.

The above recited illustrations of the effect of Confident Expectation, in its phase of Expectant Attention, in these little simple matters of everyday experience, are likewise illustrations of the operation of the same psychological principle—the principle of Faith in its many forms—in many far more important, and far more complex, matters of life and action. As we proceed in our consideration of the subject in this instruction, you will perceive this same universal principle at work along many different lines, and in many different forms, phases and aspects of its power.

For the present, we ask you merely to bear in mind this statement: The entire set of mental processes, conscious, subconscious, and unconscious, tend to proceed in the direction of Expectant Attention, or Confident Expectation, which is a phase of Faith. The mind, consciously, subconsciously, or unconsciously, strives to build around itself a world corresponding to its beliefs, and to act along the lines of its beliefs, even when such a world or such actions are not desired. Hope and Fear, when expressions of Confident Expectation, or Expectant Attention, are potent motive powers, particularly along subconscious lines of mentation.

The Secret of “Faith-Cures”

Among the many phases and forms of the application and manifestation of the mental principle of Faith Power is that important phase or form known generally as “Faith-Cure.” The consideration of the phenomena arising from the application and manifestation of this phase or form of Faith Power is well worth while, not alone because of their importance on their own account, but also because of the fact that in such consideration there is brought to light the operation of the potent force inherent in such general principle itself.

By Faith-Cure is meant “the cure of disease by the exercise of faith in some external force or power, or in the force or power inherent in the mental or spiritual nature of the mind or soul of the individual.” The following definitions, given by authoritative reference works, will perhaps bring out still more clearly the essential elements and meaning of this concept and term:

“Faith-Cure, or Faith-Healing, is a form of ‘mind cure’ characterized by the idea that while pain and disease really exist they may be neutralized and dispelled by faith in Divine power; the doctrine of Christian Science holds, however, that pain is only an illusion and seeks to cure the patient by instilling into him this belief.”

“Faith-Cure is a term applied to the practice of curing disease by an appeal to the hope, belief, or expectation of the patient, and without the use of drugs or other material means. Formerly, Faith-Cure was confined to methods requiring the exercise of religious faith, such as the ‘prayer cure’ and ‘divine healing,’ but has now come to be used in the broader sense, and includes the cures of Mental Science; also a large part of the cures effected by patent medicines and nostrums, as well as many folk practices and home remedies. By some, it is held to include also Christian Science, but the believers in the latter regard it as entirely distinct.”

Careful investigators and researchers along these lines are now generally agreed that the cures undoubtedly made by the various practitioners of the numerous schools and forms of Faith-Cure (under their different names and theories of cure) have as their underlying effective principle the mental condition or state of Faith; this principle operating so as to call forth the innate power of the mental-physical organism to resist and to overcome the abnormal conditions which manifest as disease. Thus, all cures wrought by the mental forces of the individual, under whatever name or method, are, at the last, Faith Cures.

That this innate power to resist and overcome disease actually exists in the human organism is now admitted by the best authorities; it is known as “the protective and recuperative power of the organism,” or else as the “vis medicatrix naturae,” or “the healing power of Nature.” The power is known to dwell in that part of the mental equipment of man known as “the subconscious mentality,” which has direct control and supervision of many of the physical processes, and which is absolutely in charge of the “involuntary processes” by means of which the most important functions of the body are performed.

This innate power of the organism, so lodged in the subconscious mentality, is found to respond readily to the ideas accepted as true by the individual—to his “beliefs,” in short. These beliefs are forms of Faith, at the last. The belief and Faith of the individual in the effect and influence of any energy, force or power is capable not only of effecting cures of diseased conditions, but also of inducing and bringing about such conditions in the first place. That belief, “Expectant Attention,” Confident Expectation—in short, Faith—is capable of causing the manifestation of conditions of physical disease, is now too well established to admit of doubt; advanced schools of therapeutics recognize this fact, and impart instruction based upon it. That the same kind of mental conditions act in the direction of curing disease is now practically admitted by the same schools.

Science, after extended investigations of the subject, now holds that the truth (or lack of it) involved in the respective particular religious, metaphysical or philosophical theories advanced by the different Faith-Cure schools, really have nothing whatsoever to do with the curative principle really employed— except that the plausibility of such theories may tend to arouse and maintain the belief and Faith—the Expectant Attention and Confident Expectation—of the patient, thereby setting into operation the innate healing powers of the organism through the activities of the subconscious mentality. The fact that the various opposing schools, with their widely differing and often absolutely opposing sets of theories, are found to make cures in about the same proportion to the cases treated, is held to point conclusively to the existence of this common and universal element of Faith as the real factor of the cures.

It is admitted by practical psychologists that the Expectant Attention, the Confident Expectation—the Faith—of the average person is more keenly aroused and more firmly held by the attractive religious or metaphysical explanations offered by many of these schools of Faith-Cure than by the coldly scientific explanation furnished by scientific observers; such attractive explanations and theories appeal more strongly to the imagination, and thus more easily set in force the activities of the subconscious mentality. But when Science administers its “masked suggestion” in sufficiently attractive guises, it produces results equally efficient.

The glowing verbal pictures painted by the quacks, the charlatans, and the patent-cure promoters among the “material remedy” practitioners, as well as by the exploiters of nostrums and “patent medicines,” however, are quite attractive to the average imagination—and, as a consequence, many “cures” are made in this way. In all of such cases, be it noted, the theory and the method are merely incidental—the principle of Faith-Cure is the active factor in the cure. It is not a matter so much of “just what” is believed in and is the object of Faith, as it is of “just how much” it is believed in and becomes an object of Faith. The theory and method, the instrument and vehicle, of the treatment is merely the capsule in which the active and potent force of Faith is hidden.

Faith-Cure, in its many forms, is as old as the race; it has been practiced from time immemorial. Formerly practiced by the “medicine men” of the tribes, through incantations, magic ceremonies, charms, etc., it gradually was taken over by the priesthood of the various early religions, and its instruments were prayers, sacred rites, sacred objects, etc. The history of “Mental Medicine” is filled with innumerable forms of the application of this potent force of Faith and Confident Expectation—of Expectant Attention, as the scientific writers call it. The same principle operated through the instrumentality of various strange drugs and medicines in the history of Material Medicine, as reference to the medical textbooks show beyond a doubt.

The “Encyclopaedia Britannica,” in its article on “Faith Healing,” says: “In the Christian Church the tradition of faith-healing dates from the earliest days of Christianity; upon the miracles of the New Testament follow cases of healing, first by the Apostles, then by their successors; but faith-healing proper is gradually, from the third century onwards, transformed into trust in relics, though faith-cures occur sporadically at times. Catherine of Siena is said to have saved Father Matthew from dying of the plague, but in this case it is rather the healer who was strong in faith.

“With the Reformation, faith-healing proper reappears among the Monrovians and Waldenses, who, like the Peculiar People of our own day, put their trust in prayer and anointing with oil. In the 16th century we find faith-cures recorded of Luther and other reformers; in the next century of the Baptists, Quakers, and other Puritan sects; and in the 18th century the faith-healing of the Methodists in this country was paralleled by Pietism in Germany. In the 19th century Prince Hohenlohe, canon of Grosswardein, was a famous healer on the continent; the Mormons and Irvingites were prominent among English-speaking peoples; in the last quarter of the 19th century faith-healing became popular in London, and Bethshan homes were opened in 1881, and since then it has found many adherents in England.

“Under faith-healing in a wider sense may be included (1) the cures in the temples of Aesculapius and other deities in the ancient world; (2) the practice of touching for the king’s evil, in vogue from the 11th to the 18th century; (3) the cures of Valentine Greatrakes, the ‘Stroker’ (16281683); and (4) the miracles of Lourdes, and other resorts of pilgrims, among which may be mentioned St. Winfred’s Well in Flintshire, Treves with its Holy Coat, the grave of the Jansenist F. de Paris in the 18th century, the little town of Kevelaer from 1641 onwards, the tombs of St. Louis, Francis of Assasi, Catherine of Siena, and others.

“From the psychological point of view, all these different kinds of faith-healing, as indeed all kinds of faith-healing, as indeed all kinds of mind-cure, including those of Christian Science and hypnotism, depend upon suggestion. In faith-healing proper not only are powerful direct suggestions used, but the religious atmosphere and the autosuggestions of the patient co-operate, especially when the cures take place during a period of religious revival or at other times when large assemblies and strong emotions are found. The suggestibility of large crowds is markedly greater than that of individuals, and to this greater faith must be attributed the greater success of the fashionable places of pilgrimage.”

In general accounts of the phenomena of Faith-Healing, such as the one above quoted, you will generally find two points needing more detailed comment, namely, (1) the point that cures are made even when the patients “do not believe” in the healing power invoked; and (2) the easy reference of the basic cause to “Suggestion”—the statement often being made that “it is merely Suggestion.” Let us consider these two points in a little further detail.

In the first place, the person subjecting himself to these healing agencies always has some degree of “belief” and Faith in the possible efficacy of the agency employed, else he would not take the trouble and spend the time and money necessary to take the treatment. This Faith may be merely “a sneaking belief,” but it is always there. Particularly where money is involved this element must be present; for one does not part with money for treatments which he feels certain will do no good—there is always some hope, belief and Faith present. Even the man who sneers at the idea of his warts being cured by a “powwow” has at least a faint hope of some possible good accruing to him, else he would not bother with the matter at all. This faint hope, belief, or Faith, is taken up by the subconscious mentality and is there intensified, magnified, and concentrated.

It may be stated as a positive and invariable principle that: “Without some degree of Faith and Hope, some degree of Expectant Attention, there can be no Faith-Cure.” This belief, hope, and Faith may be hidden, and apparently rejected by the conscious mentality—but its seeds and roots are present in the subconscious mentality, and begin to grow and send forth shoots and sprouts under the power of the Expectant Attention.

In the second place, to “explain” the phenomena of Faith-Cure by the statement, “It is merely Suggestion,” is but to give the phenomena a new name. Affixing a new term is not a true “explanation.” Of course, Faith-Cure is “Suggestion”—but what is “Suggestion?” Analyzing the phenomena attributed to Suggestion, and reducing the idea of Suggestion to its essential elements, we find that Suggestion consists of: (1) placing a strong idea in the mind—grafting it on the mind, as it were; (2) arousing the Expectant Attention of the results implied or indicated in the suggested idea; and (3) setting into operation the activities of the subconscious mentality in the direction of bringing about the result pictured by the Expectant Attention, which in turn has been aroused by the suggested idea. There you have the whole idea of Suggestion in a nutshell!

The “suggested idea” may be one of disease, as well as of healing; it may be deliberately or otherwise grafted on the mind by another person, or it may arise through the “auto-suggestion” of the person himself, made up of the material of ideas or suggestions that he has “picked up” in his experience with the world: in each case, and in all cases, the “suggested idea” is an idea which strikes the mind with force, and which seems “quite reasonable,” i. e., worthy of some belief. The Expectant Attention may be that of either Fear or of Hope, as we have explained to you before; its characteristic element is “holding in mind with the idea that it will come to pass, happen or occur, in some way.” The action of the subconscious mentality we have previously described to you; its action is that of accepting the suggested idea, manifesting the Expectant Attention even more powerfully and more consistently than does the conscious mentality, and setting about to make the idea come true, to realize the expectation, to make “come about” that which is ideated and expected.

You will find these elements in all cases of Suggestion, just as you will find it in all cases of Faith-Cure. Suggestion is the underlying element in Faith-Cure, to be sure; but Suggestion itself is merely a name employed to describe the mental activities to which we have referred. To say that “Faith-Healing is merely Suggestion,” does not “explain” the matter, unless it is stated or admitted that Suggestion is a means of arousing certain mental activities. “Suggestion” is an excellent term, when rightly understood; but it must not be employed as a “fetish,” or as an easy manner of dismissing certain important phenomena. Suggestion is made up of (1) Strong Ideas or Mental Pictures, and (2) Expectant Attention arising from Confident Expectation—and the latter is Faith. When this combined Idea-Faith is planted in the subconscious mentality of the person, it begins to grow, sprout, and to bring forth leaves, blossoms, and fruit in action and physical form.

Now then, all phenomena of Faith-Cure, and of Suggestion as well, are seen to depend upon the presence and action of the element or principle of Faith Power in the mentality of the individual. This Faith Power, however, is a much greater thing than mere Healing-Power, great as is the importance of this particular and special phase of its manifestation. Healing-Power is merely one of many phases of the force and power of Faith Power; merely one of its many forms of manifestation. The study of this phase of the whole subject, and the application of the valuable principles involved in it is well worth while; but at the same time you should not allow yourself to rest content with this one phase or form of its manifestation. The whole is always greater than any one of its component parts.

What is the great lesson to be learned from the consideration of the wonderful phenomena of Faith Power in its phase of Faith-Cure, or of Healing-Power? The answer is that there are two elements involved in that lesson, viz., (1) that there exists and is active a great natural principle, inherent in your natural mental-physical organism, which tends to produce decided and marked effect upon your physical body, either in the direction of disease or that of health and the cure of disease, and that this power is at your disposal and command, and to a great extent under your own control; (2) that this great principle is but a phase or form of a still greater universal principle of your being, which greater principle operates in the direction of setting to work forces which tend to materialize in objective form that which exists in your mind in subjective form, i. e., as Idea and Faith combined, correlated, and coordinated: this greater power, like its lesser and specialized form, is available for your use—it responds to your demands when properly made, and submits itself to your general direction of Idea and Faith.

By an application of the first of the above-stated elements of this greater principle of your being, and of Nature as a whole, you may keep yourself in health, strength, and general desirable physical well-being; or you may bring about by it a gradual return to health and physical well-being, if you have lost these; again, if you allow this principle to be directed wrongly and abnormally, you may lose your physical well-being and health, and may start on the downward path of disease, the end of which is an untimely death. Your physical condition is very largely dependent upon the character and kind of the Ideas and Ideals which you permit to be planted in your mind, and by the degree of Expectant Attention, or Faith, which you permit to vitalize these Ideas and Ideals.

Briefly stated, the course to be followed by you in this matter is as follows: (1) Encourage Ideas and Ideals of Health, Strength, and Vitality—the ideas of Physical Well-Being—to take lodgment in your mind, there to send forth their roots, sprouts, blossoms, and fruit; cultivate these Ideas and Ideals, and vitalize them with a goodly amount of Expectant Attention, Confident Expectation and Faith along the lines of these conditions which you desire to be present in yourself; see yourself “in your mind’s eye” as you wish to be, and “confidently expect” to have these conditions manifested in you by your subconscious mentality; (2) never allow yourself to hold the ideas of diseased abnormal conditions, and, above all, never allow yourself to cultivate the mental habit of “expecting” such conditions to manifest in your body—cultivate the attitude of Faith and Hope, and discard that of Fear; (3) if your mind has been filled with these negative, harmful and destructive mental elements of Idea and Expectancy, and if your body has manifested Disease in response to them, you should proceed to “kill out” these noxious mental weeds by a deliberate, determined and confident cultivation of the right kind of Ideas and Ideals, and states of “Expectancy”; it is an axiom of advanced psychology that “the positives tend to inhibit and to destroy the negatives”—the weeds in the mental garden may be “killed out” by the careful and determined cultivation of the positive plants of Hope, Faith and Confident Expectation of the Good and Desirable.

As to the application of that greater principle of Faith Power, of which Faith-Cure and Healing-Power is but one phase of manifestation, we say to you that we are now leading you, step by step, in the direction of a full understanding of the nature and power of that greater principle, and of its practical and efficient application. The consideration of its power in the phase of Faith-Cure or Healing-Power is important for you, because it causes your mind, conscious and subconscious, to awaken to a realization of the presence and power of this principle of Faith Power as a whole, and furnishes you with concrete examples of that presence-power, and of its manifestation in the everyday, practical life of the individual. Faith Power is present and active—it is potent and powerful—and it is friendly to you if you recognize and realize its existence; it is ready to serve you, and to serve you well, provided that you call upon it properly and furnish it with the proper channels through which to flow in its efforts to manifest itself. This is the great truth back of the special lesson of Faith-Cure!

Faith and the Subconscious

In the preceding section of this book we indicated to you the influence of Faith or Confident Expectation upon those faculties of the mind, or those great fields or planes of mental activity, which are generally grouped under the classification of “The Subconscious.” In that presentation, however, we considered only those subconscious mental activities which are concerned with the preservation or the restoration of physical well-being. Faith, however, influences and directs the subconscious mentality in many other ways than in that of Faith-Cure or Faith-Healing along the lines of Mental Therapeutics, as you will see as we proceed with this instruction.

The Subconscious—that great field or plane of mental activity—is the seat of far greater power, and the source of far deeper and broader streams of mental force, than the average person even begins to realize. In that field, or on that plane, are performed over seventy-five percent of man’s mental activities.

Our subconscious mentality has well been compared to the great mountain-like elevations of land under the surface of the ocean—abiding there in substantial form and serving as a support and base for that which appears above the surface, though invisible to the ordinary observer; the islands which appear above the surface representing the important, though comparatively limited area and extent of the conscious mentality.

Others, with equal force, have compared the conscious mentality to the comparatively small area of a mighty iceberg floating through the seas of the Arctic region, the subconscious mentality being represented by the far greater substance and body of the iceberg which is submerged beneath the waters, and which is invisible.

Again, the conscious mentality has been compared to the comparatively small section of the light spectrum which is visible to the human eye, which section includes the various light-waves ranging from red to violet—the subconscious mentality being represented by that enormous field of the infra-red rays on the one side, and the ultra-violet rays on the other.

Our mental world is far more extensive than we usually conceive it to be; it has great comparatively unsounded depths, and equally grand comparatively unsealed heights: the explored and charted areas of our conscious mentality are incidental and subordinate to those broad areas of which even the brightest minds of our race have merely explored the borderland, the expanded uncharted interior of the strange country still awaiting the exploring expeditions of the future. Our position in relation to this great Terra Incognita of the mind is similar to that of the ancient civilized world toward the earth as a whole; we are as yet awaiting the Columbus who will explore the Western Continent of the mind, and the Livingstones and Stanleys who will furnish us with maps of the mental Darkest Africa.

Yet, even the comparatively small explored areas of the Subconscious have revealed to us a wonderful land—a land filled with the richest raw materials, precious metals, wonderful species of animal and plant life. And our daring investigators have discovered means of applying and using some of the Faith and the Subconscious wonderful things which have been discovered in even that borderland of the new mental world.

The past fifty years have been very fruitful for the race in this direction. We have learned not only of the existence of this new land filled with wondrous things, but we have also learned much concerning the nature of those things; and, what is still better, we have learned much concerning the best methods of converting those things to our own uses. We have as yet much more to learn along these lines, but what has been already learned has revolutionized our conceptions of the mind, and has opened up to our conscious use great mental powers, the very existence of which were formerly unsuspected.

We shall not enter here into a detailed consideration of the fields and planes of the Subconscious realm of the mind, nor into a full description of what has been found to abide in those regions. We have considered these matters and subjects fully in that volume of this series which is entitled “Subconscious Power,” to which book we refer you if you are desirous of studying in further detail these subconscious faculties of the mind and the most efficient methods of applying and using them. In the present volume we are concerned almost entirely with the consideration of Faith Power in its effect upon the mind as a whole, the conscious planes as well as the subconscious; but inasmuch as Faith Power performs such a large part of its activities on the planes or in the fields of the Subconscious, we find it necessary to make constant reference to the latter in our consideration of Faith Power.

While it is true that Desire is the motive-power of all human action, conscious and subconscious, and that without Desire (conscious or subconscious) there could and would be no such action; and while it is true that Desire and Will go out toward Idea, and that without Idea (conscious or subconscious) there would be no moving of the mind to action: still it is equally true that the measure of the degree and the direction of such activity is dependent very largely upon the degree of Faith, Confident Expectation or Expectant Attention manifesting in the individual.

This is true concerning the activities of the conscious mentality—it is doubly or trebly true of the activities of the subconscious mentality. In fact, the subconscious mentality has been discovered to be very “set in its beliefs,” and to hold steadfastly to them when once they have taken lodgment within it; so much so, in truth, that it will often balk and rebel when the conscious mentality strives to set it to work in opposition to its fixed beliefs and habits of action. It is often found to be necessary to “re-educate the Subconscious,” when it has been filled with erroneous beliefs and ideas, before it can be set to work in a new direction—a direction opposed to its old beliefs and ideas.

Certain fields, at least, of the subconscious mental activity— certain of the subconscious mental faculties, at least—remind the scientific observer very much of the mind of the child. That is to say, like the mind of the child it is quite open to original impressions, and quite disposed to exercise Faith and belief concerning ideas presented to it, provided that these ideas do not conflict with those already accepted by it; but, also, like the mind of the child, it will hold fast to these ideas when they have been accepted as truth and forcibly impressed upon it, and will find it difficult to accept or act upon ideas opposed to them. Like the child mind, also, it readily forms habits of belief, thought, and action, and when these are once “set” it requires much work to change them or to reverse their action.

We have evidences of this fact in our everyday lives—you, yourself, can testify to its truth. Like nearly every other person, you have found yourself strongly influenced by silly, irrational, superstitious ideas, notions and habits of thought and action, long after you have thoroughly convinced yourself that such superstitions have no basis in fact or in truth. Your conscious mentality frees itself from the bonds of the superstition, but when you come to the test you find within yourself, deep down in your mental and emotional being, a distinct, definite and positive tendency to act according to the old belief or notion. You feel the pull of the Subconscious upon your Will, and it often requires the greatest exercise of Will-power to overcome that subconscious influence. The subconscious mentality must be “re-educated” before it will cease to protest and pull against your conscious reasoning mind.

You, in all probability, have still some pet superstitions— notions which your reason pronounces to be absolutely ridiculous in their untruth and lack of reality—which, when it “comes to the pinch,” cause you to feel quite uncomfortable if you attempt to act contrary to them. It has well been said that while we laugh at the pet superstitions of others, we hug close to those of our own which are equally ridiculous. We pride ourselves on our rational actions, and our intellectual habits of thought and belief, but when it comes to walking under a ladder, sitting at a table with thirteen persons present, doing things on Friday, breaking a mirror, etc., etc., we show plainly the force of this old pull and influence of subconscious belief and Faith. And, if we act contrary to these, in spite of ourselves we find Expectant Attention being directed toward the result feared by the subconscious elements of our mental being.

It is amusing to those who are free from those particular superstitions, and quite interesting to the scientific observer, to note that so many intelligent, well-informed, rational persons will hesitate to return for some forgotten thing after they once have left the house; or that they will “knock wood” after having made some statement expressing success, freedom from trouble, etc.; or that they will show visible concern and distress when they spill salt at the table, or break a mirror, or do something else which their subconscious mentality believes to be a “hoodoo.” As for sitting at a table of thirteen guests, some of the very bravest and most intelligent will feel that it “is all wrong,” and will sigh with relief when an extra guest is pressed into service to break the evil spell.

Yet, in each of these cases, the person will frankly acknowledge that he has no rational or intellectual belief in the evil omen— he knows that there is absolutely “nothing to it”—but he “feels queer about it,” nevertheless, when he comes to the point of “flying in the face of it.” These persons are like the man who said that in the daytime he absolutely scorned the idea of ghosts, but that in the middle of the night he believed implicitly in them. These queer contradictions of human nature are accepted as matters of fact by most of us, though they are usually regarded as beyond rational explanation. However, when the action of the subconscious mentality is recognized, a new light is thrown upon the subject, and the perplexing mental duality is explained—the two sides of the mental shield are perceived and known to be just what they are.

But these hidden beliefs of the Subconscious, and its direction of action in accordance with them, are not confined to those superstitions concerning “unlucky” things and evil omens. Quite as strong, and quite as active, are the subconscious beliefs and notions about “lucky” things and good omens. The principle is the same in each case, though the direction is opposite. Many very intelligent men secretly feel that certain things are “lucky” for them, or that certain things act as charms bringing them success and good luck in their undertakings. Many a man has a sneaking belief in the efficacy of a horseshoe over the door, though he may pretend that it has been placed there “just for fun”; you will discover the strength of the subconscious belief if you attempt to remove the symbol. You would be surprised to learn how many otherwise intelligent persons carry “lucky-stones,” “lucky coins” or other “charms” held to bring success or to avoid the opposite.

Not only this, but the Subconscious entertains deep-rooted convictions and beliefs concerning the general success or non-success of the individual. The person who has constantly impressed upon his subconscious mentality that he is “unlucky,” and that “Fate is against me,” has created a tremendous power within himself which acts as a brake or obstacle to his successful achievement. He has created an enemy within himself which serves to hold him back, and which fights against every inner effort in the direction of success. This hidden enemy hampers his full efforts and cripples his activities.

On the contrary, the person who believes that “luck is running my way,” and that “things are working in my favor,” not only releases all of his latent energies but also actually stimulates his full powers—along subconscious lines as well as conscious. You have probably had the experience of feeling that things were going against you, and as a result your enthusiasm and interest then burned very low; later you became convinced by some little circumstances that “my luck has turned,” and as a result your spirit manifested itself in keener desire and determined will. If you have not had this experience yourself, you have doubtless perceived it manifesting in other persons under your observation.

Many men have become so convinced of their propitious Destiny that they have overcome obstacles which would have blocked the progress of one holding the opposite conviction. In fact, most of the men who have used their failures as stepping-stones to subsequent success have felt within themselves the conviction that they would triumph in the end, and that the disappointments and temporary failures were but incidents of the game.

Men have believed in their “stars,” or in the presence and power of something outside of themselves which was operating in the direction of their ultimate triumph. This has given to them an indomitable will and an unconquerable spirit. Had these same men allowed the conviction of the operation of adverse and antagonistic influences to take possession of their souls, they would have gone down in the struggle—and would have stayed down. In either case, however, the real “something” which they have believed to be an outside thing or entity, has been nothing more nor less than the influence and power of their own Subconscious—in one case pulling with them, and in the other pulling against them.

The man with his Subconscious filled with belief and Faith in his non-success, and in the inevitable failure of his efforts— the man whose Confident Expectation is that of non-success, failure and inability, and whose Expectant Attention is directed toward such an outcome and the incidents and circumstances leading up to it,—is like a man in the water who is swimming against the stream. He is opposing the strong current, and his every effort is counteracted and overcome by the adverse forces of the stream. Likewise, the man whose Subconscious is saturated with the conviction of ultimate victory and final success—whose Confident Expectation is directed toward that end, and whose Expectant Attention is ever on the look-out for things tending to realize his inner beliefs—is like the swimmer who is moving in the direction of the current. Such a man not only is not really opposed by the forces of the stream, but, instead, has these forces at work aiding him.

The importance of having the Faith, Confident Expectation and Expectant Attention of the Subconscious directed toward your success, achievement and successful ultimate accomplishment—and the importance of not having these mighty forces operative against yourself—may be realized when you stop to consider that in the one case you have three-quarters of your mental equipment and power operating in your favor, and in the other case you have that three-quarters operating against you. And that three-quarters, in either case, not only is working actively during your waking hours, but also “works while you sleep.” To lose the assistance of that three-quarters would be a serious matter, would it not? But far more serious is it to have that three-quarters actually working against you—having it on the side of the enemy! This is just what happens when the Subconscious gets into action under the influence of wrongly directed Faith, Expectant Attention and Confident Expectation.

The ideas, plans, inner suggestions, hints, “hunches” and other strange mental states which are constantly rising from the depths of the Subconscious to the surface of conscious thought, are potent factors in the mental work, achievements and accomplishments of the individual. To the man of Hopeful Confident Expectation these point out the road to increased efficiency and progress. To the man of Fearful Confident Expectation they point out the dangers, obstacles, hindrances, defeating influences and the other things which paralyze man’s will and cause his spirit to sink and his heart grow heavy with discouragement. The spirit, the soul, the heart of the man are colored by these subconscious influences; and, in turn, they tend to provoke action and movement in the direction corresponding to the state of belief indicated by that color. The inner state manifests in the outer action—the ideal tends to become real—the materialization proceeds in the shape and form of the visualization.

Expectant Attention plays an important part in this manifestation of the Faith and Confident Expectation of the Subconscious. We have pointed out to you that Attention is attracted to, and drawn out by those objects and subjects which are the subject of its interest and belief; and that it ignores objects and subjects contrary to these. So true is this that if two men of equal mental powers and intellectual efficiency were subjected to precisely the same conditions and set of circumstances—were caused to undergo the same general experiences, in fact—each might obtain entirely opposite results were their respective subconscious mentalities filled with opposite conditions of Faith and Confident Expectation.

The Expectant Attention of each man would cause him to perceive things which were imperceptible to the other man of equal mental power and intelligence; one would see the thorns, the other the roses; one would see the hole, the other the body of the doughnut; one would see only the things making for failure, the other the things conducive to his success. Each would see that for which he was looking—and would be looking for that which his Confident Expectation believed would be found, and to which accordingly his Expectant Attention would be directed. This is why one man would be able to say, in the end: “And lo! mine own hath come to me”; and the other, “That which I feared hath verily now come upon me!”

But this is not all. In other books of this series we have called your attention to the power of the mind to attract to itself the things of the outside world which are correlated to its thoughts. In the books, “Personal Power,” and “Thought Power”, respectively, we have gone into details concerning this subject which is merely referred to at this place. That such Law of Mental Attraction exists is now admitted by many of the world’s most careful thinkers—it is no longer held to be a vague and fanciful notion held by a few visionaries. Whatever may be the theory held to be underlying it—and there are many such—the presence and power of this Law must be admitted by all unprejudiced persons. Its results and effects form evidence found at every turn—evidence which is valid and incontrovertible.

This Law of Mental Attraction, being mental in its essence and in its form of action, must operate on all planes of the mind—and, indeed, has been discovered so to act. The mind has many planes of activity, and as we have said, at least three-quarters of its operations are performed below or above the plane of ordinary consciousness. The Subconscious plays a most important part in the operations of this Mental Law of Attraction—the forces under this Law are largely set in motion and activity by impulses coming from the region of the Subconscious. This being the case, you may realize how important it is for you to so train, educate, re-educate and direct your subconscious mental faculties that they may he filled with the Faith of Hope, and not the Faith of Fear—that your Confident Expectation may be directed forward, and not backward—that your Expectant Attention may see the helpful things, and not those which hinder and pull back.

Get busy with your Subconscious. Train it, educate it, re-educate it, direct it, incline it, teach it, suggest to it, along the lines of the Faith in Success and Power, and not those of the Faith in Failure and Weakness. Set it to work swimming with that current. The Subconscious is much given to Faith—it lives on Faith, it acts upon Faith. Then see that you supply it with the right kind of Faith, and avoid as a pestilence that Faith which is based on Fear and is grounded in Failure and Despair. Think carefully—and act!

Faith and Enthusiasm

Faith is the underlying principle of that remarkable quality of the human mind which is known as Enthusiasm. It is its essence, it is its substance, it is its actuating principle. Without Faith there can be no manifestation of Enthusiasm. Without Faith there can be no expression of the activities of Enthusiasm. Without Faith there can be no exhibition of the energies of Enthusiasm. Without Faith the quality of Enthusiasm remains dormant, latent and static—Faith is needed to arouse it, to render it active, to cause it to become dynamic.

Moreover, the Faith required for the manifestation and expression of Enthusiasm must be positive Faith—Faith in the successful outcome of the undertaking—Faith exhibiting its positive phases—Faith in the attainment of that which is desirable and which is regarded as good. You can never manifest Enthusiasm toward that which you confidently expect to be a failure, nor toward that which you feel will bring undesirable results and effects. Negative Faith has no power to arouse Enthusiasm: the presence of Positive Faith is necessary to awaken this wonderful latent mental or spiritual force.

Enthusiasm is a mental or spiritual force which has always been regarded by mankind with respect—often with a respect mingled with awe. To the ancients it seemed to be a special gift of the gods, and by them it was regarded as animating the individual with almost divine attributes of power, and as causing him to absorb a portion of the essence of the divine nature. Recognizing the fact that men under the influence of Enthusiasm often accomplish almost superhuman tasks, the ancients came to believe that this added power and capacity arose from the superimposition of power from planes of being above that of humanity. Hence, they employed terms to define it which clearly indicated their belief in its transcendent nature.

The term, “Enthusiasm,” is directly derived from the ancient Greek term meaning, “to be inspired by the gods.” The two compositive elements of the original term are, respectively, a term denoting “inspiration,” and one denoting “the gods” or “divinity,” the two terms in combination meaning literally “inspired by the gods.”

The present meaning of the term, in its English usage, is: “(1) Inspiration as if by a divine or superhuman power; or, (2) enkindled and kindling fervor of soul; or (3) ardent and lively zeal or interest.” The term, “Enthusiast,” formerly was employed in the strict sense of “One moved or actuated by Enthusiasm”; but it has gradually acquired the corrupted meaning of “visionary, fanatic, zealot, or one carried away by zeal or fanaticism”; this latter meaning having arisen by reason of the intemperate actions and expressions of persons carried away by zeal or fanaticism, lacking the balance of Reason and Logic.

The implied discredit arising in this way has in some degree extended to the term, Enthusiasm, itself; this is much to be regretted, for the term has an honorable history and in its true meaning indicates a most important and valuable quality of the human mentality. It should be needless for us to add here that in the present consideration of the subject we are employing the term Enthusiasm only in its true sense and with its most approved meaning and implication.

It is interesting to note that in the history of the term, “Enthusiasm,” the word has been almost invariably associated with the idea of “Inspiration.” The latter term originally meant, “breathing in,” and in its figurative sense it indicated a “breathing in” of divine or superhuman power. As we have pointed out to you, Enthusiasm originally meant “to be inspired by the gods.” Later, the definition was extended to include the “inspiration” of great writers, poets, artists and orators; thus, Socrates speaks of the inspiration of the poets as a form of Enthusiasm.

In its present usage the term, Enthusiasm, has come to mean, “a lively, ardent, wholehearted interest in or devotion to a cause, subject, or object,” and the word, Inspiration, is employed to indicate “an elevating, quickening, enthusiastic interest, which stimulates and animates the intellect and the emotions of the individual.” The two expressions, Enthusiasm and Inspiration, respectively, have travelled hand-in-hand through the centuries; even today, in the more or less figurative and metaphorical employment of these words, we find that the quality of Enthusiasm is held to manifest and express itself in that “quickening stimulation of intellect and emotions” which denotes Inspiration in such modern usage.

Here the student of psychology finds another instance and illustration of the general rule according to which modern psychology employs the present knowledge of the Subconscious to account for much that was formerly attributed to supernatural, or at least superhuman influences and power. Enthusiasm and Inspiration which the ancients believed to be the result of the “breathing in” of divine or supernatural essence, or the superimposition of supernatural or superhuman power, are now held to be the result of the aroused and quickened activities of the Subconscious—of that wonderful region of the mentality of man from which emerges so much of the greatest importance to him.

In the Subconscious of man there abide many wonderful powers of mind and will. It would seem that man has “merely scratched the surface” of his mental capacity and power; and that great stores of power remain beneath that surface, as yet untouched, awaiting the “tapping” of the mental tools of the individual. At times, under great stress and under great necessity, the individual seems to “contact” these hidden storehouses of power, and, accordingly, he is able to perform work which ordinarily is far beyond his power of accomplishment. At such times we say of him that he “is veritably inspired,” and he seems, indeed, to have “breathed in” some strange potent influence which magnifies his powers and efficiency. But, the necessity over, the individual usually loses his new power, and sinks back to his ordinary condition; he has not as yet learned how to maintain or retain the “contact” once accomplished. .

William James, in his celebrated essay, “The Powers of Man,” called attention to this comparatively common occurrence, i. e., that of the sudden inrush of increased power in times of necessity. He compared it to the “second wind” which comes to the person who has overexerted his ordinary physical powers. Such person after feeling exhausted and fatigued to such an extent as almost to be compelled to cease his efforts—when he is “all out of breath”—suddenly experiences a feeling of relief, and finds that his “second wind” has come to him, and that he is thereby enabled to make a fresh start.

Professor James held that man not only possesses the power of developing a “second wind” in physical exertion, but that also he has the power of developing a mental “second wind” in much the same manner. He points out to his readers that often when a man is compelled to perform mental work under an increased strain by reason of unusual necessity, and when as the result of such effort, he finds himself on the verge of complete exhaustion, then, in many instances, he seems to tap a deeper stratum of mental energy, and lo! his mind takes on a new freshness and manifests renewed power. The mental “second wind” thus attained, he is able to make a fresh start. James held that not only is the mental “second wind” capable of development, but also that there is the possibility of the development of a “third wind,” a “fourth wind,” and so on—the limit not being as yet known.

Others who have used the James’ theory of the mental “second wind” as a foundation for further speculation and experiment, have sought to locate the storehouse of this latent “second wind” of the mind. They have pointed out that it must be “stored away” somewhere, for it could not have proceeded from nothingness. These psychologists, and others, are practically in general agreement in the belief that this hidden storehouse is located in the great regions of the Subconscious, and that its stores are possible of being drawn upon only when the Subconscious is aroused, stimulated or “quickened” by great interest—when it is “inspired” by great feeling—in short, when it is filled with Enthusiasm!

The above-stated conclusion agrees with our own general experience—with your own personal experience, in fact. You have found that when you become quite intensely interested in a subject, object, study, pursuit, or cause, so that your Enthusiasm is thoroughly aroused, then there comes to you a highly increased and greatly intensified degree and amount of mental energy and power. At such times your mind seems to work with lightning-like rapidity, and with a wonderful sense of ease and efficiency. Your mental powers seem to be quadrupled—your mental machinery seems to have some miraculous oil poured into the proper place, thus removing all friction and allowing every part of the mechanism to move smoothly and easily and with wonderful speed. At such times you feel, indeed, actually “inspired.” You feel that a new world of attainment would be opened to you if you could but make this mental condition a permanent one.

This increased sense of mental power, this increased ease of mental work, this increased capacity for accomplishment, all these are manifestations and expressions of that “second wind” which is one of the qualities of the Subconscious, and which is called forth whenever and wherever you can manage to arouse your Subconscious faculties to a sufficient extent. You will find by exercising your powers of remembrance that in the cases mentioned you have been conscious of a greater or less amount of Enthusiasm, i. e., of a lively quickening of interest in the matter before you and toward which you have directed your concentrated attention. This Enthusiasm has so stimulated and vitalized your intellectual and emotional powers that your reserve force of mental energy has been drawn upon and you have become conscious of an inflow of efficiency and capacity in the performance of the task, duty or work before you. You may readily see how and why the ancients believed this to be the action of a supernatural or superhuman power which was “breathed in” by them and which was in effect Inspiration.

Looking around you in your world of practical everyday work and effort, you will see why business men and other men of affairs regard as an important factor of successful work that mental quality known as “enthusiastic interest” on the part of the persons performing that work. This “enthusiastic interest” in the work or task is found to call forth all the mental and physical powers of the worker. He not only puts into his task every ounce of his ordinary capacity, but he also draws upon that hidden reserve force of his Subconscious mentality and adds that to his ordinary full energy. When he approaches the fatigue limit his “enthusiastic interest” carries him on, and before long he has “caught his second wind” and obtained his fresh start.

Ask any successful sales-manager for a list of the essential characteristics of the successful salesman, and on that list you will find this capacity for or habit of “enthusiastic interest” occupying a prominent place. This, not only because of its highly important effect upon the work of the salesman himself, but also because “Enthusiasm is contagious,” and the lively, quickened interest of the salesman tends to communicate itself to the subconscious mentality of his customer.

In the same way the Enthusiasm of the public speaker, orator, advocate or statesman energizes and quickens his entire intellectual and emotional nature, thus causing him to do his best, likewise communicating itself to his audience by means of “mental contagion.” The man with “his soul afire” tends to fire the souls and hearts of those around him. The spirit of the enthusiastic leader, foreman, or “boss,” is “caught” by those under him.

Enthusiasm is clearly a manifestation of the emotional phase of man’s mentality, and it appeals directly and immediately to the emotional nature of others. Likewise, it is clearly a product of the subconscious mentality, and accordingly it appeals directly and immediately to the subconscious mentality of others. Its effect is characteristically animating, energizing, inspiring, “quickening.” It not only stirs the feelings and sets fire to the spiritual nature, but it also stimulates and vivifies the intellectual faculties. The “live wires” in the world of men are those individuals who possess the quality of “enthusiastic interest” highly developed, and habitually manifested when the occasion calls for it. Overdone, it defeats its object—the Golden Mean must be observed; but lacking it the man is what is known in the idiom of practical men as a “dead one.”

As we have previously pointed out to you, Enthusiasm without Faith is a mere term having no real substance or meaning. Or else it is a sham, a counterfeit, a “bluff”, or perhaps a hysterical imitation of the real mental quality. The man of true Enthusiasm does not “gush,” nor is he a visionary or a fanatic—these are the signs of the abnormal development or manifestation of this valuable quality. The man of true Enthusiasm is characterized by his abiding Faith in his proposition or subject; by his lively interest in it; by his earnestness in presenting it and working toward its accomplishment; by his untiring, indefatigable efforts on its behalf. Faith, however, is the foundation upon which all the rest is built; lacking Faith, the structure of Enthusiasm falls like a house-of-cards.

The more Faith a man has in that which he is doing, toward which he is working, or that which he is presenting to others, the greater will be the manifestation of his own powers and capacity, the more efficient will be his performance of the work, and the greater will be his ability to influence others and to cause them to see things in the light of his own earnest belief and interest. Faith arouses and sustains Enthusiasm; lack of Faith deadens and inhibits it; Unfaith and positive Disbelief kill it. It is clear that the first step toward the cultivation and development of Enthusiasm is that of the creation of Faith in the subject or object toward which you wish to manifest and express Enthusiasm.

If you have no Faith in the subject or object of your activities, then you will never be able to manifest Enthusiasm concerning that subject or object; and if you are unable to manifest at least a fair degree of such Enthusiasm, then you will never be able to express your full energies or to manifest your full powers in those activities. Finally, if you are unable to express your energies to the full and to manifest your powers adequately in those activities, then you will never be able to attain the full measure of success in your work connected with that particular subject or object. If you cannot arouse Faith and Enthusiasm in your work, you would do well to change your work so as to have it cover that in which you can arouse Faith and manifest Enthusiasm.

Faith, however, is not all that is involved in Enthusiasm. Added to Faith there must be a keen interest in the subject or object toward which you have directed your Expectant Attention. Interest adds zest to your activities, and renders pleasant the tasks which without it would be monotonous drudgery and slavish toil. Interest transforms toil and work into a labor of love. When you are deeply interested in a task, you “like” to perform the work connected with it. Interest arouses the creative instinct in the heart and soul of the worker; and all true creative expression is pleasant, and is capable of affording satisfaction to the worker. The best work is not that work performed merely by the hands—nor even that in which the head adds its work to that of the hands; it is only when the heart takes its place in the working partnership, and adds its power to that of head and hands, that the really creditable and worthy work of the individual is performed.

Interest may be aroused and maintained by an intelligent observation of the subject or object of the work. Everything is capable of arousing interest if you will look deep enough and long enough for its interesting qualities and properties. The discovery of interesting facts or qualities in anything creates new interest—this new interest attracts still newer interest, and this still further interest, until finally you find yourself quite deeply engrossed by the subject or object. There is an emotional satisfaction in the discovery of new facts and qualities in anything under your observation; and there is a similar pleasure in discovering improved ways of performing a task. Interest developed to a sufficient extent leads directly toward Enthusiasm.

Interest, however, is quite difficult to arouse concerning anything in which you have no Faith. Lack of Faith is a negative mental quality, and it serves to deaden all the mental powers which are involved in the consideration of and thought concerning a subject or object. Still more harmful is a positive Unfaith in a subject or object—a positive belief that the thing is not worthy, not good, not worth while, not honest, not destined to succeed, or, rather, destined not to succeed. Disbelief, or belief directed toward the undesirable qualities or prospects of a thing, quickly deaden all interest in that thing; and, interest absent, the thing becomes hateful, and all work connected with it grows loathsome. Faith being absent, Interest dies; and, Interest dying or dead, there can be no Enthusiasm felt, expressed or manifested.

Lack of Faith, however, or even positive Unfaith, often may be overcome by a careful and extended examination and consideration of the subject or object in question. Your lack of Faith, or even your positive Unfaith concerning that subject or object may arise from an imperfect knowledge concerning it. Before discarding a thing as incapable of arousing and maintaining Faith in your mind concerning it, you should examine it from every angle and from every point of view, so as to be sure that you really understand it “down to the ground floor.” Do not allow your prejudices to exert an undue influence upon you—this is a most common mistake and fault. Get your facts right before you act. You may discover new facts which will change your whole mental attitude toward the thing in question; and you may thus find a firm foundation for a new Faith in it.

But, having observed every precaution, and having tested the thing from every angle and viewpoint, and having finally come to the positive and certain conclusion that there is not and can never be any Faith in you concerning that thing, then there is but one course for you to pursue—and that course is to get away from that thing as soon as you can do so with due regard for your duties toward yourself and to others who may be interested with you in the thing. Time and labor bestowed upon a thing in which you have no Faith, and toward which you feel sure that you can never entertain Faith, is time and labor wasted. Get out and take hold of something in which you have, or can have, Faith—toward which and concerning which you feel that you can manifest and express Enthusiasm!

Life without Faith and Enthusiasm is a living death—persons living that life are mere walking corpses. If you would be “a live wire” instead of “a dead one”, you must begin to arouse and develop Enthusiasm in your heart and soul. You must cultivate that keen and quickened Interest, and that lively and earnest Faith in what you are doing, and in the things to which you are giving your time and work. You must mentally “breathe in,” and “inspire,” that Spirit of Life which men for many Centuries have called “Enthusiasm,” and which is the twin-sister of Inspiration.

Then will you know the exhilaration of that “enkindled and kindling fervor of soul”—that “ardent and lively zeal”—the mark of true Enthusiasm.

Faith and Mental Power

In the volume of this series entitled “Personal Power,” and in several other volumes of the same series, we have repeatedly called the attention of our readers to the fact that the powers and energies of the mind are called forth under the influence of those mental activities known respectively as (1) Ideation, (2) Desire, and (3) Will.

First, there must be present in the mind a strong, clear, definite idea and mental picture of the object toward which the mental energies and powers are to be directed and applied. Second, there must be present in the mind a strong, insistent, burning desire, longing and craving for the attainment of the object toward which the mental energies and powers are to be directed and applied. Third, there must be present in the mind a strong, determined, and persistent will that there shall be attained that object toward which the mental energies and powers are to be directed.

These three mental factors operate in the direction of arousing and maintaining in action the mental powers and energies necessary for the accomplishment of the particular work required for the attainment of the object of attention, desire and will. If any of the three be but weakly manifested, or Faith Power practically absent, then there will be a corresponding weakness in the action of the mental powers and energies. In effective mental action there must always be the clear, definite idea of that which is sought after; the ardent, insistent desire for it; and the strong, persistent will for its attainment. Underlying these three there must always be that strong, lively, unfailing Faith which serves as the base and foundation of the entire structure.

Not only does Faith serve as the base and foundation of the mental structure just mentioned, but its influence must also ascend to and permeate that which rests upon it. Faith not only supports and sustains, but it likewise correlates and coordinates the three mental factors, and also animates, energizes, stimulates and inspires them. When we examine the matter closely we perceive this action and influence of Faith upon each of the three aforesaid mental factors involved in all successful activities and performances of the mind of man. Without the presence and action of Faith there is a weakening and deadening of Ideation, of Desire, and of Will. Quickened Faith increases the efficiency of each and every one of these three mental factors, in their individual or their coordinated existence.

Let us now consider in a little closer detail the action and influence of Faith upon these three several mental factors involved in the successful manifestation of Mental Power.

Faith in Idealization

In this instruction the term “Idealization” is employed in the sense of “the act of creating the ideal (mental) form, pattern, design or mold of that which you desire to materialize in objective reality.”

In the volume of this series entitled “Personal Power,” we present the idea of Idealization as follows: “Ideals, clearly defined in outline and sharply defined in configuration, well energized and vitalized by an inflow of Will Power, tend to materialize themselves in objective reality, by means of (a) building up a corresponding ethereal pattern, outline, design or mold, around which is deposited the substance of materialization; and (b) by means of attracting to itself the persons, conditions, things, and environmental factors which aid in the process of materialization. Materialization is the act or process of investing with material form, or material properties, that which has previously existed in idealized form or condition.”

In the same volume are given the following suggestions concerning the materializing of the Ideal Form—the “form in the seed”—which you desire to manifest in the form of plant, flower and fruit:

“(1) Idealize the desired things, happenings, or conditions just exactly as if they were existent and active at that particular moment—right ‘here and now’ before you;

“(2) Idealize yourself as you wish to be or to do;

“(3) Idealize others as you wish them to be or to do;

“(4) Idealize happenings as you wish them to occur;

“(5) Idealize conditions as you wish them to be;

“(6) Idealize environment as you wish it to be;

“(7) Idealize your power, strength or ability as you wish them to be.”

It is of paramount importance in all cases in which you wish to accomplish something by the power of your mind, whether along exoteric or esoteric lines of activity, that you should first create in your mind a clear, strong, definite idea, ideal, or mental picture of the thing or condition which you wish to create or bring into material form in the objective world. The importance of this creation of a clear, strong, definite idea or ideal of that which you wish to attain, accomplish, or gain possession of, cannot easily be overestimated. From the simplest task to the greatest achievement, the materialization is rendered far easier of accomplishment, and far more effective in its results, by reason of the previous existence of a strong, clear, definite mental idea, ideal or form. The Ideal Form must always precede the Material Form.

We shall not extend our consideration of Idealization in this place, for it has been covered fully in other volumes of this series. Our purpose here is merely that of pointing out to you the fact that it is most difficult, if not indeed actually impossible, to practice Idealization effectively unless there first exists in your mind a firm, earnest, steadfast Faith concerning the possibility of the accomplishment, or of the bringing to pass of the desired thing or condition.

Faith so directed clears the path of the idealizing activities— it removes all obstacles and hindrances to their action—it enables the mind to form clearly the idea or mental image, and to endow the same with the appearance of reality. Doubt, Distrust, or feeble Faith, on the contrary, interfere with the process of Idealization, and renders the ideal or mental picture hazy, indefinite and indistinct. Unfaith, or Faith extended in the opposite direction, tend to distort the ideal form, if not, indeed, to cause it to take on the form of the opposite to that which is desired.

Feeble Faith, or Distrust and Doubt—and still more, Unfaith or wrongly directed Faith—cause you to feel that all effort toward attainment is futile, useless, and “not worth while.” They cause the poison of “I Can’t” to enter the mind—and the battle is lost before it is begun. The creative imagination and the ideative faculties refuse to create strong, dear definite ideas or ideals of that which they feel can never be accomplished or gained. On the contrary, when you feel that there is a strong probability or “chance” of the successful accomplishment or attainment, when Confident Expectation manifests itself— when the “I Can and I Will” spirit asserts itself within you—then your mind eagerly performs the work of Idealization, and your creative imagination vividly pictures the mental forms which you desire to manifest in material, objective form and effect.

So, right here in the first stage of the manifestation of Personal Power—in the stage of Idealization—you are confronted with the necessity of developing and maintaining Faith and Confident Expectation, and with the necessity of inhibiting Doubt, Disbelief, Distrust, Unfaith or Faith wrongly directed. Before you can materialize that which you wish, you must first know exactly what you wish—must know it in clear ideal form, the more definite and clearer the better. Faith aids in this Idealization, while Doubt, Disbelief, Distrust, Unfaith or Faith wrongly directed, will tend to paralyze your ideative powers by means of the insidious introduction of the feeling of “What’s the use?” “It can’t be done,” “I don’t ‘believe it,” “It is impossible”—these, in themselves, being ideas, ideals or mental pictures opposed to the accomplishment or attainment of the desired thing, and which, like all other ideals will strive to become real, and to take on material, objective form.

Here is the principle in concise form: Faith encourages and promotes effective Idealization; Doubt, Unfaith, Distrust and Disbelief, retard and render ineffective the process of Idealization.

Faith in Desire

Desire is the second factor of Mental Power. You must not only “know definitely exactly what you want,” and manifest it by means of Idealization; you must also “want it hard enough,” and manifest it in Insistent Desire. Desire is the flame and fire which create the steam of Will. The Will never goes out into effective action except when drawn forth by active and sufficiently strong Desire. Desire furnishes the “motive” for Will; Will never becomes active in absence of a “motive.” When we speak of a man having a “strong will,” we often mean really that he has strong Desire—Desire strong enough to cause him to exert every ounce of power and energy in him toward the attainment or accomplishment of the object of Desire.

Desire exerts a tremendous influence upon all of the mental faculties, causing them to put forth their full energies and powers and to perform their work efficiently. It stimulates the intellect, inspires the emotions and quickens the imagination. Without the urge of Desire there would be but little mental work performed. The keynote of Desire is “I Want”; and to gratify and satisfy that “want” the mind puts forth its best energies. Without Desire, you would do but little thinking, for there would be no motive for such. Without Desire you would perform no actions, for there would be no moving-reason for such. Desire is ever the “mover to action”—to action mental as well as physical.

Moreover, the degree and the intensity of your work, mental or physical, is determined by the degree of Desire manifested in you concerning the object or end of such work. The more you want a thing, the harder will you work for it, and the easier will such work seem to you to be. The task performed under the influence and incentive of strong Desire will seem much easier than would the same task performed without such influence and incentive—and infinitely easier than would the same task appear if its end and object were contrary to your Desire. No argument is needed to establish these facts—they are matters of common knowledge, and are proved by the experience of everyday life.

In the volume of this series entitled “Desire Power,” we have given our readers the following general rule concerning the effects of Desire upon actions and performance of work, and consequently upon the attainment and accomplishment of one’s ideals:

“The degree of force, energy, will, determination, persistence and continuous application manifested by an individual in his aspirations, ambitions, aims, performances, actions and work, is determined primarily by the degree of his Desire for the attainment of these objects—his degree of ‘want’ and ‘want to’ concerning that object. * * * So true is this principle that some who have studied its effects have announced the aphorism: ‘You can have or be anything you want—if you only want it hard enough.’”

We shall not go into a detailed consideration of the effect and force of Desire at this place: we have considered it in other volumes of this series. Our purpose here is merely that of calling to your attention the important fact that without Faith it is practically impossible for you to manifest strong, ardent, insistent Desire. If you are filled with Doubt, Distrust, Unfaith or Disbelief in a thing, or concerning the successful accomplishment or attainment of anything, you will not be able to arouse the proper degree of desire for that thing or for its accomplishment and attainment. Lack of Faith, or, still more, positive Disbelief, tends to paralyze the Desire Power; it acts as a brake or as a damper upon its power. Faith, on the contrary, frees the brakes of Desire, or turns on the full draft of its fire.

Desire, in order to be efficient, must be insistent, urgent, imperative, refusing to be denied. It must be that eager longing, craving, seeking, striving which will not rest content unless satisfied or gratified. It must be (as we have repeatedly stated in the various volumes of this series) the same kind of craving and fierce demand that is capable of arousing a “want” or “want to” equal to that of the drowning man’s desire for air, the desert-lost man’s desire for water, the starving man’s desire for food, the mother animal’s desire for the welfare of her offspring, and the wild creature’s desire for its mate. Such a degree and intensity of Desire is practically impossible without the existence of a strong, earnest Faith, and a high degree of Confident Expectation.

Here is the principle in concise form: Faith encourages and sustains, promotes and maintains Desire in its highest degree of efficiency; Doubt, Disbelief, Distrust and Unfaith retard and restrict, inhibit and paralyze this efficient manifestation of Desire.

Faith in Will-Action

Will-Action is the third factor of Mental Power. You must not only “know clearly just what you want,” and see it in your “mind’s eye” in ideal form—you must not only “want it hard enough,” and arouse its power to a degree of insistence and demand which will not brook denial or defeat—you must also call into service the persistent, determined, indomitable application of the Will, which will hold your energies and powers steadfastly and relentlessly to the task of accomplishment and attainment. You must “will to will”, and must make your Will will itself in the act of willing.

Will is perhaps the most mysterious of all of the mental powers. It seems to dwell on a mental plane alone by itself. It lies nearer and closer to the “I AM I” or Ego, than does any other phase of mentality. It is the principal instrument of the “I AM I”—the instrument which the latter employs directly and immediately. Its spirit is Persistent Determination—its essence is Action. Whenever you act, then do you employ your Will. Will Power is the dynamic phase or aspect of Mental Power. All other mental force is more or less static—it is only when the Will becomes involved in the process that Mental Power manifests its dynamic phase or aspect. Wise men have held that “All Power is Will Power at the last”; and that, “All activities are forms or phases of Will-Action, at the last.” In the Cosmos, as well as in the individual, Will Power is the essential and basic phase of Power.

While it is true that Will goes out only in response to Desire, consciously or unconsciously present and active; and while it is likewise true that Will always moves toward an Idea previously existent in the mind; it is also true that Will is greatly encouraged in action and in efficiency by the presence and power of an earnest Faith or Confident Expectation, and that its action is retarded, restricted, weakened, or perhaps absolutely inhibited by an absence of Faith, or by the presence of Unfaith, Doubt, Distrust or Disbelief.

You may satisfy yourself concerning the influence of Faith upon the Will by means of the consideration of a few simple hypothetical cases. For instance, you may be admiring a distant star, and speculating concerning its scenes and possible inhabitants. You feel a strong desire to know something about that distant object. You feel that you would like to travel through space until you reach its scenes; or that you would like to reach out and draw it toward you that you might inspect it. Yet you make no move toward flying through space; nor do you extend your hand (like the infant reaching for the moon) and attempt to grasp it. Why not? Of course, simply because you have no Faith that such attempts would be successful; you manifest positive Doubt, Distrust and Disbelief concerning the idea; and your Will is not called into action concerning it.

Upon the same principle, though the case is not such an extreme one, your Will does not move into action concerning many other familiar objects, being “inhibited by your positive Disbelief concerning the possibilities of its accomplishment. Again, if you have only a faint degree of Confident Expectation of the possible or probable outcome of an undertaking, then your Will moves but feebly toward action concerning that undertaking. If you feel that “the chances are all against me,” or that “I haven’t a chance in the world of doing this”, then your Will is practically paralyzed so far as is concerned any action directed toward the accomplishment of that thing. In the degree that you doubt or disbelieve in the efficacy of an action, so will be the degree of the weakening, restriction or inhibition of your Will-Action concerning that thing.

The converse of the above proposition is likewise true. In the degree that you have Faith in an undertaking or course of action, and in the degree of your Confident Expectation of the successful result of action in that direction, so will be the degree of the ease, efficiency and force of your Will-Action in that direction. The greater your Faith and your Confident Expectation, the greater will be the ease and efficiency of your manifestation of Will-Action concerning the object of your Faith and Expectant Attention. Here is the principle in concise form: Faith encourages and stimulates Will-Action and Persistent Determination; Doubt, Distrust, Disbelief and Unfaith restrain, restrict, retard and inhibit Will-Action and Persistent Determination.

Faith in Combined Idea-Desire-Will

From the foregoing, you will realize that in order to manifest your Mental Power to its full degree of efficiency, or even to an approximate degree of effectiveness it is necessary that you should experience and entertain at least a very considerable amount of Faith, and a lively degree of Confident Expectation concerning the object, subject, achievement or attainment toward which your Mental Power is to be directed. If you have not this degree of Faith and Confident Expectation you cannot expect to be able to manifest an effective degree of Mental Power in the case.

In the event of finding yourself in such a position, you must either (a) strive to arouse, develop and cultivate a true Faith and a rational Confident Expectation concerning the object of your endeavors; or else (b) to withdraw from the attempt because you fail to find a rational and valid basis for such Faith and Confident Expectation. To continue the attempt without Faith, and without at least a very fair degree of Confident Expectation, is to violate the essential laws of your own mental and spiritual being.

However, as we have pointed out to you before, it is not proper to withdraw from a task or a pursuit or undertaking because of lack of Faith and Confident Expectation, until you have thoroughly examined the matter in the light of reason free from prejudice, nor until you have satisfied yourself that there is no valid and true basis for Faith in the thing in question. However, the fact remains undisputed that without Faith and Confident Expectation your Mental Power will refuse to manifest itself actively and efficiently. Your “heart” must be in the undertaking or task, or your “head” will not do its best work therein—and your “hands” will follow the lead of the “head.” Efficiency comes from the exercise of Head, Heart and Hands!

The Attractive Power of Faith

In addition to the influence exerted by Faith over and upon those phases of Mental Power which manifest in the more familiar activities of Thought, Desire, and Will, which you have considered in the preceding section of this book, Faith also plays an important part in those less familiar activities of the mind which operate in the direction of affecting and influencing the things, conditions and persons in the outside world. This is particularly true concerning that phase or form of Mental Power which manifests along the lines of the Law of Mental Attraction.

While the orthodox and more formal schools of psychology do not as yet openly admit the validity of the phenomena of Mental Power to which we have just referred, nevertheless there exists a large and rapidly growing body of careful thinkers, experimenters, and observers who have thoroughly satisfied themselves of the reality of such phenomena, and of the validity of the teachings concerning the mental laws governing them.

That Thought travels in subtle waves, currents, and streams of vibratory energy which extend far from the brain of the persons originating them; that these vibratory thought-waves or thought-currents affect and influence other persons and things; that Thought is contagious and awakens corresponding mental vibrations in others at a distance; all this has now come to be accepted as truth by millions of persons all over the world, and though not as yet formally accepted and taught by the orthodox, conservative schools of psychology, the general hypothesis is accepted as true by great numbers of very careful thinkers, and the body of experimental and practical proof supporting it is increasing rapidly in size and importance.

One of the most interesting, and at the same time most important and practical phases of this general class of mental phenomena is that which is known as Mental Attraction, or Thought Attraction—the Attractive Power of Thought manifesting along the lines of the Law of Mental Attraction. It is with this particular phase that we are specially concerned in this consideration, rather than that of Thought Power in general. We have considered the general subject of Thought Power, Thought Vibration, etc., in that volume of this series entitled “Thought Power”; in the present volume we are concerned with Thought Power only so far as it is associated with Faith Power— and the Attractive Power of Thought is closely linked with that of Faith Power, as you will see as we proceed with the present consideration of the subject.

The Attractive Power of Thought, manifesting along the lines of the Law of Mental Attraction may be stated as follows: (1) Thought, in the form of subtle vibratory force, travels in constantly widening circles from the centre represented by the brain of the individual; (2) these thought-waves coming in contact with the minds of other persons tend to set up corresponding vibrations there, manifesting what has been called “the contagion of thought”; (3) these thought-vibrations of the individual manifest that general law of Thought by reason of which Thought continually strives (a) to manifest itself in action, and (b) to materialize in objective form that which exists within itself in ideal form; (4) these thought-vibrations operating as above stated, tend to attract and draw to the individual the objects and conditions of the outside world which are correlated to the thought of the individual, or else to attract and draw the individual to such correlated objects or conditions.

The Attractive Power of Thought, sometimes called “The Drawing Power of the Mind,” operates along the lines of what is known as the Law of Mental Attraction, as we have said. This Law of Mental Attraction operates along certain general lines of manifestation, though exhibiting numerous special phases or forms of such manifestation. Its general principle of operation is well expressed by the term “Correlation.” Correlation means “reciprocal or mutual relation”; and “relation” meaning “connection, kinship, alliance, attachment or affinity.” Correlation, then, means: “Mutual or reciprocal relation, connection, kinship, alliance, attachment or affinity.” Things which are correlated are tied or linked together by mutual affinity, kinship, alliance or similar connection.

One of the cardinal principles of Mental Science is that Thoughts and the Things represented by them are correlated, i. e., linked and connected by subtle ties or bonds of attachment, affinity or kinship. The second principle of Mental Science is that correlated things tend to attract each other; thus the things of the outside world tend to attract the thoughts which are correlated to them, and the thoughts tend to attract the things to which they are correlated. Thus there is set up a process of mutual attraction or “drawing to”; things attracting and drawing to themselves correlated thoughts, and thoughts attracting and drawing to themselves correlated things, conditions, happenings or persons. The same mental law also operates so as to draw to the individual the thought-currents of others which are correlated to his own by reason of similar rate of vibrations; or of common nature of the thought.

Thought Attraction has been compared with the action of the magnet—and, indeed, the mind is a powerful magnet attracting and drawing to itself those things which are in harmonious vibration with it. It has also been compared to the action of Gravitation—and the analogy is quite striking. The Law of Mental Attraction might well be called the Law of Mental Gravitation. Gravitation is “that attraction or force by which all bodies or particles in the universe tend toward each other.” Not only does the earth attract the tiny particle of matter, but the latter also attracts the earth; not only does the sun attract the earth, but the latter also attracts the sun; not only does the earth attract the moon, but the latter also attracts the earth, as is evidenced by its pulling-force upon the earth’s tides. There is the mutual and reciprocal “pull” of Gravitation in force between all material things.

The Law of Mental Attraction, or Mental Gravitation, acts along lines very similar to those of the action of physical Gravitation. There is present and active the mutual and reciprocal “pull” between Thoughts and Things, and between Thoughts and Thoughts—Thoughts, however, are Things at the last analysis. This principle extends even to so-called inanimate objects: this mystery is explainable under the now well-established law that there is Mind in everything, even in the apparently inanimate objects of the universe, even in the atoms and particles of which material substances are composed. We shall not argue this last point here—it has been considered in detail in other volumes of this series: we are stating here merely the general fact.

Just as “birds of a feather flock together,” so do the thought-waves and thought-currents of different individuals draw together, and also are attracted to the different individuals manifesting the same general character of thoughts. There are “affinities” in the world of thought-vibrations, just as there are “affinities” between chemical substances and between individual living creatures. We not only draw to us thought-vibrations in harmony with our own, but we also draw to ourselves other persons whose general thought-vibrations are similar to our own. The negative phase of attraction—that phase known as “repulsion”—operates along the same general lines as the positive phase.

The following lines, quoted from that volume of the present series, entitled “Thought Power,” will give you in short form a general idea of the more complex operations of the Law of Mental Attraction:

“Not only do you attract thought-vibrations, thought-waves, thought-currents, thought-atmospheres, etc., of a harmonious character, and to which your thoughts have a natural affinity; you also attract to yourselves (by the power of Thought Attraction) other persons whose thoughts have an affinity and harmony with your own. In the same way you attract to yourself (and are attracted toward) other persons whose interests run along the same general lines as your own.

“You draw to yourself the persons who may be necessary for the successful carrying out of the plans and purposes, the desires and ambitions, which fill your thoughts most of the time; and, in the same way, you are drawn toward those into whose plans and purposes you are fitted to play an important part. In short, each person tends to attract toward himself those other persons whom he ‘needs’ in order to materialize his ideals and to express his desires—providing that he ‘wants hard enough’ and providing that the other persons are in harmonious affinity with his plans and purposes.

“There are other, and still more subtle, phases of the operation of Thought Attraction which must be noted here, although they involve the operation of certain powers of the mind, and of Nature, which are but little understood by the great masses of persons. We have reference here to the fact that by Thought Attraction not only other thoughts, not only other persons, are attracted to oneself, but also that the conditions, environment and circumstances necessary for the effective expression and manifestation of one’s thoughts are often brought into being for him; they can scarcely be said to have been attracted to him—rather does it seem that he is attracted to and by them. There is evidently a correlation established between these things and one’s thoughts—subtle natural forces are called into operation in order that there may be a coordination of ‘the person, the time, the place, the conditions, the opportunity,’ required for the expression and materialization of the thought.”

Persons who have had their attention directed toward the operations of the Law of Mental Attraction, and who have learned to apply the principles of its manifestation in their own affairs in life, observe many wonderful instances of its power in the happenings of their everyday life. Books, newspaper items, magazine articles bearing on some subject which is prominent in their thoughts, all these come to hand in an almost uncanny way. Persons who fit into the general scheme of the thought-plan come into one’s life. Peculiar “happenings” come to pass in the same way. Things arise which “fit in” with the general idea. Unexpected circumstances arise which, although often at first sight seemingly obstructive and undesirable, in the end are found to dovetail perfectly into the whole scheme of things. No wonder that many persons having these experiences are at first inclined to attribute them to supernatural or superhuman influence—but they are in full accordance with Natural Law, and are a part of the Powers of Man, when rightly understood.

It is undoubtedly true that clear Idealization and Insistent Desire, combined with the Persistent Determination of Will, give power, energy, and force to the Attractive Power of Thought in the cases just recited. Thoughts characterized by strong, clear-cut ideas and ideals, inspired by Insistent Desire, and stiffened by Persistent Will, are far more effective in Thought-Attraction than are thoughts of the opposite character. But the factor of Faith or Confident Expectation plays an equally important part in the process. Here, as in every other manifestation of Mental Power, or Personal Power of any kind, the factor of Confident Expectation is most important, and one which must always be pressed into service and never overlooked or undervalued.

As we have repeatedly stated in this book, Faith and Confident Expectation is the great stimulator and energizer of Mental Power; and Doubt, Disbelief, Distrust and Unbelief are the great weakeners, depressants, and inhibiting forces of the mind. The Attractive Power of Thought is highly increased by the presence of a lively Faith and spirited Confident Expectation; it is greatly decreased, weakened, hampered and often almost entirely inhibited by the presence of marked Doubt, Disbelief, Distrust and Unbelief. The general law concerning Faith and Confident Expectation is as fully and actively operative in the phenomena of Thought Attraction as in any of the other phases of Mental Power.

When your thoughts concerning an object, a plan, an undertaking, a course of action, is strongly colored by Faith and Confident Expectation, they are given an active, forceful attractive quality. They may be said to be “inspired” by that confident, expectant, hopeful mental attitude, and are accordingly filled with life and spirit. On the contrary, when your thoughts of this nature are colored with Doubt, Distrust, Disbelief and Unfaith, they lack life and spirit, and are weak and ineffective. When that Unfaith is of such a pronounced character as to be actually a Faith in the futility of the plan, and a Confident Expectation of its ultimate failure, then the thoughts, strong enough to produce effects and results, tend to attract the opposite of that desired, in short, to attract the undesirable results instead of the desirable effects.

You may understand this better by realizing that the effect of transmitted thought-vibrations is almost precisely similar to the effect of one’s mental attitude manifested in a personal interview. You need no argument, no illustrations, to convince you of the different effect produced upon you, and in you, on the one hand, by the confident, hopeful, expectant, optimistic mental attitude of the person seeking to interest you in a plan or an undertaking, and on the other hand, by that of the person with a similar purpose whose mind is filled with Doubt, Distrust, Unfaith and Disbelief in the thing which he is presenting to your attention and which he is advocating.

In such instances, you fairly “catch” the mental vibrations of either of these classes of persons, and you are distinctly aware of the mental reaction which they induce in you. The first class produces an effect which may be called “inspiring”; the second class, an effect which may be called “dispiriting.” The one class invites success and cooperation; the other class invites failure and a refusal on your part to fall in with the idea presented. In either case the effect produced upon you is correlated with the character of the thoughts prominent in the mind of the other person.

Some persons, in such an interview, are so filled with faith, hope, confidence and belief in their plans and propositions, and in the successful outcome of the interview, that it requires an effort on your part to refuse this to them. Others, under similar conditions, manifest merely a luke-warm and colorless mental attitude—they seem to lack conviction concerning the merits of their proposition, and to entertain grave doubts of their ability to attract and hold your attention and interest, let alone to arouse your desire and to obtain a judgment in their favor; it is quite easy to say “No!” to such persons, for you are convinced that they feel, in their hearts, that such “is just what I expected.” Others have such a degree of Doubt, Unfaith, Disbelief and lack of confidence in the proposition, and in the outcome of the interview, that it amounts to Faith and Confident Expectation of being “turned down cold” at once—their mental ears are pricked ready to catch your emphatic “No!”—here you find refusal to be the line of the least resistance. You know this from actual experience.

Well, then, this same principle operates in the case of Thought Attraction by means of the transmitted thought-vibrations of the individual. There are present in such case the conditions which attract and those which repel. The thought-vibrations of the individual are really that individual himself, so far as is concerned the particular degree of Thought Attraction. They produce the same effect at long-range that are produced at short-range in the personal interview. The principle is the same in either case. Your mental attitude and the character of your thoughts determine the effect to be produced in the long-distance mental calls, just as truly as in the short-distance ones. The same causes are present and active, and, of course, the same effects and results follow. Wherever Mental Power is present and active, it acts according to the same principles, irrespective of the distance from the person exercising it; space does not change its character or its laws of operation.

This being understood, you will see that it is not sufficient for you to arouse your Faith and Confident Expectation concerning an undertaking, project, plan, idea, object or subject merely when you are actually in the presence of persons who are considered likely to serve your purposes in the matter. You must also create and maintain a habitual mental attitude of Faith, Belief and Confident Expectation in the things in which you are interested, and in which you hope to interest others. You must not allow Doubt, Distrust, Disbelief and Unfaith to overcome you during the hours in which you are away from the other persons in the case. And, above all, you must never allow yourself to fall into the Slough of Despond—into the mire of positive Doubt, Distrust and Disbelief concerning your projects—lest you start into operation, in the wrong direction, the power of Faith and Confident Expectation.

Your Mental Atmosphere is not confined to your immediate position in space; it extends in all directions, and is filled with vibrations, waves, currents, whirlpools and swirlpools of Thought Power—and these influence and produce effects upon other persons whose thoughts are turned upon similar objects, or upon yourself and your undertakings. Remember, always, that “Thought is contagious”—at long range as well as at short range, over long distances as well as in your immediate vicinity.

If you have a lively Faith in your undertakings, and a firmly established Confident Expectation of their success, then others in the general line of interest will tend to “catch” this mental attitude. Just as true is it that if you entertain marked Doubt toward your proposition or undertaking—if you are filled with Distrust, Disbelief and Unfaith regarding it—then such other persons will tend to “catch” these mental vibrations, and will act accordingly. First, be sure that the undertaking is a proper subject or object of Faith and Confident Expectation, and then deliberately and determinedly cultivate, develop and maintain such mental attitude concerning it, until it becomes “set” and habitual. If you cannot do this, you will do well to drop your connection with the thing, and to turn your attention to something toward which, and concerning which, you truly feel Faith and Confident Expectation, and are able to manifest the proper mental attitude toward it.

The more complex phases and forms of the manifestation of Thought Attraction, namely, those phases and forms which are concerned with the attraction of circumstances, happenings, conditions and environments, while more difficult to explain satisfactorily in simple terms, nevertheless are governed by the same general underlying principles of the Law of Mental Attraction. The mental forces are set into activity by Desire; they move out toward the object of clear and strong Idealization; they are held firmly to the task by Will; and, last but not least, they are largely dependent upon Faith and Confident Expectation for their color and effectiveness.

Your conditions and environment, the circumstances and happenings which come to you, are very largely the result of the operation of the Law of Mental Attraction—and they are accordingly, to a great extent, manifestations in objective, material form of your mental ideas, ideals and pictures, the force and nature of such manifestation depending largely upon the degree of Faith and Confident Expectation possessed and expressed by you in your thought upon these subjects and events—or upon the degree of Doubt, Disbelief, Distrust and Unfaith, those negative phases of Faith which serve to slow down the action of Faith Power, or perhaps even to reverse its machinery.

You create environment, conditions, circumstances, events, assistance, means to ends, by Mental Power operating along the lines of the Law of Mental Attraction. Mental Attraction, like all forms or phases of Mental Power, is the transformation of the subjective Ideal into objective Reality—the thought tends to take form in action, the mental form tends to take on objective materiality and substance. The Ideal is represented by the clear, strong, definite mental picture or ideal form manifested in Idealization; Desire furnishes the flame and heat which generate the steam of Will needed in the creative process; but the Idealization is impaired and weakened, the Desire dies away, the Will loses its determination, unless Faith be there to create the Confident Expectation. The less the Faith and Confident Expectation, or the greater the Doubt, Disbelief, Distrust, Unfaith and Lack of Confidence, the weaker is the Idealization, the weaker the Desire, and the weaker the Will Power manifested.

Without Faith, there can be no Confident Expectation; without Faith, the Fires of Desire die away; without Faith, the Steam of Will ceases to be generated; and thus Attainment becomes impossible. Whenever you think of the Law of Mental Attraction, think of Faith—for Faith is its very soul—its inspiration.

Faith in Yourself

In the foregoing sections of this book we have asked you to consider the subject of the importance of developing and maintaining Faith in the subjects and objects, the undertakings and propositions, which constitute the basis of your endeavors and work—and also that of the Confident Expectation concerning the successful outcome of your endeavors in their behalf, when these actually have been undertaken. In the present section we ask you to develop, maintain and manifest Faith in Yourself, and Confident Expectation concerning the outcome of your expression of Personal Power, in thought, will, and work.

Important as is the maintenance of the confident, expectant mental attitude toward the objects and subjects of your endeavors, and toward their successful outcome, even still more important is the intelligent, intuitive mental attitude of Faith and Confident Expectation concerning Yourself, your possession of Personal Power, and your ability to manifest efficiently your latent, innate powers and energies in actual objective performance. You, the individual, are the base and ground, the coordinator and correlator of your active forces and energies, and the creator of the world which constitutes your environment; and YOU are the proper subject of the manifestation of your earnest Faith and your most certain Confident Expectation.

Among the many characteristics and qualities which make for success of the individual there is none more fundamental, essential and basic than that of Self Confidence and Self Reliance—both of these terms being but expressions of the idea of Faith in Oneself. The man who has Faith in himself not only brings under his control and direction those wonderful powers of his subconscious mentality, and the full power of his conscious mental faculties and instruments, but also tends to inspire a similar feeling in the minds and hearts of those other individuals with whom he comes in contact in the course of his pursuit of the objects of his endeavors. An intuitive perception and realization of one’s own powers, and energies, capacity and efficiency, possibilities and capabilities, is an essential attribute of the individual who is destined to success.

A study of the world of men will disclose the fact that those men who eventually succeed, who “arrive” ultimately, who “do things,” are marked by this deep intuitive Faith in themselves, and by their Confident Expectation of ultimate success. These men rise superior to the incidents of temporary defeat; they use these failures as stepping-stones to ultimate victory. They are living expressions of Henley’s “Invictus”—they, indeed, are the Masters of their Fate, the Captains of their Souls! Such men are never really defeated; like rubber balls, they have that “bounce” which causes them to rise triumphantly after each fall—the harder they are “thrown down,” the higher do they rise on the rebound. Such men are always possible—nay, probable and certain—victors, so long as they maintain this intuitive Faith in Self, or Self Confidence; it is only when this is lost that they are really defeated or destroyed.

The failures in life are discovered usually to be either (1) those who have never manifested this Faith in Self, or Self Confidence; or else (2) those who have permitted themselves to lose the same under “the bludgeonings of Chance.”

Those who have never felt the thrill of Faith in Self, or of Self Confidence, are soon labeled by their fellows as lacking the elements of successful achievement—the world soon “gets their numbers” and places them where they belong. Their lack of Self Faith and Self Confidence is felt by those with whom they come in contact; the world lacks Faith in them and has no Confident Expectation of their success.

Those who once have had this Self Faith or Self Confidence, but who have lost it by reason of temporary failure or set-backs, are in even a still worse condition; this, because while the “never-had-it” class have merely a lack of the inspiriting quality, these “had-it-but-lost-it” individuals actually have now a positive Unfaith, Distrust, and Disbelief in themselves and their abilities—they believe that “luck is against me,” and they actually entertain Confident Expectation that “the worst is yet to come.” They have set the Law of Mental Attraction operating against them, instead of for them. Their only hope is to reverse their backward-running mental engine, and once more to get that “I Can and I Will” spirit.

The study of the life-story of the successful men in all walks of life will illustrate this principle to you so forcibly that, having perceived it, you will never again doubt its absolute truth. In practically every case you will find that these successful men have been knocked down, and bowled out, many times in the early days of their careers—often even later on in life. But the knock-out, though perhaps dazing them for a short time, never robbed them of their gameness, their will-to-succeed. They always arose to their feet before they were counted out; and they always grimly, but resolutely, faced Fate. Though their “heads were bloody; they were unbowed,” as Henley triumphantly chants. Fate cannot defeat such a spirit; in time, Destiny recognizes the fact that “here is a man”—and being feminine, she falls in love with him and bestows her favors upon him.

If you will examine carefully the variety of “confident” men in the world around you, you will find that they may be grouped into two general classes. The first of these classes is made up of the vainglorious, egotistical, conceited men—the braggarts, the boasters, the cheap persons who are enamored by their own personality, and who delude themselves, as they seek also to delude the world, into the belief that they are really great and wonderful men. They are conceited, not self-believers. They are filled with vanity, not with true self reliance and self respect. They are the peacocks and apes of the world of men, not its lions and eagles. They are base counterfeits of the self reliant, self confident men of the true type. They are but laths painted to resemble iron. They are “false fronts,” possessing no real stability or power, and having nothing serving to “back them up.” The world soon discovers them to be (in the slang phrases so expressive of the spirit of the idea)—“two spots trying to be aces,” or “four flushers.” Yet, at least for a time, they often manage to fool persons—but sooner or later they crumple, shrivel and fade from view.

The second class of confident individuals is made up of men who pay but little attention to the superficial aspects of personality—except, perhaps, to employ such as their tools and instruments in working upon the world of superficial observers. Instead, they have a deep underlying Faith in “That Something Within” which they have discovered to be the centre of their power and being. The “I AM I” looms large in their mental vision—but that “I” is the great “I” of true individuality, and not the insignificant “i” of superficial personality. These men distinguish and differentiate between the “John Smith, grocer, age 46,” part of themselves, and that mysterious “I AM I” which recognizes that the outer mask of personality is merely that of the part they are now playing in the Great Game of Life—in the Cosmic Drama.

The truly great and successful men in all walks of life intuitively recognize that the elements of personality (which the masses of the public seem to think constitutes the real individuality of the successful man) are at the best but petty and trifling things— things worn about the individuality as one wears his everyday garments—and that the real individual, himself, is hidden from the sight of the lovers of superficiality, though being the most real thing in the world to the true individual himself. The true individual has the most intense Faith in his “individuality,” but regards his “personality” as merely something necessary for his personal manifestation and presence, and never as “the thing-in-itself” of his being.

This statement will appear meaningless to those who are unable to distinguish between the “inner individuality” and the “outer personality”—between the “I” and the “Me,” as some have expressed it. But all who have caught even the faintest glimpse of the Real Self—who have entered into the dawn of the “I AM I” consciousness—these will know what we mean, and will strive toward a fuller realization and manifestation of “That Something Within.” That moment in which the soul first experiences this consciousness of “I AM I,” it is born into a new world—a world in which Faith in itself becomes an intuitive perception, and in which the Confident Expectation of the realization of that Faith becomes an habitual mental attitude.

We are not seeking to lead you into a maze of metaphysical speculation or mystic contemplation by calling your attention to this great subject and object of your Faith in Yourself—this immanent “I AM I”—this wondrous Something Within yourself, which abides in that Secret Place of your Temple of Being. Instead, we are asking you to lay aside, at least temporarily, all such mental activities directed toward abstract subjects or objects, and to turn your gaze inward until, becoming accustomed to the seeming darkness, you will see, at first faintly, then plainly, that magnificent being which is YOURSELF, glowing in a light soft but penetrating—the Inner Light. When you have found this, then verily have you found that true subject and object of Faith in Yourself—the only true subject and object of Self Faith, the subject and object of which all the subjects and objects of mere temporal ephemeral personality are but pitiful imitations or base counterfeits.

When you have found this Real Self—“That Something Within”—this “I AM I”—then have you found that Inner and Real Self which has constituted the subject and object of that Faith and Confident Expectation which have inspired, animated, enthused, and sustained the thousands of men who have reached the Heights of Attainment by the Path of Definite Ideals, Insistent Desire, Confident Expectation, Persistent Determination, and Balanced Compensation. It is this intuitive perception and consciousness of the Real Self which has caused men to live out the ideal of “Invictus,” in the spirit of that glorious poem of Henley. Nothing but this inner realization would have been sufficient to fill the soul of man with this indomitable spirit and unconquerable will. No mere vanity of personal being, no mere belief therein, would have been sufficient—there is needed the certain, positive Faith based upon the underlying individuality, upon the Real Self, upon the “I AM I,” to enable man to utter that tremendous statement: “I am the Master of my Fate; I am the Captain of my Soul!”

In the spirit of this realization in consciousness of your Real Self, of your “I AM I,” read once more that inspired poem of Henley to which we have so repeatedly alluded in our preceding consideration of this subject of Faith in Yourself. It will serve as a refreshing and stimulating bath in the fountain of Inspiration for you. It is, indeed, inspiration, and you feel it to be such. It is the voice of its author’s “I AM I” calling to the “I AM I” within yourself—the roar of the Lion of Individuality within him which awakens corresponding vibrations in that Lion within Yourself!

Faith in Yourself Invictus

By W. E. Henley

“Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods there be

For my unconquerable soul.

“In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced or cried aloud;

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody but unbowed.

“Beyond this vale of doubt and fear

Looms but the terror of the Shade,

And, yet, the passing of the years

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

“It matters not how straight the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll;

I am the Master of my Fate, I am the Captain of my Soul.”

It was in this spirit of the consciousness of the Real Self, and of this conviction of its innate power and its destiny to eventually triumph, that the ancient Stoic philosophers bade their followers to centre their consciousness upon the Indwelling Spirit rather than upon the physical garment called the body, or even upon those instruments of the self called the mind. They were wont to remind their followers that: “A man may not always master the details of his external circumstances, but he can be Master of himself, and, accordingly, the Master of his Fate.” It was in this spirit that the ancient Hindu sages bade their students to. “Dwell in the consciousness of the Real Self: for THAT cannot be wounded by the sword, nor killed by the spear; neither can it be burned by fire, drowned by water, crushed by earth, or blown out by the air.”

The wise teachers of the race have for centuries taught that this Faith in the Real Self, in the “I AM I,” will enable the individual to convert into the instruments of his success even those circumstances which apparently are destined to defeat his purposes; and to transmute into beneficent agencies even those inimical forces which beset him on all sides. They have discovered, and passed on to their followers, the knowledge, that such a Faith is a spiritual power, a living force, which when trusted and rightly employed will annihilate the opposition of outward circumstances, or else convert them into workers for good.

They have noted how “the casualties of life seem to bow to a spirit that will not bow to them, and will yield to subserve a design which they may, in their first apparent tendency, threaten to frustrate.” They have discovered that “when such a spirit is recognized, it is curious to see how the space clears around a man and leaves him room and freedom.” They have seen, and told us, that “there is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent, or hinder, or control, the firm resolve of a determined soul”—and that there can be no “determined soul” in the absence of Faith in the Real and Indwelling Self.

We are here not preaching to you the doctrine of the cultivation of a bumptious, conceited, forward, pushing, cock-sureness, based upon vain conceit and cheap assurance of personal merit and capacity. There is no mental attitude further removed from the true conviction of individual innate power and capacity than is that pitiful imitation of it which is far too common. The blustering, noisy, boasting, egotism which seeks to exalt the personal self and to glorify its achievements or possible attainments, is the very antithesis of that quiet, calm, restrained sense of innate power and capacity which is experienced and manifested by the individual who has found within himself that centre of Personal Power which is his Real Self—his “I AM I.”

Egotism, that cheap self-praise, self-exaltation, and vain conceit, is but the tawdry and pinchbeck imitation of that true Egoism which is based upon the certainty of the power and possibilities of the individual Ego, or the “I AM I.” The former marks the person whose overweening vanity causes him to exalt and glorify his mean personal attainments and his pitifully weak personal powers. The latter distinguishes the individual of true power and real capacity, who manifests his efficiency and capabilities in deeds, not in words—in actions, not in braggadocio—in performance, not in swaggering, boasting, vaporings concerning his fancied ability and his imaginary deeds. There is a difference as wide as that betwixt the poles between true Egoism and base Egotism—be sure that you differentiate between these two opposing mental attitudes.

The Real Self—the “I AM I”—which is the true and proper subject and base of your Faith in Yourself, and of your Confident Expectation based upon this, is that Something Real within yourself which abides permanent, stable, firm, immutable, amidst the surrounding temporal, shifting, changing physical and mental processes which compose your emotional equipment. It is the true Individual surrounded by the incidents and instruments of your personality. It is that Centre of Being around which moves the complex mechanism of your personal existence. It is that absolutely subjective Entity which acts through the objective instrumentality of your mind and body which you have regarded as your Self, but which in reality are but phases of the mechanism through which the Self acts in order to manifest itself in objective existence.

In that volume of this series entitled “Personal Power” we have instructed you concerning this Real Self, and therein have pointed out to you the methods of mental analysis by means of which this Real Self may be disentangled from its machinery of mind and body. In fact, this discovery of the Real Self, and of its effective manifestation, when once achieved, forms one of the two great essential principles of this entire course of instruction embodied in this series of books. Our concern here is merely that of identifying that discovered Real Self with that Self which is the true and only valid basis for your Faith in Yourself, and of your Confident Expectation of its successful manifestation in thought, word and deed.

Your Real Self is a ray from the great Sun of Spirit—a spark from the great Flame of Spirit—a focal point of expression of that Infinite SELF of SPIRIT. The Orientals strive to indicate this relation of the SELF to the Self by the illustration of the reflection of the sun in a million water-pots—there is but one real Sun, but in each pot there is a perfect represented image of that Sun which serves to illumine the water in the pot, and which shines with force and power when the waves and ripples of the water are stilled and calm.

Others have compared the Self to the tiny whirlpool in the great Ocean of SPIRIT. Others have sought to illustrate it by the analogy of the brilliant glow in the electric-lamp—the result of the power of the principle of Electricity manifesting through the resisting carbon in the lamp. But all of these illustrations and analogous representations are feeble and inadequate, though they may serve to point out and to indicate the nature of the relationship between the Infinite Power and its individual expressions.

Enough for us to state here is the fact that You—your Real Self, your “I AM I”—is real, permanent, firm, stable, true, the only thing that is so in your entire personal being; just as Spirit is the only thing so in the Infinity of Being manifested in and through the Cosmos. Your Faith in it is as fully warranted as is your Faith in the Infinite Power of the Cosmos—for at the last the two are one in essence and fundamental being. Your Real Self is the absolute fact of your being—the one and only such absolute fact; all the rest is relative and comparative, finite and conditioned by circumstance. Your Real Self is your Master Self.

It is the King on the Throne of your personal being. When you realize this, then you will assert your kingship and your mastery over all of your mental powers, conscious, subconscious and unconscious—and of your physical powers as well. Surely such an Entity is worthy of your Faith, and of your Confident Expectation of the manifestation of its powers.

The earnest Faith in your Real Self, and your Confident Expectation concerning its manifestation and expression in your work, your endeavors, your plans, your purposes, serve to bring into action your full mental and spiritual power, energy, and force. It quickens your intellectual powers, it employs your emotional powers efficiently and under full control, it sets into effective action your creative imagination, it places the powers of your will under your mastery and direction. It draws upon your subconscious faculties for inspiration and for intuitive reports; it opens up your mind to the inflow of the illumination of your superconscious spiritual faculties and powers. It sets into operation the Law of Mental Attraction under your direct control and direction, whereby you attract to yourself, or you to them, the circumstances, events, conditions, things and persons needed for the manifestation of your ideals in objective reality. More than this, it brushes away the obstacles which have clogged the channels of your contact with and communication with SPIRIT itself—that great source of Infinite Power which in this instruction is called “POWER.”

Discover your Real Self, your “I AM I”—then manifest your full Faith in and toward it; and cultivate your full Confident Expectation concerning the beneficent results of that Faith.

Faith in the Infinite

Faith in the successful outcome of your efforts, your undertakings, your expression of your innate powers, leads inevitably to your Faith in Yourself—your Faith in your Real Self and in its powers and capacities for the efficient performance of the work which constitutes your field of outward expression. In truth, Faith in your Real Self—in your “I AM I”—inevitably leads you to that highest and most magnificent manifestation of Faith and Confident Expectation; namely, Faith in and the Confident Expectation of the manifestation of the beneficence and kindly power of that Infinite Presence-Power from which all things proceed, and in which all things live and move and have their being.

That there exists an Infinite and Eternal Presence-Power—an Infinite and Absolute Principle of Life, Mind, Will—which is the source, fount and origin of all manifested living existence, which is the creative agency by means of which all creation exists and is performed, which is the combining, correlating and coordinating power evident in all the processes of the Cosmos—such is the inevitable, invariable and infallible report of human reason exercised to the full limits of its powers along the lines of philosophical thought, and such is also the report of human Faith extended to its full capacity. Reason finds this report inevitably present as the base and ground of its most profound thought: Intuition corroborates and verifies such conclusion. The opposite of this ultimate report of combined Reason and Intuition is unthinkable; to deny it is equivalent to the denial of the very base and ground of rational thought itself.

In that volume of the present series entitled “Spiritual Power,” we have considered this subject in detail and at length, and have shown not only that Reason is compelled by its fundamental laws to make a final report of this kind, but also just why it is compelled to do so. In addition, we have shown that Intuition agrees in this final report of Truth, and just why this is inevitable.

The consideration of the facts so presented brings the conviction that this fundamental intuition of Truth is as firmly established, and as little open to successful denial and refutation, as is the fact of the fundamental intuitive assurance of the reality of your actual existence as a living entity. Here, Faith becomes an actual “knowing”—it rises to the position of a Faith that “knows,” not merely “believes.”

Reason and Intuition, employed to their full limits of power and capacity for the discovery and announcing of Truth, establish the following Basic and Fundamental Facts of Existence, viz.:

(1) That there is present in being and power an Infinite and Eternal Creative Power which is the Causeless Cause of the Cosmic Manifestation, in whole and in its parts—of the World and its manifold activities which are experienced by us through our consciousness.

(2) That there is present and in being an Infinite and Eternal Coordinative Power which combines, correlates and coordinates the activities of the multiplicity of apparently separate objects and activities of the Cosmos into one harmonious whole operating under Universal Law and Order in which there is no room or place for Blind Chance or Accident.

(3) That there is present in being and power an Infinite and Eternal Life Principle, which is the constant, permanent, unchangeable, invariable, identical essential Essence of Livingness which animates and inspires the countless manifestations of Life and Livingness perceived to exist in the Cosmos; and which is the essential base and ground for the multiplicity of changing, temporal, impermanent living forms and their activities which arise, abide for a time, and then pass away in the Cosmic Process.

(4) That the Infinite and Eternal Creative Power; the Infinite and Eternal Coordinative Power; the Infinite and Eternal Life Principle; are, at the last, but One—one in essence, substance and reality: they are but aspects under which we become aware of the Absolute Presence-Power which is the source and origin; the base and ground; the creator and the author; the supporter and the sustainer, the combiner, correlator and coordinator; the essence and substance of the entire Cosmic Manifestation consisting of an Infinity of Universes with all contained therein. This One Absolute Presence-Power is Absolute Unity, Absolute Presence, Absolute Power. It is the Ultimate Reality, the Final and Basic Fact, the Absolute Truth of Existence. There is and can be nothing known to us except this Ultimate Reality and its Cosmic Manifestations.

(5) This Ultimate Reality—this Infinite and Eternal Presence-Power—is discovered to be Immaterial and not Material: it is perceived to be Pure Spirit in its Ultimate Essence, in its real nature, character and being. Its fundamental laws are Spiritual Laws, this being true even of the physical laws and principles operative in the World of Materiality which is its Cosmic Manifestation.

The World of Manifestation, in its Essence, is contained in the being of this Infinite and Eternal Presence-Power; and this Infinite and Eternal Presence-Power is immanent and present in each and every part and portion, object or activity, of that World of Manifestation. There is nowhere “outside” of the Infinite Presence-Power, for in its presence and in its power this Ultimate Reality abides in everything, everywhere, and in all time. All is in the ALL; and the ALL is in All-Things.

(7) YOU—your Real Self, your “I AM I”—are a centre of power, a focal point of expression and manifestation, in and of that Infinite and Eternal Spiritual Power. In the degree that you realize this, so will be the degree of your possible manifestation of Personal Power. In the degree that you realize this, so will be the degree of your possible individual contact with the Infinite Presence-Power, and of the opening, and freeing of your spiritual channels of communication with and from it. You may become “In Tune with the Infinite”—“In Unison with Infinity”—in this way. In this way, you may Contact the Infinite in consciousness. In the degree that you recognize and realize your actual essential identity with the Infinite and Eternal Presence-Power, so will be the degree of your possible manifestation, expression and actualization of that Ultimate Reality which is the Source, Origin and Fount of Infinite Power— and which is the Infinite Self of which your “I AM I” is the focal point or centre of expression and manifestation.

In the volume of this series entitled “Spiritual Power,” to which we have referred, we have transmitted to you the following Message of Truth as announced in principle by the great illumined spiritual teachers of the race, of all ages, all peoples, all lands, all creeds, which our students are requested to commit to memory and to make the essential and basic fact of their mental and spiritual lives. Hearken to this Message of Truth as announced by such high authorities: The Message of Truth. “You, yourself, in your essential and real being, nature, and entity, are Spirit, and naught but Spirit— in and of SPIRIT; spiritual and not material. Materiality is your instrument of expression, the stuff created for your use and service in your expression of Life, Consciousness and Will: it is your servant, not your master; you condition, limit and form it, not it you, when you recognize and realize your real nature, and awaken to a perception of its real relation to you and you to it. The report of SPIRIT, received by its accredited individual centers of expression, and by them transmitted to you is this:

“‘In the degree that you perceive, recognize, and realize your essential identity with ME, the Supreme Presence-Power, the Ultimate Reality, in that degree will you be able to manifest My Spiritual Power. I AM over and above you, under and beneath you, I surround you on all sides. I AM also within you, and you are in Me—from Me you proceed, and in Me you live and move and have your being. Seek Me by looking within your own being, and likewise by looking for Me in Infinity, for I abide both Within and Without your being. If, and when, you will adopt and live according to this Truth, then will you be able to manifest that Truth—in and by it alone are Freedom and Invincibility, and true and real Presence and Power, to be found, perceived, realized and manifested’.”

In the above-stated Message of Truth will be found the essence of the esoteric teaching and inner doctrine of all of the world’s great religions and most profound philosophies. In all religions there exist (1) the exoteric or outer teaching and doctrine intended for the great masses of persons who are unable to understand or to grasp the deep truths and doctrines—those who are not as yet ready for the full Truth, and who are “not as yet able to bear the Truth”; and (2) the esoteric or inner teaching and doctrine intended for those who have developed spiritual perception to an extent enabling them to grasp, understand and assimilate the full spirit of the Truth. In the sacred writings of all of these great religions will be found constant though carefully-guarded references to the existence of this dual-aspect of teaching and doctrine.

The essence and substance of this Inner Doctrine, or Esoteric Teaching, is found to be practically and essentially the same in all of the great world religions and philosophies, notwithstanding the wide difference in the exoteric teaching and doctrines and in the “names and forms” employed therein. This essence and substance is found to be capable of expression in three brief general axioms, as follows:

I. Ultimate Reality, Truth, Being and Principle is One and One Only; in its essential and fundamental nature it is Spiritual and not Material: the One Ultimate Principle of Being is SPIRIT.

II. The soul or spirit of man is identical in nature and essence with the Infinite Spiritual Principle or Being: it is a spark from the Divine Flame, a Ray from the Divine Sun, or a Reflection of the Divine Presence. This undetached fragment from the Divine Life is immanent within the being of every human individual, though usually undetected by reason of being hidden and covered with the mass of finite, personal characteristics; but no matter how much hidden or covered over, it is always there, its light burning brightly though obscured from ordinary perception.

III. By Faith in the Infinite Presence-Power, which abides Within and Without the individual soul, and by the Confident Expectation of its manifestation through the channels of individuality, the individual soul proceeds to clear away the obstructing debris of finite personality, with its mass of Doubt, Distrust, Disbelief and Unfaith, and to afford a clear passage of the spiritual light and power of the Indwelling Presence-Power; by so doing it also opens the channels of contact with and inspiration from the Superimposing Presence-Power of Infinity.

Pause a moment at this point, and consider carefully the above three axiomatic statements of the esoteric teaching and doctrine of all the great religions and philosophies. You will find that you have always known of these, though you have never clearly recognized them. If you have studied the great religions other than your own, you will now see that this teaching and doctrine is implicit in each and all of them. Piercing the surface of the exoteric teachings and doctrines of your own religion, you will find this teaching and doctrine expressed in them in veiled and guarded terms: now that your eyes have been opened to the Truth, you will find corroboration of these teachings in many hitherto perplexing and mystifying passages in your own Scriptures.

If, as is probable, you have been reared in some branch of the Christian Church, you will find in the words of the Master, and of that great teacher, Saint Paul, numerous corroborations of this Truth. If, instead, you are a Jew, you will find in the Hebrew Scriptures abundant testimony along the same lines— the ancient prophets of Israel knew and taught this Truth, as references to their writings will fully establish. Likewise, if you are a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Mohammedan, you will find in your Sacred Books a full corroboration of the above statement. As the ancient Oriental sages were wont to say: “The Truth is One, though men call it by many names, and express it by many different terms.”

Moreover, in all of the esoteric teaching and doctrine, so announced by the founders of the great religions and their successors, you will find that the Road to the Recognition, Realization and Manifestation of the Truth is always that of the Path of Faith. Even before Works, there is placed Faith. Before the manifestation, there must come the full realization; and before the full realization must come the full recognition and the perception, accompanied by the deep feeling of Faith. Before the believer may justly expect to reap, he must sow the seeds of Confident Expectation. Everywhere we find the repeated and constantly reiterated note of Faith, Faith, Faith! We are constantly admonished to have Faith, coupled with the promise that if Faith be had and maintained “all the rest shall be added unto you.”

In Jewish and Christian theology, Faith is “that mental act of man which places him in an acceptable relation to God.” In Mohammedanism, Faith in Allah is a prerequisite to knowledge of the Divine, and the bestowal of Divine aid. In Hinduism, Faith in Brahman is the Master Key. In Buddhism, Faith in “The Law which makes for Good” is an absolute necessity to the seeker after Nirvana. Everywhere, Faith is held to be the first, and absolutely necessary step toward Attainment. If this be true concerning the exoteric teaching and doctrine, it is thrice true of the esoteric presentation of the Truth—for in the latter it takes on a mystic and occult significance. As an ancient mystic once said: “There is a White Magic in Faith which transcends all other forms or powers of Magic.”

In the exoteric teachings and doctrine, Faith is advocated and demanded because of its claimed power to place man in close relationship with the Supreme Being, and to render possible a spiritual rapport or sympathetic accord with Divine Power. It is there held that the Supreme Being demands Faith as a prerequisite of the bestowal of favors and gifts. In the esoteric teaching and doctrine, however, while Faith is still more earnestly insisted upon as a prerequisite of Attainment, there is not this rather naive and primitive explanation: instead, Faith is explained as that act by means of which the individual soul enters into a fuller recognition and realization of its essential identity with, and contact with the Divine Principle, and thus is enabled to unfold and to manifest those divine powers which are inherent and latent within its nature. Faith, in the exoteric sense, is a “rapport,” i. e., “sympathetic accord” relationship: in the esoteric, it is rather a “rapprochement,” or “act of re-approach or coming-together again after a separation,” or “act or fact of again coming or being drawn near or together.”

Even those not accepting the doctrine of the essential identity of the individual soul with the Universal Soul, and who occupy the agnostic position regarding this question, must be forced to admit as logically sound the argument that if the individual soul is potentially divine, then the act of earnest, positive Faith in its potentially divine nature and possibilities must serve to unfold into manifestation such powers. The esoteric doctrine, however, does not rest merely upon this undoubtedly logically sound premise or proposition—it bases its chief claim upon the fact that the soul which proceeds “as if this were so” soon begins to manifest its powers to such an extent that further doubt is impossible. Thus the proof or the esoteric teaching and doctrine is, at the last, a matter of actual personal experience. Cries the mystic: “Taste, only taste; taste, and you will know the virtue of the Wine!”

Faith in the Infinite, then, consists primarily of the firm, earnest, positive belief in the three axiomatic statements heretofore presented to you (or their equivalents which are found in the esoteric teachings of any and all of the various great religions or philosophies of the world). If this Faith be had and maintained, then it inevitably follows that Faith in the beneficent Good nature of the Cosmic Activities will arise. If the Ultimate Spiritual Principle is embodied in the individual soul, then it must be inclined to be “good” to that soul. Ultimate Reality must be “good” to itself, and if it recognizes the individual soul as a divine fragment of itself, then it must be “good” to that part of itself.

The esoteric teaching and doctrine, however, hold that this recognition of common identity of the Universal Soul and the individual soul is more or less a mutual process; they hold that the individual soul striving to enter into this consciousness of identity with the Divine—seeking its Greater Self—sets into operation certain powers of the Universal Soul which cause the latter to seek “rapprochement,” or “re-approach or coming-together,” of the two apparently separated portions of the Divine Essence, i. e., the Macrocosm and the Microcosm. This being granted, it is easily seen that the act or mental attitude of Faith in the Infinite, and in one’s essential relation to it, or essential identity with it, must operate in the direction of the “rapprochement,” or “coming-together-again,” of the Universal Principle and its Particular Manifestation. Like the water-spout appearing on the high seas, the water from the ocean swirls around and rises to meet and to be united with the descending whirling mass of heavy vapor from the clouds.

Royce says: “We long for the Absolute only in so far as in us the Absolute also longs, and seeks, through our very temporal striving, the peace that is nowhere in Time, but only, and yet Absolutely, in Eternity.” Evelyn Underwood says: “All mystical thinkers agree in thinking that there is a mutual attraction between the Spark of the Soul, the free divine germ in man, and the Fount from which it came forth. The homeward journey of man’s spirit, then, is due to the push of a divine life within answering to the pull of a divine life without. It is a going of like to like, the fulfillment of a Cosmic necessity.” Recejac says: “According to mysticism, the soul is led to the frontiers of the Absolute and is even given an impulsion to enter, but this is not enough. This movement of pure Freedom cannot succeed unless there is an equivalent movement within the Absolute itself.”

Francis Thompson, in his mystic poem entitled “The Hound of Heaven,” describes with a tremendous power, and often with an almost terrible intensity, the hunt of Reality for the unwilling individual Self. He pictures Reality as engaged in a remorseless, tireless quest—a seeking, following, tracking-down of the unwilling individual soul. He pictures the separated spirit as a “strange, piteous, futile thing” that flees from the pursuing Reality “down the nights and down the days.” The individual spirit, not knowing its relation to and identity with the pursuing Absolute, rushes in a panic of terror away from its own Good. But, as Emerson says, “You cannot escape your own Good”; and, so the fleeing soul is captured at last. By Faith in the Infinite, however, the individual soul overcomes its terror of the Infinite, and, recognizing it as its Supreme Good, it turns and moves toward it. Such is the mystic conception of the effect and action of Faith in the Infinite.

Even those philosophers who view the Cosmos as an Infinite Process, operated by an Infinite Spiritual Law rather than by the Will of a Divine Being—even they, unreservedly and fully, likewise teach and preach the paramount value of Faith in the Infinite. Heraclitus, the ancient Greek philosopher who taught the doctrine of the Eternal Becoming; the Stoics with their doctrine of Cosmic Law and Order; and the ancient Buddhists with their doctrine of “The Law of Eternal Change”;—all these taught as the highest wisdom the unquestioning Faith in “The Law.” Everything, they said, is under Law, and proceeds according to Order. Wisdom consists in having absolute Faith in that Law, and in “falling in with” its action, movement and processes. “Faith in and obedience to the Law is the highest religion,” said these thinkers; and they held that only through such could the individual reach the Mount of Attainment.

There are many practical philosophers of our own lands and age who, while more or less agnostic concerning the existence of a Divine Supreme Being, (at least of such conceived as a Person), nevertheless are in full agreement with the ancient philosophers just mentioned in the general conception that the Cosmos is governed by Infinite Law and proceeds according to Eternal Order—and this Law and Order they conceive to be Spiritual rather than Material.

Like Heraclitus, the Stoics, and the original Buddhists, the modern philosophers conceive it to be the highest wisdom on the part of man, as well as his manifest duty toward himself and the universe as well, to arouse and to manifest a firm, absolute, certain and unquestioning Faith in the existence and operation of the Infinite Law and the Eternal Order, and in the belief that it operates in the direction of Ultimate Good; and to endeavor to move along with the Cosmic current, to acquire and to maintain the Cosmic rhythm, to “beat time” and to “keep step” with the Cosmic Order—in short, to get and to keep “In Tune with the Infinite.”

These thinkers, while very practical and pragmatic, nevertheless manifest toward this Infinite Law and Eternal Order a mental attitude of Faith and Confident Expectation which closely resembles the corresponding mental attitude of the devout religious believer. To them, as to him, Faith is the cardinal principle of their thought and action. They do not shrink from that extreme test of Pragmatism, viz., “Would you trust your life to it?” Instead, they trust not only their lives, but their welfare, their happiness, and all that is worth while in human existence, to the operation of that Law. They have found it to be the most practical form of philosophy—a philosophy that “works out” in actual life, and which surely “pays” in the end. This Pragmatic Philosophy, like most of the philosophies worthy of the name, and like all of the great religions, is based upon Faith and Confident Expectation. Like all other forms of earnest thought and belief, it has its roots in Intuition—and Intuition breathes the very spirit of Faith.

It is not our purpose, nor our duty, to direct you concerning your form of religious belief, or regarding your school of philosophy—these are matters entirely for the exercise of your own Reason with the cooperation of your Intuition. But we conceive it to be our duty, and it is certainly our purpose, here to advise you, with all the earnestness at our command, to cultivate the mental attitude of Faith, absolute and unquestioning Faith, in the presence and power of an Infinite and Eternal Ultimate Reality of a Spiritual Nature; and to cultivate an equally earnest and fervent Faith in the operation of the Law and Order manifested by that Ultimate Reality (call the latter what you will—God, Principle, Power, Truth, Law, or the Unknowable Reality). Following this, and dependent upon it, should be the Confident Expectation that this Infinite Law and Eternal Order will tend to operate in the direction of your ultimate Good, in the measure in which you have Faith in it and Confident Expectation concerning its ultimate beneficent results.

Even if you cannot perceive the merit of the philosophical reasoning which leads to this conclusion, even if you are devoid of the religious conviction which brings the similar report, you are justified in accepting such a conception as warranted by the Rule of Pragmatism which is expressed in the axiom: “That which works may be accepted as Practical Truth.” Lack of Faith in the Infinite Law and Eternal Order weakens you, and renders you less efficient—therefore such is a negative quality. Actual Distrust, Disbelief, Unfaith and Doubt are worse than mere negative qualities—they are positive and active in the wrong direction, and tend to reverse the movement, action and direction of the Cosmic Forces, producing that Shadow of Good which is called Evil.

* * *

“Before beginning, and without an end,

As space eternal and as surety sure,

Is fixed a Power divine which moves to Good,

Only its Laws endure.

“It maketh and unmaketh, mending all;

What it hath wrought is better than hath been;

Slow grows the splendid pattern that it plans

Its wistful hands between.

“It will not be condemned by any one;

Who thwarts it loses, and who serves it gains.

The hidden good it pays with peace and bliss,

The hidden ill with pains.

“Such is the Law which moves to Righteousness,

Which none at last can turn aside or stay;

The heart of it is Love, and end of it

Is Peace and Consummation sweet. Obey!

“Ho! ye who suffer I know ye suffer from yourselves;

Naught else compels. * * * *

Within yourself deliverance must be sought;

Each man his prison makes. * * * *

Laugh and be glad; for there is liberty!”

***

Prentice Mulford, that eccentric genius who was really one of the great pioneers of the practical phase of the modern New Metaphysical Movement, although he is seldom given the credit to which he is really entitled in this particular field, once expressed very forcibly the spirit of the true teaching concerning Faith in the Infinite, in the following remarkable passage culled from one of his early books:

“A Supreme Power and Wisdom govern the Universe. The Supreme Mind is measureless and pervades endless space. The Supreme Wisdom, Power and Intelligence are in everything that exists, from the atom to the planet. The Supreme Power has us in its charge, as it has the suns and endless systems of worlds in space. As we grow more to recognize this sublime and exhaustless wisdom, we shall learn more and more to demand that wisdom, draw it to ourselves, and thereby be ever making ourselves newer and newer. This means ever perfecting health, greater and greater power to enjoy all that exists, gradual transition into a higher state of being, and the development of powers which we do not now realize as belonging to us. Let us then daily demand Faith, for Faith is power to believe and power to see that all things are parts of the Infinite Spirit of God, that all things have Good or God in them, and that all things, when recognized by us as parts of God, must work for our good.”

The following statement of the general basic principles of the modern New Thought movement was made several years ago by one of the writers of the present book. It is reproduced here because we think that it presents in concise form the essential spirit of the philosophy of that great modern school of thought just named, after the non-essential and debatable teachings of its various branches have been “ironed out.”

“I. There exists a great underlying Something or Somewhat that is beneficent and well-disposed toward you, and which tries to help, aid, and assist you whenever and wherever It can do so.

“II. Faith and Confident Expectation regarding the beneficent power of that Something or Somewhat tends to open the channels of Its influence in your life; while Doubt, Unbelief, Distrust, and Fear, tend to dam up the channel of Its influence in your life, and to rob It of the power to help you.

“III. To a great extent, at least, you determine your own life by the character of your thought; by the nature and character of your thoughts you furnish the pattern or mold which determines or modifies the efforts of the Something or Somewhat to aid you, either in the direction of producing desirable results, or else in bringing about undesirable results by reason of your damming up the source of your Good.

“These three fundamental principles of New Thought—which is really the oldest kind of thought expressed in new forms—will serve you as the strongest kind of basic platform for practical New Thought demonstration. If you will stand firmly on this platform; make its teachings and principles a part of yourself; and strive to manifest its truth and facts in your own life; then you will be the very best kind of New Thoughtist, even though you may never have heard even a word of New Thought teaching, metaphysical speculation, or philosophical theorizing.”

In that volume of this series entitled “Spiritual Power,” especially in its concluding section entitled “Unison with Infinity,” you will find a far more extended reference to this particular phase of the general subject of Faith and Confident Expectation directed toward the Infinite. If you are interested in this special teaching, we feel justified in recommending to your attention the book just named.

The advanced students of the Esoteric Teaching contained in the Scriptures of all the great religions, as well as their inspired teachers, are aware that in “The Book of Psalms,” in our own Scriptures, are to be found several of the great masterpieces of the esoteric teachings concerning Faith Power—in them is given the essence of the Secret Doctrine concerning Faith in the Infinite. Chief among these are the Twenty-Third Psalm, and the Ninety-first Psalm, respectively. So important are these two great esoteric poems—so filled with practical, helpful information are they—that we deem it advisable to reproduce them here that you may avail yourself of their virtue and power at this particular stage of this instruction. Accordingly, they are given on the next following two pages of this book.

The Psalm of Faith

(Psalm XXIII)

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in the green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

The Psalm of Security (Psalm XCI)

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation. There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, and therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.”

The teachers and students of the Inner Teachings, the Ancient Wisdom, the Secret Doctrine, are also aware of the esoteric spiritual significance of the lines of the well-known hymn, “Lead Kindly Light,” written by Newman in a period of spiritual stress. Few who read or sing this hymn realize its esoteric spirit and meaning—none but “those who know” perceive and recognize that which dwells under the surface of those wonderful words and lines; but it is a matter of common notice and comment that even many persons who are outside of the fold of the Church find great inspiration, help, courage and practical aid from that wonderful hymn.

We feel that we may close this part of our instruction no more fitly than by quoting the lines of that magnificent verse: we trust that you may be able to plunge beneath its surface and discover “in the deep places” the spirit of that great Chant of Faith Power.

The Chant of Faith Power (“Lead Kindly Light”) “Lead kindly light, amid the encircling gloom;

Lead thou me on.

The night is dark, and I am far from home;

Lead thou me on.

Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see

The distant scene; one step enough for me,

Lead thou me on.”

Carry with you ever the spirit of the ancient aphorism of the wise sage, which we have already quoted for your benefit in the pages of this book, and which adorns its title-page:

“Faith is the White Magic of Power.”

Will Power: Your Dynamic Forces

Will Power

Of all the varied manifestations of Power proceeding from that POWER which the best human thought perceives to be the source and origin of all the Power in the Universe, that manifestation which we know as Will Power seems to be the most fundamental, the most elemental, the most universal. It is seen by philosophers to constitute the very kernel or heart of all phases and forms of Personal Power. Many, indeed, have held that in Will Power abides the ultimate principle of the Universe—and that all forms of Power, Force and Energy, at the last, must be thought of in terms of Will Power.

Whatever may be the ultimate facts of the Universe, there can be no dispute concerning the dominating position occupied by Will Power in the life and being of the individual man. When you undertake the task of self-analysis, you will find your Will at the very centre of your being—so close to the “I AM I” or Ego, that it is most difficult to disentangle it from your Real Self.

Your sensations, your passions, your emotions, your tastes and your talents are found to be under the control of your trained Will. You may set them aside from yourself and analyze them, correct them, improve them; but the Will lies closer to yourself—you cannot set it apart from yourself as you can the other mental states. It is neither sensation nor emotion— though it may dominate both. It is always subjective and active, abiding and operating from the very citadel of your being.

Emotion and Thought may lie deep in your being—but Will lies still deeper. Emotion and Thought are objective to the Will, and may be influenced and directed by it. You are conscious of your sensations and of your emotions as merely incidental to your existence. But you are directly conscious of your Will, just as you are conscious of your self-existence. You can modify your other mental states, but you cannot modify your Will in the same way; the Will is your sole instrument of modification and it cannot be turned back on itself. The office of the Will is that of Action; and in its activities it directs and orders, commands and regulates the other mental states. In fact, the Will acts chiefly through and by means of its control and direction of your other mental states.

Will Power may be developed and trained, of course— otherwise this book would have no purpose and intent. But it is not to be developed and trained as are the other mental states or powers—for these are modified by the action of the Will upon them. Unlike theirs, its development consists rather of the unfolding into fuller expression of a fundamental power which already exists—the transformation of latent and static Will into active and dynamic Will. This form of “development” is defined as “the act of freeing from that which envelopes.” Its training, likewise, is different. Instead of its being trained by a higher mental faculty or power, the Will itself proceeds to improve, deepen, widen and strengthen the channels through which its currents flow. We, therefore, employ the term, “the development and training of the Will,” only in this sense.

Will Culture really is the process of providing the Will with the appropriate mental instruments for its fuller expression and manifestation, and of encouraging it to employ them. The Will always is there, abiding in full power. It is your part to supply it with the proper incentives to action; and to furnish it with the channels of habit and use through which it may flow freely. Strange to say, you must employ the powers of Will itself in order to provide these requisites for its own fuller expression. At the last, the Will itself must “will” to provide itself with the instruments of Willing. The Will must will to will; and to will into being the instruments of its future willing. But the Will always is content to do these things when properly aroused.

We need not labor to convince you that it is desirable for you to possess developed and trained Will Power. You know from your own experience and observation that to have “a strong will” is to be a strong individual—one who is regarded with respect. You know also that to have a “weak will” is to be a weak individual—one to be pitied, if not indeed to be scorned. You may, however, have fallen into the error of supposing that the possessors of the “strong will” are individuals especially favored and blessed by Nature, or by the powers above Nature. You may be among those who regard Strength of Will as akin to height, complexion, or similar personal characteristics which have been bestowed upon certain individuals without any effort on their part, and to which no other individuals may hope to attain if they have not been born with them.

If you have fallen into this error, now is the time for you to rid yourself of it. Thoughtful psychologists take an entirely different view of the case. While recognizing the fact that to some individuals the manifestation of Will Power is easier at the beginning—that it “comes more natural” to some than to others, those who have made a careful study of this subject know that it is equally true that each and every individual has within himself a bountiful supply of latent Will Power which he may develop and train to a marvelous degree if he will employ the proper scientific methods. In fact, experience has proved that many of the individuals who have thus acquired a high degree of Will Power are able to manifest it more consistently and more habitually than many of those who were “born to it” but who have not learned how to apply it effectively.

It is true that in order to develop and train your Will Power you will need to arouse and apply a certain degree of Will itself—you will also find that your Will Power once set into operation in this direction will rise to the occasion, and that your supply of such power will prove to be equal to your demands upon it. One may start with even a far less degree of Will Power than that possessed by the average man, and then proceed step by step in an ever-increasing ratio of attainment and development until the heights are reached. Accompanying the very application of Will Power to the task of developing itself by special training, there is a correlated arousing of its latent energies; the employment of Will Power in this effort tends to strengthen and energize its power of manifestation in other directions.

We ask you to take careful notice of this peculiar situation. Will Power may be developed and trained only by Will Power. Will Power is required to develop and to train Will Power. Will Power is self-developed and self-trained. Will Power applies its energies to itself, and by means of this it tends to perfect and improve itself. The other mental faculties and powers find it necessary to call on Will Power to perfect them; but Will Power requires no outside aid, and can obtain none—it must ever fall back upon its own inherent powers when it wishes to develop or improve itself. If you had no Will Power, you would never be able to develop any—since you would have nothing else with which to develop it. But, fortunately, you have Will to start with, though it may exist merely in a latent or dormant state. “Will Power is your heritage, and it will be at your service if you demand it.

When you employ Will Power to develop Will Power, you not only build a mental path over which the Will thereafter travels, but you also actually strengthen and develop the Will itself by the very task of building such paths or roads. In creating the tools for the use of the Will, you also render the Will itself stronger, better and more efficient. Here we have a striking illustration of the old Biblical statement that “To him who hath shall be given.” The more persistent and the longer continued the efforts of your Will to develop and train your Will Power, the stronger will your Will become by reason of the energies expended in the effort. By employing Will Power in the task, you will actually gain Will Power as the result. This is a very significant fact, and one which you should always bear in mind. The more of Will you give, the more of Will you have—this is the way of the Will!

Here at the very beginning, you should realize that there is no royal road to the development and training of Will Power. There is no magic charm which when worn will transform the weak-willed individual into the strong-willed one. There is no miraculous drug, concealed in an attractive capsule, which needs but to be swallowed by one in order to render himself a veritable Sampson of Will Power, or a Napoleon of Will. There is no magician’s wand which when waved over the individual may transform him in the twinkling of an eye into the man with the Will of the Titan. Those who have dreamed of such a miraculous and magic process of transformation may as well realize these facts, right here at the beginning.

But equally true is it that the wonderful results which many have dreamed of securing by some kind of miraculous or magic power are possible of attainment by you, provided that you will apply yourself to the task in the right spirit and with a firm determination to succeed. You may obtain the highest success in this direction, but you must work for it just as you must work for anything else worth while in life. Just as you may develop yourself physically by exercise along the lines of scientific physical culture, so you may develop your Will Power by scientific methods and exercises. This, indeed, is the only way. Will Power may be obtained in no other way. But, on the other hand, the reward will far more than repay you for your efforts; moreover, once you have taken the first few steps, you will find that your interest will increase, and you will be encouraged by the many little indications of the actual development of Will Power which will make themselves manifest even from the start.

We would here call your attention to another important and interesting fact concerning the task of the development and training of Will Power. While the discipline and exercise of the task entails some degree of self-sacrifice in the direction of setting aside certain minor courses of action which may have a strong basis of habit, you will find yourself more than compensated for the loss by the pleasure which comes from the consciousness of the unfoldment of new powers within yourself. The new interests will soon supplant the old ones, and the joy of possession will overbalance the price of denial.

In this connection, we would impress upon you the fact that no intelligent application of Will Power is a loss—such is always a gain. In every intelligent exercise or application of the Will you are making an investment in Will Power—you are making a deposit in the Bank of Will, and this bank pays at attractive rate of interest. We know of no better investment for you. Your expenditures are transformed into savings stored up as a reserve fund drawing good interest. This surely should prove an attractive proposition for you.

We take it that you have already developed at least the average degree of Will Power. The fact that you have undertaken the study of this book is evidence that you have, developed at least some degree of “the Will to Will”—that you know what a valuable thing Will Power is, and that you desire to possess and manifest still more of it. We are proceeding upon such assumption, even when we may seem to be giving instruction designed for those of a lesser degree of attainment. Do not make the mistake of passing over any of the simple and elementary phases of our instruction merely because you may think that you have passed beyond that stage, and have outgrown the need for such instruction. The rule is this: That which will make a weak Will strong, will make a strong Will stronger. Even the most elementary method or exercise may be employed profitably by those of giant Will Power, particularly where the strength has not been effectively trained or efficiently directed.

If you are seeking by the methods of this book to direct the efforts of some weaker-willed friend or relation, we would say to you that you are on the right road. There are no exceptions to the rule that Will Power is capable of development and training in the case of any individual. While there is Will, there is hope. There is latent Will in everyone—even in the weakest-willed person. Moreover, those who are suffering from a diseased Will, or from a discouraged Will, may feel certain that the right effort will raise them from their unfortunate condition. There lives no man to whom the benefit of Will Culture is denied. There is no man so weak, so old, so burdened with a long series of Will-failures, to whom it may not be said truthfully that “The Gate of Hope is still open to you; enter into your own kingdom of Awakened Will!”

Now, right here at the beginning of our instruction, we shall ask you to recall an experience of your youth—if you have ever lived in the country, you will understand the principle involved therein. We allude to the process whereby the good old pump on the farm was “set a-going” by means of the process of “priming” it, i. e., of pouring into the pump a pailful of water in order to set into operation the internal mechanism whereby the working of the pump-handle brought up to the spout a free and full supply of water. Now, then, here at this point we are going to ask you to “prime” your good pump of Will Power, in order to “set it a-going.” Later, you will find some good suggestions concerning that which you should pour into the pump of Will Power in the process of “priming” it. Pour these in, and before long you will feel the thrill of the mounting Will Power—the Will to Will.

Priming the Pump of Will Power

I. Begin by realizing just how much you really want to attain strong and effective Will Power. Let the feelings of your subconscious mentality rise to the surface of your consciousness. You will discover that you have some very strong feelings on the subject—give to these feelings the full possession of your mind. Let the desire for Will Power permeate your whole being. Do not rest satisfied until you want Will Power as the drowning man wants air, as the starving man wants food, as the thirsting man wants water, as the wild creature wants its mate, as the mother creature wants its young. Before you can get anything you must “want it hard enough.”

II. Picture yourself in imagination as already possessed of strong Will Power. See yourself, in mental pictures, as manifesting the actions of the man of giant Will. See yourself as the man of invincible determination—of the purpose once fixed, and then victory or death. See yourself as the man possessed of that strong and indefatigable Will which treads down difficulties and dangers as the boy treads down the frozen snow in winter. See yourself as possessed of that settled purpose which demands fulfillment, and which will not be denied. See yourself as possessed of that passionate and unwearied Will which performs that which seems impossible to the eyes of the cold and feeble. See yourself as the man who will not yield to the casualties of life, but who forces them to yield to him; and who compels circumstances to serve his purposes and designs, though they had at first seemed determined to frustrate them. See yourself as possessed of that Spirit of Will, that firm, decisive spirit, which clears a space around you, and leaves you room and freedom for action. Memorize and ponder over the following lines from Ella Wheeler Wilcox:

“There is no chance, no destiny, no fate,

Can circumvent, or hinder, or control

The firm resolve of a determined soul.

Gifts count for nothing, Will alone is great;

All things give way before it soon or late.

What obstacles can stay the mighty force

Of the sea-seeking river in its course.

Or cause the ascending orb of day to wait?

Each well-born soul must win what it deserves.

Let the fools prate of luck. The fortunate

Is he whose earnest purpose never swerves,

Whose slightest action, or inaction,

Serves the one great aim.

Why, even Death itself

Stands still and waits an hour sometimes

For such a Will.”

III. Next, carefully consider the question of whether or not you are ready and willing to pay the price of effort, exercise and training necessary for the attainment of strong Will Power. Proceed honestly in this matter; do not try to deceive yourself. Weigh carefully the advantages which will accrue to you as the result of your attainment of the qualities and powers seen in the mental picture which you have just considered. Against these balance the degree of work, time, attention, and the general mental discipline which you must perform as the price of your attainment. Balance the “goods” against the “price,” and decide whether or not you will get full value for your money.

You must settle this question once and for all, right here at the beginning—you must not carry it over into the later stages of this instruction, there to plague and torment you. If you find that you are not willing to pay the price, all well and good—in such case close this book and dismiss the subject from your mind: leave it for some more courageous and determined soul. But if, as we anticipate, you decide that “the game is worth the candle,” and “the goods are cheap at the price,” then close the contract with yourself, and proceed as follows:

Having fully “made up your mind,” you should proceed to enter into the task of Will Development with Full Determination and Resolute Purpose. You must manifest not a mere passive or lukewarm resolve, but a real, red-blooded, virile resolution, which your manhood compels you to fulfill. You must Will to Will in this matter. You must throw the whole force of your being into the task of this Purposeful Determination. You must be prepared to act now in the manner in which you pictured yourself acting a few moments ago. You must burn your bridges behind you, and must enter upon the road from which their is no retreat.

Take as your battle-cry, “I Can, I Will; I Dare, I Do!” Carry its inspiration with you. In your hours of struggle, effort, and battle against the forces of lethargy, apathy, inertia, and the tendency to “side track” the decision, sound this note insistently and persistently. In your hours of discouragement, in which the tempter whispers in your ear, “What’s the use?” set the vibrations of the battle-cry into motion. And, finally, in your hours of triumph, in which you enjoy your achievement with that keen pleasure that comes only to him who has overcome obstacles by sheer persistence, determination and Will, let this be your vibrant note of Victory!

Sound this note over and over again, until its vibrations energize every atom and cell of your being. Let its rhythm awaken the thrill of Will Power within you—until the “I Can, I Will; I Dare, I Do!” sounds from the very centre of your being. Sound it over and over again, until you are fully conscious that its vibrations have begun, and that the whole mighty structure of your being is quivering and thrilling, throbbing and beating, with the rhythmic vibration of the energy of your Persistent Determination—the Spirit of your awakened Will to Will.

This, then, is the water of suggestive idea and mental imagery, of Definite Course and Determined Purpose, which you are pouring into your Pump of Will so as to “‘prime” it and to “set it a-going”—and “set it a-going” it surely will!

The Nature of Will

Psychology finds itself confronted by a paradox when it undertakes the consideration of the Will. While it is able to indicate clearly the several stages of the activity of Will, and also to point out positively the methods whereby the Will may be developed and trained, yet when it seeks to indicate the essential nature of Will it finds itself baffled at every turn and, in the end, is compelled to content itself with explaining the Will by a recital of its activities.

The Will is elusive. When we think that we have pinned it down for an examination of its essential nature, we find that we have merely laid hold of one of its manifold phases of activity; the Will in itself remains free from our confining instruments, defying us to fasten it down even by a satisfactory definition. Compared with the knowledge we have of the fundamental nature of the emotions, the reason, the memory and the imagination, our knowledge of the essential nature of Will is very unsatisfactory. Yet, at the same time, we know that we have a Will and that we will; and, moreover, we know how to train our Will and how to develop and unfold its power.

We have but to attempt to define the Will, even with the aid of the best dictionaries, in order to realize how far beyond all possible definitions of it is our intuitive and direct knowledge of its presence, its powers, its activities. Turning to the dictionaries, we find that Will is defined as: “The power of the mind which enables a person to choose between two courses of action; also, the actual exercise of the power of choice”; and, in a secondary meaning, “strong wish or inclination; desire or conative feeling.” The dictionaries further inform us that “the power of choice” is the distinctive attribute of Will, and that the exercise of that power is more properly called “volition.”

Now, this definition is not in accord with the fuller conception of the term “Will” which most of us entertain; moreover, it is not in full accord with the teaching of the best modern psychology. Most of us, when we employ the term “Will,” have in mind the exercise of the strong purposeful, determined power of the Ego or “I AM I.” We know that within ourselves is a strong dynamic force, which when applied with a set and determined purpose is capable of acting with tremendous force, overcoming obstacles, breaking barriers, and sweeping away opposition. Moreover, the best modern psychology informs us that Will always is concerned with Action; and that without Action there is no completed process of Will.

In the present book we shall consider Will as being essentially concerned with Action; and as being most characteristically manifested in the mental states which we know as “Purpose” and “Determination,” respectively. All the other phases of Will we shall regard as being merely incidental to this phase of Purposeful Determination, and as contributing to such phase. By following this course, we believe we shall be emphasizing the practical aspect of Will Power, and that we shall be keeping the inquiry and instruction in the channel promising the greatest benefit to you in the accomplishment of your ends and aims, your ambitions and your hopes.

The term, “Purpose,” seems to express satisfactorily this understanding and conception of Will. It is defined as: “The view, aim, design, intention, determination, resolution or will to accomplish or reach some particular object.” Another definition is: “That which a person sets before himself as the object to be gained or accomplished; the end or aim which one has in view in any plan, measure or exertion; that which one intends to do, hence his intention, design, plan or project.” Employed as a verb, the term, “Purpose,” is defined as: “To intend, to design, to determine or resolve on anything as an end or object to be gained or accomplished.” The term, “Determination,” in this particular meaning, is defined as: “Strength or firmness of mind; firm resolve or resolution; and absolute direction to a certain end.”

In the mental state of Purposeful Determination, and in its resultant action, we have at least a “working principle” of the phase of Will Power with which we are vitally concerned in this book. We shall consider and apply the principles of the other phases of Will toward the end of the accomplishment of this “Purposeful Determination” phase of Will Power. We ask you to fix this principle in your mind, and to keep it in view throughout the entire course of this inquiry and instruction. Memorize the term—“Purposeful Determination.”

We have thought it well to present to you at this point a brief and general synopsis of the Five Stages of Will—the stages which each and every process of Will manifests as it unfolds into active expression. The more clearly you understand the processes of Will; the more clearly will you be able to Will. These Five Stages of Will are as follows: (1) Feeling and Emotion; (2) Desire and Impulse; (3) Deliberation and Consideration; (4) Determination and Decision (5) Voluntary Expression and Action. Here follows a brief description of each of the above-stated Five Stages of Will.

(1) The Stage of Feeling and Emotion. Feeling is defined as: “The simple agreeable or disagreeable side of any mental state.” Emotion is the complex of Feeling. Feeling is the indispensable element of all emotional states. While Feeling, in itself, is not to be regarded as a phase or aspect of Perfected Will, yet it is true that Feeling is one of the “raw materials” of Will Action. Or, stating it in another form, all Will-activities have their roots embedded in the soil of Feeling and Emotion. This fact is not generally recognized by the average person, but it is one which every one is forced to admit when he analyzes and examines his Will-processes. In the category of Feeling and Emotion we, of course, include the moral and religious feelings and emotions, as well as each and every other form or forms of Feeling and Emotion.

It has well been said that “The phenomena of the world have value to us only in so far as they affect our feelings.” The importance of this is recognized when we realize that all Will-activities proceed from Desire, and that Desire is but the active aspect or phase of Feeling. We “will” to do only what we desire to do; and we desire to do only what our feelings report as comfortable, satisfying and contenting, rather than the opposite. If an object or subject fails to arouse interest and agreeable feelings—if it thus possesses no interest or attraction for us—then we experience no Desire or Impulse to have or to do anything concerning the attainment of that object or subject. If we have no aversion or repulsion (also phases of feeling) concerning a subject or object, then we experience no Desire or Impulse to avoid or escape, or to get rid of or away from, that subject or object. Without agreeable or disagreeable feelings or interest concerning any particular thing, we have no Desire or Impulse to act in any way concerning or relating to that thing—it has no Will-value for us in such case.

If Feeling and Emotion were eliminated from our mental being, then all things alike would prove absolutely uninteresting to us. In such case, in the familiar phrase, all things would “look alike to us”—we should not “want” any of them, nor should we “want to” take any action toward attaining any of them; likewise, we should not “dislike” any of them nor should we “want to” take any action in the direction of escaping, avoiding or getting away from anything whatsoever. In such case, our Will would be so absolutely passive and inert that it might as well be non-existent.

(2) The Stage of Desire and Impulse. The essential active element of Desire and Impulse is that which in psychology is called “Conation,” which is defined as: “That element of consciousness which shows itself in tendencies, impulses, desires and acts of volition; it is essentially a mental state of unrest, and it manifests whenever a mental state tends by its nature to develop into something else.”

Desire is defined as: “A conative tendency toward that which promises emotional satisfaction and content, or else away from that which threatens emotional dissatisfaction and discontent.” Desire has for its object the satisfaction of some form of pleasurable feeling, or the escape from some form of painful feeling. This pleasurable feeling, or painful feeling, however, may be concerned with either (a) immediate, or (b) remote events; likewise, such events may concern either (c) the individual himself, or (d) others in whom he is interested and to whom he is related by the bonds of affection or sympathy. No matter how complex may be the feelings arousing the conative impulses of Desire, their ultimate analysis will show that the basic feeling is that inspired by some promised pleasure or some threatened pain, immediate or remote, direct or indirect, deemed likely to be experienced by the individual.

Desire is the connecting link between Feeling and Will. On one side it is blended with Feeling, on the other side it blends into Will. It depends for existence upon Feeling; it depends for expression upon Will. Desire always manifests by a more or less definite “want” or “want to”; this accompanied by a peculiar feeling of tension or strain, known as Impulse. The stronger the Desire, the stronger is this tension or strain of Impulse—this conative urge toward Action.

Feeling and Emotion inspiring Desire may manifest on the open plane of consciousness; or, again, they may abide more or less concealed in the recesses of the subconscious mentality; or, again, they may exist in the guise of habit. But wherever they exist or abide, or in whatever form or guise they present themselves, they are always Feeling and Emotion in the stage of transformation into the conative energy of Desire, and striving to escape and find release in Voluntary Action of the Will.

(3) The Stage of Deliberation and Consideration. Deliberation is: “The act of deliberating or weighing in the mind.” In this stage you find yourself confronted with several alternative courses of action, or else with the question “to do or not to do” some particular thing. In each and every instance of Deliberation, however, you will find that each alternative course of action will involve certain phases of Desire, i. e., certain tendencies to attain or to secure something promising emotional satisfaction and content, or else to escape from and to avoid something threatening emotional dissatisfaction and discontent.

These alternative appeals of Desire to Will present conflicting emotional attractions or repulsions, or both; these you weigh one against the other—one set against the other—until finally you strike the balance of Decision. In such cases, you will find yourself (figuratively speaking) tasting these several dishes of emotional food, noting the agreeable or disagreeable qualities of each, and endeavoring to decide which promises the greater degree of emotional satisfaction or dissatisfaction, content or discontent.

The fact that in this process of Deliberation you call upon reason, memory, imagination and other mental powers or faculties, to assist you in your Decision, must not cause you to overlook the all-important part played in it by Desire. You will find that in the end you have decided upon the course of action which promises you the greatest emotional content and comfort, and the least emotional dissatisfaction and discomfort. You have employed Reason, and its assistant faculties and powers, merely to enable you to discover which of the alternatives possesses the greater promise of ultimate and permanent emotional value along the lines of content and comfort. Your “reasons” governing your Decision concerning Will-Action are always found to be based upon motives of this particular kind.

(4) The Stage of Determination and Decision. Determination (in this usage) is: “The act of terminating or bringing to an end; the state of Decision.” In this stage, the processes of Deliberation, or the “weighing of motives” is brought to an end, and “the mind is made up.” The old school of psychology held this to be the last and final act of Will—its characteristic act. This, indeed, would be true if we could accept the old definition of Will as “the faculty which chooses or makes choice”; but under the later conceptions and definitions of Will, in which it is perceived that Will is essentially concerned with Action, we see the necessity of pursuing our inquiry further.

There is a marked difference between the usage of merely “making up your mind,” or of even “deciding to act”; and that of the actual performance of the associated action which you have decided to perform. Many a time you have “made up your mind,” and have “decided to act,” only later to fail to act or to carry out your decision. This distinction is illustrated by William James’ familiar story of the man “making up his mind” and “deciding” to get out of bed on a cold morning when the alarm clock sounded—frequently he finds it necessary to “make up his mind” and to “decide” several times before he finally expresses the thought in action.

In this inquiry and instruction, accordingly, we have taken cognizance of that further phase of Determination which is defined as, “Strength and firmness of mind; firm resolve or resolution; absolute direction to a certain end.” In this phase of the Stage of Determination, you reach the process of Purposeful Determination—here the Stage of Determination blends into that of Voluntary Action, and becomes one with it.

(5) The Stage of Voluntary Expression and Action. Voluntary Action is defined as: “The process of acting and moving by Will Power.” This is the final stage of the Will. It is Will in full flower. It is toward this end that Will has been struggling and striving, which effort has given activity to all of the processes of the preceding stages or phases of Will. Voluntary Action is the very spirit of Will. Without the manifestation of Voluntary Action, the Will process is practically incomplete.

Determination is the Decision to Will, or, in its more active phases, the resolve or resolution, the Purposeful Determination to Will; or, in still more intense manifestation, even the Will to Will, itself. But in Voluntary Action we have what has been called “Will willing itself in action, and manifesting itself as Will.” Here the trigger of the Will has been pulled by the “I AM I.” Here the spring of Action has been released. Here the Will drives itself into action—sets itself to work. Here the Will not only “wills to will,” but also actually “wills” itself into full manifestation and expression. Here we have the real Will—Will expressing its purpose, its determination, and its full power and inner nature.

This is the phase of Will that so eludes our definition and formal terms, because we have no terms, other than those of Will itself, with which to define it. In the previous phases or stages we could employ the terms of Feeling, Desire or Reason in striving to indicate the nature of the processes of such stages or phases; but here we have nothing else with which to compare Will—for there is nothing else of its kind. Will is unique—sui generis—alone in its class—in a class by itself. You cannot hope to apprehend intellectually its essential nature; but you can and do know it, and experience it within yourself, as the closest instrument, implement and power of the “I AM I,” the Ego, the Self!

Expression and Inhibition. There are two general phases or forms of Voluntary Action with which you must become acquainted. The first phase or form is that of Expression: here the Will-action proceeds in the direction of the actual expression and manifestation of the mental states animating and inspiring the Will. The second phase or form is that of Inhibition: here the Will-action proceeds in the direction of checking, restraining, keeping back or inhibiting the expression of certain insistent but objectionable mental states seeking to inspire the Will to action; here the effort is exerted in response to the stronger, opposing mental states which have won in the Will Conflict during the stage of Deliberation and Decision. In Inhibition, the Will is employed for the purpose of binding, locking up and restraining the activity of the defeated set of Desires which repeatedly present themselves in an attempt to reverse the former Decision of the Will.

Many regard the phase of Expression as the characteristic activity of Voluntary Action; and from one point of view this is correct. But you should never lose sight of the fact that the man who can and will manifest the phase of Inhibition, when necessity arises, and wisdom dictates such course, is none the less the man of giant Will Power. In fact, the man of the strong Will usually accomplishes his great results of Expression only after he has manifested Inhibition in the direction of refraining from acting upon many very strong Impulses and Desires which are opposed to his “top values” of Will. In many cases, indeed, one employs in Inhibition a degree of Will Power not less than that required in the processes of Expression. It often is quite as hard “not to do a thing,” as it is to “do a thing.”

The man of Purposeful Determination and Will Power achieves his distinction very largely by reason of the fact that he is able to hold before his mental vision one Ideal, or set of Ideals—one set of Prime Motives—one set Purpose—one Top Value—and then resolutely and determinedly, even ruthlessly, to thrust from his region of Will all conflicting and opposing tendencies and desires, inclinations and impulses, urges and cravings. In order to manifest into action the One Great Ideal, such a man finds it necessary to inhibit and to restrain a host of lesser ideas, desires, inclinations, urges and cravings. In order to accomplish some One Great Thing, you will often find it necessary not to do many other things which conflict with and oppose that One Great Thing”.

In the exercises which form a part of this instruction, you will be asked to manifest this phase of Inhibition by Will Power. By doing so; you will make progress in the attainment of the Giant Will. This not necessarily because of any special demerit or evil in the inhibited desires and actions, but simply and solely because by reason of such deliberate and determined action of the Will you may develop Will-muscle, and may learn how to hold fast the fiery steeds of Desire which are pulling your chariot of Will.

The steeds of Desire serve well their rightful purposes when they are held well in hand; but, unrestrained, they frequently run away, and end by overturning the chariot and perhaps destroying the driver. Their training consists of alternative stimulation and Inhibition, deliberately and determinedly devised and executed. The purpose of the training is that, through actual practice and exercise, the fiber of your Will shall be made strong and firm, tough and tenacious. By training your Desire-nature to submit to the control of the Will intelligently applied; and by training your Will to control intelligently your Desire-nature; you not only develop the art of efficient Voluntary Action, but also train the Desire-nature to exert to the full its wonderful powers, or else to withhold its forces when the object of the Purposeful Determination is best served by such restraint.

Expression and Inhibition are the two great levers of your machinery of Will. Acquire the art of employing each efficiently and effectively, under the guidance and direction of your Reason, and in the service of your Prime Motives, your Top Values, your Great Ideals.

Conative Will

In your task of developing and training your Will Power you must carefully acquaint yourself with each and every one of the several stages or phases of Will, to the end that you may master each particular phase in turn. In order to acquire complete control over your processes of Willing, you must master each of the phases of the general activity involved in them. You must attack the subject in detail, conquering each of the phases or divisions in turn. When you have made this conquest of the several divisions or phases, you will find that you have made a conquest of the whole.

If you have failed heretofore to attain the conquest of Will Power, you will probably find that your failure has resulted from the fact that you have made the mistake of attempting a frontal attack upon the opposing army—directing your attack upon its strongest point where it is able to bring to bear upon you the maximum of its defensive strength. Such attempts usually result in defeat. The true general attacks the flanks of the enemy, cutting off his bases of supply, and then defeating him in detail. This method of attack is the plan which in this book we shall advise you to follow. We will teach you how to gain control of the bases of supplies, and then how to attack one flank after another until you have gained the control and mastery of the entire organized forces of Will Power. Having accomplished this, you may then press these captured forces into your own service; causing them to fight for you instead of against you.

You should begin your attack upon that wing of the army of Will which may be called the general phase of Conative Will. In this category we include the Feeling and Desire phases of Will which have been indicated in the preceding section of this book.

Conation is defined as: “That element of our mental states which shows itself in tendencies, impulses, desires and acts of volition. Conation essentially is Unrest. It exists when and so far as an existing mental state tends by its nature to develop into something else.” Conation manifests itself in an attempt, an endeavor, a striving to attain something of which the idea or mental image exists in consciousness or subconsciousness. A typical instance is that effort of the memory to recall a name which has escaped recollection for the moment. It is, on the mental plane, akin to that which on the physical plane is manifested as muscular strain arising from contraction of the muscles, plus a feeling of pleasantness or unpleasantness, as the case may be.

A leading reference work says: “Conation is common to desire, yearning, longing, craving, wishing and willing; indeed to all states of consciousness which have an inherent tendency to pass beyond themselves. In desire, consciousness endeavors to pass from the want of an object to the possession thereof; or, if an unpleasantly toned idea enters consciousness—say the idea of an embarrassing situation—a conation arises, and consciousness makes a forcible effort to eject the unpleasant idea.”

Conation is that mental state in which the Feeling element of Desire tends to transform itself into the element of Will—where it transforms the “I want” or “I want to” into “I do.” It follows the rule of Desire which causes the movement toward the object or condition promising the greater emotional satisfaction and content, and away from the object, or condition threatening the greater emotional dissatisfaction and discontent. Will arises from Affection; Affection arises from Emotion and Feeling. Affection says, “I like”; Desire says, “I want,” or “I want to”; and Will says, “I do.” In order to understand Conative Will, you must first understand and control the Feelings, Emotions, and Affections from which Conative Will springs.

Very few persons realize that Feeling, Emotion, Affection and Desire are really phases of Will. Psychology, however, informs us that the Conative Will is the supply department of the army of Will Power; that it is the branch of the Will Power organization which supplies the active branches of the service with the material with which they work, and without which they cannot manifest activity. It is very important for you to realize this fact fully, since you must begin your work of developing and training the Will by acquiring control over the processes of the Feelings, Emotions, Affections and Desires which go to make up that which is called Conative Will.

You are familiar with the praise accorded to “the strong Will,” but very likely you are not quite so familiar with the fact that under the surface of that valuable mental quality and power there must always exist a strong, ardent, insistent and persistent Desire. Without strong, ardent, insistent Desire, even the strongest Will will fail to be called into action. Well has it been said that “Desire is the Flame, the heat of which generates the Steam of Will.” The men of the “strong will” are almost always found to be men of strong Desire. What is called “Aspiration” and “Ambition” is really merely a special form of strong Desire, given definite form and direction by Idea. Likewise, all forms of religious or spiritual craving, or moral aspirations, are forms of Desire.

Nearly everyone believes that he has Desire well developed within his being, but, as a matter of fact, very few persons have even begun to realize just what Desire really is. The great masses of persons believe Desire to be merely the faint, colorless “wanting,” or the equally gentle and mild “wishing” which represents the extent of their development of Conative Will. They usually have not even the most remote idea of what it means, or “feels like,” to be filled with that eager, longing, craving, ravenous Desire which expresses itself in an insistent demand for the desired object or condition, and not in a mere “wishing” for it, or perhaps even “longing” for it.

Such persons have no conception or experience of what it is to “want” a thing as fiercely, insistently, persistently, ardently, overwhelmingly, and vitally as the drowning man wants a breath of air; as the shipwrecked or desert-lost man wants a drink of water; as the famished man wants food; as the fierce, wild creature wants its mate; as the mother wants the welfare of her young. Until they know by actual experience what it “feels like” to “want” in this way, they do not know what Desire really is. You will note that we repeatedly employ the above illustration of Insistent Desire in this instruction. We do so purposely, that its repetition will stamp it indelibly upon your mind.

But those individuals of the race who have accomplished great things—those great masters of circumstance, those great directors of fate, along all lines of human life and endeavor— men like Caesar, Napoleon, and other men like them in less prominent places in life—these men know full well what it means to experience this fierce, elemental thirst of Desire; and their strong Will Power has been aroused into action, and maintained in persistent and determined action, by the elemental force thus set into manifestation and expression.

Such men and women act upon the principle that “You may have anything you want, provided that you want it hard enough,” and they begin by “wanting it hard enough.” The failure of many persons is originally caused by their lack of the power to “want things hard enough.” When you learn to “want a thing hard enough,” you will have taken the second great step on the Path of Attainment which is mounted by the energy of Will Power: the first step is that of “knowing just what you want” Definite Ideals and Insistent Desire—these, with Will, are the prerequisites of Persistent Determination.

Desire supplies the “motives” for all action of the Will. Without these motives the Will would not proceed to action at all, in any direction whatsoever. If you had no Desire concerning a particular thing, then you would not manifest Will-activity toward or away from that particular thing. In such case, you would remain perfectly neutral and passive in your attitude toward that thing. This holds good concerning your mental attitude and action toward or away from anything, or everything.

The general rule concerning the effect and influence of Desire upon Will-activity is as follows: You always act in the direction which at that particular moment of consciousness seems to promise the greatest degree of emotional satisfaction and content, or which threatens the least degree of emotional dissatisfaction or discontent—the promise or threat being either direct or indirect, immediate or remote in time and place.

This rule holds good even when you act to relinquish an immediate or present good in favor of a future or remote good; also when you relinquish a present good because of the fear of some unpleasant remote or future consequence of the action. In all cases you will find that your actions are based upon the rule that one always seeks that which will bring him pleasure, or get rid of pain, immediate or remote, for oneself or for others to whom he is bound by ties of sympathy or affection. This pleasure or pain may be on the planes of physical, mental, moral, or spiritual emotional feeling, respectively—the principle applies to all planes of emotional activity and manifestation.

The technical rule of psychology concerning Will Action is as follows: “The Will proceeds to action along the lines of the strongest motives present and active, in thought and in feeling, at the moment of the action.” In considering this rule, you must always remember that the “motive” always is to be found in Feeling, Emotion, or Affection, raised to the conative plane of Desire; this being more or less influenced and directed by Reason. Reason, Intellect, Memory and Imagination, however, serve merely as the directors and aids to the Desire element of Will in such cases. At the last, they are seen but to serve to point out the road over which the strongest Desires may travel most efficiently and successfully, and whereby undesirable consequences may be avoided—they indicate merely the “how,” and the direction, whereby the Desire may be most effectively and fully satisfied.

The realization of this absolute but comparatively little known rule concerning Will Action brings us to some startling logical conclusions when we seek to reason out the matter to its end. We then see that our highest and most unselfish, as well as our lowest and most selfish actions are performed under this same rule. You must not for a moment fall into the error of identifying Desire with merely the unworthy examples of that mental state; on the contrary, the very highest aims, aspirations, ambitions and striving toward high ideals are likewise in the category of Desire. Anything that we wish to do, want to do, or strive to do—high or low, egoistic or altruistic, moral or immoral, social or unsocial, commendable or reprehensible, material or spiritual—all these are forms of Desire based upon Feeling, Emotion, Affection. The highest morality is that based upon the strong Feeling, Emotion, Affection and Desire to live a moral life, which satisfies and contents the spirit; rather than upon Fear, or the mere wish to be well-regarded by other persons and to meet with popular approval.

But, here, you must not fall into the error or fallacy of believing that man is a mere automaton moved hither and thither by Desire, or as a mere helpless slave of Desire. While it is true that you act by and through your Will; and that Desire is the “motive” of Will-activity; it likewise is true that by the introduction of Ideas and Ideals even Desire is given form and direction—strength and power toward a definite end. By means of the scientific introduction of Ideas and Ideals you may give to any form, phase, aspect or mode of Desire and Feeling a degree of strength and power which it did not possess previously.

In such cases your Will wills that Desire shall be in accordance with Will; it wills that it shall be supplied with the right kind of Desire Power which is required in order to call into activity the needed degree of Will Power. The untrained Will is like a stream flowing through a channel dug for it by others; the trained Will, on the contrary, first digs its own channel and then flows through its self-imposed, self-limited banks and walls—it is self-limited, and, at the last, self-directed.

Keen reasoners, at this point, sometimes object that even in such cases Will is moved by Desire in some form or degree. Such reasoners hold that all that the Will accomplishes in such cases is to master one set of feelings and desires in favor of a higher and more dominant set. This is close reasoning; it is logically correct and has never been successfully contraverted. But, even so, the principle of the control of Desire by the Will remains undisturbed, so far as is concerned its pragmatic and practical application.

While you may never expect to escape the influence of Desire, even in your highest will-activities, yet you may stand upon the high position of the Dominant Will, and from that position may control, stimulate, weaken, encourage or depress the power of the lower forms of Desire and Feeling. In fact, when you reach the heights of Will Power, you will find that the element of Desire seems almost to blend into the essential element of Will itself—almost to become identical with it. In such cases, you will be forced to the conscious conviction that here, at the last, you have ceased merely to “desire to will,” and instead have reached the point where you are able to “will to will.”

Be the metaphysical theory whatever it may, the fact remains that to him who has climbed the Heights of Will there sooner or later comes this supreme report of consciousness of the Freedom of the Ultimate Will. But such heights are reached only by those individuals who have paid the price of attainment— who have persistently climbed the steep mountain paths of Will Power, and have at last reached the clear space at the top. Such experiences are unknown to the great masses of the people. The average person is practically the slave of his Desire—usually of his cruder and most primitive ones; he does not understand even the first principles of the Mastery of Desire by the Dominant Will. The great mass of persons are Will Slaves—there are but few real Will Masters.

Here, in a nutshell, is the distinction between the Will Slave and the Will Master: The average person is moved to Will-activity by the forces of Feeling, Affection and Desire—the strongest Desire-motive always winning the day. Those who have arrived at a scientific understanding of the subject, however, know that while it is true that the strongest Desire always wins the battle, nevertheless, it is equally true that the strength of Feeling, Affection and Desire is directly proportionate to the strength of the Ideas or Ideals animating it. Consequently, by the skilful employment of Attention (itself one of the principal weapons of Will) in the direction of holding in consciousness a certain set of Ideas or Ideals, one may cause these Ideas or Ideals to energize the set of feelings and desires associated with them, and at the same time to weaken the opposite set of feelings and desires.

By the control of the Attention, the “I AM I,” through the Will, is able to control Feeling and Desire, to make them act as his servants, and thus to attain to the mastery of Will. By the scientific employment of Ideas and Ideals, through the Attention, you may control, direct, and master the activities of the Conative Will. But, as we have said, the average person has not even the faintest glimmering of this truth—and, as a consequence, such person remains throughout his life a Will Slave instead of becoming a Will Master.

It is an axiom of psychology that: “The degree of force, energy, will, determination, persistence, and continuous application manifested by an individual in his aspirations, ambitions, aims, performances, actions and work is determined primarily by the degree of his desire for the attainment of his objects—his degree of ‘want’ and ‘want to’ concerning those objects.” This is the more technical statement of the principle embodied in the aphorism which has been previously quoted to you, i. e., “Desire is the Flame that produces the Steam of Will”; the logical inference being that when you wish to produce and use the Steam of Will you must first supply the full Flame of Desire.

In that book of this series entitled “Desire Power” we have considered in close detail the subject of Desire in its relation to other forms and phases of Personal Power, including the phase of Will Power. In it we have drawn upon familiar human experience, and upon the facts of natural history concerning animal-life, for the purpose of illustrating the nature and character of Desire regarded as the motive power of Will-activity, etc. The following paragraph, marked by quotation marks, reproduced from the pages of the book referred to, follows the presentation of those illustrations. We advise you to study carefully the principle announced therein, and to commit to memory the spirit of those principles, as expressed in the Master Formula of Attainment, as follows: “You may have anything you want, provided that you (1) know exactly what you want. (2) want it hard enough, (3) confidently expect to obtain it. (4) persistently determine to obtain it, and (5) are willing to pay the price of its attainment.”

“We have called your attention to the above examples and illustrations of the force of strongly aroused elemental emotions and desires, not alone to point out to you how strong such feelings, emotions and desires become under the appropriate circumstances and conditions, but also to bring you to a realization of the existence within all living things of a latent emotional strength and power which is capable of being aroused into strenuous activity under the proper stimulus, and directed toward certain definite ends and purposes indicated by that stimulus. That this strength and power is aroused by, and flows out toward, the particular forms of stimulus above indicated is a matter of common knowledge. But that it may be aroused to equal strength, power and intensity by other forms of stimulus (such stimulus having been deliberately placed before it by the individual) is not known to the many; only the few have learned this secret.”

The method, above referred to, whereby the latent Desire Power may be aroused and stimulated by the presentation to it of the stimulus of suggestive and inciting ideas and mental pictures, is based Upon the following psychological principle: “Desire is aroused and flows forth toward things represented by suggestive ideas and mental pictures; the stronger and clearer the suggestive idea or mental picture, the stronger and more insistent is the aroused desire, all else being equal.” The knowledge of and the application of this principle renders you the Master of Desire instead of the Slave of Desire—the latter condition and state being that of the great multitude of persons who have not learned the secret of the Mastery of Desire.

The following quotation from Professor Halleck will serve to illustrate the principle involved in the process of the employment of the power of Attention in the direction of presenting to Desire the stimulus of suggestive ideas and mental images in order to more fully arouse and to further strengthen the feeling and conative tendency. Halleck says: “The first step in the development of the Will lies in the exercise of Attention. There is a sense of effort in voluntary Attention. * * * * Ideas grow in distinctness and in motor power as we attend to them. If we take two ideas of the same intensity and centre the Attention upon one, we shall notice how much it grows in power. Take the sensations from two aches in the body and fix Attention upon those of one of them. That idea will grow in motor power until we may act in a direction supposed to relieve that special pain, while the other is comparatively neglected. If we, at the start, want several things in about an equal degree, whether a bicycle, a typewriter, or a cyclopedia, we shall end by wanting that the most on which our Attention has been most strongly centered. The bicycle idea may thus gain more motor power than either of the two other; or, if we keep thinking how useful a cyclopedia would be, action may tend in that direction. * * * *

“We may state as a law the fact that the will determines which motive shall become the strongest, by determining which ideas shall occupy the field of consciousness. * * * * Every idea which becomes an object of desire is a motive. It is true that the will tends to go out in the direction of the greatest motive, that is, toward the object which seems most desirable; but the will, through voluntary attention, puts energy into a motive idea and thus makes it strong. It is impossible to centre the Attention long upon an idea, without developing positive or negative interest (attraction or repulsion). Thus does the will develop motives. * * *

“We have seen that emotion and desire arise in the presence of ideas, and that the will has influence in detaining or banishing a given idea. If one idea is kept before the mind, a desire and strong motive may gather around that idea. If another idea is called in, the power of the first will decline. The more Macbeth and his wife held before themselves the idea of the fame and power which the throne would confer upon them, the stronger became the desire to kill the king, until it finally grew too strong to be mastered. They were, however, responsible for nursing the desire; had they resolutely thought of something else, the desire would have been weakened.”

The “suggestive ideas and mental pictures” which we have urged you to employ in order to arouse and heighten the vigor and power of Desire are as follows: suggestive ideas and mental pictures serving to awaken deeper and stronger Feeling and Emotion concerning the object of your Desire, and tending toward awakening a stronger degree of Affection for that object, which, as a consequence, heightens the Flame of Desire and thus produces a greater pressure of the Steam of Will. These suggestive ideas and mental pictures should “tempt the appetite” of the Desire by presenting to it pictures and suggestions of the satisfaction and content, pleasure and joy, which will follow the achievements or attainment of the objects of the Desire.

This principle is elaborated in that book of this series, entitled “Desire Power,” in which are also given suggestions and methods designed to aid the working out of the principle.

Deliberative Will

You are now asked to consider that phase of Will Power known as the Stage of Deliberative Will. Deliberation is defined as, “The act of deliberating or weighing in the mind.” In the stage of Deliberation you weigh with more or less care the general or special alternative courses of action presenting themselves to the Will. Each of the alternative courses possesses certain points of attraction, and also certain points of repulsion.

The attractive points arise from the promise of emotional satisfaction and content; the points of repulsion arise from the threat of emotional dissatisfaction and discontent. These opposing points are to be balanced one against the other, to the end that the Stage of Determination and the resulting Stage of Voluntary Action may be reached, and the processes of Will thereby completed.

You probably have been accustomed to regard the process of Deliberation as one concerned solely with intellectual activity. You probably have imagined that when you deliberate concerning alternative courses of action you approach the matter in the spirit of cold reasoning, and that your decision is made wholly from the standpoint of logical judgment. But, as a matter of fact, the part played by your Intellect and Reason in the deliberation concerning actions, and in the judgments resulting from this, usually is merely the part of the searcher after facts relating to (1) the direction and means whereby the greatest emotional satisfaction and content may be secured; and (2) the probable results of the action along the lines of either of the two alternative courses—the said results always being measured by their probable effect upon your state of emotional satisfaction and content.

In short, your Reason is employed to search the records of experience in order to discover and uncover the association’s and relations of each of the two alternative courses of action, to the end that you may have the fullest possible information concerning the probable ultimate emotional value of each action; and also to discover and recommend to the Will the most effective methods whereby you may apply either of the alternative courses of action if such be accepted.

It is true that in the case of persons of trained intellectual powers, of wide experience, well-stocked memory, and active constructive imagination, the intellectual faculties play a far more important part in the processes of Deliberation and Decision than in the cases in which these processes are performed by persons lacking those mental qualifications and this extended experience.

Reason performs valuable services in the direction of holding up to the Will the probable results of given alternative courses of action, that the Will may more clearly determine the actual emotional value of those courses. It also renders valuable service to the Will in the matter of discovering, uncovering, inventing and creating methods whereby the “good” of the Will may best be realized and expressed. In this, and in similar ways, it provides the Will with positive and negative motives for choice and action, and thus throws additional weight into the alternative courses upon which Deliberation is being had.

Reason serves Will in this way by placing its forces of memory, imagination and association of ideas at the disposal of Will. It also aids Will in the direction of furnishing it with the fullest possible information concerning the alternative courses of action under consideration—by “telling it all about them” to the best of its ability. This is of the greatest value in the process of Deliberation, and very often determines the Decision.

A course of action “clearly and definitely known” has a very great advantage as a candidate for Will-action over one not so known. Reason proceeds to aid Will in this way with a machine-like coldness, provided that Emotion be kept from interfering with the work. Reason has nothing to gain but the satisfaction of its own nature in thought—Reason is very cold-blooded, and tends to proceed with the appalling inexorableness of a machine. It is unfeeling and unmoral—it proceeds logically from premise to conclusion without regard to emotional or moral values.

But, at the last, Reason acting as an aid to Will always is found to be operating merely in the direction of discovering facts concerning the probable emotional value of courses of action under consideration; or else to be planning and deciding upon the most effective methods of expressing and manifesting those Desires, or Ideas and Ideals connected with Desires, which have been accepted by the Will as containing the promise of emotional value. In short, Reason in such cases is concerned merely with the task of uncovering, or in directing the effective expression of, certain courses of action possessing emotional value. This emotional value is always determined by the greater degree of promised emotional satisfaction and content, or the least degree of threatened emotional dissatisfaction and discontent.

You should note here, however, the following distinction: The emotional element is directly involved only in Deliberation and Decision concerning the advisability of performing certain actions or courses of action. It is involved in this way in all questions of “to do or not to do,” and to all questions of “which of these two courses of action shall I choose?” It is not involved in this way in cases of purely intellectual effort, or processes of logical reasoning, as, for instance, in the working out of problems of formal logic or mathematics. Neither is it directly involved in cases in which Reason is called upon to decide and determine which of certain ideas, plans, methods or courses of procedure will best serve to accomplish certain definite ends and aims. In cases of the latter class the Deliberation and Decision concerning the advisability of undertaking certain tasks, or courses of action, have been previously performed along the lines of comparative emotional value; and all that now remains to be deliberated and decided is “how” best to carry out and execute the designs already adopted, and in what way may best be accomplished the ends already accepted as being emotionally advantageous.

The rule, however, applies invariably to all cases in which you experience the conflicting pulls or pushes of “I want to do this, in one way; while in another way I do not want to do it”; or in cases in which you say to yourself, “This seems to be what I want, or to lead to what I want; but I fear that it may bring about complications or related results which I do not want”; or where you say to yourself, “I want to do this, and I want to do that; but I do not know which I want to do more than the other.” In such cases the conflict really is a Desire Conflict, or an Emotional Conflict, and not a direct Intellectual Conflict at all.

You may feel inclined to resent this statement, and probably may even indignantly deny its truth—many persons feel this way when first this fact is presented to them; for most of us like to think that we decide every question of conduct and action from the standpoint of pure logic and cold reason—but we do not do so at all in cases such as we have just mentioned. If you cannot see the truth of this statement, and are inclined to dispute it, you would do well to submit it to the following test of your own reason and experience, and settle it at once and for all; for unless it is settled in your mind you may not be able to enter fully into the spirit of certain points of our instruction which are based upon this particular psychological principle.

Here is the test of reason and experience—apply it to yourself, honestly and in the scientific spirit, and answer it in the same way. Ask yourself the following questions: “What are the true reasons governing my decisions concerning alternative courses of action and conduct, or of refraining from any certain action or course of conduct, in which the element of feeling, emotion, affection or desire is involved? Do I, or do I not, consider and decide the question of ‘shall I, or shall I not,’ or ‘which shall I do or choose?’ from the standpoint and with the motive of securing the greatest emotional satisfaction and content, or the least emotional dissatisfaction and discontent—the greatest pleasure or the least pain?”

In answering these questions, you should bear in mind that the pleasure and pain may be immediate and remote, and may be concerned directly with your own personal experience or that of others in whom you are interested or to whom you are connected by the bonds of sympathy or affection; all of these forms of emotional satisfaction and content, or emotional dissatisfaction and discontent, come under the general rule.

A careful self-analysis, and a frank, honest report based thereupon, is certain to bring to you the conviction that your deliberations and decisions in cases of this kind, concerning your actions or courses of conduct, invariably are conducted and made upon this basis of the greatest emotional value. The “reasons” for your actions and courses of conduct are never divorced from your Feelings, Affections and Desires. In fact, in the absence of Feeling, Affection and Desire there could not and would not be any “reasons” at all for your actions or courses of conduct. The only “reason”—the only “cause” and “because”—of your actions, or of your choice of actions, or of your acting at all, is the “reason,” the “cause,” and the “because” arising from the promise of emotional satisfaction and content, or the threat of the opposite results—the probable emotional value, in short, passed upon to some extent by Reason.

Sometimes it is difficult to trace back the path to the determining Feeling, Affection or Desire of an action or course of conduct, so remote or so complex such may be at times; but the influence of the Feeling, the Affection or the Desire is always there, animating and inspiring the action or course of conduct— for, otherwise, there would and could be no “reason,” “cause,” or “because” at all for your conduct or action, and, consequently, no answer to the question, “why,” asked concerning such action or conduct. In this connection you should remember that we include Habit (resulting from antecedent actions based upon emotional content) among the emotional motives; you know that it is more comfortable to act according to habit than contrary thereto, and “comfortable” implies Feeling and Desire.

Before Conative Will is transformed into Active Will there must occur a greater or less degree of mental activity in the Stage of Deliberation. Conative Will becomes transformed into Active Will only in response to some idea or object calling it forth into expression and manifestation. There are usually several alternative ideas or objects presented to the Will for decision and choice—or at least there is the alternative of “to do or not to do.” Here, Deliberative Will, assisted by Intellect, weighs and appraises these conflicting alternatives: the process of Deliberation may be extended over a considerable period of time, or else it may be almost instantaneous—but it is always performed.

Pleasure and pain, agreeable or disagreeable mental states, are the precedents of all definite activities of Will. Action is found always to proceed toward the most agreeable, and away from the most disagreeable mental state. The Will is always interested—never disinterested—in its actions. It always moves to gain some end—to acquire something which to it seems “good.”

Life is largely a matter of securing the agreeable and escaping the disagreeable. But it must not be forgotten that by the shifting of the mental point of view our emotional feelings often change from the agreeable to the disagreeable, and vice versa—sometimes there is a violent shifting from one pole to the other of our emotional nature. Such changes arise from the discovery of new attributes in the objects and ideas presenting themselves for Deliberation, Decision and Determination. Thus, while Feeling, Affection and Desire are the motives for all Will actions, the other mental faculties play an important part by presenting to them the ideas and mental images which tend to influence and direct the emotional faculties, and thus have an important influence on Will itself.

Finding Your Definite Purposes

We shall now illustrate to you the process of Deliberative Will by an appeal to your own personal experience. While doing this you will also be obtaining some practical exercise along the lines of efficient Deliberative Will work and activity. In the following illustrations and examples, the particular principles under consideration will be brought out; and at the same time you will take several important steps in the direction of actual practice and training of your Will Power. Instead of illustrating the principles in question by introducing abstract and impersonal examples or instances, we shall employ illustrations and examples from your own personal experiences, so that in examining these illustrative examples you will at the same time be actually exercising the mental faculties which furnish them.

Begin by asking yourself the following question: “For what purpose do I wish to develop and train my Will Power, and to manifest it in action? In what direction do I wish to apply and employ it when I have acquired it? What is the chief end which I seek to accomplish and to attain through the possession and manifestation of developed and trained Will Power?”

Upon your answers to these questions must depend the character of the special instruction and information to be obtained by you from the study of this book. Think well over these questions—ponder them carefully and answer them fully, frankly and honestly to yourself. You will do well to commit your answers to writing for future reference; to “think with pencil and paper” is a very helpful method and one advised in this course of instruction. The following suggestions and advice should materially aid you in this task of discovering and uncovering your Definite Purposes toward the attainment and achievement of which you seek to develop and train your Will Power.

If you are like most persons who undertake this task of determination of their Definite Purposes, which they seek to attain and achieve by means of their Will Power, you will find yourself perplexed to furnish the correct answers to the questions just propounded to you, and which you are expected to answer as fully as possible. You, like many others, probably have not as yet “found yourself” in this important matter. That is to say, you have not as yet discovered and uncovered your Definite Purposes in Life. If this be so, then this instruction has reached you at the right time, because, until you discover and uncover your Definite Purposes, you cannot expect to employ efficiently even that degree of Will Power which you have already developed, not to speak of that additional degree which you hope to attain.

Most persons in this stage (and this probably includes yourself) find themselves filled with merely a vague and general—though perhaps quite strong—inclination and tendency to push forward into action, thereby to attain and achieve that which will be “good” to them and for them. They feel the general outward pressure of Conative Will, but they do not as yet know in just what direction to exert that inner power. This condition is all right so far as it goes—but it does not go far enough. The sense of Will Power is there, but Will Power without Definite Purpose is inefficient and useless. There is needed here a strong, definite, positive, purposive direction for the Conative Will. We shall now present to you the methods whereby this needed element may be supplied.

Dominant Desires. In the first place, you should discover your Dominant Desires, i. e., the strongest and most insistent Desires which abide within your mental and emotional being. It is no easy matter to discover and uncover your Dominant Desires without some instruction concerning the process. You will find that your mental and emotional being is filled with a multitude of desires, great and small, transient and permanent, many of which oppose and interfere with others. There is required of you a determined and careful weighing and measuring of your Desires, the element of depth and width, as well as of weight, being taken into the calculation. There must be a weeding of the Desire garden, a cutting away of the dead wood of the tree of Desire; a test of strength and vitality between opposing sets of Desires, resulting in the Survival of the Fittest.

In that book of this series entitled “Desire Power” we have gone into detail and into an extended consideration of this process of the discovery of the Dominant Desires, to which you are referred if you are especially interested in the subject—the detailed and extended consideration of this special feature cannot be repeated in this book, and is confined to that book dealing with the special subject of Desire Power. The following condensed synopsis, however, will serve to give you the essence and substance of the general principle involved:

(1) The regions of the mind are explored for the purpose of bringing to light the various feelings, emotions, affections, longings and desires which compose your emotional nature. These, as they are brought to light, are carefully noted on a written list. (2) Then begins the process of elimination as follows: (a) the weaker and less insistent desires, and those plainly of a transient, passing nature, are struck from the list, leaving there only the stronger and more permanent ones; (b) the list is then again carefully scrutinized—those desires which “stand out” by reason of their superior power are retained, the remainder being eliminated; (c) the process is continued along these lines of critical selection, until further elimination is deemed inadvisable for fear of “cutting away live wood.” (3) Then the surviving desires are arranged into classes, and these classes are subjected to competition with each other, the stronger and more permanent being retained, while the weaker and less permanent are discarded. (4) Then the surviving sets of desires are compared carefully for the purpose of discovering antagonism and opposition, i. e., the qualities of contradiction which render coordination and harmonious cooperation impossible, and which tend to pull the Will in two opposite directions and thus to bring it to a stand-still or “dead center.” (5) The opposing and contradictory sets of qualities must be pitted in competition against each other, for one or the other must be discarded from the field of the Will. Each must be viewed from every possible mental and emotional angle, and subjected to the most rigid tests. The final result will reveal the stronger of each opposing and contradictory sets of qualities— those which have won in “the struggle for existence,” and which represent the “survival of the fittest.”

The survivors in this process of selection and elimination will represent the strongest and most deeply rooted desires of the individual, and will constitute his Dominant Desires. These Dominant Desires represent his strongest and most enduring Affections, based upon his most vigorous, hardy and sturdy Feelings, and rising to the stage of Conative Will in the form of Insistent Desire. They represent that which one “wants hard enough”—wants so insistently as to render him willing to “pay the price of its attainment.”

Energizing Ideas. But Desire is not the only element involved in Deliberative Will. In fact, it may be said that every great department of mental activity is involved therein. The presence of Ideas and Ideals is necessary in the process of Deliberation.

Action is influenced by representative ideas of objects and things of the outside world. Each clear and strong idea opens a path to possible action, and, therefore, constitutes an element of the deliberative process. Memory and Imagination are also called into play with great effect in the processes of Deliberative Will.

Professor Halleck says: “The greater variety of ideas a man has, the more numerous are the courses of action open to him. If an intelligent physician has an idea of twenty-five different methods of treating rheumatism, he may vary his treatment accordingly, and may succeed where a less skilled doctor would fail. If a business man has a dozen ideas to fit a given emergency, he may act in any one of these directions; if he has but one idea, he can act but in one direction. Idea must proceed to open a path for intelligent action. Before Columbus sailed, he had an idea of land beyond the seas. Even a plumber must have an idea of how to make a short cut for his pipe, before he can do it.”

The same well-known teacher said: “Deliberation is a process of both intellect and will; of intellect to represent ideas and compare them, and of will to hold the ideas before the attention or to dismiss them and make room for others. In the deliberative process, the whole man makes himself felt; all his past experiences count. In impulsive action, the momentary state triumphs. * * * Let us take a rational human action and see how much deliberation may be involved in it. I wish to leave the city during the heated term. Before I act, I not only have the desire to go, but I must know where to go. I find out the location, the merits and the defects of a number of summer resorts. Then I proceed to deliberate. A has surf bathing; B is on a mountain and has fine tonic air; C is near by and some of my friends are going there, but the mosquitoes are annoying and will not allow one to take a walk with any comfort; D has fine air and no mosquitoes, but the place is too fashionable and too much given to dress; E suits for all reasons, save that it is too expensive: F would answer but it is too far off. I then take into my deliberations the possibility of staying all summer in the city. Three hot days come. The nights are so warm that one cannot sleep. I then continue my deliberations about the summer resorts. Will is necessarily present in its most important aspect in every act of deliberation. I balance one idea against another. By will power I turn my attention undivided upon one idea; then I dismiss it, and turn my attention to another. I consider the surf bathing of A, the mountain air of B, the annoyance at C, the fashion at D, the expense at E, the distance to F.”

The intellectual faculties are called into play in the processes of Deliberative Will in the way pictured in the above illustration concerning the matter of choice of summer resorts. It produces from the region of Imagination and Memory many facts bearing upon each of the alternative courses of action. It brings up the associated and related facts which add to or detract from the merits of the alternative. It also serves to expose the false nature of some of the alternative courses of action, and to add to the validity of others. It acts in the direction of choosing and adapting means to given ends, and it establishes the logical relation of cause and effect between different things. Before one can “know what he wants,” he must understand the true nature of the alternative wants—he must know the relations and consequences, the associations and the results, of particular courses of action.

The person who wishes to know intelligently “just what he wants,” and just what course of general action will bring to him the greatest ultimate content and satisfaction, must employ his reasoning faculties in addition to exploring his emotional nature. He must use head as well as heart. He must learn how to observe and examine things, how to obtain correct perceptions, how to form logical judgments, how to use his powers of imagination and memory in the task. As Halleck has said: “In the deliberative process, the whole man makes himself felt.”

The subject of Deliberative Will blends into and harmonizes with that of Determinative Will in many particulars. Determination is the final step or stage of Deliberation, and, at the same time, the first step or stage of Voluntary Action. With this fact in mind, let us now proceed to the consideration of Determinative Will, to which subject the following section of this book is devoted.

Determinative Will

The Stage of Determination is the fourth stage of the Will-process. Determination is defined as follows: “(1) The act of terminating or bringing to an end; the state of Decision; also (2) Strength and firmness of mind; firm resolve or resolution and absolute direction to a certain end.”

The first definition indicates the termination or ending of the process of Deliberation—the decision resulting from the process of Deliberation. The second definition indicates the beginning of a new process, i. e., the process of impulsion toward voluntary action, and the direction of that impulse. In the following consideration of Determinative Will you will see that both of these stages are manifested by Will passing through the Stage of Determination.

You must remember, here, that in studying this subject you are employing a method which may be stated as “Finding Your Definite Purposes,” and which is represented by the effort to answer the following questions which you have propounded to yourself:

“For what purpose do I wish to develop and train my Will Power, and to manifest it in action? In what direction do I wish to apply and employ it when I have acquired it? What is the chief end which I seek to accomplish and to attain through the possession of developed and trained Will Power?”

You have subjected these questions to the test of the Deliberative Will, and are now presenting them to the Determinative Will for decision, and for subsequent positive action upon that decision. The process of Deliberation cannot be arrived at at the present time in absence of sufficient evidence to warrant an intelligent conclusion.

Professor Halleck illustrates the act of Decision following his Deliberation concerning the summer resort (previously quoted), as follows: “With reference to the summer resort, deliberation does not end the voluntary process; the act of will is yet incomplete. Some thing more is necessary than (1) a desire to go, and (2) deliberation about a large number of resorts. My next voluntary step is to choose among the many resorts concerning which I have been deliberating, and to decide to go to one. G satisfies my reason, for the place has sailing and fishing, good walks, few mosquitoes and moderate charges. I then cut short the deliberation and decide to go to G. Decision is a termination of the process of deliberation.”

The illustration just quoted, however, ends with the performance of the first stage or phase of Determinative Will, i. e., the stage in which the Deliberation is brought to an end, and the Decision made; here the individual says: “I have decided to go to G; I shall go to G.” He has “made up his mind” to go to G—but he has not as yet actually set into operation the Will-machinery of action upon that decision. He must also come to the point in which he can and will truthfully say: “I have now the definite purpose of going to G; I intend to go there, and I now begin to exert my Will Power to that end.” This last represents the second phase or stage of Determinative Will.

In consideration of this particular phase of the activities of the Will, we find present the typical examples of the distinction between the strong, healthy Will, on the one hand, and the weak, flabby Will, on the other hand. The individuals composing the first class make up their minds firmly and positively, and then release their impulsive and directive powers toward the related Will-action. The individuals composing the second class, on the contrary, find it most difficult (1) to make up their minds; (2) to keep their minds made up; and (3) to exert their impulsive and directive powers into manifestation and action.

The decision which terminates the process of Deliberation is distinctly an act of Will, and the sense of voluntary strain and effort is clearly perceptible in the process. Many find Decision to be the hardest part of the whole voluntary process. Such persons frequently find it almost impossible to make up their minds—to decide and determine their course of action; they have a decided tendency to allow others to make up their minds for them.

Another large class is composed of persons who are in the habit of making up their minds in a flash, without due deliberation or exercise of judgment; such persons frequently find themselves in trouble as the result of their hasty judgments, and often are required to expend considerable time and energy in their endeavors to rectify matters or to escape from the consequences of their ill-considered decisions. The course of the wise person lies in the direction of escaping these two undesirable extremes, and in maintaining the Golden Mean between them.

Many persons who recognize in themselves the tendency to waver in making decisions, and to escape so far as possible the real act of Decision and Determination, have vainly sought the cure for their trouble in the conventional advice and platitudinous instruction concerning the use of the Will in such cases. These persons have felt intuitively that there must be some scientific method, based upon sound psychological principles, which would enable them to overcome their handicap, and serve to establish a new habit of making decisions and determinations.

Such intuition is well grounded in fact, for such a method does exist and will accomplish its object; in the following several pages we shall present it to your attention.

In most cases in which it is found difficult to arrive at a Decision following the process of Deliberation, the trouble will be discovered to lie in the fact that the emotional-intellectual value of the conflicting alternatives are too nearly alike to admit of an easy decision.

When the full emotional-intellectual value of the alternatives is clearly perceived, then the Decision is easy in most cases, for the weight is clearly on one side. In most cases the choice is made almost automatically. It is axiomatic that the choice between the alternatives is quick and easy in the direct degree that their respective values are clearly and definitely known.

In some cases, however, even the process of careful Deliberation fails to reveal a preponderance of weight on either side; and the discovery of new attributes has served merely to raise both of the alternative courses to a higher plane of interest, without bestowing upon either a greater proportionate weight. In such cases, the person is like the donkey who starved to death because he was unable to decide between two equally attractive haystacks. It is clear that, if Determination is to be reached in such cases, some new element must be introduced.

The Element of Fixed Standard

This new element to be introduced into the task of Determination is known as “The Element of Fixed Standard,” to which we shall now direct your attention. We ask you to consider carefully the following method designed to apply the principle of this added element, for it contains the secret of the correction of many weaknesses of the Will, and the key to the cultivation of prompt, positive and certain Decision and Determination.

The fundamental and essential principle of the Fixed Standard is expressed as follows: You must establish in your mind a clearly defined, certain and positive Fixed Standard of Will Values, based upon an accepted general idea of your Summum Bonum, or Chief Good, with relative degrees of “goodness” or “badness” on the scale of Will Values, said relative degrees being determined by the respective nearness or remoteness to the Summum Bonum or Chief Good.

This Summum Bonum, or Chief Good, which constitutes your Fixed Standard, must be decided upon by yourself— no one else can do the work for you. It must represent your Sovereign Ideal—your highest conception of general conduct and action—by means of which all special conduct or action is to be measured, weighed or gauged. The term “Standard” is defined as: “That which is established by authority as a rule for the measure of quantity, quality, extent or value; that which is established as a rule or model; a criterion; a test.” In the present case, your Fixed Standard is the accepted test, rule or measure of Will Value.

Your Fixed Standard may be modeled upon the character of some great man whom you wish to adopt as a model or, perhaps upon a composite character made up of the approved and esteemed characteristics of a number of such individuals. Or, again, it may be the idea of some accepted adage, aphorism or rule of conduct, which seems to embody your ideal of behavior and action; as, for instance, the Touchstone of Positivity frequently referred to in our instruction, which is expressed in the Test Question: “Will this make me stronger, better and more efficient?”

Or, again, it may be some accepted statement of the general principle of ethical conduct and action, as, for instance, the celebrated Categorical Imperative of Kant, viz., “Act only on that maxim whereby thou canst at the same time will that it should become a universal law,” or in simpler form, “Act always so that you might wish your action and conduct to become the standard of the action of and conduct of all persons.” Other aphorisms of this kind are, respectively, the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you”; or the axiom of Grotius: “Wrong no man, and render unto every man his due.”

Or, again, you may adopt as your standard the maxim: “My every action must contribute to my ultimate success”; or the rule that your every action must be in the direction of the betterment of the world, or along the lines of some particular ethical, moral or religious teachings.

We have mentioned the above examples and illustrations merely to indicate to you the general principle involved, and not that you must adopt any one of them—you may have some Fixed Standard of your own which will far better suit your particular purposes. Our purpose here is merely to have you adopt some Fixed Standard, not any particular one.

The Touchstone of Positivity, so frequently mentioned in this instruction, however, may be adopted by you as a sound, practical basis of conduct and action, for, rightly interpreted and understood, it represents a very high ideal of practical philosophy. Its Test Question: “Will this make me stronger, better and more efficient?” is based upon the threefold ideal of Strength, Virtue and Efficiency—surely not an unworthy ideal, and not contrary to the Categorical Imperative or to the Golden Rule, for it could not be objected to as a rule of universal conduct and action, or of justice to others. We offer it as a suggestion, but you are free to reject it in favor of a rule of your own, without impairing in any way whatever the application of the principle or the method now to be explained to you.

The adoption of your Fixed Standard will give you something with which to measure, weigh or value any and all alternatives of action which are perplexing your Determinative Will. From it you will build a scale or table of Will Values—a clearly defined and certain scale with which to measure, weigh and value the alternative courses of action which are constantly presenting themselves for the decision of Determinative Will. This scale or table of Will Values must be established as far as possible before the time of actual choice or decision. It must cover so far as is possible every probable demand upon you for decision— particularly the general principle of choice involved in any special subject likely to come prominently before you.

In other words, you must proceed to conduct your Deliberation long before the time in which your course of action is likely to arrive, so that when the hour of trial comes you will have your basis of Decision and Determination already firmly and positively made, and thus be able to announce it without delay, yet backed by the weight of your previous careful consideration. In this way, you really map out or chart in advance the course over which your Will shall proceed on its future journeys, and thus escape the danger of the rocks and reefs which wreck the craft of the mariner lacking such chart.

In your Table of Will Values you must have numerous degrees or grades of values. At the head of your list must appear your “top values”—certain principles of action of surpassing value to you, and which must always be dominant. These “top values” must represent conduct and action operating to secure results and consequences strongly in line with your Fixed Standard. Thus, if you have adopted the Touchstone of Positivity, your “top values” will represent actions and conduct which clearly and positively tend to make you “stronger, better, and more efficient.”

Your “top values” (whatever they may represent) must never be sacrificed, no matter what may be the temptation—any course of action which contradicts or negates your “top values” must be rejected at once. Your “top values” must have an almost religious significance; you must be so inspired by them that a suggestion of their violation will cause you to become horrified and indignant. These “top values” must be regarded as something sacred and to be treated with reverence.

At the other extreme of the scale there must be “bottom values,” i. e., certain courses of action which must be viewed with loathing and disgust, and which, under no circumstances whatsoever must be followed by you. You must firmly establish these “bottom values,” and must keep away from the courses of action and conduct represented by them. There must be no flirting with them, no compromise with them—they must be regarded always as essentially evil and opposed to your real well-being and to your permanent happiness, satisfaction and content. These “bottom values” must be to you what the Devil was to the old—time orthodox church-people—there must be no compromise with Satan; you must always assume the attitude of “Get thee behind me, Satan!” to these “bottom values” In case your Fixed Standard is the Touchstone of Positivity, then your “bottom values” will represent those courses of action and conduct which unquestionably “will tend to make you ‘weaker, worse, and less efficient’.”

Between these ever-to-be-sought “top values” and the ever-to-be-avoided “bottom values,” there will be a wide range of middle-values or neutral values, arranged in their respective places according to their respective degrees of likeness and unlikeness, nearness, and remoteness, to the values situated at the two respective poles of the scale. Your judgment will dictate the proper place on the scale for each and every kind of value, and you will find it a very interesting task to place and arrange these possible courses of conduct and action upon your scale. You will do well to use pencil and paper here, and actually to construct a “black and white” scale or diagram of this kind.

The main fact to be remembered—the one vital fact upon which the value of the whole system depends—is that the arrangement must be committed to memory so that it may be recalled easily at any time. Each grade, class or sub-class, on the scale must have its own definite and particular place, so that it may always be found when looked for; and each class must be definitely set off and apart from the one above it and the one below it on the scale. The more definite and positive your classification, the greater the degree of effective availability has your scale.

The ideal scale is that one by which you may immediately determine which of any two alternative courses of action possesses the greater Will Value for you. The nearer to this ideal you can come, the more effective will become your Table of Will Values. A little active use of your imagination at this point will convince you of the wonderful service that a table of this kind will render to you. Think of being able to have a Table of Will Values as all-inclusive and as infallible as is the Multiplication Table! You will find that it is as great an improvement upon the ordinary hit-or-miss method as the use of the Multiplication Table is an improvement upon “counting off” on your fingers.

If you have gone properly about the work of building your Table of Will Values, you will find that in the end your “top values” will represent (a) your strongest feelings, emotions, affections and desires; (b) subjected to the careful scrutiny, analysis, synthesis and final judgment of your reasoning faculties, and (c) tested by your highest ethical or moral principles and standards. In establishing your Table of Will Values, your physical, mental, moral and spiritual natures have participated—it represents the essence of your whole nature and character.

When you find yourself confronted with two or more perplexing alternatives calling for Decision and Determination, you have but to apply to each of the alternative courses the following test-questions: “What place on my Table of Will Values has this proposed course? How closely does it resemble, harmonize with and conform to my “top values”? How far is it away from my “bottom values”? The answer will give the proper value to you of each of the two alternatives, immediately and directly; your Decision and Determination will speedily follow. Moreover, by this method the Will is trained into the habit of Decision and Determination along the lines of the highest Will Values.

However, you must remember that your Table of Will Values may be added to, improved, modified and subjected to the process of evolutionary development, as your experience broadens and widens your intellectual, emotional and moral horizon. The Table of Will Values of the youth, while properly to be employed by him at the time, cannot properly be held to govern the man of matured experience. As with everything else in Nature, the Law of Evolution should govern this Table of Will Values. The system is no rigid, inflexible code which when once formed and adopted can never afterward be improved and enlarged. On the contrary, the intelligent, progressive man will see to it that his Table of Will Values keeps pace with his ever-advancing knowledge and experience.

But, here, you should note two very important points of advice and caution concerning proper changes in your Table of Will Values, viz., (1) Never change or modify your scale of Will Values when under the influence of temptation, or upon the suggestion of others interested in your decision, or when under the fire of opposition; (2) while your scale of Will Values remains unmodified and unimpaired concerning any decision or choice of a course of action, you should live up to it implicitly and positively—it must be strictly adhered to until modified in the proper manner, and under the proper circumstances. i. e., free from outside urge or temptation, suggestion or opposition.

The following additional advice concerning these points doubtless will be of assistance to you:

(1) As we have said above, your Table of Will Values should never be changed or modified while you are “under fire” either of temptation, direct opposition, or the suggestions of others. All your changes, modifications, and evolutionary developments in your table of Will Values should be made by you when you are apart from, and free from, the direct influences just referred to; this because when under the direct influence of these psychological forces your judgment is not always perfectly clear, and your emotional nature often is agitated.

Here is the rule: The changes and modifications—those amendments to your Constitution of Will—should be made only under the same (or similar) circumstances, and with the same care, consideration, deliberation and subjection to tests, which were involved when you made the decisions leading to the original formation of your Table of Will Values—your Constitution of Will By observing this rule you will keep your feet on solid rock, and will escape many dangers and unpleasant experiences.

(2) Again, we have told you that you should stand by and live up to your existing Table of Will Values at all times. So long as your scale remains unmodified and unimpaired concerning any particular course of action, you should regard it as absolutely binding upon your Will and judgment at that time. Any other course would lead you into that state of instability and uncertainty, of indecision and lack of determination, which is the mark of the weak and flabby will.

Your Table of Will Values represents the best that is in you— the best in the whole of your nature—at any given time, and, consequently, in the long run it will be found to be by far the safest and the sanest guide to your actions and decisions. It represents you, yourself, in your state of calm and careful knowledge and decision—as contrasted with you, yourself, under the disturbing influences which shake your judgment and disturb the waters of your emotions. It represents the judgment of “Philip sober,” as contrasted with that of “Philip drunk.”

Note this distinction, however: though the stubborn, bigoted man stands by his Table of Will Values, he does not let the Law of Evolution play upon the same—he admits no new ideas, no new viewpoints, no new facts arising from changed circumstances. The man of true firmness and stability of Will, however, while likewise standing firmly by his Table of Will Values, nevertheless always is willing and anxious to “keep up with the times” in his Table of Values; and he is always working to improve its quality under the proper conditions. While both men stand by their Table of Will Values as they exist at the time on all occasions, there is a difference as wide as the distance between the poles manifested in their respective methods. In one case the code is petrified and rigid, while in the other it is flexible, alive, and subject to improvement under the proper conditions. The man who really is “firm” is fixed in Purpose, but he is willing to change his Position when his Purpose is thereby served. The “stubborn” man, however, is fixed only in Position— he sticks to his Position even if his Purpose is imperilled and destroyed thereby. Note the distinction.

The above—stated two cautionary rules will be found to work out well in practice, in the long run—the few exceptions, or apparent exceptions, serving principally to emphasize the general rule. There are but very few cases in which these rules will not prove to be the formulae of the wisest and sanest action and conduct. If you have exercised due care in building up your Table of Will Values, the exceptions to these rules will prove to be remarkably small—so small, in fact, that they may be said not to count in the sum-total of your experiences.

This system based upon the Table of Will Values is not nearly so arbitrary as it may seem at first glance. Inasmuch as your Table of Will Values has been built carefully, and as carefully passed upon in final decision, it represents the best in your emotional being, your intellectual being, your moral being. This being so, it follows that in living up to these highest reports of your whole being, and in avoiding that which is reported by your whole being as being low and unworthy, you are living up to that which is of the greatest real and permanent value to you—you are being true to yourself, and, according to good authority, in doing this you are also being true to all other men.

Establishing a Conscience of Will Values. If you proceed with proper earnestness and determination in the work of building up and establishing your Table of Will Values based upon your chosen Fixed Standard, and then proceed to apply the standards of that Table honestly and conscientiously, then, before long you will find that you have established what may be called a Conscience of Will Values in your subconscious mental being. This new conscience will grow strong, and will soon manifest itself as strenuously and as efficiently as does the more familiar ordinary “moral conscience” with which all of us are more or less familiar.

The newly-awakened Conscience of Will Values, existing in the subconscious regions of your being, will sound the alarm-bell when you are in danger of violating the principles of your Fixed Standard and of failing to observe your “‘top values.” It will render you uncomfortable when you are not living up to the requirements of your standards; it will impart the feeling of a warm glow of satisfaction when you comply with the principle. The man in whom this Conscience of Will Values has been awakened is blessed; he will have a “something within” which will keep his feet on the right path, and which will warn him from straying into the by-paths which beset the Road of Attainment. And thrice blessed is he who, having this Conscience, acquires the habit of steadfastly heeding its warnings and obeying its orders.

This section of this book should be studied in connection with the one immediately preceding it, and the one immediately following it, for the three sections are closely related in subject matter, and the instruction in each blends very closely with that in the two others.

In the present section we have considered merely the first phase of the Determinative Will, i. e., the phase of Decision or “making up your mind” The consideration of the second phase, i. e., the phase of “firm resolve or resolution, or absolute direction to a certain end,” will be carried over to the section immediately following the present one, i. e., the section dealing with Voluntary Action. The reason for such division of the subject, and such blending of the two phases of Will-action, will become more apparent to you as we proceed.

Active Will

The Stage of Action is the fifth stage of the Will Process. Here Will manifests in Voluntary Action, i. e., “the process of acting and moving by Will Power.” This is the final stage of the Will process—the stage to which all the preceding stages have been but as preliminaries. In Voluntary Action the Will manifests its unique character and nature. Toward the end of Voluntary Action all the energies of the Will have been directed. Will Power essentially is concerned with Action. All human actions are caused by Will. Whenever Emotion rises to motivity and action, that motivity and action is Will-action. Will is inevitably involved in all “doing.” The motor element of ideas is obtained from Will.

Theoretically, it may be said that Decision and Determination complete the process of Will—and, indeed, the old psychologists so held and taught. But practical experience, supported by the teaching of the new psychology, insists that decisions and determinations are of little real value unless they proceed into action. The old saying that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” might well be altered in its phrasing so as to read that the pathway to Inferno is paved with “non-completed good decisions and aborted resolutions.” Many persons are in the habit of thinking that when they decide and resolve to do a thing, then the matter is ended, and they need do nothing else in the matter.

It is very easy to sit in a comfortable armchair and resolve that you will do thus-and-so in the world of action; but it is quite difficult to perform even one-tenth of the deeds which you may thus resolve and decide to do—though many persons do not seem to perceive the distinction and difference between the two processes. As William James has told us, you lie abed on a cold morning, and firmly resolve to get up and begin the work of the day; you decide that this is the only rational course to pursue, and you make up your mind to follow it— but often you do not even stir a muscle toward that action. In such cases it is only when the idea of getting up becomes disturbingly insistent—when your mental alarm clock rings most annoyingly and persistently—that you spring out of bed with a final protesting growl and grumble.

The world is filled with persons who are unable to realize that deciding and resolving to do a thing is a far different matter from actually doing it. These persons seldom accomplish any real work of their own volition—all that they do they are forced to do by others or by the force of circumstances. They are always deciding to do things, resolving to do things—but they never actually do things. Their Will-processes are seldom completed. The men and women who do the work of the world, who achieve success, who accomplish their ends and aims, are those who, having grimly resolved and determined to do a certain thing, then complete the Will-process by moving into action in the direction of doing the thing in question.

But here, again, we meet with another of those strange paradoxes with which the science of psychology abounds. We have just seen that if you expect to accomplish anything in the world you must pass beyond the stage of mere decision, resolution, and determination—you must rise to the plane of Voluntary Action. But, on the other hand, we must now inform you that if you expect your Voluntary Action to “amount to anything,” to be efficient, to accomplish its purpose, you must carry into your Voluntary Action a highly developed form of Determination. In fact, when closely analyzed, Voluntary Action is seen to be Purposeful Determination manifesting its dynamic aspect. The subjective phase of Determination is the static aspect of Will; objective Voluntary Action is the dynamic aspect of Will; the two are but twin-aspects of the same thing, at the last.

This fact being perceived, it follows that your effective Voluntary Action always must be preceded by, and accompanied by, strong, positive Purposeful Determination. Let us here repeat the definition of this term. The term “Purpose” means: “The view, aim, design, intention, determination, resolution or will to accomplish or reach some particular object; that which a person sets before himself as the object to be gained or accomplished; the end or aim which one has in view in any plan, measure or exertion; that which one intends to do, hence, his intention, design, plan or project.” The term “Determination,” in this particular usage, is defined as: “Strength or firmness of mind; firm resolve or resolution; an absolute direction to a certain end.”

From the foregoing definitions you will have no difficulty in forming a dear and positive concept of Purposeful Determination; but for the purpose of illustration we ask you to consider, ponder over, and memorize the following quotations from eminent writers. Each of these has been selected for a special purpose, and to awaken and bring out a certain phase of your Will Power. They will help you to fill in the details of your mental picture or general idea of Purposeful Determination, that essential spirit of Will.

Buxton says: “The longer I live, the more certain I am that the great difference between men, between the feeble and the powerful, the great and the insignificant, is Invincible Determination—a purpose once fixed, and then Victory or Death. That quality will do anything that can be done in this world—and no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities, will make a two-legged creature a man without it.”

Mitchell says: “Resolve is what makes a man manifest; not a puny resolve, not errant purpose—but that strong and indefatigable Will which treads down difficulties and danger as a boy treads down the heaving frost lands of winter; which kindles his eye and brain with a pulse-beat toward the unattainable. Will makes men giants.”

Disraeli says: “I have brought myself by long meditation to the conviction that a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and that nothing can resist a Will which will stake even existence itself upon its fulfillment.”

Simpson says: “A passionate Desire, and an unwearied Will, can perform impossibilities, or what may seem to be such to the cold and feeble.”

Foster says: “It is wonderful to note how even the casualties of life seem to bow to a spirit that will not yield to them, and tend to subserve a design which they may, in their apparent tendency, threaten to frustrate. When a firm, decisive spirit is recognized, it is curious to see how the space clears around a man and leaves him room and freedom.”

Emerson says: “We go forth austere, dedicated, believing in iron links of Destiny, and will not turn on our heels to save our lives. A book, a bust, or only the sound of a name shoots a spark through the nerves, and we suddenly believe in Will. We cannot hear of personal vigor of any kind, great powers of performances, without fresh resolution.”

This, then, is the spirit in which you should institute your Voluntary Actions leading to the achievement and realization of your “prime motives,” your “top values,” your Fixed Standard, your Summum Bonum or Chief Good. You should approach your task in the spirit of the Master Formula of Attainment which is referred to so frequently in our instruction, and which is as follows: “(1) Definite Ideals, (2) Insistent Desire; (3) Confident Expectation, (4) Persistent Determination, and (5) Balanced Compensation.”

We ask you to consider carefully the principles of this Master Formula which you are about to employ in your task of Voluntary Action leading toward Achievement. Consider in detail its elements, as these are presented to you in the following several pages; ponder them carefully; commit to memory their essential points.

(1) Definite Ideals. Before you may proceed intelligently to do a thing, to obtain a thing, or to achieve a thing, it is necessary that you have a clear and definite idea and ideal of that thing. In your consideration of Purposeful Determination, you must not lose sight of the importance of “Purpose” while you are developing “Determination.” Determination will lose much of its dynamic force if it is scattered, or if the purpose directing it lacks definiteness and clearness. Remember that one of the definitions of Determination is, “Absolute direction to a certain end”; and that Purpose means: “The aim, design, intention, resolution, determination and will to accomplish or to reach some particular object or end.”

Note particularly the reference to “a certain end,” and to “some particular object or end.” The words “certain,” and “particular,” imply definiteness, clearness, preciseness, specificness of meaning, idea and ideals. They point to the necessity of Definite Ideals and Definite Purpose. If definite direction is lacking in your Voluntary Action, then your Purposeful Determination has lost one of its strong arms. This first element of the Master Formula is very important in the case before us—the case of the manifestation of Voluntary Action and Purposeful Determination.

Before you can really determine to act effectively, you must know the purpose of your action—the end to be attained, or the thing to be obtained, or the direction in which you wish to travel. The more definite and positive your purpose and aim, the greater will be the degree of concentration that you are able to apply to the task. Here you must bring to bear your powers of Ideation and Visualization. You must learn to map out the land over which you are to travel—to chart the seas over which you wish to sail. You must exercise your constructive ability in designing, planning, mapping out and making a working diagram of that which you wish to accomplish. You know the general direction, by reason of your knowledge of your “prime motives,” “top values,” and Fixed Standard; but probably you have failed to draw your plan in further detail, and to fill in all of the minor points. You must correct and overcome this deficiency, if it exists in your case.

You may find it impossible to draw your plans in very close detail, however. In such case do the best you can; draw the general outline as clearly as possible, and then fill in the details from time to time as soon as they take form in your constructive imagination. Do the best you can in the creation of a definite purpose—a little practice will enlarge your capacity for work of this kind. You would not expect a builder to erect a house for you unless he were supplied with a working plan by the architect; you would not expect a railroad contractor to build a line or road for you unless he were furnished with the plans of the engineer for such construction. Therefore, you must know positively, clearly and definitely what you wish to accomplish; the ends and aims to be attained; the direction of your efforts; the particular purpose you wish to work out into achievement; before you can expect to apply effectively your Persistent Determination.

It is not scientific for you to sing, “I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on the way.” You must know where you’re going— and, not only that, you must also know for just what purpose you are going there, and what you are likely to meet with on the road. You must take a lesson from the old story of the architect on the witness stand: He stated that one of his profession was required to plan every building. The opposing lawyer sneeringly asked him: “Pray tell us, then, who was the architect of the Tower of Babel?” The architect promptly answered: “There was none, sir; hence the confusion and failure.”

By reference to the quotations on a preceding page, you will see that the quoted writers have laid special emphasis upon “the purpose well fixed,” “the settled purpose,” “the design.” Disraeli’s statement that “a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it” gives us the keynote. The purpose must not only be clear and definite, but it also must be a fixed and settled purpose—a purpose adhered to with dogged persistency and determined steadfastness. The more clearly you can see just what you want to do, the better able will you be to do it, and the more determined you will be to materialize that idealized and visualized purpose.

You, must not only “want to hard enough,” but you must also “know just what you want”—to know it clearly enough, and definitely enough. Possessing and manifesting these powers of your mental and emotional being, you are prepared to apply and to exercise your Purposeful Determination to its utmost capacity and with its full powers. Having discovered your Purpose in Life, you must proceed to manifest it in Voluntary Action, and to materialize it—the more definite and clear the mental picture, the more definite and positive will be the materialization.

(2) Insistent Desire. You have become acquainted with the facts concerning the power of Desire. You have seen that all Will Power is set into operation by Desire, and that the degree of manifested Will Power is directly proportionate to the degree of the Desire back of and under it. This being so, you need no further argument concerning the necessity of manifesting strong, positive Desire when you wish to accomplish anything. You realize that the Flame of Desire is needed to generate the Steam of Voluntary Action.

Toward the attainment of the objects or circumstances represented by your “top values,” or “prime motives,” or the manifestation of your Fixed Standard, you should ever seek to manifest that insistent, imperious, dominant feeling and desire which will not be denied. This mental state we have repeatedly illustrated by the example of the drowning or suffocating man demanding air; the starving man demanding food; the shipwrecked or desert-lost man demanding water; the wild creature demanding its mate; the mother creature demanding the safety and welfare of its young. This is the spirit of Insistent Desire in which you should approach your task of Voluntary Action toward the attainment of your “prime motives” and “top values.”

(3) Confident Expectation. The mental state represented by the term “Confident Expectation” is one of positive value to you; its opposite, i. e., the mental state of Fearful Doubt, is most harmful to you. Confident Expectation tends to release into activity all the powers of your mental being, and to fill them with that eagerness for accomplishment which is based upon confidence and belief in the final successful outcome. Fear and Doubt tend to paralyze the Will, while Faith and Hope tend to energize and inspire it. We need not here go into the psychology of this fact—sufficient for the present purpose is the statement of the fact itself, and the reference to common experience to illustrate its operations.

If you will consider the cases of the men and women who have accomplished great things in the world, along any of the many lines of human endeavor, you will see that in every case such individuals have been inspired by the belief in their ultimate success—they have confidently expected a successful outcome. Had they believed otherwise, they would not have had the courage and perseverance which have enabled them to overcome the obstacles in their path, and to mount to success upon the stepping-stones of their own apparent failures.

It is Confident Expectation—that combination of Faith and Hope—which enables one to act upon the adage, “When you feel that you must let go—then hang on the harder, for victory is near.” When we realize the effect of Confident Expectation upon the Will-activities, we are almost impelled to agree fully with Tanner in his celebrated statement that, “To believe firmly is almost tantamount to accomplishment.” But whether or not this principle may be carried that far, it is unquestionable that Confident Expectation is a most powerful and mighty element in successful and effective Voluntary Action.

In this instruction we have urged the adoption of the slogan: “I Can, I Will; I Dare, I Do!” The “I Can” is based upon Confident Expectation; the “I Dare” springs from the same inner conviction of ultimate success. In fact, the spirit of Confident Expectation breathes through and pervades the whole of the slogan—and all the processes of the Awakened Will.

(4) Persistent Determination. Here we approach the characteristic element of Purposeful Determination. The very word “Determination” carries with it the idea and thought of “persistency.” There is present the idea of persistency in all applications of the “I Can, I Will; I Dare, I Do!” slogan or maxim. There must always be present not only the determination to do the thing, but also the persistent application of the Will to the task. Determination without persistency would be like the play of Hamlet with the character of Hamlet omitted. In fact, it is difficult to form a concept of practical Will Power unless we include in the concept the element of active persistency. The Persistent Will is the Effective Will—the Real Will in Action. Whatever else we may conceive effective Will to be, we must always conceive it as being persistent.

In Persistent Determination you manifest Will Power not only in Voluntary Action, but also in the task of steadying and holding to its work the Dynamic Power of Will. When you have gained complete control of your aroused Will Power, you must apply to its activities the quality of persistence. This quality you must manifest in steadfastness, firmness, fixed intention, positive direction and unfailing constancy in continuing the course chosen. You must manifest it by steadfastly pursuing the work undertaken, and in holding fast to the general plan designed to govern that work. You must manifest it in perseverance in spite of obstacles and discouragements, and in steadfastness in face of opposition and hindrances.

The characteristics of Persistent Determination are stability, perseverance, fixedness of purpose, tenacity, doggedness and persistent application. Persistent Determination enables you to hold your Will close to its task—to hold it there firmly and continuously until success is attained and the victory is won. Success in many instances depends upon the application of Persistent Determination—the manifestation of the power and determination to hold on to the last. Many a man possessing the other qualities of Will Power has fought a brave fight, but just before the tide turned in his favor he has relinquished his efforts, and has dropped out of the fight—defeated, not by circumstances, but by his own lack of Persistent Determination: By studying the lives of the great inventors—Morse and Edison, for instance—you will see the utmost importance of this faculty of “holding on” and this spirit of “never say die.”

(5) Balanced Compensation. This element of the Master Formula finds its familiar expression in the phrase, “paying the price.” In all attainment the “price” must be paid. Compensation is a law of Nature, and manifests its force on all planes of existence, and in all forms of activity. One who seeks to attain anything must be prepared to “pay the price.” The “price” may consist of work performed, of perseverance, persistent application, industry and diligence; or service rendered to others with whom one has business or similar relations—of ability and willingness to give “value received” for what he obtains for himself; of the sacrifice and renunciation of ideas, ideals, feelings, desires, aims and ambitions, which are opposed to the subject or object represented by the “prime motives” and “top values.” One must be willing to sacrifice the lesser values for the greater ones.

All men who achieve and attain anything worth while have “paid the price” in all of the various forms just mentioned. Compensation is a necessity of Attainment; there is always a Balance struck between what one “gets” and what he “gives” or “gives up.” He who seeks to escape “paying the price” is defying a great law of Nature and of Life. It is as if in the Cosmos there were maintained a great ledger, in which there is both a “credit” and a “debit” column on each page. The LAW is continually striking “balances”—“trial balances” and “final settlements.” The wise realize this, and profit by their knowledge; the fools ignore it, and are the losers by reason of their folly. “Say the gods to men: ‘What do you want? Take it, and pay for it!’”

The Spirit of the Active Will. The following quotations from eminent writers will serve to illustrate the spirit of the Active Will, particularly in its phase of Purposeful Determination. You should consider each of the quotations carefully, ponder them earnestly, and commit them to memory. Each one of them has been selected for the purpose of bringing out some particular point or principle, and each and all of them are designed to serve as an “inspirational maxim” for you in moments of trial, temptation, doubt or discouragement—they are veritable potions of Will Tonic. We defy you to repeat them earnestly without feeling the vibrations and thrill of Will stirring your soul, and awakening the spirit of “I Can, I Will; I Dare, I Do!”

Kennan says: “In this world, the human spirit with its dominating force, the Will, may be and ought to be superior to all bodily sensations and all accidents of environment.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe says: “When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you until it seems that you cannot hold on for a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”

D’Alembert says: “Go on, sir, go on! The difficulties you meet with will resolve themselves as you advance. Proceed, and the light will dawn, and shine with increasing clearness on your path.”

Henry Ward Beecher says: “It is defeat that turns bone to flint, and gristle to muscle and makes men invincible, and formed those heroic natures that are now in ascendency in the world. Do not be afraid of defeat. You are never so near victory as when defeated in a good cause.”

Cuyler says: “It is astonishing how many men lack the power of ‘holding on’ until they reach the goal. They can make a sudden dash, but they lack grit. They are easily discouraged. They get on as long as everything moves smoothly, but when there is friction they lose heart. They depend upon stronger personalities for their spirit and strength. They lack independence or originality. They only dare to do what others do. They do not step boldly from the crowd and act fearlessly.”

Emerson says: “I know no such unquestionable badge and ensign of a sovereign mind as that of tenacity of purpose, which, through all changes of companions or parties or fortunes, changes never, bates no jot of heart or hope, but wearies out opposition and arrives at its port.”

John Hunter says: “Is there one whom difficulties dishearten, who bends to the storm? He will do little. Is there one who wills to conquer? That kind of man never fails.”

Napoleon Bonaparte said: “The truest wisdom is a Resolute Determination.”

Munger says: “A strong defiant purpose is many—handed, and lays hold on whatever is near that can serve it; it has a magnetic power that draws to itself whatever is kindred.”

Wirt says: “The man who is perpetually hesitating which of two things he will do first, will do neither. The man who resolves, but suffers his resolution to be changed by the first counter-suggestion of a friend—who fluctuates from opinion to opinion, from plan to plan, and veers like a weathercock to every point of the compass, with every breath of caprice that blows—can never accomplish anything real or useful. It is only the man who first consults well, then resolves firmly, and then executes his purposes with inflexible perseverance, undismayed by those petty difficulties which daunt a weaker spirit—that man can advance to eminence in any line.”

Fothergill says: “Will Power is one of the greatest natural endowments—as it is one of the finest outcomes of self-culture. The man who succeeds in climbing, step by step, finds his Will Power expanding with his energies, with the demands upon him. Strength of Will is gameness—the power to ‘stay.’ Englishmen have always prided themselves upon their game qualities; whether the tenacity of their bulldogs, the endurance of their race horses, the unflinching courage of their game-fowls, or their own indomitable purpose. ‘Where there’s a Will, there’s a way.’ The way may be long hidden from sight, hard to find, long and wearisome, seemingly endless; but on it the traveler goes with unshaken resolution—to success at last.”

In Purposeful Determination and Voluntary Action thereupon, the Will deliberately chooses an end or object to be attained, and then proceeds to manifest the Determination in outward form and action. It proceeds to its end with intensity of purpose and directness of aim. The end must be clear, definite and capable of distinct visualization. The effort to gain that end must call into operation the whole nature of the Will, and the whole force and energy of the Will Power. As it has well been said: “The whole, living strength of the Will must be literally hurled into it, not once or twice, but again and again, until it is accomplished”

The Purposeful Determination must be real—it must be meant by you with the full power of your soul. You must not trifle with such resolutions; you must be in deadly earnest about them. Remember that the honor and integrity of your Will is at stake, and that you must not bring discredit upon it. To break such a resolution is to bring shame upon yourself and to your Will. You will do well to remember and to follow the advice given by a religious writer upon the subject, who bids his pupils to proceed to Will by first making the following statement:

“Yes! before God, I mean that! I mean it as intensely and really as I can ever mean anything! I will keep that resolution. I know that I can and will keep it, because I mean it. Further, I will take every precaution to keep it alive and vigorous within me by remaking it again and again.”

This is the essence and spirit of Purposeful Determination. Strive ever to attain, sustain, and manifest it. This is “the flash of the Will that can!”

Will-Training

It is not enough that you should develop strong Will Power, important though such development may be. It is not enough that the driver should secure the services of a strong pair of horses to pull his chariot—he must also be able to guide and control, direct and master them. So, though you may be possessed of the strongest Will, you will be unable to direct efficiently its energies and powers unless by careful, scientific training and discipline you have mastered its mechanism. To “train” your Will you must teach it and cultivate it; you must educate it, exercise it, discipline it, so as to impart to it the habit and tendency to move along the lines which your reason indicates to be the most advantageous and efficient.

All scientific training of the Will begins with instruction concerning the formation of advantageous habits—the building of clean and clear paths over which the Will may travel in action toward achievement. By establishing the proper habits of Will-action you will render your Will far more efficient, and at the same time will accomplish the maximum of desirable results with the minimum expenditure of energy. Here we meet with another of those interesting paradoxes which, as we have said, abound in the realm of psychology. The paradox is (a) while the Will moves most easily and with the least friction over the paths of habit, yet (b) habit itself is originally formed by the exercise of the Will.

The Will lends itself most readily to habit, and prefers to travel over “the lines of least resistance” in habit-motivity; yet, when set to the task, the Will builds the lines and paths of advantageous and desirable habits over which it will travel in the future. It acts as does the strong and powerful stream of water which first cuts for itself a deep channel in the earth, and afterwards travels through that channel as if bound and restricted by it. Both the stream and the Will are bound and restricted by their self-built channels—but each creates for itself its future restricting and directing walls.

Habit has its correspondence in material objects; in fact, all things seem to come under the rule of habit in some form. A piece of paper, or a pattern of cloth, will tend to fold more easily along the lines of the crease made by the first folding— the more often the fold is made, the easier becomes each subsequent folding along the same lines. Water finds it easier to travel over the path traversed by the preceding streams of water; the raindrop on the window pane follows the same law.

Any voluntary action performed several times in the same general way tends to develop into a motion-habit; and, indeed, after a time the motion becomes almost instinctive, and is performed by the subconscious mentality to which it has been passed on for attention and direction. Each and every time you dress yourself, or put on your shoes, you perform a number of habitual actions of which you are scarcely conscious. This is also true of your actions of walking, using your knife and fork, and other familiar performances which have become habitual to you.

The value of habit in the training and education of the Will is very great. Not only does habit (1) simplify the process of any given form of action, and (2) lessen the degree of voluntary attention required for the performance of any given action, but it also (3) gives greatly increased weight and power to the emotional impulse toward any given action, thus increasing its emotional value and thereby enabling it to resist more effectively the demands and urging of an opposing set of emotional impulses and desires. When you have “made a habit of” efficient and advantageous Will-action, you will have progressed far on the road to the attainment of strong and efficient Will Power.

Rules for Establishing Habits of Will

The following rules will be found most useful and effective in your task of establishing the proper habits of Will. In applying them you must employ your Table of Will Values and your Fixed Standard to determine which particular habits you shall strive to develop, cultivate and acquire. When in the following rules you come across the words “the habit” or “the habits,” you will understand that such terms apply to those habits which express the desires (tested by reason) which stand well to the top of your Table of Will values—or else to minor courses of Will-action which serve to further the interests of these “high values.” Here follow the rules:

I. Employ a Strong Initiative. In launching a new habit, employ a strong initiative. Put as much determination and motor energy as possible into the particular course of action, at the start. Launch the ship of habit as far as possible into the stream of action, employing the full strength of the determination and will-force at your command. This will impart to the new habit sufficient momentum to carry it well past the first dangerous places, and to give you a good “running start.” Your principal danger of yielding to temptation will come at the start; but if your momentum is sufficient to carry you past these earlier temptations you will be able more easily to resist the later ones; the longer you manage to postpone the time of the first temptations, the less power will those temptations have over you. Therefore, always remember, try to get a good running start.

II. Exercise Care at the Beginning. The beginning of the formation of the new habit is the most critical time of the entire task. This because the power of the opposing habit has not as yet begun to fade by reason of the manifestation of the opposite, i. e., the new habit. The rule is: Never allow even a single exception or failure to occur until the new habit has become well-established. Until the new habit has become well rooted, you must brave it with all your power against the stormy winds of temptation and opposition. It has well been said that failure or yielding to temptation at this early stage is like letting fall the ball of string which you have been carefully winding—the single slip undoes more than many turns of the hand will be able to rewind.

The psychology of the case is this: the two opposing impulses must be handled so that the advantageous one may have an uninterrupted series of successes, and the disadvantageous one a continuous series of failures. The result of this preliminary series of conflicts plays a very important part in the determination of the future relation of the two opposing forces; here is found to apply the rule of “to him who hath shall be given, and to him who hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.” The habit of victory once acquired by the advantageous impulse, it will thereafter possess an immense psychological advantage over its repeatedly defeated opponent.

The man who determines to establish a certain advantageous habit will surely fail if he follows Rip Van Winkle’s plan of saying that “this one doesn’t count” whenever temptation to violate the rule presents itself. The taking of “just one” cigar when you have decided to stop smoking, or the taking of “just one” little extra “snooze” when you have decided to establish the habit of rising at a certain hour, may prove to be the undoing of the entire Purposeful Determination. On the other hand, each time one of those early “just one more” indulgences is resisted and defeated the Purposeful Determination becomes stronger, often to a degree out of all proportion to the apparent present actual value of the accomplishment.

III. Repeated Performance. In establishing a habit, you should repeat the performance of the associated action as frequently as possible. You will by that means make clearer and wider the mental path over which you wish your Will to travel habitually. Moreover, as a consequence, you will exercise the particular faculty which you wish to make strong and to develop in efficiency. The Will is strengthened not by the mere mental determination to perform an action, but rather by the actual performance of the action itself. The path of motivity is created only by actually travelling over it; and the oftener it is travelled over, the easier becomes the future journey over it. The actual motor-effect of Will-action gives the “set” to the brain-cells and areas involved in any particular course of action.

The actual effort forces you to dig your heels in the ground and to exert your energy. As it has well been said: “He who has no solid ground to press against will never get beyond the stage of gesture-making.” Therefore, seek every possible opportunity for such action until the habit becomes firmly established. A lock works better after it has been used several times; a garment clings better to the body after it has been worn a few times; the cloth folds more easily in the crease after it has been folded a few times; and as an old writer once said: “Continued action is like a stream of water, which wears for itself a channel from which it may not easily be turned.”

IV. Control the Attention. So far as possible, do not allow the attention to dwell upon ideas suggesting a course of action opposed to that associated with the new habit; keep the attention fixed, so far as is possible, upon the ideas associated with the new habit. Thus you will feed the one set of motor-ideas, and starve the opposite set. If you are trying to break yourself of the habit of smoking, you are very foolish if you allow your mind to dwell upon the pleasures of the pipe, cigar or cigarette; instead, let it hold the suggestive ideas and mental pictures of the advantages to be gained by refraining from smoking, and, above all, hold firmly before the mind the idea that you are demonstrating that you have a Will strong enough to enable you to break an undesirable habit.

You will do well (particularly at first) to follow the example of the companions of Ulysses, who stopped their ears with wax that they might not hear the seductive voices of the sirens; the voyagers who neglected this precaution were lured to their destruction, because they allowed the tempting sounds to enter their ears. This is not cowardice, but the part of courage, when rightly understood. “He jests at scars, who never felt a wound.” As has well been said: “It takes more courage to turn away from some ideas than to face them, and the coward is sometimes he who remains on the scene.”

One of the most effective methods of inhibiting or neutralizing the power of a disturbing or threatening desire or impulse is that of deliberately changing the direction of the attention. It is an axiom of psychology that: “While attention follows interest, nevertheless, attention may be directed by a determined act of Will so as to arouse interest not previously present; this interest, so awakened, rises to Desire, and Desire gives motive-power and direction to Will.” In this axiom we have the key to the problem which we are now considering.

It is a well established fact of psychology that, in the processes of the Deliberative Will and of the Determinative Will, that particular alternative which in some way attracts and holds the attention will have greater weight and power than would otherwise be the case. The interesting alternative is given the more favorable position, while the uninteresting one is pushed to the side—sometimes unjustly. This process is akin to that which we experience in ourselves when we give the preference to a political candidate whom we know and like, rather than to one unfamiliar to us and who does not arouse our interested attention.

In view of this fact, you may see how important it is that you should direct and hold your attention, so far as is possible, upon the course of action which your reason and your Table of Will Values inform you to be the best and more advantageous one; and to shut out of your attention and interest, so far as is possible, the opposing alternative. By doing this you give to the advantageous idea the added strength of attention and interest, and you place the objectionable idea in the far less favorable position.

Many a man has prevented himself from acting foolishly and wrongfully by determinedly turning his attention to the probable consequences of the proposed harmful action. It has been well called a master stroke of the inhibitory battle to bring into the field of consciousness an idea of the benefits of a contrary action, or the mental picture of the evil effects of the proposed action. The drunkard thinking of the sick child at home is strengthened in his effort to inhibit the urge of appetite. The more that Macbeth and his wife held in mind and pictured in imagination the idea of fame and power, the stronger grew their desire and determination to kill the king. Their attention developed increased interest and desire, and thus heightened the power of the original motive.

The Will is able to determine which of the motives influencing it shall become the stronger; it accomplishes this by deciding which of two alternative sets of ideas shall occupy the field of attention during the desire-conflict. Emotion and Desire develop under the stimulus of attention; the Will, being the master of attention, has the power to encourage or to banish the ideas calling forth the emotional feeling and the resulting desires. If one set of ideas is kept well in the field of attention, a strong emotional interest and desire may gather around it; but if the opposite set of ideas is called into the field of attention, and is then held firmly there, then the first set of ideas will lose interest and motive power.

This principle is illustrated in one of Moliere’s comedies. Jeppe, a dissolute character, is sent by his wife (a washerwoman) to the village shop to buy a piece of soap, and is entrusted with a small coin for that purpose. But Jeppe wants a drink. He knows that his wife will beat him if he wastes the money, but he also knows that he has a strong craving for the glass of wine. A desire-conflict ensues. Jeppe says to himself: “My stomach says wine, my back says soap.” He is torn by the internal struggle.

Finally, as he walks along, he sees the tavern ahead of him. This decides the conflict—the object in the field of attention proving stronger than that which is outside that field. He says: “Is not a man’s stomach more to him than his back? Yes, say I!” and into the tavern he walks. Had he but looked around the corner and there seen his wife wearing a look of determination on her face, and carrying a big stick in her hand as she marched after him, he would have decided in favor of his back rather than his stomach. The two sets of desires and impulses were nicely balanced in the case of Jeppe, but the added element of aroused attention and interest brought the victory for the wine, and the defeat of the soap.

The following rules will be found useful in connection with the Direction of Attention in Will-Training, particularly in the matter of inhibiting and restraining the unwelcome and disturbing desires and impulses which pull in the direction opposed to that of the “high values” and the Fixed Standard:

(1) Feed the Positives. Feed the Will with suggestive ideas and mental pictures favorably representing the desires and actions which constitute the “top values” of your Table of Will Values, and which are in accord with your Fixed Standard.

(2) Starve the Negatives. Starve the disadvantageous desires and impulses, and their resulting actions, by resolutely refusing to allow your attention to be directed toward suggestive ideas and mental pictures favorably representing the desires and actions constituting the “low values” or “bottom values” of your Table of Will Values, and which are in opposition to your Fixed Standard.

(3) The Law of Opposites. In cultivating an advantageous desire or impulse, and its resulting action, resolutely refuse to allow your attention and imagination to become occupied with suggestive ideas and mental pictures favorably representing the opposite set of desires and impulses and their resulting action. In restraining, inhibiting or neutralizing a disadvantageous desire or impulse and its resulting action, deliberately and determinedly direct your attention and imagination upon the suggestive ideas and mental pictures which favorably represent the opposing (i. e., the advantageous) set of desires and impulses, and their resulting actions.

The reason for the above rules is as follows: (1) Attention and interest feed desires and impulses, and strengthen ideas; lack of attention and interest starve them; (2) by bestowing attention and interest upon one set of desires, impulses or Ideas you tend to inhibit, weaken and starve the opposite set. Both of these facts are highly important: you should memorize this statement concerning them.

Exercises In Will Training

The observance of the rules stated in the foregoing portions of this section will be found to give the Will considerable valuable exercise in Will-Training. In addition to these, however, there are several general forms of exercises which will prove of great value to you in the direction of strengthening the fibre of your Will, and of developing your powers of steadfastness, resolution and determination. By exercising your Will against obstacles, opposition and hindrances—those existing in the outer world, and those which have their abode in your inner world of habit, desire and impulse—you give to your Will a resisting power and an aggressive force which will make themselves felt in the affairs and conduct of your everyday life when you are required to assert your Will Power and Strength of Will. Your attention is now called to the following principles and methods of Will-Training directed to these ends.

Tempering the Will Along the Lines of Resistance. The practical thinkers of the race, for centuries past; have known that one of the best possible exercises for the development of strong Will Power, and for its efficient training, is that of the deliberate and determined performance of certain selected unpleasant tasks; this performance being undertaken and carried out not necessarily by reason of any actual immediate value to oneself or others of the performance itself, but, rather, solely and simply because of the valuable exercise of the Will thus obtained, and the equally valuable training of the Will accomplished by these means.

Many of the ancient occult teachers began the instruction of their pupils in this way, the result being that the persistent practice of this method, under the intelligent guidance of the teachers, developed and trained the pupils into veritable giants of Will Power. The world-renowned Jesuit order has for hundreds of years employed similar methods for the purpose of strengthening the Wills of their chosen students and neophytes; as a result, the Jesuits are renowned for the powers of determination, persistency and endurance manifested by their members.

Many of the best modern psychologists have revived this old teaching and its methods, and references to the principle may be found in many of the textbooks of the modern masters of this branch of science. For instance, the following statement of William James, one of the best practical philosophers and psychologists of modern times: “Keep the faculty alive by a little gratuitous exercise every day. That is, be systematically ascetic or heroic in little unnecessary points; do every day something for no other reason than that you would rather not do it, so that when the hour of dire need draws nigh, it may find you not unnerved and untrained to stand the test. * * * The man who has daily inured himself to habits of concentrated attention, energetic volition, and self denial in unnecessary things, will stand like a tower when everything rocks around him, and when his softer fellow mortals are winnowed like chaff in the blast.”

See how closely the above resembles in practice the discipline of the ancient magi, or occultists. Says Evelyn Underhill: “The first lesson of the would-be magus is self-mastery. In its essence magical initiation is a traditional form of mental discipline, strengthening and focusing the will. There is nothing supernatural about it. Like the more arduous, more disinterested self-training of the mystic, it is character-building with an object, conducted upon a heroic scale.”

Says Éliphas Lévi: “By means of persevering and gradual athletics the powers of the body may be developed to an amazing extent. It is the same with the powers of the soul. Would you govern yourself and others? Learn how to will! How may one learn to will? This is the first secret of magical initiation; and it was to make the foundations of this secret thoroughly understood that the antique keepers of the mysteries surrounded the approach to the sanctuary with so many terrors and illusions. They did not believe in a will until it had given its proofs; and they were right. Strength cannot prove itself except by conquest. Idleness and negligence are the enemies of will; and this is the reason why all religions have multiplied their practices and made their cults difficult and minute. The more trouble one gives himself for an idea, the more power one acquires in regard to that idea. Hence the power of religions resides entirely in the inflexible will of those who practice them.”

The ancient and modern method of accustoming the Will to face and to accomplish disagreeable tasks, and to overcome disagreeable conditions by sheer determination, is one of the very best systems of schooling and tempering the Will. By accustoming the Will to act in this way, you will school it so that it will act efficiently when similar conditions arise in actual life. This has well been called “tempering the Will along the lines of the greatest resistance.” The Will trained in this way is always ready to meet disagreeable emergencies, no matter how suddenly they may present themselves, nor how serious they may be.

It has well been said of men trained in this way, that while others will be crying over spilt milk, the possessors of trained wills of this kind will be hunting for another cow to milk, or may even have found such a cow and to have actually begun to milk her. On the other hand, the person who carefully and habitually endeavors to escape unpleasant tasks, disagreeable facts, and uncomfortable circumstances, lacks such preparatory training of his Will; when he is actually confronted with disagreeable circumstances or apparently disastrous conditions, his Will will be unequal to the task of overcoming them. The men who have pushed and elbowed their way to the front ranks of endeavor in any of the walks of life, have developed Wills of this kind. Some of them have obtained the development by strenuous experiences in “the University of Hard Knocks,” while others have anticipated and forestalled this by scientific preparation before the day of the actual examination.

Life is filled with disagreeable tasks, and uncomfortable circumstances; to perform the first, and to master the second, requires the trained Will. Wise is he who learns his lesson before the hour of trial—he is doubly armed for the fray. Training of this kind has been likened to fire insurance on a house; it costs something in effort and self-denial, but it is something laid by for the hour of need. It is the great reserve fund of habitual Will-action upon which you can draw in the time of necessity. The importance of such training cannot be overestimated. It is like starting and maintaining an account in a good savings bank; you add to it little by little, and you accumulate rapidly by reason of the compound interest drawn by your deposits.

A well-known teacher was wont to advise his pupils to do something occasionally for no other reason than that they “would rather not do it,” if it were no more than giving up a seat in a street car. Napoleon had a Will trained along these lines; his Will was so completely under his control that apparently without any emotional struggle he could enter upon courses of disagreeable, difficult and unpleasant action, even though they involved the greatest hardships.

You will find numerous opportunities to exercise your Will along this line of training—every day will furnish you with such. Do something which you particularly dislike to do—do it not because there is any special merit in the doing, but solely and simply because of the training it will give your Will. It is related of a certain man that he was discovered one day carefully studying John Stuart Mill’s great work on Political Economy—a subject which he loathed, and for which he lost no opportunity to express his aversion. When asked why he was doing this, he replied: “I am training my Will; I am doing this because I dislike it intensely.”

The great men of history have trained their Will along this “line of the greatest resistance”; while the average men have been content to exercise their Will only along “the lines of the least resistance.” The former have so trained themselves that when they are required to perform some disagreeable action they do so with as much ease and force as if the action were most agreeable to them; the latter find it almost impossible to perform disagreeable actions except by whipping and spurring themselves to the task, and even then they perform the action only half-heartedly and with but little force or effectiveness. You are positively advised to master this feature of your Will-Training—the day will come when you will thank us from the bottom of your heart for this advice, provided you have followed it.

Tempering the Will by Self Denial. Akin to the preceding exercise is that which consists of the occasional practice of Self Denial, i. e., the deliberate denial to yourself of your favorite pleasure. This denial is not to be made because of any direct merit in the sacrifice, or in the act, but merely because of the exercise of the Will which is required for the denial, and because of the additional strength acquired by its performance. Many of the penances and other acts of self-denial imposed by the governing authorities of the great religions of the world tend to develop Will Power in the individual practicing them; this fact is acknowledged by the best authorities, but it is not generally realized by the masses of people practicing the acts in question. The great religious teachers know that the person who has trained his Will along the lines of occasional self-denial will find it easier to resist real temptation when it comes to him. Psychology recognizes a practical value in self-denial and penance, aside from their purely religious elements.

The general principles which govern the exercises designed to temper the Will by the performance of disagreeable and unpleasant tasks, which we have just considered, apply also to the present case of tempering the Will by self-denial. The performance of disagreeable tasks, and the act of refraining from agreeable expressions and manifestations, are alike displeasing to the untrained Will. Therefore, the same principle is involved in both, and the Will is thereby trained along the same general lines, though the approach is made from opposite directions.

In the method of training the Will by the practice of self-denial, you must deliberately select some most pleasant action or course of action—something which you wish very much to perform—and then resolutely refuse to perform the same within a certain time-limit. The denial may involve the refusal to smoke your customary after-dinner cigar, to drink your favorite cup of coffee, to read the conclusion of an interesting book or of the new instalment of a serial story, to eat some particularly desired and favored dish, to attend some play which you have been very anxious to witness—in fact, the refusal to do any particular thing which you earnestly long to do.

The time-limit must be definitely fixed—and must be strictly observed. There is a positive psychological value to the definite time-limit. You must be absolutely honest in your selection of the object of your self-denial—it must involve a real test, and must require a real effort of the Will to accomplish. You must give up something of real emotional value to yourself (of course only for the time of the exercise, or within the time-limits deliberately set by yourself at the start). The time-limit must be sufficiently extended to afford a real test of the Will. The self-denial must “hurt”—it must be sufficient to make you “smart.” You must be a severe taskmaster to yourself in these trials, tests and exercises. There must be no trifling or “fooling” in the matter. You must set yourself a “real man’s job”—and you must be the “real man” to accomplish it.

Note: In each of the two classes of exercises just considered, you will act wisely not to select tasks of such a nature or character that their successful performance will bring you that comfortable feeling of religious or ethical merit, or of “duty well performed”; nor anything which you are in duty bound to do, or not to do, in accordance with your accepted codes of religious, ethical, or moral duty or obligation. This caution is necessary because, otherwise, you would have the positive value of “duty,” or religious or moral obligations, to add weight to your resolute determination and its manifestation. In these exercises you should endeavor to select tasks in which the only motive is “the Will to Will”—to pit the Will against the push or pull of feelings, impulses and desires; and you should deny to yourself the aid of the added weight of “duty,” or obligations such as have been mentioned. The only reason for the performance of these exercises is that of arousing “the Will to Will”—willing for the sake of willing—Will willing merely to prove that it is Will.

Reversing Habits. A third method, involving the same general principles, is that either (1) of doing something which it is your regular habit and custom not to do; or, (2) of not doing something which it is your regular habit and custom to do.

In either of these phases of this exercise, you should select as the task to be performed some action for which you have no special like or dislike apart from the habit—something neither especially agreeable nor yet especially disagreeable, but which you usually do, or not do, solely by reason of an established habit. Some little regular habit of dressing, of proceeding to your business by a certain route, of lunching at a certain place or in a certain part of the room, or something of that kind— such are the tasks to be selected. This may seem like silly trifling when you first think of it—but wait until you actually try it! you have a surprise awaiting you. Set a time-limit here, as in the other cases.

As a few examples, we might suggest the following: After ascertaining which particular shoe (or stocking) you put on first in dressing, deliberately reverse the order for the period of one week. Or, follow the same procedure in the matter of placing your right or your left arm (as the case may be) first in your coat when you put it on—change the order of the arm-placing for the period of one week. Or, again, change the choice of your morning or afternoon newspaper for one day, occasionally. Or, pursue a different route from that usually followed by you in traveling from one place to another daily, or oftener—this is effective only when you have already established the habit of making the daily trip along a certain regular route. If you will exercise your ingenuity, you will discover many little tasks of this kind to be performed. And, in so doing, you will not only train your Will along particularly trying lines, but will also learn a valuable lesson concerning the power of habit in the little courses of action in everyday life.

Performing Uninteresting Tasks. Another method, and one greatly favored in some quarters, is that of deliberately performing some monotonous, purposeless, and uninteresting task—just for the sake of “Willing to Will.” For instance: (1) Sitting on a chair for five minutes, with the arms crossed, and the feet pressed together at the sides of the shoe-soles; (2) walking to-and-fro in your room for five minutes, touching a number of articles in regular order as you pass them; (3) counting and re-counting a number of small articles, for five minutes; (4) changing your chair at every count of twenty-five, for five minutes; (5) reading backward and forward a certain paragraph of a book (this one for instance) for five minutes; (6) replacing in a box, very slowly and deliberately, one hundred matches, buttons or small pieces of paper; (7) putting on and taking off a pair of gloves, slowly and deliberately, for five minutes. The above examples will give you a general idea of the character of this class of exercises, but actual practice of them will be required to show you the amount of persistent resolution and determination required to perform them properly.

Tempering the Will by Asserting It. Another valuable form of Will-Training, but one which must be employed judiciously, is that in which the Will is tempered by actual assertion of its power. By “assertion” we do not mean “to affirm, to aver, to state positively,” which is one usage of the term; instead, we mean that usage which indicates “to maintain or defend by words or measures, to vindicate.” In tempering the Will by assertion, you proceed to assert your Will in little things, so as to “have your own way” about such things irrespective of the actual benefit to be gained direct and immediate. The sole object is to habituate the Will to “having its way,” and thereby to give it confidence in itself and to build up in it “the habit of success.”

You will find that you have been in the habit of giving way to others in the little things concerning action and the doing of things, solely because it has been too much trouble to make an effort of Will in the opposite direction. In such cases, when the other person happens to be possessed of a more persistent Will to do the little things in his own way, you have found it easier to let him proceed in that way—this notwithstanding that you assert your Will readily enough in the greater issues of life. There is a possible danger in allowing the Will to acquire too readily the habit of deferring to the Will of others by reason of this repeated and customary lack of assertion in the little things. A little vigorous exercise along these lines, once in a while, will act like a tonic to the Will, and will keep it in good condition.

In exercise of this kind, you should employ your Will to assert itself not because of any particular or direct benefit to be derived by securing the thing or action insisted upon, but solely as an exercise of the Will itself, and in the direction of establishing the habit of Victory for it. In fact, in such exercises you should select something in which nothing of real value is involved—something of “no consequence”; the exercise should proceed absolutely along the lines of “the Will to Will,” and not along those of the pursuit and attainment of something desired for itself. It should be like a physical exercise pursued solely for the purpose of developing and strengthening the muscles, and not for that of performing useful work or attaining some actual desired object.

Here, a word of caution is needed. Do not make the mistake of asserting your Will wantonly, or for the purpose of over-riding and humiliating others needlessly. Again, do not so use it as to create for yourself the reputation of being “stubborn” or “unreasonable,” or for “having your own way regardless of the rights of others.” Avoid all exercises which will attract attention to yourself or to your motives in the matter—you will find enough opportunities to exercise in this way without this drawback. Finally, do not insist upon “having your way” in the little things when by so doing you jeopardize having your way in the greater things in view; and, equally, do not insist upon having your way if your own way is the wrong way, and the other way is the right one.

Mix common sense and fair play in this exercise of the Will— the exercise will be all the better by reason of this. But, with the above cautions in mind, get into the habit of “having your own way” in the little, unimportant things, at least once in a while, just to get the habit well established and to keep the machinery of Will well oiled and running smoothly. Do not let your “Will get rusty, or “gummed up,” by reason of disuse and lack of exercise.

Bracing the Will with Affirmations. You will find it beneficial to follow the method of “bracing the Will with affirmations” of its own powers and possibilities. Affirmations and statements of this kind act as a veritable Will Tonic and invigorator. Along these lines you may use with effect the poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, quoted in Section I of this book; also the quotations given in Section VI of this book, in which are expressed the thoughts of some of the great minds of the race concerning Will Power and its possibilities. All of these quotations have been selected with some particular important point in view.

You may also employ in this way the Master Formula of Attainment, viz., I. Definite Ideals; II. Insistent Desire; III. Confident Expectations; IV. Persistent Determination; V. Balanced Compensation. And, likewise, the slogan, “I Can. I Will; I Dare, I Do!” You might add to the list any favorite quotations of your own, provided that they serve to inspire, energize and strengthen your Purposeful Determination and to awaken the Will Consciousness. Finally, you will do well to add to the list the quotation from Lummis on the last page of the next section of this book.

The method of procedure here is as follows: Read over each selected quotation, aphorism, maxim or other affirmative statement, until you have extracted its full spirit and essence, and have “caught the thought” of its originator. Then carefully and thoroughly memorize it, so that you will be able to recall it readily and without undue effort—you must know it “by heart” as well as you do the words of your favorite song or verse. Take plenty of time for the task; but do not drop it until completed. But do not take up a second selection until you have thoroughly mastered and completed the first.

After you have these affirmative selections at your command, get into the habit of recalling them to memory from time to time. Do this at any time of the day when you have a few moments to spare—while on the streetcars, while walking along the street, while waiting in the hotel lobby for someone, while waiting for your train in the station, etc. Meditate upon them; get the inspiration and power from them. Also, at night, just before going to sleep, recall these selections or statements, one at a time, and fall asleep thinking about them. If you should happen to awaken in the middle of the night, don’t worry about loss of sleep, or be filled with the fear of insomnia—instead, let your mind play with these affirmative statements, and allow your soul to bathe itself in their spirit.

General Suggestions Concerning Will-Training. In addition to the special examples of exercises and methods of Will-Training which have just been recommended to you, you will find it useful to invent and to construct exercises of your own designed for the same end—or to create variations or combinations of the exercises and methods to which we have called your attention. Any and all forms of Will-exercises are beneficial, providing that they set before the Will a clearly defined task which is not beyond the powers of the aroused Will to accomplish, provided that the Will sets itself earnestly to the task of accomplishing it. It is absolutely essential that the Will should face the task bravely, and to determine resolutely to accomplish it fully.

The exercise must also always call for effort on the part of the Will, if the Will is expected to benefit by it. An occasional, isolated effort benefits the Will but little; repeated and reiterated effort is required. Particularly beneficial are regularly repeated efforts conducted along the lines of definite method, and calling forth the release of Will Power in an almost habitual manner. In such exercises, you will do well to focus your Will Power, and to concentrate it upon some one end. Cultivate the habit of concentrated Will-action in your exercises. Form a strong, definite Purposeful Determination, and then pour into its manifestation the whole power of your Will—for the time being, let that one Purposeful Determination be your dominant motive, and its manifestation your chief aim in life.

The successful performance of these exercises will create in you the habit of accomplishing your definite object—the custom of getting the thing done—the fashion of carrying out your determined plan. Your Will, in this way, will acquire a new confidence in itself—it will acquire the habit of succeeding. It will approach more difficult tasks with a new spirit of confidence and expectation of success. A bolder and braver spirit will animate it, and it will proceed to the new and more difficult task with the spirit of the conqueror. It will have learned how to grapple with a difficult situation as earnestly as one does with a physical enemy. It will proceed to the combat with that tenacity of determination, with that fierceness of resolve, with that passion for success which a writer has well said “may almost be called vindictive” in its aggressive and persistent quality.

Do not let the apparent triviality of the tasks cause you to undervalue their importance in your Will-Training. As has well been said: “Will Power is built up by a gradual process of practice on the smallest things, and every act of self-conquest in one sphere of life makes the battle easier in all the other spheres.” Exercises of this kind, inspired by the determination to gain strength and power of Will, and its definite direction and control, if persistently conducted will inevitably lead to that which you seek to gain from them. But, as a celebrated teacher has added: “Will-exercises must be methodical and well-regulated as to degree and length, or else they are perhaps worse than useless.”

We need scarcely remind you that there is no exclusive virtue vested in any one of the particular tasks which we have suggested for your practice and exercise. You may substitute almost any others for them, and, in fact, you will do well to use your ingenuity and powers of invention in that direction. The one thing always to be observed in this connection is that the particular special and definite principles mentioned by us must always be involved and included in your exercises. Again, you may exercise along the lines either (1) of performing some positive actions during a certain fixed time; or else (2) of avoiding the performance of some particular actions during such time. The one is a positive form of exercise, the other is the negative form.

The New Motive. When you have learned to perform the Will-Training Exercises, of the kind outlined in this section of this book, you will have made an interesting discovery concerning your feelings, impulses, desires and Will-action. Heretofore, you have performed your Will-actions solely by reason of the push or pull of some strong Feeling or Desire; and you have seen that all Will-action is caused, directly or indirectly, by Feeling and Desire. Now, in the performance of these exercises, you will have found that you are acting apparently without the push or pull of Feeling or Desire—in fact, in several of the exercises you will be actually acting against such push or pull. Then, you may well ask: “What is the motive of my action? what is its motive cause?” Here, at this point, you make the discovery in question.

You will find that you have aroused within yourself the Will-Feeling, the Will-Desire, the Will-Impulse—those strange emotional states which are satisfied and contented solely by the exercise of the Will for the mere sake of Willing, without regard to the intrinsic value of the act. You here make the acquaintance of “the Will-to-Will”—that unique mental state which seems to arise at the very center of your mental being, deeper than any feeling, any emotion, any desire, any impulse. Here is the Will willing to Will, moved only by Will, and gratifying only Will. This strange mental state is definable only in its own terms—there is nothing else with which to compare it, nothing with which to define it. It must be experienced in order to be understood— but once experienced, it will never be forgotten by you.

If you are interested in this newly-discovered mental state which (at least we trust) you have already found manifesting in yourself, we strongly advise you to consider carefully the next following section of this book. In it you will find your new feeling and consciousness indicated in further detail. If you have not already made this interesting and important discovery in yourself, you may now be on the verge of it; if so, the reading of the following section entitled “Will Consciousness” may perhaps hasten the hour of your deliverance, and make easier your new birth into Dynamic Will Power. The man or woman who experiences “Will Consciousness” is reborn in Will—this time into the world of the Will-to-Will, in which the Mastery of Will is the normal condition and the habitual state.

Will Consciousness

That there is a state of consciousness which may be called the “Will Consciousness”—a state in which the Will becomes conscious of its own existence, its powers, its possibilities—is a fact thoroughly attested by the actual experience of many individuals. Yet to those who have not as yet entered into this conscious experience there is no way of proving the validity of such experience, and, indeed, no words adequate to express or define it fitly.

The experience of Will Consciousness is akin to that experience of full Self Consciousness which comes to many persons at some time in life, but which remains but a name to others. Or, again, it is akin to that dawn of the aesthetic sense which often suddenly bursts into consciousness in favored individuals, enabling them to experience Beauty as with a new sense, and which when once experienced, can never be entirely forgotten or lost.

But, on the other hand, Will Consciousness is different from those two somewhat analogous experiences. Those particular experiences are characterized respectively, by a sense of individual existence and real being, in the first case; and by a sense of added perception, in the second case. Will Consciousness, however, is characterized by the recognition of self-power, realization of self-action, and manifestation of freedom of expression, accompanied by the thrill of the feeling of self-mastery—by the inner certainty of mastery over outer things, which arises from the consciousness of the possession of these self-powers.

In the full state of Will Consciousness, the awareness of power, freedom and ability to act, is accompanied by a peculiar “feeling” which is most difficult to describe, but which is quite apparent to those who have experienced it in even a faint degree. Some psychologists have called it “Will Feeling,” for want of a better name. This “Will Feeling” is experienced in every true Will-action, but reaches the stage of emotion only when the Will “wills to will” for the sake of willing, particularly when in doing so it sets aside the strenuous push or pull of ordinary Feeling and Desire. In such cases, it is as if the Will has ascended to a higher plane of consciousness, leaving behind it on the lower planes the feelings and desires.

This “Will Feeling” will be experienced most keenly by you when you proceed to manifest your Will Power in the face of obstacles and hindrances. It will arouse in you the thrill of courage and daring—the enthusiasm of bravery. You will find that as you develop and train your Will you will open the door to an entirely new phase of satisfying and contenting emotion—a phase which seems to develop along the lines of Will-development and training; it never palls upon you nor grows “stale”; on the contrary, it grows steadily until finally it becomes one of the dominant elements or factors of your emotional life.

In its highest stages, this Will Consciousness will seem to wear thin the barrier which separates your individual self from what may be called the Will of the ALL-POWER—that Ultimate Power which is the source and origin of all the Power manifested in the Universe. In this stage, you will at times become dimly aware of the throb of the Heart of the Universe—will feel its energies pulsing through your mental and spiritual arteries. At such moments you will become aware that “The ALL is One, and each is a part, and not apart as it seemed to be; the Heart of Life has a single beat, pulsing through God, and clod, and ME!” In this dawn of the Will Consciousness there will come to you a sense of joy, and of a peace which, indeed, “passeth all understanding.”

The Will Consciousness cannot be purchased with money; neither can it be acquired as a gift from others. It must be acquired by work and exercise, by a steadfast development of your own inherent powers. You learn to “will to will” only by willing; and you acquire Will Consciousness only by “willing to will.” By your own efforts you must arouse the sleeping giant within yourself; and by your own efforts you must awaken him to a conscious realization of his own existence and power. When you have done this, then some day it will suddenly dawn upon you that this giant Will is really Yourself—your Greater Self which has swallowed up the old partial manifestation of selfhood which you formerly regarded as your Self.

From the very dawn of Will Consciousness, you will become aware that you are a Master, and no longer a Slave. You will experience the sense of freedom and independence, and will be able to see what a puppet-like creature you formerly were. Having escaped from the control of the lesser desires and impulses (by having entered into the spirit of the greater) you will find that these lesser desires and impulses now will rally around your standard, will give you allegiance, will swear fealty to you; for, from the moment you have conquered them, they will become your eager and earnest servants. Despise not these lesser elements of Feeling, Desire and Impulse—they will prove useful servants to you, so set them to work for you. It is found that Feeling, Impulse and Desire, like Fire, are good servants, though poor masters. Remember the old aphorism: “All things are good enough to be used by you; but no thing is good enough to use you.”

It is a platitude that “he who gains self-mastery attains to the mastery of others”; but only when you have developed Will Power and attained Will Consciousness are you able to read the full meaning in these old and familiar words. Only then will you perceive the truth of the teachings of the ancient occult sages who held that you may exert the mastery over other persons and things—even over wild beasts and natural forces—you must first have gained the mastery over the rebellious elements of your own nature which have usurped the throne which rightfully is your own.

When you have conquered the inner forces, you have acquired the right to control the outer forces. When you have deposed the usurpers of your kingdom, and have seated yourself upon the inner throne of your own mental and spiritual being, then will you be able to issue your edicts to the outer kingdom over which you have sovereignty. When you have tamed and mastered the menagerie of wild beasts within yourself, then will you be able to master and control the wild beasts in others. So said the ancient teachers; the best modern thought sustains the doctrine.

There is a serious side to this attainment, however, which you must not fail to recognize and to heed. In attaining this reward of Will Power and Will Consciousness, you will find in your hands a mighty instrument for good or for evil. There will come to you at times a sense of tremendous responsibility for the proper use of this new-found power—the greater the degree of power attained by you, the greater is the responsibility. Your resolutions will lose their former character of impermanency and ineffectiveness—they will take on the character of permanent, effective forces. They will become deeply rooted in and strongly attached to reality; they will become terribly sincere and real—at times you may actually experience awe when you contemplate them.

At times, there may come to you the temptation to regard yourself as apart from other men who have not as yet attained the heights reached by you. These other men will show that they recognize something “different” in you, and will fail to understand you. They may even feel more or less uncomfortable in your presence, and will be apt to regard you as cold, unsympathetic, or even as lacking in some of the qualities of humanity—this because you have risen above some of the common weaknesses of humanity in its present stage of development and evolution. You will find yourself, in a sense, living “ahead of your time”; there will be manifest in you the prophecy and the dawning spirit of the Superman. Be not unduly affected by these things; keep in touch with the world as it is; retain your sympathy with mankind as it is; and, above all, keep your feet on the ground of practical everyday life in the present, and be not tempted to soar up to the region of the clouds—one plane at a time, remember!

You will discover that when you have developed and trained your Will—when you have acquired Will Power, and have attained the Will Consciousness—you will have become more truly an Individual than you were before. You will have become a Master of Destiny, instead of remaining a Slave of Circumstance. You will know what you can do—and you will do it. You will be able to do what you will, and to will that which you do. You will have mastered both Impulse and Lethargy—you will have reached the Golden Mean between the two extremes. You will possess and use energy, yet will not needlessly and uselessly waste or dissipate it. You will be able to begin a task, to continue it as far as is necessary, and to discontinue it when wisdom dictates that course. You will be able to proceed just as far as is required—yet will be able to stop at that point and not take an unnecessary step.

You will also find that you have no inclination to air and display your new-found power for the edification or mystification of others—you will possess that certain sense of inherent power which will cause you to rise above such weaknesses and vain displays. The truly strong man does not boast of his strength and power; neither does he vaingloriously strive to exhibit it. You will be aware that others recognize the power within you, and are influenced by it; yet that very sense of the possession of certain power will tend to inhibit you from boasting about, or making a needless display of it. You will realize that Will Power does not manifest itself in gritting the teeth, clenching the fists, nor protruding the chest like a pouter-pigeon, or heaving the bosom like the moving-picture heroine “registering” emotion.

Likewise, you will discover for yourself that which all wise men, of all ages and all lands, have always known, i. e., that Will Power and Will Consciousness do not necessarily impart gruffness, sternness, nor harshness to their possessor. True Will Power frequently screens itself with an exterior of suavity and agreeableness. Many individuals of the strongest Will Power manifest a pleasant manner, and express a suave politeness, to such a degree that the unthinking observer may be deceived into believing that the individual has no Will of his own, and that his only desire and object in life is that of being agreeable and pleasant to others. But when the opportunity and need present themselves these individuals manifest fully and unmistakably the latent strength within themselves. The “iron hand in the velvet glove” is the ideal of the diplomat; and men like Talleyrand possessed this quality in a remarkable degree, as history records. The blusterers and braggarts usually are found to possess no real power.

Finally, you will discover that the figurative expression in which the Strong Will is called the “Iron Will” is imperfect. You will find that this figure of speech does not convey the idea of that which the strongly developed and scientifically trained Will really is. In its place, you will prefer to use the expression, “the Steel Will”—the Will of finely tempered Steel.

The Iron Will may break under the strain of circumstances, whereas the Will of Steel will yield a little for the moment, only to spring back to its original position and form when the pressure is withdrawn. The Steel Will bends at times, rather than to allow itself to be broken; but it always springs back, in true form, and resumes its action inspired by Purposeful Determination. The Steel Will bends—but it never loses its shape, form or strength. Its purpose may be frustrated temporarily, but it is never permanently defeated. In fact, the energy of its rebound and springing-back often serves to accomplish the desired end and purpose. Think of your Will as being like the thoroughly tempered, fine, strong Damascus blade which bends and springs back when necessary, but which is never broken nor bent out of shape—rather than as the iron bar which breaks under pressure, or else is bent out of shape.

Summing up the discoveries made by you when you have developed and trained your Will Power to that degree in which you have experienced at least the dawn of Will Consciousness and the “Will to Will,” you will find that you have acquired the following qualities, attributes and powers:

I. The Consciousness of Pure Will within yourself;

II. The habit of employing that Will with directness, efficiency and scientific accuracy;

III. The knowledge of an inexhaustible mine of inner resources, power and ability to act with Purposeful Determination.

IV. The power to Will to Will for the sake of Will Consciousness.

V. The power of manifesting or inhibiting Will-action by Will.

Better than All, you will have discovered that at the very centre and heart of your Will—on the very throne of Will— YOU, yourself, abide as the Sovereign King. When you have reached the ultimate stage of Will Consciousness, lo! Will itself will seem to have disappeared, and YOU alone will remain— then the Will will be seen to have become the “acting part” of your Self! Well says Emerson: “There can be no driving force, except through the conversion of the man into his Will, making him the Will, and the Will him!”

We know of no better words to pass on to you as the keynote of what we have sought to teach you in this section than the statement of Charles F. Lummis, who summed up in the following words the result of his own experience of a life of conflict in which he emerged a victor over strong odds:

“The great lesson all this has taught me is that man was meant to be, and ought to be, stronger and more than anything that can happen to him. Circumstances, Fate, Luck, are all outside; and if he cannot change them, he can always beat them. If it had not worked its way into my broken brain that Captain ‘I’ held the fort; that the only key was my own Will, and that unless I wilfully surrendered nothing could take the citadel, I should have been dead long ago. * * * * I am all right. I am bigger than anything that can happen to me. All these things are outside my door—and I’ve got the key.”

Will-Atmosphere

The individual in whom the Will Consciousness has been unfolded and manifested—he who has learned how to Will to Will—is usually found to have unconsciously developed that peculiar aura, field of emanation, or whatever else it may be called, which is known to close students of the subject as “The Will Atmosphere.”

The Will Atmosphere is like the “field of induction” of the strong magnet, the forces of which influence the particles of iron or steel within its limits. The Will Atmosphere of the Will Conscious individual exerts a subtle but most powerful influence over those with whom he comes in contact. In some strange way the other persons coming within the “field of induction” of such an individual instinctively recognize the power latent within his region of Will, and they consciously or unconsciously adapt themselves to it.

We wish here to illustrate this principle of Will Atmosphere by citing several celebrated cases in which the force in question has been manifested in a striking manner. For some of these illustrations we are indebted to Dr. J. Milner Fothergill, who, a number of years ago, gathered together many instances and examples of Will Power and included them in a work upon the subject which we believe to be now out of print.

First of all, we shall ask you to consider that striking illustration given by Oliver Wendell Holmes, which Fothergill prefaces with the following comment:

“The steady conflict of the eye is familiar to many of us. The boy looks at his mother to see if she is in earnest in her threat; when older he likewise looks at his schoolmaster to read his purpose. Two men or women look at each other steadily; no word is said; the conflict is soon over, and one walks ahead of the other ever after.”

The instance related by Holmes is stated by him as follows: “The Koh-i-noor’s face turned so white with rage that his blue-black mustache and beard looked fearful seen against it. He grinned with wrath, and caught at a tumbler, as if he would have thrown its contents at the speaker. The young Marylander fixed his clear steady eye upon him, and laid his hand on his arm, carelessly almost, but the Jewel felt it was held so that he could not move it. It was no use. The youth was his master in muscle, and in that deadly Indian hug in which men wrestle with their eyes, over in five seconds, but breaks one of their two backs, and is good for three-score years and ten. One trial enough—it settles the whole matter—just as when two feathered songsters of the barnyard, game and dunghill, come together. After a jump or two at each other, and a few sharp kicks, there is an end of it; and it is ‘Apres vous, Monsieur,’ with the beaten party in all the social relations for all the rest of his days.”

Fothergill relates with relish the celebrated instance of the meeting of Hugo, Bishop of Lincoln, and Richard Coeur de Lion, in the Church of Roche d’Andeli. In this case, Richard, being involved in war with Normandy, demanded more supplies of his barons. The Bishop of Lincoln refused to supply any men, holding that the see of Lincoln was bound to military service only when the war was waged within the four seas of Britain. Richard, a man of very strong will, was incensed by the refusal of the Bishop, and summoned the latter to Normandy.

When the Bishop reached Normandy, he found that the King was furiously enraged with him; mutual friends advised him to send a conciliatory message to the King before venturing to enter his presence. But the Bishop declined the advice, and preferred to trust to his own sense of awakened Will Consciousness.

The King was sitting at Mass when the prelate walked up to him and, despite the monarch’s frown, said, “Kiss me, my lord King!” The King turned away his face. Hugo shook him, and repeated his request. “Thou hast not deserved it,” growled the King fiercely. “I have,” returned the undaunted prelate, shaking the King by the shoulder even still harder. The King yielded, the kiss was given; and the Bishop passed calmly on to take part in the service.

Fothergill adds: “Mere indifference to death could never have produced such a result. There was something more. As well as being utterly fearless, Bishop Hugo possessed a will-power of most unusual character, of which several instances are on record. Not only did he face the King and justify his refusal to supply men in the council chamber afterwards; he went further, and rebuked the King for infidelity to his queen. The Lion was tamed for the moment The King acknowledged nothing, but restrained his passion, observing afterwards, ‘If all bishops were like my lord of Lincoln, not a prince among us could lift his head against them.’ Such is the story as told by Froude. Yet Richard was the last man to permit a liberty to be taken with him, as his whole history showed.”

This, however, was not the only instance in the career of Hugo in which he showed that his Will Power was capable of dominating that of his King. An earlier King, Henry Plantagenet, who, indeed, had made Hugo the Bishop of Lincoln in the first place, went down in defeat before the Bishop’s Will Power, as truly as did his successor. King Henry preferred a request for a favor to be bestowed by the Bishop upon a certain courtier; his request was bluntly refused. Hugo had already braved the wrath of the King, and the monarch was very angry at him. Henry was with his suite in Woodstock Park, and sat down on the ground pretending to be mending his leather glove when the Bishop approached him. The King took no notice of his spiritual peer. After a brief pause, Hugo pushing aside an earl, sat down by the King’s side. Watching the royal proceedings, he remarked: “Your Majesty reminds me of your cousins at Falaise.” Falaise was a place famous for its leather works, and it was there that Duke Robert met Arlotta, the tanner’s daughter, the mother of William the Conqueror, King Henry’s ancestor. The reference to his humble ancestry was too much for the King, who was badly worsted in the discussion which followed.

Fothergill says: “A similar character is presented to us in General Gordon. It was not his absolute indifference about his life which gained him his ascendency. In China where life is held to be of little or no moment, the absence of any fear of death would go but little way, and it did not constitute the basis of Chinese Gordon’s ascendency; his secret lay elsewhere. Nor did his supremacy in the Soudan rest upon his bravery; for the Arabs of the Soudan are as brave as any warriors in the world, as the history of their conflicts testify. When Gordon took a chair and sate himself down by King John of Abyssinia, or presented himself alone to the Arab sheiks who had sworn to take his life, it was not his disdain of death alone which carried him through both perils unharmed, or enabled him to hold Khartoum. Equally implicit confidence in the protection of heaven has not saved others when in peril.

“All the faith of Savonarola only led him to a horrible death amidst torturing flames. But without this indifference to their fate neither Bishop Hugo nor General Gordon could have come unscathed out of the terrible dangers they deliberately chose to meet. Any fear of death certainly would emasculate any man under these circumstances. The Will Power must be accompanied by personal courage when danger to life has to be encountered. The heroism of the Jesuits, who labored among the Red Indians early in the history of Canada, was sustained by their devotion, for many suffered terrible cruelties. But no one of them ever possessed in a higher degree that Will Power which compels the obedience of others than did La Salle, the pioneer of the Mississippi. In George Washington we see a splendid illustration of that power which moulds other men, and compels them to follow its behests. His patient sagacity rested on the basis of his Will Power.

“A curious instance of the magnetic Power of Will was furnished by the story of the relations of the late Benjamin Disraeli to the Conservative party of England. An alien, handicapped by his early avocations, at first the House refused to listen to him. Yet irresistibly he rose step by step to be a Conservative leader who ‘educated’ his party; and at last was prime minister with a solid array of the best-bred Norman-descended patricians of England at his back, yielding ready obedience to his wishes; a leader of men—men, too, deeply imbued with traditions; and also a personal friend of his sovereign. Here what is meant by the words, ‘By faith ye shall move mountains,’ was illustrated vividly.

“The House of Orange has furnished some striking examples of the effect of Will Power. William the Silent held his followers together by an iron will that bent under no catastrophe, no disaster. It refused to submit. A like character was that of William, afterward King of England. Men who disliked him did his bidding. He inspired the dispirited allies with his own resoluteness. When his schemes were foiled by a defeat, he immediately set to work to repair his losses, and deprive the French of the fruit of their victory. That the house of Orange possessed many grand characteristics will be readily admitted; but no one of their endowments is more remarkable than their Will Power.

“The peculiar commanding power of leaders, no matter whether regular like John Churchill; or that of a guerrilla chief like Mina, in the Peninsula war of Spain; of the Red Indian Pontiac, who imperilled the existence of the Anglo-Saxons on the American continent; or even the negro commander Toussaint l’Ouverture, seems not to depend upon ability only: but on character in which the Will Power is a leading factor. Men with marked Will Power come to the front in emergencies, as seen in Oliver Cromwell, the fen grazier; and Napoleon Bonaparte, the artillery subaltern. In both these instances national convulsions produced the seething caldron from whence they rose; each to an eminence of position and fame. They were heavily handicapped by their early position, yet they rose superior to it. But amidst all these men there rises up a woman even more remarkable than they—the village maiden Joan of Arc, who inspired courage into the beaten warriors of France, and led them to victory. In what lay her witchcraft, for which she was finally burnt? In her capacity to animate others: which was really based on her Will Power!”

The case of Disraeli, mentioned above by Fothergill, is a typical instance of the possession of “that something”—combined Will Power and Will Atmosphere—which distinguishes individuals in whom the Will Consciousness has been awakened and developed. When he first arose to speak in the House of Commons, he was jeered and derided—the House would have none of him. Upon this occasion he hurled at his opponents that remarkable prophesy: “I have begun several times many things, and I have often succeeded at last; aye! and though I may sit down now, the time will come when you will hear me!” And that time did come—and before long, too.

Fothergill says of this: “The time came, sure enough, when the House not only listened to him, but even acknowledged his mastery over it. Disraeli had learned, what many another man learns, that because he failed at first it does not follow that ultimate success is unattainable. The baffled speaker eventually came to hold the House spell-bound with his barbed shafts of rhetoric. He soon attacked fiercely Sir Robert Peel, who was an excellent speaker; and the pungency of his remarks taught the House to dread him—the one at whom they once had scoffed. It must have needed great resolution to face the House of Commons again after that first terrible rebuff; but after the attempt had once been made, the rest was comparatively easy.”

Disraeli’s subsequent career furnishes one of the most striking examples of the power of the individual to overcome apparently insurmountable obstacles by sheer force of Will Power. Step by step he advanced in face of opposition sufficient to have dismayed any ordinary man. At last, he, Disraeli the Jew, became Prime Minister of England and the actual ruler of the destinies of a great part of the world.

This man has thrilled the souls of several later generations of courageous and ambitious men, not only by the force of his example, but also by those remarkable words of his which we have already quoted in this book, but which we wish here to impress still more forcibly upon your memory: “I have brought myself by long meditation to the conviction that a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and that nothing can resist a Will which will stake even existence itself upon its fulfillment.”

Not only the history of warfare, and that of statesmanship, are filled with recitals of instances in which Will Power, Will Consciousness, Will Atmosphere have won the day—the history of business likewise is rich in instances and examples of this kind. A study of the life histories of the great Captains of Industry, of the men who “have arrived” in the various fields of business life, will convince any unprejudiced reader that there exists a “something” which exerts its forces and energies in favor of the individual possessing it. A still closer analysis will reveal the fact that “that something” has Will Power at the very heart and centre of itself, is possessed of the Will Consciousness, and manifests the Will Atmosphere.

Fothergill gives us many typical instances of this kind which he noted in his study of the history of English manufacturers. We shall give you in brief form a statement of several of the most typical of these cases cited by him; a study of these and similar cases serves to awaken the perhaps dormant Will Power in the reader, and also illustrates the general principle now under consideration by us.

Josiah Wedgwood was the youngest of fourteen children, bred and born a potter. At that time the pottery business of England was limited to a very common earthenware; the fine pottery now produced is largely the result of the pioneer work performed by this one-time little delicate lad. He was apprenticed to the trade, but was handicapped by illness which made him lame in his right knee, and which finally resulted in the amputation of his right leg. Crippled as he was, he worked away. Gladstone afterwards said of him that his physical disability “sent his mind inwards, and drove him to meditate upon the laws and secrets of his art.”

By adding silica to the day, he succeeded in making a white ware instead of the dirty-colored products hitherto made. Then he began to experiment along the lines of perfecting his glazes. Then he had to erect his furnaces. Then came the art taste. He paid large sums for old examples of art ware, and copied these accurately. Then he re-discovered the lost art of painting on “biscuit ware” practiced by the old Etruscans, and then employed Flaxman as his artist. He worked for the throne and became the “royal potter.” He not only advanced himself, but also made of his part of England a great high-grade pottery producing centre. Wedgewood furnishes a typical example of the man handicapped by Nature, facing great obstacles, meeting with many discouragements, but in the end triumphing by means of the consistent application of his Will Power. In him the Will Consciousness had been awakened: he had the Will Atmosphere highly developed, according to the testimony of those of his own times.

The story of Lister and “silk waste” also furnishes an illustration of the general principle under consideration. Lister’s attention was directed to what was known as “silk waste” i. e., the waste made from the manufacture of neat silk and pierced cocoons, and which looked like mutilated ropes, dirty flocks, or mucilaginous hemp, and was knotted and sticky and choked with sticks and leaves and dead silkworms. For many years he struggled with the problem of converting this unpromising waste stuff into available silk material. He battled with circumstances, and repeatedly faced utter financial ruin in the attempt.

At one time he was out of pocket no less a sum than $1,500,000, the fortune previously made by him in other ventures. His indomitable will, his unflagging energy, his persistent endeavors, alone carried him through and converted defeat into victory. In the end, he succeeded in manufacturing silk velvets, velvets with a silk pile and cotton back, silk carpets, imitation sealskin, plush velvet ribbons, corded ribbons, sewing silks, Japanese silks, poplins, etc., from the once despised “silk waste.” When, in after years, a statue to Lister was unveiled at Bradford, England, an eminent speaker said: “What is it especially we are honoring? It is the pluck which this man has shown; it is the feeling that he said to himself, ‘here is something which ought to be done; I wilt not rest until I have found out how it can be done, and having found out how it can be done, where is the man who will stop me doing it?’”

A writer in relating the story of Josiah Mason, the English manufacturer who started in business at the age of eight years, peddling cakes on the street, and who when he died was one of Great Britain’s great commercial giants, says of the subject of his sketch: “Mason had, to begin with, a strong, powerful, almost irresistible will. That which he wanted, he would have; and in a great measure he did have. Little or great, all objects or purposes came within the range of his powerful will. And whatever or whoever he opposed, he surely conquered in the end. Not that he was blindly obstinate, or unwilling to take counsel. Another great quality which he possessed—very helpful to the accomplishment of his will—was absolute patience. He knew how to wait. With patience there went in close union a wonderful perseverance. Mason was remarkably tenacious. He held firm to his purpose, and worked it out with never-ceasing vigilance and energy. He was the embodiment of living Will Power.”

Illustrations and examples of this kind might be multiplied indefinitely. The story is the same, no matter of whom it is told, or what may be the native land of that person. It becomes certain to the student of the subject that some great, general, universal principle is back of and under these manifold instances. There is always evident the presence and power of “that something” which is manifesting as Will Power, Will Consciousness, Will Atmosphere. The matter is raised out of the category of mere coincidence by the overwhelming number of the cases in which the principle is found operating. It is seen to be the result of an invariable process of Cause and Effect—of the Law of Causation operating on the plane of mentality.

We believe that the principles and methods which we have set forth in the pages of the present book will serve to point out to the earnest, persistent, courageous individual the road which must be traveled by him in his journey toward Attainment by Will Power. We believe that in the statement of the Master Formula is to be found the Secret of Success. Let us repeat it to you once more in its popular form. Here it is: “You may have anything you want, provided that you (1) know exactly what you want, (2) want it hard enough. (3) confidently expect to obtain it, (4) persistently determine to attain it, and (5) are willing to pay the price of its attainment.”

Re-read the several instances of Success through Will Power related in the foregoing pages of this section, and consider them in the light of the Master Formula of Attainment above stated. You will see that in each and every case the successful individual has, first, known exactly what he wanted to do or to get; that he has then “wanted it hard enough”; that he has firmly believed in and confidently expected to get or to do it; that he has persistently determined to get or to do it; and, finally, that he has always been willing to “pay the price” of the

Will-Atmosphere attainment or achievement. In each case there has been that marked manifestation of (1) Ideals, (2) Desire, (3) Faith, (4) Will, and (5) Service.

Let us close by quoting the following truths from the writing of Dr. Fothergill, that esteemed pioneer in the work of recording the principles and practice of Will Power, and whose work has served as at least a part of the foundation structure of all who have followed him. He says:

“Will Power is seen in the man who bides his time, who knows how to wait—which involves the ‘when’ and the ‘why.’ Circumstances may stand in his way, and he must wait; but the will is neither bent, broken, nor warped by that fact, and is all along as assertive as ever—even when apparently in abeyance. Yet Will Power is not mere perseverance; it is something more. It is an entity in itself!”

Subconscious Power: Your Secret Forces

Your Secret Forces

In this book you are asked to consider some wonderful phases of your Personal Power—that Personal Power which is the expression and manifestation through you of that great principle of All-Power from which all phases and forms of Power proceed, and in which all such are contained—this principle is known in this instruction as “POWER.”

In several of the other volumes of this series of instruction upon the subject of Personal Power, we have asked you to consider those particular phases of your Personal Power which are known, respectively, as Creative Power, Desire Power, Faith Power, Will Power, etc. While in nearly all of those books occasional reference has been made to the activities of the Subconscious Planes of Mind and Will, their primary subject matter has been that which is concerned chiefly with the respective processes of the several phases of mental activity manifesting on the planes of ordinary consciousness.

In the present book, on the contrary, you are asked to consider those comparatively little known activities of the mind and will which lie outside of and beyond the field of ordinary consciousness, but which exert a tremendous influence over the activities of that region, and which to a great extent supply that realm with the material of ideas, mental images, and emotional states.

While the mental planes lying outside of and beyond the field of ordinary consciousness have been until recent years comparatively unexplored by psychologists, and in fact have been almost entirely ignored by western psychology until modern times, the best thought of the present time is in practical agreement upon the fact that on those hidden planes of mentality are performed the major portion of our mental work, and that in their field are in operation some of the most important of our mental processes.

The exploration of these obscure regions of the mind has been one of the most fascinating tasks of modern psychology; and the mines have yielded rich material in abundance. Many mental phenomena formerly either denied as impossible by the orthodox psychologists, or else regarded by the average person as evidence of supernatural agencies and forces, are now seen to fit perfectly into the natural order of things, and to operate according to natural law and order. Not only have such investigations resulted in a greater increase of the scientific knowledge concerning the inner workings of the mind, but they have also served to place in the hands of the more advanced psychologists the material which they have turned to practical and efficient use by means of scientific methods of application.

The effect of these discoveries has been the presentation of an important truth to the thinking individual—the truth that his mental realm is a far greater and grander land that he has heretofore considered it to be. No longer is the Self held to be limited in its mental activities to the narrow field of ordinary consciousness. Your mental kingdom has suddenly expanded until it now constitutes a great empire, with borders flung wide and far beyond the boundaries of the little kingdom which you have been considering as the entire area of the field of the forces, powers and activities of the Self.

The Self has often been likened to the king of a great mental kingdom; but, in view of the discovery of the new facts concerning the wonderful field of the unconscious, subconscious, and superconscious mental activities, the Self is now more properly to be represented as a mighty emperor of a vast empire of which only a comparatively small portion has as yet been explored. You are being called upon to appreciate more fully the ancient aphorism: “You are greater than you know.” Your Self is like a new Columbus, gazing at the great new world which it has discovered around itself, and of which it is the owner and the ruler.

The writers on the subject of the realm of the Subconscious Mentality, being impressed by the vastness of this new empire of the Self, have exercised their imaginations in the direction of supplying familiar illustrations borrowed from the world of concrete material things. It is astonishing to discover how close is the analogy furnished by certain of these illustrations and figurative symbols. We ask you to consider the following symbolic representations in order that your mind may more readily grasp the great truths involved in these new discoveries concerning the realm and power of the Subconscious Mentality.

Some writers have compared the subconscious and the conscious regions of the mind to the visible and invisible portions of the solar spectrum. Science informs us that the visible portion of the solar spectrum, with its red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet rays, is bounded on its lower side by a region of infra-red rays, and on its upper side by a region of ultra-violet rays, these invisible fields of light extending almost indefinitely in either direction. These hidden rays are invisible to our unaided eyes, but are recorded by delicate scientific instruments. The larger part of the heat rays emanating from the sun is invisible to us, and forms a portion of the infra-red field of the solar spectrum. Likewise, the major portion of the chemical changes in the vegetable world, upon which depend the life and growth of the plants, results from the action of the ultra-violet rays which are invisible to our unaided eyes, but which our scientific instruments faithfully record. The most powerful rays of light, those which produce the most marked effects upon living creatures, are the invisible ultra-violet rays— the rays of “dark light” as they have been fancifully styled.

Other writers have compared the conscious and subconscious planes of mentation to a small luminous circle, surrounded by a great ring of twilight; and, beyond this, an indefinite darkness—the events occurring in that twilight region, and in that night region, being quite as real as those occurring within the luminous circle. Others still have likened the mind of man to the earth, with its great underlying deposits of coal and oil, in which slumber latent light, heat and other forms of potential energy, force and power, awaiting but some appropriate stimulus to bring to the surface the materials from which those forces may be released.

Ignoring to a great extent the disputes and differences on the part of the psychologists concerning the most appropriate names and terms to be employed in the consideration of the “out of consciousness” fields of mental activity and work, and brushing aside as non-essential the distinctions and differentiations between the various phases of these activities, we shall in this instruction embrace the entire field and its activities under the general term of “The Subconscious.” Employing the term, “The Subconscious,” to indicate the entire field of activities of the mind which are performed below, above, or in anyway “outside of” the field or plane of the ordinary consciousness of the individual, we soon discover that the activities of the Subconscious extend over a very wide range of manifestation, and embrace a great variety of forms of expression.

In the first place, the Subconscious presides over the activities of your physical organism; it is the animating spirit of your physical processes. It performs the manifold tasks of digestion, assimilation, nutrition, elimination, secretion, circulation, reproduction—in short, all of your vital processes. Your conscious mentality is thus relieved of these great tasks.

Again, the Subconscious supervises the performance of your instinctive actions. Every action that you perform automatically, instinctively, “by habit,” “by heart,” and without conscious employment of thought and will, is really performed by your subconscious mentality. Your conscious mentality, thus relieved of this work, is able to concentrate upon those other tasks which it alone can perform. When you learn to perform an action “by heart,” or “by habit,” the conscious mentality has turned over this particular work to your Subconscious.

Again, the Subconscious is largely concerned with the activities of your emotional nature. Your emotions which rise to the plane or level of consciousness are but the surface manifestations of the more elemental activities performed in the depths of the ocean of the Subconscious. Your elemental and instinctive emotions have their source and home in the Subconscious; they have accumulated there by reason of habit, heredity or racial memory. Practically all the material of your emotional activities is stored on the planes and levels of the Subconscious.

Again, the Subconscious presides over the processes of Memory. The subconscious planes or levels of the mind constitute the great storehouse of the recorded impressions of memory. Moreover, on those planes or levels is performed the work of indexing and cross-indexing the memory-records, by means of which subsequent recollection, recognition and remembrance are rendered possible. These regions of your subconscious mentality contain not only the recorded impressions of your own personal experience, but also those racial memories or inherited memories which manifest in you as “instinct,” and which play a very important part in your life.

Again, the Subconscious is able to, and frequently does, perform for you important work along the lines of actual “thinking.” By means of “mental rumination” it digests and assimilates the materials furnished by your conscious mentality, and then proceeds to classify these, to compare them, and to proceed to form judgments and decisions upon them and from them—all below the levels of your ordinary consciousness. Careful psychologists have decided that by far the greater part of our reasoning processes are really performed on mental levels and planes outside of the field of the ordinary consciousness. Much of your creative mental work, particularly that of the constructive imagination, is performed in this way, the result afterward being raised to the levels of conscious thought.

Finally, there are levels and planes “above” those of the ordinary consciousness, just as there are those “below” the latter. Just as the lower levels are largely concerned with working over the stored-up materials of the past, so these higher levels are concerned with reporting that which may be considered to represent the future conscious activities of the human race. These higher regions of the Subconscious may be said to contain the seed or embryo of the higher faculties and powers which will unfold fully in the future stages of the mental evolution of the race; many of these higher faculties and powers are even now beginning to manifest in occasional flashes in the minds of certain individuals, and, as a consequence, such individuals are frequently regarded as “inspired” or as possessing that indefinable quality or power known as “genius.”

On these higher planes of the Subconscious abide certain marvelous powers of the Self, which powers manifest and express themselves in that which we call genius, inspiration, illumination—the exceptional mental achievements of certain intellects which stamp them as above the average. On these high planes abide and are manifested those wonderful mental activities which we attempt to explain under the term “Intuition.” These activities, however, are not contrary to reason, though they may seem to transcend it at times; it is better to consider them as the manifestation of a Higher Reason. The investigation and exploration of these higher realms of the Subconscious form one of the most interesting and fascinating tasks of modern psychology. Even now, the reports of the investigators and explorers are of surpassing interest; those which confidently may be looked for in the future bid fair to constitute a marvelous contribution to the pages of the history of modern scientific research.

In this book we shall ask you to accompany us in an exploration of the various regions of the Subconscious—those wonderful realms of your mind—from the highest to the lowest. In this new land there are valuable deposits of material useful to you and to all mankind. It is our purpose to point out these to you, and to instruct you in the most approved methods of mining and converting them to practical uses. You are not specially interested in the history of the explorations of the early travelers in this realm, nor in their conflicting theories and their technical terms, nor in their claims of priority of discovery. If we judge you rightly, you are interested chiefly in the matter of being led directly to the mines containing these rich deposits, and in being told just how to conduct the mining operations and the converting processes. In this spirit, then, our journey of exploration shall be conducted.

The Secret Forces of the Great Subconscious, like all other great natural forces, may be harnessed and pressed into service by you. Like electricity, they may be so managed and directed into the proper channels that they may be set to work by and for you. You have been employing these forces, to a greater or less extent, in very many of your mental activities; but, in all probability, you have been employing them instinctively and without a full knowledge of the laws and principles involved in them. When you understand just what these forces are, how they work, and the methods best calculated to produce efficient results and effects, then you may proceed to employ Subconscious Power them intelligently, deliberately and with conscious purpose and intent, end and aim.

The average man employs but about 25 per cent. of his Subconscious Power. The man who understands the principles and methods to which we have just referred will be able to employ 100 per cent. of his available Subconscious Power. This means that he will be able to increase fourfold his Subconscious mental work and activity, with correspondingly increased results and effects. Inasmuch as at least 75 per cent. of man’s mental processes are performed on the plane or level of the Subconscious, it will be seen that the benefits arising from quadrupling his Subconscious mental activities and available power are almost beyond the power of adequate calculation. This increased power and efficiency, moreover, are not obtained at the cost of increased effort and mental wear and tear: on the contrary, the man effectively employing his Subconscious relieves himself of a great portion of the mental strain incident to the employment of the conscious mentality.

Subconscious Mentation

For many years Western Psychology held tenaciously to the theory that “all there is of mind,” all mental processes, all thought, all feeling, all will-activity, were contained within the narrow limits of the ordinary consciousness. It held that the ordinary consciousness was identical with “mind.” We say Western Psychology, because Oriental Psychology for many centuries—for over two thousand years in fact—had recognized the “out of consciousness” mental planes, states and processes.

In spite of the fact that many conscious mental states were perceived to be but superficial manifestations of much deeper processes; in spite of the fact that many such mental states were seen to arise from the depths of mental being lying far below the level of the ordinary consciousness; in spite of the fact that the emotional nature undoubtedly has its fundamental and elemental existence below the levels of the ordinary consciousness; these old-time orthodox psychologists held firmly to their original contention, and denounced those who ventured to express a doubt concerning it. These “old timers,” it is true, found many facts which remained unexplainable under the old theory; but, like many other orthodox thinkers along other lines of thought, they took the position that the old dogmas and teachings must be supported at all costs, and that if the facts conflicted with their theories, then, “so much the worse for the facts.”

But finally the pressure became too strong, and the younger men studying and thinking about the science of the mind began to advance tentatively the idea that perhaps there might be other regions of the mind, regions lying “below the threshold of consciousness,” levels or planes lying below the ordinary mental levels and planes, upon which important mental processes are performed. In spite of the continued and strenuous opposition of the orthodox psychologists, these courageous thinkers conducted extended experiments and made careful observations for the purpose of discovering the nature and the laws of these great unexplored realms of the human mind.

These investigations were made for the most part by psychologists who felt that this unknown region of the mind must exist in order to explain and satisfactorily account for certain observed conscious mental phenomena. The conscious effects were before them, but the “out-of-consciousness” cause of these was unknown. They reasoned that if such-and-such effects were present, then such-and-such causes must also be present, although so far these causes had not been discovered.

These pioneers were like the astronomers who posited the necessary existence of certain undiscovered planets by reason of the discovered actions of certain known planets, which actions were seen necessarily to be caused by the presence and influence of other planets as yet undiscovered by science. Or, changing the illustration, we may say that these advanced thinkers were like the early explorers who by reason of occasionally observing strange floating trees, animals and bodies of men in certain far-distant waters, hazarded the theory that there must be an undiscovered world situated far to the west of their own world; this was the idea that inspired Columbus, and which finally led to the discovery of America. In the same scientific spirit these pioneer psychologists sought to account for certain observed mental activities, deflections and influences upon the theory that there must exist other planes of mental activity, lying “out of consciousness,” which constituted the field of a wonderful activity, the results of which afterward rose to the surface of consciousness.

Leibnitz, the great German philosopher, was one of the first of the leading Western psychologists to advance the theory that the mind is not limited to the narrow field of the ordinary consciousness; and that there are changes occurring, energies always at work, and modifications constantly taking place in the mind, of which the ordinary consciousness is not aware. Others followed in his footsteps, until finally the large number and high standing of the advocates of the new idea forced recognition and respect for it on the part of the orthodox psychologists. Vigorously opposed, and often violently ridiculed, this great idea gradually attracted to itself strong support, and finally became an accepted doctrine in the standard Western psychology.

As a straw showing how the wind of even the most conservative thought is now blowing in the direction of the general recognition of the existence of the “out-of-consciousness” planes or levels of mental activity, we quote the following extract from an article contained in “The Encyclopaedia Britannica” (Eleventh Edition: vol. 25; page 1063):

“The reality of modes of mental operation which may properly be called subconscious or subliminal is now generally admitted. During the last quarter of the 19th and the opening years of the 20th century, there has been accumulated a mass of observations which suffices, in the opinion of many of those best qualified to judge, to establish the reality of processes which express themselves in purposeful actions and which bear all the marks from which we are accustomed to infer conscious cognition and volition, but of which nevertheless the subject of normal personality has no knowledge or awareness other than such as may be shared by any second person observing his actions.”

Perhaps the greatest cause of the objection of the old-time psychologists to the idea of the Subconscious, and one of the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of the understanding of the subject by the average modern layman, is that of the seemingly contradictory notion of mental activities performed without “consciousness.” It is indeed hard to conceive of “thinking” without “consciousness.” But “subconscious” or even “unconscious” thinking is not really “thinking without consciousness”: it is rather thinking on planes of consciousness other than that of the ordinary consciousness.

The term “unconscious,” so frequently applied to the activities of the Subconscious, is particularly unfortunate—it serves to bewilder the student, and to arouse uncalled for opposition in the minds of those unfamiliar with the real facts of the case. Subconsciousness is not “unconsciousness”—it is rather “other consciousness.” This is a most important distinction: we trust that you will fix it in your mind, and observe it in your thought upon the subject.

The Freudian school has given great prominence to the term “The Unconscious” (which was originally employed by von Hartmann) in its consideration of certain important phases of the activities of the Subconscious. This fact has served to add to the difficulties attached to the subject of the “out-of-consciousness” mental processes. But the Freudians do not intend to convey the idea that “The Unconscious” is unknowing; on the contrary, they hold that it “knows” much and “knows” well. Dr. Wilfrid Lay, one of the clearest exponents of the teachings of Freud, says on this point:

“The Unconscious is not to be regarded as the unknowing part of the mind, but only as the unknown part. From one point of view, there is no such thing as the unknowing part of the mind, because the mind is essentially that part of the personality that is knowing; knowing with greater or less intensity, and knowing now one and now another object, but always knowing something, from the first day of its life until the last. But the Unconscious may be described as the generally unknown realms of the ego, into the seemingly bottomless abyss of which the sensations and perceptions of the individual are constantly sinking, and from which, no matter how hard we try, we cannot, without the help which analytic psychology offers us, recover anything except a very limited amount of visual, verbal or other memories.”

A little further on in this section of the book we shall show just why the Subconscious is “the generally unknown realms of the ego.” Modern psychology is able to furnish the explanation—one that is quite satisfactory when rightly understood. But before proceeding to such explanation we wish to clear away another quite frequent cause of misconception, misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the character of the real nature of the Subconscious, namely the erroneous “dual mind” theory which to some extent has become attached to it by reason of the hasty generalizations of some of the earlier writers upon the subject.

One of the great fallacies arising from the hasty generalization of some of the early investigators, teachers and writers upon the subject of the Subconscious, and one which has been quite difficult to explain away to the popular mind, is that which is generally known as the “two-mind theory,” or the “dual-mind hypothesis.” Arising from this is that associated fallacy consisting of identifying one of the hypothetical “two minds” with “the soul,” instead of regarding both of these two respective fields of mentation as particular divisions, regions, levels, or planes of mental activity, all of which are instruments of the manifestation and expression of the Ego, Self, or “I AM I” of the individual.

Frederick W. H. Myers, the English essayist and investigator of psychic phenomena, was (in 1887) the first to advance tentatively the idea of the “dual mind” of man. But Myers was far more conservative than were some of his followers in this respect, as will be seen from the following brief consideration of his ideas. Myers’ original idea was that the Self is not only a unity, but also a coordination of its several phases and powers. He held that in addition to the more commonly recognized attributes the Self “possesses faculties and powers unexercised and unexercisable by the consciousness that finds employment in the direction of the affairs of everyday life.”

At first, Myers confined his attention to the conception of a “level of consciousness” existing below the ordinary level or plane of everyday consciousness—“below the threshold” of that consciousness, as he very aptly expressed it. He employed the term “the subliminal consciousness” to indicate “all that takes place beneath the ordinary threshold, or say, if preferred, the ordinary margin of consciousness—not only those faint stimulations whose very faintness keeps them submerged, but much else which psychology as yet scarcely recognizes— sensations, thoughts, emotions, which may be strong, definite and independent, but which; by the original constitution of our being, seldom merge into that supra-liminal current of consciousness which we usually identify with ourselves.”

But later, Myers yielded to the temptation to generalize beyond conservative limits, and he thereby laid the foundations for much “wild” thought on the part of his later followers— thought which, by the way, Myers would undoubtedly have repudiated had he been living at the time. But even his generalization was advanced quite modestly, and tentatively, as will be seen by the following statement of it made by him at the time: “Perceiving that there are not only isolated subliminal processes, but that there also is a continuous subliminal chain of memory involving just that kind of individual and persistent revival of old impressions and responses to new ones, which we commonly call a Self—I find it permissible and convenient to speak of a Subliminal Self.”

The following explanation made by Myers shows that, at the last, his term, “The Subliminal Self” was employed principally for the purpose of convenience and for distinguishing between the two great planes of mental activity, rather than as a “hard and fast” declaration of belief in a “two mind” or “two self” combination of entities:

“I do not intend by using this term (the Subliminal Self) to assume that there are two correlative and parallel selves existing always within each of us. Rather, I mean that part of the Self which is commonly subliminal; and I conceive that there may be—not only cooperations between these quasi-independent trains of thought—but also upheavals and alterations of personality of many kinds, so that what was once below the surface may for a time, or permanently, rise above it. And I conceive also that no Self of which we can here have cognizance, is in reality more than a fragment of a larger Self—revealed in a fashion at once shifting and limited through an organism not so framed as to afford it full manifestation.”

Another phase of the “dual mind theory” became quite popular for a time as the result of the theories and teachings of Dr. Thomson J. Hudson which were first announced in his book entitled “The Law of Psychic Phenomena,” published in the year 1893. Dr. Hudson’s original fundamental theory was that: “Man has, or appears to have, two minds; each endowed with separate and distinct attributes or powers; each capable, under certain conditions, of independent action. It should be clearly understood at the outset that, for the purpose of arriving at a conclusion, it is a matter of indifference whether we consider that man is endowed with two distinct minds, or that his one mind possesses certain attributes and powers under some conditions, and certain other attributes and powers under other conditions. It is sufficient to know that everything happens just as though he were endowed with a dual mental organism. Under the rules of correct reasoning, therefore, I have a right to assume that man has two minds; and the assumption is so stated, in its broadest terms, as the first proposition of my hypothesis. For convenience, I shall designate the one as the Objective Mind, and the other as the Subjective Mind.”

But Hudson soon advanced from this comparatively modest fundamental premise. He proceeded as if the duality of the mind were an established fact, and he attributed to his hypothetical Subjective Mind the most wonderful powers and properties. In addition to the well-recognized “subconscious mental processes,” he attributed to the Subjective Mind certain mysterious powers which he held sufficient to account for the “psychic phenomena” of telepathy, hypnotism, clairvoyance, spiritistic manifestations, psychic action at a distance, psychic movement of material objects, etc. He held that the Subjective Mind acted without the use of the physical senses; that it was able to see at a distance, and without the natural organs of vision; that it could leave the body and travel to distant lands; that it could read the thoughts of others, and the contents of sealed envelopes and closed books, etc., etc. Finally, he announced: “In other words, it is the soul.”

Hudson claimed that the Subjective Mind operated more freely and efficiently when the person is placed in the hypnotic state, and that it was “unqualifiedly and constantly amenable to the power of suggestion; that is to say, the Subjective Mind accepts, without hesitation or doubt, every statement that is made it, no matter how absurd or incongruous or contrary to the objective experience of the individual.” In his later books, Dr. Hudson sought to establish the Immortality of the Soul by means of his hypothesis of the Subjective Mind, the latter being by him identified with “the soul.” He also sought to establish the Divine Pedigree of Man by means of the same hypothesis, holding practically that Divine Mind must be Subjective Mind raised to infinity, notwithstanding that he had previously asserted that the Subjective Mind could be hypnotized, and that it did its best work while in that state; and that it was

Subconscious Mentation amenable to suggestion to such an extent that it would accept without hesitation the most absurd and ridiculous statements.

Hudson’s theories and teachings, though extremely popular for a time, are now but seldom heard of or quoted. Their value now is generally held to consist chiefly of the great interest which they aroused in the public mind concerning the phenomena of the Subconscious. The extravagances of the theory, and the “wildness” of many of its conclusions, have been gradually, ironed out by the more thoughtful and scientific treatment of the subject by the later investigators and writers. The value of Dr. Hudson’s pioneer work is gratefully acknowledged by the present-day workers along the same general lines, and much of his teaching which was at one time severely condemned by the more conservative psychologists is now seen to fit in with the newer views of the subject when the former is properly interpreted and rightly understood and stated.

We do not consider it necessary to enter here into an extended recital of the theories and teachings of the multitude of teachers and writers who followed rapidly in the footsteps of Myers and of Hudson, and who carried to an extent undreamed of by those pioneers their original comparatively conservative hypotheses of “the dual self” or “the dual mind.” While serving to attract to the general idea of the Subconscious the minds of many persons who, otherwise, would never have heard of it, they often tended to repel the minds of more thoughtful persons by the mass of fantastic theory and unwarranted conclusions with which they surrounded the fundamental facts.

All this, however, has now almost entirely passed away. The barnacles have been scraped from the bottom of the ship, and it is now quite “easy sailing.” We now hear very little of the “dual mind” or “dual self” theories. The facts which were obscured or distorted by them are now explained and accounted for by the teachings of approved modern psychology. The unity of the mind is still maintained, but even the most conservative psychologists now admit—nay, actually insist—that the mental unity has many phases, many planes, levels, and regions of manifestation and expression. Science now says, in effect: “If we are called upon to postulate a separate self or mind to account for and explain each and every phase or aspect of mental activity, we shall have not two, but three, four, five, seven, ten, twenty, or a hundred different ‘selves,’ ‘minds,’ or entities, on our list. The sane and logical conclusion is that the mind is unitary—one— having many phases, forms, modes or aspects of manifestation and expression, and many levels or planes, regions or realms, of activity and process.”

Professor Joseph Jastrow says concerning this point: “It is quite misleading to think of the Subconscious as a veritable, independently organized ‘psyche,’ or as a subservient understudy, however partially apposite and wholly legitimate such comparisons may be as metaphorical aids. The Conscious and the Subconscious (if we may clothe these aspects of our mental life in substantive form) are but two souls with but a single thought, for the simple reason that they are but one soul, and the unity of their heart-beat is inherent in the organism that gives them life. It is only because the silent partner in our mental administration is only the sole head thereof in another guise, with another occupation, that his dominant habits, interests, endowments, experiences, pervade their common business. It is again because the one contributes to the joint undertaking, so largely unheard and unseen, that those who have intercourse with this concern, as indeed the director thereof himself, have little occasion to come in contact with influence and data that do not appear on the books.”

Now, let us return to that point of our consideration of the Subconscious wherein we proceed to investigate the subject of just why the contents of that great portion of the mind is unknown to the individual: you will remember that we have told you that modern psychology is able to furnish this explanation, and that we promised you that we would furnish you with it.

Here is the explanation in a nutshell: You are aware only of such contents of your mind which are within the field of ordinary consciousness. You are “conscious” of only such of your mental states and processes which at the moment of ordinary consciousness are included in the radius of your conscious attention. Accordingly, the “field of ordinary consciousness” and the “field of conscious attention” are identical. If your conscious attention is directed to or held by a particular object or subject, then you are “conscious” of that object or subject; if your conscious attention is not so directed or held by that object or subject, then you are not “conscious” of it.

A little self-examination will reveal to you the truth of the above statement. You will see at once that you are aware or conscious at this moment of only an infinitesimal portion of the entire contents of your mind—of what you “know,” of what you feel, of your beliefs, of your likes or dislikes, and so on. Your mind is filled with knowledge acquired by you in your past experience; with feelings of various kinds which you have developed in like manner; with ideas, plans, designs, purposes, aims, ends, desires, longings, aspirations. You know that this is so, although at this present moment these mental states are not in your field of consciousness—your conscious attention is not directed to or held by them. The moment that you turn your conscious attention in the direction of any of these things, that moment do those things proceed to rise to the plane of ordinary consciousness and you become aware of them. This is what happens when you “think” about things; when you indulge in reverie; when you start into motion the stream of memory and recollection. All this is a matter of ordinary everyday experience with you; yet you may never have thought of it in just this way, nor realized the principle involved in the process.

You see, there are two general kinds of “knowing,” as follows: (1) the “knowing” arising from the present consciousness of things; and (2) the “knowing” which consists of the knowledge which you have “salted down” and stored away in your mind— and this “in your mind” really means “in your Subconscious.” In the same way there are two general kinds of “feeling,” as follows: (1) the “feeling” which is at this moment present in your conscious attention, and (2) the “feelings” which you know quite well are present in your mind, although you are not at this moment aware of them.

If you would obtain a clear illustrative idea of the nature of the contents of the Subconscious, you need but think of the contents of your memory—for memory is one of the great phases of the Subconscious. You know quite well that there is a wealth of knowledge stored away in your memory, of which you are not at this moment conscious; you know equally well that when your attention is directed to certain subjects or objects, then your memory will raise to the plane of conscious attention at least a considerable portion of your knowledge concerning those subjects. Where were those memories, where was this knowledge, before they arose into consciousness in response to directed attention? Surely they existed somewhere—but where? They existed in the Subconscious just as truly as they afterward existed in your consciousness! Do you see the point?

The Subconscious is the great ocean of your mind, while your consciousness is but the surface activities of it. Your attention brings to the surface such contents of your mental ocean as may be called for, or drawn there, by the appropriate causes. But the attention does not create them; it merely brings them to the surface. These contents of your mind are just as real—just as really items of your knowledge—while sunk in the depths of the Subconscious, as when raised to the surface. To limit your “mind” to your conscious states, ignoring the far greater contents of your Subconscious, would be just as absurd as to limit the ocean to its surface, ignoring the wonderful body of its depths.

But not only are items of knowledge stored away in this great ocean of the Subconscious; wonderful mental activities and processes are constantly under way in its hidden depths. The Subconscious is not a Dead Sea; it is a great ocean of activity. It never rests, never sleeps; it works while your ordinary surface consciousness is resting or sleeping. A great portion of your thinking is being performed there; in its realm there are mental processes under way the end of which is to solve your problems for you, to answer your questions, to form your judgments, to work upon the materials which your conscious mentality has handed over to it instinctively. You see, your Mental Machine is a far more wonderful thing than you had imagined; it is something bigger than you have dreamed it to be. In the following sections of this book we shall show you the kind of mental work the Subconscious is doing for you—and the still better work it is capable of doing for you when you direct it rightly. For the present, we are merely striving to awaken you to a realization of its nature and of the facts of its existence.

Nature, or the Power underlying Nature, has wisely committed the greater portion of your mental work to the Subconscious. If your conscious mentality were required to attend even to but one-thousandth part of the work of the Subconscious, you would have no time whatsoever to attend to the tasks and problems of your everyday conscious life. In order to allow your conscious mentality to perform its rightful tasks, Nature has handed over to the Subconscious the greater portion of the entire mental activities, processes, and work. You will realize this more fully as you proceed with this instruction.

Dr. Wilfrid Lay says: “The Unconscious operates in every act of our lives, not merely in the actions ordinarily known as unconscious or automatic, but in that part of our activity to which we attribute the most vivid consciousness. For in a certain sense we are most helped or hindered by the unconscious part of ourselves when we think that we are most keenly alive. Our Unconscious pervades our conduct in the most minute details, just as the air we breathe is forced by our blood through our tissues; and it might almost be said that it is as important, and as great in extent, when compared with the conscious present, as the air, so small a part of which we breathe, is in extent in proportion to the minute particles of it that we take into our lungs.”

Subconscious Vital Processes

Among the most fundamental activities of the Subconscious are those which are concerned with the vital processes of the physical body—the processes of life in the living organism. Although the fact is not generally recognized, it is an established scientific truth that the Subconscious controls, directs, institutes and conducts the vital processes of the body which are concerned with growth, nourishment and the general operation of the living organism.

The operation of the vital processes manifested in every organ of your body is conducted by the Subconscious. Every organ, every part, even every cell, is under the control and direction of the Subconscious. The work of repair, replacement, digestion, assimilation and elimination, which is underway in your physical body, is performed by the Subconscious. In short, your entire vital activity is under the control and direction of your Subconscious, although your ordinary consciousness is not aware of this fact.

Many persons; most persons in fact, if they think of the matter at all, are inclined to the general notion that the body “runs itself” like a machine, or rather like a clock that has been wound up and set going. So far is this from being a fact, however, that it may be stated that every action and movement of your internal organism (with the exception of the purely mechanical or chemical movements and changes) is effected by your Will, the latter usually manifesting along the lines of subconscious activity. All the operations of the “life forces” in your body are found to result from mental action of some kind—usually subconscious mental action.

It is an axiom of certain careful thinkers that “All Life-action is Mind-Action.” In every vital process in the living organism are to be seen the presence and activity of mind in some form, some phase, some degree. As Carpenter says: “The convertibility of physical forces and the correlation of these with the vital forces, and the intricacy of that nexus between mental and bodily activity which cannot be analyzed, all lead upward to one and the same conclusion—that the source of all power is Mind.” Bacon says: “Life is not force; it is combining power. It is the product and presence of Mind.” Dunn says: “From the first movement when the primordial cell-germ of a human organism comes into being, the entire individual is present, fitted for human destiny. From the same moment, life and mind are never for an instant separated; their union constitutes the essential work of our present existence.”

That all which is called Vital Force, the Healing Power of Nature, or the “Vis Medicatrix Naturae,” is but a form, phase or aspect of subconscious mental action—of the work of the Subconscious—cannot be doubted even for a moment by those who have carefully investigated Nature’s healing processes. These processes constitute what is known as “the curative efforts of Nature,” or the “Vis Vita,” by which terms is indicated that certain curative or restorative principle of Nature which is implanted in every living, organized body, and which is constantly operative for its repair, preservation, health and well-being. Instances of the effective work of this great natural principle are seen in the respective processes manifest in cases where a finger or toe is lost by the man. Here, as a prominent medical authority has said, “Nature, unaided, will repair and fashion a stump equal to one at the hands of an eminent surgeon.”

Careful medical authorities have pointed out in their books, and in their lectures, the fact that undeniable mental action is present in the ordinary vital processes and functions. They assure us that no machine could be constructed, nor could any combination of solids and liquids in organic compounds serve, to regulate, control, counteract, help, hinder, or arrange for the continual succession of different events, foods, surroundings and conditions which are constantly affecting the body; under no mechanistic theory can satisfactorily be explained the fact that in the midst of such ever-changing and varying succession of influences the body holds to its course of growth, health, nutrition and self-maintenance with the most marvelous constancy.

It is clear, say these authorities, that such qualities as regulation, control, etc., are mental qualities rather than mechanical properties. But, they bid us note, it is equally clear that by no ordinary mental actions can we consciously exercise any of these mental powers over the organic processes of our bodies. The inevitable conclusion, they say, is that the mental powers which are seen to be operating in the body are exercised unconsciously—that our unconscious mental powers, and nothing else, control, guide and govern the functions and organs of the body. As one of these authorities says: “When thoroughly analyzed, the action and regulation of no part of the body can be satisfactorily explained without postulating an unconscious mental element which does, if allowed, satisfactorily explain all the phenomena.”

We would call your attention here, at this point, to the fact that the bases of Mind Cure, Mental Healing, Mental Therapeutics (or by whatever names the various systems of mental cure of disease may be called) undoubtedly are to be found in the fact that the vital functions and processes of the body are really performed by Mind operating along subconscious lines—by the Subconscious, in fact. This being realized, it is seen plainly that Mental Healing (in each or all of its forms) is not a case of “the power of Mind over Matter,” but rather that of the influence of one phase of the mind over another phase—a case of “Mind over Mind,” in fact.

The connective nerves or filaments which unite the Cerebro-Spinal and the Sympathetic Nervous Systems serve an important purpose in the work of Mental Healing, and their presence is very significant in the light of the phenomena of Mental Therapeutics, or Faith Cures, and in the well-known ordinary phases of the effect of mental states upon physical functions. They serve to explain the vital mechanism employed in the production of these interesting classes of psycho-physical phenomena; and, likewise, they serve to furnish the physical explanation of the psychological processes operative in the phenomena of Mental Healing.

That mental states produce reactions in the form of physical conditions is admitted by even the most conservative medical authorities. The most casual observer must have noted that the emotions of fear, grief, anger, worry, or joy have a most marked effect upon the physical processes of digestion, assimilation and elimination. A change of mental state is almost immediately followed by a change in physical function. Your appetite is seriously affected by the receipt of bad news, while good news imparts a new zest to the enjoyment of your meal. The sight or the recollection of the sight of a disgusting object will produce nausea, or at least will spoil your appetite.

The sight or the memory of appetizing food will cause your mouth to water, and your gastric juices to flow more freely. The bad boy who stood in front of a brass band, and by means of sucking a lemon induced the saliva to flow copiously from the mouths of the musicians, thus causing their playing to come to a sudden and disastrous end, understood the practical effect of this principle, though doubtless ignorant of the real cause operating in the case. The practical joker who sets the company of persons to yawning, as the result of the mental contagion produced by his simulated yawn, understands how this principle works out in practice, though he may not realize the exact psychology or physical process involved.

Experimental psychology has demonstrated that “the circulation follows the attention”; and that by concentrated attention directed to any part of the body one may increase the blood supply to that part. Thus, experiments have demonstrated that the blood may be sent in increased quantity to the hand, or else withdrawn from it, simply by means of concentrated attention accompanied by mental suggestion or auto-suggestion; the dark-red color of the hand in one case, and the pallid appearance of the hand in the other case, being sufficient evidence of the soundness of the principle. Many practitioners of Suggestive Therapeutics who have experimented along these lines have held that the increased supply of nerve-force, accompanying the increased flow of blood sent to the several organs and parts of the body in this way, plays a most important part in many cases of Mental Healing.

Just as the flow of the blood to any part or organ of the body may be increased by concentrating the attention upon those parts and organs, so the movements, activities and processes of the digestive organs, the organs of elimination, and even of the heart, may be influenced by employment of the attention, or by the presence of certain mental states which serve to accelerate or retard such processes as the case may be. Modern science admits that: “It is positively established that Suggestion or Auto-suggestion can and does affect the so-called involuntary functions of the body.” We shall see just how and why Suggestion and Auto-suggestion produce these effects, when we reach that particular phase of our subject a little further on in this section of the book.

That the respective states of health and disease depend materially upon the character of the emotional states predominant in the subconscious mentality of the individual is now universally admitted in authoritative medical circles. Statements concerning this fact, and examples and instances illustrating it, are to be found on all sides in medical journals, textbooks, and class-lectures. The following examples will suffice to illustrate the general character of the conclusions expressed in such statements concerning this matter.

Dr. Southworth says: “If mental states can change the various secretions of the body, making them poisonous: for example, the saliva and the milk in the human breast, under the influence of anger, worry or fear, could it not also be productive of disease through imperfect or non-elimination? Is it improbable that fear, which is a greater negative force than anger, may produce the results as indicated?” Professor Elmer Gates says: “My experiments show that irascible, malevolent and depressing emotions generate in the system injurious compounds, some of which are extremely poisonous; also that agreeable, happy emotions generate chemical compounds of nutritious value, which stimulate the cells to generate energy.”

Dr. Borton, writing of the healing of the body through mental forces, in which unhealthy conditions are transformed into healthy, normal states, says: “These changes are not miraculous, but proceed from natural causes in the operation of the mind, as a therapeutic agency, operating through the functions of the body, sometimes as a tonic or stimulant, warding off diseases under the most exposed conditions, defending and holding the system in a state of health; while those devoid of these mental assurances become victims to the ravages of disease through contagion or infection. This protective force of the mind has been demonstrated many times in hospitals and other places where contagious diseases were prevailing. The mental force possesses a protective power, when rightly exercised, far beyond what is usually conceded; this, not only in the way of defense, but also in correcting diseases when in existence.”

The investigations of Freud and his school have served to throw new light upon many obscure mental causes of disease and abnormal physical conditions. The work of Psycho-Analysis is directed to a considerable extent to uncovering these causes which are hidden in the recesses of the Subconscious.

Briefly stated, the case is as follows: Many abnormal physical conditions, and often chronic complaints, have as their primary cause a disturbance of the emotional nature arising from past experiences of an unpleasant nature, such as, for instance, real or fancied slights, injuries, injustice, frustration of cherished desires, or similar occurrences in the past life of the individual. As the years pass by the main facts of the actual event fade from the memory, and the individual seemingly adapts himself to the conditions forced upon him. But the Subconscious has not forgotten these; instead, their memories abide in the “out of consciousness” realms, and work their evil effects. Like a hidden cancer, or like a great gnawing worm dwelling in the emotional nature of the person, the old sore persists and tends to poison his mental and physical constitution. Thus old hates, old jealousies, old fears, abide in the Subconscious, producing the physical reactions which are well known to Psycho-Therapy.

It is the work of the scientific Psycho-Analyst to dig out these cancerous mental growths, or these psychic gnawing worms, and to bring them once more into the field of consciousness. Once brought before the conscious attention, they may be examined, analyzed, dissected, passed upon, and discarded as having no real present importance; thereupon, they are discharged from the mental realm once and for all. By means of this “cathartic” process, the system is relieved of these hidden roots and causes of disease and abnormal physical conditions, and health and normal functioning once more is manifested. These and similar discoveries have served to add greatly to the efficiency of Mental Therapy, and to broaden its field. They verify the basic principles and theories of Mind Cure, and indicate improved methods of applying them.

In this consideration of the Subconscious Vital Processes we must call your attention to three very important facts, namely: (1) That the Subconscious is amenable to Suggestion and Auto-Suggestion; (2) that the Subconscious tends to accept as true the ideas and statements which the conscious mentality places, or allows to be placed in it; (3) that the Subconscious, after accepting a Suggestion or Auto-Suggestion, proceeds to carry the suggested idea to its logical conclusion, irrespective of its actual truth, and thereafter will tend to manifest in physical states and functioning the mental state or completed idea the seed of which has been supplied by the Suggestion or Auto-Suggestion.

Now, there is no need here for us to enter into a technical description of the Psychology of Suggestion. It is sufficient for our purpose to consider a Suggestion as a “seed idea” which is planted in the rich mental soil of the Subconscious. An Auto-Suggestion is merely a Suggestion made by one to himself; it is a case of “sez I to myself, says I.” A plain Suggestion is a “seed idea” coming from an outside source—a statement from another person, a passage in a book or newspaper, a printed sign, the manner of another person, etc. All Suggestion, at the last, is Auto-Suggestion, for the reason that the individual permitting a Suggestion from outside to become lodged in his Subconscious really tacitly endorses it and makes it his own— just as man endorsing a check or note assumes responsibility for the paper.

The result of the suggestibility of the Subconscious is quite marked in the case of the Subconscious Vital Processes. Suggestions or Auto-Suggestions of Health tend to produce conditions of Health; while Suggestions or Auto-Suggestions of Disease tend to produce conditions of Disease. It has been said that, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Equally true, and for the same reason, is the statement that “As the Subconscious thinks its owner’s physical condition is or should he, so that physical condition actually becomes in time.”

By reason of these fundamental facts concerning the Subconscious, it is easily seen how and why the “seed ideas” implanted in the soil of the Subconscious eventually sprout, bear leaves, blossoms and the fruit of Health or Disease as the case may be. By means of the planting of the seed-ideas of Fearthought, panicky feelings, mental pictures and thoughts of diseased conditions, depressing and discouraging emotional states—coupled with the mental attitude of the “expectant attention” or “confident expectation” of the coming (or the continuance) of the physical disorder—the conscious mentality impairs and interferes with the normal action of the subconscious mental activities, quite frequently giving to them an entirely wrong direction or course of procedure. This wrong direction or course of procedure in time often becomes chronic and permanent, unless removed or else neutralized by a reversal of the method which originally brought it about.

On the other hand, by energizing, animating and strengthening the subconscious mental processes by cheerful, happy, and hopeful states of mind concerning the physical condition, by inspiring emotional states and feelings, by mental pictures of healthy, normal physical conditions, rather than of the abnormal, there is aroused a strong natural power of resistance to diseased conditions, to impaired physical functioning, and to ill-health in general—a strong recuperative energy, tending to prevent disease in the first place, and in the second place to restore health when it has become impaired.

Avoid, as you would a pestilence, all depressing emotions and all negative mental states such as Anger, Fear, Worry, Jealousy, Envy, Hatred. Also avoid with equal care all expectations or beliefs that you will contract disease, even when it is raging around and about you. Refuse to allow your imagination to be filled with the negative; evil pictures of diseases or diseased conditions. Avoid, or learn to resist and throw off, the evil Suggestions of others that you will contract disease or manifest diseased conditions. Shed these Suggestions like the proverbial water from the duck’s back, when you cannot escape from the company of persons given to the planting of such pestilential seed-thoughts.

Cultivate the positive emotional states of Fearlessness, Calmness, Poise, Cheerfulness, Hope, Faith, Confidence in the Powers-that-be in Nature, or above and over Nature. Form the habit of expecting and looking forward to the normal, natural conditions of Health, not to the state of Disease. Trust the Life Forces and Nature to “pull you through,” even when you may happen to “slip.” Fill your mind with the ideas and mental pictures of Health, and not of Disease. Frequent the company of those who “look forward, not backward; upward, not downward,” and whose vision seeks the good rather than the evil aspects of life. Read books having this “forward and upward” outlook upon life.

Above all, keep your mind filled with the bright, cheerful and happy mental pictures of Health and Normal Physical Conditions. Be careful to admit only the right kind of pictures to your Mental Picture Gallery. Always see yourself as you wish to be; not as you fear that you may be! Keep ever before you the visualized ideal of HEALTH—this, no matter how much the existing conditions may strive or tend to influence you in the opposite direction. This last is important, for these Ideal Mental Pictures are the patterns which the Subconscious (which is really that which you have been thinking of as “Life” or “Nature”) employs in building your physical body, and in weaving the fabric of your physical functioning and conditions.

This is the great principle underlying all the various schools of Mental Healing, Faith Cure, etc., even of those schools which seek to veil their teachings in metaphysical and quasi-religious terminology and dogma. The development of the depressing, negative mental weeds spoils the mental garden of the Subconscious, and chokes the valuable plants which should be grown there. The act of holding before the imagination or the ideative faculties the mental pictures of Disease is bound in time to cause the Subconscious to strive to manifest in objective physical reality the conditions presented to it in such pictures. The “confident expectation,” or “expectant attention” of diseased or abnormal physical conditions is practically certain to cause the Subconscious to proceed in the direction of “making the ideal become real.” The statement of Job that, “that which I feared hath come upon me,” expresses an actual fact of physiological-psychology or of psychological-physiology.

This negative influence and condition, so imparted, permeates the organs and parts directly involved, and the cells which compose those organs and parts, as well. It also by reflex and sympathetic action and reaction of this kind—the action of the conscious mentality upon the Subconscious, and the reaction of the latter upon the former—serves to break down the natural habits of resistance and self-protection with which the Subconscious is endowed. As a result, chronic ill-health frequently results.

Here we have an actual example of the truth that, “To him who hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.” In such cases, the only remedy is to halt the progress of the downward swing of the Subconscious activity, and to reverse the process by transmuting the activity into an upward, positive manifestation. The latter, however, is equally cumulative, the action and reaction proceeding in the direction of Health, so that we have an actual example of the companion truth that, “To him who hath, shall be given.” The rule works both ways, as all good rules are said to do.

Finally, you will do well to remember the old adage that, “That which will make a sick man well, will keep a well man well—that which will cure Disease, will prevent Disease.” Therefore, you are strongly urged to acquire, cultivate and maintain the positive, up-looking, forward-looking mental attitude, even in the days of your most perfect Health. “An ounce of Prevention is worth a pound of Cure.” You should determine to adhere faithfully to the Ideal of HEALTH—to cultivate the habit of holding firmly to the Mental Pictures of HEALTH—and to beware of allowing that Ideal and those Mental Pictures to become weakened, dimmed, clouded or hidden by adverse Auto-Suggestions on your own part, or by the acceptance (tacitly or actually) of similar Suggestions arising from the remarks, views, beliefs or negative mental attitudes of other persons, or from other sources.

This, then, is the part played by your Subconscious in the matter of the direction and control of your physical functions and processes. You have at your disposal the wondrous powers of the Subconscious which you may direct to the work of maintaining or restoring your Health. All that you have thought of as “Nature,” or as “The Life Forces” (in their healing and life-maintaining processes); all that you have thought of as The Healing Power outside of yourself; all this is really your own Subconscious—a part of Yourself, though a part perhaps not recognized or realized by you up to this time. If through ignorance you have given these powers a wrong direction, you have now at your disposal and under your command a positive, upward, Health-giving aggregate of forces. Finally, remember that your Subconscious is always your friend—once let it realize what is necessary for your physical well-being, once plant the right kind of seed-ideas in its soil, and it will bend every energy within it toward manifesting and expressing Health in you.

Rightly understood and interpreted, the principles which we have just announced to you will make clear and plain to you “that something in it” which you have always intuitively felt might be found in Mind Cures, underlying their technical and sometimes fantastic theories and methods. You have here “the stuff that does the work” which has been hidden in the various capsules offered you by the several schools, cults, and teachers. The verbal capsules serve to disguise the “real stuff,” and to make it more attractive to the imagination. Any verbal form that appeals to the mental taste or to the imagination will serve the purpose. The highly exploited verbal formulas, the miraculous Statements of Truth, the wonder-working “affirmations” of the various schools,—all these are but the verbal capsules in which are concealed the “real stuff” of Auto-Suggestion or Suggestion. Anything that will arouse the mental state of active “Confident Expectation,” or which will create a strong mental picture of the desired result or condition will “do the work.”

If you will analyze the various verbal formulas by means of which Mind Cures are made, you will always discover that Auto-Suggestion or Suggestion abides at their very heart and centre. The positive mental picture accompanied by the mental state of Faith, Confident Expectation, or Expectant Attention, will give to the Subconscious the desired mental pattern to be materialized into objective reality, and the aroused Faith or Confident Expectation will set the machinery of the Subconscious into activity.

We note at the time of the present writing that a retired chemist of Nancy, France, is “working miracles” of healing in England. His formula is simply the continued repetition of the French words “Ca passe” (meaning “going, going, going.”) The patients are filled with the idea that their diseases are “going, going, going,” and the repeated Auto-Suggestion produces the desired result in a great number of cases. The rapidly repeated French phrase, sounding like “Passapassapassapassapassa” constitutes the magic formula in this case. The additional statement, to be repeated twenty times without stopping, is: “Everyday in every way I am getting better and better.” If you, have studied carefully what we have told you concerning the active principle of Suggestion or Auto-Suggestion, you will discover the “real stuff that does the work” in this verbal formula that is obtaining such marked results, according to the foreign press. The great virtue of this particular formula lies in its simplicity, and in its “catchy” sound. It supplies an attractive verbal capsule for the “stuff that does the work,” i. e., Suggestion.

Subconscious Habitual Action

Another interesting and important phase of the manifestations of the Subconscious is that concerned with the performance of more or less complex habitual physical actions. By far the greater portion of your ordinary physical movements are performed by your Subconscious operating along the lines of “habit,” or acquired automatic action. All “habit actions” or acquired automatic actions are performed under the direction of the Subconscious.

Your first attempts at walking, writing, operating a typewriter, playing an instrument, running a sewing machine, or carrying on any similar operation involving repeated muscular movements, were accompanied by an intense consciousness of every detail of the required movements. As you became more proficient in the task, by reason of repeated practice and repetition, and as you acquired ease and dexterity in such performance, you gradually became less and less conscious of those details; finally, you reached the stage in which you were able to perform the movements practically without conscious effort.

But while your ordinary consciousness is no longer involved in the habitual acquired action, your Subconscious is most decidedly involved in it. The performance has been merely transferred from your ordinary conscious mental mechanism to your extraordinary Subconscious mental mechanism. Your mind is as much involved in the performance when the habit is acquired, as it was at the beginning, though you are not consciously aware of the fact. Your mind has not withdrawn from the task: it has merely transferred the performance from one field of its activities to another.

It was formerly the fashion of philosophers to attempt to explain this well-known class of phenomena upon the theory that the acquired muscular movements became “automatic,” in the sense of “purely mechanical.” They held that the mind was no longer concerned with the muscular activities, and that the muscles had learned to perform the necessary actions involuntarily, automatically, and “of themselves.” But, they admitted, it could not be denied that the mind seemed to be always in the background, hovering around the task, as it were, and ready to resume its control should such necessity present itself. But certain thoughtful psychologists dissented from this crude theory, which, in fact, was no real theory at all but rather a confession of ignorance on the part of those advancing it.

Lewes, an early authority, protested against the crude theory just mentioned. He said: “We are not conscious of the separate sensations which guide speech and writing. Are these processes mechanical? By no means. We know that they were laboriously learned by long tentative efforts, each of which was accompanied by distinct consciousness. To suppose that we pass from the psychical to the physical by frequent repetition, would lead to the monstrous conclusion that, when a naturalist has by laborious study become so familiarized with the specific marks of an animal or plant that he can recognize at a glance a particular species, or recognize by a single character the nature of the rest, the rapidity and certainty of this judgment proves it to be a mechanical, not a mental act.”

He continues: “The point never to be left out of sight is that actions which are known to be preceded and accompanied by sensations do not lose their special character of sentience because they are not preceded and accompanied by that peculiar state which is specially called ‘consciousness.’ When we see a man playing the piano, and at the same time talking of something far removed from the music, we say that his fingers move unconsciously; but we do not conclude that he is a musical machine. Muscular sensations and musical sensation regulate the movements of his fingers; and if he strikes a false note, or if one of the notes jangles, he is instantly aware of the fact. That a particular group of sensations, such as musical tones, will set going a particular group of muscular movements without the intervention of any conscious effort is not more to be interpreted on purely mechanical principles than that a certain phrase will cause a story teller to repeat a certain anecdote, or an old soldier ‘to fight his battles o’er again.’”

The later recognition that mind may function on planes or levels other than those of ordinary consciousness—the discovery of the plane or world of the Subconscious, in short— put an end to these early controversies, and gave to even the most orthodox philosopher or psychologist an avenue of escape from his previous dilemma. At the present time, it is generally accepted that practically all of our habitual muscular movements—and this means by far the greater part of our entire muscular movements—are performed by the Subconscious. Not only do you walk, speak, write, operate machines and play instruments in this way, but you also dress yourself, put on your shoes and your hat, adjust your spectacles, proceed to and from your daily work, wind your clock, lock your doors, put out your cat, and perform most of your customary little tasks of life in precisely this way, i. e., largely under the direction and control of your Subconscious.

How often have you been “wrapped in a brown study,” and have become practically unconscious of your surroundings, yet have walked home from your train, crossing crowded streets, dodging automobiles, escaping contact with other pedestrians, and finding yourself, at last, in front of your door with latchkey in hand? A little thought on the subject will reveal to you the startling fact that you perform the major portion of your habitual physical actions practically “automatically”—that is to say by means of your Subconscious.

Hearing these statements of facts for the first time, you may say: “Pooh! I simply ‘remembered’ how to do these things, by repeated performance, and did not have to “use my mind” about them each time; that is all there is to it!” But stop a moment; is this really “all there is to it?” You cannot remember just what particular shoe you put on first every morning; you cannot remember just which arm you place first in your coat every morning; you cannot remember every little motion, twist and turn you employ in tying your necktie each time you dress. But your Subconscious remembers it perfectly; and is thereby able to perform these tasks properly every day, without calling upon your conscious mentality for assistance.

If you try on an old (and “different”) pair of shoes, long since laid aside; if you take up once more a style of necktie which you have not worn for years; you will find that your Subconscious will remember every motion of tying the shoes or the necktie, though it would be impossible for your conscious mentality to describe the process in detail, or to remember the exact motions to be employed.

Professor Joseph Jastrow, in one of his works, gives us several interesting personal experiences designed to illustrate the trouble experienced by the individual when his conscious mentality attempts to “boss the job” which long since has been taken over by the Subconscious. The following will serve to illustrate the principle. He says: “I can readily adjust a certain kind of necktie which I wear only occasionally, if I do not put my attention upon it but let my hands follow their ingrained habits. If, however, I begin to reason which end goes over, and which under, and watch my movements in the mirror, a hopeless failure is the likely issue.”

The following verse furnishes a humorous illustration of the same principle; here the centipede gets along quite well with its subconscious direction of its many legs, until the playful toad suggests that the many-legged one should direct his conscious mentality to “boss the job”—then see what happens!

“The centipede was happy quite,

Until the toad, for fun,

Said: ‘Pray, which leg comes after which?’

This wrought his mind to such a pitch,

He lay distracted in the ditch—

Considering how to run.”

Many persons quite proficient in the performance of delicate muscular movements find it almost impossible to teach others, by words, how the work is executed. It is only when they say, “It is like this,” accompanying the words with the actual physical demonstration, that the desired instruction is imparted. The instructor in any branch of manual work; the dancing master; the teacher of skating, shooting, billiards, etc., can hope to teach his pupil to “catch the movement” only by imitation. He must lead his pupil to imitate the teacher’s movements until he has made them his own, i. e., until his Subconscious assimilates the movement and takes over its performance.

It is an axiom of manual training that the pupil never really “knows” how to perform the manual task with proficiency until he is able to perform it along subconscious lines—although that term is not employed by the teachers and workmen. The pupil must continue to “put his mind on it” until he is able to have his Subconscious take over the task.

The skilled performance of a technical musical composition by a young woman who is conversing entertainingly with the young man who is turning the sheets of her music, and who possibly is also engaged at the same time in a roguish eye-flirtation with the admiring youth, demonstrates forcibly the fact that the Subconscious of the young woman is “on the job” so far as the musical performance is concerned. The Subconscious of the experienced hostess, who is able to converse brilliantly with her guests at the dinner table, while missing nothing concerning the service being furnished them, and who at the same time is observing minutely the costumes of the visiting women, also is manifesting its efficiency.

The same is true of the Subconscious of the typist who is busily engaged in transcribing her notes, rapidly operating her machine, and yet at the same time is noting carefully the conversation of her fellow-workers, or of her employer and his visitor. Examples of this kind are always at hand—you will note them now that your attention has been directed to the subject. You have but to recall the thoughts indulged in by you when you were shaving this morning—you do not remember the motions of your razor, because you were too busy thinking about something else even to note the physical movements at the time—but your Subconscious was “on the job,” nevertheless: in fact, it shaves you every morning!

This action of your Subconscious is the result of that law of your mental being which makes for efficiency and utility—the instinctive urge toward obtaining the maximum of necessary muscular movement with the minimum expenditure of conscious attention. Were you compelled to exert the original degree of conscious attention in every repeated performance of a physical movement, you would not only fail to obtain proficiency, speed, ease and general efficiency of movement, but you would also experience the same degree of mental fatigue which marked the original performance of the task. Conscious attention requires a great outlay of nervous energy, and such expenditure is fatiguing. Proficiency and efficiency in any line of work depends largely upon the ability to pass the performance of the work on to the Subconscious—this, however, only after the conscious faculties have thoroughly mastered the necessary experience concerning the details of the task.

Kay states the rule as follows: “The more we cultivate and train any power or faculty, the more easily and rapidly does it perform its work; the less that consciousness is concerned in it, the more work does it accomplish, and the less does it suffer from fatigue. Our mental progress, then, is in the direction of our becoming unconscious, or largely unconscious, of many of our activities.” Abercrombie says: “There is a remarkable law of the system by which actions at first requiring much attention are after frequent repetition performed with a much less degree of it, or without the mind being conscious of any effort. This is exemplified in various processes of daily occurrence, as reading or writing, but most remarkably in music.”

But here we must call your attention to an important point, and to indicate a source of danger. Just as a manager of a large establishment would be seriously handicapped were he to be deprived of his helpers and forced to perform all the details of the work himself, so, likewise, the work of the establishment would be seriously affected were the manager to fail to maintain a supervision over his subordinate workers. This is just as true in the case of the mind as in that of the establishment to which we have just referred. The Subconscious is just as apt to pick up bad habits and methods as good ones, and it also easily tends to fall into bad habits of making “short cuts” of doubtful value, or to adopt “slouchy” methods of operation.

The conscious mentality, while not attempting to perform the detail work which is far better and more efficiently performed by the Subconscious, should, nevertheless, always maintain a vigilant supervision of the results and output of the mental establishment. It should continue to examine the output; and to pass upon the results; and if these be faulty or unsatisfactory, it should insist upon an improvement and a correction of the erroneous methods and processes. It should allow the Subconscious to perform the detail work without meddlesome interference, but, at the same time, it should hold the Subconscious responsible for the efficient performance of the tasks committed to its care.

The work of educating the Subconscious in this matter, or of correcting it when needed, is based upon certain quite well defined principles which we shall now present to you. These principles should be carefully considered by you, and their main points committed to memory, for they are very useful and necessary. Strange to say, while all persons continually employ the Subconscious in their everyday work, very few are acquainted with the principles involved in the education and correction of its faculties and powers, notwithstanding that these principles are very simple and are easily employed. The scientific method is far preferable to the hit-or-miss or higgledly-piggledy methods usually employed.

Educating and Directing the Subconscious

I. Begin with Concentrated Attention. This rule is based upon the fact that the more the conscious attention is given to a new physical movement or operation at the start, and during the early stages of its acquirement, the more readily and more thoroughly does the Subconscious acquire the knack of performing that movement or operation after it has been transmitted to it. The degree of conscious attention given to the task in the first place determines the degree of the impression made upon the Subconscious; and the greater the degree of such impression, the more effective will be the subsequent performance of the task by the Subconscious after it has taken over the matter. The same rule applies to the correction of the Subconscious when it requires such by reason of faulty performance. The basic principles must be first thoroughly acquired by the conscious mentality, by means of concentrated attention; these are then transmitted to the Subconscious, which thereafter acquires proficiency by repeated performance. The start must be a good one, if the finish is to be satisfactory.

II. Recognize the Subconscious. By a strange and seldom recognized law of psychology, the actual recognition of the Subconscious by the conscious mentality serves to establish a strong bond of mutual interest, coordination and cooperation between the two planes of the mind. This results in a far greater degree of receptivity by the Subconscious, in the first place, and a far greater degree of efficiency on its part, in the second place. You will do well to enter into the spirit of this idea, even to the extent of thinking of the Subconscious as being a real personal “helper.” You may address it, and treat it in general, as if it were indeed an independent, intelligent entity—it certainly is intelligent, though not really independent of your mental being. You may mentally address it, saying: “Here, Subconscious! this is the way I want this thing done—this is the right way to do it. I am learning the ‘hang’ of this thing—the knack of doing it efficiently, in the best possible way, in the least possible time, and with the least possible expenditure of energy; I want you to watch me closely so that you will acquire the knack of efficiency in doing it, so that you may do it still better when I turn it over to you.” You may smile at this apparently fanciful idea—but it works out in actual practice. Treat the Subconscious as a working partner—and see how quickly, eagerly and effectively it will respond.

III. Don’t Meddle with the Subconscious, but Trust It. Following out the idea last stated, give the Subconscious a chance to do its work when you have turned a task over to it. Examine its results, supervise its output, but don’t meddle with its detail work. Do not bewilder it when it is performing the task—remember the fate of the centipede in the verse previously quoted. The Subconscious is somewhat sensitive, and at times suffers from stage fright if meddled with. Treat it kindly, and show confidence in it. Employ diplomacy in dealing with it—use the iron hand if necessary, but do not forget the velvet glove on that hand. The Subconscious has something like “the artistic temperament” of the opera singer—it must be handled properly in order to get the best results. It is an excellent player of golf, and a driver of automobiles—but you must show it that you trust it while it is playing or driving, and must not “rattle” it by meddlesome interference. Make a “friend and a brother” of your Subconscious—you will never regret it.

Subconscious Emotion And Memory

The Subconscious plays such an important part in the processes of Emotion and Memory, respectively, that it truly may be said that without taking into consideration the part played in them by the Subconscious there can be no intelligent understanding of the nature of Emotion or Memory, nor of their manifestations.

In the regions of the Subconscious lie the emotional tendencies and inclinations which rise into conscious manifestation upon contact with the objects which furnish the stimuli for such manifestation. You have often been surprised by the rise into conscious feeling of certain emotional tendencies of the existence of which you have heretofore been unaware. You have often found dwelling within your inner nature the material for feelings and emotions from which you had previously deemed yourself entirely free. It has been well said that in the subconscious emotional nature of every individual there is to be found “the whole menagerie” of elemental Subconscious Power feelings, the animals awaiting only the opening of the door of consciousness to make their appearance.

Your feelings and emotions are determined not alone by your conscious sensations and ideas, but also by the imperceptible influence of subconscious impressions, of which only the sum of the resulting effects manifest in consciousness. This explains the mystery and inexplicable character of so many of your emotional experiences—the uprush of unsuspected feelings. Not knowing the definite causes of these mental states, you find them incomprehensible. You have within you a quiet and unseen growth of Subconscious emotional influences which often prove to be important factors in your mental life. You are not conscious of the existence of these influences until, when the appropriate stimuli call them forth, they manifest a distinctly marked character and often a decided urge to action.

Psycho-Analysis of quite a simple character, tends to reveal the existence of some of these hidden emotional states of which it has been said: “They, more than knowledge, make us what we are,” but there still exists within us an even larger area of such emotional character which is unsuspected by us and of which we become aware only under exceptional circumstances; only extended and deep Psycho-Analysis reveals these elements to us, so far below the surface of consciousness do they lie.

Professor Joseph Jastrow says: “* * * A still larger and more vital part lies submerged in the subconscious areas of character and disposition, effectively modifying the organic efficiency and the quality of our talents, yet so subtly, so fluidly, as to impart an unanalyzable genius to all that is most worth while in what we feel and think and do and are. * * * Such emotional factors of our psychology penetrate more fundamentally than do the intellectual ones into the fibre of our being, and so are more intrinsically influences of the subconscious order, more submerged, more intuitive and less revealed.”

The subconscious emotional material from which your conscious emotional states are created and composed may be arranged for convenience into the following three classes (these however, not being mutually exclusive), viz.:

(1) Emotions Arising from Physical Causes. This class of subconscious emotional material arises from physical conditions themselves unperceived by conscious sensation, but which manifest in subconscious emotional states which gradually rise to the plane of consciousness. In this class are included your “moods” which arise without any relation to your actual experiences with the outside world. You are not conscious of what is going on in your internal physical organism, except in cases of marked abnormal conditions; but your Subconscious is aware of these physical conditions, and frequently reflects them in the form of emotional states. Far more “soul” experiences arise from reflected physical conditions than we usually realize or are willing to concede. One’s romantic melancholy is very frequently the direct result of an inactive liver reflected in the Subconscious emotional states; or, perhaps, from subconscious sexual activities or processes.

(2) Combinations of Minute Emotional Material. This class of emotional material consists of the scattered elements of personal experience, each of which is too weak or unimportant to manifest as emotion, but which, combined and fused by the Subconscious, thereafter tend to rise to the conscious levels of the mind. You are constantly receiving such emotional material of which you are not conscious at the time. Emotional experiences must be of a certain magnitude or intensity in order to rise to the plane of consciousness. As Lewes says: “Many impressions are either so faint in themselves, or so familiar, so submerged in stronger impressions, or so incapable of exciting trains of reflex feeling in the preoccupied mind, that we are neither conscious of them when present, nor capable of remembering them afterward.” And, as Ribot says: “A certain amount of time is necessary for an impression to be perceived; and an essential condition of consciousness is wanting when the duration of the nervous process falls below the minimum.”

But, although not recognized in consciousness, many of such emotional impressions tend to unite and to become fused together in the Subconscious, and thus acquire such strength as to cause disturbances on the conscious surface of the mind. As Holmes says, they “never emerge into consciousness, but yet make their influence felt among the perceptible mental currents, just as the unseen planets sway the movements of those that are watched and mapped by the astronomer.” At other times these fused impressions of the Subconscious will acquire such vigor that they will cause a veritable upheaval on the conscious plane—they will fairly explode into consciousness in a way startling to the individual who previously was not at all aware that he “felt just that way about such things.”

(3) Emotions of Racial Memory. This class of emotional material consists of race experiences transmitted by heredity, through racial-memory or “instinct,” which rise into consciousness when the appropriate stimuli present themselves. Most of your most fundamental and elemental emotions have come to you in this way, i. e., through racial memory of the past experiences of the race, reaching you as “instinctive feeling.” Instinct, at the last, is out inherited racial-memory—memory of the past experience of the race. As memory is fundamentally a function and process of the Subconscious, it follows that the instinctive emotions are essentially subconscious in character.

There flows through you the deep stream of racial-memory which has come down to you from countless generations of the race. In that stream are the materials of some of the most elemental and fundamental emotional states which rise to the surface of your consciousness when the appropriate stimulus presents itself. The experiences of your long line of ancestors have been impressed upon that racial-memory—that memory has been transmitted to you and forms a portion of your Subconscious mental records.

But do not let this thought disturb you—do not share the popular false conception of heredity as a bugaboo. As Burbank has said: “Heredity means much; but what is heredity? Not some hideous ancestral spectre, forever crossing the path of a human being. Heredity is merely the sum of all the effects of all the environments of all past generations on the responsive ever-moving life forces.” Heredity is merely racial memory, and is no more to be feared than is your own individual memory.

All of the three above-stated classes of subconscious emotional states, together with their countless variations and combinations, dwell below the levels of consciousness—on the great planes of the Subconscious—except at such times when they are called into conscious activity, when they spring from the depths just the flying-fish raising itself into the air from the body of deep water which is its home.

If asked in what form they abide in the Subconscious, or “just where” they rest, the only answer is that they abide there in the same general form, and rest in the same general region, as does the subconscious memory of the actions of the fingers of the skilled musician, or the subconscious memories of the many things which you have experienced but of which you are not conscious at the present moment, though the recollection of these will take place when you demand it.

You are conscious of only a very small percentage of the things you “know,” and of that which you “feel,” and of those actions which you are able to perform proficiently and efficiently. By far the greater part of these mental states or conditions (or whatever you may choose to call them) lies beneath the levels of consciousness—in the deep regions of the Subconscious— in the depths of that great mental ocean of your being of which your ordinary consciousness is merely the surface. You will do well to cease thinking of these planes of mentality as “places” in space—think of them rather as states of mind.

Of all of the offices and processes of the Subconscious, that phase concerned with Memory is perhaps the most characteristic. This, because Memory in some of its aspects is involved in all of the other phases of subconscious mental activity. Memory itself is so involved with subconscious mentation that it cannot be disentangled from it. Without the processes of Memory, none of the other manifestations of subconscious activity would be possible; and, likewise, without the existence of the Subconscious there could not exist that great subconscious storehouse of Memory in which the memory-records are stored, and from which they are brought out in the processes of recollection and raised again to the plane of consciousness.

Memory, in its most general meaning, is the conscious revival of past mental experiences. It follows logically that the experience in order to be afterward “remembered,” i. e., recalled into consciousness, must in the meantime be impressed and stored away in some region of the mind. That such region of the mind is not that of the ordinary consciousness we know by personal experience—we know that by effort we raise these impressions from “somewhere” up to the plane of consciousness. That “somewhere” is the realm of the Subconscious—that part of the region of the Subconscious which is called “the storehouse of Memory.”

Halleck says: “It has often been asked: Where are the images of Memory when they are not present in consciousness? We see a man one day, but do not think of him again for a month. We can then call up a distinct image of him. Where was the image of the man during the month? The theory is that the full-fledged idea is in the mind, but slumbering below the stream of consciousness; just as a person is alive when sound asleep, without being aware of the fact. When we are not conscious of an idea, it is believed to disappear just as a diver does beneath the surface of the water; and the idea is held to keep its form as intact as does the diver during this disappearance.”

It is impossible to account for the nature of Memory except upon the hypothesis that there is much in the mind of which we are unconscious. We are conscious of only a small part of what exists in our minds. That which we know to remain in the mind, but of which we are not conscious at the time, must be thought of as being stored away in the Subconscious. When we recall it, it rises to the plane of consciousness; at all other times it is below the level of consciousness. Likewise, we could not recognize a past experience as such, when it is recalled in some way, unless at least some trace of it had continued in existence in the mind.

Many leading psychologists, in fact, have held that an impression once made upon the record-sheets of the Subconscious always remains there, even though it may never again be called into the conscious field of attention. Likewise, they hold that even though such impressions may never again come into consciousness, nevertheless they exert a subtle and silent influence upon our views, convictions habits, feelings, emotions, judgments and actions. The Freudian school lays great stress upon this fact, and its method of Psycho-Analysis is directed largely to the work of “digging out” these submerged memories of past experiences which have been disturbing the emotional balance.

Morrell says: “Every single effort of mind is a creation which can never go back again into non-entity. It may slumber in the depths of forgetfulness as light and heat slumber in the coal seams, but there it is, ready at the bidding of some appropriate stimulus to come out of the darkness into the light of consciousness.” Hollander says: “We may forget objects and events—that is to say, we may dismiss them from our consciousness, but they are stored up in our subconsciousness to the end of our days.” Says another writer: “Our mental impressions may never again come up before consciousness, but they nevertheless remain in that vast ultra-conscious region of the mind, subconsciously or unconsciously moulding and fashioning our subsequent thought and actions.”

Fever patients have been known to converse in the language of the country in which their early childhood has been spent, though they had apparently entirely forgotten that tongue. Several typical cases of this kind are recorded in the text-books in which patients in delirium have recited long passages, sometimes entire chapters, from books in foreign languages which they did not understand in their normal condition, but which books had been read from in their presence many years before. Persons rescued from drowning or hanging have testified that many of the events of their past lives were presented to their consciousness with utmost clearness and minuteness of detail, and with a lightning-like rapidity of sequence.

Dying persons not infrequently go back in memory to the days of their early childhood, and, after a lapse of fifty, sixty, seventy, or even more years, will recite the most trifling events of those early days with wonderful minuteness of detail. Cases of this kind are numerous, and are too well authenticated to permit of doubt of their substantial correctness—the theory of coincidence is absurd when applied to such cases. Of like nature is the frequent experience of dreams in which many apparently forgotten incidents of childhood and youth are presented in clear detail; in some instances the person is convinced of the truth of the recollection only by the assurances of older relatives familiar with the facts of the original experience.

The work of the Subconscious in the processes of Memory, however, is not confined to the office of furnishing a subconscious storehouse of memory-impressions—it has other and still more complicated tasks to perform. It not only stores away the memory-records, but it has also its own particular system of indexing and cross-indexing them; of searching for these records when they are demanded on the conscious plane; and of finding them and presenting them to consciousness, perhaps long after the conscious demand for them has ceased, and when the person is thinking about something entirely different. You have often experienced this delayed finding of the missing memory-record. After you have given up all hope of ever recalling it to memory, then all of a sudden the missing name, number, or detail fairly “pops” into consciousness, sometimes in an almost startling fashion.

Let us describe in somewhat fanciful form—yet in a form which accurately represents the actual “working out” of the processes—these activities of the Subconscious which are concerned with Memory.

In the first place, we shall compare your mechanism of memory-recording to the recording apparatus of a phonograph. In each case the receiving diaphragm and the receiving record are both there. The impression of sensation, emotion, or action is recorded on the moving cylinder of the memory, i. e., of the Subconscious mechanism concerned with Memory. The impression may be clear and strong, or else faint and weak, according to the circumstances of the original experience.

Then begin the more complex activities of the Subconscious, in its processes of Memory. The records bearing the impressions are immediately carried below the plane of consciousness, and are stored with more or less care (depending upon the habit of the individual) in the great storehouse of Memory in the realm of the Subconscious.

But this is only the beginning. The stored-away memory records would be of no practical use to you were you unable to find them when needed. Accordingly, the Subconscious employs methods tending to facilitate the future finding and presentation of these records. In order that these memory-records be rendered available; they must be (1) stored in a systematic manner, each in a section containing impressions of a similar class; (2) plainly labeled so that they may be recognized when seen by the memory-clerks employed by the Subconscious for this purpose; and (3) carefully indexed and cross-indexed in the “memory books” of the Subconscious, so that the “loose end” of Memory may always be taken hold of by the searching clerks.

The storing-away process, and particularly the indexing and cross-indexing process, constitutes the work of what we have somewhat fancifully called the “clerks” of the Subconscious— in fact, indeed, they certainly act like real clerks instead of mere “processes.” There is a great difference in the degree of proficiency of these memory-clerks—particularly in the case of the indexers and cross-indexers. This difference depends largely upon the memory-training of the individual. Some persons have their memory-records so closely cross-indexed that if they cannot find the missing record at once by means of the direct index, they set the memory-clerks to work discovering the cross-indexed references to it, and in a short time the record is found and passed on to the other helpers who then raise it to the plane of consciousness, where it is placed on the reproducing phonograph of Memory and caused to repeat the original impression.

So, you see, the conscious mentality plays only a subordinate part in the processes of Memory. It merely records the impressions, and afterward reproduces them when they are placed before its mechanism. The storing, the indexing, the searching and discovery of the records, and the final raising of the records up to the reproducing mechanism of consciousness, each and all are performed by the Subconscious through its processes and “clerks.” In fact, through the study of the processes of Memory you will gain a much more comprehensive and much more practical idea of the nature of the Subconscious, and of its methods of work, than is possible through the study of any other one class of its activities and phenomena.

The Freudian school has directed particular attention to the fact that the Subconscious sometimes seems determined to make the individual forget certain things which are unpleasant and disagreeable to him; and to encourage the recollection and remembrance of things of an agreeable nature. The many works written by Freud and his followers give many, and often quite amusing, instances of this particular trait of the Subconscious.

For instance: One finds it easy to forget to pay a bill containing charges deemed extortionate, or for services not deemed satisfactory—this entirely aside from the common disinclination to part with one’s money. Again, he tends to forget promises, engagements, or other duties which are associated with unpleasant persons, things or events. Moreover, he tends to forget the names of persons and places which have unpleasant associations. “Something about him” wants to “forget it” in these cases—and tries in many ways to accomplish its purpose.

In a recent magazine article, a celebrated Psycho-Analyst of the Freudian school is quoted as saying: “Earlier students of the mind assumed that forgetting was merely a passive process— the failure to remember. Freud discovered that forgetting is the active effort of the mind to protect the individual from pain and unpleasantness. Unpleasant experiences, and people associated with them, do not merely slip out of the mind; they are actively thrust out and kept under control by a mechanism which Freud metaphorically termed ‘the censorship.’ You remember the things you really want to remember. You do the things you really want to do. You recall the people you really like, and want to recall. You will discover that the things or the people you forget, or lose, are associated with something unpleasant, and have been automatically relegated by ‘the censor’ into the limbo of the unconscious.”

Thus Psycho-Analysis adds to the troubles of the husband who seeks to explain to a Freud-perfect wife how he came to forget to mail those letters to her relatives; and to those of the lover of a Freud-perfect sweetheart who tries to account for the fact that he happened to forget the date of his first meeting with her, or that he overlooked some little thing she had asked him to do for her. Freud has contributed to the list of the little things which serve to make modern life so complex— particularly for the male of the species.

Subconscious Psycho-Analysis

The term “Psycho-Analysis,” now so frequently employed, is of quite recent origin. It was originally used by Professor Sigmund Freud, of Vienna, to designate a system of psychotherapy devised and developed by himself, and which has since attracted a large following and secured a marked degree of public attention and interest. The method was originally designed and employed for the purpose of the treatment and cure of the border-line of mental diseases such as hysteria, neurasthenia, certain forms of neurosis, etc., but its principle since has been extended much further. The term, Psycho-Analysis, is now frequently employed to indicate certain methods of “analyzing, synthesizing, and re-educating the Unconscious (or Subconscious)” apart from pathological conditions.

A standard reference work says: “Psycho-Analysis is a method of psychological investigation designed for the purpose of discovering and exploring the unconscious psychic forces which are at the bases of normal and abnormal psychic manifestations. It assumes that there are definite reasons for all normal and abnormal mental activities, that no psychoneurotic symptoms are accidental or meaningless, but that they have always unconscious underlying causes which, if found and brought to the surface, become dissipated and cause the symptoms to disappear. With this assumption Professor Freud evolved his theory of repression, which is the main pillar upon which rests the edifice of Psycho-Analysis. In brief, this theory states that the psychoneurotic symptom depends upon past emotional experiences of a painful or disagreeable nature which were forgotten or repressed into a mental field called the Unconscious. The aim of Psycho-Analysis is to bring back into the field of conscious memory all the repressed unbearable ideas, to show the patient the connection between them and the symptoms, thus removing the latter.”

Dr. Wilfrid Lay, an interesting and instructive writer on the subject of Psycho-Analysis, says: “The name given by Freud himself to the science is Psychoanalysis, spelled also Psychanalysis, or the analysis of the psyche. The psyche is not merely the mind regarded as a product, a stationary or crystallized object which can be cut and dried and labeled. The mind and soul and character and body as a connected, organic whole, and its functions (or what it does and how it changes), are the subject of Psychoanalysis more than how its results or finite outward manifestations can be classified. Psychoanalysis naturally suggests Psychosynthesis as a more constructive procedure, and that is, indeed, the ultimate aim of Psychoanalysis; not merely to take apart but to put together again, following a plan which is along the lines of the greatest usefulness to society.”

Unfortunately for the cause of general interest in the subject on the part of the average non-professional person, the idea of Psycho-Analysis has become identified in the public mind with the idea of Sex. This, because Freud found that many of the unconscious associations revealed by Psycho-Analysis were composed of more or less erotic material or elements. It is forgotten that Freud employs the term “sex” in the general and broad sense of “love,” and does not limit it to the gross sexual phases or manifestations.

Some of Freud’s followers, moreover, have eagerly seized upon this “sex” element, and have placed undue, and often grossly exaggerated and quite grotesque emphasis upon it. In this way they have not only attached undesirable associations to the general idea, but have also brought the special method into ridicule by reason of their unwarranted extension of the principle to the point of absurdity; in certain instances, they have not only brought about a “reductio ad absurdum,” but also a condition of “ad nauseam.”

Psycho-Analysis should pray to be delivered from its friends; by itself, it can take care of its enemies. In an article on the subject contained in a standard reference work, the conservative writer truly and wisely says: “While Psychoanalysis, in the hands of competent men, has undoubtedly been of great help in exploring subconscious states, some ‘wild’ psychoanalysts have so thoroughly misinterpreted the sexual question that it endangers the science.”

In the present consideration of Subconscious Psycho-Analysis, we shall confine ourselves to but one (though a very important one) of its several phases or general divisions. We shall not undertake a consideration of its phase of psychotherapy: a branch of the subject far too technical for popular treatment in a book of this kind. Neither shall we enter into a consideration of its specific application to the task of Character Building: we have considered that special subject in detail in another book of this series.

We shall confine our consideration to that phase of the subject which is concerned with the discovery and cure of what are known as the “negative” conditions, activities, and tendencies which, abiding hidden and under cover in the realms of the subconscious lower planes of mentation—often entirely unsuspected—produce harmful effects upon the mental, emotional, and physical life of the individual. In the garden of the mind there are many beautiful flowers and rich fruit-bearing trees rendered sickly, diseased, and withered— often indeed killed in time—by the presence of gnawing, boring, tearing, destroying creatures hidden and working beneath the surface. Rational Psycho-Analysis serves to locate these baneful creatures, to disclose their presence and whereabouts, to uncover and reveal them, that they may be destroyed by the mind and will of the owner of the garden.

Before proceeding further; let as give you the definition for “positive” and “negative” as applied to mental states in the several books of this series. The “Touchstone of Positivity” is this: “Will this make me stronger, better, and more efficient?” If the answer, honestly given, is in the affirmative, then the mental state, or other thing about which the question is asked, is entitled to be classed as “positive.” If not, then the thing may be either “neutral” or else “negative”; you may decide into which of these two classes it fits by asking the second question: “Will this make me weaker, worse, and less efficient?” If you are forced to answer, “It will,” to this question, then that thing must be classed as “negative.”

This, then, is the general character of the “negative” mental states or conditions which you seek to locate, uncover, and kill out by means of Subconscious Psycho-Analysis, viz., the general quality, nature, or character tending to make you “weaker, worse, and less efficient.” Some of these “negatives” show their character so plainly that they, “to be hated, need but to be seen”; others, more cleverly disguised by “protective coloration” and other means, are only to be “known by their fruits.” These “negative” influences abiding in the “under the surface” regions of the mental garden must be located, uncovered and destroyed in order that you may be made “stronger, better and more efficient.”

These “negative” mental states of the Subconscious (like their kindred states of the Conscious) are found to belong to two great general classes, viz., (1) Anger, and (2) Fear. The “negative” mental states are always found to be either varieties, sub-species, or perhaps “crosses” or hybrids, of these two great classes of Negativity. The ancient Buddhists taught that Anger and Fearthought are the Twin-Devils of the Emotional Kingdom. They held that Anger is “the burning passion”; and that Fearthought is the “freezing passion”; each destroying in the end, the one by burning up, the other by freezing. They held that the man who met, conquered, and mastered these Twin-Devils was free to enter upon the Path of Mastery which leads to the Land of Freedom.

We now ask you to discover by analysis the essential nature and character of these two general “negative” emotional states, viz., Anger and Fear, respectively. You will discover that practically all of the lesser and subordinate “negative” emotional states are either phases, forms, or aspects of either one of these two general states, or else are blendings, hybrids, or “crosses” of the two.

Anger. The general emotional state known as Anger is defined as: “Strong passion or displeasure, usually involving antagonism and the desire to punish, excited by a real or supposed injury, or insult to one’s self or others in whom one is interested, or by the supposed intent to do such injury, etc.” In its extreme form, Anger is known as Rage; when the Rage amounts almost to madness, it is known as Fury. In its milder forms, Anger is known as Vexation. Annoyance, Indignation, etc. The more permanent emotional states resulting from Anger are known as Resentment, Grudge, or Grievance, defined as follows. Resentment is: “Hostility aroused by a real or fancied injury, injustice, hurt, or insult; a state of moody animosity, or deep and lasting smouldering anger.” Grudge is: “state of smouldering anger; sullen malice or malevolence; cherished animosity, enmity, ill-will, dislike, spite, hatred.” Grievance is: “The feeling of the burden, hardship, and oppression resulting from a real or fancied wrong, insult, injustice, or injury, accompanied by the feeling of resentment or grudge resulting therefrom.” The essential elements of Anger, in any and all of its forms and phases, are: (a) “Keen displeasure, discomfort, and discontent; (b) a resentment or grudge; and (c) more or less desire to punish or ‘get even with’ something or somebody associated with the real or fancied injury, injustice, wrong, hurt, or insult giving rise to the feeling.”

Fear. The general emotional state known as Fear is defined as: “A painful emotion or passion excited by the anticipation, expectation, or apprehension of possible or probable hurt, injury, wrong, insult, or other painful, unpleasant, uncomfortable, or discontenting experience.” Its extreme phase or form is that of Panic. Next in decreasing order is the form of Terror; then that of Dread. Lesser forms are those known as Apprehension, Anxiety, Alarm, Care, Solicitude, etc. All “phobias” (i. e., aversions and dreads) are forms or phases of Fear.

Blendings, Hybrids, and “Crosses.” Among the many blendings, hybrids, or “crosses” of Anger and Fear, are found the apparently widely separated emotional states known, respectively, as Jealousy, Envy, Hatred, Malice, Spite, Intolerance, Prejudice; also Remorse, Shame, Mortification, Humiliation; the Sense of Inferiority, Distrust of Self, Cowardice, and similar mental states or complexes. In the case of some of the above-named emotional states you will find no difficulty in discovering and recognizing the presence of Anger and Fear in some of their various degrees, forms, phases, aspects, or modes of combination and blending. In the case of others, you may at first doubt the presence of one or the other (or of both) of these fundamental emotions; but a careful analysis will reveal the blending of both of these elements, which combined with certain ideas constitute forms of what is known as the “complex” (i. e., a combination of feeling and idea). In each and all of them you will find (a) a feeling of pain, discomfort, discontent; (b) a resentment or grudge, and the desire to “get even” with something or someone; and (c) a desire to escape from, avoid, or get rid of something which is painful, unpleasant, uncomfortable, or discontenting, either present or regarded as a possible or probable event or happening. There is always the “Phobia” and at least some form of Resentment, or Grievance.

These “negative” complex emotional states are always found to be associated with some past-time real or imagined experience in which the Pride, Vanity, Egotism, Self-Respect, or Sense of Justice of the individual has been wounded, hurt, bruised, or injured in some way, whether or not he has received physical or financial hurt or injury; the emotional hurt is the predominant factor. The Emotional Castle of the Self must be invaded in order that these states may manifest. A little thought will show that this is so, though at first you may be disposed to doubt the statement. The elements of Humiliation, Mortification, and Sense of Injustice are the most frequent, and often the strongest elements involved in the manifestation of Resentment, Grudge, and Grievance; and such constitute the most troublesome and most persistent of the subconscious roots, sources and causes of mental, emotional and physiological disturbances, impaired functioning, and tendency toward exaggerated activity.

There is no need here for a recital of the well-known facts of the detrimental effect of certain “negative” mental states upon physical conditions, and upon mental health and normal functioning; these are now matters of common knowledge, thanks to the reports of the investigations of the past twenty-five years or more. The “mental cause of diseases” is a subject concerning which practically every person of average intelligence now has at least some knowledge, and to which he extends at least some degree of belief. That mind and body act and react upon each other is now universally accepted; and that certain harmful emotional states (particularly when manifested excessively and in extreme form) result in mental disorders, unsoundness, and abnormal conditions, is now equally well known and accepted.

Most persons, however, have no suspicion that such emotional states persist often long after the conscious memory of them has passed away. The individual, though he realizes that “the evil they do lives after them,” does not imagine that their evil qualities which are “interred with their bones” continue to manifest their baneful tendencies beneath the surface of the conscious mentality; and that they have really been “buried alive,” and that long after they have been forgotten by the consciousness they are alive and busily at work gnawing, boring, and cutting at the roots of the plants in our mental garden. Such, alas! is the case. Freud and his school of Psycho-Analysis have paid especial attention to this fact, and have sought for and devised efficient methods whereby these subconscious moles, gophers, worms, and other “underground” destroyers may be located, uncovered and destroyed. This, indeed, is one of the chief offices and purposes of Psycho-Analysis.

Referring to the descriptive statement concerning Psycho-Analysis given at the beginning of the present section of this book, We ask you to consider once more the following fact: “Psycho-Analysis is a method of psychological investigation designed for the purpose of discovering and exploring the unconscious psychic forces which are at the bases of normal and abnormal psychic manifestations. It assumes that there are definite reasons for all normal and abnormal mental activities, that no psychoneurotic symptoms are accidental or meaningless, but that they have always unconscious underlying causes which, if found and brought to the surface, become dissipated and cause the symptoms to disappear. * * * The aim of Psycho-Analysis is to bring back into the field of conscious memory all the repressed unbearable ideas, to show the patient the connection between them and the symptoms, thus removing the latter.” This being understood and remembered, let us now proceed to consider why and how these “unbearable ideas” become “repressed,” and how they may be discovered and brought to the surface by Psycho-Analysis.

In the first place, you are asked to realize that every human being has experienced many instances of pain, discomfort, and discontent of quite a marked, intense and poignant (i. e., piercing, sharp, pricking) character. This is particularly true in the stages of infancy, childhood, youth, adolescence, in which such experiences frequently take on an exaggerated character. The developing emotional nature of the infant or young child— the child under five years of age—sometimes undergoes emotional “bruises” and “hurts” which, though apparently forgotten, frequently leave effects which persist during the entire after-life of the individual. The same is true of the young boy or girl up to and including the stage of adolescence. Many of the most persistent and annoying “underground gnawers” are those which have been placed in the subconscious mind during the years of adolescence, youth, early childhood, and even in infancy; this fact has been well established by Psycho-Analysis.

These unpleasant, uncomfortable, and discontenting experiences are not in themselves the “underground pests”; it is rather the emotional effects resulting from them that constitute the evil mental forces in question—the reaction of them, rather than the original action, is the chief cause of the trouble. For instance, the emotional nature of the child or young person undergoing such an experience tends to react in the form or phase of Anger or Fear, in some of their degrees, variations, or blendings. The “hurt” or “bruise” of the painful, uncomfortable, or discontenting experience—the affront, rebuke, insult, humiliation, mortification, wounded pride, frustrated purpose, imposition of the will of another person, defeated desire, injustice, tyranny, oppression, failure, or whatever it may be—tends to arouse Anger (i. e., keen displeasure, resentment, and more or less desire to punish or “get even with”), or else Fear (i. e., the painful apprehension or expectation of evil, accompanied by the desire to escape the feared experience); often, both Anger and Fear.

The reaction of Anger tends to develop deep-seated grudges, resentments, indignation, sense of injustice, accompanied by more or less hatred and desire to hurt the offending person or thing, or that which resembles or is associated with such. The reaction of Fear tends to develop fearfulness, fearthought, cowardice, lack of courage, faint-heartedness, timorousness, lack of self-confidence, timidity, pusillanimity, and a general shy, shrinking, “shriveling up,” and retiring disposition—a wish to “get away from” things.

The reaction of Anger is Extroversive, i. e., in the direction of “going out toward,” or “flying off to,” something outside, in order to grapple with, fight, combat, struggle with, defeat, or destroy it. The reaction of Fear is Introversive, i. e., in the direction of shrinking back from, getting away from, retiring from outside things. The normal person manifests a balanced position between these two extremes. When an abnormal tendency in either direction is experienced, there is found to be operative some lurking painful memory now manifesting its hidden presence and action in the realms of the Subconscious—the “dead hand” of past experience is seeking to exhibit its power over the experiences of the present.

Many of us are more or less affected, influenced, and determined by the effects of such past experiences. We either harbor subconscious grudges, resentments, hatreds, malice, or other forms or phases of Anger; or else the subconscious dreads, terrors, and aversions of Fear; or combinations of both. These, be it noted, are not usually recognized in our conscious memory; the memory of the original causative experience has entirely passed out of consciousness: it is buried in the oblivion of apparent forgetfulness, as we shall presently see. The Subconscious actually takes great trouble to bury, conceal, suppress, and cover up the memory impression, so as to make recollection of it difficult—but like a festering sore, the repressed memory abides on the subconscious realms, poisoning the entire system. Many of us have concealed cancerous, malignant sores of this kind in our subconscious mental being.

But why does the Subconscious strive to suppress and cover up these old memories? you may ask. The answer expresses one of the original discoveries of Psycho-Analysis; it is quite simple when you have it presented to you, but you would not be likely to stumble upon it otherwise. The answer, briefly stated, is this: The Subconscious strives to suppress, repress, bury, hide, and cover up memories of this kind, for the reason that it is its nature to avoid pain, discomfort, and discontent; these memories being painful, uncomfortable, and discontenting, the Subconscious strives to hide them, conceal them, cover them up, just as in all Nature living animals and plants proceed instinctively to hide and cover up their wounds and hurt places—it is an instinctive protective action of Nature!

Sometimes the Subconscious performs this work by overlaying the painful memory with those of a different nature; again, it blends and mixes with it pleasant elements of other experiences—grafts new parts on it, as it were, so that finally the painful elements are lost to conscious memory and recollection. Psycho-Analysis reveals many interesting cases of this kind, in which an originally painful memory has been so overlaid, or so grafted upon, with new material that the unpleasant elements have been completely obscured. This would be wonderfully beneficial were it not for the fact that alas! the roots of the trouble remain, only the “above ground” portions being removed; or, to employ another figure, the sore has been merely covered up, though uncured and still manifesting its evil activities beneath the covering. Psycho-Analysis searches for the roots, and then destroys them; or, it seeks to cure the cause not merely to remove the symptoms.

The pages of the reports of Psycho-Analysis are filled with definite reports of cases in which present troubles have been traced back to painful past experiences—particularly to experiences in which the individual in his younger days was subjected to humiliation, degradation, abasement, mortification, shame, wounded pride or injured vanity, suggestions of his inferiority, loss of dignity or self-respect, in short, to wounds of his egoistic soul-nature. In some cases these causes have led to the cultivation and development of a character manifesting in shrinking, retiring, drawing back, “shriveling up,” or getting out of things—the timidity, faint-heartedness, lack of self-confidence, or the “inferiority complex” marking the introversive effect of Fear. In other cases, these causes have led to the cultivation and development of the character traits of quarrelsomeness, antagonism, resentment of things in general, prejudice, suspicion, jealousy, hatred, and general truculency marking the extroversive effect of Anger.

Even in cases in which the “phobias,” fears, prejudices, resentments, and antagonisms have been of a more limited character, they have been traced back to repressed, suppressed, buried, and covered up memories of experiences of the kind we have mentioned. For instance, a woman who had a morbid horror of snakes—almost an obsession of fear concerning them, a waking nightmare regarding them—was cured entirely when by Psycho-Analysis there was uncovered a “forgotten” experience of early childhood in which she had been terribly frightened by a toy serpent.

Other “phobias” concerned with spiders, roaches, kittens, certain flowers, etc., have been uncovered and cured in the same way. Prejudices concerning persons of certain nationalities or callings have been traced back to painful or humiliating specific experiences of childhood—a cure being then effected. Unreasoning fears, panicky thoughts, prejudices, and hatreds of certain things have been uncovered and cured by the same general method. In short, the roots or sources of poisonous mental traits, tendencies, and mental attitudes have been found hidden under the surface of the conscious mentality, and the troubles have been cured, by an application of these general principles.

You now have two important questions pressing for answers, namely: (1) How and why are these troubles cured by discovering, uncovering, and bringing into the light of consciousness their roots or sources? (2) By what methods may these roots and hidden causes be discovered, uncovered, and brought to light? In the answers to these two questions is to be found the gist of the effective principles of Psycho-Analysis. To answer them fully would require the writing or reading of many books, and excursions into many fields of the general science of psychology; but we shall endeavor to give you in brief, concise form the essential features of such answers.

Concerning the first of the two questions, we would say that it is an old principle of psychology that if one can analyze, dissect and classify cold-bloodedly the psychic elements involved in an emotion, then the heat, power, and energy of that emotion is dissolved, disintegrated, and dissipated. Emotions, as a rule, cannot stand a cold-blooded analysis; it chills them, often freezes them, sometimes kills them outright. Contact with the Intellect tends to weaken Emotion; hence, beware of subjecting good emotions to such contact, but make it a point to subject bad emotions to it—this is a useful rule, well worth remembering. This is the first factor of this particular answer; there is more to follow, however.

When the root or source of a disturbing subconscious emotional disturbance has been traced to its origin, and then uncovered and brought into the light of consciousness, it is subjected to the inspection of your intellect as now constituted— not as it was constituted at the time of the original experience. Your since acquired worldly-wisdom, your evolved sense of the true value of things, your gradually developed philosophy of life and living—all these add new factors to your intellectual inspection and judgment upon the experience. What originally seemed a tremendous and dreadful event or happening, now succeeds in bringing merely a pitying smile to your face, or a twinkle to your eyes. In short, you are now looking with eyes of a matured individual upon the experiences of early childhood, youth, or period of adolescence. The mental bruises, like the physical ones, of childhood, important and terrible as they seem to the young mind, are quite different things when viewed from the mental position of matured experience and the philosophy of manhood or womanhood.

When the buried memory is located, uncovered, and subjected to the light of conscious inspection by the individual who has long since “put away childish things,” it is perceived, weighed, measured and valued by him just as are similar experiences which he perceives on all sides being undergone by the children and young folks of his acquaintance. He sees them for what they really are—not as the child sees them. Psychologically, the original impression is brought before his consciousness as a present happening or event—and is valued as such; and as its actual value is really slight, he realizes that it is not at all “worth while.” He is amazed at its insignificance, and he is able to smile at it before he casts it aside from him as a worthless trifle; thereafter it has no meaning nor importance to him—its power over him has passed away, and he is free from its effects. The smouldering embers, exposed to the air, expire in a final flash and are reduced to ashes, the dust of which is blown away by the winds.

Even apart from the specific and definite application of the principles of Psycho-Analysis, many persons may be benefited by a similar conscious re-valuation of old mental sores and bruises. By bringing them fully into consciousness, with all their original circumstances and associations, and then weighing, measuring, and re-valuing them by your present standards, in the light of your subsequently acquired experience and knowledge, you will find that they never really were nearly so great or so serious as you originally believed them to be; and you will discover that their present-day importance, significance, and value is still less—often it is nil! Vague introspection is a morbid, unprofitable task, and a bad habit; but scientific Psycho-Analysis of past experiences, conducted with a definite purpose and end, is useful, constructive, and meets the test of “positivity,” for, rightly approached and rightly conducted, it “makes you stronger, better, and more efficient.”

In this connection, your attention should be called to that large class of cases in which the festering “sore spot” or the painful “bruise” in the subconscious memory has been caused by the feeling of shame, remorse, mortification, humiliation, inferiority, “wickedness,” “vileness,” “filthiness,” moral uncleanness, or reproach of conscience arising from some past experience (usually one of childhood, youth, or period of adolescence) connected with the “secret desires,” dreams, or cravings, of—or possibly from some minor yielding, compromise, or “slipping” connected with—the reproductive or “sexual” organism and its emotional manifestations and expressions; this particularly when the child or young person has been severely reproached, reviled or punished for the happening which has been discovered by parents, teachers, or other adults—when the cry of “unclean, unclean” has been loudly raised and persistently repeated and recalled to mind.

Those of us who have honest and efficient memories of our own days of childhood, youth, and period of adolescence, know full well how frequent and common such early life experiences are; the insistent curiosity of the young child and youth, and the unfolding processes of puberty and adolescence, result in innumerable cases of such painful and distressing experiences, the memory of which are, too often, then “buried alive” in the underground regions of the Subconscious—thereafter to plague and worry the mind of the adult person.

The intelligent Psycho-Analyst, when such subconscious emotional “sore spots” and “bruised places” are uncovered by the process of Psycho-Analysis, proceeds to throw the light of scientific knowledge and judgment upon these unpleasant things thus unearthed. He points out to the patient the fact that there is nothing essentially “evil” about the reproductive organism and its manifestations and expressions, in themselves, nor when their activities occur under conditions approved of by the conventions, ethics, laws, customs and morality of the time and place; that the “evil” or “wrong” arises only when these activities occur under opposite conditions, i. e., under conditions and circumstances disapproved of or forbidden by the laws, customs, ethics, or morality of the time and place; that, in short, sexual “evil” and “wrong” consist of the abuse, misuse, and improper employment of these great natural forces—not of their existence and normal proper use and expression.

He points out that, consequently, the emotional disturbances arising from the existence of this natural organism and its subconscious activities are not “devilish” evil, unclean, “filthy,” or depraved; that the person experiencing these subconscious disturbances should not regard himself or herself as soiled, polluted or evil-minded; that the presence of this part of one’s nature, and the subconscious reminders of its existence, do not constitute rational and proper causes for self-reproach, humiliation, mortification, shame or remorse; and that the painful memories of past experiences of this kind and of the unpleasant results arising from their discovery, punishment, and reproaches, should be dissipated, disintegrated, dissolved, and allowed to blow away on the winds of time. The idea of essential “cleanness” replaces the old thought of “uncleanness”— thus is the “curse taken off” the memories. This leads to the rational, sane, scientific control, direction, and mastery of this part of one’s nature; and, as a consequence, a healthier mental, emotional, and physical condition is made possible. When the light is turned on, the darkness and its imaginary inhabitants disappear.

The psycho-analyst also teaches the patient the value of the principle of Sublimation, i. e., the transmutation of the elemental instinctive urge into new and other channels. For instance, the “creative” element underlying the reproductive instinct may be, and often is, transmuted or sublimated into creative work along mental, spiritual, artistic, constructive lines valuable in social life and progress. Some of the greatest workers for the world’s good have been men and women who have sublimated and transmuted the reproductive instinct in this way, though they may not have recognized the cause of their zeal nor the source of their energy.

Sublimation (or Transmutation) is the technical term employed in Psycho-Analysis to designate “The action compensating the individual for the frustration of an instinctive energy, tendency, or craving; by means of which the energy associated with the instinct is directed to socially useful and beneficial ends and purposes, which also serve the best interests of the individual.” The term is borrowed from the ancient alchemists who sought to sublime or transmute the baser metals into gold, and thus obtain higher values from the material.

In Sublimation a higher value is obtained from the elemental basic instincts. Sublimation is also “a transference of basic instincts to other instincts.” In it the energy which would otherwise be “short circuited” with danger to the individual and to society, is thrown into work, especially creative work, along other lines of human endeavor and expression. In it some dominant instinctive craving is “sidetracked” by switching it into other lines of work and activity. This method has been found to be quite practicable, for as Dr. Lay says: “It has been proved, over and over again, that humans can get interested in anything, particularly anything human; the only requisite being the same as that of the love of men for women and of women for men—that is, a complete devotion to and absorption in the work that they are doing, to the utter forgetfulness of self.”

The methods devised by Psycho-Analysis for the location, discovery, uncovering, and bringing into the light of conscious inspection the hidden and covered up “sore spots” and “bruised places” of the Subconscious, may be classified as follows: (1) Free Association, (2) Analysis and Interpretation of Dream Symbols, and (3) Mental Catharsis. Each of these we shall now consider briefly; the essential features and factors of each shall be presented for your inspection, the innumerable details being left for the treatment given them in the scientific works devoted to the special technique of Psycho-Analysis.

Free Association. In this method the underlying principle is the well known “Law of Association of Ideas” of modern psychology. This law may be stated as follows: “The stream of ideas is continuous, each idea or thought being linked with the one that immediately precedes and the one which immediately succeeds it; all one’s ideas have certain definite associations with all his other ideas, though, there are cases in which the connection cannot be traced in consciousness.”

Professor E. B. Titchener says: “There is no distinct bit of consciousness answering to the associative bond, but only conscious processes standing related, and hence more or less unified. * * * The associated contents are now rich and now a mere thread; the mass is now intensive and now weak, now clear and now obscure, now directed by a single element and now by the union of two or more streams of influence, now run through with pleasantness and now actively indifferent; successive association is, like every consciousness, kaleidoscopic, picking up processes here and dropping others there, but carried always by a common core, so that there is never a jump from one stage to another, never an hiatus within the chain, but invariably a gradual transition from point to point.”

When you think about anything, no matter what it may be, you will find yourself afterward thinking of something associated with and suggested by the thing first thought of. You may satisfy yourself of this at once (if you doubt it) by a trial. You will find, invariably, that thinking of any one thing causes you to also think of some other thing associated with or suggested by the first thing, and so on and on. This is the fact that underlies the Law of Association of Ideas. There are many forms and phases of such association, but the distinction between them need not be considered here; the fact with which we are now concerned is that ideas do flow in a stream of association through the field of consciousness. The stream is continuous, flowing on and on and on, so long as we continue to “think”; A is followed by B, then comes C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, and so on until something intervenes to divert conscious attention elsewhere.

More than this, psychology teaches that every impression or record stored in the subconscious memory is linked by some (usually many) associative or suggestive bonds to every other impression or record stored there. Consequently, if we start with any thought as a “loose end,” we may in time unwind the unbroken thread until we come to the particular “knot” for which we are searching. This would take much time, ordinarily, but it has been found that by Free Association the Subconscious speedily makes a “short cut,” or bridge over the intervening space, and attaches Z to A without need of our thinking of the intermediate links; just as we frequently say “from A to Z,” instead of naming the intervening letters of the alphabet. Just why the Subconscious does this, naught but the Subconscious itself seems to know—but it, itself, will not tell; enough for us, however, is the fact that it does do it.

The Psycho-Analyst seeking to locate and uncover a subconscious “sore spot” or “bruised place” starts into operation the process of Free Association. He asks the patient to “think of something”—anything will do—and then to allow the process of Free Association to proceed to wind up the “loose end” of the mental yarn, without interference from the conscious mentality or will. He is not to “think for a purpose,” however; neither is he to deliberately build fanciful air-castles of imagination; all that he is to do is to keep “hands off”—to “keep out of it”—and allow the subconscious mental machinery to do the rest—and do just that it certainly will!

In Free Association the individual becomes a “passive spectator” of the kaleidoscopic panorama of passing thoughts, ideas, memories, mental pictures. He withdraws his will, his judgment, his criticism, his tastes, and allows the mental stream to flow past unhindered by conscious intervention or interference. In Free Association each thought or idea “liberates the next one purely by reason of some sympathetic association between them, and without being influenced by an intellectual interference”; this is why it is called “free.” The person merely “sits on the fence and watches the circus procession go by”— the marching elephants and camels, the string of caged animals, the clowns, the band-wagon, and all the rest, pass by the silent spectator. A writer says: “The sort of mental attitude aimed at is not a hard one to acquire, and is in reality more of a ‘knack’ than anything else; and when the requisite mental condition is apprehended a little practice will enable one to comply with the requirements quite easily.”

Here is an actual illustrative example: The person sitting with pencil in hand, and with paper before him, is asked to “think of” the word “Luisitania,” and to mark down each item of the associated stream of ideas flowing from that source. He thinks of the sinking of the ship of that name by the submarine; then of the Germans; then of the Great War; then of the entrance of the United States into the conflict; then of the young Americans who were called to serve their country; then of a particular young man who volunteered; then of Fort Benjamin Harrison, to which that young man was sent after his enlistment; then of the former President Benjamin Harrison, after whom the fort was named; then of the grandfather of that former President— himself a President; then of his “Grandfather’s Hat” which the former person often was pictured as wearing; then of “Uncle Sam” who wears a similar hat in the familiar cartoons; then of a long-since-deceased particular uncle named Samuel, and known to the thinker as “Uncle Sam”; then of a certain case of real or fancied injustice to the thinker—a very old “sore spot” or “bruised place” arousing irritation, vexation, resentment and a deeply seated grievance or “grudge”—in which this particular “Uncle Sam” was a leading participant. Then comes the startling realization that this particular grievance and grudge had served to poison the mental and emotional life of the thinker for many years, and had given to him a decided undesirable trend of thought, feeling and action. This recognition then causes a “revaluation” of that ancient experience, and a consequent dismissal of it as having been a case of “much ado about nothing,” and a belated recognition of “the two sides to the question.”

This particular example will serve to illustrate the entire principle and process of Free Association. The “loose end” may be any idea or thought chosen at random by the professional Psycho-Analyst, or by the person who is psycho-analyzing himself; the Subconscious will soon make the “short cut” (or bridge) of association, from at least G to Z, leaving out the intermediate letters. There is no “chance” about it; the process follows a law as regular and constant as that governing the tides, or as the law of gravitation. Seemingly devoid of any logical character, it really follows the law of exact logical order and sequence.

There is one factor, though, which must always be present— the factor of absolute honesty regarding the ideas coming to view in the passing stream. No matter how unpleasant, how distasteful, how “un-nice,” how “shocking,” the ideas may be at times, they must be taken account of and noted down; otherwise the logical sequence is interrupted, and the experiment spoiled. Neither should apparent “nonsensicality,” whimsicality, or seeming irrelevance be allowed to cause a passing idea, thought or associative link to be overlooked or discarded; these little things often are the great things of the process. The flow must be kept free, in view of the fact that “all freely flowing mental associations eventually lead clear into the very core of the subconscious thought tendencies” which constitute the object of the analysis and search. Sooner or later, something unpleasant and painful is sure to be reached—such must not be “dodged.”

Occasional interruptions, stoppages or “breaks” in the flowing stream usually denote the approaching presence of “sore spots” or “bruised places,” which the Subconscious shrinks from uncovering because of the lurking fear of pain. Such interruptions, or “breaks” indicate that there is present a sensitiveness resulting from near approach to the “sores” or “bruises.” Here should be noted an interesting and important fact, namely, when you reach the final idea or thought serving to cover up the “sore” or “bruise,” you will know it at once: something will seem to say, “Here it is!” or “This is it!” and a flood of “forgotten” memories will burst into consciousness. You will know that your quest is finished—your analysis completed.

Analysis and Interpretation of Dream Symbols. In this method the principle of Free Association is likewise employed, but with this difference, namely, that instead of choosing the “loose end” of thought at random, one starts from some definite element of a remembered dream, and then allows the stream of association to flow freely, as previously described. The dream is split up into its component parts, each thing, quality, and action—each element represented by a noun, adjective, adverb, or verb—being regarded as a distinct component part. These component parts are then “tried out” in succession, along the lines of Free Association, until in the separate or combined report there is revealed the location and form of the “sore” or “bruise.”

The fundamental secret underlying this application of the general method of Psycho-Analysis may be stated as follows: Dreams are symbolic dramatizations of disturbing subconscious elements of memory: in symbolic form they represent the repressed, suppressed, covered-up painful “wish, fear or weakness”; they always have a hidden meaning which may be found and translated by means of scientific Psycho-Analysis. Their symbols give very effective “loose ends” from which to unwind the ball of hidden memory by means of Free Association. Sanely and intelligently employed, this method produces valuable results. It is to be regretted, however, that some over-enthusiastic followers of the Freudian teaching have carried this principle to such an absurd and fantastic extreme as to cast ridicule upon it, and to cause many persons to overlook the scientific and valuable elements involved in it.

Mental Catharsis. This method, as the name implies, is of a “cathartic” cleansing, purifying nature. In Mental Catharsis, there is made a determined effort to “get out of the system” many objectionable emotional states—resentments, grudges, old “sores” and “bruises”—by means of bringing them into the field of consciousness by an act of will, and then sterilizing or neutralizing them by the power of the light of attention, reason, and will.

This process of inspection is aided by expressing in words the real character of these objectionable states—calling them by name, and showing that you “have their number.” Employing another figure, we may say that by putting them into verbal form, attaching terms and names to them, particularly in speaking aloud the names, you tend to crystallize them into definite form and into an extremely brittle condition, so that you may deal them a hearty blow with the hammer of the will directed by the eye of reason—this reduces them to dust, which the winds then blow away.

“Face up” the objectionable tendencies. Call them by name. Speak out their real names. Turn the light of conscious attention upon them—the light that penetrates every part of them, and shows plainly and in bold relief every hateful quality. Instead of hiding them away from yourself, drag them out into the light and look at them. Analyze them; dissect them; tear them to pieces by the application of relentless, ruthless analytical reason. Then, disperse the fragments—you will find it easy to get rid of them when they are in this form.

Hiding them, concealing them, covering them up from yourself, only means “burying them alive” and having them work mischief for you. Drag them out; face them up; see them for what they are; call them by their right names; and then get rid of them.

You will often find that these hidden things of the soul are really things not essentially evil or harmful—perhaps even good—in their right place and time, under the right conditions and environment but which are “bad” when out of place and time, and under the wrong conditions and circumstances. Dirt, filth, refuse, garbage and other objectionable material are usually something all right and “good” in the right place; but quite “bad” in other places. Your mind and soul is not the “right place” for such refuse, garbage, and dirt; drag it out, and have it hauled away to the dumping place for such things. Repression and concealment, hiding and covering up, only intensifies the evil; drag it out into the light and air of conscious attention, and then cast it away from you. Do not try to fool yourself—you can’t, for your Subconscious is “on the job.” Cleanse, purify, and renovate your mental kingdom by means of the principle and method of Mental Catharsis! This is the “only way!”

Subconscious Thought

Many persons who have been brought to a realization of the important part played by the Subconscious in the respective processes of physiological functioning, habitual physical action, emotional activity, and the mechanism of memory, and who gradually have become accustomed to the idea of attributing to the Subconscious the direction and control of such processes, nevertheless are reluctant to admit that upon the planes of the Subconscious there are performed also many important processes of actual reasoning, thought, logical induction and deduction. Yet the performance of this last mentioned class of mental activity is as truly a function of the Subconscious as are the activities previously mentioned.

On the planes of the Subconscious are performed many of those processes of classification, analysis, synthesis, adjustment, relation, combination, etc., which are usually regarded as being performed exclusively by the conscious mentality. Jastrow well says that in addition to the simpler mental processes performed by the subconscious mentality we must note “the services that subconscious processes perform in the flow of logically associated ideas, in all the complex activities incident to connected and more or less reflective thinking.”

Professor Elmer Gates holds that at least ninety per cent of our mental activities are subconscious. He holds that if we analyze our mental operations we will find that our conscious thinking is never in a continuous line, but is a series of conscious states with great intervals of unconsciousness. He bids us note that we often sit and try to solve a problem, only to fail; then we walk around, try again, and again fail; then, suddenly there dawns upon us an idea that leads to the solution of the problem: the subconscious processes have been at work on our behalf. Maudsley likewise holds that a close examination and analysis will reveal the fact that consciousness is concerned in but about one-tenth of our ordinary mental operations. He states that in every mental operation there are at work conscious, subconscious, and infra-conscious mental energies—the last as indispensable as the first.

Jastrow directs our attention to the fact that in the affairs of our mental-life it becomes clear that some sort of selective process goes on; this implying that there is at command a collection of material from which the selection is made. He speculates concerning how far this selection and accumulation is the result of processes lying so far below the surface of consciousness that introspection fails to reveal them. He likewise points out that in all intellectual endeavor there exists a period of incubation, a process which is in a great part subconscious—“a slow, concealed maturing through absorption of suitable pabulum.” The same authority directs our attention to Schopenhauer’s well-known statement concerning that “unconscious rumination”—that “chewing over and over again of the cud of thought, preparatory to its assimilation with our mental tissue”; the mental state or condition which another writer has referred to as “the red glow that precedes the white heat.” He holds that in such terms there is implied, first, a process of assimilation taking place with suppressed consciousness; second, that “the larger part of the influences that in the end determine our mental growth may be effective without direct exposure to the searching light of conscious life.”

There is a wealth of illustrative examples supporting Schopenhauer’s theory of the operation of an “unconscious rumination” in which the cud of thought is chewed by the Subconscious. Many of these examples have been furnished to us by the voluntary statements of eminent and careful thinkers concerning their own personal experiences. So typical are many of these experiences that they need but to be recited in order to awaken recollections of similar experiences on the part of the readers or hearers. We ask you to consider the following several relations of experiences of this kind, culled from the often somewhat extended statements appearing in the writings of the persons referred to, or expressed in conversations with their intimate friends.

Von Hartmann testified to the “unconscious rumination” following the reading of books presenting conflicting points of view. He stated that he found that after days, weeks, or months, many of his old opinions were greatly modified, and that many new opinions had replaced some formerly entertained by him.

Thompson testified that at times he had the feeling of the uselessness of all voluntary effort, and also the conviction that the matter was working itself clear in his mind. He became so accustomed to having to wait for the results of these subconscious processes that he acquired the habit of getting together enough material in advance, and then leaving the mass to be subconsciously digested until he was ready to write on the chosen subject. He stated that once in his writing of his principal work he came to a point when he could proceed no further; he stopped his work, and deliberately thought about other things. One evening while reading his newspaper the substance of the missing part of his book flashed into his mind, and he began to write. He adds: “This was only a sample of many such experiences.”

Brodie said that it often happened that he had accumulated a store of facts, but had been unable to proceed further with his thought on the general subject. He found by experience, in such cases, that after an interval of time the obscurity and confusion cleared away—the facts had settled themselves in their right places—though he was not conscious of the intervening processes. Bascom remarked how often his conscious conclusions were based upon premises which seemed to lie beneath the plane of consciousness. He said: “It is inexplicable how the mind can wittingly take up a mental movement at an advanced stage, having missed its primary steps.”

Galton spoke of having “dragged into the light of consciousness” certain “whole states of mental operation that had lapsed out of ordinary consciousness.” Maudsley spoke of how uncomfortable he became concerning certain obscure ideas; and how there seemed to be an effort of the lost idea to get into consciousness; and of the relief experienced when the imprisoned idea finally burst into consciousness. Mozart testified that often he could not account for his musical compositions. He asserted that they frequently came to him “all at once.” He added: “The rest is merely an attempt to reproduce what I have heard.”

Hamilton discovered a most important law of mathematics while one day walking with his wife in the observatory at Dublin. He had previously been unable to bring together the elements of his thought on the subject, and had ceased to think of the matter. Then, suddenly, he felt “the galvanic circle of thought” close, and the sparks that fell from it was the knowledge of the fundamental relations of his problem—his discovery was made. Berthelot, the great French founder of modern Synthetic Chemistry, once stated in a letter to a close friend that the final experiments which led to his most wonderful discoveries had never been the result of carefully followed and reasoned trains of thought, but that, on the contrary, “they came of themselves, so to speak, from the clear sky.”

Mozart was playing billiards one day, when all of a sudden there flashed into his consciousness the aria of the quartette of “The Magic Flute.” Fortunately for himself, and for the world, he had his notebook with him, and dropping his cue, he recorded the notes which had come to him in this wonderful way. A writer relates that an inventor who had been working, without success, upon the problem of properly constructing a prism for a binocular microscope, one day relaxed sufficiently to become absorbed in an interesting novel, when, lo! he suddenly conceived the elusive idea, and solved his perplexing problem. Kekule relates that he suddenly saw the atoms dancing about in midair, in conformity with his evolving theory of atomic grouping, while he was riding on a London bus one day with no conscious thought upon the matter of his theory.

Many careful students of the phenomena of the thought-processes of the Subconscious have noted that the finishing touch of the subconscious digestion of a perplexing subject seems to be performed when the attention is momentarily diverted to another subject or object. Psychologists hold that in cases in which we have been unable by conscious effort of will to recall something that has previously been in the mind, try as hard as we may, we frequently achieve the desired result after we have turned the attention to something else—the missing idea coming up spontaneously without effort of will and when we are not consciously thinking about it at all. The same principle is found to apply in the processes of “subconscious thought” as well as in those of memory.

Many have found by experience that by deliberately employing the mind with something else, something quite irrelevant to the subject previously engaging the thought, they often obtain the answer sought for in vain before the diversion. As Jastrow well says: “The daydream through which flashes a happy ‘Eureka!’ or the dream of a deeper sleep that discovers the treasures that our laborious digging has failed to unearth, are equally instances in which the fixed intent of the more watchful consciousness is withdrawn.” Holmes holds that the automatic flow of subconscious thought is favored by listening to an uninteresting discourse, containing just enough ideas in it to keep the conscious mind busy.

Carpenter also holds that the subconscious process is more likely to evolve the desired result when the conscious activity is at least partially directed elsewhere. Jastrow compares this to the astronomer who sees better the star by looking a little to one side of it, instead of gazing directly at it. He says: “We might almost say that distraction and the idler moments of contemplative revery are as essential to fruitful production as the intent periods of executive effort; the trough of the wave is as intrinsic a part of its progressive character as is the crest.”

We have here another instance in which it is seen that, once in a while at least, it is well for the conscious mentality to refrain from actively “bossing the job,” then allowing the detail work to be performed by those subconscious faculties best equipped for the task—in a word, by those faculties “kept” by you for that particular work. But equally true is it that it is well for “the boss” to “stay around the shop,” keeping an eye on what is going on, expecting and demanding the best results, and being ready to pass fair and righteous judgment upon the finished product. In the perfect coordination between the conscious mentality and the Subconscious alone is to be found the balance and “golden mean” which makes for efficiency. Unsupervised subconscious activity is as far from being the ideal condition as is that in which there is found the refusal to permit the Subconscious the right to perform its proper and natural work.

Many writers, inventors, scientists, and others performing extended and continuous mental work, have testified to the fact that, in one way or another, they have discovered that the faculties and powers of the Subconscious may be trained to perform much of the drudgery of the intellectual work, leaving the conscious faculties free to design and to direct the general course of the task.

Many men of large business affairs also have made a similar or identical discovery. Without realizing the scientific principles involved, such persons have stumbled upon methods whereby much of their work of “mental digestion” may be performed for them by the Subconscious. These discoveries, followed by a practical application of the methods adopted, have resulted in such persons being able to perform what has seemed to others to be an almost incredible amount of intellectual labor, while still having sufficient time and energy to plan out great enterprises, and free to devote some time to amusements, games, sports, travel, and other forms of relaxation.

No consideration of this subject would be complete without at least a reference to the testimony of Robert Louis Stevenson, the famous writer, concerning this very important phase of mental work. So typical and characteristic of the general principle involved are the statements of this master of the craft of writing, that we feel warranted in dwelling at some length upon them in the present consideration of the subject of “subconscious thought.”

Stevenson was fond of speaking of his subconscious mental faculties as his “Brownies,” borrowing the illustration from the familiar fairy tales of childhood, in which are related the performances of the friendly little Brownies who each night take up and complete the tasks left undone by the overworked friendly shoemaker or carpenter who had befriended the tiny creatures. He said: “My Brownies! God bless them! who do half of my work for me when I am fast asleep, and in all likelihood do the rest for me when I am wide awake and foolishly suppose that I do it for myself.”

He relates that he had long been wanting to write a book on man’s double being, and without success had racked his brain for a plot of any sort relating to that subject. Then, one night he dreamed the principal incidents of his great story of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” These, he said, were all given him in bulk and details, as he afterward wrote them in the story. He goes on to say further that often when he belabored his brains over a story needed to supply the “bread and butter,” behold! the little people began to bestir themselves in the same quest, and to labor all night long to supply his wants in that direction. Often, he said, did these sleepless Brownies do his honest work for him, and gave him better tales than he could fashion for himself. He said that they, like him, had learned to build the scheme of a considerable story, and to arrange emotion in progressive order; they were able to tell him a story piece by piece, like a serial, and to keep him all the while in ignorance of the outcome. Only, said he, they had more talent than he, himself.

But, while praising the work of his little mental Brownies, Stevenson does not deny the important part played by his conscious, “everyday” mentality in his creative work. He says: “I am an excellent adviser, something like Moliere’s servant; I pull back and I cut down; and I dress the whole in the best words and sentences that I can find and make. I hold the pen, too; and I do the sitting at the table, which is about the worst of it; and when all is done, I make up the manuscript and pay for the registration; so that on the whole, I have some claim to share, though not so largely as I do, in the profits of our common enterprise.”

Stevenson’s figurative illustration in which the faculties of the Subconscious are pictured as Brownies must not be dismissed as merely a fancy. Beneath the fantastic disguise with which he has “dressed up” the subconscious faculties, they are plainly recognizable to psychologists—they “run true to form.” The psychological facts are there—the processes are scientifically described—notwithstanding the fanciful dressing which serves to invest them with an additional interest to the non-scientific reader—and for most scientific readers as well. Moreover, it must not be forgotten that Stevenson’s “dreams” were quite as often day-dream states as they were the ordinary dreams of the night.

That even in the ordinary dreams of the night the Subconscious performs important work is attested by numerous good authorities, and many instances are cited to prove the fact. We shall quote a few examples for your consideration.

Coleridge composed his celebrated poem “Kubla Khan” in a dream, and wrote it down when he awoke. Abercrombie relates a case in which a distinguished lawyer went to bed after studying hard over a difficult case. His wife saw him rise in the middle of the night, sit down, and write a long paper which he then put in his desk, and returned to bed. Next morning he told his wife that he had dreamt that he had written a clear and luminous opinion on the case, which he would give anything to be able to remember. His wife directed him to his writing desk, where he found the opinion fully written out, just as he had dreamed it.

Schofield relates a case in which a young music pupil had great difficulty in correctly performing a difficult “shake” in a sonata. She was unable to master it. One night her mother, who slept with the girl, was awakened by feeling her daughter’s fingers moving on her face. She asked the girl what she was doing; but the child was asleep, though her fingers were performing the “shake” on the mother’s face. The next day, to the amazement of her teacher, the pupil played the difficult “shake” perfectly and without apparent effort. The Subconscious had taken over the task after having mastered it during the sleep of the girl.

Holmes relates incidents of these “dream helpers” who are “wiser than ourselves, and who put thoughts in our heads and words into our mouths.” Yet he holds, as do the present writers, that it is no “other self” that is doing the work, but rather that it is one’s own “self” in one of its phases or aspects of manifestation. He says on this point: “Dr. Johnson dreamed that he had a contest of wit with an opponent, and got the worst of it; of course he furnished the wit for both. Tartini heard the devil play a wonderful sonata, and he set it down on awakening. But who was the devil but Tartini himself?”

You must never lose sight of the fact that these “helpers”— these Brownies—these “other selves”—are but fanciful names applied to certain aspects or phases of the mental activities of Yourself. YOU are always your Self, your whole Self, and nothing but your Self! All separation or division of that Self is illusory, and all terms indicating such separation or division are but figurative terms employed for convenience. All these phenomena are manifested on some of the planes or regions of your New Mental Empire, by some of your own subordinate faculties, powers, or energies. Keep this fact always in mind, and you will not be led to follow fanciful will-o’-the-wisps which lead only to the quagmires of Error, and away from the main-road of Truth.

Sometimes, however, it happens that the brilliant thoughts and ideas evolved in the deep dream states escape the conscious mentality which upon wakening seeks to remember and recall them to consciousness, or to record them in writing or speech. Nothing but a meaningless jumble of words is the result in some cases. Holmes relates an experience in which, as he states: “The veil of eternity was lifted. The one great truth, that which underlies all human experience, and is the key to all the mysteries that philosophy has sought in vain to solve, flashed upon me, flashed upon me in a sudden revelation. Henceforth all was clear! a few words had lifted my intelligence to the level of the knowledge of the cherubim.” Awakening, he staggered to his desk, and “wrote in ill-shaped, straggling characters the all-embracing truth still lingering in my consciousness.” But, alas! the words he wrote were merely these: “A strong smell of turpentine prevails throughout.” Many of us have similar experiences which usually we are ashamed to relate, so trite, commonplace, or even absurd, is the recorded conscious report.

One is reconciled, however, by the generally accepted idea that, although the conscious mentality is often unable to grasp and retain, to recall and record these conceptions of the highest activities of “subconscious thought,” and may even be betrayed into reporting some distorted impression made upon the waking consciousness, nevertheless the conception itself is impressed upon the memory-records of the Subconscious, thereafter to play an important part in our conscious mental life by reason of the occasional rise of the submerged ideas to the surface of consciousness.

How to Apply the Principles of Subconscious Thought

I. Provide Proper Materials. You have been shown how the Subconscious undertakes and performs the important work of “unconscious rumination”; how it chews the mental cud composed of the materials of mental food previously supplied to it. In this “unconscious rumination.” or “chewing over” the cud of thought, the Subconscious performs the work of breaking into digestible form, and reducing to the proper consistency the crude material of thought which has previously been furnished it.

The Subconscious, in this process, also selects the best elements of the material furnished it, retaining this for its future work while rejecting the useless residue of the mass. Here is to be noted a most important point, i. e., that just as the ruminant animal first must be furnished with the rough mass of food-material which it then proceeds to reduce to the proper consistency and condition for digestion and assimilation, so the Subconscious first must be furnished with the rough material of thought which it is expected to digest thoroughly and assimilate after it has selected from the mass the available material, the rest being rejected by it.

This point has been overlooked by many investigators of the work of the Subconscious: they have been so carried away by the wonderful possibilities of this process of the Subconscious that they have neglected to note the antecedent conditions of this operation. In fact, some of them have practically claimed that the Subconscious requires no such solid material for its processes of “unconscious rumination”; they seemingly imply that it performs its work; with the subtle materials obtained from the thin air breathed by it. But, alas! this is but a dream. The Subconscious can no more proceed with its processes of “unconscious rumination” without material than can the ruminant animal proceed to “chew the cud” unless it has previously partaken of the rough materials of its food. In all cases of “unconscious rumination” there must be present the solid material of facts, to be chewed carefully and reduced to the proper consistency by the ruminative mechanism of the Subconscious.

Therefore, when you wish to set before the Subconscious some important and difficult task of “unconscious rumination,” you should first saturate your mind with the subject in question. Bring into consciousness every associated fact or related principle that is possible to you. Read and listen to all possible points of view on the subject, refusing to be dismayed or discouraged by the mass of contradictions and irreconcilable different points of view, belief or opinion. Add every possible bit of associated or related material to the general mass, with full confidence that your Subconscious will attend to the work of rumination, digestion, selection and assimilation of that heterogeneous mass of mental food which you have gathered for it. Though this sometimes may seem to produce the preliminary symptoms of mental dyspepsia in your conscious mentality, do not worry: the mental stomach of the Subconscious is strong and enduring, and will be able to perform its task on the material which now dismays you—it possesses ostrich-like powers of digestion.

In addition to the material which you thus specially supply to the Subconscious, however, the latter also draws upon its own large stock of associated and related material which it has stored on its subconscious levels or mental floors, but which you have apparently forgotten. It may even go so far as to draw upon the material of the racial-memory, if it becomes sufficiently interested in the task, and is adequately aroused by your strong desire and your firm faith in the possibilities of your Subconscious.

From many sources the Subconscious draws the varied materials for its cud of “unconscious rumination.” But, nevertheless, you will fall far short of efficient performance if you fail to do your work in the matter of securing and assembling before it such useful material as you may be able to gather. You must always be able to say, honestly and truthfully, to your Subconscious: “I have done the best I could for you; it is ‘up to you’ to do the rest!”

II. Give Definite Directions. Many persons who have noted the process of “unconscious rumination” performed by the Subconscious, and also many who have acquired more or less ability to set deliberately the subconscious faculties to work along these lines, have not fully grasped the definite and clear principle involved in the process of instituting and directing the said processes. Their efforts in this direction often are conducted more or less on the “hit or miss” principle, and are based on the belief that “somehow, someway,” the Subconscious will work out the matter for them. Not understanding the fundamental principles involved in the Subconscious processes, they are content with a more or less indefinite course of “setting the thing to work.”

An examination of most of the cases cited in the text-books, or else related by those who have experienced subconscious phenomena of this kind, will show you that the usual course is to fill the mental stomach of the Subconscious with material deemed appropriate, just as one would fill the physical stomach with appropriate food, and then to trust to Nature, or to “instinct,” to perform the complex task of reducing the mass to the proper consistency, of chemically digesting it thoroughly, and of assimilating it perfectly. Such a course, as a matter of fact, frequently produced a reasonably satisfactory result. What Jastrow terms a combination of the elements into a “half consistent whole” results in such cases, and is gratefully accepted by the individual as the best of all possible results.

But, although our standard modern Western psychologists have not as yet discovered and formulated a more scientific and more certain and effective method of applying the principle of subconscious mentation, those who have learned some of the secrets of the ancient Oriental teachings are aware that the sages of these older schools, many centuries ago, evolved the true methods in question.

Without attempting to go into a detailed and technical consideration of the theories entertained by these Oriental teachers, we shall ask you to consider the practical principles of their methods. We have here another instance of the fact that underlying the often quite vague theories and metaphysical speculations of the Oriental philosophers there may be found certain very practical methods of applying psychological principles recognized by both eastern and western psychology.

The chief principle of the Oriental method is based upon the fact that there exists a manifestation of Attention on the subconscious plane of mentation, as well as upon its conscious planes. Moreover, just as conscious Attention may be aroused and directed in two ways, viz., (1) by general interest, curiosity, desire, etc., and (2) by deliberate concentration of the Will in Voluntary Attention, so may the subconscious Attention be aroused and directed in a corresponding way. In both cases Attention is the active mental element involved.

In most cases, such as we have previously related, the subconscious Attention is directed and aroused by the power of interest, curiosity, desire, etc., which descends from the conscious mentality to the plane of the Subconscious. The general interest in the subject, the curiosity concerning the solution of the problem, and the desire to reach a successful result, all tend to arouse and to direct the subconscious Attention, and to set into activity its processes of “unconscious rumination” and even higher and more complex activities of the Subconscious. This is the true explanation of the interesting phenomena of ordinary “unconscious rumination” such as are recorded in the text books or experienced in everyday life by yourself.

But just as the voluntary, trained Attention of the student and the scientist is far more efficient than the ordinary, more or less involuntary conscious Attention of the ordinary person, so is the voluntary, deliberate, concentrated subconscious Attention of the trained mind far superior to and far more effective than the ordinary more or less involuntary Attention of the person who has just discovered that the Subconscious “works,” but who has not as yet learned “just how it works.” The deliberate action of and direction by the Will constitutes the distinction between the involuntary state and the voluntary state, in the case of both the conscious and the subconscious mental activities involved in thought.

You will need but a simple, familiar example to give you the general principle involved in this matter. You know by experience that when you have strongly impressed upon the Subconscious the necessity of your being awakened at five o’clock in the morning in order to catch a certain train, you may count upon “something” awakening you at that particular time. Or, when you have an important engagement which you have apparently overlooked, “something tells you” that you have forgotten something, just in time to allow you to rush to keep the engagement. Well, then, here you have set your subconscious Attention upon the task, and your Subconscious has “been on the job” for you. The same principle is involved in even the highest and most complex activities and processes of subconscious mentation in which there is “something to be done.”

The Oriental teacher instructs his pupils to acquire by repeated practice and exercise the “knack” of performing the following particular mental activity. The student must formulate in his mind a clear idea of the mental task to be performed. He must perceive it in general outline, and also should form a clearly defined idea of just what task he wishes to have accomplished— just what kind of work he wishes to have performed for him. He must then form a mental picture of the thought-material being lowered or dropped to the subconscious levels of the mind (as, for instance, being dropped through a trap-door). He must then deliberately, positively and earnestly give a mental or verbal command or direction to the subconscious mentality to perform the task for him. For instance, he must issue the command: “Subconscious! I wish you carefully and thoroughly to analyze, to classify, and logically to arrange the materials of this subject, and then to carry the reasoning concerning it to its logical conclusion!”

The material so passed on to the Subconscious, however, must have been previously subjected to a most intense and concentrated inspection by the conscious Attention. As the Oriental teachers say: “It must be saturated with Attention, until every part of it is so permeated by Attention that it carries Attention in its very substance.”

Thought, thus energized by Attention, will re-awaken into being on the subconscious planes with the necessary amount of Attention involved in it; this, in turn, will attract and hold the subconscious Attention element of thought. The subconscious Attention, once having been attracted by and directed to a subject, will never afterward release its hold on that subject until the latter has been brought as nearly to a successful conclusion as is possible under the circumstances. It may take only a few minutes, or it may take hours, days, months; or even years to reach the conclusion—but it will hold tenaciously to the task, and will report the result eventually. Have you not received answers and reports from the Subconscious concerning questions and subjects which perplexed you many years ago, and which you had almost forgotten? While your conscious mentality had practically forgotten the matter, your Subconscious has remembered it and has continued its work.

This wonderful method is so simple that there is danger that you may overlook its great importance and its marvelous possibilities. It consists, as you have seen, of the following simple mental processes, viz., (1) Concentrating the conscious Attention upon the general problem or task, until the whole subject of it is fairly saturated by Attention; (2) Forming the mental picture or idea of the transference of the general thought from the conscious plane or level down to that of the subconscious mentality—to the Subconscious; (3) Giving the Subconscious the positive, clear, definite command or direction concerning what you wish it to do for you in the matter.

That is all there is to it—though several books might be filled with illustrative examples and adaptations to particular instances or special cases. Consequently, you are advised to commit to memory the above-stated three stages of the methods or process in question, and to apply them in any and all cases in which you desire the Subconscious to proceed along the lines of Subconscious Thought in a definite direction and toward certain definite ends.

The rest is all practice, practice, practice; and exercise, exercise, and exercise. There is, however, a peculiar little mental “knack” about the method of giving the command or direction to the Subconscious. This little “knack” will come to you only by practice and exercise—it cannot be expressed in words—it must be “picked up” in actual practice; When once acquired it will never be forgotten by you.

Charles Leland illustrated the principle of this little “knack” in his statements concerning what he called “Forethought.” He says of this principle:

“As I understand it, it is a kind of impulse or projection of Will into the coming work. I may here illustrate this with a curious fact in physics. If the reader wished to ring an old-style door-bell so as to produce as much sound as possible, he would probably pull it back as far as he could, and then let it go. But if he would, in letting it go, simply give it a tap with his forefinger, he would actually redouble the sound. Or, to shoot an arrow as far as possible, it is not enough to merely draw the bow to its utmost span or tension. If, just before it goes, you will give the bow a quick push, though the effort be trifling, the arrow will fly almost as far again as it would have done without it.

“Or, as is well known, in wielding a very sharp sabre, we make the ‘draw cut,’ that is, if to the blow or chop, as with an axe, we also add a certain slight pull, simultaneously, we can cut through a silk handkerchief or a sheep. Forethought is the tap on the bell; the push on the bow; the draw on the sabre. It is the deliberate but yet rapid action of the mind when, before going to sleep or dismissing thought, we bid the mind to subsequently respond. It is more than merely thinking what we are to do; it is the bidding or ordering the self to fulfill a task, before willing it.”

Additional illustrations will occur to the reader who is familiar with the games of golf, billiards, tennis, etc., in each of which the skillful players discover the “little knack” of “putting something into” the blow, the stroke, or whatever the movement may be. He finds that by putting that “little something” of himself into the movement he adds very materially to its power, its accuracy, and its general efficiency. The principle of the “little knack” in the giving of commands or directions to the Subconscious closely resembles the principles employed in the skilled physical movement to which we have just referred. You must learn to “put a little of yourself into it.”

Subconscious Thought may be set into activity by the method previously described, under nearly any or all kinds of circumstances. It may be “set a-going” during the day, or just before going to sleep at night. Leland and some others have strongly advised the last—mentioned plan, claiming for it special advantages. In cases where quick decisions and actions are necessary, the process may be effected with little or no loss of time. The time necessary to flick the ashes from your cigar before answering, or in which to reach out to replace an object on your desk, or to perform any similar action, will be sufficient for the Subconscious to render you at least some degree of assistance in response to your positive command: “Attend to this for me quickly—at once!” The Subconscious is capable of the lightning-like rapidity of certain dream states in such cases! Try this method and learn for yourself how wonderfully rapid and effective is the response.

Leland says: “The practice of composing the plan as perfectly, yet as succinctly as, possible, combined with the energetic impulse to send it off, will ere long give the student a conception of what I mean by Forethought, which by description I cannot. And when grown familiar and really mastered, it will give to its possessor a power to think and act promptly, in all the emergencies of life, in a greatly increased degree. Forethought may be brief, but it should always be energetic. By cultivating it we acquire the enviable talent of those men who take in everything at a glance, and act promptly, like Napoleon. This power is universally believed to be entirely innate, or a gift, but it can be induced or developed in all minds in proportion to the Will, by practice.”

III. Refrain from Interfering. In passing on to your Subconscious any certain and particular work to be performed by it, you should refrain from interfering with the subconscious processes. You may, and indeed should, “stand by,” as it were, ready to seek for or to furnish any additional data or facts for which it may call; and you should always exercise the right of supervision, revision, and general management, as we have already told you. But you should never meddle with the processes of the Subconscious in themselves, nor should you attempt to “boss the job” in its details as well as in the general direction and management.

A violation of this last rule may confuse the Subconscious, or, in extreme cases, may even throw it into a state of panic. This is a common mistake, and one especially to be guarded against. You must cultivate and manifest confidence and trust in your Subconscious. The Subconscious, as we have previously informed you, is as sensitive as are intelligent workers in general; in some cases it manifests quite a show of “artistic temperament,” and is easily disturbed by what it may deem an unwarranted meddling with its work. Exercise the iron hand upon it, if you will; but always be careful to wear the velvet glove on that hand, if you wish to secure the best results from it.

Sometimes the Subconscious may tentatively raise to your conscious plane of mentality its unfinished work for your inspection—it wants you to tell it how you like it as far as it has gone. Give its reports and results a careful examination, and add any helpful suggestions which may occur to you; then send it back for completion with a word of encouragement, and with that little “tap on the bell” as Leland puts it. Do not make the mistake, however, of the child who, having planted seeds in the garden, pulls up the sprouts each morning to see how much the roots have grown overnight. You are not dealing with a lifeless mechanism, remember—you are dealing with a living intelligence which is an aspect of your Self.

Subconscious Thought and Logic. Some persons who have acquired proficiency in subconscious mentation, but who have wished also to acquire a knowledge of Logic and Logical Thinking, have found themselves somewhat upset, at first, after they have acquainted themselves with the principles of Formal Logic. They report that they have found themselves in somewhat the same general condition of the centipede (mentioned in a foregoing section of this book) who had lost the natural art of running many-legged after he began to think of “which leg follows which.”

The trouble here, however, should not be blamed upon Logic. It arises rather from an attempt to take away from the Subconscious all the thinking work that had previously been performed by it, and to attempt now to perform this on the conscious plane alone, according to the rules of Logic. Had such persons continued to permit their Subconscious to perform its accustomed work, instead of trying to rob it of its natural tasks, they would have discovered that the Subconscious was performing its work even more effectively than before, by reason of the superimposition of the knowledge of the laws and rules of Logical Thought.

It will be found, as a rule, that the Subconscious Thought of a logical thinker will be far more logical than that of an illogical person. One may improve the logical quality of his subconscious mentation by studying the elements and principles of Practical Logic; the training received thereby by the conscious mentality is reflected upon the subconscious planes. This being the case, those feeling the need of improvement along the lines of Logical Thinking need fear no interference with the thought processes of their Subconscious—quite the reverse is the fact, as we have said.

But, in studying along the lines of Logical Thought for this purpose, confine yourself to works on the subject of Practical Logic. Leave Formal Logic for those who are fond of the academic, technical phases of the subject. Select those works in which the subject of Logic is brought down to solid earth, instead of being raised to the upper regions in which the clouds abound. We feel warranted in here directing to your attention that volume of this series entitled “Reasoning Power,” the subject of which is Practical Logic and the laws and rules of Practical Logical Thought.

The Superconscious Planes

One of the most interesting, and at the same time one of the most perplexing features attending the investigation of the phenomena of the “other consciousness” states of mental activity which are included in the general category of the Subconscious is the undoubted evidence of the existence of what may be called, respectively, the “higher” and “lower” planes of mental activity in the great region of the Subconscious. The Subconscious, in fact, is discovered to be not merely a simple “other mind,” but rather to be a greater region of “other consciousness” mental activity, having its plains and its mountain peaks, its highlands and its lowlands—the great area of your New Mental Empire.

In the lowlands of the Subconscious are discovered those activities which seem to be more or less “automatic,” although manifesting both intelligence and a logical method of procedure. In the highlands are discovered certain other activities which transcend the ordinary intelligence of the conscious mentality— activities which, while not contrary to reason, nevertheless seem to proceed further and with less effort than the ordinary reasoning processes of the human mind.

In short, in the great region of “the other consciousness” there is discovered to be present a strange and perplexing mixture of both high and low—of that which seems little more than simple “instinct,” and of that which seems to partake of the nature of what may be called “intuition.”

This discovery has caused much confusion, and has served to upset many otherwise quite reasonable theories and hypotheses. Probably the most pronounced emphasis placed upon the distinction between the highlands and the lowlands of the Subconscious is that maintained by certain schools of thought on the subject which (borrowing the idea from the Oriental philosophers) have sought to divide the region of “the other consciousness” into two great areas, known respectively as “the Subconscious” and “the Superconscious”—the former area including the lower phases of subconscious mental activity, the latter area including the higher phases to which we have referred.

But it is impossible to draw a positive and definite line between the high and the low areas of the Subconscious. That great region is not one in which all the lowlands are on one side of a given line, and all the highlands on the other side. Instead, in it, just as in any great physical region, there are alternating areas of valleys and plains, and of hills and mountains. As in the physical world, so in the psychical world one unusually needs but to travel upward (not merely east, west, north, or south) in order to reach the high levels. Moreover, it is impossible to draw a hard and fast line between the higher and the lower activities—these activities frequently blend so into each other that it is most difficult to determine whether they belong to the higher or to the lower. There is, in fact, an indefinite intermediate area in which the higher and lower blend, mingle, and form combinations.

It has been found more satisfactory to employ the illustrative example of the solar spectrum, with its various colors with their shadings and blendings—with its “infra-red” regions existing in invisible form on the one side, and its “ultra-violet” regions, likewise invisible, existing on the other side—with the great visible regions existing in the centre. While we are favorable to the occasional employment of the term “the Superconsciousness” to designate the highest of the activities of the Subconscious, we still prefer the general term of “The Subconscious” to designate the entire region of “the other consciousness” planes of man’s mental activity.

Many leading writers on the subject of the Subconscious have testified to the existence of these planes of its activities and powers, and have pointed out the distinction between these and the lower planes of its manifestation. They have demonstrated that there are “out of consciousness” mental operations which are above the horizon of ordinary consciousness, rather than below it—“regions of the higher soul and spirit life, of which we are only at times vaguely conscious, but which always exist, and link us to eternal verities.” They have expressed the conviction that there exist in the realm of human mentality certain “supernormal and transcendental powers of which at present we catch only occasional glimpses”; and that behind these “there are fathomless abysses, the divine ground of the soul, the ultimate reality of which our consciousness is but a reflection or faint perception.”

In these high regions of mentality, say they, “all the higher mental operations are conducted; it is here that genius works.” This is the higher mental realm of which Carlyle speaks when he says: “Shakespeare’s intellect is what I call unconscious intellect; there is more virtue in it than he himself is aware of. The later generations of men will find new meanings in Shakespeare, new elucidations of their own human being.” It is this that Goethe had in mind when he said: “I prefer that the principle from which, and through which I work, shall be hidden from me.”

It is this to which Ferrier refers when he says: “The sublimest works of the intelligence are quite possible, and may easily be conceived to be executed, without ordinary consciousness of them on the part of the immediate agent.” It is this which inspired Emerson to bid us to trust the Higher Consciousness even “though you can render no reason”; and, whose reports “shall ripen into truth, and you shall know what you believe.” Emerson also hints at the same truth in his lines:

“Delicate omens traced in air

To the lone bard true witness bear;

Birds with auguries on their wings

Chanted undeceiving things

Him to beckon, him to warn;

Well might then the poet scorn

To learn of scribe or courier

Hints writ in vaster character.”

The lower planes of the Subconscious contain only that which has been placed there by heredity, by the suggestions of others, by the conscious experiences of the individual, or by the imperfect reflection of the Superconscious faculties before the latter have unfolded their message to the conscious mentality. The higher regions—the Superconscious—on the contrary, contain much which man has never before experienced consciously or subconsciously.

Many careful thinkers hold that, just as that which manifests on the conscious planes today will be passed on to the subconscious levels tomorrow, so, much that is now locked up in the regions of the Superconscious will be passed down and revealed to consciousness at a later period in the evolution of the individual and of the race. Much that is now a familiar manifestation in the ordinary consciousness was at one time the exclusive property of the Superconscious; likewise, in the future states of the spiritual evolution of the race, the Superconscious will bestow upon the ordinary consciousness much that is now revealed only in occasional flashes of inspiration, genius, or illumination.

One of the present writers expressed the following ideas in a much earlier work (published in 1902) which he has found no reason to change in the intervening twenty years:

“From the region of the Superconscious comes that which is not contrary to reason, but which is beyond ordinary reason. This is the source of illumination, enlightenment, genius, inspiration. This is the region from which the true poet obtains his inspiration, the exceptional writer his gift, the real seer his vision, the veritable prophet his knowledge. Many have received messages of this kind from the region of the Superconscious, and have thought that they heard the voice of God, of angels, of spirits—but the voice came from within. In this region are to be found the sources of Intuition. Some of the superconscious faculties are higher than are others, but each has its own part to play. Many a man has received inspiration from within, and has given a message which has astonished the world. Many poets, painters, writers, sculptors, have acted upon the inspiration received from their superconsciousness. Certain great poems, certain great writings, certain great pictures, certain great statues, have about them an indefinable something which appeals to us and make us feel their wonderful strength—that mysterious quality absent from the productions of ordinary mental effort.”

Even scientists commonly regarded as “materialistic” have frankly admitted that they can conceive of the possibility of mental states as much higher than those of the average man as the latter are higher than the mental states of the black beetle; and that there is no difficulty in conceiving the existence of degrees of intelligence as much superior to ordinary intelligence as the latter is superior to mechanical motion.

Science informs us that consciousness has evolved from the state of mere “sensitiveness,” which was but little more than the chemical “sensitiveness to stimulus”; thence on to true sensation, high and low; thence on to simple consciousness, high and low; thence on to self-consciousness, high and low. Is it to be supposed that evolution has nothing further to unfold in the nature of consciousness?

Is it not more reasonable to believe that just as sensation evolved from mere sensitiveness, just as simple consciousness evolved from sensation, and just as self-consciousness evolved from simple consciousness, so may there be other and higher forms of consciousness destined to evolve and unfold from our present stages of consciousness? In fact, it would appear that even at the present time some of these higher faculties are beginning to dawn upon the race. Is it unreasonable to believe that this new consciousness will partake of the character of that which we seek to indicate by the term “Intuition”?

The term, “Intuition,” rightly understood, perhaps best indicates the characteristic elements of the higher Subconscious knowing or activity—of that phase or aspect of the Subconscious which has been called the “Superconsciousness.” Webster defines Intuition (as ordinarily understood) as: “Direct apprehension or cognition; immediate knowledge, as in perception or consciousness, involving no reasoning power; quick or ready insight or apprehension.”

Many seek to convince us that Intuition is the source of its own knowledge—that it has no need for data derived from experience; but this view is disputed by others who hold that Intuition is merely a higher form of reasoning. We, however, are inclined to the view that Intuition is a higher form of reasoning, proceeding perhaps by “short cuts” impossible to our ordinary conscious reasoning processes, and manifesting its action in an almost incredibly brief period of time. The marked difference between the clear, acute, and rapid reasoning processes of the trained thinkers of the race, and the clumsy, dull, heavy, and slow reasoning of untrained minds, gives us a hint concerning the nature of Intuition, and contains a hopeful promise of further evolution along the same lines.

It is possible, in imagination, to conceive of mental faculties and powers sufficiently evolved and developed to be able to grasp the essential relations and data involved in a problem in a new way—in a way in which there is manifested a highly increased power of perception, apperception, and generalization—and able to perform the processes of induction and deduction (or perhaps a reasoning process higher than either), with intensive effort and greatly increased speed. An individual possessing this power would appear to the ordinary thinker as one able “to know without thinking at all,” though such individual would really be performing each and every stage of thought.

The rapid movement of the moving-picture films causes us to perceive the picture as continuous and unbroken, whereas, in reality, it is composed of many separate and particular units. A rapidly revolving object seems to us to stand still. So may it be with the mind operating with a highly increased speed accompanied with a highly increased power of perception, apperception, generalization, etc. The careful examination of the thought processes of certain exceptional thinkers of the race would seem to support the idea of an “intuitive reasoning” proceeding in the way just indicated.

Careful thinkers have held the scientific faith that man will evolve the mechanism of thought sufficient to deal with the more complex and difficult problems which are forcing themselves before the human mind, and which are demanding solution. Haeckel has said: “There is no scientific problem which we may dare to say the mind of man will never solve; no mystery so deep or profound; no question has or ever will be asked but a mind or brain will be evolved capable of solving or answering.” Stevens says: “If it becomes essential for mankind to know, infinite nature will evolve an organ of mind that can comprehend.”

Psychology furnishes us with analogies sufficient to warrant us in speculation concerning the possible effect of mental processes greatly “speeded up,” and yet proceeding in logical sequence, The intensely rapid action of the mind in certain dream states, and in cases in which certain anaesthetics have been administered, gives us a valuable hint. It is within the proper limits of scientific imagination to speculate concerning the possible existence of mental states in which the logical conclusion from a given premise might seem to be arrived at practically “instantaneously,” just as a sufficiently “speeded up” moving-picture projector would be able to present to us, in an almost simultaneous picturing, the beginning and ending of a scene—all that came between being imperceptible.

Time as experienced by the mind is purely relative and comparative. The midge lives a lifetime of vivid experience in a hour of time, or less; while, on the other hand, we may conceive of beings of a high order to whom “a thousand years is but a day.” Under intense pressure the minds of human beings have been known to act with an almost incredible rapidity, and with an almost superhuman clearness, power, and effect. We say even of ordinary efficient thinkers that “they think in a flash,” or that “they reach a result almost intuitively.” These facts serve as striking hints concerning the character and nature of the processes of the Intuition manifested by the higher planes of the Subconscious—the so-called “superconscious” planes of mentation.

The only known method whereby the individual may increase and develop the degree of the manifestation of the “intuitive powers” of the higher planes of the Subconscious— apart from the “mystical” practices, many of which are of quite doubtful value, and apart from certain “psychic” methods, which are often positively dangerous and harmful—consists of the calm recognition of the existence of these higher powers of the Subconscious, and the courteous reception and entertainment of the reports coming from them. Recognize its powers as those of your Higher Self, and accept its services as rightfully belonging to you; yet receive them with thanks. Open your mind to the rays coming from above, and profit by the energizing power of that light. Seek development along these tines, and let the power unfold naturally, gradually, and in accordance with the law of evolution—do not try to force the growth, nor to employ unnatural methods.

Here is the rule by which you may determine whether a report of Intuition comes from the true higher planes of mind, or whether it is a distorted reflection reaching you from some of the lower planes: The true intuitive report will never run contrary to reason properly exercised and interpreted— though it may transcend the possible reports of the ordinary reasoning processes. Do not accept the report as correct if it runs contrary to your highest reason, or if it is opposed to your “common sense.” Intuition is Higher Reason—Reason plus, or Reason “more so”—it is never anti-Reason, or the opposite of Reason.

Reason has been evolved by Nature to provide man with his sane and safe standards of belief and action; therefore, you should never seek to discard it in order to adopt some antirational report, attractive though the latter may appear to be at first sight, nor how highly recommended it may come. You should welcome the opening and unfoldment of the higher planes of Reason, but you should always assure yourself that the essential principle of Reason is present in the reports of any part of your mind, before you accept them as final. You should regard Reason as the evolving instrument of your experience and expression—not as a fixed and unalterable mechanism beyond the possibility of further growth, improvement and development. Avail yourself of the services of Intuition—your Higher Reason—but always stand firmly on the solid rock of Practical Reason, for there your safety lies.

Intuition, if real and true, is always Reason plus—never by any chance is it Reason minus. It is Reason raised to a much higher degree than we commonly experience, but its essential character, nature and principle remain unchanged. Keep this fact in mind, and your feet will rest on solid rock; lose sight of it and ignore it, and you may wander on to the sinking sands of Error!

In addition to the offices and powers of the Superconscious which we have mentioned, there is another and a most important function of that phase of the mentality which may be called “the protective power.” Many persons, most persons in fact, have at times experienced this beneficent power. They have felt strongly that they were in close contact with a force, power, or entity of some kind which was in some way higher than themselves, but which was concerned with their welfare. This beneficent presence has been interpreted in various ways in accordance with the trend of thought of those experiencing it. Some of the ancients called it “the kindly genius”; others termed it “the guardian angel”; still others have thought of it as “my spirit friend”; while many others, though quite vividly conscious of its presence and power, have failed to give it a special name.

But by whatever name it may have been thought of, or even when no name at all has been applied to it, the mysterious something has been recognized as a beneficent presence-power—a hovering and brooding Something or Somewhat animated by a warm, kindly interest in the individual, and seemingly devoted to his interests and disposed to render to him useful services.

This beneficent presence-power has often acted as a warning guardian in the lives of many persons. In other cases it has been felt to have acted subtly to bring about advantageous results and conditions for the persons whom it protected. It has led some into circumstances and conditions calculated to be of advantage to them; it has drawn others away from conditions and circumstances calculated to bring harm to them. In short, it has played the part of “the kindly genius” or “the guardian angel” to many an individual.

The touch of this Unseen Hand has been felt by countless individuals—very likely by you who are now reading these lines. It has cheered men when the tide of circumstances seemed to be running against them; it has animated them with a new lively spirit, has encouraged them to renewed endeavor, has filled them with new courage when they needed it most. It has seemingly led persons into the presence of other persons and things, into conditions and environments, which have proved advantageous to them. Men in all ages—some of the most practical and “hard headed” men of affairs, among others— have felt the touch of this Unseen Hand, and have gratefully acknowledged its help in times of need, even though they have been perplexed concerning its real character.

To many careful thinkers who have earnestly investigated this phenomenon, it has seemed that this beneficent presence-power—this Unseen Hand that has reached out in times of need—is not an external power, nor an entity outside of themselves, but is rather a manifestation of that part of man’s mental nature which we have here considered under the term “The Superconscious.” Instead of being an entity outside of us, it is believed to be a part of ourselves—a phase, part or aspect of our Self that manifests above the levels or planes of the ordinary consciousness. In short, this “kindly genius” or “guardian angel” is your own Superconscious Self, manifesting on some of its higher levels or planes of activity and power.

In this Higher Self you have a friend far truer, more constant, and more loyal than can be any other friend—for it is Yourself, in its essence and substance. Your interests are its interests, for you are one with it in essential being and power. It will manifest a fidelity to you, and a watchfulness over your real interests which is amazing in its devotion and constancy. It will manifest toward you, in turns, the protecting care of a father; the brooding, watchful, loving care of a mother; and the helpful, fraternal interest of a brother. It will be all of these things to you—and more—if you will but give it the chance to unfold its presence and to manifest its power in your life.

This Higher Self—this phase of your Superconsciousness— needs but the encouragement of your recognition and realization in order to manifest its power in your behalf. It is seemingly discouraged, disheartened and abashed by your indifference, unbelief, and the failure to recognize its presence and to realize its power. It does not need “training” or “developing”—all that it asks is to be recognized and realized by you, and to have from you a kindly, sympathetic reception. It has done much for you in the past—it will do more for you in the future, if you will but meet it half way.

This higher part of your Self is full of discernment, and of cold, keen-edged wisdom. It can see far ahead, and is able to discern and select the right road for you to travel, and then to lead you into that road and to keep your feet on its solid substance, in spite of your efforts to take a side path or to wander into the ditches which lie on either side of the road. You will do well to “get off by yourself” once in a while, then and there to commune with your Higher Self—to have a little “heart-to-heart” visit with it. You will find this Higher Self to be a wonderful companion— one closer to you than can be any human being—for it is Yourself, and nothing but Yourself, manifesting on the higher planes and levels of your being. You will emerge from these periods of self-communion with renewed strength and vigor, filled with new hope and faith, animated by new ambitions and purposive determination.

In this book we have presented to you a view of your New Mental Empire—a view of its lowest and its highest planes and levels, of its highlands and its lowlands. It is your own empire—YOURS! Yours it is to rule and to govern, to explore and to cultivate. You are at home in it. The many wonderful phenomena manifested in its immense region are your phenomena—yours to control, direct, develop, cultivate; yours to restrict, restrain, inhibit; at your will, as you will, by your will.

Do not allow yourself to be tempted by the wonderful powers manifested by some of your subordinate mental machinery or instruments; do not allow yourself to fall under the spell of any of the phenomenal manifestations in your mental wonderland. View all; respect all; use all; demand and secure aid and work from all; but never lose sight of the fact that YOU, your Real Self—the “I AM I”—is the Master of this land, the ruler of this Empire, and that you rightfully have power and dominion over it, all its inhabitants, and all contained in its realm.

Your “I AM I,” your Real Self—YOU—are a centre of consciousness and will, of Personal Power, in that Infinite and Eternal Power, that Ultimate POWER from which all things proceed, and in which we live, and move, and have our being. Your physical body and your physical energies; your mental mechanism and its energies, manifesting on any or all the planes or levels of consciousness, subconsciousness, or superconsciousness; all these are but instruments or channels of expression of your Real Self, the “I AM I,” of YOU.

YOU, the “I AM I” are the centre of your personal world of experience and manifestation. Keep ever your rightful place at the centre of that world; observe all the rest whirling and revolving around that centre, as the planets revolve, whirling, around the sun. YOU are the Sun! Do not lose your balance, nor be induced to move away from your central position to accommodate any of your subordinate planets—not even the greatest of them.

Hail! Mighty Emperor! Enter into and possess, rule and govern, your New Mental Empire! It is YOURS!

Here, at the conclusion, as at the beginning of this book, let us remind you of the truth of the ancient aphorism: “You are greater than you know!”

Spiritual Power: The Infinite Fount

The Quest for Truth

Man is a questioning creature. From the early days of the history of the human race, through all the intermediate stages of human evolution, up to and including the present time, man has been questioning himself, his companions, even Nature itself, concerning the fundamental facts regarding the World, himself, and that which constitutes and moves both. His mental evolution has always been accompanied by, indeed, has been largely caused by, his constant questioning and his discoveries of at least partial answers to his everlasting “Why?”

Man’s intellectual life is represented by the term “Quest.” He has expressed the spirit of his intellectual craving in and through his questions. Man’s Quest has ever been for the fundamental facts concerning the World and himself. His Questions have ever been based upon that Quest. He has always demanded the answer to his questions: “What? Why? How? What of it?”

In the earlier stage of his intellectual life he contented himself with asking merely the questions concerning the needs of his physical life. Then, in turn, he began to inquire concerning the laws which govern the activities manifest in the world of things around and about him. Then he began to inquire concerning the fundamental nature and substance of the things of the physical world, and of the fundamental causes which produce their appearance, their changes, their disappearance.

Professor Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, says:

“An important step, far reaching in its consequences was taken when men first sought the cause of change and decay in themselves and in the laws which appear to govern things, rather than in powers and forces outside of and beyond them. When the question was first asked. ‘What is it that persists amidst all changes and that underlies every change?’ a new era was about to dawn in the history of man’s wonder and his desire to know...... When the World is viewed as Totality, there is obviously nothing to which it can be related, nothing upon which it can be dependent, no external source from which its energy can be derived. We pass, therefore, at this stage of knowing, from the plane of interdependence, relativity, to the plane of self-dependence, self-relation, self-activity. Self-Active Totality is the source and origin of all the forces, energies and motions which in one manifestation or another are observed in their interrelations and interdependencies.”

The Quest pursued in the present book is that leading to the discovery of the nature and character of this Self-Activity of that Totality which we know as the Universe or the Cosmos—or that which, in still more familiar thought, is known as Nature. We shall confine ourselves strictly to the plane of Nature. We shall not attempt to invade the plane of the Supernatural. We shall limit our inquiry to the field of advanced scientific philosophical thought; we shall carefully refrain from encroaching upon the field of Theology or that of abstract Metaphysics. This does not mean that we are opposed to theology or its teachings, nor to abstract Metaphysics and its manifold theories: it means simply that we prefer to leave these respective fields to those who specialize in the subjects belonging to them. We shall from time to time refer to certain theological or metaphysical teachings, but this only for the purpose of illustration.

We are frequently reminded by certain schools of thought that Reason (conceived as Intellect) is unable to peer behind the veil of phenomenal appearance which conceals, but yet reveals, the presence and activity of the Infinite Power which abides in the Secret Place of Eternity. They quote approvingly the ancient inscription carved on the old Temple of Isis, in Egypt, which announced to all readers: “Isis I Am; All that is, that has been, that will be; No man hath yet lifted my veil.”

They likewise bid us to recall the celebrated statement of the ancient Buddhists: “The imagination, the understanding, and abstract thinking will always strive in vain to represent the Eternal Infinity. For no form of finiteness (to which thought and speech belong) can express Infinity; nor can that which is Timed express Eternity; nor can thought resultant from the Chain of Causation grasp the Causeless and Self-Existent. Therefore, we set aside all such speculations and vain disputes, and do not busy ourselves with them.”

In Sir Edwin Arnold’s poem, “The Light of Asia,” the Buddha says:

“Om Amataya!

Measure not with words the Immeasurable;

Nor sink the string of thought into the Fathomless.

Who asks, doth err; who answers, errs; say naught!

Shall any gazer see with mortal eyes?

Or any searcher know with mortal mind?

Veil after veil will lift—but there must be

Veil upon veil behind.”

But both the ancient Egyptians, and the ancient Buddhists as well, knew and taught that there are other ways of “knowing’” than those of the sense-limited Intellect. Both held that man may and does unfold higher faculties of cognition—higher mechanism of knowledge—whereby “the unknowable becomes known.” The ancient Egyptians taught that certain advanced souls had acquired transcendental powers of cognition whereby they were able to perceive that which is beyond the powers of ordinary perception, and to “know” that which remains “unknowable” to the ordinary powers of the mind.

The Buddhists, likewise, taught that the Buddhas, and other illumined minds of the race, were able to think about and know that which the lower-level Intellect is unable to grasp. In fact the Buddhists’ supreme claim is that their basic teachings are the result of Thought—the thought of the illumined Gautama, the Buddha of that period. One of the hymns of the old Buddhist monks has as its chorus the reiterated lines: “He thought it out; he thought it out!” The pride of Buddhism is that its system is based upon Thought, and not on Faith alone; but by “thought” they mean the Higher Reason in which the reports of Intuition are blended with those of Intellect.

These ancient schools of philosophic thought, as well as many much later schools, teach that while it is true that Intellect, of itself, depending as it must upon the interpreted reports of the senses for its basic material, and being thus necessarily limited in its field and scope, is indeed unable to “free the riddle”—to report truthfully that which lies behind the Veil of Materiality— it is equally true that Reason is able to transcend the limitations of unaided Intellect when she calls to her aid that twin-sister of Intellect known as Intuition, and thus secures the materials upon which the Higher Reason may work, and which it may spin and weave into glorious fabrics of Truth.

Modern philosophy is displaying much interest in certain forms of mental activity which are grouped under the category of “Intuition.” In this usage of the old term, “Intuition,” however, these philosophers do not refer to the ordinary conscious or subconscious activities of which the source remains hidden, and which, therefore, are frequently referred to as “intuitive.”

Neither do they refer to those acquired habits of action, once performed consciously but now manifested subconsciously, which are known as “instinctive.”

Instead, they employ the term to indicate that higher form of Reason made possible by the reports of the superconscious faculties concerning their perception of certain higher truths, which reports are then passed down to the Intellect for reasoning based upon induction or deduction, or similar forms of thought. They hold that these reports of Intuition are not contrary to those of Intellect, but merely are more direct and convincing in “feeling,” and serve rather to support the reports of the trained Intellect than to oppose or contradict them.

Reason, being furnished the combined reports of both Intellect and Intuition, is possessed of material far surpassing in both quantity and quality those arising from sense-reports alone; consequently, the Higher Reason is able to produce materials of a quality and beauty far excelling those turned out by it when it is limited to the comparatively scanty and imperfect materials of the senses. Or, employing another figure of speech, we may say that the Higher Reason, in which Intellect is reinforced by Intuition, acts like the skilled geometer who being given certain “sighted points” is then able to measure, chart and map great regions of land or of space over which his feet have never trod, his airplane wings never flown, nor his eyes ever scanned. The Higher Reason, thus given these “sighted points” furnished by Intuition, is able to measure, chart and map great areas of thought and knowledge over which his senses have not traveled, and which they cannot perceive.

Bergson holds that Intellect is properly employed with the outer appearances of life; Intuition, with the inner facts of life. Intellect, he says, is a narrowing or focusing of consciousness, confined to a limited field by its very nature; outside of that narrow field lies the region of Intuition. In its own field, says Bergson, Intellect is held to be supreme; Intuition does not begin to reach the efficiency of Intellect in that field. In its own field, in turn, Intuition is supreme; it goes far beyond Intellect in that region, and gives us knowledge impossible to unaided Intellect. But such higher knowledge, it should be noted, does not contradict the report of Intellect extended to its full limits along the lines of trained logical thought; it merely transcends and goes beyond the limits of Intellect.

When Intellect, throwing aside its prejudices and false pride, asks questions of Intuition concerning matters which lie in the field of intuitional activity, and then takes over the report of Intuition and employs it as the basis of rational induction and deduction, a wonderful result is thus obtained. A wondrous blending is thus secured, and an entirely new field of thought spreads itself out to the Reason of the individual thinker. The correlated and coordinated activities of Intellect and Intuition produce what may be called the report of the Higher Reason, or the Completed Reason. Here the individual secures “the faith that knows, and not merely believes.”

There is a tremendous truth expressed in the celebrated statement of Bergson: “There are things that the Intellect alone is able to seek, but which by itself it will never find. Those things, Intuition alone can find; but it will never seek them of itself.” Intuition never is moved of itself to explore its depth for Truth—it has no need for effort of that kind; it knows and takes for granted that the answer is known to all; it is not aware of the existence of the problem involved, nor of the need of answering it, nor has it the desire to have it answered.

As Bergson has told us, Intuition, though alone capable of finding the answer to certain questions concerning important facts, will of itself never seek that answer. Only when Intellect (which alone is able to seek the answer but which is unable by itself to find it), deigns to ask Intuition to look within itself for the needed answer, does Intuition make the inquiry and furnish the required report. The question once made clear to Intuition by Intellect, the former proceeds with ease to answer it. The facts thus presented to Intellect are then subjected to the processes of logical reasoning—being employed as the premises of such reasoning—and the Higher Reason finally hands down its logical judgment and conclusions.

The correlation and coordination of Intellect and Intuition in the work of Higher Reason, or Completed Reason, frequently results in what is called “intellectual illumination,” or the “lighting up” of the Intellect as if “from above.” Intuition, superimposing its reports upon Intellect, kindles the flame of illumination—that “intellectual illumination” of which flashes have been obtained by many great men and women, and accounts of which are frequently found in their biographies or autobiographies. Some of the greatest discoveries and other mental accomplishments have been performed under the influence of this “intellectual illumination” so produced by the action and reaction between Intellect and Intuition.

Intellect constitutes the “seeing” aspect of knowledge; Intuition, the “feeling” aspect. When you apprehend a truth by means of your Intellect, you say that you “see” it: when you apprehend it by means of your Intuition, you say that you “feel” it. The “feeling” is quite as valid as is the “seeing,” when rightly understood and interpreted. In fact, the “feeling” seems, if anything, to be rather deeper than the “seeing”—it has to do with the “inside,” rather than with the “outside” of experience. It seems to belong essentially to the individual, while the “seeing” seems rather to be bound up with the outside world.

There are certain fundamental laws, principles and truths which Intellect and Intuition, combined and correlated as Higher Reason or Completed Reason, must inevitably, invariably and infallibly report to be necessary truth, the necessities of thought, by the very nature of their respective characters and essential facts. To “see” this intellectually, and to “feel” this intuitively, is to know the Truth. And what is quite as important (many think it still more important), this intellectual perception and intuitive realization is equivalent to being able to manifest and express that Truth in your world of experience, in the form or phase of Personal Power of the highest order. Such has always been the report, the promise, the prophecy of the great spiritual teachers of the race.

Here follows the report, promise and prophecy of some of the great spiritual giants of mankind, based upon the experience of such illumined souls gleaned in the many centuries of philosophical and transcendental thought:

“When you are able to perceive intellectually, and to realize intuitively, Truth, as such is inevitably, invariably and infallibly reported to you through the proper exercise of your Higher Reason or Completed Reason, then will you be able to manifest the Truth in and through your thought, your actions, your work, in the measure of your perception and realization of the Truth.”

Asking you to accept this report, promise and prophecy concerning Truth as made in good faith and in sincerity, according to the light possessed by those making it, we shall now invite you to ascend with us the Path of Attainment which winds up along the sides of the Mountain of Truth. The attainment of the mountain-top will amply repay you for the rigors of the ascent, the fatigue of the journey. Of this an inspired writer says:

“The mountain summit typifies the highest point on which a climber may stand and think in terms of consciousness drawn from a material world. But we may look beyond it, though it is a sublime elevation where many a pilgrim is content to pause. Below him are the kingdoms; above him are the stars; the kingdom and the stars are alike his. But it is not the end. Deeper than the kingdoms, and higher than the stars, is the sky that holds them all. And there alone is Peace; that peace which the material world cannot give; the peace which passeth understanding trained on material things; Infinite and Eternal Peace— the peace of Limitless Consciousness unified with Limitless Will.”

The thinking individual, when he begins to contemplate the world which he perceives to exist and to manifest activity around and about himself, soon discovers three great classes of things in that world; then he begins at once to generalize and classify these three great kinds of things into three fundamental categories. These three great categories are as follows: (1) the Substance, Stuff, or Body of Things in general—that which gives them body, form, shape and substance—their outer aspect as reported to him by his senses; (2) the Powers, Energies and Forces which cause the movements and actions of things, the changes in things—the inner aspect of things, imperceptible to his senses yet manifesting their effects so as to be apprehended by the senses; (3) the Livingness of Things—that Something Within which manifests in vital activities, voluntary actions, and in feeling, thinking, willing—this he experiences in himself, and judges that other things also possess it by reason of their actions which be perceives.

As man’s intellectual evolution proceeds, he discovers certain laws governing each of these three great classes of things or facts. He perceives certain laws governing the physical or material aspect of things; certain laws governing the forces producing activities in these physical or material things; certain laws governing the operations and activities of the vital processes, the mental processes. He groups these laws, and upon their bases he erects his structure of Science. So far, the thinking man has had an easy time in his thinking upon the subject of “things.” Like the young bear, he has all his troubles ahead of him. It is only when he indulges in Philosophy or Metaphysics that his real troubles along these lines really begin. We shall now show you why this is.

The man of Science is concerned merely with “the way things work”—the principles governing their actions and behavior.

He asks merely “How,” and is satisfied with an answer to such questions. The Metaphysical Philosopher, however, pursues the inquiry further: he is not satisfied with the “How” stage of questioning—he asks for an answer to his new question “Why?” He pursues his inquiries until, finally, he demands an answer to his Ultimate “Why,” which may be expressed as follows: “What is that which is the Ultimate Principle of All Things, and of which all things are manifestations?”

He is not content with the scientific classification of natural things into the three great categories of (1) Substance, (2) Energy, (3) Life or Spirit: he holds that some one of these three must be the Ultimate Principle, the other two being subordinate aspects or manifestations of that Ultimate Reality.

He does not explain clearly “just why” all things must be manifestations of but One Principle: he takes this for granted, and asks you to do the same. Ask him how and why this is, and he will answer, with great dignity of manner and tone: “All philosophy worthy of the name holds that at the last everything must be reduced to One Ultimate Principle; the discovery of that One Ultimate Principle is the aim and end of all true philosophical thought.”

Pressed for a further answer he dismisses the subject with the remark: “Plato settled that matter, once and for all, many centuries ago,” and pronounces you an impudent ignoramus if you venture to demand to be shown or told “just how Plato knew this.” There are, it seems, certain limits beyond which you may not go in your inquiries of certain Metaphysical Philosophers. It is a case of “Thus saith the Lord!” with them— with Plato playing the part of the Lord. The thinkers who, in this matter, are “from Missouri,” and who demand to “be shown,” are dubbed unphilosophical—but they are increasing in number, and their ranks now contain some of the brightest minds of the race. The abstract Metaphysicians are wedded to their idols, it would seem.

This demand for the reduction of all things to One Ultimate Principle long ago divided the army of Metaphysical Philosophy into two great camps, each of which is in turn divided into minor groups. These two great philosophical divisions are known, respectively, as (1) Materialism, and (2) Idealism. Both of these great camps, while engaged in continuous warfare against each other, nevertheless hold firmly to the same fundamental idea that there exists some One Ultimate Principle—one camp holds that this One Ultimate Principle is Matter, the other camp holds that it is Spirit or Mind. While engaged in a bitter fight between themselves, these two camps are united against a third camp, the one known as Realism, which holds that there are two Universal Principles instead of one—one of which is Material Substance, the other being Spiritual Essence. Let us see what are the fundamental and basic ideas of these three several schools.

Professor Thomas Case, President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford University, in his great article upon “Metaphysics,” in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica (Eleventh Edition) says:

“Metaphysical Materialism is the view that everything known is body or matter; but while according to ancient Materialists soul is only another body, according to modern Materialists mind without soul is only an attribute or function of body. Metaphysical Idealism is the view that everything known is mind, or some mental state or other, which some Idealists suppose to require a substantial soul, others not; while all agree that body has no different being apart from mind. Metaphysical Realism is the intermediate view that everything known is either body or soul, neither of which alone exhausts the universe of being. Aristotle, the founder of Metaphysics as a distinct science, was also the founder of Metaphysical Realism, and still remains its main authority.

“The strength of Materialism consists in recognizing Nature without explaining it away; its weakness consists in its utter inability to explain consciousness either in its nature or in its origin. On the other hand, it is the virtue of Idealism to emphasize the fact of consciousness; but it is its vice to exaggerate it, with the consequence of resorting to every kind of paradox to deny the obvious and to get rid of bodies. * * * But it is unfair to argue as if the whole case were between materialistic or idealistic monism, leaving Realism out of court. There are in reality two species of substances, or entirely different things.”

Each of the two respective philosophic schools holding to the basic theory of One Ultimate Principle is found to have its strong points and its weak points. The third school, that of Realism, seeks to combine these respective strong points, and to eliminate these respective weak points, by means of a new synthesis in which Material Substance and Spiritual Essence are regarded as dual-principles or twin-aspects of Ultimate Reality. Such a synthesis is found to include and retain the strong points of each of the other two schools, while rendering unnecessary the extreme hypotheses which constitute the weak points of each of these schools. If you will follow the analysis presented to you in the remaining pages of this section of the book, you will be able to recognize and realize the advantages held by the Realistic School of Philosophy, and the disadvantages attached to each of the other two schools.

The strong point of Materialism has ever been that it satisfies the demand of Intuition for a substantial, firm, constant, material basis to support and sustain the world of material things. This substantial basis is denied by Idealism, in its insistence that “All is Mind; Mind is All.” To this fact is due the regular reaction and “swing back” to Materialism which has always followed an extreme and uncompromising presentation of the doctrines of Idealism. If Materialism would content itself with the basic postulate that “Material Substance is Real,” it would receive the full approval of Intuition, and of Intellect as well. But it does not and will not so content itself; instead it adds the damning clause: “and Material Substance is the ONLY Reality.”

The weak point of Materialism, the point which is absolutely repugnant to Intuition, is that in which it asserts that “Life, Mind, Spirit are the properties, attributes, aspects, phases, modes of Matter; or else its creation, manifestation, or expression.” Materialism has even gone so far as (at one time) to claim that “Matter secretes Life and Mind, just as the liver secretes bile.” Intuition, realizing fully, as it does, that it, itself, is Spirit, absolutely refuses to admit this contention of Materialism. It recognizes Matter in its own place, on its own plane, but always regards it as the “other” to Spirit—the antithetical opposite of Spirit. It recognizes its essential identity with Spirit, and knows that Spirit is Ultimate and not a derivative or by-product of Matter or of anything else.

The strong point of Idealism has ever been that it posits Spirit, Life, Mind, as ultimate facts of existence, and not as derivatives or by-products of Matter or Material Force. Intuition meets it with open arms when it approaches bearing this message. The message is soul-satisfying and produces a spiritual content. For that matter, it is very probable that no Materialist, “deep down in his soul,” ever really feels that Life, Mind, Spirit, are the by-products of Matter: the Materialist may think that he sees the truth of his contention, but he really never succeeds in feeling that it is true. Within him, Spirit itself cries to him, “I AM Spirit and not Matter nor a product of Matter!” His Intuition ever protests against his extreme Materialism.

The weak point of Idealism has ever been its claim that “All is Mind, Mind is All; Matter is an Illusion, and has no real existence; the Material World is a Dream or an Error of Mortal Mind.” Intuition revolts at this, though Intellect is frequently seduced by its plausible sophistry and fallacy. It is probable that no Idealist ever really feels that “there is no reality in Matter.” Even when he is uttering the words, he continues to act “as if” Matter is a reality. His every action is based upon the tacit recognition of the presence and reality of Matter. Intellect, it is true, is often dazed and bewildered by the juggling of words so often employed in the philosophy of Idealism, under its many different names and forms. Idealism is “Ingrown Metaphysics”; of such schools of thought a writer has said, “Of such teachings, those who listen understand nothing, and those who teach do not really understand.”

That actual material objects really exist is the verdict of Common Sense and of the Intuition of any person who will listen to its voice. Professor Ladd says: “Common Sense must be trusted, and virtually is trusted, for the inviolable and undiminished confidence in the existence of a real world, full of actual events, some of which are known to be causally connected; and, as well, in its confident belief that, while human knowledge does not create that world and knows it at best only imperfectly and partially, yet it does know it truly, so to say,—that is, as it really exists and actually behaves.”

Reid says: “I do perceive matter objectively—that is, something that is the intermediate object of my touch and sight. And this object I take to be matter, and not an idea. And though I have been taught by philosophers that what I immediately touch is an idea, and not matter, yet I have never been able to discover this by the most accurate attention to my own perceptions.” Benjamin Paul Blood says: “A modern man must indeed be tainted with one of Mr. Spencer’s ‘insanities of Idealism’ to doubt that even if the earth were stripped of all living things and left barren as our moon appears—man and his philosophies and histories and religions vanished into less than air—the glorious stars, among which by analogical reckoning his earth is but a speck, would still revolve as, theoretically at least, they have ever revolved, regardless of all impertinent sensitiveness to time or times.”

This report of Common Sense and Intuition is practically accepted by all men (even the extreme Idealists) in their everyday life and activities. They may “talk one thing and act another,” it is true; but the best test of a man’s real intuitive truths is found in his actions rather than in his words—the highest test of Truth is one’s willingness to trust his life and well-being to it.

As Blood says: “The profoundest Idealist confesses to the integrity of Matter. A rap on the head gives a conviction of reality that no idea that can come out of that head can refute. Criticism of Common Sense comes back in its own face; like the wasp and the hornet, it leaves its sting in the wound and is fatal to itself. * * * * * A critic might say to the average perfunctory Idealist, ‘You are up in the tree of life, indeed, but you are sawing off the limb that supports you’.” And, as Ladd says; “One might admit that he would be willing to dispense with the reality of all the physical world, if only the idea of eating bread were but regularly followed by the idea of being no longer hungry and of being invigorated.”

Between the extremes of Materialism and Idealism is found the position of the Golden Mean—the Point of Balance— represented by the philosophic school of Realism. Realism recognizes the real and actual existence of both Spiritual Essence and Material Substance: the former constituting the “soul” of things, the latter the “body” of things. The World is accounted for and explained as the result of the action and reaction of Spirit and Matter. It holds that some things are material things, and that other things are spiritual things. The history of Realism in the Western world runs back to Aristotle; in the Eastern world it runs back to still older Oriental philosophers. Both of these ancient schools held that Spirit and Matter are ultimate universal principles, distinct and different from each other, yet ever acting and reacting to and from the other. They held that Spirit is the Inner Essence, and Matter the Outer Substance, of the Cosmos.

Spirit, it is true, can never know Matter “in itself”; it can know only the sensations arising from its contact with Matter. But, equally true, Spirit is compelled to depend upon these sensations arising from contact with Matter for its “raw materials” of thought, feeling, and other mental processes. We know Matter only through Mind; but Mind must depend upon Matter for its crude, objects of knowledge. There is a universal interdependence and coordination between Mind and Matter, and Matter and Mind—the action and reaction between Spiritual Essence and Material Substance.

Such is the teaching of true philosophic Realism. Upon this basic teaching the instruction contained in the present book is grounded. In the course of this instruction you will discover for yourself that these foundations are solid; and that the structure is well supported by them. If you have been repelled by the crude, crass doctrines of extreme Materialism, on the one hand, and made dizzy by the visionary, impractical doctrines of extreme Idealism, on the other hand, you will find in the teaching of rational Realism a satisfactory position between the two extremes where the reconciliation and explanation of the two opposing doctrines is not only made possible, but is actually rendered certain.

Material Substance

One of the first important generalizations made by man in his philosophical reasoning is that all things have “body,” material substance, or “stuff” of which their outward form is composed. The realization of the universal presence of material substance, “body,” or “stuff,” is a basic element of man’s thought; in fact, it is discovered to partake of the quality of intuitive knowledge.

Our verbal terms employed in speech and writing illustrate the fundamental quality of this element of our thought. Our words were created primarily in response to the need of expressing our notions concerning material objects or activities; even those terms designed to express our concepts of mental and spiritual things usually are really metaphorical terms in which material objects are employed as symbols illustrating the immaterial things. Thus, our terms “spirit,” “psyche,” “ghost,” etc., were originally employed to indicate “breath, blowing wind, breezes,” etc.

Likewise, our minds almost instinctively identify material things as real things. Materiality is implicitly accepted as Reality in our ordinary thought, at least until the latter has been disturbed by Metaphysics. The term “real” represents a thing in substantive existence, and not imaginary or merely existing as an idea. That which is reported as “really” existent is that which is discovered to be apparent to the senses or which registers its presence upon some physical instrument. That which is said to be “all in your mind” is not regarded as “real” in ordinary thought. The legal term, “real property,” illustrates this basic thought. Real property is property consisting of land and that which pertains to the land; and land is the most material thing known to man—therefore the most “real” thing to the ordinary thought.

In view of these facts, it is not to be wondered that the human mind finds itself compelled to assume the existence of a universal material substance, stuff, or “body,” serving as the fundamental material of which all physical things are made, and also serving as a material base and ground, supporter and sustainer of the universe of manifold things. All human thought tacitly assumes the existence of such a material substantial ground and base, even where the mind has been muddled by too much metaphysical teaching and speculation. Human thought refuses really to believe that material things are mere fantasies or illusions, even though it tries to make itself believe it does so. No matter what it says, it always acts as if material things were “real;” present and in evidence.

That there must be a substantial material or stuff underlying the forms of the physical universe, is seen to be true by Intellect properly directed and employed; and Intuition corroborates and substantiates the report. Intellect is unable to “think” except upon this fundamental premise; it finds itself dazed, bewildered and confused when it attempts to proceed upon the opposite and contradictory fundamental premise, i. e., that there is no Fundamental Material Substance, and that all appearance of Matter is an illusion or product of thought or imagination.

Intuition, likewise, finds itself compelled to report a similar truth which it finds within itself when asked the question. So true is this, that Intuition, confronted with the contentions of the extreme Idealists and asked to corroborate their reports, experiences a sinking feeling, as though the bottom of things were giving way beneath its feet, leaving naught but an empty void, or “abysmal abyss,” in place of the Substantial Foundation upon which it has been standing. It detects the falsity of the report in a moment, however, and indignantly rejects it.

The average individual—the common-sense person—who has not indulged in too much metaphysical thought, also has this fundamental consciousness of the necessary existence of a Basic Substantial Stuff, a Fundamental Material, out of which the bodies and physical forms of things are composed and created. He finds himself unable to think of a universe in which Materiality is absent. He finds that material, substance and “stuff” are necessities of his thought—facts without which his thought and reasoning cannot proceed. In spite of his pretended acquiescence in the teachings of Idealism, no person ever has been able actually to conceive or imagine the universe as lacking the “stuff” of which its forms are made. The demand for “STUFF” is persistent and insistent in the mind of man. Try as he may, man is never able actually to think away the primal concept of Stuff—it refuses to be thought out of existence. Even the recent idea of the so-called Dematerialization of Matter has not affected this necessity of thought. The “dematerialized Matter,” though no longer Matter in the old scientific conception, is none the less Constituent Substance or Fundamental STUFF.

The intellectual and intuitive demand for the presence of an Elemental Substance or Fundamental Stuff arises not only by reason of the perception that there is a physical or material aspect to each and everything known to man in experience; but also because the philosophic mind realizes the need for a Substantial Base and Ground to explain and account for the changing forms of the physical and material universe. Substance, Material, or Stuff of some kind, even though it be conceived as infinitely rare, tenuous, fine, ethereal, subtle, is demanded by Intellect and Intuition.

You may test this fundamental report for yourself, if you so wish. You have merely to try to think of a thing, anything, in fact—as existing without body, substance, material or stuff to support it, give it form, and to afford it material upon which to work and manifest itself. You cannot think of “form,” “configuration,” “appearance,” without this fundamental attribute of substance, material or stuff. To try to escape from Stuff or Substance is like trying to run away from your own shadow; trying to turn around so quickly that you can kiss your own lips; or trying to make your face and the back of your head meet. It is like the effort to think of a stick with only one end, or of a lever without a support, or of a wheel without an axle. You will discover, very soon and at the end, that the notion of at least an ethereal substance, material or stuff is required to support your concept of Things.

You may do without Matter of the “solid” kind, or even of the liquid or gaseous kind—in fact Science itself has done this for you, and has given you something infinitely finer and rarer than these; but you must hold on to your conception of Substance or Stuff of some kind. You may think of it in terms of Ethereal Substance, Astral Substance, Spiritual Substance, or in other terms coined to designate Substance more subtle and ethereal than ordinary Matter; but the essential idea of Substance and Stuff must be involved in it if you intend to employ it in your thinking. Throw the idea of Substantial Stuff out of the door, and it returns through the windows. You are unable even to think of Spirit other than as employing Stuff for that aspect of Bodiness which is required for its manifestation; you must endow it with at least a “ghost” of Stuff, or a shadow of Substance. Your only escape from the necessity of the idea of Stuff is to think of Things in the terms of algebraic symbols (as x, y, or z) and let it go at that.

Even those thinkers who deny the ultimate reality of Matter or Material Substance usually accept its presence as a derivative material or stuff in order to account for and explain the constantly changing multitude of material things. There is perceived the need for a fundamental Base and Ground to support and sustain the changing material universe—the need of a Something or Somewhat which is the answer to the question: “What is it that changes; what is it that supports and sustains the changes; what is it that remains itself, constant and continuous, throughout the universal changes?”

Philosophy has always had as its great aim and purpose the discovery of an Ultimate Substantial Reality sufficient to serve as the base or ground supporting and sustaining that continuous series or concatenation of changing things, processes, and events, which constitute the phenomenal universe. In Philosophy, the term “Reality” denotes “That which remains constant as the kernel or core of Universal Change and Becoming.” Plato asserts that the end of Philosophy is the discovery of the essential identity supporting, sustaining and underlying the changing universe of changing things. Kant held that “Ultimate Reality is the Real in Time: that which persistently, constantly and continuously abides, while all else changes.” Herbert Spencer held that “Only the Real is permanent; only the Permanent is Real.” In the earlier stages of this inquiry, you became acquainted with Nicholas Murray Butler’s question: “What is it that persists amidst all changes and that underlies every change?”

Philosophy demands an Ultimate Constant Fundamental Substance to support and sustain the material world of Change and Becoming, and to serve as its base and ground. By Constant is meant, “Steady, perpetual, unchanging, invariable, unceasing, continuous, uninterrupted; stable, firm, enduring, permanent.” By Change is meant “Any variation or alteration; any passing from one state, form, or condition to another.” Becoming means “The act of entering into a new form, state, or condition from another.” Here, you should note, the term Form (in scientific and philosophic usage) means not only “the shape, figure, or configuration of anything,” but also “the constitution, conditional arrangement, organization, or system of anything”—as, for instance, “Water assumes the form of ice”; or “Carbon manifests in the form of the diamond.” Material Change and Becoming proceed by means of Transmutation, i. e., “change of one nature, character, or substance into another”; or Transformation, i. e., “change of one form, shape, or appearance to another.”

Scientific investigation and philosophical reasoning disclose the fact that all existing material things in the universe, all material objects, things, events and activities are constantly and continuously undergoing the process of Change and Becoming. All material things (a) arise originally and come into existence from some preceding material thing or things, through the process of Change and Becoming; they (b) abide temporarily poised in existence, in a state of Change and Becoming; they (c) finally pass out of existence, into subsequent material forms, states, or conditions, through the process of Change and Becoming.

“Nothing is constant but Change,” says the old philosopher. “Everything and all things exist in a state of Flux and Becoming,” says another of equal antiquity. Change and Becoming are basic facts of objective material existence, and are manifest in every part of the physical universe, in every thing, and in that universe as a whole. Nothing escapes Change and Becoming— that is, nothing except the Power that causes the Change and Becoming. Creation proceeds by Change. Evolution proceeds by Change. The Law of Change enforces its edicts upon all alike; upon high and low, great and small, good and bad—none escape it.

All physical activities, all phenomenal events, are perceived to be processes—processes of Change and Becoming. Everything has its birth in and from something else; its temporary poised existence; its final passing away—all under Process of Change and Becoming. The Cosmos is perceived to be a Cosmic Process. Nothing abides; everything passes. Everything arises in something precedent, and disappears into something subsequent; no thing arises from nothingness, nor passes into nothingness.

The universe is like a great flame: it seems to be the same identical thing throughout its whole existence—and in one sense it is so; but, in another sense, it is not the same identical thing for even two consecutive seconds of time. From the strict, technical viewpoint, the flame is seen to be merely a process of combustion—a series of successive burning particles; but, from another viewpoint, it is seen (and felt) that there is an underlying something or somewhat—a constant substantial unity and identity of reality and meaning underlying the process of changes.

Intellect, made dizzy by this constant and continuous process of Change and Becoming, at times experiences the fear that its world may be built upon sinking sand rather than upon solid rock. Accordingly, it demands and receives assurance and reassurance from Intuition concerning the existence of a Constant Fundamental Substance, underlying all Change and Becoming.

Intuition assures Intellect that there is and must be a Fundamental Substance that persists and remains constant throughout all changes—that underlies and supports all changes of form, state and conditions of material things— something Constant and Stable, Immutable and Firm, forever and forever. Intellect, accordingly, two thousand years ago, or more, formulated a Law of Thought which embodies this report of Intuition: “A thing always remains itself, and nothing but itself, notwithstanding the manifold states, forms and conditions which it assumes or undergoes, and under which it manifests and presents itself in appearance.”

This axiomatic truth, carried to its logical conclusion, leads directly to the final conception of an Ultimate Fundamental Substance. As Dahlke says: “Every consistent application of the laws of thought seems perforce to conduct to an Unconditioned Constant situated at the root of things. * * * * All human thinking, without exception, operates with the concept of a Constant Substans lying at the root of things. Thou, critic, must conform thyself to this rule. It is a necessity of thought.”

Much of the opposition to the conception of Fundamental Substance, Material or Stuff as an Ultimate Fact or Principle, both in ancient and in modern philosophic thought, both of Occidental and Oriental Philosophy, has arisen from a misconception of the essential nature of that Ultimate Fact or Principle. In its form of Matter, it has been thought of as gross, solid, heavy Stuff. When the term “Matter” has been employed, the mind has proceeded immediately to conceive of a something like, for instance, a block of granite, an ingot of steel, a lump of clay, or a mass of mud.

This was particularly true in the case of Western World Philosophy. The Oriental Philosophy, on the other hand, has always held that Substance, Matter or Stuff, in its essential, elemental, ultimate state, form, or condition is something quite different from this—quite opposite to it in fact. The ancient Oriental philosophies have always posited Fundamental Material Substance as something infinitely fine, infinitely rare, infinitely tenuous, subtle, ethereal—something as much finer than the finest gas, as the latter is finer than a piece of hard metal or stone—something infinitely finer than even that hypothetical Universal Ether of modern Western Science.

Modern Western Science, in time arrived at the conclusion that the ultimate elements of Matter were infinitesimal particles, called “atoms,” of almost incredible fineness, lightness and tenuity; of these the grosser and more solid forms of Matter were held to be “worked up,” made or manufactured by natural forces. There were held to be from eighty to ninety such classes of elemental atoms; and Science was well on its way to resolving these into the lightest and finest of them all, i. e., the atom of Hydrogen, and of holding that the other atoms are compounds or derivatives of this ultimate “stuff.” But, before this point was reached, Radium was discovered—and the atom was found not to be the ultimate form of Matter at all, but rather to be composed of something still finer and more elemental, i. e., the electrons, ions, or corpuscles of an infinitely tenuous, ethereal substance.

The present conception of modern Science concerning the ultimate nature of Matter is expressed in the following extracts from a lecture delivered a few years ago by Sir William Crookes: “Physicists are now saying that there is a possibility that there is no such thing as Matter, as formerly understood by that term. Some say that the electron is pure disembodied electricity, thus approaching the old idea of Boscovitch, accepted by Faraday, that the atom is only a centre of Force. The idea of the chemical elements as something absolutely primary and ultimate has grown less and less distinct, until today we admit the possibility of resolving them into simpler forms or else refining them away altogether. When we have split the atom into hundreds of little bits, these residual particles turn out to be nothing more than superimposed layers of positive and negative electricity.” Another scientist adds: “Crookes refrained from telling us what would happen if some clever researcher of the future should discover a method of making these alternative layers of ‘plus’ and ‘minus’ cancel each other out of existence.”

Einstein goes even further. He posits Matter as consisting of infinitesimal “centres of disturbance” in something still more ethereal, the nature of which he does not even attempt to explain or speculate about. The electrons are estimated to be so extremely small that millions of them might be gathered on the point of the finest needle; and to be so tenuous and light that an atom of hydrogen gas would be “solid” as compared with them. But Einstein goes beyond this, as may be seen by reference to the statement of Sir Joseph Thompson in a recent article in a British scientific magazine, as follows: “The size of the ‘centres of disturbance,’ which in Einstein’s theory are associated with Matter, bears to the size of the electron about the same proportions that the size of the smallest particle visible under the most perfect microscope bears to the size of the earth itself.”

These discoveries and experiments have been regarded as bringing about “the Dematerialization of Matter”—and so they do if the old conception of Matter be employed in making the statement; but there are other, and far better philosophical conceptions of Ultimate Substance, as we shall see presently. Before passing on, we may venture to call your attention to the fact that even these newly-discovered “ultimate particles” are given the attributes of “size,” “shape,” and “form”—they are held to “have extension,” and to “occupy space.” Whatever has size, shape, form and extension—whatever “occupies space” (no matter how little space), comes clearly within the basic category of Substance, Matter, or Stuff. And even the most extreme of the new school of physicists are forced to admit that the idea of “electricity without substance, body or stuff is practically inconceivable.” At the last, they are seen to have merely discovered a still finer and more elemental substance, material or stuff in which electricity finds its necessary “body”!

The comparative “immateriality” and “dematerialization” of this new form of Substance, Material or Stuff discovered by Science, is indicated in the following statement of John Burroughs, the eminent naturalist:

“Science—the new Science—pursues Matter to the vanishing point, where it ceases to be Matter and becomes Pure Force or Spirit. What takes place in the imaginary world where ponderable Matter ends and becomes disembodied Force, and where the hypothetical atoms are no longer indivisible, we may conjecture but may never know. * * * * * The atomic theory of Matter leads us into a nonmaterial world, or a world the inverse of the solid three-dimensional world that our senses reveal to us, or to Matter in a fourth estate. We know solids and fluids and gases, but emanations which are neither, we know only as spirits or ghosts—by dream or heresay. Yet this fourth, or ethereal estate of Matter seems to be the final, real, and fundamental position. How it differs from Spirit it is not easy to define. * * * * * Science strips Matter of its grossness. When it has done with it, it is no longer the obstructive something that we know and handle; it is reduced to Pure Energy—the line between it and Spirit does not exist.”

Burroughs, however, was carried a bit too far in his wonder concerning the new conceptions of Matter. Pure Energy, in the absence of Substance or Stuff, is inconceivable: Pure Force is meaningless, as we shall see when we pass on to the consideration of Energy and Force in the following section of this book. And, as we shall see elsewhere, there is a decided line of distinction between this conception and that of Spirit— the distinction consisting of the fact that Spirit explains Life, whereas neither Matter nor Pure Force can do so. But Burroughs was quite correct when he referred to “this fourth, or ethereal estate of Matter which seems to be the final, real and fundamental position.” For this is just what the ancient Oriental sages have always held that Ultimate Substance is and must be; and what modern Science was beginning to see that it must be, before its thought was distracted by the new discoveries above referred to—and to which position it must again return.

Science has long been dreaming of an “ethereal state of Matter,” and has made an attempt to posit it in its somewhat imperfect and indefinite hypothesis of the Universal Ether. After the discrepancies of the electronic theory have been “ironed out,” reconciled, or canceled away, it will be found that Science will return to its former position concerning the Ultimate Ethereal State of Matter; in fact, many eminent scientists have never entirely let go of that idea, and they are now beginning once more to push it to the front of scientific thought. Many careful scientific minds are even now holding that the electrons, ions, or corpuscles; the “disembodied electricity”; or the “centres of disturbance”; of the new theories, are but “points, vortex-rings, or centres of disturbance” in and of Ethereal Substance, Matter, or Stuff.

This Ethereal Substance, or “The Ether,” is held by Science to fill all space, to be infinitely tight, tenuous, and imponderable—so much so that as one critic said, it is “Matter with the properties of a vacuum”—for it fills even the space from which the air has been extracted. It abides even between the particles of air and gas—even between the electrons, ions, points of electricity, or the “centres of disturbance” previously mentioned. So thoroughly essential and ultimate is it—so truly is it Ethereal— that it has been called “an infinite possibility of things, rather than a Thing itself” Yet scientific experiments have proved conclusively that it exists—or, in extreme cases of conservative caution, that “something like it exists.” Thus is modern Western Science reaching out its hand to the conception of ancient Oriental Philosophy; thus is it reaching an agreement with the ancient teaching of Ultimate Ethereal Substance.

The article in “The Encyclopaedia Brittanica” (Eleventh Edition) dealing with the subject of the Aether (Ether) says that the Ether is “a material substance of a more subtle kind than visible bodies, supposed to exist in those parts of space which are apparently empty.” It also refers to it as being regarded as “differing from ordinary matter in degree, but not in kind.” It also speaks of the scientific conception of the atomic particles of matter as being “each the nucleus or core of an intrinsic modification impressed on the surrounding region of the aether; this might conceivably be of the nature of a vortical motion of a liquid round a ring-core, thus giving a vortex-atom, or of an intrinsic strain of some sort radiating from a core, which would give an electric atom.” Finally, it speaks of the recent scientific discoveries of radio-activity, and of the free-electron, etc., and adds, “These results constitute a far-reaching development of the modern or electro-dynamic theory of the aether, of which the issue can hardly be seen.”

We shall have more to say concerning The Ethereal State of Matter—“The Ether” of Science as related to the Ultimate Ethereal Substance of Oriental Philosophy—when we reach a later point of this instruction. For the present, we are content to leave it with you merely as a concept and idea of an Infinitely Ethereal Substance, extended throughout all Space; in which all material things abide, move and have their being; and which is the material, substance and stuff from which the “bodiness” of all material things is constituted, composed and made-up.

If you wish to form a mental picture of this Essential Substance, you may try the experiment by beginning with a mental picture of the hardest, most solid form of Matter; then passing through the stages of thinner solids, and through liquids from thickest to thinnest, then through gases from heaviest to lightest—and then on to an Infinity of refinement, reduction and resolution, resulting in an Absolutely Elemental Essence! Then, you will have found, at least, the direction in which the concept of that Ultimate Substance—that Ultimate Ether—must be looked for and sought!

Actuating Energy

You are now asked to consider the Actuating Energy which operates to “move things,” to produce changes in them, to cause them to perform actions. As Dahlke says: “There is present something given, an actuality, which we designate by the collective name of ‘World.’ The World System comes before us in a twofold aspect: on the one hand, as ‘something that is,’ i. e., things; on the other hand, as ‘something that happens,’ i. e., the play of events among things. A ‘thing,’ without a ‘happening’ attached, is as little to be found as a ‘happening’ without a ‘thing.’ In the World System, we know principally only processes, events, happenings.”

Intellect and Intuition report that happenings, events, processes, occur only when and where there is present and active an Actuating Energy. By the term “Actuating” is meant “Putting into action or motion; moving or inciting to action.” In this instruction, the term “Energy” is employed in the sense and with the meaning of “Internal or inherent power, strength, potency, might, or capacity of acting, operating, or producing effects.”

The term “Power” is frequently employed as if “it were synonymous with Energy, but Power has also a special shade of meaning, i. e., that of “the ability to perform work, particularly work directed to an end.” The term “Force” also is frequently employed as a synonym of Energy, but it also has a special meaning, i. e., that of “power to impose or enforce action and movement upon other things.” The term “Strength,” which indicates an essential element of Energy, Force, Power, is defined as “Quality or state of being strong, i. e., having great power to act or to resist action, or to bear or endure the application of force.”

The special and peculiar characteristic of Energy is indicated by the original meaning of the term employed to indicate” it. The English term “Energy” is derived from the Latin term. “Energia,” which in turn was derived from two Greek terms meaning “in” and “work” respectively. So the English term, “Energy” is equivalent to “En-Ergy,” or “Internal Power”; you will note that its definition carries the meaning “internal or inherent.” Energy is an In-Force, an In-Power, an In-Strength. It is “in” things, and works “in” them, and from “within” them. This fact is important, and should be borne in mind. It is impossible to conceive of Energy “outside of” or “not with in” things. It is always the “Power Within”; the “Inner Strength”; the “Internal Force.”

Physical Science, tacitly adopting the Materialistic view, broadly defines Energy as “A condition or attribute by virtue of which Matter can effect changes in other Matter.” But this definition ignores all Mental Energy, of which Will-Power is a characteristic example. However, as you see, even the Materialistic view involves the idea of “internal and inherent power” in its conception of Energy. A reference work, in considering Energy from the viewpoint of Physical Science, says: “Of the ultimate nature of Energy, as that of Matter, we are ignorant; nor do we know of Energy except by direct observation, except as associated with Matter.” Materialism, and Physical Science formerly regarded Energy as an attribute or property of the atoms and masses of Matter; but since the discovery that Matter is not Ultimate Substance, there is manifested a tendency to posit Energy as an inherent attribute, property, quality, or power of the Universal Ether—Matter, as you have seen, being regarded as a derivative product of the Ether, “worked up” by Elemental Energy.

Actuating Energy, regarded as a general category, or comprehensive principle, includes within its content all forms, kinds, classes and degrees of Energy, Power, Force and Active Strength, physical, mental or spiritual, manifest or potential in the Cosmos. It is this Actuating Energy which produces all Change and Becoming—and therefore all Creative Activity—in the Cosmos. By “Creation” is meant all “Bringing into existence by Change and Becoming,” and not that “Creation from Nothing” assumed by certain illogical Theology (although not by all Theology, nor even by the best Theology). The best thought, philosophical, scientific, or theological, holds that Existence (in its essence and substance) is Eternal; and that “From Nothing, no thing proceeds.”

Actuating Energy, therefore, is seen to be the Actuating Cause of all forms of Existence, of all events and happenings—it is the Causative Power working in and upon all things, and manifesting Constant Creation, Evolution, Change and Becoming. In its entirety, totality and wholeness, and in its ultimate state, mode and condition, it is to be regarded as the Cause of Causes—as the Supreme Causative Power. By “Supreme” is meant “Highest in authority, government, or power.” By “Causative” is meant “Effective Cause; expressing and manifesting Causation, i. e., the production of effects.” The full meaning of this last mentioned term will be brought out in the following paragraph in which the term and concept, “Cause” is considered in detail.

The general meaning of “Cause” is “That which effects a result, or produces an effect” “Cause and Effect” is regarded as “Regularity of sequence, relating effective antecedents and effected subsequents.” The following statement concerning Causes should be carefully studied, for it embodies the essential spirit of the concept of Causation: “The Causes of an event are the preceding events without which the event in question would not have occurred, or have come into existence; the circumstances which must have preceded an event in order that the event should happen; the previous events without which the event in question could not have happened or have come into existence, but which being present the event in question must happen, occur or come into existence.”

In the above statement, you will note that the term “event” is employed both in the sense of a happening which occurs, and that of a thing which comes into existence. In philosophic and scientific usage, an “Event” is “That which comes, arrives, or happens by way of Change and Becoming; a change in things, or a changing thing.” As all happenings are “changes in things”; and as all Things are “changing things”; it is seen that all happenings and “all things” (in particular or as a whole) come under the general term, “Events,” and are governed by the general Law of Causation. Every thing that “comes, arrives, happens, changes, or becomes” is under the Law of Causation, and “comes, arrives, happens, changes, or becomes” by reason of the Supreme Causative Power, which, as we have seen, is the “Actuating Energy” which is the subject of our present consideration.

Science and all logical, rational Philosophy (whether Materialistic or Spiritual Philosophy), and all rational Theology as well, are in practical agreement upon the fact that the Material Universe—the Cosmos—is a Cosmic Process. The “Cosmos,” as you have seen, is “The universe conceived as proceeding according to Law and Order, Cause and Effect.” The term “Process” (as employed in philosophic and scientific thought) is, “A series of actions, motions, or occurrences, proceeding in continuous operation, regular sequence, and orderly trend.” In all Processes there is found manifested Causation, the Law of Cause and Effect, under the operation of the Actuating Energy of the Cosmos.

The universe is perceived to “proceed,” i. e., “to move and pass onward and forward in regularity of sequence and orderly trend.” Its activities constitute a “procession of events.” Like a great river, its movement carries it ever onward; the river is always there, but the same place never is the scene of the passage of the same particles for even two consecutive seconds—new particles and forms replace those which have passed onward and forward. Said an ancient Greek philosopher: “The same river is never the same river for two consecutive moments of time; it is a different river, yet we call it the same: or rather, in one sense it is the same river, while in another sense it is a different river.” Or, employing the favorite figure of the ancient Buddhists, we may say that the “proceeding universe,” or the “universal process,” is like the burning flame which we think and speak of as the same, identical flame so long as it burns, although its burning particles are ever passing away and being succeeded by new ones.

Modern philosophers and modern poets liken the proceeding universe to a cosmic moving-picture film; its scenes ever move onward and are replaced by new ones following it in regular order. When we think that we are considering a stable universe, or one of its scenes, we are but gazing at a “clipped-off section of the film”; the clipping, however, is performed by our own act of attention, and the bit of film is not really detached from the roll of Time—it, too, moves on and is succeeded by another. As the poet has said: “They say, ‘Time passes’: alas! no; Time stays, while we pass.” Heraclitus, the Grecian philosopher living about 2500 years ago, said: “The universe is in a state of flux—it flows ever onward, ever the same yet ever different.” Gautama, the Buddha, who lived about the same time, said: “Everything passes, except the Process of Passing.” Modern Science says: “No forms abide; every form passes; everything is a process.”

But there is no Process, no “passing on,” no “regularity of sequence and orderly trend,” without the operation of Causation—and Causation is Creation, for even when it is tearing-down it is creating the materials for a subsequent building-up process. Each and every thing in the universe is perceived to have proceeded from some preceding thing—to have issued and come forth from something precedent which is its relative source and origin, its so-called cause; in turn, this relative cause, source, or origin is perceived to have proceeded from some preceding cause, source, or origin; and this, in turn from one still more remote—and so on, and on, and on, until the sequential procession is lost to view in the “regress of Infinity” or the “Eternal Flux.” Likewise, looking forward, the chain of Cause-Effect is seen in imagination and thought to proceed onward and forward into Infinity—into the “progress of Infinity or the Eternal Flux.”

Not only this, but the character of things is perceived to arise and to be determined by the influence and presence of other things, which likewise may be called “causes”—“conditioning causes.” There is a cause or reason for the form, character and circumstances of everything in the universe. Everything is perceived to possess a definite character, form and disposition which is directly or indirectly derived from the presence and influence of other things. It is not only true that, “Every thing is by reason of other things having been”; it is also true that, “Every thing is just what it is, and just where it is, by reason of other things having been just what they were and just where they were.”

Everything in existence, then, is perceived to be but a link in an infinite chain of regularity of sequence and orderly trend, ever proceeding onward and forward by reason of the operation of the Law of Cause and Effect. The chain proceeds so far in either direction, back to the past or forward into the future, that human thought reels and human imagination is dismayed when an attempt is made to think or to picture the extent of the chain. It is, indeed, an “endless chain” of Infinite Causation— Eternal Creation—winding around the immeasurable wheel of Infinite and Eternal Process.

Human thought exerted and extended to its limits along the lines of logical philosophical thought, inevitably, invariably and infallibly arrives, sooner or later, at the point where it finds itself compelled to posit the necessary existence,. presence, power and activity of a Supreme Creative Power—a Supreme Creative Cause—to account for and explain the presence and movement of the Infinite Process which the universe is discovered to be. This thought has been expressed strikingly in the following statement of a modern writer:

“Observing the uniformity, the immutability, of the processes of Nature, we recognize that every fact has its antecedent, and this again its own, and so on and on, until in retracing the process we lose ourselves, after a few or more steps, in the single Universal Cause. We lose ourselves in Infinity. We recognize the manifestations, the workings of the Eternal Power, in ourselves as well as in Nature generally. And we know from History, human, geological and astronomical, that thus has Nature manifested itself since time has recorded.”

Sir Edwin Arnold, in his great poem, “The Light of Asia,” has pictured the ancient Buddhistic conception of the Eternal Infinity of Creation in the following beautiful lines:

“And Cause, and Sequence, and the Course of Time,

And Being’s Ceaseless Tide,

Which, ever-changing, runs, linked like a river

By ripples following ripples, fast or slow—

The same yet not the same—from far-off fountain

To where its waters flow into the seas.

These, steaming to the sun,

Give the lost wavelets back in cloudy fleece,

To trickle down the hills, and glide again;

Having no pause or peace.”

But even in such poetical imagery you will notice the constant and invariable implication of the Supreme Creative Power which is the Ultimate Actuating Energy of Creation. This is the Power that animates, energizes, inspires and causes the totality of the infinity of activity which is manifested in the Eternal Creation. This is that Actuating Energy of “Being’s Ceaseless Tide” which proceeds and manifests through Cause, and Sequence, and the Course of Time. This is the Eternal Power which “makes the wheels go ’round” in the Eternal Creative Process.

This is that Ultimate Creative Power which in the Eternal Process “creates, holds poised, and then destroys” all material forms of things, while Creation as a whole continues and persists, without cessation and without interruption. This is that Eternal Something of which Omar Khayyam speaks:

“Whose Secret Presence, through Creation’s veins,

Running Quicksilver-like, eludes your pains;

Taking all shapes, from Mah to Mahi, and

They change and perish all—but HE remains.”

Intellect and Intuition are agreed upon this basic conviction that there is, and must be, present and active, a Supreme Actuating Energy which accounts for and explains, which causes and creates, the infinity of finite, changing, passing forms of which the created universe is composed; which governs and controls, regulates and determines, the manifold and diverse activities which are manifested in the universe. If Intellect tries to escape this conviction, Intuition always operates to bring back the prodigal to the home of Truth, after he has lived on the husks of Scepticism and among the swine of the sties of Denial.

Strive as it may, intellect is never really satisfied with the subterfuges, evasions, and verbal substitutes which are offered in place of this basic report of the necessary existence of a Supreme Actuating Principle. If it is sufficiently active, it is usually able to brush aside and discard the mass of verbiage composing the body of such substitutes, there to find in the heart of the idea a confirmation rather than a contradiction of the true basic principle. Fallacies frequently fail to hide entirely the Truth they seek to deny; often, indeed, they serve to reveal that Truth when sufficiently acute thought is applied to the problem.

As for Intuition, it never is even in the least disturbed in the matter—it knows, and it knows that it knows. Intellect often runs around in circles, like the man lost in the forest, like the squirrel spinning the wheel of its prison-cage—always traveling but never getting anywhere—in its endeavors to escape this fundamental conviction; but sooner or later it finds peace and certainty by reason of the influence of Intuition which has been superimposed upon it. Intuition, itself, is never moved by this doubt—it never doubts this Truth, for it knows and knows certainly that such is Truth.

You may satisfy yourself of the fact that the postulate of the presence and activity of this Supreme Creative Power, this Supreme Actuating Energy, is a necessity of logical thought, if you will but try to think of the Changing Universe as lacking such Supreme Actuating Principle. You will soon discover that it is impossible to account for or explain the Cosmos without such a fundamental postulate. Moreover, you will discover that at the heart of all philosophies, scientific thought, rational metaphysics, and similar reports of reason, there will always be found (though sometimes disguised or partially concealed) the actual or implied assertion of the presence and power of such a Supreme Principle of Activity, let it be called by whatever name the writers or teachers may see fit to apply to it. It is always there in philosophical thought; it must be there, for the entire concept of the Cosmos falls without its presence and activity being involved in the idea.

The Universal Actuating Energy, which we have discovered to be the Creative Agency or Cause of the Cosmos, also has another important office in the Cosmic Process. In addition to being the Actuating Cause of the Creative Process of Change and Becoming, it also serves as the Unifying Agent which holds together in Combination, Correlation and Coordination the manifold individual and apparently separate things into a system or unity in which universal and constant interdependence and reciprocal mutual action is manifested.

This office of Actuating Energy may be stated as follows: “The office of holding together the separate elements, parts, factors and objects of the universe in a unity, a whole, or system of things in which all things exist and work together in reciprocal, mutual interaction or coordination.” The term “Coordination” means: “The state of being coordinate, i. e., existing in common condition, movement and action, in which separate things are combined, correlated and given mutual and reciprocal existence and activity.” The term “Combine” means “To unite or join; to cause to coalesce; to hold together by affinity or natural attraction.” The term “Correlate” means “To put or place in reciprocal relation, or mutual relation.”

All philosophical thought and scientific observation results in the report that the universe is composed and constituted of parts, elements and factors which are placed and held together by natural forces, and which exist in mutual relation, connection and condition, and in coordinated reciprocal interaction, and thus form a unified system, whole, or entirety. The term “Universe” is derived from two Latin terms meaning “to turn, or to move as one.” It is defined as “The whole body of things viewed as constituting a whole or a system.”

A System is “An assemblage of objects arranged or existing in regular subordination, dependence and connection; hence, the whole scheme of created things regarded as forming one complete plan or whole, i. e., the universe consisting of all created or phenomenal things viewed as constituting one system, unity, entirety, or whole.” The ancient Greeks employed the term ““The Cosmos” in the sense and meaning of ““The world conceived as proceeding according to Law and Order”; as opposed to ‘“Chaos,’, or ‘“The world conceived as a great number of unrelated, uncombined and uncoordinated separate things, existing and proceeding without organization, and in a state of lawlessness and disorder.”

Science and Philosophy are in full agreement upon the fact that the universe is a unified, combined, correlated and coordinated system of things. As Professor Nicholas Murray Butler says: ‘“Everything illustrates the laws which bind the universe into coherent unity. It is now seen that no object is independent. , Each depends upon each other, and dependence, relativity, is the controlling principle of the universe.” Everything is held in combination, correlation and coordination with every other thing. Everything is dependent upon some other thing or things; Interdependence is universal among things. Things are held together, and formed into a universal cooperative society, and made to perform team-work.

No thing is absolutely independent of and apart from any other thing—nor from the totality of things. There is no absolute separateness between any things in the universe. Things merely seem to be separated, by reason of our failure to discern the connecting bonds or links which unite them in correlation and coordination. Things may be separated in space, but they are held together and united by natural attractions and influences, and are as truly in practical touch with each other as are the compositive particles of the atom, the block of steel, or the human body. Likewise, things may be separated in time, but they are combined, correlated and coordinated by the links of Causation and Continuity just as truly as are the successive generations of men or animals or plants, or as the self of the infant with the self of the aged man which has proceeded from the former. As an old writer once said: “Separation is but the working-fiction of Creation.”

The universe is found to exist in a state or condition of Infinite Relativity. Its objects exist and act in Infinite Combination, Correlation and Coordination. Everything in the universe exists in a state or condition of Interdependence. The universe is perceived to be a Cosmic Mechanism, the numberless parts of which act constantly and continuously in combination, correlation and coordination. Just as things are because other things have been, so things are as they are because other things have been just what they have been; and equally true is it that things act as they do because other things have acted as they did—as all other things have acted, in fact.

There is no “higgledy-piggledy,” or “hit-or-miss,” or “blind chance” action in the Cosmos. The systematic arrangement and orderly procedure of the multitudinous objects and activities of the universe, all point to the certainty of Cosmic Law and Order. The axiom of Philosophy, Science, and Theology is: “The Universe is governed by Law, and proceeds according to Order.” Professor Bowne says: “That things form a System, and that this System is one, is the deepest conviction of reflective intelligence, and is the supreme presumption of organized knowledge. Within this System all things are determined in mutual relations, so that each thing is where and what it is because of its relations to the whole.”

The presence of System, Combination, Correlation and Coordination in the Cosmos does not, and clearly cannot, arise from or be continued by Chance. It is clearly the effect and result of the presence and activity of a universal Coordinating and Unifying Agency—and that Agency can be nothing less than a Cause. Here, once more, we perceive the necessary presence and activity of a Causative Energy—a Power that Causes not only Creative Change and Becoming, but also Coordinative Unity in the Cosmos.

This Actuating Energy, Force, Power, which we have discovered to be the Supreme Creative Power manifesting in the Cosmos, and the Supreme Unifying Coordinating Power manifesting in the Universe, is seen necessarily to be Ultimate. It must be this in order to be what it is—in order to fill the offices which it is found to be filling, and which nothing else can fill. If it were derivative or subordinate—if it were one of a number of coordinated forces operating under the power of a Higher Cause—then in that Higher Cause would be found the Ultimate Causative Power. In any event, all human reason inevitably, invariably, and infallibly arrives at the point in which an Ultimate Causative Power (whatever it may be conceived as being in its essential nature) must be posited in order to account for and explain the activities of the Cosmos.

The Non-Materialistic philosophies have always firmly insisted that this Ultimate Actuating Energy or Causative Power is and must be Will-Power; their axiom is “All Power is Will-Power at the last analysis.” The Materialistic philosophies have equally firmly insisted that this Ultimate Energy or Power must be Non-Spiritual Power; though they fail to explain what else it may be and must be. The old Materialism would have us believe that Energy is but an attribute, property, or quality of Matter; or, at least, a twin-aspect of Reality, the other aspect being Matter.

The Materialism that holds that Energy is a Reality, or an aspect of Reality, insists that it may be thought of only as Pure Energy or Pure Force; it asserts also that this Ultimate Energy must be “Material Energy” inasmuch as it is not “Spiritual Energy.” Just what Pure Force is, however, no one seems able to explain. We know Matter in our experience; we know Mind or Spirit in our experience; but we have no experience with Pure Force. It would appear that the idea of Pure Force had been dragged in by the ears, in order to avoid the admission that “All Power is Will-Power.”

A modern writer has said that after we have summed up our stock of conceptions concerning Energy, Force, Power, we will find that we can “boil down” the whole general notion until there is left merely the concept expressed by the term “Strength.” Whatever else Power, Energy, Force may be, or may not be, they must be regarded as being Strength.

The Non-Materialists say that this Strength is Will-Strength, Life-Strength, Spiritual-Strength. The Materialists say that it is Material-Strength, or Pure-Strength, whatever the latter may be.

Materialism seeks to account for and explain the World in terms of Mechanical Force and Chemical Energy—both being regarded as Lifeless Strength. As careful physicists have pointed out, however, the idea of Universal Mechanical Force is a fallacy; under it the World would be like a “wound-up” clock—wound and set going by Something or Somewhat (Whom? What?) and destined to run down and come to a full stop in time. Something else is needed, something in the way of a self-renewing Energy of a spiritual, living order: something like Living Will, for instance. As for Chemical Energy, advanced scientific thought now regards this as a form of elemental life-energy, rather than as a “dead” mechanical force.

Careful thinkers have pointed out that our ideas and concept of Energy are derived from our experience of the Living Energy of Will which we experience in ourselves. It has been said: “As human Will is a cause in Nature, and really constitutes the basis of our conception of all causation, therefore, all causation is probably volitional in character.” Again: “The effort of moving the hand, the head, the eye, is the type and norm by which we interpret, as the result of energy, the changes of position and of mass which we so frequently observe.” In short, Man obtains his ideas of Energy from his experiences with his own Will-Power; and observation reveals that all Energy operates “as if” it were Will-Power. We shall have more to say concerning this in the later sections of this book.

Immanent Spirit

In this instruction we seek to convince you that the Actuating Energy of the Cosmos—the source and fount, the cause and reason, of universal movement, motion, action, change, becoming, events, happenings—is Spiritual Power, the Power of Spirit.

Spirit, as you shall see, is not only the Something or Somewhat that manifests Life and Livingness; that Senses, Perceives, Knows; that Feels, Craves, Desires; but is also the Something or Somewhat that Acts, Performs, Creates.

The Cosmos, i. e., the World proceeding according to Law and Order, by Change and Becoming—the Cosmic Process, in short—is explainable and understandable only under the hypothesis of Spirit playing upon Material Substance—of Spirit “working upon” and “working up” Matter by the power of its Will, directed by the power of its Mentality, and animating the World with its Breath of Life.

The World is Material Substance animated, informed, “ensouled” by Immanent Spirit.

The term “Immanent” means “Indwelling, abiding within, remaining within, inherent; intrinsic; innate, inward, internal.” The term “Spirit,” however, is frequently not understood; still oftener, misunderstood. Most persons have but a vague and hazy concept of Spirit, and in many instances are found to have failed to perceive and apprehend the most essential elements of the meaning of the term, and of the spirit of its concept. Let us, then, first arrive at a clear understanding and comprehension of the true meaning of the term and concept of “Spirit.” We must do this, if we are to proceed intelligently with this instruction.

The definitions of the term, “Spirit,” vary widely; the term is employed with several shades of meaning apparently having no relation to each other, but which, when carefully analyzed and compared, are found to have a common basis of agreement and essential nature. We shall ask you to follow us in our brief examination of the root-meaning of the term, and its several shades of acquired meaning, so that you may be able to share with us the understanding of the full, essential meaning of the concept and term which has been “squeezed out” and extracted by concentrated attention and exhaustive examination.

The English term, “Spirit,” is derived from the Latin term, “Spiritus,” which in turn was derived from the older Latin term, “Spirare,” meaning, “to breathe, to blow (as the wind or breath).” Examination of the usage of the word “Spiritus,” in the place and at the time of its origin, shows that it employed the idea of “breath” or “blowing wind” figuratively and symbolically to indicate “essential existence,” i. e., existence of such an ethereal character that the term “Matter” failed to convey an idea of its nature.

The term, “Essentia” (from which our English word “Essence” was derived) came nearer to illustrating the spirit and essence of meaning of the term “Spirit” than did any other Latin term; here it should be noted that the term “Essentia” was derived from the Latin term “Esse,” meaning “to be,” and indicates Being reduced to its ultimate and final state of refinement. We call your attention to these facts, that you may grasp the idea originally sought to be conveyed by the root-term of “Spirit”—the idea of “essential existence,” i. e., existence reduced and refined to its ultimate state.

It should be noted here that one of the several modern uses of the English term, “Spirit,” is that of “Tenuous or vaporous essence, possessed of active qualities; hence, any liquid produced by distillation, refinement, concentration, etc., in which it is reduced to its ultimate, essential elemental, and pure state.” You should also note that the term is frequently employed to indicate “the real meaning or essential character of anything”; as, for instance, “the spirit of the address,” “the spirit of the play,” the “spirit of the term,” etc. This last meaning is stated in the dictionaries as: “The intent, or real meaning—as opposed to the letter or form of a word, statement, expression, or discourse of any kind.”

Here then, we have the identification of the term, “Spirit,” with the term, “Essence”; the latter being defined as: “The final, ultimate, fundamental state, mode, form, condition, character or nature of anything; the basic and elemental nature of anything after its grosser aspects and its temporary forms have been abstracted from it; the ‘thing-in-itself’ of anything which is left after it has ceased to manifest phenomenal forms and appearances; that which is present when a thing has been reduced to its purest possible state of existence.”

Following close upon this essential meaning, we find that the term, as originally employed, also indicated “Actuating principle,” i. e., the inherent, inner principle moving and inciting the thing to action or motion. To grasp more fully this fact, compare the following definitions of the term, “Activity,” and the term “Spirited.” “Activity” means, “State or quality of being active, vigorous, agile, brisk, energetic.” “Spirited” means: “Energetic, full of vigor and energy, lively, quick, active, brisk.” In the dictionaries, one of the meanings of the term “Spirit” is that of, “Energy, vivacity, activity, ardor, enthusiasm, courage, etc.” Here then, we have the idea of “Spirit” as being active, energetic, lively; vigorous; of being, in short, the “actuating energy.”

But there is a third, and a very important meaning involved in both the old Latin term, “Spiritus,” and its English descendant, “Spirit”—the meaning of “Life, livingness, vitality, liveliness, vital energy, the essence of life.” The dictionaries give as one of the meanings of “Spirit” that of “Life, or living substance, considered independently of corporeal existence; or, that which gives life and vigor to the human body and the bodies of plant and animals; the vital principle or life-force.” This meaning of “Spirit” may be stated as “Life, in its original, elemental, pure, and essential ultimate state, mode or condition.”

In that meaning of the term “Spirit” which is given in the dictionaries as “The soul or essential entity of a living thing, conceived as either embodied or disembodied,” there is combined the idea of “ethereal existence” and that of “essential life or livingness.” The term “spirit,” frequently used as synonymous with “ghost,” is simply one form of this particular meaning.

It is interesting to note that the equivalents of the term “Spirit” employed in other languages carry with them the same fundamental and essential meaning as that found in the Latin term, “Spiritus” and its English derivative, “Spirit.” Such terms have as their root some term meaning “breath” or “moving wind”; they also express the respective meanings of (a) ethereal existence, or quintessence of existence, (b) actuating principle or active energy, (c) life, livingness; vitality, and lively actions expressing abundant life and vitality, and (d) embodied or disembodied souls or entities. This correspondence is significant, particularly when it is noted that it is found in tongues not originally derived from Latin sources.

The early people of these several races all seem to have found in the symbol of “breath” or “moving wind” the best figurative illustration of a tenuous, ethereal something possessing activity and life. It represented something “present and felt, but not seen, manifesting its presence by its motion and not by its form.” Breath and Wind were the two most ethereal and tenuous things known to the early man, and he naturally employed them as symbols for that Something or Somewhat which he intuitively felt to be present and active in the universe of things, forces, and events. It represented to him Existence, Energy, and Life reduced to their ultimate form of refinement and purity.

Illustrating the above significant fact, we give the following examples. In the Hebrew Scriptures, in Genesis, ii. 7, it is stated that: “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” In the original Hebrew, the phrase, “the breath of life” is stated as “neshemet ruach chayim”; the term, “neshemet,” meaning “the physical breath, or act of breathing”; the term, “ruach,” meaning “the spirit or essence of life”; and the term, “chayim,” meaning “life, lives, or livingness.” Thus, the literal meaning of the passage of the Scriptures in question is, as follows: “The Lord God * * * breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of the spirit or essence of life or livingness”; or that the Supreme Being so transmitted life to His creation or creature, and “made him a living soul.”

Likewise, in the ancient Greek tongue, the term “Pneuma,” meaning “wind, breath, to blow as the wind,” was also employed in the sense of “the spirit or essence of life,” or “the life principle,” or “Spirit.” Even to this day, in English, we find Theology and Philosophy employing the term “pneumatology” to indicate “the science of spiritual being, or spiritual phenomena of any description”; while Physics employs the term “pneumatics” to indicate “the science treating of the power and properties of air”; the double meaning thus being clearly illustrated. Again, the Greek term “Psyche,” meaning “soul, mind, spirit” (and from which the term “Psychology” is derived), originally meant “Moving wind, or the breath.”

The English word, “Ghost” is derived from the Anglo-Saxon term, “gest”; the German term, “geist”; and the Old English term, “gost”; each and all of which terms originally meant “breath or wind” and afterward became employed to express the idea of “soul, spirit, or living entities embodied or disembodied.” In this connection, it should be noted that the English word “Ghost,” and the German word “‘Geist,” both are employed to indicate a phase or aspect of Deity, i. e., “The Holy Ghost.” In the English Theology it is held as axiomatic that “God is Spirit”; this following upon the original statement of this doctrine in the original Greek, in which the term “Pneuma” is employed in the sense of “Spirit.” A similar double meaning of “breath or wind,, and “essential living, active, ethereal existence; soul or spirit, is also found in the Sanscrit and in other ancient Oriental languages. This is believed to be more than a mere coincidence; the same necessities of thought sought the same forms of illustration—the same causes brought the same results.

When you stop to consider this necessity of human thought, and the difficulty of expressing it in the terms of materiality, you will appreciate the almost intuitive employment of terms like “Spirit,” “Pneuma,” “Geist,” etc., to represent Pure Essence, Energy and Life. Even today, the term “Spirit” serves but imperfectly to express a concept almost inexpressible in material terms. Edgar Allen Poe pointed out this difficulty in the following significant passage:

“This merest of words, and some other expressions of which the equivalent exists in nearly every language, is by no means the expression of an idea, but of an effort at one. It stands for the possible attempt at an impossible conception. Man needed a term by which to point out the direction of this effort—the cloud behind which lay, forever invisible, the object of the attempt. A word, in fine, was demanded by means of which one human being might put himself in relation at once with another human being with a certain tendency of the human intellect. Out of this arose a term, which is thus the representative but of a thought of a thought.”

While man knows certainly—more certainly than he can know anything else—that Spirit exists and is present and active within him, yet he finds is almost impossible to define that Reality in ordinary terms denoting material qualities, properties and attributes. So many opposing qualities are found in its manifestations—properties which mutually cancel each other and thus cannot be regarded as essential attributes of the Manifesting Reality—that very little is left upon which the mind may seize, and which will serve as the substance of “mental mastication” in the processes of reasoning.

Indeed, a writer has expressed the thought that: “Spirit must be regarded as an Infinite Possibility, or the Possibility of an Infinity of Manifestation and Expression, rather than as Entity”; but he is only stating a half-truth. Spirit is true Entity, i. e., Real Being, Real Essence, Real Existence, although it may be known only through its manifestations, except in one instance—the experience of Self-Consciousness. The difficulty of apprehension and comprehension of it as Entity arises from the fact that, being Infinite, and being Pure Essence—therefore, being devoid of finite qualities and characteristics, and being free from the appearances of its forms of expression, it cannot be “taken hold of” by the Intellect, or Imagination, because these are designed and fitted merely to cognize and to represent the forms and images of material things, and the qualities and characteristics of these.

But, notwithstanding this difficulty, Intellect, when properly applied and directed by Intuition, is able to perceive the presence of several aspects or modes of the Essential Reality of Spirit. Whatever else Spirit may be, or may not be, it must possess these several aspects or modes of itself in order to be Spirit. Without intending to limit or restrict the Essential Reality of Spirit to the following aspects or modes of itself, we must insist that these are always perceived to be present in all of the manifestations and expressions of the Presence-Power of Spirit of which the human Intellect or Intuition has any knowledge or experience.

These knowable and perceptible aspects or modes of Spirit, to which we have just referred, are as follows:

Presence: manifesting Essence, Reality, Actuality.

Life: manifesting Sentience, Conation, Volition.

Power: manifesting Strength, Energy, Force.

You are now invited to consider in further detail the above stated several aspects or modes of Spirit, and their several manifestations.

The Presence of Spirit

Spirit is perceived in Self-Consciousness to be Entity actually Present and in Being, and not the mere idea or thought of Mind, nor a mere verbal symbol or word expressing something lacking real existence and presence. By “Presence” is meant “State of being present, i. e., existing in reality at a certain time and in a certain place.” That Spirit is Present is evidenced by the report of Self-Consciousness—the inevitable, invariable and infallible report that “I Am Present” which is implicit in every conscious thought, and which is intensely impressed upon consciousness when it is directed inward; this accompanied by the invariable, and infallible report of Intuition that “I Am Spirit!” Moreover, as Spiritual Activity is apparent, even when manifested by others in acts of the Living Will; and as it is axiomatic that “Whenever and wherever a thing acts, then and there must it be present”; it follows that the Actual Presence of Spirit must be conceded.

The Aspect or Mode of Spirit known as Presence manifests in Essence, Reality, Actuality. Let us briefly examine each of these in the above order:

Essence has been defined in the course of this instruction; you are familiar with the meaning of the term and concept. You understand that it indicates the ultimate nature and pure being of the existence to which the term is applied and which the concept covers. You are now asked to realize that Spirit is Pure Spiritual Essence—the Pure Essence of Life, Mind, Consciousness, Will—the Pure Essence of everything that is not Material Substance or the manifestations of the latter. Spirit is the Ultimate Essence of Spirituality and Spiritual Things. Spirit is Spiritual Essence, just as Ethereal Material is Material Substance—each represents the “thing in itself” of its class or category.

Just as Material Substance fills all Space: so does Spiritual Essence fill all Time; Bergson and Einstein will tell you more about this wonderful fact, if you wish to acquire that knowledge—it is too “deep” for the present consideration, and you must learn to swim before you venture to explore its waters. The much talked of, and long sought after, “Fourth Dimension” belongs to Time and Spirit, not to Space and Matter in whose realm it has been sought. This, also, is another “deep” subject which we shall not undertake to explain fully here. We have indicated the direction in which the explanation lies: you must seek it for yourself if you are so minded.

Reality means “The state of being real, actual, truly existent and in being; not imaginary, fictitious, vague, or lacking in substantiality.” Spirit is Real, and not imaginary or fictitious. It is a Fact, not a Dream. You can doubt your senses, but you can never doubt the fact that you are alive—and Life is an aspect or mode of Spirit. You may dream of Matter, without that Matter being present; but you can never dream of Life or Mind, without Life and Mind being present and active in you—and these are aspects or modes of Spirit. You can know Matter only through Living Mind; but you cannot know either Matter or Mind through Matter lacking the immanent presence of Life and Mind. Your consciousness that “I AM” is the most certain, most real thing that you can know; all the rest may be a dream, for that matter; but THAT cannot be a dream, unless there be a Dreamer—and if there is a Dreamer, that Dreamer is YOU, a focal point or centre of Living Spirit!

You may find it difficult to discover “just what” the Spirit that is YOU really is; but you can never doubt that it IS and that it is REAL. The fundamental difficulty attached to human thought on the subject of Spirit is this: that it is Spirit trying to contemplate itself—an attempt justly likened to the effort to “turn oneself inside out.” Just as the eye, while seeing everything else, is unable to see itself, so is Spirit hampered in its efforts to “see” itself in thought. Just as the stomach digests all living substance placed in it—but never digests itself; so is Spirit able to experience through the senses everything else—except itself. But it may “know” itself, “feel” itself, in the experience of Self-Consciousness; and it may “intuit” itself in the processes of Intuition. Such “knowing,” and “feeling,” and “intuiting,” moreover, always bring the report: “I AM; and I Am REAL!”

Through Intuition, Spirit reports inevitably, invariably, infallibly: “I AM!” “I AM I,”; or (when pressed closer by Intellect for a more definite report) even: “I Am THAT I Am!” The “I AM I,” that focal point of conscious Immanent Spirit which is YOU, reports through Intellect and through Intuition: “I think, I feet, I act, I move of my own Will and by my own Power; therefore, I AM, and I Am REAL, and not fictitious—a Reality and not the figment of a Dream! Even if I were a Dream, there would needs be a Dreamer; and that Dreamer would be involved in his Dream-Idea—and this ‘I AM I’ would then be the ‘I AM’ of the Dreamer as well as of the Dream Person!” You can never truthfully say: “I Am NOT REAL”—for in your very denial would be implied the fact that the “I” that is denying must be Real.

No sane man can ever deny his own Reality, and feel convinced that he is stating the Truth! His troubles begin only when he stops to consider whether the things external to him—the material universe—is also Real! If the Reality of Spirit be doubted or denied, then the Realty of Everything must be doubted or denied—for that Everything is known only to Spirit, and by reason of the Reality of Spirit. Deny the Reality of the Knower—and the Reality of the Known is also denied; and in that case there is nothing left to know or to be known.

Actuality means “The state of being Actual, i. e., really and truly acting or active; existing in real act.” The actuality of Spirit can no more be doubted than can be its Reality. Any individual who has ever performed an act of volition or will has experienced an inevitable, invariable and infallible proof of the Actuality of Spirit. He need not fall back upon the final report of Philosophy, and of advanced Science as well, that: “All Power is Will-Power; all Action is Will-Action.” He need refer only to his own experience in Willing.

In another part of this book we relate the story of Edison wagging his finger-end at Bois-Reymond, and demanding the answer to his question, “What is this?” Edison knew the Actuality of his Immanent Spirit; and his simple question overwhelmed the other great scientist. The simplest voluntary act of the living creature proves the Actuality of Spirit. In every movement, in every motion, in every action, in every change of position, even in every thought, the living creature gives undoubted evidence of the fact that “Spirit is Active, Actual, Actuality; it possesses the Power to Act, and it ACTS.

And so, you see that we are warranted in positing in Spirit the aspects and modes—the attributes and properties, if you will—of Presence and its manifestations known as Essence, Reality, Actuality. We ask you to fix these in your mind, so that when you think of Spirit you will think of it, first of all, in the terms and ideas of Presence, i. e., Essence, Reality, Actuality.

In the next two following sections of this book we shall ask you to consider the other two great aspects or modes of Spirit, viz., Life, manifesting Sentience, Conation, Volition; and Power, manifesting Strength, Energy, Force.

Spirit: Essential Life

Having considered the first great mode or aspect of Spirit, i. e., that of Presence, manifesting Essence, Reality, Actuality, you are now invited to consider the second great mode or aspect of Spirit, namely, Life, manifesting Sentience, Conation, Volition. This is the unique, original, distinguishing characteristic of Spirit. Life and Livingness are the very Quintessence of Spirit—the very “spirit” of Spirit! Spirit is LIFE—Life is Spirit!

By “Life” is meant, “State of being alive, living; or, vital force, animation, livingness.” The standard definitions are poor, meagre, unsatisfying; but inasmuch as Life can be defined only in terms of Livingness, there is no possible improvement in such definitions. There is nothing else in existence like Life, to or with which it may be compared and likened, contrasted and classified, and which may be employed to illustrate or define it. One must have experienced Life in order to understand its real meaning. The term “Livingness” is no better; its definition is merely suggestive, namely, “The state of being alive, lively, active, vigorous, spirited, and capable of quickening and invigorating.” All such definitions refer back to Life; and Life is found to be “sui generis,” in a class by itself—over and above any definition or explanation, any accounting for or illustration, in the terms of anything else. Life is known only through being experienced. To know Life, is to live; to live, is to know Life.

Life is a basic, fundamental attribute of Spirit. Spirit would not be Spirit were it devoid of Livingness. You may conceive of Spirit as being unconscious; but you cannot conceive of it as being lifeless. Life is more fundamental than Consciousness; a creature may become unconscious, yet still be alive—but it cannot become lifeless and still be conscious. All feeling, thought and will may be inactive in a creature, yet it may still be alive; but if it is lifeless, then it can never manifest thought, feeling, or will. If you wish to think of Spirit in its most essential, fundamental and basic inner nature and character, then think of it as LIFE or LIVINGNESS.

The three particular manifestations of the Life of Spirit, are as follows: Sentience, Conation, Volition; each of these we shall now consider briefly.

SENTIENCE. By “Sentience” is meant, “The faculty or power of sensation, perception, mental apprehension and cognition.” These are the several primary and elemental mental powers; the higher mental processes are merely more complex phases of these simpler mental activities; these faculties supply the “raw materials of knowledge” which are worked over and made into the completed mental product. In Sensation, Spirit receives impressions from material objects; in Perception, Spirit recognizes and interprets the reports of Sensation; in Mental Apprehension, Spirit “takes hold of” and conceives ideas; in Cognition, Spirit “knows” things partially or completely.

The idea of Sentience is closely bound up with that of “Consciousness,” the latter term (though, like “Life,” being beyond adequate definition) is best defined by the term, “Awareness.” Consciousness has been likened to “Mental livingness, or aliveness”—this being a valuable suggestive illustration. In modern psychology, Consciousness is regarded merely as, “Present mind,” or “Mind here and now”—a cross-section of mental process, a focusing of attention upon a certain limited portion of the entire mental process. Much of the mental activity, most of the mental processes, manifest on planes of mentation outside, below, or above the plane of ordinary consciousness.

Many persons, most persons in fact, are accustomed to regard Spirit as identical with “Mind”—they find it difficult to think of Spirit in any other way. But “Mind,” in modern psychology, is regarded as Process rather than as Entity. As an authoritative reference work states: “Not only is mind, as a whole, a stream of thought and feeling; each separate element of mind or mental formation that our analysis teases out of the total consciousness is itself a process. Every sensation rises, poises, falls, in its own characteristic way; even the idea is termed a ‘variable process,’ and such formations as emotion and volition bear the mark of process stamped upon them.” Spirit, on the contrary, is absolute and actual Entity, not Process; it is the Essence, Base and Ground, Support and Sustainer, and Constant Identity of Mental Process.

Spirit is not limited to “Mind”; nor is “Mind” another name for Spirit. Rather, Spirit has Mind, uses Mind, employs Mind (i. e., Mental Process) as an instrument, tool, or machine helpful in its creative and other activities. Nor, at the last, is it proper to regard Consciousness as identical with, or as an absolute essential and permanent state or condition of Spirit. G. E. Moore, in a leading reference work upon Philosophy and Psychology, says: “Common to all meanings of Spirit is the conception of ‘that which is conscious.’ Consciousness is not regarded as being Spirit, but as being an attribute of it; so that Spirit is conceived as something capable of existing when it is not conscious. On the other hand, there is no positive conception of what this permanent element in Spirit is; it is only conceived abstractly as that (whatever it may be) which is the subject or substance of consciousness, and negatively as not identical with any known quality.”

But, we ask you to note here, that although it is possible to conceive Spirit as “not conscious,” it is not possible to conceive it as “not alive,” nor as “not capable of consciousness.” Life is the primary attribute; Consciousness is the secondary property. But as Spirit is always Life, and as Life always has the faculty of or capacity for Sentience and Consciousness, then we see that wherever and whenever Spirit is present, then and there must be present the capacity for Sentience and Consciousness, in some form, kind, manner, or degree.

CONATION. By “Conation” is meant, “Tendency toward effort, attempt, experiment, action, arising from the presence of feeling, emotion, or desire.” A leading reference work states: “Conation consists of an endeavor, a striving to attain something. The attempt to recall a name from memory is a conation. * * * * Conation is common to desire, yearning, longing, craving, wishing and willing; indeed to all mental states which have an inherent tendency to pass beyond themselves.” Conation has for its object the attainment of its desire for that which it likes and finds pleasant, or the escape or release from that which it does not like and finds unpleasant.” In short, Conation is “Desire seeking to pass into action in the direction most contenting, satisfying, and agreeable to it.”

Conation (or Active Desire) is a universal element of Life. It is found in all living things, and is the mainspring of all the actions of all living creatures, including plants, animals, human beings—from single living cells to the most complex living forms and organisms. Many philosophers have regarded it as the most essential element in Life, and as being the kernel and core of the mind, soul, or spirit of all living things—and of Life in general and as a totality. Schopenhauer postulates it as the fundamental fact of all activities, inorganic as well as organic. Wundt says: “The mechanical universe is the outer wrapper behind which is hidden a spiritual creative activity, a striving, feeling, sensing, like that which we experience in ourselves; conation being the fundamental essence of that activity.”

Conation is a fundamental property of Life, and is more elemental than even Sentience, for in the lower classes of living creatures it manifests strongly even where Sentience manifests merely in its simplest forms. In plant-life it represents the chief psychic element, Sentience being expressed only in the slightest degree. Certain philosophers, like Schopenhauer and his school, hold that the “World Spirit” is animated chiefly by its “Will to Live,” i. e., its desire to express Life-activities, and accordingly they regard the Universal Life Principle as being essentially Conative Desire rather than Reason. Others have modified this view, and give Sentience an equal rank with Conation, although admitting that in the lower form of life the latter is predominant.

Inasmuch as Conation is an essential element of Life, and as Life and Livingness constitute a primary, fundamental essential attribute of Spirit, it follows that wherever and whenever Spirit is present and active, then and there also is Conation present and active. Even without accepting the extreme position of the schools of Philosophy just referred to, it is impossible to escape the conviction that when SPIRIT (the Cosmic Spirit) manifests Creative Power it must experience the conative desire to do so— and that this Conation is the actuating “cause” and “because” of the Creative Activity of SPIRIT. Without it, Creation would never have been manifested; without it, Creation would not have continued and would not now be under way.

VOLITION. By “Volition” is meant “The act of willing, or the exercise of Will; the power of willing and determining.” That property of Life known as “Volition” may be stated as “The Power to Will; or Will-Power.” Will is, “The power of self-activity, self-motion, and the exercise of voluntary effort and action.” Professor Halleck says of Will: “Will concerns itself with action, no matter how complex the process seems. * * * * Whenever there is a mental motor element, that element is Will. * * * * Our acts are the result of a peculiar, active power which we call Will. * * * From the cradle to the grave, we are never without this activity of Will, in the broadest sense of the term. * * * Whenever there is in emotion a motor element which tends to go out in action, that element is Will. * * * In some emotions, the voluntary element may be so small as to baffle detection, but the germ is there.”

The distinguishing characteristic of Will-Activity is that important element of Life known as Spontaneity. So essentially is Spontaneity bound up with Life that many careful thinkers have regarded it as a touchstone by which the Livingness of things may be tested and decided upon. This view expresses itself in the axiom, “Where Spontaneity is present, there Life is present; where Life is present, there Spontaneity is present.” The present writers accept this view, and regard the axiom as self-evident truth, and as setting up an infallible standard by means of which the presence of Life and Livingness may be decided conclusively.

SPONTANEITY. By “Spontaneity” is meant “The state of being spontaneous, i. e., proceeding from internal impulse, energy, or natural tendency, without external force.” In its manifestation by living creatures, Spontaneity is defined as, “Action proceeding from, or manifesting by, natural feeling, tendency, emotion, temperament, disposition, or desire, modified perhaps by reflection, consideration, or judgment based upon the results of previous experience—but always without constraint or external force.”

Spontaneity, then, is seen to be a phase of Self-Activity, Volition, or Will—the objective phase of that of which Conation and Volition are the subjective phases or aspects. Every voluntary act arising from conative feeling or desire is Self-Activity. Self-Activity is activity arising from the conative, volitional Will of the individual, and not from external force, pressure, or energy. Every voluntary act or activity, mental or physical, is Self-Activity. All Self-Activity is Spontaneity. The essence of Conation, Volition, Will, Self-Activity and Spontaneity is the same; each represents Will-Power, which is Life-Power, which is Spiritual Power.

An ancient Greek philosopher once said: “Will is the inherent capacity for spontaneous action, or self-motion, and does not proceed from external force, though its direction may be influenced by external causes represented in the mentality.” Carus says: “By Spontaneity is to be understood that kind of activity which springs from the nature of the thing or being which is active. A motion that is caused by pressure or push is not spontaneous; but a motion, the motive power of which resides in the moving object, is spontaneous. * * * In the character of a thing lies the source of its spontaneous action.”

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary gives three terms, i. e., Voluntary, Uncompelled, and Willing, as synonyms for the term Spontaneous, adding: “What is voluntary is the result of a volition, or act of choice; it therefore implies some degree of consideration, and may be the result of mere reason without excited feeling. What is spontaneous springs wholly from feeling, or a sudden impulse which admits of no reflection.” This distinction is properly made, and is worthy of respect. It should be noted, however, that while some volitions proceed “without excited feeling,” there is always at least some degree of feeling and desire present, else there could and would be no motive for conative and voluntary action.

As we have said, many careful thinkers hold that Spontaneity or Self-Activity, is the invariable characteristic of Life. In this view, anything and everything that manifests the property of Spontaneity must be alive and living. The presence of Spontaneity in things usually considered non-living, is held to indicate Livingness. As Spontaneity is found to be present even in the atoms and chemical elements, it is held by these thinkers that they manifest Livingness, and that “The universe is alive in its every part, and as a whole.” As Life is an attribute of Spirit, in this view it would follow that the universe is animated and inspired by Spirit.

It was formerly a favorite objection urged by Materialism that: “If Spirit is the Origin and Source of All-Things, then Spirit (i.e., 817 Life, Mind and Will) should be found, in at least some degree or form, in Everything!” The answer of the modern Spiritual Philosophy is: “Everything DOES manifest Life, Mind and Will (i. e., Spirit) in some degree or form!” The ancient sages always intuitively believed and taught this truth; but it remained for modern physical science to demonstrate it by observation and experiment. Today, the advanced minds of Philosophy and Science are assenting to the proposition that, “The Universe is Alive, as a whole and in every part”; each new discovery serves to substantiate this idea, and each year adds to the ranks of its advocates.

Luther Burbank, as the result of his lifetime study of Life, says: “All my investigations have led me away from the idea of a dead universe tossed about by various forces, to that of a universe which is absolutely all life, soul, or thought, or whatever name we choose to call it. All life on our planet is, so to speak, just on the outer fringe of this infinite ocean of force. The universe is not half dead, but all alive.”

Haeckel, the eminent scientist-philosopher, says: “I regard all Matter as ensouled, that is to say, as endowed with feeling (pleasure and pain), and with motion, or better, the power of motion. As elementary (atomic) attraction and repulsion, these powers are asserted in every simplest chemical process, and on them is based every other phenomena, consequently also the highest developed soul-activity of man. * * * The molecules (or atoms) of two elements when brought into proper distance, mutually ‘feel’ each other, and by attraction move toward each other; or the contrary takes place by reason of repulsion (Empedocles’ doctrine of ‘the love and hatred of atoms’). * * * I cannot imagine the simplest chemical and physical process without attributing the movements of the material particles to unconscious-sensation. * * * The idea of chemical affinity consists in the fact that the various chemical elements perceive the qualitative differences in other elements—experience ‘pleasure’ or ‘revulsion’ at contact with them, and execute specific movements on this ground.”

Haeckel also quotes approvingly the statement of Naegeli, another scientist, who said: “If the molecules possess something that is related, however distantly, to sensation, it must be comfortable to be able to follow their attractions and repulsions; uncomfortable when they are forced to do otherwise.” Flammarion says: “Mind gleams in every atom. There is mind in everything, not only in human and animal life, but in plants, in minerals, in space.” Cope says: “The basis of life and mind lies back of the atoms, and may be found in the universal ether.” Hemstreet says: “Mind in the ether is no more unnatural than is mind in flesh and blood.”

Saleeby says: “Life is potential in Matter; Life-energy is not a thing unique and created at a particular time in the past. If Life is potential in Matter, it is a thousand times more evident that Mind is potential in Life. The evolutionist is impelled to believe that Mind is potential in Matter. The microscopic cell, a minute speck of matter that is to become man, has in it the promise and germ of Mind. May we not then draw the inference that the elements of Mind are present in those chemical elements— carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, chlorine—that are found in the cell? Not only must we do so, but we must go further, since we know that each of these elements, and every other, is built up out of the one invariable unit, the electron, and we must therefore assert that Mind is potential in the unit of Matter—the electron itself.”

Carus says: “I am willing to concede to Professor Haeckel that all Nature is alive. Indeed, I have most emphatically insisted that there is a Spontaneity pervading all Nature. * * * The term, ‘Life,’ is used here in a broader sense than ordinarily. It here means Spontaneity or Self-Motion, while in its common significance, it is restricted to the spontaneous actions of organized beings, i. e., of plants and animals. * * * I propose what might best be called Panbiotism, briefly set forth in the maxim, ‘Everything is fraught with Life; it contains Life; it has the ability to Live’.” We have not the space here to describe in detail the experiments and observations that have brought Science to this conclusion— to the conclusion that “There is Life in Everything; Everything is Alive”—interesting and instructive though such description would be. In fact, we can refer but briefly even to the general results; reference to the records of modern physics and biology will serve to substantiate our claims. Of Life in even the simplest animal forms, we need not speak. Science has demonstrated beyond question the presence of Life and elemental Mind in plant-life, even in its simplest forms.

Crystals are now regarded as “quasi-living forms,” just a little lower in the scale than plants; some scientists have even ascribed elemental “sex” to them. In this connection, it is interesting to compare ordinary crystals with the lowly life-forms known as the Diatoms, or “living crystals,” or “living geometrical forms,” as they have been called. Also, to note how closely the crystals of frost and ice resemble the forms of leaves, branches, foliage, etc.—to examine the “garden of frost flowers” formed on the pane of glass in winter time. Experiments have produced an orchid-like crystal flower from a disk of saltpeter subjected to polarized light.

The celebrated “Bose Experiments” prove conclusively that inorganic substances may be weakened, made ill, and even killed by pressure or electric currents; the process of “dying” registering itself unmistakably through the delicate mechanism employed. Moreover, metals, and machinery made of metals, suffer from “fatigue,, and are benefited by “rest.” Tuning-forks and razor blades are familiar example of this fact. Every machinist knows that “there is something in it.” Metals may be “poisoned” by certain chemicals, and actually “killed” in some cases. There is a “window-glass disease” known to Science—it is contagious, and spreads from one pane to another, under certain conditions. Instances illustrating this general fact of the “livingness” of inorganic things might be multiplied indefinitely—the list is being added to every year, as the result of new experiments.

Life, Mind Will: Consciousness, Desire, Volition: Spontaneity, Self—Activity, Conative Energy: these are discovered to be in existence throughout all Nature. You know them directly through your own experience; by scientific observation you perceive them indirectly as manifest in all other things. They are beyond chemical analysis or physical dissection. They are revealed neither by the test-tube nor by the retort; the scalpel does not reveal their presence; the microscope does not make them visible; the finest scales of the physicist does not record their weight, though certain delicate instruments have been invented which register the physical effects manifested by them. They cannot be produced synthetically by combinations, correlations or coordinations of chemical elements; neither can mechanical power account for or explain them—much less produce them.

Biology reports that “All Life proceeds from Life.” Livingness has never been known to proceed from Non-Livingness. Life, at the last, is perceived to be Ultimate and Universal; Livingness is seen to be a manifestation of an Infinite Life Principle—and that Principle is discovered to be SPIRIT and nothing else. Honest thought and logical reasoning make an invariable, inevitable, and infallible report to this effect. Had there ever been a time in which Life was not present, then there would be no Livingness today. Life being present today is evidence that Life has always been present in some form, phase, or condition; philosophical thought finds the only thinkable source or origin of Life in the Ultimate Principle of Spirit.

Wherever there is Life, there must be Spirit. As life is universal, then Spirit must be universal. Spirit reduced to its ultimate nature reports itself as Life. Lifeless Spirit is inconceivable. Life reduced to its ultimate nature reports itself as Spirit. Spiritless Life is unthinkable. Thus, Life and Spirit are seen to be but different names for the same Ultimate Fact, Principle, Power.

If you wish to think of Spirit in its simplest terms, employ the terms of Life and Livingness. Whatever else Spirit may be, or not be, it is always Life and Livingness.

Spirit: Essential Power

Having considered Spirit in its two respective modes or aspects of Presence, manifesting Essence, Reality, Actuality; and of Life, manifesting Sentience, Conation, Volition; you are now invited to consider Spirit in its third great mode or aspect, namely that of Power, manifesting Strength, Energy, Force.

We have defined the several terms, Power, Strength, Energy and Force, in a preceding section of this book, and shall assume that you are familiar with the several shades of meaning involved in them, and which you are asked to combine in your concept of Spiritual Power. We hold it to be beyond question that Spirit possesses Strength of an infinite degree and extent; that Spirit possesses that Indwelling Power known as Energy, of an infinite degree and extent; that Spirit possesses that form of Power known as Force, or ability to act upon other things, of an infinite degree and extent. In short, we believe it axiomatic and self-evident that Spirit not only possesses Infinite Power—all the Power there is—but also that it, itself, is the very Essence of Power.

This Indwelling Power of Spirit, manifesting as Strength, Energy and Force, is called forth, exerted, and applied by Will; and Will, you know, is a manifestation of Life, which in turn is an aspect or mode of Spirit. Accordingly Spiritual Power, in a sense, may be regarded and spoken of as Will Power. In the individual, it is expressed as Personal Will-Power; in the Cosmos, it is expressed as Cosmic Will-Power. In the individual, it is the manifestation and expression of Spirit; in the Cosmos, it is the manifestation and expression of SPIRIT, the Infinite Spirit, or the Totality of Spirit.

Hereafter, when we use the term, “SPIRIT” (in capital letters) we seek to indicate SPIRIT, the Infinite Spiritual Principle, which is the Totality of Spirit, the “Spirit of the Cosmos,” the “World Spirit,” the “Universal Spirit,” as man has been pleased to style it.

It has long been the contention of many philosophers, and of many scientists as well, and of certain theologians of philosophic tendencies, that “All Power is Will-Power, at the last analysis.” Many have interpreted Herbert Spencer’s “Infinite and Eternal Energy” as, essentially, Infinite Will-Power; or, at least, as “acting like Will-Power.” Wherever Power is included or referred to in the Spiritual Philosophy, it means Will-Power of some kind, form, phase, or degree.

Professor Nicholas Murray Butler, says: “A mighty group of modern scientists believe that Matter itself, in its ultimate state, may be analyzed into Energy, which again is explainable only as Will * * * Philosophy interprets in terms of Will, the name for the only Energy that Consciousness knows directly, the Energy which so abundantly manifests itself on every hand, in Nature and in history. * * * * The dominant tendency in Philosophy, powerfully supported by the results of scientific knowing, is that which sees Totality as Energy which is Will.” Professor Fleming says: “In its ultimate essence, Energy may be incomprehensible to us except as an exhibition of the direct operation of that which we call Mind and Will.”

Professor George Trumbull Ladd says: “The modern man of Science, in his use of the principle of Causation, ascribes the event to the action and reaction of various forms of Energy. But where does he get his conception of Energy? Where his warrant for applying the conception to the behavior of physical things? As those most skillful in psychological analysis are pretty nearly unanimous in holding, the conception comes from his experience with himself as Will. His acts of Will are often, if not customarily, accompanied with ‘the feeling of effort,’ and they are followed by important changes in his own bodily organism and in the things which environ him, so far as they are in suitable relations with that organism. * * * * * Things, so far as they are separate and individual, are endowed by modern Science with Wills of their own. So far as they influence one another, they are recognized as having a certain regard for each other’s Wills. So far as they constitute one great system, a universe of things, they are esteemed as being under the control of one Will.”

Other writers and teachers have pointed out the fact that Science, under the hypothesis of Materialism, is utterly unable to explain and account for the Perpetual Motion manifested in the Cosmos. They hold that under such hypothesis it would follow that the Cosmos, at some point in Eternity, would come to a standstill, a “dead-centre,” a state of being “run down” like a clock. Likewise, they hold that under that hypothesis it could never have been “wound up,” or “set a-going.” Here Theology scores a possible point, with its offer to supply the Hand that “wound it up,” and “the Finger that set it a-going.”

But Philosophy and Science have another explanation, namely, that of the operation of an Infinite Will-Power—an Infinite Self-Activity—which is inexhaustible and self-renewing, and which is capable of changing the direction of its activity under the influence of the Living Consciousness with which it is associated. Such a Cosmic Self-Activity or Will-Power, could “unwind” as well as “wind-up”—it could “set a-going,” “keep a-going,” and change the direction of the “going,” at will, by its own Living Will-Power.

The Material Energy, or Pure Force of the new Materialism is admittedly a Non-Living Blind Force. Just as the old Materialism was wont to regard the universe of things as “the fortuitous concourse of atoms” (“fortuitous” meaning “happening by chance, incidental, accidental”; “concourse” meaning “a coming together or gathering or meeting”), so this Non-Living Blind Force must be regarded as a “Fortuitous Process or Happening.” In either cage, the element of “Chance” is involved in the conception; this, notwithstanding that nothing in Science is more firmly asserted than that “Everything proceeds according to Law and Order; there is no such thing as Blind Chance.” The Non-Spiritual Power conception fails utterly to explain or account for the Combining, Correlating, Coordinating Agency discovered to be ever present and ever active in Nature. Law, Order, and System can result only from the Power of Living Mind and Will; and as these are found to be omnipresent in Nature, the conclusion that there must be Living Mind and Will present and active in Nature’s Processes is unescapable. Intellect so reports; and Intuition positively insists upon its truth.

Spiritual Philosophy, on the other hand, asserts that “All Power is Will-Power”—the Will-Power of the Living SPIRIT. Even the purely material forces are regarded by it as phases or forms of this Will-Power. If the atoms and particles of Matter be “ensouled” with the elements of Sentience and of Will, as Haeckel and others positively assert, then the aggregations of these atoms and particles must also be so “ensouled.” If the “attractions and repulsions” of the particles of Matter be evidences of “likes and dislikes” and the response of Will thereto, then a like explanation is logical also in the case of the “attractions and repulsions” of masses of Matter. As most of the manifestations of Physical Power are seen to result from Attraction and Repulsion of particles or masses of Matter, the logical conclusion is obvious. Likewise, the same conclusion is inevitable in the case of the Atomic Attraction and Repulsion which result in “chemical affinity,” and its opposite, which constitute the reason and cause of chemical processes and changes.

That Life has force, power, energy, you know from your own observation and experience. You have seen the “moving power” of growing plants, tree-roots, etc. Life-Power raises the giant redwood trees far above the ground, using Gravitation as a lever—as a something with which to press back or to “kick backward.” Life-Power in the growing tree-trunks splits apart solid rock. Life-Power in the growing giant-mushroom raises and cracks heavy concrete pavements. All this Life-Power is Living Will-Power. Great thinkers believe that the Power of Gravitation, and of Electricity, and all the other great forms of Natural Power, are Living Will-Power in some form or phase of manifestation and expression. Natural Power so interpreted becomes something far more understandable than when interpreted as Blind Force. You can understand it far better in this way, because it seems so much more like yourself—more in accordance with the Life-Power manifesting in and by yourself.

Self-Motion is explainable in terms and concepts of Living Will-Power—in fact, it is explainable and understandable under no other interpretation. As we have seen in the foregoing instruction, the very idea of Energy arose in the human mind only because man had first experienced Will-Power present and active in himself. Energy means “En-ergy”—“In-Force”: these being ideas derived from actual experience with Will-Power. Will-Power is Self-Activity, Spontaneity, the Power Within! You send a current of Will-Power to your arm, and it moves. You bend your finger—a most stupendous task, when you come to consider it carefully. The apparent simplicity of the task and your familiarity with it causes you to overlook its significance and importance—you take it for granted, whereas it requires the highest degree and quality of explanation to be really understandable. Only the greatest minds are able to appreciate the almost inconceivable wonder of this small, familiar action.

Edison, one of the greatest minds of our times, has shown his appreciation of this fact in his account of his interview with Du Bois-Reymond, another great scientist. Here is Edison’s account of it: “When I was in Berlin, I met Du Bois-Reymond. Wagging the end of my finger, I said to him: ‘What is that?’ He said he didn’t know; that investigators had been for twenty-five hundred years trying to find that out. If anybody could tell him what wagged that finger, the problem of Life would be solved. * * * Nature is a perpetual motion machine; and perpetual motion implies a sustaining and impelling force.” Nicholas Murray Butler also holds that the perpetual motion of Nature is accountable and explainable only under the hypothesis of a Cosmic Living Will-Power.

Think of what your own Will-Power does, has done, and can do: then raise that idea of Will-Power to Infinity, and consider whether or not it would then be capable of “running the machinery of the Cosmos”; or performing the office of Creative Power, and of Coordinative Agent. What does your Intellect report? What does your Intuition insist upon? Is not this notion clearer and more understandable, more thinkable, more conceivable, more reasonable than is that of this great work being performed by Blind Non-living Power, Force, or Energy? What is the report of your entire mental and spiritual nature concerning this—of your intellectual, intuitional, emotional, aesthetic, ethical, and religious nature? As Professor Browne, was wont to say: “No one can understand the history of this belief without taking all these grounds and factors into consideration.”

“But,” objects the ancient Materialism, and its offspring, Material Energism, “How can we conceive of Spirit as creating material forms—building up hard rock and crystals, hard metals and solid substances—solid, firm, hard Matter?” Let us answer in the proverbial Hibernian way, which is also the Socratic method, i. e., by asking another question. Let us ask the Materialist or the Material Energist: “How does your Pure Force or Material Energy create this ‘solid, firm, hard Matter’?”

They answer: “By creating ‘vortex rings’ or ‘centres of disturbance’ in the Ether or Ultimate State of Matter; Force or Energy ‘work up’ these into more solid forms, states and conditions of Matter, into electrons, into atoms, into molecules, into masses—into radiant-matter, into gases, into fluids, into solids, the difference between which states is merely a matter of degree of vibration and of the relative distances between particles. The hard block of steel is but ‘congealed gas,’ or even but ‘worked up’ electrons or etheric vortex rings or ‘centres of disturbance.’ This is how Pure Force or Material Energy creates solid, firm, hard Matter!”

We answer, “Well, then, in order to simplify the explanation, let us assume that Pure Spiritual Energy, Force or Power, in its aspect of the Infinite Will-Power of SPIRIT, proceeds just as you claim that Pure Force or Material Energy does. Let us assume that this Infinite Will-Power begins its work by creating ‘vortex rings’ or ‘centres of disturbance’ in the Etheric Substance which we assume to be the Ultimate State of Material Substance; then proceeding to ‘work up’ these into electrons, atoms, molecules, masses—into radiant-matter, gases, fluids, solids—by means of vibration and mutual and reciprocal attraction and repulsion. Don’t you think that our Infinite Living Will-Power is quite as capable of performing this work, in just this way, as is your Non-Living Energy and Blind Force? Don’t you think that it might perform it even more easily, and more effectively, in view of the fact that it has Infinite Mind to guide and direct it, whereas your Material Energy or Pure Force is Lifeless and Mindless, and must ‘go it blindly,’ by mere Chance instead of by Mental Rule?”

We might then point out that Life-Power is no novice at the task of building-up “solid substance.” To realize this, you have but to remember that Life-Power manufactures the hard ivory-tusk and teeth of the elephant; the hard vegetable-ivory nut; the weapon of the sword-fish; the horns of the ox; the hard, firm, solid block of ebony, mahogany, rosewood, teak-wood, hickory, or oak. Has the Blind Pure Force or Material Energy any better products to its credit than these. There is a bone in the human body of which it is said that even the hottest coal fire will not reduce to ashes—even a fire that will melt the hardest metals; Life-Power produced this hard bone from the elements of the food of the human being. Do you not think that, given the basic materials, it could likewise produce flint, granite, the diamond or steel, in the same way, under the proper conditions? In fact, in the light of the dawning knowledge of the “livingness” manifested in the processes of crystallization, Life-Power is already seen to be doing just this kind of work.

The elements of Life and Mind superimposed upon Energy, Force and Power surely do not rob the latter of their power and potency, their effectiveness and their capacities. Rather, it would seem that any thoughtful intelligence would perceive that such would be a most desirable addition to the concept, serving to give it a sense and meaning which it had lacked previously. Think over this; “intuit” it for a few moments; and you will get your answer—and we feel assured that we know just what that answer will be. When you have once “caught the spirit” of the idea of Infinite Will-Power you will resent the suggestion of Infinite Blind Force as an insult to your intelligence and as an affront to your intuitive powers of mentality.

And, now, let us ask you to submit this matter of the ultimate character and nature of Ultimate Power to an unusual test—to a test devised by certain Oriental sages many centuries ago—several thousand years ago, in fact. These ancient sages reasoned among themselves as follows: “If there be an Ultimate and Essential Energy, Force, or Power in Nature, then such must abide and be present in every individual thing in Nature—at the very core and kernel of the being of such thing. If it is to be found at all, it will be found there.” And, so, they proceeded to search for its presence in all things—at the very core and kernel of all things.

First, they discovered that they could find evidences of it in the actions of every living thing, and of many things previously deemed to be non-living. Everything was perceived to act spontaneously, at times, thus manifesting a Self-Activity which was, at least, “something like Will-Action.” But this was merely the observation of actions, and the judgment upon their source; while satisfying in a way, and to a degree, it was not conclusive nor absolutely convincing. Then, said the sages, “Let us look within ourselves: if IT is everywhere, IT must be there at the centre, core, or kernel of our own being.” And so they looked within themselves for IT.”

And, lo! at the centre, core, and kernel of the soul of each of themselves was found a Something or Somewhat which was possessed of the power of Self-Activity, Self-Motion, Spontaneity—this was what they called Will-Power. When they questioned this Abiding Power, they found that it was Living and Conscious. They asked it who it was; and it answered, “I AM I!” They asked it what it was; and it answered, “I Am THAT I Am!” They tried to separate it from themselves, but it could not be separated from its owner, even in thought. Then, said the wise men: “We have found THAT which is at the kernel, core and centre of all things; and have found it to be the Living Will of the Spirit—that SPIRIT which is the Self of all things, and of the Totality of Things as well.”

Make this test for yourself, by yourself, upon yourself. Perhaps you will find what the ancient oriental wise men found. In fact, we are sure that you will do so. And having found this, you will have found a Great Secret of Nature, of Life, of Being, of Power.

Creator and Creation

In this instruction it is held that the Cosmos is continuously undergoing the process of Creative Evolution, or Progressive Creation—a process without beginning, without interruption, without ending. This is the view accepted by the best scientific, philosophic, and theological thought of the present day—and of the best thought in these fields in the past, as well. Worlds appear, continue in existence for a time, then disappear, to be succeeded by other worlds composed of the same Fundamental Substance and energized by the same Actuating Power. Cosmic Creation is conceived as constituting an Infinite Cycle of Cycles. The Creative Spirit is Eternal; the Creative Substance is Eternal; the Creative Activity is Eternal: this is the report of the best thought of all times, all lands, all peoples.

Creation—the Process of Creation—results from the action and reaction, the coordination and correlation, of the Positive Creative Principle, i. e., Creative Spirit, and the Negative Creative Principle, i. e., Creative Material Substance. Positive Spirit plays upon Negative Matter, energizing it and stirring it into activity, working upon it and “working it up” into forms and conditions more and still more complex and intricate, through the Creative Process of Change and Becoming. Creation has its minor and major cycles, its tides, its ebb and flow; but the Creative Process as a whole is held to be continuous, constant, uninterrupted, endless—coequal in Eternity with the Positive and Negative Principles which manifest it.

“But,” you may ask us, “Where is God to be found in Creation? Has He no place in the Creative Process?” In answering this question, we are mindful of our promise not to invade the field of Theology any more than is actually necessary. Theology is “The Science of God and of religion, which treats of the existence, character, attributes and works of God.” Therefore, we prefer that you obtain your Theology from the authorized sources and founts.

We feel that there is nothing in the present instruction, however, to conflict with any sound, rational theological view; on the contrary, we believe that in this instruction such views will find an earnest and staunch support. This instruction is not designed, nor is it desired, to supplant Theology or your own particular theological views; we see no difficulty in the reconciliation of our own teachings with those which you have received from the authorized theological founts.

But, nevertheless, we feel that we would be leaving something unsaid were we to neglect to point out to you certain important implications of our teaching, although in doing so we may seem to be invading the realm of theological thought—at least to the extent of setting our foot over the borderline. Accordingly, we shall ask you to consider the following logical deductions from the premises previously set forth in the present instruction.

First, we ask you to remember that all theological teachings inform you that “God is Spirit.” If this be so (and you cannot conceive that God is Matter), then God must be found in SPIRIT, if He is to be found at all by you. But where should He be looked for in SPIRIT? Let us answer you in the Hibernian (or Socratic) fashion, by asking you the question: “Where are YOU—Yourself—found in that real essence of your being which you know to be Spirit?” You must answer: “At the very centre, core, or kernel of my spiritual being.”

Then we ask you: “What does this Self report that it is, when you ask it the question?” Comes your answer: “It says, first of all, ‘I’; then it says, ‘I AM!’, then it says, ‘I AM I!’ and, when pressed for its final answer, it says ‘I Am THAT I Am!’ and I understand that by ‘THAT’ it means Pure Spirit.”

Then we ask, once more: “What has the God you believe in answered, when asked who and what He was?” You answer: “He said merely, ‘I Am THAT I Am!’”

Then we say to you: “You, yourself, have answered the question that you had asked of us, namely, the question, ‘Where is God to be found? Has He no place in the Cosmos?’ He has a place in the Cosmos; and you have found that place. That place is at the very centre, core, or kernel of SPIRIT. Your Spirit is the Microcosm; SPIRIT is the Macrocosm! Remember the ancient Hermetic Axiom: ‘As Above, so Below; as Within, so Without; as the Great, so the Small!’ God (by whatever name He may be called, or even when He is given no name) is the ‘I’ the ‘I AM,’ the ‘I AM I,’ the Self of SPIRIT; and He says all that He can possibly say concerning His nature when He announces: ‘I Am THAT I Am!’”

If, in spite of our desire to keep out of the field of Theology, you still insist upon another answer—the answer to the question, “Is God Personal or Impersonal Spirit?”—we feel justified in answering: “If by Impersonal, you mean a Being infinitely transcending the limitations of finite personal existence as we know it, then we must say that, in our opinion. God is Impersonal. But if by Personal you mean a Being possessed of the attribute of Self-Consciousness, and capable of the consciousness of ‘I AM,’ ‘I AM I,’ or ‘I Am THAT I Am!’—then, in our opinion such a Being properly may be regarded as Personal.”

Further than this we shall not go in our statements concerning Theology. Frankly, we feel that you should be able to work out the balance of the problem for yourself, aided by the theological teachings which are acceptable to both Intellect or Intuition—to Completed Reason, as we have defined it. An ancient Oriental teacher once said: “It is not enough that men believe in God; they must get God!” We add: “Men get God through the medium of the Something Within themselves— the indwelling Spirit. If God is the Essential Entity of SPIRIT, and if the Spirit within you is a focal point or centre of expression of SPIRIT, then God must be within your Spirit just as He is within the SPIRIT of the Universe. And if He is there—within your Spirit—surely you should be able to find Him, and to ‘get God,’ as the old sage said. We can but point the way; you must travel the road.”

SPIRIT (and THAT which is “the Self of SPIRIT”) is not only Infinity of Being—in Existence Everywhere—but is also the Indwelling Spirit which abides within yourself, and which is the Ultimate Reality, or Real Self, of your individuality. In your contemplation of the Infinity of Outside Existence, do not ignore the Something Within yourself. All is in the ALL; and the ALL is in All. You cannot escape beyond the realm of Infinite SPIRIT; but equally true is it that SPIRIT cannot escape from existence within YOU! IT is in You, as truly as You are in IT! In this last statement is contained the essence of the Great Truth of the Inner Teachings of all philosophies and all religions; when you master this Truth, you will know “that which when known all is known.” Strive to “catch its spirit.”

Let us here ask you to read and consider the following significant, though somewhat whimsical lines of an unknown writer:

“Thou great Eternal Infinite, the great Unbounded Whole;

Whose Body is the Universe; whose Spirit is its Soul!

If Thou dost fill Immensity; if Thou art All-in-All;

Then I must be within Thyself, or not be Here at all.

“How could I live outside of Thee, when Thou fill earth and air?

There surely is no place for me outside of Everywhere!

If Thou art God, and Thou dost fill Infinity of Space,

Then I’m in God, think as men will, or else I have no place.

“And if I have no place in Thee; and if I am not There;

Where can I be, where could I dwell, and still not be Somewhere?

Then I must be a part of Thee, no matter if I’m small;

For if I’m not a part of God, there’s no such God at all!”

The concept of Indwelling Deity is not a new one in philosophical and theological thought; indeed, it is one of the oldest philosophical beliefs, and it appears very early in the theological thought of practically all religions. Technically, it is known as the doctrine of “Immanence” (from the Latin term “immanere,” meaning “remaining within”). The Encyclopaedia Brittanica (Eleventh Edition), in its article upon Immanence says:

“Immanence, in philosophy and theology, is a term applied (in contradistinction to ‘transcendence’) to the fact or condition of being entirely within something. Its most important use is for the theological conception of God as existing in and throughout the created world, as opposed, for example, to Deism, which conceives Him as separate from and above the universe. * * * It should be observed that the Immanence doctrine need not preclude the belief in the transcendence of God; thus God may be regarded as above the world (transcendent) and at the same time as present in and pervading it (immanent). * * *

“The conception of God as wholly external to man, a purely mechanical theory of the creation, is throughout Christendom regarded as false to the teaching of the New Testament, as also to Christian experience. The contrary view has gained ground in some quarters so far as to postulate a divine element in human beings, so definitely bridging over the gap between finite and infinite which was to some extent admitted by the bulk of early Christian teachers. The development of the Immanence theory of God has coincided with the deeper recognition of the essentially spiritual nature of Deity as contrasted with the older semi-pagan conception, found very largely in the Old Testament, of God as primarily a mighty ruler, obedience to whom is comparable with that of a subject to an absolute monarch.”

Modern philosophical, theological and metaphysical thought has inclined strongly toward the general doctrine of Immanence, and the influence of this general idea is manifest in practically all recent discussion and writing upon the subject. Professor William James expresses this fact in the following statement contained in one of his works:

“Those of us who are sexagenarians have witnessed in our own persons one of those gradual mutations of intellectual climate, due to innumerable influences, that make the thought of a past generation seem as foreign to its successor as if it were the expression of a different race of men. The theological machinery that spoke so livingly to our ancestors, with its finite age of the world, its creation out of nothing, its judicial morality and eschatology, its relish for rewards and punishments, its treatment of God as an external contriver, an ‘intelligent and moral governor,’ sounds as odd to most of us as if it were some outlandish savage religion. * * * Our contemporary mind having once for all grasped the possibility of a more intimate ‘weltanschauung,’ the only opinion quite worthy of arresting our attention will fall within the general scope of what may roughly be called the pantheistic field of vision, the vision of God as the indwelling divine rather than the external creator, and of human life as part and parcel of that deep reality.”

Several years ago, a writer in one of the leading magazines presented a series of articles in which he set forth that which his investigations had revealed to be the dominant principles of the philosophical and theological teaching of our great universities. The following passage is quoted from one of the articles of the series; it correctly represents the modern tendency of thought along these lines:

“Now that man has discovered that there resides in his nature a spirit or energy that is divine, the colleges say that he can summon it to work his will. The potency and future operation of this spiritual force no man can compute. Science has found a way through psychology to God; the opportunities for the race, through invoking in the human consciousness the brooding Spirit that fills all space, are absolutely infinite. Science, therefore, is demonstrating along new lines, or at least is claiming to demonstrate, that man is God made manifest. And modern philosophy, as set forth in American universities, holds this incarnation not as a fanciful and merely beautiful ideal, but as a working and understandable principle in the soul of humanity. The professors, therefore, who are digging what they believe to be the graves for dead dogmas, stand as exponents of the teaching that man is the embodiment and conscious expression of the force that guides all life and holds all matter in its course. Man has begun the cycle of that triumphal daring prophesied by ancient seers, and which appealed so potently to the imagination of Poe. Not merely in religious rhetoric, but in reality, the school men say, is man the avatar of God.”

In this connection we also ask you to consider the following excerpts from the remarkable lecture on “The Religion of the Future,” delivered a few years ago by Professor Charles W. Eliot, former President of Harvard University, before the Harvard Summer School of Theology:

“The new thought of God will be its most characteristic element. This ideal will comprehend the Jewish Jehovah, the Christian Universal Father, the modern physicist’s omnipresent and exhaustless Energy, and the biological conception of a Vital Force. The Infinite Spirit pervades the universe, just as the spirit of a man pervades his body, and acts, consciously or unconsciously, in every atom of it. The twentieth century will accept literally and implicitly St. Paul’s statement, ‘In Him we live, and move, and have our being,’ and God is that vital atmosphere, or incessant inspiration.

“The new religion is therefore thoroughly monotheistic, its God being the one infinite force; but this one God is not withdrawn or removed, but indwelling and especially dwelling in every living creature. * * * The scientific doctrine is that there is one omnipresent, eternal Energy, informing and inspiring the whole creation at every instant of time, and throughout the infinite spaces. * * * The doctrine of God’s Immanence is inconsistent with the conception that He set the universe a-going, and then withdrew, leaving the universe to be operated under physical laws, which were His vice-regents or substitutes. If God is thoroughly immanent in the entire creation, there can be no ‘secondary causes,’ in either the material or the spiritual universe.”

The contemplation of the concept of the Indwelling Spirit— the Immanence of Divinity—tends to bring the individual into the feeling and consciousness of his Underlying Unity with the Ultimate Source of Being. He then realizes in his own consciousness the fact that, as the poet has expressed it:

“The ALL is one, and all are part, But not apart as they seem to be; And the Blood of Life has a single heart, Pulsing through God, and clod, and Me.”

In the spirit of this new conception of the relation between the Infinite SPIRIT and the individual Spirit, we ask you to consider carefully the following wonderful statement of Professor Josiah Royce, of Harvard, that eminent philosopher and teacher of philosophical truth:

“The Infinite Self, in the very least of the daily experiences, is known to you as something Present. This is the deepest tragedy of our finitude, that continually he comes to his own, and his own receive him not; that he becomes flesh in every least incident of our lives, whilst we, gazing with wonder upon his world, search here and there for first causes, look for miracles, and beg him to show us the Father, since that alone will suffice us. No wonder that we remain agnostics. ‘Hast thou been so long time with me, and yet hast not known me?’ Such is the eternal answer of the Logos to every doubting question. Seek him not as an outer hypothesis to explain experience. Seek him not anywhere yonder in the clouds. All experience contains him. He is the reality, the soul of it. * * * If we have the true insight of the deeper idealism, we can turn from our chaos to him, who is our true and divine self, and can hear from him with absolute assurance this one word: ‘O ye who despair, I grieve in you. Your sorrow is mine. No pang of your finitude but is mine too. I suffer it all, for all things are mine; I bear it, and yet I triumph!’ This word of the Self, I say, we can be sure of, for it is the one final word of our whole philosophic thought.”

Some philosophers hold that the Creative Power is wholly and completely involved in its Creation. Others hold that only a part or portion of the Creative Power is involved in its Creation. Some of the Oriental schools, in fact, hold that “only an infinitesimal portion of the Infinite Being is involved in or concerned with the Manifestation of Creation.”

Again, some schools hold that the Creative Spirit enters into and pervades the Material Substance as salt enters into and pervades the water of the ocean. Others hold that the action of the Creative Spirit upon the Material Substance is akin to that of the magnet upon a mass of steel-filings, i. e., by induction—the magnetic emanation being held to “ensoul” the tiny particles of steel, causing them to take form and manifest motion, just as Spirit so “ensouls” the Material Substance with similar results.

Others employ the symbol of the Sun of Spirit shining upon the surface of the great Ocean of Material Substance, and being reflected from its face. The Sun is regarded as penetrating the Ocean by means of its emanated rays: being reflected from any point of its surface: and causing motion and surface-manifestations of form in the superficial portion of the great body of water. In this view, it is held that the Sun of Spirit, in itself, never actually “enters into” the Material Substance— merely its emanated rays “enter into” the latter, there “working upon” and “working up” the material stuff, thus creating forms and activities, and manifesting the Process of Becoming.

Carrying still further this symbolic illustration of the Sun and the Ocean, it is shown that the Sun continually causes portions of the water of the Ocean to rise upward in the form of vapor; this vapor, condensing, then falls upon the Ocean in the form of rain or dew. Here attention is called to the fact that in every falling raindrop, or dewdrop, as in the Ocean itself, there is ever reflected the image and form of the Sun. Each drop has its Sun, its light, its radiance! Each drop is as a miniature Ocean, in this respect. The Sun’s reflection appears in the great Ocean, and in every tiny raindrop or dewdrop—yet the Sun itself ever remains over and above all, though its emanations are ever in all.

Thus by the symbol of Sun and Ocean is explained the nature of the Presence-Power of Spirit in the Material Substance. Thus is illustrated the Transcendence and the Immanence of the Creative Presence-Power. It is a wonderfully effective symbolic illustration—one worthy of respect, whether or not it is accepted as properly and fully representing the Truth. You will find that it will “grow upon you” as you consider it—it will “stick in your mind” like the burrs in the wool of the sheep. The Sun has always been a favorite symbol for the Supreme Power or the Supreme Being; it seems to appeal powerfully to the religious emotional nature, the poetic imagination, and the philosophical intuition of man. Perhaps Intuition recognizes it as the most appropriate and most fitting symbol of a Truth that can be expressed only by means of symbols.

Just as the mind of man has ever speculated concerning the “How” of Creation, so has it sought earnestly for an explanation of the “Why” of Creation. In all developed philosophic, metaphysical, and theological thought there is found at least an attempt to answer the question: “Why did the Supreme Power create the universe?” In some cases there is found the attempt to dismiss the subject as part of the Great Mystery— something beyond the knowledge or thought of man; but even in such cases there is usually found an attempt at some kind of explanation.

Many of these so—called explanations are so crudely anthropomorphic—so evidently the naive answers of childlike minds—that they require no serious philosophical consideration or discussion. Those who originated them certainly lacked the philosophic imagination.

Of these would-be explanations, some merely offend the intelligence of the thinker; as, for instance, the statement that “He desired to be worshiped and glorified, and so He created beings to worship Him and sing His praises.”

Others offend the heart of man, as well as his intellect; as, for instance, the idea that the Cosmos is merely an amusement-affording Moving Picture Show, operated by God in order to serve as “the Pastime of Eternity”; or, again, the idea that Life is but a great Game played by God, with his creatures as the pieces, or as the ball—a Game played by Him for the purpose of exhibiting His own Infinite Power, or, perhaps, for the purpose of defeating an imagined Bogey. Intuition revolts at such ideas: it knows that there must be an Infinite Rational Meaning attached to the Infinite Manifestation of the Infinite Presence-Power. Nothing less than this will satisfy the needs of Intuition.

Far more satisfying to both Intellect and Intuition is the interpretation furnished by that general philosophical school known as Vitalism. Vitalism, under several names, is well represented in the history of philosophical thought, ancient and modern. Bergson is one of its more prominent modern advocates. Its spirit is expressed in a somewhat unpleasant form by Schopenhauer and his followers. It is also found implicit in the basic teachings of ancient Buddhism. This broad philosophic trend of thought known as Vitalism may be indicated by the following general statement of its basic conception, viz.:

“SPIRIT has its most essential and active attribute in Life or Livingness. The Life Principle of the Universe (which is SPIRIT in one of its aspects), being essentially and characteristically Livingness, naturally finds its normal expression in the activities of Life, through the multitudinous forms of Life which it has created for the purpose of such expression. The expression and manifestation of Life and Livingness constitute the legitimate and natural activity of its essential nature and character. Accordingly, the Life Principle (which is an aspect of SPIRIT) eternally creates the Infinite Series of Universes in order to manifest and express in objective form that essential Livingness which is within itself as the innermost core, kernel and heart of itself. It creates in order that it may ‘live,’ i. e., express its Livingness in objective form. In order to do this, it works upon and ‘works up’ the Universal Material Substance, in order to produce material forms to be animated, energized, and inspired by its living spiritual energy. It creates “bodies” of Material Substance in order to breathe into them ‘The Breath of the Spirit of Life’ and thereafter to live and act in and through them.”

Bergson’s basic concept may be stated as follows: “A Free and Spontaneous Life is the very Essence of the Real. * * * Pushing out from within, seeking expression, Life buds and breaks forth into original creation. The laws of Nature are Life’s habits—its ways of proceeding and doing things. Reality is Pure Creative LIFE; Life fed from within rather than from without. It evolves and creates by means of its own inherent and spontaneous creative power. Life is not static—not something that was once something different—not a past left behind, and a future spread out in front; it is a single, continuous movement, carrying all its past with it and pressing forward into a future which it is forever creating. Evolution is the original impetus of Life—the living act in progress.”

This general conception of the presence and activity of a “Will-to-Live” in Nature is found to pervade many and varied forms of philosophical thought. It exerts a peculiar fascination upon the philosophic mind; the philosopher once falling under its influence rarely ever entirely escapes from it thereafter. The conception is supported by the observable facts concerning the evident presence in Nature of an active principle, energy or force which manifests the characteristics attributed to this hypothetical Will-to-Live. There undoubtedly is a Conative Energy working in and through Nature, which has as its evident end and purpose the manifestation, expression, perpetuation and continuance of Life—of living forms. In fact, the very idea of “Nature” implicitly involves the notion of this element which constantly inspires the natural processes. The instinct of self-preservation, and that of the perpetuation of the species, constitute two of Nature’s strongest and most active forces—in them, the Will-to-Live shows itself most plainly.

The Will-to-Live is found ever at work, striving, endeavoring, seeking and attempting to manifest and express itself in objective actuality and livingness. Its presence is plainly discernible in the germinating seed and the growing plant; in the developing germ, embryo, and young of animal life; in the adaptation of the living creature to its environment, and in its differentiations designed to meet the requirements of changing environments; in the provision for the sustenance, support and survival of the living creature, and the arrangements for the perpetuation of life and livingness in the offspring. When you think and speak of “Nature’s Processes” concerned with living creatures, you are thinking of the manifestation and expression of this Will-to-Live which is one of the aspects of SPIRIT.

Schopenhauer was so impressed with this idea of the Will-to-Live, and found so many evidences of its presence and activities on all sides in Nature, that he felt warranted in postulating it as the most essential element and factor of the World-Spirit which he regarded as being the Creative Agent of the Universe. Indeed, he went so far as to apply to this Creative Spirit, itself, the name of “The Will-to-Live.” The Buddhists, likewise, regard it as the Actuating Energy of the Universe, holding that it, the Will-to-Live, is “the Creator, the Preserver, the Destroyer, of the Universe”; they also regard all forms of Desire or Will as forms, phases, or modes of the activity of this Universal Will-to-Live. Others, in the same spirit, regard the Universal Actuating Energy or Creative Spirit as: “Power with the Desire to act; or Desire with the Power to act: the chief end, aim, purpose, and intention of such action being to manifest Livingness.”

In this consideration of the Creative Spirit as LIFE, however, you must not lose sight of the fact that “Wherever there is Life there is Mind; wherever there is Mind there is Life.” Life and Mind are attributes of Spirit, Life being the more fundamental— Mind being a form of the expression of Life. If the Universe is instinct with Life, then Mind must be involved in its every part. And so it is, as all careful thinkers sooner or later discover.

That Mind is present in the creative processes of the material universe, has ever been evident to thinking, reflective minds. The presence of Law, Order and System is an inevitable, invariable, and infallible indication of the Presence-Power of Living Mind. Law, Order and System are apparent in Nature, on every hand. Strive as we may, we cannot escape from this conviction. Moreover, in the Cosmic Processes there is to be found an invariable Logical Sequence of Cause and Effect—a Pure Logic knowing no exceptions, variations, or contradictions. “This being present, that becomes; this being active, that results,” is the rule of the Cosmic Logic.

A reverent scientist once said that Science is but “A reading by the human mind of the thoughts of the Infinite Mind.” A famous astronomer once said that his work consisted merely of “thinking God’s thoughts after Him.” There must be Mentation involved in Nature’s processes, else the human mind could not read Logical Process in them. Science is based upon the presence and result of this Logic of Nature. Logic, however, is impossible and inconceivable without the premise of a Logical Mind; and Mind is impossible and inconceivable without the premise of Life. Nature, being what it is, must be the manifestation of Living Mind!

And so, then, we have discovered that the Cosmos, the Universe, the World in which “we live and move and have our being,” is the Creative Activity of an Infinite and Eternal living SPIRIT, from which all things flow and proceed, and of which all things are forms of manifestation and expression. YOU, the individual who is reading these lines, You are a focal point or centre of the manifestation of Life, Mind, Will, in that World of Manifestation and Expression. You are the Microcosm, corresponding in nature and essence with the Macrocosm of which you are the focal point of expression. You partake of ITS nature and being; you are like unto IT in spirit; you are made in ITS spiritual image. Like IT, you possess the Creative Spirit, and you are manifesting (to a greater or less extent) the activities of Creation in your everyday life.

The individual spirit, which is You, is constantly at work manifesting its Creative Power, playing upon Material Substance, working upon and “working up” this Plastic Medium by the power of your Will. You have been doing this work chiefly unconsciously, instinctively, unaware of the source of your power, uninformed as to the methods of effectively employing this great Creative Power within you. You will see at once that if you can but open up a more direct channel of communication with the Infinite Fount of Power, then you may partake of a greater share of that Creative Power.

The Spiritual Creative Power is available to you. You may secure its services and employ them in the tasks and work of your everyday life, and toward the attainment of your ideals. You, the individual Creative Spirit, are entitled by your birthright to claim and demand the aid and assistance of the Infinite and Eternal SPIRIT in which you live and move and have your being, and from which your life and power proceed and flow. You have the natural and inalienable right to draw upon the Infinite Fount of Creative Power, and to apply that power through your own creative channels. Let us carry this thought with us into our study of the next section of this book.

Unison with Infinity

The esoteric or inner teachings of many schools of ancient and modern mysticism and occultism, of oriental and occidental lands, under many names and guises, have inevitably, invariably, and infallibly pointed to a supreme end to be gained by the student of the inner doctrine or ancient wisdom of the sages. That supreme end may be called “Unison with Infinity,” or conscious contact and attunement with the Infinite Spiritual Principle of Life, Consciousness, Power.

The essential spirit and essence of this Inner teaching is expressed in the statement of The Message of Truth, as announced in one form or another by the great spiritual giants and illumined teachers of the past and the present, of all lands and peoples, of all great religions. To the Message of Truth the truly wise listen; they commit it to memory, and make it the essential and basic fact of their mental and spiritual life. Hearken ye to it. Ponder over it. Analyze it. Dissect it. Subject it to mental mastication, mental rumination, mental digestion, mental assimilation. Return to it again and again you make it your very own.

The Message of Truth

“You, yourself, in your essential and real being, nature and entity, are Spirit and naught but Spirit—in and of SPIRIT; spiritual and not material. Matter, in any and all of its forms, is your instrument of expression—the stuff created for your use and service in your expression of Life, Mind and Will. It is your servant—not your master, you condition, limit and form it—not it you, you fashion it—not it you, when you recognize and realize your true and real nature, and awaken to a perception of your real relation to SPIRIT and of its relation to you.

“The report of SPIRIT, received by its accredited individual centres of expression, and by them transmitted to you, is this: ‘In the degree that you perceive, recognize and realize your essential identity with ME, the Supreme Presence-Power, the Ultimate Reality, in that degree will you receive and be able to manifest My Spiritual Power. I AM over and above you, under and beneath you, I surround you on all sides; I AM also within you, and you are in Me—from Me you proceed, and in Me you live, and move and have your being. Seek Me by looking within your own being, and likewise by looking for Me in Infinity, for I abide both Within and Without your being. If, and when, you will adopt and live according to this Truth, then will you be able to manifest that Truth—in and by it alone are Freedom and Invincibility, and true and real Presence and Power to be found, perceived, realized and manifested.’”

The Message of Truth informs you that you must “perceive, recognize and realize” your essential identity with the Infinite Presence-Power, in order to be able to manifest that Spiritual Power. This “perception, recognition, realization” is experienced in Completed Reason, i. e., by combined and coordinated Intellect and Intuition. In the foregoing instruction we have sought to awaken the intellectual perception, recognition and realization. We trust that we have succeeded in doing so.

The intuitional perception, recognition and realization differ from the intellectual achievement, inasmuch as Intuition does not need to be taught—it already knows; all that is required here is to awaken in Intuition the fact of its own knowing, so that it may pass down to the field of Intellect its report. This awakening may be effected in two ways, ‘Viz., (1) by considering the reports of the experience of those illumined souls who have preceded you on the Path of Attainment, and who have left behind them a record of their spiritual experiences; (2) by cultivating the actual spiritual “contact” between your individual spirit and the Universal Spirit, thus coming into actual unison and attunement with the latter.

The contemplation and sympathetic reception of the reports of the great spiritual leaders of the race, those illumined souls who have reached the mountain-top of Spiritual Wisdom and Spiritual Consciousness, will serve to set up in your soul a degree and quality of spiritual vibration which will be sufficient to induce a responsive unison and attunement with the Infinite Spiritual Principle—the Infinite Oversoul. In reading the words of such reports you will often actually “catch the spirit” of their writers, and enter the same plane of spiritual consciousness upon which their writers dwelt at the time of their writing, and from which their messages were delivered.

For this reason we ask you to consider the following quotations from “The Oversoul,” that remarkable essay of Emerson. It is written from one of the highest planes of Spiritual Consciousness, and its words and lines are saturated with the highest quality of spiritual vibrations; it is practically certain to awaken a responsive note in the soul that comes in sympathetic contact with it. Here follow the quotations:

“The heart which abandons itself to the Supreme Mind finds itself related to all its works, and will travel a royal road to particular knowledge and powers. For in ascending to this primary and aboriginal sentiment we have come from our remote station on the circumference instantaneously to the centre of the world where we see causes, and anticipate the universe, which is but a slow effect. This communication is an influx of the Divine Mind into our mind. It is an ebb of the individual rivulet before the flowing surges of the sea of Life.”

“Every distinct apprehension of this central commandment agitates men with awe and delight. A thrill passes through all men at the reception of a new truth, or at the performance of a great action which comes out of the heart of nature. In these communications the power to see is not separated from the will to do, but the insight proceeds from obedience, and the obedience proceeds from a joyful perception. Every moment when the individual feels himself invaded by it, is memorable. Always, I believe, by the necessity of our constitution, a certain enthusiasm attends the individual consciousness of the Divine Presence. The character and duration of this enthusiasm varies with the state of the individual.”

“There are varying forms of that shudder or awe and delight with which the individual soul always mingles with the universal soul. The nature of these revelations is always the same; they are perceptions of the absolute law. They are solutions of the soul’s own questions. They do not answer the questions which the understanding asks. The soul answers never by words, but by the thing itself that is inquired after. Behold, it saith, I am born into the great, the universal mind. I, the imperfect, adore my own Perfect. I am somehow receptive to the great soul, and thereby do I overlook the sun and the stars and feel them to be but the fair accidents and effects which change and pass. More and more the surges of everlasting nature enter into me, and I become public and human in my regards and actions. So I come to live in thoughts, and to act with energies which are immortal.”

Does this idea of drawing to yourself the inspiration and illumination of the Infinite Spirit seem presumptuous, irreverent, forbidden to your will? If so, turn to your own favored book of religious authority, whatever it may be, Jewish, Christian, Mohammedan, Brahman, Buddhist, Zoroastrian—it matters not which, for each and all of them carry the Message of Truth in some form—and you will find there the invitation to ask, and the promise to furnish, the intuitional, inspirational, and illuminating messages of Truth—of help, strength, aid, and comfort—in the hours of need. For instance: “If any man need wisdom, let him ask of God”; also, “Before they call, I will answer, and while I am speaking they will hear”; also, “Ask and ye shall receive”; and, “Knock and it shall be opened unto you.” The invitation always is there; the promise of fulfillment always accompanies it.

Next, we offer for your sympathetic consideration the following quotations from a little esoteric manual, highly esteemed by many, and which some believe to have been inspired by high spiritual authority; the manual is known as “Light on the Path,” and its words were written down by Mabel Collins. Its quality speaks for itself in the following lines culled from its great wealth of the Inner Teachings:

“Seek it (the Truth) by plunging into the mysterious and glorious depths of your own inmost being. Seek it by testing all experience, by utilizing the senses, in order to understand the growth and meaning of individuality, and the beauty and obscurity of those other divine fragments which are struggling side by side with you, and form the race to which you belong. Seek it (the Truth) by the study of the laws of being, the laws of nature, the laws of the supernatural; and seek it by making the profound obeisance of the soul to the dim star that burns within. Steadily, as you watch and worship, its light will grow stronger. Then you will know that you have found the beginning of the way. And, when you have found the end, its light will suddenly become the Infinite Light.”

“To have seen thy soul in its bloom, is to have obtained a momentary glimpse in thyself of the transfiguration which shall eventually make thee more than man; to recognize, is to achieve the great task of gazing into the blazing light without dropping the eyes, and not falling back in terror as before some ghastly phantom. This happens to some; and so, when the victory is all but won, it is lost. * * * Then will come a calm, such as comes in a tropical country after a heavy rain, when nature works so swiftly that one may see her action. Such a calm will come to the harassed spirit. And, in the deep silence, the mysterious event will occur which will prove that the way has been found.”

“Again and again the battle must be fought and won. It is only for an interval that nature can be still. * * * But to learn is impossible until the first great battle has been won. The mind may recognize truth, but the spirit cannot receive it. Once having passed through the storm, and attained its peace, it is then always possible to learn, even though the disciple waver, hesitate, and turn aside. The Voice of the Silence remains within him; and though he leave the path utterly, yet it will resound, and rend him asunder, and separate his passions from his divine possibilities. Then, with pain and desperate cries from the deserted lower self, he will return.”

“Only fragments of the great song come to your ears while you are but man. But listen to it, remember it faithfully, so that none which has reached you is lost; and endeavor to learn from it the mystery which surrounds you. In time you will need no teacher. For as the individual has voice, so has that in which the individual exists. Life itself has speech and is never silent. And its utterance is not, as you that are deaf may suppose, a cry: it is a song. * * * Listen to the song of life. Store in your memory the melody you hear. Learn from it the lesson of harmony. * * * Look for it, and listen to it, first in your own heart. At first you may say that it is not there; when I search I find only discord. Look deeper. If again you are disappointed, pause, and look deeper again. There is a natural melody, an obscure fount, in every heart. It may be hidden over and utterly concealed and silenced.—but it is there. At the very base of your nature, you will find faith, hope, and love. Look for it there.”

We shall not attempt to explain or to comment upon the inspired statements above presented to you. They will become more and more apparent to you as you ponder over them. The study of and meditation over them will open your spiritual ears, and make keen your spiritual hearing. Enough to say that the song, the hidden melody, is the Song of the Soul—the harmonious Voice of the Spirit Within, which speaks without words: it is the Voice of the Silence which chants, “I dwelleth within thee, just as thou dwellest within Me; the Kingdom of Heaven is within thee, just as thou art in the Kingdom of Heaven of SPIRIT—of THAT which I AM!”

SPIRIT abides within its Creation—within YOU, just as you are present in your thoughts, your ideas, your will-actions, and your life-processes. It wells up in your Spiritual Consciousness; and when your ears are properly attuned to its high vibrations, you will catch occasional notes of its great Song of Infinite Life. Blessed is he who is able to so still the sounds of the phenomenal world that his ears may receive the notes of the Voice of the Silence—to catch the rhythms of the Soundless Sound of the Infinite Harmony!

By cultivating actual spiritual “contact” between your individual spirit and the Universal Spirit, you act as does the person who steps out into the open places and allows the rays of the sun to fall upon him. Like a great Sun of Spiritual Power, SPIRIT is present above you, radiating its beams of Presence-Power upon you. When you recognize and realize its presence, and open the channels of your being to the inflow of its beneficent forces, then it energizes, animates and inspires your entire being. As you have seen in the Message of Truth, the available strength of these rays and beams, and the degree of your receptivity to them, depend upon your degree of perception, recognition, and realization of the Presence-Power of the Sun of SPIRIT. That Sun is always there, radiating its Power upon all alike; but unless the individual opens himself to its influence he will not receive it.

Inasmuch as SPIRIT is Infinite Life, Infinite Mind, Infinite Will, its radiations partake of the presence and power of each of these three aspects of itself. These rays, received into your being, will give you more and more efficient Life; more and more efficient Mentality; more and more efficient Will. All Life Power, all Mind Power, all Will Power flow from this Original Source; and you may receive a greater and fuller store of each and all these phases and forms of Spiritual Power if you will but follow the spirit of the Message of Truth which has been announced to you.

As a writer has said: “As one comes into and lives continually in the full, conscious relation of his oneness with the Infinite Life and Power, then all else follows. This it is that brings the realization of such splendors, and beauties and joys, as a life that is thus related with the Infinite Power alone can know. This it is to come into the realization of heaven’s richest treasures while walking the earth. This it is to bring heaven down to earth, or rather to bring earth up to heaven. This it is to exchange weakness and impotence for strength; to exchange sorrows and sighings for joy; to exchange fears and forebodings for faith; to exchange longings for realizations. This it is to come into Fullness of Peace, Power, and Plenty.”

The Inner Teachings of all great religions contain references to a Silent Place of the Soul in which the Individual Spirit communes with the Infinite Spirit of Life. Many are the references to the Inner Chamber, the door to which will be opened to him who gives the Right Knock. Many are the admonitions to “Enter into thine Inner Chamber and shut the Door.” This Inner Chamber is not the physical place which so many have considered it to be. It is the Quiet Place of the Soul—the Sanctuary of the Spirit— the state of Spiritual Consciousness.

There is a mental state in which you may still the waters of the Ocean of Life so that the image of the Infinite Sun may be clearly and distinctly reflected in its bosom. This state is called “The Silence.” It is “The Quiet Place of the Soul” the value of which is taught by the mystics. It is the Silence in the midst of the Storm of Life. There the winds of the senses, and the waves of the passions are stilled, and the waters of the mind cease their troubled movement, their whirlings and their swirlings, and permit the bosom of the Ocean to rest quiet and still, allowing the great Sun of Spirit to picture itself on its placid surface.

In that state of Quiet and Peace the Soundless Sound is heard—the Voice of the Silence breathes words of comfort and encouragement, of courage and strength, to the tired soul. In that Silence man communes with the great Flame of Spirit from which has emerged the Divine Spark within himself. From it he emerges refreshed and strengthened, comforted and contented, better able to meet the requirements of duty, work, and service in the outside world—the world in which the Storms of Change and Becoming rage. In the Heart of the Storm, in the Quiet Place of the Soul, in the Silence of the Spirit, there reign Peace and Power, Wisdom and Will, Life and Livingness— the Quintessence of the Presence-Power of SPIRIT. He who is wise will seek, find, and avail himself of the Peace and Strength of “The Silence.”

The spirit of The Silence is breathed in the old hymn written by Martineau over seventy-five years ago—the hymn entitled “The Secret Place.” Its words have brought comfort and peace to thousands of weary souls seeking strength, life and wisdom. Here are the words of the first verse of that hymn:

“He who himself and God would know,

Into the Silence let him go;

And lifting off pall after pall,

Reach to the inmost depth of all.”

A writer says: “Whenever you are in doubt as to the course you should pursue, after you have turned to every outward means of guidance, let the inward eye see, let the inward ear hear, and allow this simple, natural, beautiful process to go on unimpeded by questionings or doubts. * * * * In all dark hours and times of unwonted perplexity we need but to follow one simple direction, found, as all needed directions can be found, in that old book which so many read, but alas, so few interpret: ‘Enter into thine Inner Chamber and shut the door’.”

Another writer says: “One of the most intuitive men we have ever met had a desk in a city office where several other men were doing business constantly, and often talking loudly. Entirely undisturbed by the many and various sounds about him, this self-centred, faithful man would, in any moment of perplexity, draw the curtains of privacy so completely about him that be would be as fully enclosed in his own aura, and thereby as effectually removed from all distractions, as though he were alone in some primeval wood. Taking his difficulty with him into the mystic Silence, in the form of a direct question to which he expected a direct answer, he would remain entirely passive until the reply came; and never once through many years’ experience did he ever find himself disappointed or misled. * * * * Never forget that expectation and desire are bride and bridegroom, and forever inseparable, and you will soon find your hitherto darkened way grow luminous with celestial radiance, for with the heaven within, all heavens without you will incessantly co-operate.”

Ralph Waldo Trine, the popular writer of “In Tune With the Infinite,” says in that work: “The great central fact in human life, in your own life and in mine, is the coming into a conscious vital realization of our oneness with this Infinite Life, and the opening of ourselves to this divine inflow. * * * In just the degree that we come into a conscious realization of our oneness with the Infinite Life, and open ourselves to this divine inflow, do we actualize in ourselves the qualities and powers of the Infinite Life. * * * In the degree that we come into this realization, and connect ourselves with this Infinite Source, do we make it possible for the higher powers to play, to work, to manifest in us. * * * In the degree that we recognize Him as the Infinite Spirit of Life and Power that is today, at this moment, working and manifesting in and through all; and in the degree that we come into the realization of our oneness with this life: then, in that degree do we become partakers thereof, and so do we actualize in ourselves the qualities of His life. In the degree that we open ourselves to the inflowing tide of this immanent and transcendental life, do we make ourselves channels through which the Infinite Intelligence can work.”

In the above quotations, we see the insistence placed upon the “degree of recognition and realization” of the Infinite Presence-Power. The same insistence has always been placed upon it by the great spiritual teachers of all times, lands, and creeds; it is found to occupy a prominent place in the Message of Truth herein announced to you. It is an axiom of ancient and modern Spiritual Philosophy that SPIRIT, the Supreme Presence-Power, the Ultimate Reality, identifies itself with the individual in the degree of the completeness and earnestness with which the individual identifies himself with it. This is the Secret of Spiritual Power. Make it your own, and carry its spirit and meaning ever with you. Guard it well; never allow it to leave your possession. Above all, never lose it!

Not merely in The Silence should you make the mental contact with SPIRIT. Outside of it, also, must you carry your consciousness of the essential identity of your individual Spirit with the Infinite SPIRIT. You must always live, and move, and have your being in the consciousness that YOU—your “I AM I”—is a focal point and centre of consciousness, life, will, and power of SPIRIT; and in the knowledge that “your consciousness of SPIRIT is only a part of SPIRIT’S consciousness of itself; all bodies are modes of Infinite Extension, all souls but modes of Infinite Spiritual Presence-Power.” Never lose sight of this tremendous truth of your essential being; let it ever constitute a background for your thought, feeling, willing.

In this consciousness of your essential identity with SPIRIT, you may dwell in Peace, Security, and Freedom. You become aware that you, verily, “rest in the hollow of His hand,” and that the Sheltering and Protecting Arms are ever around and about you; that the Unseen Hand is ever extended to you, ready and willing to clasp your own hand and to lead, assist, guide and support you in the journey of life. In it, in hours of distress or need, you will feel yourself pressed up to the Infinite Breast, as the babe is to that of its mother. In it, you will become aware that “The Kindly Light” is ever there, shining “amidst the encircling gloom,” and ever “leading you on,” step by step—one step at a time, a true step, a sure step, a step toward Attainment and Victory.

With the Light of Spiritual Consciousness kindled within you, alive and burning bright, you may supplant Fear with Indomitable Courage, supplant Doubt and Scepticism with the Faith that Knows, supplant Sorrow with Joy supplant Unrest with Peace. In that Infinite Light, the Brooding Presence of SPIRIT will hover over you, around you, about you. Standing on the Solid Rock of Truth, you will find that its Presence, its Power, its Peace, its Joy, will be superimposed upon you; and its Essence and Livingness will enter into and permeate your entire being.

When you wish to draw to yourself the rays of the Presence-Power of SPIRIT, in hours of special need, make use of the following Mediation which is, in substance and in spirit, that which has been handed down from teacher to student, from generation to generation, for many ages, in all lands, by the adherents of the great Spiritual Philosophy. It will help you to rediscover the Light, if you have temporarily lost it; it will help you to discover the Light if you have not already found it. In it burns brightly the Flame of Spirit—the only Source of Light, from whence all Light comes. In it will be heeded your cry for “Light, more Light!” This Infinite Light of SPIRIT will illumine the dark places of your soul, banishing Doubt, Gloom, Fear, Distrust.

Spiritual Meditation: Banish from your consciousness the disturbing thoughts, ideas, feelings, and mental images of your finite and conditioned environment, and concentrate your entire attention upon SPIRIT, the Infinite and Eternal Presence-Power, the Ultimate Reality of Existence. Think of its Infinite and Eternal Life, its Infinite and Eternal Consciousness, its Infinite and Eternal Will; its Infinite and Eternal Power. In this way you will flood your mind and soul with the Infinite Light, and all Darkness of the Soul will disappear. The Dark Night of the Soul will be transformed into the High Noon of Spiritual Daytime. Lift your thoughts from the Temporal and fix them upon the Eternal; raise your thoughts from the Finite and fix them upon the Infinite; elevate your thoughts from the Changing and fix them upon the Changeless. Then, having done this, you are prepared to return to the things and scenes of personal, finite, temporal, changing existence, again to take up your work, duties, service—to return, however, infinitely refreshed, reinvigorated, and filled with new life, spirit, courage, wisdom, and will.

Here, we would call your attention to another important point concerning this “contact” with SPIRIT—this “Unison with Infinity”—of which we have told you. The term “Unison” means “Harmony, agreement, concord, union.” In the present usage, the term carries with it the idea involved in its meaning when it is employed in relation to music, i. e., “Identity in pitch; coincidence of sounds proceeding from an equality in the number of vibrations made in a given time by two or more sonorous bodies.” Even still more significant in this connection is the familiar idea of the “attunement” of the receiving and sending instruments in wireless telegraphy, or in the even more wonderful wireless Radiophone.

As you know, the ether may be filled with countless “wireless” messages or transmitted sounds, yet the receiving instrument will not “pick up” or record any of them unless it first be “tuned” to a pitch corresponding to that of the sending instruments. To all the receiving instruments not so attuned, it is practically as if these messages and waves of power were non-existent. Here we have a remarkable instance of those wonderful analogies which are found on all sides in Nature, and which are indicated in that axiom of the Hermetic teachings: “As above, so below; as within, so without; as in great, so in small.”

The fundamental idea involved in our thought concerning the unison between the individual Spirit and the Infinite SPIRIT is based upon the fact expressed in the term “Vibrations,” rightly understood. Not only are all material things in vibration— vibrating by reason of the influence of SPIRIT upon them, and of the Spirit dwelling within them—but all Spirit, and SPIRIT itself, is to be conceived as vibrating. Nothing is motionless— everything is in motion—wherever there is Spirit or SPIRIT. It is true, as the ancient sages and their modern successors inform us, that there is a state of being in which the vibrations are of such infinite intensity and rapidity that all seems to be motionless, standing still, and at rest; but, at the last, this is perceived to be Infinite Motion and not Motionlessness. Spiritual vibrations radiate and may be “picked up” by spiritual instruments properly attuned. SPIRIT is Radio-active!

When the individual soul becomes attuned to the Oversoul—when the individual Spirit is keyed to the pitch of SPIRIT—then does the Life, Mind, Will, Strength of SPIRIT flow into the individual Spirit which is its focal centre of expression and manifestation. When the individual Spirit is so attuned to SPIRIT, then not only do the messages of SPIRIT reach its mind and soul, but also the Power of SPIRIT—its Spiritual Power— flows into the channels of the individual Spirit, there to be used and employed by the latter when it has learned how to apply it properly.

You have heard of the “mental second wind” which, like the physical “second wind” that comes to the tired runner, so often is attained by one when he has become mentally exhausted. You, have, moreover, most likely noted the suggestion of Professor William James that there is a “third wind,” a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, a seventh “wind” of physical, mental, and spiritual energy which become available to the individual who has learned to “tap” their sources. These “sources” are really phases of the Infinite Fount of All-Power which in this instruction we have called “POWER,” and which in its ultimate essence and nature is Spiritual Power.

The great spiritual teachers of the race have always taught, and teach today, that this Infinite Fount of Power is unlimited and inexhaustible in extent, amount, and degree; its apparent limitations being caused solely by the incapacity of the individual to receive and apply that Power. By “contacting” the Infinite Supply; by becoming in Unison with Infinity; by adjusting your spiritual receiving apparatus; you may “pick up” and make use of the constant and unfailing current of spiritual vibrations which are forever being radiated and emanated by SPIRIT, the Fount of All-Power. This is far more than a mere figure of speech or metaphorical representation: it is the expression in physical terms of a tremendous truth of Spiritual Power. Its truth may be proved by you in your own actual experience, provided that you will but “go about it in the right way”—and we have pointed out to you that “right way.”

It is not enough that you should perceive, recognize, and realize the Truth concerning Spiritual Power. You should also manifest its energies which are available to you; you should demonstrate the Truth in your everyday life and work. The Infinite Spiritual Power is not static: it is dynamic. It is not for rest: it is for use, action, and employment in the activities of the world. It is impossible, however, for you to possess any marked degree of the perception, recognition, and realization of this Truth without also manifesting and demonstrating it in at least some degree. Even a partial perception and realization of the Infinite Presence-Power of SPIRIT will impart to you an increased efficiency, proficiency, and method of application of its energies and forces. Conscious application of Spiritual Power soon passes down to the plane of your Subconscious, and thereafter becomes habitual and instinctive with you.

By the right application of Spiritual Power you open the doors of the storehouse of the Infinite Supply. The Infinite Supply furnishes the material and means wherewith wants, necessities and needs are supplied, filled, gratified, satisfied. All material, and all forces, are under the control of Spiritual Power. You are entitled to all that is necessary for your full, rightful expression of the Life and Spirit within you. The material for your needs is contained within the Substance which is plastic and responsive to the Power of the Spirit. Spirit contains all the Power necessary to mold and shape that material into objective form. All that is needed by you is the Faith and Will to apply that Power which is within you.

Throughout all Nature we find the operation of the Law of Supply, the Law of Use. All Life instinctively draws upon the Infinite Supply for all that is required for its normal needs, requirements, necessities. The existence of an instinctive “want” implies the existence of the supply of material which will satisfy it. This implicit promise of Supply is found in all Nature. Its spirit is voiced in the inspired statement that “The Lord will provide.” This promise is not a vain mockery: it is a grand truth of Existence. The Supply is always there; the creature has but to open its channels to the inflow, and to reach out toward the Source.

Having obtained lawful and rightful access to the great storehouse of the Infinite Supply, and knowing yourself to be the true heir to its treasures, your supply is then limited only by your capacity for finding out that which you need for your rightful expression of Life. That capacity may be developed and perfected by you by means of an increasing degree of Unison with Infinity—of a fuller perception, recognition, and realization of the Truth concerning Spiritual Power. “The Supply is equal to the Demand”; but the Demand must be made properly, confidently, and with Faith and Courage.

When you set into operation the Spiritual Power at your disposal, you will begin to attract to yourself that which is necessary for your use, need, and support—that which will relieve and remove your lack and want. You will do this in precisely the same way that the lilies of the field attract to themselves that which they need for their support and use— that which raises them up to that state of natural magnificence excelling even “Solomon in all his glory,” as you have been told by a high spiritual authority.

You are a Creator. You create your environment—you have always done so. Whether you consciously will to do so or not, your spiritual forces are always working in this way. Consciously or unconsciously, willingly or unwillingly, you are setting into operation great spiritual forces which produce certain material effects. You are a builder, a creator, even though you know it not. This being so, wisdom dictates that you build intelligently, and in accordance with “your heart’s desire.” So; “Build thee more stately mansions, O my Soul!” should ever be your demand. Build for yourself the kind of world of which you have dreamed. Make your dreams come true!

Trine voices a great truth when he says: “Each is building his own world. We build from within, and we attract from without. Thought is the force with which we build, and thoughts are forces. Like builds like, and like attracts like. In the degree that thought is spiritualized does it become more subtle and powerful in its workings. This spiritualizing is in accordance with law, and is within the power of all. Everything is first worked out in the unseen before it is manifested in the seen; in the ideal, before it is realized in the real; in the spiritual, before it shows forth in the material. The realm of the unseen is the realm of cause. The realm of the seen is the realm of effect. The nature of an effect is always determined and conditioned by the nature of its cause.” * * * *

In this book we do not attempt to give you specific directions for the employment of Spiritual Power in any of its many possible particular forms of use and application. In other books of this series we have pointed out to you how you may effectively employ this Spiritual Power, transmuted into Personal Power, in many different forms of its effective application. In the first book of the series, the one entitled “Personal Power,” we have shown you that all Personal Power proceeds, directly or indirectly, from a great Principle of All-Power which we call, simply, “POWER” In the present book we have identified this POWER Principle with SPIRIT, and have shown you that All-Power is Spiritual Power, at the last analysis. In this book, also, we have shown you that this Spiritual Power—this POWER of SPIRIT—may be drawn upon freely by your individual Spirit when it enters into conscious Unison with Infinity—in Attunement with SPIRIT.

Each other book of this series is a Key unlocking some particular door of Personal Power. The present volume is the Master Key which releases the Master Lock, without which the individual key will not be able to turn the individual lock and thus open its particular door. If you are acquainted with the operation of the locks upon the boxes of the Safe Deposit Vaults of the large cities, you will understand more clearly this illustration. Lacking the Master Key, you will never be able to secure the full measure of Personal Power in any of its phases, nor will you ever be able to employ that Power most intelligently, to the best advantage, and with the highest degree of efficiency. The knowledge of SPIRIT—the Infinite and Eternal, Ultimate and Sovereign, PRESENCE-POWER—constitutes “That which, when known, causes all else to be known,” concerning the manifestation of Personal Power.

A writer has said of this knowledge of Truth and Power that “It hews open the path, as the lightning splits the darkness. * * * It dissolves doubts, cuts knots of chronic impossibility, melts circumstances, pierces shadows like a flash of glory, dashes through the jungle of appearances like the horn of a unicorn.”

The little occult manual, believed by many to have been inspired, to which we have previously referred, contains the following instructive and suggestive bit of esoteric teaching. It refers to the Battle of Life on the Plane of Material Existence, and of the Real Self (SPIRIT) which abides as the Inner Self of the individual Spirit, and which springs to action when it is perceived, recognized, realized and acknowledged by the individual soul, and when its aid and service is demanded by the latter as its rightful heritage. Listen to the voice of the message:

“Stand aside in the coming battle; and, though thou fightest, be not thou the warrior. Look for the warrior, and let him fight in thee. Take his orders for battle, and obey him. Obey him, not as though he were a general, but as though he were thyself, yet infinitely wiser and stronger than thyself. Look for him, else in the fever and hurry of the fight thou mayest pass him; and he will not know thee unless thou knowest him. If thy cry reach his listening ear, then will he fight in thee, and fill the dull void therein. And, if this is so, then canst thou go through the fight cool and unwearied, standing aside, and letting him battle for thee. Then it will be impossible for thee to strike one blow amiss. But if thou look not for him, if thou pass him by, there is no safeguard for thee. Thy brain will reel, thy heart will grow uncertain, and, in the dust of the battle-field, thy sight and senses will fail, and thou will not know thy friends from thy enemies.

“He is thyself, yet thou are but finite and liable to error. He is eternal, and is sure. He is eternal truth. When once he has entered thee, and become thy warrior, he will never utterly desert thee; and, in the day of the great peace he will become one with thee. * * * You can stand upright now, firm as a rock amid the turmoil, obeying the warrior who is thyself and thy king. Unconcerned in the battle save to do his bidding, having no longer any care as to the result of the battle—for one thing only is important, that the warrior shall win; and you know that he is incapable of defeat—standing thus, cool and awakened, use the hearing that you have acquired by pain and the destruction of pain.”

Carry with you the echo of the concluding words of the Message of Truth as presented to you in this instruction: “In the degree that you perceive, recognize and realize your essential identity with ME, the Supreme Presence-Power, the Ultimate Reality, in that degree will you receive and be able to manifest My Spiritual Power. I AM over and above you, under and beneath you. I surround you on all sides; I AM also within you, and you are in Me—from Me you proceed, and in Me you live, and move and have your being. Seek Me by looking within your own being, and likewise by looking for Me in Infinity, for I abide both Within and Without your being. If, and when, you will adopt and live according to this Truth, then will you be able to manifest that Truth—in and by it alone are Freedom and Invincibility, and true and real Presence and Power to be found, perceived, realized and manifested.”

Thought Power: Radio-Mentalism

The Power of Thought

In this book you are asked to consider a strange phase of Personal Power—a mysterious phase of your mental power—an aspect of your individual power which perhaps intuitively you have realized to be possessed by you, but which in all probability you have not understood in the same way in which you have understood the other phases of your Personal Power. Yet this strange phase of your power is quite as natural as are those most familiar to you. There is nothing supernatural about it. It falls into its place in the natural order of things. It is governed by natural law and order.

Like all the other forms of Personal Power to which we have directed your attention in the several other volumes of this series, this phase or form of Personal Power is one of the instruments or channels of expression of the powers of the “I” element of your Self—of that fundamental Something, the existence of which you assert when you say “I AM I,” and which is the base and ground, the centre and the focal point, of all of your conscious states. This “I AM I,” in fact, is a focalized centre of expression of that All-Power from which all power proceeds, and in which we live, and move, and have our being—an expression of that which in this instruction is known as POWER.

The particular phase of Personal Power which you are here asked to consider is known as “Thought Power.” By this term, however, we do not mean the exercise of the faculties of thought along the lines of logical reasoning, induction, analogy, judgment, etc.; nor along the lines of creative and constructive imagination, inventive effort, etc.; both of which lines we have considered in detail in other volumes of this series. The phase before you for consideration is that which is concerned with the influence of your mental states—particularly your ideas and mental pictures—over persons, things, and conditions external to yourself: with the influence exerted by your “thoughts” over your environment in general.

Up until about forty years ago the serious assertion that one’s thoughts exerted an influence extending far beyond the physical organ in which they were generated, which influence produced effects upon distant persons, things and conditions, would have been received with the utmost incredulity, disbelief, ridicule and derision on the part of the general public. Such a statement would have been interpreted as an expression of gross superstition, credulity, and lack of common-sense; in fact, in many cases the sanity of the person making the statement actually would have been questioned.

But during the past forty years—particularly during the last twenty years—there has been quite a change in the public belief concerning this general subject. At the present time the statement above alluded to is regarded as quite familiar, trite and commonplace, even though the hearer may not accept it as correct. It would be difficult in these times to find a person of ordinary intelligence who has not at least heard frequent references made to “the power of thought” operating actively in affecting physical states for better or worse, and in affecting one’s environment in the same way. Indeed, it is not too much to say that at the present time the great majority of persons accept the theory and principle of Thought Power (as above explained to some extent; the degree of acceptance ranging from complete and earnest belief down to the general belief that “there is something in it.”

The principles of Thought Power, in fact, have been adopted by many schools, cults, sects, quasi-religious organizations, etc., and have been employed as the base and ground of numerous “ologies” and “isms.” In many such cases, however, the fundamental principles have been so embellished with non-essential coverings of theory, doctrine, dogma and claimed authority, that the basic truths and facts are in danger of being lost sight of by the ordinary individual who is ignorant of the history of the thought on the subject, and of the true principles involved. In many cases the extraneous materials which have been added are of such fantastic and bizarre character that the ordinary observer is bewildered and confused, and is apt to dismiss the whole subject as “too much for me.” Yet the elemental principles involved are quite simple, and the laws under which they manifest and operate are quite easily understood by any person of average intelligence.

In the present book we shall confine ourselves to the presentation of the plain, simple, scientific principles which careful thought has discovered to underlie the entire subject and to explain the entire range of the phenomena; we shall accompany this presentation of scientific principles with instruction along the lines of the most effective and scientific methods of applying those principles in the practical affairs of everyday life. The entire treatment of principle and practice shall be scientific—quite as scientific as would be an efficient treatment and presentation of the subject of electricity, or of any other branch of physical science. This, because Thought Power, like every other form of power manifested in the universe, has a natural, scientific foundation, ground, and base, and is under natural law and order.

There is no more reason for the subject of Thought Power being surrounded by a mass of non-essential, extraneous material of quasi-religious, technical, metaphysical, or esoteric theories, doctrines or dogmas, than there is for the subject of electricity, physical power of any kind, or any phase of physical science, being so conditioned. What would be thought of one who would seriously attempt to teach the subject of the principles and application of electricity as a part of some quasi-religious, metaphysical doctrines, or esoteric teaching? The verdict would be that such a person was “going a long distance out of his way,” and that he was attempting to obscure simple natural principles by a covering of supernatural teaching. Yet this is just what many of the cults and schools have been more or less successfully doing in the case of Thought Power.

This does not mean that the subject of Thought Power is opposed in any way to true religious feeling or thought, or to rational metaphysical or philosophical teachings. On the contrary, we hold that true religious feeling and thought constitute a true Tower of Strength for the individual, and that rational metaphysical and philosophical knowledge enables the individual more intelligently to apply any and all of his powers. The distinction we wish to make is merely that Thought Power, like any other form of natural power, does not depend upon any particular religious, quasi-religious, metaphysical, philosophical, or esoteric doctrine, theory, dogma, or teaching. Like any other natural force, Thought Power operates along well-established natural lines, and may be successfully applied by any one intelligently understanding the laws and order of its manifestation.

Again, like any other natural force, Thought Power is no respecter of persons—it has no favorites among individuals. It affects all who come under its influence, unless they know how to divert its energy; it may be misused as well as used properly; it may bring pain as well as pleasure—harm as well as benefit—according to its direction and application. It may be “bad” as well as “good,” according to its use and direction, and according to the moral character of the person employing it. Like electricity, gravitation, light, heat, mechanical force, it is open to all persons, good and bad, high and low, just and unjust, provided that they know how to call into operation its forces. It may be set into operation by subconscious effort as well as conscious. Anyone, everyone, who can “think” has at his disposal that which we call Thought Power, which will respond to his efforts to set it into activity. In Nature’s plans, it follows the same general rule which governs all of the natural forces, energies and powers.

In our presentation of this important subject of Thought Power, however, we do not ask you to set aside or to discard, even for the time being, any of your favorite religious, quasi-religious, metaphysical, or philosophical beliefs or doctrines. The writers of this book entertain certain beliefs of this kind—perhaps the very ones entertained by you; and they hold fast to these, even though they may not introduce them into these pages. They merely ask you to be willing to follow them in their consideration of Thought Power as a purely natural force or power, just as you would have them consider electricity, gravitation, etc. They ask you to accompany them in their consideration of the subject of Thought Power along the lines of scientific treatment, rather than that of metaphysical, philosophical or religious speculation, doctrine, or dogma.

With the above understanding, let us now proceed to the consideration of the principles of Thought Power, and of the methods underlying the efficient application of those principles.

Radioactive Thought

In our consideration of Thought Power we are not concerned with the nature of the ultimate character of mind, or of spirit in its ultimate essence. Neither are we concerned with the precise nature of the relation between mind or spirit and the physical mechanism through which they (or it) manifest in the processes of thought. Enough for the purposes of the present consideration is the evident fact that what we know as “thought” consists of a process or series of processes in which the mechanism of the brain cells and brain-substance is involved and employed by the natural energies playing upon it in some way as yet unknown to science.

That “thought” is a process or series of processes in which energy plays upon the physical mechanism of the brain is admitted by the most careful scientific thought of today. The phenomena of “thought” can be scientifically explained in no other way. Without brain substance and cells there can be no process of “thought” such as we know by that term. That energy of some kind is involved in such processes is undoubted by any scientific thinker. Thought is under natural law and order, and maintains an orderly trend and sequence in accordance with it. Thought processes may be measured, weighed, and gauged by delicate instruments designed in the modern psychological laboratories.

Science is concerned only with “the way things act,” the laws governing their processes, and the orderly trend manifested in these processes. It does not attempt to go beyond these processes, if it be true science. It does not speculate concerning the ultimate nature of things, with “first principles,” or with “ultimate realities.” It is concerned with the pragmatic idea of “how things work,” and does not invade the field of “things in themselves,” i. e., things considered apart from their activities and phenomena. The latter class of speculations and inquiries belongs properly to metaphysical and philosophical thought, or is attached to religious faith. In our present inquiry, therefore, you are at liberty to have and to hold your own particular metaphysical, philosophical, or religious views concerning the ultimate nature of mind or spirit—to think of these as “things in themselves,” if you so wish; all we ask you to do is to consider the processes of thought, i. e., “how thought works,” as discovered by scientific inquiry, and supported by the indisputable facts of the case.

You are asked to concede the fact that the brain substance and the brain-cells are employed as the mechanism of thought, or the instruments of thought. This is asking you merely to admit what you already know to be a fact. You are also asked to regard the thought processes as being set into operation by the presence and power of some form of energy, i. e., by “some internal or inherent power which is capable of acting, operating, or producing effects”—this also is self-evident. You are also asked to accept the acknowledged and demonstrated fact that in the processes of thought there is an expenditure of energy, and a consuming or combustion of brain material sufficient at times to increase the temperature of the brain area involved in the process—these are axiomatic truths of physiological psychology, originally arrived at by observation, experiment and careful tests.

So far, you will note, you have been asked to accept merely that which is accepted by ordinary scientific thought, and which forms a part of the general knowledge of every person of ordinary education and intelligence. You are now also to be asked to accept (at least tentatively) another truth, or statement of facts, which is far from being so well known or accepted by the average person, and which still remains in the category of disputed facts in the realm of scientific thought; but which is fast becoming more widely and generally accepted by scientific minds, and which is receiving almost daily additional supporting and corroborating experimental evidence and proof. We have reference to the statement or assertion that “Thought is radioactive, i. e., is capable of being radiated over space external to the brain in which it is generated, there to produce effects and to cause results.”

This statement is supported by the enormous body of evidence concerning the existence of the phenomena of Telepathy, Thought-transference, Thought-transmission, etc., which has accumulated by reason of the investigations and researches of scientific investigators extending over the period of the last past forty years or more. These discoveries have served to explain and account for much that formerly was classed as supernatural or occult; such phenomena are now brought under the category of natural law and order. It is scarcely too much to say that nine out of every ten persons will be found to have had some personal experience along the general lines of “thought-transmission,” or, as it is now generally termed, “telepathy.” Many experiences of common occurrence in the life of the average individual can be explained and accounted for only upon the general theory of “thought radioactivity,” as above defined.

In addition to the testimony and general experiences above mentioned, scientific thinkers have demonstrated logically that, theoretically at least, “thought radioactivity” is quite reasonable and logical, and is entitled to a respectful hearing and investigation at the hands of all true scientific persons. In fact, the many recent important discoveries concerning the existence of radioactive powers in various substances, and arising from many different forms of natural energy, may be said to render it quite reasonable, by analogy, to look for the presence of radioactivity in brain substance, this resulting from mental activity, even in absence of the supporting facts and experiences; and to justify the confident expectation of finding it there even if it had never before been discovered.

Let us quote for your information the statements of two eminent scientists serving to demonstrate the scientific “reasonableness” of the presence and power of radioactivity in the thought processes, as follows:

Sir William Crookes, president of the Royal Society of England, in an address delivered before that society in Bristol, England, as early as the year 1898, long before the general scientific thought had been favorably directed toward the subject, said: “Were I now introducing for the first time these inquiries to the world of science, I should choose a starting point different from that of old (where we formerly began). It would be well to begin with Telepathy; with that fundamental law, as I believe it to be, that thoughts and images may be transferred from one mind to another without the agency of the recognized organs of sense—that knowledge may enter the human mind without being communicated in any hitherto known or recognized ways. * * * If Telepathy takes place, we have two physical facts— the physical change in the brain of A, the suggestor, and the analogous physical change in the brain of B, the recipient of the suggestion. Between these two physical events there must exist a train of physical causes. * * * It is unscientific to call in the aid of mysterious agencies, when with every fresh advance in knowledge it is shown that ether vibrations have powers and attributes abundantly able to meet any demand—even the transmission of thought.

“It is supposed by some physiologists that the essential cells of nerves do not actually touch, but are separated by a narrow gap which widens in sleep while it narrows almost to extinction during mental activity. This condition is so singularly like a Branly or Lodge coherer (a device which led to the discovery of wireless telegraphy) as to suggest a further analogy. The structure of brain and nerve being similar, it is conceivable that there may be present masses of such nerve coherers in the brain, whose special function it may be to receive impulses brought from without, through the connecting sequence of ether waves of appropriate order of magnitude.

“Roentgen has familiarized us with an order of vibrations of extreme minuteness as compared with the smallest waves with which we have hitherto been acquainted; and there is no reason to suppose that we have here reached the limit of frequency. It is known that the action of thought is accompanied by certain molecular movements of the brain, and here we have physical vibrations capable from their extreme minuteness of acting direct upon individual molecules, while their rapidity approaches that of internal and external movements of the atoms themselves. A formidable array of phenomena must be scientifically sifted before we effectually grasp a faculty so strange, so bewildering, and for ages so inscrutable, as the direct action of mind upon mind.”

Camille Flammarion, the eminent French scientist, said: “The action of one mind upon another at a distance—the transmission of thought, mental communication at a distance— all these are not more extraordinary than the action of the magnet on iron, the influence of the moon on the sea, the transportation of the human voice by electricity, the revelation of the chemical constituents of a star by the analysis of its light, or, indeed, all the wonders of contemporary science. * * * What is certain is that telepathy can and ought to be henceforth considered by Science as an incontestable reality; that minds are able to act upon each other without the intervention of the senses; that psychic force exists, though its nature is yet unknown.”

We now call your attention to the following statement of Bain, the eminent authority upon the subject of the relation of mind and body, not only because of its own importance, but also because of its office as an approach to the two several quotations immediately following it. Professor Bain said: “The structure of the nervous substances, and the experiments made upon the nerves and nerve-centres, establish beyond doubt certain peculiarities as belonging to the force that is exercised by the brain. This force is of a current nature; that is to say, a power generated at one part of the structure is conveyed along an intervening substance and discharged at some other part. The different forms of electricity and magnetism have made us familiar with this kind of action.”

Dr. Frank Channing Haddock says: “All states of body and mind involve constant molecular and chemical change. The suggestion arises that the brain, with its millions of cells and its inconceivable changes in substance, may be regarded as a transmitting and receiving battery. The brain being a kind of battery, and the nerves conductors of released stored energy to different parts of the body, by a kind of action similar to the actions of electricity and magnetism, it is suggested that, either by means of the ether, or of some still finer form of matter, discharges of brain-energy may be conducted beyond the limits of the body. If the nerve-tracks correspond to wires, this refined medium may correspond to the ether-field supposed to be employed in wireless telegraphy. As electrical movements are conducted without wires, or other visible media, so may brain-discharges be conveyed beyond the mechanism of the battery, without the intervention of nerves—except as they may constitute a part of the battery. Generally speaking, such discharges would originate in two ways: by direct mental action, or by mental or physical states—perhaps by a combination.”

Our final quotation, to which the last two preceding quotations logically lead, is from Professor Ochorowicz, the eminent psychologist and scientific investigator, who says:

“Every living being is a dynamic focus. A dynamic focus tends ever to propagate the motion that is proper to it. Propagated motion becomes transformed according to the medium it traverses. Motion always tends to propagate itself. Therefore, when we see work of any kind— mechanical, electrical, nervic or psychic—disappearing without visible effect, then, one of two things has occurred: either (1) a transmission, or (2) a transformation. Where does the first end, and where does the second begin? In an identical medium there is only transmission. In a different medium there is transformation.

“You send an electric current through a thick wire. You have the current, but you do not perceive any other force. But, cut that thick wire and connect the ends by means of a finer wire; the fine wire will grow hot; there will be a transformation of a part of the current into heat. Take a pretty strong current and interpose a wire still more resistant, or a very thin carbon rod. The carbon will emit light. A part of the current then is transformed into heat and light. The light acts in every direction round about, first visibly as light, then invisibly as heat and electric current. Hold a magnet near it. If the magnet is weak and movable, in the form of a magnetic needle, the beam of light will cause it to deviate; if it is strong and immovable, it will in turn cause the beam of light to deviate. And all this at a distance, without contact, without special conductors.

“A process that is at once chemical, physical and psychical goes on in a brain. A complex action of this kind is propagated through the gray matter, as waves are propagated in water. Regarded on its physiological side, an idea is only a vibration, a vibration that is propagated, yet which does not pass out of the medium in which it can exist as such. It is propagated as far as other like vibrations allow. It is propagated more widely if it assumes the character which subjectively we call emotive. But it cannot go beyond without being transformed. Nevertheless, like force in general, it cannot remain in isolation; it escapes in disguise.

Thought stays at home, as the chemical action of a battery remains in the battery; it is represented abroad by its ‘dynamic correlate,’ called in the case of the battery, a current, and in the case of the brain—I know not what; but whatever its name may be, it is the ‘dynamic correlate’ of thought.

“I have chosen to use the term ‘dynamic correlate.’ There is something more than that; the universe is neither void nor dead. A force that is transmitted meets other forces, and if it is transformed only little by little, it usually limits itself to modifying another force at its own cost, though without suffering perceptibly thereby. This is the case particularly with forces that are persistent, concentrated, well seconded by their medium; it is the case with the physiological equilibrium, nervic force, psychic force, ideas, emotions, tendencies. These modify environing forces without themselves disappearing; they are but imperceptibly transformed, and if the other mind is of a nature exceptionally well adapted to them, they gain in inductive action.”

We would call your attention to that part of the above quotation in which it is pointed out that the action of the beam of electric light on a weak, movable magnet, and the action of a strong and immovable magnet on the beam of electric light, is exerted “from a distance, without contact, without special conductors.” You will note that Professor Ochorowicz holds that a similar action “from a distance, without contact, without special conductors” occurs in the processes of thought-transmission, or “thought radioactivity.” He speaks of thought vibrations being “but imperceptibly transformed,” and holds that under certain favorable conditions “they gain in inductive action.” We ask you to make a mental note of this term, “inductive action,” for it serves to indicate the nature of the action of the radioactive thought vibrations which we are now considering.

By “inductive action” is meant “action from a distance, without contact, without special conductors.” The term “induction,” in its usage in connection with physics, is defined as:

“The property or process by which one body having electrical or magnetic polarity produces it in another body without direct contact.” A leading text book says: “If an electrified body is brought near an uncharged one—either conductor or non-conductor—the latter will exhibit electrical forces; it is said to be charged by induction. * * * Similarly, if there is a magnet surrounded by a uniform medium, such as air, and if a body of a different kind of material from the medium is brought near the magnet, it will exhibit magnetic forces and is said to be magnetized by induction.”

Now, all investigation of the phenomena of thought-transmission seems to reveal a condition of affairs which can best be accounted for and explained upon the respective theories of (1) the radioactivity of thought, and (2) the inductive action of thought. That is to say, that (1) thought radiates power capable of causing effects and producing results at a distance; and (2) thought exerts an inductive action “from a distance, without contact, without special conductors.” It would seem that the process of radioactivity and the power of inductive action which is admitted to be present in the physical world, has its counterpart or correspondence in the mental world, the same general laws governing each, and a general analogy existing between the two classes of phenomena.

While some of the more conservative and orthodox scientists hold that as yet the hypotheses of “thought radioactivity,” and “thought inductive action,” respectively have not been sufficiently proved to raise the hypotheses into the category of natural laws, yet the mass of supporting evidence, and the reasoning based upon the same, is sufficiently strong to justify the careful scientific thinker in accepting these two hypotheses at least tentatively—as “working hypotheses” by means of which thought along these lines, and further experimental work, are rendered easier.

Certainly, no one thoroughly acquainted with the facts of the case—with the phenomena of thought-transmission—will deny that thought acts “as if” it were radioactive and capable of exerting inductive action. In the absence of better hypotheses, at least, we are justified in adopting the two just mentioned as “working hypotheses” for convenience of thought on the subject, and as an aid in further investigations. Accordingly, in this book, we shall assume as “working hypotheses” the radioactivity of thought, and the inductive action of thought, respectively.

Let us now proceed to a consideration of the observed phenomena of Thought Power, in which the radioactivity of thought, and the inductive action of thought are held to be manifested.

Thought-Atmospheres

The recognition of the presence of radioactivity in the processes of thought, and the realization of the power of thought to exert inductive action at a distance, without contact, serves to illuminate what was formerly a dark corner of the streets of human experience—to throw a bright light upon certain places in which objects previously had been seen but dimly, and in which they took upon themselves distorted form. We refer to the phenomena which are generally classed as “the thought-atmospheres of persons and places.”

It certainly requires no extended argument to prove that there exists in connection with persons and places a certain subtle influence which may well be called an “atmosphere” of a psychic order, which produces an effect upon persons coming within the field of induction of the persons or places manifesting the “atmosphere.” These psychic atmospheres were formerly held to be related in some way to the supernatural, or else to be connected with some mysterious and occult powers of the universe which were outside of the realm of ordinary natural laws. But, thanks to the persistent and patient labors of the investigators, it is now known that these psychic atmospheres are quite as natural as are the “fields of induction” of electricity and magnetism, and quite as truly are under natural law and order. They are now recognized as phases of the general phenomena caused by radioactive thought and the inductive action of thought.

These psychic atmospheres may be considered as divided into two general classes, as follows: (1) The thought-atmospheres surrounding the person of the individual radiating the thought, and accompanying him wherever he moves or travels; (2) the thought-atmosphere of places which are caused by the radioactive thought of the persons inhabiting these places, or who have previously inhabited them. Let us now consider each of these two classes in the order in, which they are above stated.

The Thought-Atmospheres of Persons. Each and every person has a thought-atmosphere, or aura, surrounding him, which reflects the general character of his thought, his feelings, and his general mental character. This atmosphere or aura is composed of and constituted by the vibrations of his radioactive thought, which are analogous to the vibrations of light, heat, electricity or magnetism; it is constantly renewed by the mental currents which are pouring out from the mental organism of the person. These thought-vibrations of this thought-atmosphere more or less affect other persons coming within their field of induction.

You know, from your own experience and that of others with which you are familiar, that when you meet a stranger, and have directed your attention to him, you are conscious of a “something about him” which produces a certain effect upon you, and which creates in your mind a more or less definite impression regarding him—very often a quite marked feeling of like or dislike. In some cases, even though your attention has not been directed toward the person, that “something about him”. is so strong and active that it attracts and holds your attention, and makes you “take notice” of him.

You have shared the experience of many persons when, on certain occasions, you have been vividly impressed by the entrance of some particular person into a room, or office, or other place. There has been nothing out of the ordinary in the appearance of the person, or in his dress, carriage or general manner, but, nevertheless, you have felt in some way that there is something unusual about him. In some cases, you have experienced at once a marked attraction to, or perhaps a marked repulsion from certain individuals. In other cases you have recognized a peculiar “air of authority” about certain persons; others have seemed to carry with them an “atmosphere of success”; others have seemed to be surrounded by a cloud of failure, lack of confidence, etc.; some have seemed to radiate cheerfulness and optimism; others have seemed to emanate gloom, pessimism, and discouragement. To some you have felt what may be called an “affinity”; to others you may have felt an actual antipathy.

Some persons seem to exert a thought-influence extending merely to a field immediately around them. Others seem to fill a room with their personality as soon as they enter it, or at least as soon as they direct their attention to the persons in the room. Others, still, seemingly experience no difficulty in extending their thought-radiations so as to influence strongly a large number of people—the whole audience, assemblage, or congregation feels the “presence” of such a person as soon as he addresses them. Some exceptionally “magnetic” individuals— some great actors or orators—manifest thought-atmospheres composed of thought-vibrations so active and powerful, that they fairly carry by storm the emotional natures of immense bodies of people, and sweep them off their feet in spite of their reason and will.

Some persons impress you at once as being positive, resourceful, self-confident individuals; others produce upon you the impression that they are negative, weak, colorless, non-resourceful, and lacking in self-confidence. Some are “live wires,” others are “dead ones”—you feel this instinctively even before the person says a word or performs an action. It is not exactly as if you “think” the thing concerning the person in such cases—it is rather as if you “feel” it in some subtle indefinable way. If you have ever had the actual experience, you will know that it is more than the suggestion of manner, action, appearance, dress, words, etc.,—it is something that you “feel” about the person independent of your reasoning on the subject of his personality. The report seems to come from the emotional region of your mental being, rather than from the logical one.

When the experiences and phenomena just related are examined in the light of the hypotheses of “thought radioactivity,” and “the inductive action of thought,” respectively, the whole subject assumes a reasonable, natural aspect—it loses its supernatural or occult garments. When you see that thought (like light, heat, magnetism, or electricity) is radioactive—that it radiates currents and waves of vibratory force in all directions— then the presence of the “atmosphere” of the person ceases to be mysterious.

Likewise, when you perceive that just as a magnetized or electrified body tends to induce a like state in other bodies at a distance from it, without direct contact, setting up in them similar vibrations, then you find it quite natural that you should “feel” in your emotional nature a certain “stirring” concerning the people you meet; and you also understand more clearly the influence of certain persons over others, over audiences, crowds, congregations, etc.

Thought-radiation and thought-induction give you the key to many experiences and phenomena which heretofore have been deep mysteries to you, and which perhaps you have regarded as “uncanny,” supernatural, or occult.

The Thought-Atmospheres of Places. Just as you have noticed that persons have their peculiar atmospheres representing their mental activities, so you have noticed that many places have their particular atmospheres which (by induction) register their character upon your mentality, and cause you to become aware of the general mental qualities of those who inhabit or occupy them, or who previously have done so. You have noticed that residences, apartments, or rooms frequently produce effects upon you which can be accounted for in no ordinary way. Some such places seem to emanate cheerfulness, harmony, and other uplifting mental qualities, while others seem to be permeated with a negative, depressing influence which affects you more or less unless you throw it off in some way. In the same way, certain shops, stores, offices, and other places of business either attract or repel you, either create confidence or distrust on your part, in some subtle way not explainable by their general appearances.

It is not too much to say that every place has its own atmosphere—its own character. If you have ever visited a prison or similar place, you have doubtless been struck with the feeling that some subtle, invisible miasma pervades it, rendering you most uncomfortable while within its walls, and causing you to experience a feeling of relief after you have left the place. This, even though the institution may be built and conducted according to modern ideas, and is thus lacking in the depressing suggestiveness of the old, gloomy surroundings. In some hospitals you have experienced a similar depressing feeling, accompanied by a strong desire to escape from the negative influences manifesting within them.

On the other hand, you have experienced the restful, uplifting, peaceful atmosphere of certain churches, cathedrals, chapels, and other places in which persons have habitually manifested the higher forms of thought and feeling. In some libraries you have experienced the atmosphere of study, deep thought, investigation and general intellectual activity. In some great places of business you have experienced the feeling of efficiency, industry, purposeful effort, and careful management. In short, you have found that you “catch the spirit” of many places visited by you. You know that there are certain places which you like to visit because of their good effects upon you; and other places which you avoid visiting so far as possible, because of their usual bad effect upon you. Some places rest you, others tire you; some rouse ambition and aspiration in you, others cause you to feel depressed and discouraged. Some seem pure and “clean” to you, while others impress you with the sense of impurity and mental and moral uncleanliness.

The explanation of this class of phenomena is found in the hypotheses to which we have called your attention in this book, viz., that of the radioactivity of thought, and that of the inductive action of thought, respectively. The fact is that every human mind is constantly emitting radiations or currents of thought-vibrations representing the general character of his or her thoughts. These naturally form the thought-atmosphere of the places in which such persons dwell or do business. When there are a number of persons continuously present in a place, their combined thought-vibrations combine and coalesce, and form a composite thought-atmosphere. In many cases, the “thought” of a place is determined by the character of those in authority in that place—those who impose character and certain lines of conduct upon those under their control; this accounts for the character and atmosphere of stores, shops, offices, etc.

But the character and atmosphere of a place is created and determined not merely by the quality of the thought being radiated by those inhabiting it at that moment. The past thought-influences are strongly impressed upon many places. This may seem strange to you at first thought, but when you examine similar phenomena in the realm of Nature you will begin to understand the principle at work in the case. There is nothing mysterious, supernatural, or occult in such phenomena; natural law and order is manifest in them, just as in all other natural phenomena. You need not go outside of Nature for the explanation.

The heat emitted by a stove will remain in a room long after the fire has died out, or the stove withdrawn. The subtle odor of a flower, perfume, or of other substances, will permeate a place long after those substances have been removed from it. The odor of coffee, cheese, leather, etc., will cling to a store which years before was used for the purpose of storing these articles. Dresser-drawers, cabinets, old letters, etc., will retain for many years the fragrance of the perfume which long ago was applied to them, or placed within them. Astronomers tell us that the light we now see streaming from some of the far distant stars really was emitted by those bodies many thousands of years ago; and that if one of those stars were destroyed today, its light would continue to travel in space for many thousand years in the future.

Oliver Wendall Holmes said: “What! you cannot conceive of a charge of ‘cerebricity’ fastening itself on a letter-sheet and clinging to it for weeks, while it was shuffling about in mail-bags, rolling over the ocean, and shaken up in railroad-cars? And yet the odor of a grain of musk will hang around a note or a dress for a lifetime. Do you not remember what Professor Silliman says, in that pleasant journal of his, about the little ebony cabinet which Mary, Queen of Scots, brought with her from France— how ‘its drawers still exhale the sweetest perfumes’? If they could hold their sweetness for more than two hundred years, why should not a written page retain for a week or a month the equally mysterious effluence poured over it from thinking marrow, and diffuse its vibrations to another excitable centre?”

Professor Draper, illustrating the subtle effects of light, said: “Upon the walls of our most private apartments, where we think the eye of intrusion is altogether shut out and our retirement can never be profaned, there exists the vestiges of all our acts, silhouettes of whatever we have done. A shadow never falls upon a wall without leaving thereupon a permanent trace, a trace which might be made visible by resorting to proper processes. Photographic operations are cases in point. The portraits of our friends, or landscape views, may be hidden on the sensitive surface from the eye, but they are ready to make their appearance as soon as proper developers are resorted to. A spectre is concealed on a silver or glassy surface until, by our necromancy, we make it come forth into the visible world.

“Radiant forces are passing from all objects to all objects in their vicinity and during every moment of the day or night are daguerro-typing the appearance of each upon the other; the images thus made, not merely resting upon the surface, but sinking into the interior of them; there held with astonishing tenacity, and only waiting for a suitable application to reveal themselves to the inquiring gaze. You cannot, then, enter a room night or day but you leave on going out your portrait behind you. You cannot lift your hand, or wink your eye, or the wind stir a hair of your head, but each movement is infallibly registered for coming ages. The pane of glass in the window, the brick in the wall, and the paving stone in the street, catch the pictures of all passers-by, and faithfully preserve them. Not a leaf waves, not an insect crawls, not a ripple moves, but each motion is recorded by a thousand faithful scribes in infallible and indelible scripture.”

Professor William Denton says: “All bodies, organic bodies more especially, are transmitting influences continually to surrounding objects, the tendency of which is to bring these objects into a similar condition to their own. Not more certainly does a rose diffuse its fragrance than human beings dispense their influence wherever they go. We are each surrounded by an atmosphere, which can convey to sensitives the impression of our character and condition. Wherever the foot touches the ground, the impression of the man is left upon it, so that even the dog, by means of it, can track his master hours after he has passed over the ground. Houses become so imbued with the influence of the people that live in them that sensitive persons can feel that influence as soon as they enter; and if it is unpleasant, they have a feeling of uneasiness, of positive unhappiness, as long as they are subject to it.”

Dr. Haddock says: “Frequented rooms store up this mass of human influences. The kitchen borrows the cook’s character. The dining-room registers the public family life. Sleeping chambers, especially, record the nameless history of undiscovered hearts. The writer is convinced that he has dimly ‘sensed’ something of the personality of former occupants in various houses where he has lived. It is a common thought that rooms may be pervaded by the ‘presence’ of absent people at one time familiar there. The atmosphere of a vacated saloon must differ vastly from that of a reputable theatre, an art museum, a college or a church.”

It is very probable that the mystery surrounding many so-called “haunted” houses might be dispelled by an inquiry conducted along the lines of the hypotheses of thought radioactivity and the inductive action of thought; in fact, one of the present writers has heard of the so-called “spooks” being driven away from such houses by means of scientific application of Thought Power along the lines now under consideration— for evil thought-atmospheres may be overcome by means similar to that employed in turning the sunlight into a dark, damp cellar. “Ghosts,” in at least many cases, are naught but stored-up accumulations of past thought-impressions and vibrations. The evil thought-atmosphere of houses of ill-repute has been known to linger long after the building has been taken over by a reputable business—here, also, scientific “treatment” would have proved efficacious.

The thought-atmospheres of stores, offices, and business places in general are often quite marked; in many cases they act inductively upon persons entering them for the first time, creating a distinct feeling concerning the character of the place. In cases of this kind it will be found usually that the “spirit of the place, is practically determined by the characteristic mental states and actions of those in charge of the business in question. The persons constituting the management establish the “policy” of the concern in accordance with their own ideas and feelings. The policy of a business concern usually is a representation of the character of those who direct and establish that policy. Moreover, that policy (by reason of its effect upon the employees) soon creates an actual “spirit of the place,” or a huge, composite “thought form” built up of the characteristic mental vibrations of those taking part in the business.

You have probably met with cases in which the management of a large business house has been changed, either by reason of the business being sold out to new people, or by reason of the owners employing some new man of strong character to take charge of the management of the concern. In such cases there will be noticed almost immediately a change in the thought-atmosphere of the place—in some cases a complete change of atmosphere being plainly “felt” by persons visiting the establishment. The new keynote of policy sets into operation a new set of mental vibrations; an entirely new mental rhythm is established in the place. In the same way changes of management sometimes lower the tone of a business office, store, or bank, instead of raising it; old patrons will be found complaining that “the old place does not feel the same when I enter it.”

Large office buildings frequently have their characteristic general atmospheres, independent of those of their particular office-suites. The influence of a few tenants of strong character, and marked mental tendencies good or bad, will sometimes serve to establish a keynote of the building. Then, according to the law of attraction in the world of thought (which we shall consider later on in this book), other tenants of a similar character are attracted to the building, and before long the place begins to acquire a reputation and a character of its own.

We have known office buildings which have attracted to themselves a class of tenants of such an undesirable character that more reputable concerns avoided the place, and persons became suspicious of anyone having suites in it. On the other hand, we have known of office buildings which fairly radiated the vibrations of success, solidity and reliability. We especially recall the case of a prominent building in a large city in which a small group of active successful men has served to set up such a centre of “success vibrations” that the whole place became noted for the success of its tenants. If you will talk with persons whose business requires them to visit different large office buildings, they will verify the above statements and will give you many striking illustrations gleaned from their own experiences.

In the same way, certain store or bank buildings have acquired a reputation for being “lucky,” while others have earned the classification of “unlucky.” There are stores in every city the tenants of which for many years past have been quite successful and have earned money. There are also other stores in which practically everyone who has rented them has met with ill-fortune and failure. These facts are familiar to every business man who has kept his eyes open. In many cases the facts just noted have been attributed to mere coincidence, while by others they have been attributed to some supernatural or occult agency. But, whatever may have been the explanation accepted, it is noticeable that most business men will avoid the “hoodoo” places, and will seek the “lucky” ones.

An understanding of the laws of thought radioactivity and of the inductive action of thought will serve to explain and account for phenomena of the kind just mentioned, and to bring such under the category of natural cause and effect. Moreover, a knowledge of these laws would have served to indicate a method of scientific “treatment” of the unlucky, “hoodoo” places, which would have “taken the curse off them” in a perfectly natural, scientific way.

As you have probably already inferred from the foregoing statements, not only do dwelling houses, business houses, office buildings, and public places have thought-atmospheres of their own which are felt by those who enter them, but also many villages, towns, cities, and even entire countries have their respective thought-atmospheres made up by the composite thoughts and mental states of the individuals forming the inhabitants of the places. In old-established communities this is more noticeable, because in such cases time has built up a decided thought character for the place; but even in newer communities the same law is in operation, and its effects are manifested. If you will stop to think for a moment, you will realize that every town or city that you know has its own special character—its own “spirit”—its own atmosphere; and that each induces its own particular kind of feeling in you when you visit it.

Each town or city, like each individual, has its strong points and its weak points—characteristics that you like and those which you do not like; but each is different—each impresses you in a different way from the others. Towns and cities have decided individualities of their own. Their respective characters are built up of the composite thought-influences of the past and present—these serving to attract to the place individuals of a similar mental trend, and to drive away from the town those individuals who are not in harmony with the spirit of the place. Persons coming into a strange town or city are usually keenly aware of the change in the thought-atmosphere, and often are rendered quite uncomfortable by it. But in time they either adjust themselves to the new conditions by “taking on” sufficient of the new influences and characteristics to bring them into at least reasonable harmony with their mental environment, or else they find the new conditions unbearable, and are themselves compelled to leave the place.

Sometimes, however, when by reason of a rapid change in economic conditions a town or city is subject to a strong influx of new inhabitants (particularly when the latter come rapidly and in considerable number about the same time), then the thought-influences of the new-comers may serve to overcome, or at least to neutralize, the old thought-atmosphere, and in a short period of time the thought-atmosphere of the place has changed. In such cases a person revisiting the place after a short absence is struck by the change, and is apt to remark that “a new spirit seems to pervade the place.” Often, also, the coming of a few strong individuals, men or women of positive characters and views, will serve to inject a new thought-element into the atmosphere of a place, and thus to bring about a perceptible change in its character and composition.

As proof of the existence of such characteristics of different towns and cities, you have but to recall the impressions made upon you by the different places you have visited. You will find that in your book of remembered experiences you have a distinct impression concerning each town and city visited by you. You may have even the record of the different impressions produced upon you by different sections of the same city.

For instance, you have a strong composite impression concerning New York City as a whole, if you have ever visited that metropolis; and at the same time you will have distinct impressions of various parts of Manhattan, of Manhattan as a whole, of Brooklyn, the Bronx, and of Staten Island. Then, again, your impression of Chicago will be entirely different from that of New York City—each city has its own thought-atmosphere which is quite easily felt by you, and which registers itself upon your mind by means of its inductive action.

Different from either your impressions of New York and of Chicago will be your impression of Philadelphia. Still different is the atmosphere of Detroit, of Boston, of Pittsburg, of New Orleans, of Denver, of Kansas City, of Saint Louis, and of the other large cities of the country. Going still further West, you will find that “the Coast” has its own unmistakable thought atmosphere, which is readily distinguished from that of the East, Middle-West, or Rocky Mountain Regions. Moreover, you will detect marked differences between the thought-atmospheres of the different “Coast” cities—San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Tacoma and Seattle, each has its own characteristic atmosphere.

Still more marked in their differences are the atmospheres of the older cities—the cities of the old world. So pronounced are the respective atmospheres of London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Petrograd, Madrid, Budapest, Stockholm, and the rest, that an experienced traveller who had once made a long stay in any of them would recognize “the feel of the place” were he transported there in his sleep and awakened without being aware of the journey.

The atmospheres of the great cities of Asia are quite pronounced—so much so, in fact, that often the traveller who once actually falls under their spell will thereafter, throughout his entire life, feel “the East a’calling him.” Australians claim that there is “a something” about their land which is met with nowhere else in the world, and for which they pine when away from home. And, on the dark side of the page, many travellers have testified concerning “the evil spell”—the mental miasma.—which hovers over certain parts of the interior of Africa, blighting all who remain under its influence.

There is “something in the air” of places other than the familiar chemical constituents; and that “something” is perceptible to most persons, and exerts at least some degree of influence upon them. In the hypotheses of thought radioactivity and the inductive action of thought, respectively, we have an explanation of the apparently uncanny and mysterious emanations from, and influences surrounding, many old places of the earth’s history—the scenes of ancient civilizations long since vanished from human sight—which have left their traces upon the sensitive ethereal medium upon which thought registers its vibrations, and from which the latter are reproduced by induction under favorable circumstances. The strange legends concerning old castles, ruins, ancient temples, prehistoric tombs, etc., need not be dismissed as mere fancy, or as idle superstition; there is a perfectly natural, scientific explanation of many such strange beliefs and traditions.

There are two great principles of the activity of Thought Power involved in the phenomena which you have just considered, and of other phenomena which you have not as yet considered. It is necessary that you grasp the essential facts concerning such principles, in order that you may arrive at an intelligent understanding of all such phenomena. These two principles are as follows:

(1) The Principle of Thought-Contagion which manifests in the “catching” of strong thought influences; in “thought epidemics,” and “mental contagions.”

(2) The Principle of Thought-Attraction which manifests in the “drawing power of thought,” whereby strong thought-vibrations tend to attract other thought-vibrations of the same general character, and, consequently, to attract and draw to a common centre different individuals of the same general trend of thought; and to produce and induce many other forms and phases of the attraction existing between thoughts and things, or between ideas and persons.

In the next following sections of this book, the two great principles above noted will be considered in further detail.

Thought-Contagion

One of the most striking instances of the power of the radioactivity of thought, and of the inductive action of thought, is found in that class of phenomena which has been called “thought-contagion” or “mental epidemics.” As these terms indicate, in this class of phenomena there is a “spreading” of thought-influence and a liability to “catch” the spirit of the general thought-wave which is spreading itself over a group of people, a community, a nation, or even over the civilized world as a whole.

In its simplest form, thought-contagion is found in cases in which groups or congregations of individuals are moved by a common impulse, the latter being originally imparted by some individuals of strong emotional tendencies in the crowd, and then rapidly spreading from one to another of the crowd until nearly everyone in the group or crowd has “caught” the feeling and its accompanying impulse. This class of phenomena, in its simplest phases, is illustrated by the rapid spread of emotional excitement among an audience or congregation under the influence of a magnetic orator, preacher, actor, or other “spellbinder” as the colloquial term well expresses it.

You have seen large audiences swayed by a common emotion under such circumstances; and, perhaps, have yourself come under the influence of the epidemic thought-currents. One is often roused to the stage of intense emotion, and experiences the impulse to act thereupon, by words which when seen in cold print seem devoid of any exciting power. In such cases, the orator, actor, or preacher possesses sufficient magnetic force to “set things going,” and after that the contagion spreads rapidly until finally nearly every one in the audience is more or less affected. In cases of “revival meetings” the influence of thought-contagion is quite strongly manifested.

The same principle governs what are known as “mobs,” creating what is known as “the mob spirit.” The mob, at the beginning, may be made up of the average persons of the community, brought together by curiosity or general interest, and free from vicious intention. Before long some turbulent spirits in the crowd begin to manifest emotional excitement, and start to arouse a similar feeling in their neighbors. If the conditions are favorable, before long the contagion has spread and the epidemic has assumed alarming proportions. If the impulse and influence be sufficiently strong, the crowd veritably becomes a “mob,” and in some cases proceeds to commit acts of violence and destruction of which the majority had no thought in the beginning, and of which but few of its members would have been capable under ordinary circumstances. When the influence has passed, most of the individuals are aghast at the acts which they have helped to perpetrate.

The following newspaper report of the mental epidemic manifested at one of Paderewski’s recitals, several years ago, will illustrate the thought-contagion frequently in evidence in audiences, congregations, etc. “There is a chatter, a rustling of programmes, a waving of fans, a nodding of feathers, a general air of expectancy, and the lights are lowered. A hush. All eyes are turned to a small door leading on to the stage; it is opened. Paderewski enters. A storm of applause greets him, but after it comes a tremulous hush and a prolonged sigh created by the long, deep, inhalation of upward of three thousand women. Paderewski is at the piano. Thousands of eyes watch his every movement through opera-glasses and with an intensity painful to observe. He the idol, they the idolaters. Toward the end of the performance the most decorous women seem to abandon themselves to the influence. There are sighs, sobs, the tight clinching of the palms, the bowing of the head. Fervid exclamations: ‘He is my Master!’ are heard in the feminine mob.”

Other equally striking examples are afforded by the thought-contagion and the mental epidemics manifested at the meetings of the successful “evangelist” or “revivalist”— you will at once recall instances within your own experience. Immense crowds are aroused to the highest pitch of excitement; individuals throw aside their customary reserve and dignity, and indulge in emotional extravagances of speech, demeanor and action. Shouts, moans, and groans are heard. Some persons fall into spasms brought on by over-excitement, others faint or fall into trances. The crowd rushes to the altar to confess its sins, and to seek salvation; the pockets of the crowd are emptied into the collection receptacles—often jewelry is torn off and tossed into the plate. Even the scientific observer, though holding himself well in hand, often feels the surges of emotional contagion, and may even be surprised to feel the tears coursing down his cheek—though his head remains cool, his heart has been aroused by the heat of the emotional contagion.

In the case of the mob, a similar psychological background exists. Sidis describes as follows a crowd being infected by the mob contagion: “When the preacher, the politician, the stump orator, the ringleader, the hero, gains the ear of the crowd, an ominous silence sets in, a silence frequently characterized as ‘awful.’ The crowd is in a state of overstrained expectation; with suspended breath it watches the hero or the interesting, all-absorbing object. Disturbing impressions are excluded, put down, driven away by main force. So great is the silence induced in the fascinated crowd, that very frequently the buzzing of a fly, or even the drop of a pin, can be distinctly heard. All interfering impressions and ideas are inhibited. The crowd is entranced, and rapidly merges into the mob-state.”

Tolstoi, in his “War and Peace,” pictures the mental condition of a crowd which was rapidly being transformed into an entranced mob: “The crowd remained silent, and pressed on one another closer and closer. To bear the pressure of one another, to breathe in this stifling, contagious atmosphere, not to have the power to stir, and to expect something unknown, incomprehensible, and terrible, became intolerable. Those who were in the front, who saw and heard everything that took place, all those stood with eyes full of fright, widely dilated, with open mouths; and straining their whole strength, they kept on their backs the pressure of those behind them.”

Sidis, in the following striking passages, cleverly pictures the effect of “mental suggestion” upon an entranced crowd rapidly sinking to the mob state: “The suggestion given to the entranced crowd by the ‘master’ spreads like wildfire. The given suggestion reverberates from individual to individual, gathers strength, and becomes so overwhelming as to drive the crowd into a fury of activity, into a frenzy of excitement. As the suggestions are taken by the mob and executed, the wave of excitement rises higher and higher. Each fulfilled suggestion increases the emotion of the mob in volume and intensity. Each new attack is followed by a more violent paroxysm of furious demoniac frenzy. The mob is like an avalanche: the more it rolls the more menacing and dangerous it grows. The suggestion is given by the hero, by the ringleader, by the master of the moment, is taken up by the crowd and is reflected and reverberated from man to man, until every soul is dizzied and every person is stunned. In the entranced crowd, in the mob; every one influences and is influenced in his turn; every one suggests and is suggested to, and the surging billow of suggestion swells and rises until it reaches a formidable height. * * * *

“The mob energy grows faster than the increase in numbers. The mob spirit grows and expands with each human increment. Like a cannibal it feeds on human beings. The mob has a self of its own; the personal self is suppressed, swallowed up by it, so much so that when the latter comes once more to the light of day it is frequently horrified at the work, the crime that the mob self has committed. Once the mob self is generated, or truer to say, brought to the surface, it possesses a strong attractive power and a great capacity for assimilation. It attracts fresh individuals, breaks down their personal life, and quickly assimilates them. The assimilated individual expresses nothing but the energy suggestion, the will of the entranced crowd; he enters fully into the spirit of the mob. * * * * The extreme impulsiveness of the mob self is notorious. No sooner is a suggestion accepted, no matter how criminal, how inhuman it might be, than it is immediately realized, unless another suggestion more in accord with the general nature of suggestions in which the mob itself was trained, interferes and deflects the energy of the mob in another direction.”

Cases are of record in which individuals who plunged into the midst of an excited mob with the full purpose of counteracting its purposes, were themselves overcome by the contagion and fell in with the actions of the mob, although the latter were directly opposed to their normal feelings, convictions and interests. A Russian writer cites an instance in which a soldier bitterly denounced the mob which was beating to death his old commander, who, he said, had been like a father to him. Being urged to help the man who had befriended him, he rushed into the crowd with that avowed purpose. A few minutes later he was discovered beating the old commander with a club, like the rest of the crowd. Being reproached, he said: “He was indeed like a father to me; but in such a time, when all the rest strike him, why should I keep quiet?” Jews have been caught in anti-Jewish crowds, and vice-versa—the individual being carried away by the thought-epidemic. Almost incredible instances are recorded concerning the influence of thought-contagion leading to the participation of persons in mob movements directed against their own kindred class, sect, or faith.

Another form of thought-contagion, or of mental epidemics, is the condition of panic or stampede manifested by crowds, communities, and even entire countries at many times in history. There have been many instances of the rapid and wide spread of popular fear of the coming of “the end of the world.” It would seem that at least once in every generation a panic or “craze” of this kind breaks out. Someone starts the rumor that “the world is coming to an end” on such and such a day; the condition of the popular mind being propitious, the rumor is taken up and accepted by many, and before long reaches the degree of thought-contagion or mental epidemic. Before the inevitable subsidence, thousands are affected and in many cases deplorable results arise—insanity, suicides through fear, neglect of financial interests, breaking up of families, destruction or disposal of goods and property, all these are incidents of this form of thought-contagion.

Similar mental epidemics arise from the appearance of comets, accompanied by dire prophecies, the appearances of plagues of various kinds, the rumors of financial calamities about to overtake the country, and similar prophecies or promises of evil. In short, it seems that under certain general psychological conditions, arising from a number of favoring causes, it is possible that a panicky condition, or a general stampede, may be started from the simplest beginnings and by reason of the most irrational ideas. Like a herd of frightened cattle or horses, like a crowd of sheep, like a flock of chickens, the great masses of people catch the contagion, take fright, work themselves into a state of panic, and away they go in a wild stampede—all without valid reasons or sufficient motives.

In the same way, strong waves of speculative excitement, gambling crazes, “get rich quick” epidemics, have affected large masses of people. Apparently all at once, great numbers of people will rush to “invest, their hard-earned money in some wild, fantastic, unbusinesslike scheme which has been widely heralded. Then scores of similar schemes are evolved—like mushrooms, they grow overnight. Persons heretofore careful and prudent throw aside all caution and forethought, and actually beg the promoters of the wild enterprises to accept their money—to “let them in” the scheme. Then, sooner or later, the bubble bursts, and the excitement dies out at once. After it is all over, the public wonders how it ever could have happened—the people keep on wondering, until history repeats itself as it always does when given sufficient time.

As illustrations of the financial “crazes” or epidemics due to thought-contagion or mental epidemics, we cite the following three celebrated instances:

(1) The Tulip Craze, of 1634, where the Dutch people experienced an epidemic of belief in the “get-rich-quick” possibilities of tulip-raising. Ordinary industry was suspended, and practically every one took to raising tulips. Fancy tulips rose in value equal to that of diamonds; they were sold by the grain, or even by more minute weights. People sold their houses and lands, their furniture and their businesses, in order to speculate in tulips. Money poured into Holland from other countries to which the epidemic had spread. In time, a panic succeeded the craze, and the bubble burst, causing the ruin of thousands of persons.

(2) The Mississippi Company Craze of 1717, in which the thought-contagion or mental epidemic reached heights which now seem almost incredible. This craze had its seat in France, where John Law, a shrewd Scotchman, obtained from the Regent of France the exclusive rights for his company to trade on the west bank of the Mississippi River in America; later, the exclusive privileges were extended to the East Indies and the South Seas. Law announced probable profits of one hundred and twenty per cent. Thousands of enthusiastic French men of all ranks and classes fought at Law’s doors for the privilege of subscribing for shares in his company. The nation indulged in an orgy of gambling; the streets were transformed into trading floors for the sale of stock. The public acted as if it were drunk; the wildest excesses were manifested. Finally the bubble burst, thousands of persons had lost their all, and many were reduced to actual poverty.

(3) The South Sea Bubble, of 1720, in which the English public was subjected to a severe attack of thought-contagion, or mental epidemic. The South Sea Company, by means of false rumors, started the craze. The rumors spread, gaining in size and strength as they traveled. Soon it was believed that the investment of a hundred pounds would bring a sure return of many hundreds of pounds per annum. People abandoned their ordinary occupations, and became speculators in shares of stock. Imitation schemes were born, and people fought to trade in their shares. The whole country was infected with the “get-rich-quick” virus. The most absurd schemes were evolved, and nothing seemed too silly to receive popular support. The shares of the South Sea Company finally reached the point of one thousand per cent increase. Finally, the bubble was pricked; stocks fell; a panic ensued; thousands were utterly ruined financially.

These three great cases of thought-contagion, or mental epidemics, serve to illustrate the general principles underlying all similar cases. In this country and in Europe there have been other cases of “financial crazes” of a similar character which have occurred during the past century. Every person of middle age will readily recall instances of this kind, of greater or less severity. Sidis says of this class of cases: “The course of speculation epidemics is to rise to the highest point of heavenly bliss, and then to fall to the lowest depth of misery; to pass from a state of acute maniacal exaltation to a state of still more acute melancholic depression.”

Great waves of religious “revival” epidemics have at times rolled over countries, affecting many thousands, and in many cases causing deplorable results. In America, the earlier part of the nineteenth century was remarkable for such cases. Several great “revival epidemics” flourished in this country in the first half of that century. In 1800, in 1815, and again in 1832, the Great American Revivals flourished. In many cases the public, especially in remote districts, literally went mad. Hysteria was deemed the hallmark of salvation, and the saner minds in the ministry were rejected by the masses who preferred to follow the lead of the sensationalists. Ordinarily sober and sane persons attending the meetings acted like “wild dervishes”; convulsions, trances, strange “fits,” barking like dogs, mewing like cats, neighing like horses—these were the signs of conversion, according to the insane standards adopted. In some cases, there began a search for “spiritual mates,” and soon the “sanctified” were living with “affinities” with the full consent of their lawful mates. The craze passed in time, leaving behind it a trail of physical and mental wrecks—and, in some instances, moral wrecks as well.

In this class of mental epidemics may also be placed the great “Millerite Craze” of 1840, arising from the predictions of one William Miller that the Coming of the Lord was at hand, and the End of the World was about to occur. The doctrine was widely spread by Miller and his disciples; and before long the country went wild with it. Finally, an exact date, year, month, day, and hour, was announced, in which “the Son of Man will come with power and great glory.” Then came the “gift of tongues” and the gift of prophecy to the faithful. Men and women forsook their work and their homes, and indulged in orgies of religious hysteria. In many cases families were forsaken and abandoned. Nights were passed in exhortations and prayers; it is recorded that “night was rendered hideous by their screams.” Property was given away freely, or else abandoned. White ascension robes were prepared by the faithful, for “the great day.” The day came; the faithful waited, some even ascending trees in order to be the first to ascend to Heaven. Nothing happened! Great discouragement was manifested by the many who were ruined.

A mistake in dates was announced, and a new date fixed. Many accepted this change, and the programme was repeated. In 1844 the second prediction failed, and the craze was over, leaving behind the usual trail of wrecked minds and bodies.

Students of history are familiar with the celebrated mental epidemics of older times. The Crusades epidemic carried men and women, and finally even young children, toward the Holy Land in order to rescue the Holy Sepulchre. Thousands upon thousands died on the journey; others were captured and sold as slaves. The final crusade was composed entirely of young children, boys and girls, many of whom met with terrible fates.

Then came the Flagellant Craze, in which thousands of men and women, often almost or entirely nude, marched the streets, scourging themselves with leather thongs until the blood flowed freely. Then came the Dancing Mania, in which men and women, boys and girls, danced the streets in an ecstatic mental state. Then came the several Messiah Epidemics among the Jews, in which the wildest excitement prevailed and almost insane excesses were manifested. Then came the successive waves of Witchcraft Crazes, in which many thousands of innocent persons were adjudged to be witches or possessed of the devil, and accordingly hanged or burned at the stake. The story is a pitiful one. When Reason forsakes her throne, Chaos reigns.

With the increase of public knowledge, and the spread of popular education, the character of these mental epidemics has changed; but the principle remains the same. One needs but to consider the many “crazes” and mental epidemics occurring during the period of his own experience in order to appreciate the fact that the principle is still operative. Even within the past twenty-five years the world has experienced many cases of religious epidemics, financial crazes, the rise and fall of many strange fads, “isms,” and “ologies.” Strange “crazes” for extreme fashions in dress, in amusements, etc., are continually having their rise, their brief period of popularity, and their speedy decline. To read a book written twenty years ago, is to realize how many now-forgotten “crazes” were flourishing at that time; students of those of our own times will have a similar experience of amused wonder, twenty years hence.

In times of great political excitement—particularly during presidential campaigns in this country—these great waves of thought-contagion pass over the land, causing mental epidemics of great power; a few days after election, people are wondering “what it was all about.” The sinking of the “Maine,” in 1898, produced a mental contagion which extended all over the United States, and thus made inevitable the War with Spain which followed a few months later.

In 1915, the sinking of the “Lusitania” aroused a great wave of thought-contagion in America, and war at that time was almost caused; its effects, temporarily held back, were manifested two years later when similar occurrences aroused the popular feeling and caused the entry of the United States into the Great World War. The Great World War, itself, owed its rapid spread and its wide extension in no small measure to thought-contagion. Persons all over the world are now looking back, in a dazed condition, to the terrible happenings of that recent period of the world’s history, and are wondering how they possibly could have occurred in this stage of Civilization.

But all thought-contagion is not of such a marked or violent character as indicated by the illustrative cases which we have cited. As we have told you in our consideration of “Thought-Atmospheres,” the atmospheres of places—of cities, towns, villages, districts, houses, stores, offices, etc., are largely due to thought-contagion. The thought-keynote sounded by strong authoritative individuals in a community, or in a place of business, a church, or an office, communicates itself to those dwelling in the place or working there; then begins a process of action and reaction, a mutual contagion, which continues until a mental equilibrium is secured, and the thought-atmosphere of the places becomes “set.” The mental keynote of an audience, a congregation, a mass-meeting, etc., is reached in the same way. The principle remains the same, though its manifestations have a wide range of different expressions.

You must not fall into the error of supposing that all thought-contagion is harmful, evil, or detrimental; or that every mental epidemic is a bad one. On the contrary, good thoughts are “catching” as well as are bad ones. The influence of thought environments of the right kind is most powerful, and has helped to “reform” many a person and to set him on the right path. One finds it very much easier to pursue the right path of living when he is surrounded by the proper mental atmosphere, just as the opposite kind of mental atmosphere makes right living much harder for him. This fact is instinctively understood by those working for human betterment, even though they may not understand the true causes underlying what they call “environmental conditions.” The “right” kind of environment is the place in which the proper kinds of thought-vibrations are habitually manifested, and the appropriate kind of mental atmosphere maintained. An understanding of the true causes of “environmental influence” will serve to clear up many apparent mysteries which attract the attention of all students of the subject.

Neither should you fall into the error of supposing that you are at the mercy of every wave of thought-contagion—of every mental epidemic—that comes in your direction. The more that you understand the nature of thought-contagion and mental epidemics, the less liable will you be to be affected, or infected, by those of an undesirable nature. “Forewarned, forearmed,” says the old proverb; and it is true in this case. When you know the symptoms, you may deliberately guard against the infection by determinedly turning your thoughts and attention in the opposite direction, and by bringing your reason into action. Finally, you may realize so fully the fact that the “I AM I” is the Master, that you may erect a defensive barrier against all thought influences of a detrimental or harmful character, while opening yourself to the inflow of helpful, positive, advantageous thought influences. In the later sections of this book these matters will be gone into in further detail.

In conclusion, let us remind you that “in knowledge there is power,” in this matter of thought-contagion and influences. A knowledge of the facts is in itself a strong weapon of defence. Again, let us assure you that there is nothing to fear in the case. That is, “there is nothing to fear but Fear”—for Fear is the great negative, depressing, weakening mental state. Fearthought invites undesirable mental-currents and contagion; Fearlessness repels them. Fearlessness is positive; Fearthought is negative; and the positives always overcome the negatives.

The individual who realizes in consciousness the real nature of his “I AM I,” and who recognizes its impregnable position, may stand on the solid rock of his own Selfhood (which is grounded on the base of All-Power) and from that point may defy the winds of negative thought influences, and the waves of popular mental epidemics which sweep away the resting places of those who have built upon the sands of the superficial personality. Your Real Self is a mighty fortress, of the gates of which YOU alone hold the key. Nothing can enter its walls, unless you give it permission.

Thought-Attraction

The second great principle of the activity of Thought Power, which is involved in the manifestation of the radioactivity of thought and the inductive action of thought, is that known as “the attractive power of thought,” or “the drawing power of the mind.”

In the operation of this principle of Thought Power the thought-vibrations manifest a strong attractive force, by means of which they attract or draw to themselves other thought-vibrations of a similar character. The same principle operates in the direction of drawing or attracting to each other, or to a common centre, different individuals of the same general trend of thought. It also tends to produce and induce many other forms and phases of attraction between thoughts and things, ideas and persons.

Thought-Attraction plays the same part in the world of thoughts that Gravitation plays in the world of matter. Gravitation operates in the direction of drawing toward each other the particles and masses of material substance; Thought-Attraction operates in the direction of drawing together those thought-currents, thought-waves, thought-vibrations, etc., which are of the same or a similar nature. Thought-Attraction operates along the lines of the general rule that “like attracts like”; and thoughts manifest a tendency which is well expressed by the familiar adage, “Birds of a feather flock together.”

In short, thoughts have been discovered to manifest a strong tendency to enter into close relations with other thoughts of a similar character, and to attract to themselves these similar thoughts, while, at the same time, they themselves are attracted by the latter. A mutual attraction exists between thoughts of the same general character—there is something like a “chemical affinity” existing between them and also something like a “chemical repulsion” between thoughts of opposite characters.

As a consequence, the person who in a strong degree manifests definite thoughts of a certain character sets into operation the power of Thought-Attraction, and thereby draws and attracts to himself the thought-vibrations, thought-waves, or thought-currents of other persons whose thoughts closely resemble his own. In short, such a person draws from the great mental atmosphere, surrounding him on all sides, the active energy of those thought-vibrations which are in harmony with his own; and at the same time he repels from his mental atmosphere those thought-vibrations which are inharmonious with his own. This, as you will readily see, applies not only to desirable and advantageous thoughts and mental states, but also to those which are undesirable and disadvantageous.

You have frequently experienced the working of this mental principle in your own mental states. You have dropped into a mood of depression and gloom—everything looks “blue” to you, and nothing seems “worth while.” The cause may be physical, or it may be purely mental—it matters not, so far as the effects upon other thought-vibrations are concerned. Before long, you will feel as if a deep cloud of depression were settling upon you, shutting out the rays of the sun, and enveloping you in a mental atmosphere of gloom, pessimism, and discouragement. You have attracted toward yourself the thought-vibrations of other persons which are in harmony with your own. This, in turn, will result in a still more powerful attractive force being set into operation in the same direction, and you will go from bad to worse in the matter of gloom and depression. Finally, however, the protective forces of your being will cause a swing of the pendulum in the other direction, and you will experience temporary relief.

But if you persist in encouraging gloomy thoughts, and the consequent attraction of similar thought-vibrations, you may eventually reach a state of chronic depression and gloom, into which the sunlight of cheerfulness is almost unable to penetrate. Your only hope, in such case, is deliberately to set into operation thoughts of an opposite character—thoughts of cheerfulness, hope, and encouragement, which will attract other thoughts of a like nature, and will thus counteract and neutralize the negative, depressing mental states which have afflicted you.

In the same way, though in the opposite direction, you will find that if you will strive to secure and to maintain the characteristic mental state expressed by the words, “Bright, Cheerful, and Happy,” you will attract to yourself similar bright, cheerful, and happy thought-vibrations, thought-waves, thought-currents. You will feel their uplifting influence almost at once, and will experience the delight and advantage of a mental atmosphere of this kind. Not only will you attract these positive, inspiring thoughts, but you will also repel the negative, dispiriting thought-influences in the great mental atmosphere surrounding you.

Thoughts of hate, anger, envy, and jealousy tend to attract to themselves the thoughts of others of the same kind, and these, in turn, induce a still higher degree of these objectionable mental states in your own mind. You sometimes bring upon yourself veritable whirlwinds of hate-thoughts by sending forth strong thought-vibrations of that kind. The old saying that, “Curses, like chickens, come home to roost,” has a practical realization in cases such as we have just mentioned.

In the processes of Thought Power your mental loans are returned—with compound interest—the payment being made in the same kind of mental coin (good or bad) which you have paid out. If even from only a purely selfish point of view, it pays to send out the right kind of thoughts. Avoid sending out thoughts of a character which you would not like to have returned to you in kind, with interest. On the other hand, sow that you may reap—sow that which you hope to reap—in the field of thought.

From what has been said, you will see that the “inductive action of thought” is largely modified and influenced by the “attractive power of thought.” The degree of the liability to induction, contagion, or thought-influence of any kind, depends largely upon the character of one’s own thoughts. In other words, one is far more likely to be affected and influenced by thought-vibrations, currents, waves, or atmospheres in harmony with the character of his own thoughts, than by those not in harmony therewith. In fact, such a definite ratio exists between thought-induction and thought-attraction that an exact formula might be worked out by a competent mathematician familiar with the data.

Another important and interesting point should be noted in your consideration of the subject of Thought-Attraction. We have made reference to the fact that not only do you attract thought-vibrations, thought-waves, thought-currents, thought-atmospheres, etc., of a harmonious character, and to which your thoughts have a natural affinity, but that you also attract to yourself (by the power of Thought-Attraction) other persons whose thoughts have an affinity and harmony with your own.

In the same way you attract to yourself (and are attracted by) other persons whose interests run along the same general lines as your own. You draw to yourself the persons who may be necessary for the successful carrying-out of the plans and purposes, the desires and ambitions, which fill your thoughts most of the time; and, in the same way, you are drawn toward those into whose plans and purposes you are fitted to play an important part. In short, each person tends to attract toward himself those other persons whom he “needs” in order to materialize his ideals and to express his desires—provided that he “wants hard enough” and that the other persons are in harmonious affinity with his plans and purposes.

According to this principle, certain towns and cities of a strong mental character tend to draw to themselves persons from all over the country, and even from other countries, whose general mental natures are in harmonious affinity with those of the place. In the same way, many individuals of certain general mental or emotional characteristics are almost irresistibly attracted by and drawn to certain towns and cities with the general mental character of which they are in harmonious affinity. You have often seen cases in which persons “could not keep away from” certain towns, cities, or parts of the country for which they were naturally fitted by reason of their mental characteristics. This is one of the reasons why particular places rapidly take on certain mental characteristics, once the process of Thought-Attraction and Thought-Induction have been started.

There are other, and more subtle, phases of the operation of Thought-Attraction which must be noted here, although they involve the activities of certain powers of the mind, and of Nature, which are but little understood by the great masses of persons. We have reference to the fact that by Thought-Attraction not only other thoughts, not only other persons, are attracted, but that also the conditions, environment, and circumstances necessary for the effective expression and manifestation of one’s thoughts are often brought into actual relation to him; they can scarcely be said to have been attracted to him—rather does it seem that he is attracted to and by them. There evidently is some sort of correlation set up between these things and one’s thoughts, and subtle natural forces are called into operation in order that there may be a coordination of “the person, the time, the place, the conditions, the opportunity,” required for the expression and materialization of the thought.

One of the present writers, about twenty years ago, wrote the following statement concerning the general operations of the laws of Thought-Attraction. They serve equally well to express the general idea today, even in the light of the investigations which have been made along the same lines during that period of time. We take the liberty of quoting the statement in full, believing that it will possess a special interest to the readers of the present book. The statement in question is as follows:

“Your thoughts place you in connection with the outside world and its forces, and you attract and repel people, and things, by the character of thought held. You and they are attracted to each other, because your thoughts are pitched on the same key. You are in close touch with all other parts of the whole, but attract to yourself only such of the parts which correspond in kind with your mental attitude. If you think Success, you will find that you have started into operation the forces that are conducive to your success; and, from time to time, if you maintain the same mental attitude, other things will fall into line as they are needed, and will aid you in your efforts.

“Things will seem to come your way in a most astounding manner, and opportunities will arise, which if taken advantage of, will insure to you Success. You will find that new thoughts will come into your mind which should be taken advantage of. You will meet with persons who will help you in many ways by suggestions, ideas, and active help. Of course, the work which you must do yourself will not be performed for you by others, but the Law will continually help and assist you. It will bring opportunities and chances to your door, but you will have to take them in. It will lead you up to the doors opening into advancement, but you will have to open the doors yourself. It will undertake what will seem to be round-about roads to get to a thing, but you will arrive at your journey’s end, no matter how winding may be the road.

“Sometimes it will take you far past the point at which you thought you were aiming, and, as you go past, you will smile when you recall that this point on the road, which now seems so unimportant, seemed a little further back to be your destination—your reason for making the trip. Sometimes, the thing which seems to represent all that is worth having, and which inspires you to make the effort, will have lost all interest for you when you near it—you will make no effort to grasp it as you pass, but will move on past it, swept forward by the tremendous forces which you have, perhaps unwittingly, set into operation.”

In other books of this series we have considered the effect of Desire upon the degree of the attractive power of thoughts. We have likewise considered the important part played by Confident Expectation, Faith, and Hope, upon the tendency of thoughts to express themselves in action and to materialize themselves—in which processes Thought-Attraction is involved. It is sufficient here merely to mention the fact that Desire animates and energizes the attractive power of thoughts; and that Confident Expectation, Hope, and Faith greatly inspire and increase the “drawing power” of thought.

We also wish to call your attention at this point to the fact that you not only attract and draw to yourself the thoughts, things, persons, and conditions representing your wishes and desires—the things you “like,” in short—but that you also attract and draw to yourself, under certain conditions, the things which are the subject of your fears. Fearthought often exerts a powerful attractive force—in the wrong direction. This because the things you fear are “held in mind” by you often to a marked degree. You “think about them,” and roll them over and over in your mind. You let your mind dwell upon them, often to the exclusion of the thoughts of the things you hope for, desire, and ardently wish. Your very fear of a thing is, in a way, at least a partial belief that it will come to you—a form of Confident Expectation. You hold the thoughts of the feared thing in your mind—you form mental pictures of it in your imagination—you dramatize it, as it were; this being the fact, is it any wonder that Fearthought attracts and draws to you often the very things which you have feared? “The things I have feared have come upon me.”

The essential principle underlying the manifestation of Thought-Attraction seems to be as follows: “All thought seeks to express itself in action; all thought seeks to materialize itself in objective form.” Therefore, the thoughts strongly held in your mind, and the mental pictures held in the imagination, tending to express and manifest themselves, attract and draw to you other thoughts, persons, things, conditions, and circumstances of a kind and character likely to bring about and effect such expression and materialization; and also operate so as to direct you toward the persons and things likely to effect the same ends. This rule holds good even when you do not desire the particular things, but on the contrary entertain such a lively fear toward them that they are “constantly in your mind.”

The logical rule, therefore, is: “Hold the thoughts and ideas, and the mental pictures of those things which you wish to be expressed and materialized in objective form. Do not dwell upon the opposite kinds of thoughts—and, above all, do not allow Fearthought to master you. Construct your own mental patterns and molds—your outlines and diagrams—and never allow Fearthought to perform this work for you!”

Thought-Waves and Forms

Investigators and students of the phenomena of Thought Power have long been aware that the particular thought-vibrations emitted by the individual, as well as the combined thought-vibrations of a number of individuals, travel through space in the same general form as that assumed by magnetic force or electrical energy. That is to say, there exist thought waves, thought-currents and thought-forms (i. e., massed thought-vibrations which have assumed a certain form, and acquired a certain density) which are composed of thought-vibrations emitted by the individual or individuals.

These thought-waves, thought-currents and thought-forms are known to exist, even though they are not visible to the normal vision. They are recognized as present and active by reason of the perception of their effects and results; from such observation much also has been learned concerning their activities and general character. In short, they are “known by their works,” just as are the waves, currents, and general forms of electrical or magnetic energy (including those phases involved in “wireless” transmission).

It is not always necessary actually to “see” a thing in order to know that it exists and is active. Nature’s strongest forces are often the finest and most subtle, imperceptible to the normal sight, though usually capable of being registered by instruments and apparatus, and of being recognized through their effects and induced results. You never actually “saw” electricity, nor magnetism—yet you do not doubt their existence nor their power, for you have experienced the results and effects of their activity. The existence of thought-waves, thought-currents and thought-forms is recognized and accepted in the same way.

But, from an entirely different source there comes a great mass of evidence tending to corroborate and support the scientific discoveries and hypotheses concerning the above-stated manifestations of Thought Power. We allude to the great body of teaching generally known as “occult,” particularly that form of such teachings which has long existed among the Oriental races. We may also say that similar evidence is furnished by certain investigators of Psychical Research phenomena, the reports of whom agree with those of the Oriental occultists, and, like the latter, are found to indicate the existence of certain laws or principles of activity which independent investigation has discovered to govern the phenomena of Thought Power along the lines which we are now considering.

In short, both the ancient and modern occultists and the psychic researchers hold that in certain exceptional cases, by means of the ordinary faculty of sight developed to a supernormal degree, or else by means of an “astral,” or “psychic” faculty of vision, the thought-atmospheres, the thought-vibrations, the thought-waves and thought-currents of the individual may be “sensed” and perceived by the person possessing the supernormal or “psychic” or “astral” vision. The occult teachings furnish an extended series of reports of observations of the phenomena of Thought Power made in this way.

Now, while in this book we have no intention of urging the adoption of these “occult” or “psychic” reports, nor are we conducting propaganda work concerning such, teachings or doctrines, nevertheless we feel that in view of the fact that the ordinary observations of thought-waves, thought-currents and thought-forms show that these act “as if” these occult or psychic reports were true—“as if” such laws and principles of action were operative in the phenomena mentioned—we are called upon to direct your attention to the same in this book.

Whether you either accept or reject these reports, we feel that in view of the fact that these thought phenomena act “as if” such laws and principles are operative, you will find it convenient and interesting to employ them as at least symbolic or poetical illustrations of the workings of Thought Power in the case of the phenomena in question. We offer them, therefore, with this understanding between us, viz., that you will accept them either as literally correct, or else as merely symbolic or poetical illustrations of certain real activities—or that, suspending judgment in the case, you will maintain an open mind concerning them. In any event, the examination of the reports will prove interesting and instructive.

Thought Colors. In the first place, the occult teachings inform us that each general class of emotional or thought states has its own color, tint, or hue, which is perceived in thought-atmospheres, thought-waves, thought-currents or thought-forms. Thus: Blue indicates religious or spiritual emotions or thoughts, the lighter tints indicating the higher forms of spirituality; Yellow indicates feelings and thoughts of an intellectual nature, the lighter tints marking the highest phases of these mental states; Orange indicates intellectual ambition or pride; Brown indicates greed, avarice; Red indicates the elemental or animal passions, and the thoughts arising from them—particularly those concerned with anger, strife and sensuality; Crimson indicates the higher forms of affection or love, the very highest phases being marked by a beautiful rose-color; Green indicates deceit, trickery, slyness, its clear tints denoting diplomacy, tact, politeness, suavity, while a dirty, dull shade indicates envy, jealousy and disloyalty; Grey indicates gloom and depression, certain shades denoting forms of selfishness, while a pallid tint denotes fear; Black indicates hate, revenge, malice, destructiveness, and its presence serves to darken the shades of the other colors with which it is often blended; White indicates “spirituality,” in its highest forms and phases, (or perhaps something higher than that to which we usually apply that term), and its presence serves to lighten the tints of the other colors with which it is often blended. There is an almost infinite possibility of blending, combination, shading, tinting and arrangement of these colors; but the above will serve to indicate the general report and teaching on the subject.

Thought Auras. The occult teachings inform us that each and every person has his or her aura, or egg-shaped thought-atmosphere, surrounding the body, and extending some three feet or more from it, gradually shading into faintness at its extreme limits. This aura, we are informed, differs in color according to the characteristic thoughts and emotional states of the person; the above stated scale of colors determining the shade, hue or blending. The thought-atmosphere of a person consists of this aura together with its more distant and extended radiations, all, however, being colored according to its general character.

The Thought-Atmosphere of Places. The thought-atmospheres of churches, business establishments, homes, offices, prisons, hospitals and similar places, are held by the occultists to be colored according to the general character of the thoughts and mental states of those who inhabit them, or who have previously given them their mental color. Churches are said to vary materially in their blue coloring, some being of a “beautiful clear light blue,” while others manifest “an ugly, dark, dull purplish color.” Theatres are said also to vary greatly in color, tints, shades and hues. Business houses and offices are colored according to their nature. Prisons have a depressing and repulsive coloring. Houses of ill-repute have a ugly, low, repulsive shading and coloring so dense that it seems that it must be seen by the normal vision. And so on, each place having its appropriate coloring—its thought-atmosphere usually extending for some little distance around it, forming something like an aura—in some cases the thought-atmosphere extending quite a distance from the place, and tending to color the whole neighborhood.

Thought-Waves and Thought-Currents. The occult teachings also inform us that there are waves, great and small, composed of thought-vibrations of individuals, which often travel great distances from their source. Great currents or streams of thought-vibrations also flow in all directions through space, often reaching points very far distant from their starting places. These waves, currents, or streams of thought-vibrations all are colored and tinted according to the nature and character of the mental states represented by their vibrations. Some of them seem like rapidly moving streams, with well-defined boundaries, and of great comparative consistency and firmness. Others resemble great clouds of mist or fog (illuminated by their coloring, of course) loosely organized and of but slight consistency, which drift slowly along, changing shape, and apparently lacking in definite direction—acting in every way like their physical counterparts just mentioned. Some of these clouds are light and fleecy, while others are murky, dark and ugly, like great bodies of dark smoke.

Thought Whirlpools and Swirlpools. The occult teachings also inform us that there are great whirlpools often set up in these mental currents or streams, which eventually gain terrific power, and which extend their influences over great areas of space. These whirling vortices of thought-vibrations are of two general classes, which for the purpose of distinction may be called “whirlpools” and “swirlpools,” respectively. The “whirlpool” maintains a rotary movement toward a common centre, ever drawing to that centre the material which is affected by it. The “swirlpool” also maintains a rotary movement, but away from the common centre, ever widening its circumference, and ever seeking to spread its influence over a larger area. The “whirlpool” acts to draw to its central point all things over which it is able to exert its influence; the “swirlpool” acts to spread its circle of influence, and to disseminate its contagious influence.

These “whirlpools” and “swirlpools” of thought-vibrations affect and influence only those in whom they can set up similar vibrations by means of inductive action, as we have explained to you. Those immune to these vibrations are not influenced by their drawing or driving power. The general principles of Thought-Attraction, which we have described to you, apply in these cases as well as in the case of every form or phase of the influence of Thought Power. You should also remember that these “whirlpools” and “swirlpools” are not necessarily evil or disadvantageous—on the contrary they are often composed of the very best kind of thought-vibrations representing the most desirable mental states. All great movements, religious, moral, political, educational, set into being and activity great “whirlpools” and “swirlpools” such as we have just described. On the other hand, the contagion of mental epidemics or “crazes,” popular excitement, partisanship, or “crowd psychology” in general, is most often transmitted in just this form.

These “whirlpools” and “swirlpools,” likewise, exist in much smaller form, and exert a comparatively small influence. Every individual or group of individuals seeking to draw other persons to a certain central point or purpose, unconsciously sets into operation one of the smaller “whirlpools.” Likewise, an individual or a group of individuals seeking to spread some doctrine, teaching, theory, belief or state of opinion, unconsciously sets into operation one of these smaller “swirlpools.” The same general principles and laws govern large and small alike; if you understand the general principle, you understand the workings of all of the phenomena governed by that principle.

Thought-Forms. The occult teachings also inform us that in addition to their manifestation as thought-waves, thought-streams and thought-currents, the thought-vibrations of the individual sometimes assume the condition known to us as “thought-forms,” of which there are many varieties and kinds. These thought-forms are really detached portions of the aura of the individual, which are thrown off by him by the intensity of his thought, or by the excitement of his emotions, or, in some few cases, by the deliberate will of the person who has acquired an understanding of the occult methods.

The aura does not always maintain its definite outlines, and its essential integrity of substance. Instead, on certain occasions it is set into what may be called a violent storm, in which whirlpools and swirlpools are manifested, and during which portions of the auric substance are thrown off into space, sometimes travelling long distances. The following statement by a writer upon occult subjects will serve to picture this condition; the writer says:

“The human aura is not always in a state of calm phosphorescence, however. On the contrary, it sometimes manifests great flames, like those of a fiery furnace, which shoot forth in great tongues, and dart forth suddenly in certain directions toward the objects attracting them. Under great emotional excitement the auric flame moves around in swift circling whirlpools, or else swirls away from a centre. Again, it seems to throw forth tiny glistening sparks of astral vibrations, some of which travel for great distances.”

The occultists inform us that: “Thought-forms are specialized groupings of astral substance, crystallized by the strong thought impulses or vibrations of the person thinking or manifesting strong emotional excitement. They are generated in the aura of the person, in the first place, but are then thrown off or emitted from the atmosphere of the individual, and are sent off into space. A thought-form is really but a strongly manifested thought or feeling which has taken form in the astral substance. Its power and duration depend upon the degree of force of the thought or feeling manifesting it.”

The occult writer whom we have just quoted gives us the following information concerning the appearance and action of the thought-forms so generated and set forth from the aura: “These thought forms differ very materially from one another in form and general appearance. The most common form is that of a tiny series of wave’s, similar to those caused by the dropping of a pebble in a pond of water. Sometimes the thought-form takes on the appearance of a whirlpool, rotating around a centre, and moving through space as well. Another form is like that of the pinwheel fireworks, swirling away from its centre as it moves through space. Still another form is that of a whirling ring, like that emitted from a smokestack of a locomotive, or the mouth of a smoker—the familiar ‘ring’ of the smoker. Others have the form and appearance of semi-luminous globes, glowing like a giant opal.

“Other thought-forms are emitted in jet-like streams, like steam puffed out from a teakettle. Again, one will appear as a series of short puffs of steam-like appearance. Again, one will twist along like an eel or a snake. Another will twist its way like a corkscrew. At other times, a thought-form will appear as a bomb, or series of bombs projected from the aura of the thinker. Sometimes, in the case of a vigorous thinker or speaker, these thought-form bombs will be seen to explode when they reach the aura of the person addressed or thought of. Other forms appear like nebulous things resembling an octopus, whose twining tentacles twist around the person to whom they are directed.

“Each thought-form bears the same color that it possessed when generated in the aura of the person creating it, though the colors seem to fade in time. Many of them glow with a dull phosphorescence, instead of bright coloring. The atmosphere of every person, and every place, is filled with various thought-forms emanated from the person, or persons who inhabit the place. Each building has its own distinctive thought-forms, which permeate its mental atmosphere, and which are clearly discernible by trained psychic vision.”

The same occultist, in a description of a journey in “the astral,” addresses the following words to the person who is supposed to be sensing on the “astral plane.” We reproduce his words merely because they create an interesting picture of what the occultists claim may be perceived by supernormal psychic vision—not with the intention of supporting the statements contained therein, nor of claiming them to represent actual facts. The occultist says:

“Notice that beautiful spiritual blue around that woman’s head! And see that ugly muddy red around that man passing her! Here comes an intellectual giant—see that beautiful golden yellow around his head, like a nimbus! But I don’t exactly like that shade of red about his body—and there is too marked an absence of blue in his aura! He lacks harmonious development. Do you notice those great clouds of semi-luminous substance which are slowly floating along?—notice how the colors vary in them. Those are clouds of thought-vibrations, representing the composite thought of a multitude of people. Also notice how each body of thought is drawing to itself little fragments of similar thought-forms and energy. You see here the tendency of thought-forms to attract others of their kind—how like the proverbial birds of a feather, they flock together—how thoughts come home, bringing their friends with them—how each man creates his own thought atmosphere.

“Speaking of atmospheres, do you notice that each shop we pass has its own peculiar thought-atmosphere? If you look into the houses on either side of the street, you will see that the same thing is true of them. The very street itself has its own atmosphere, created by the composite thought of those inhabiting and frequenting it. No! do not pass down that side street—its astral atmosphere is too depressing, and its colors too horrible and disgusting for you to witness just now—you might get discouraged and fly back to your normal plane for relief.

“Look at those thought-forms flying through the thought-atmosphere! What a variety of form and coloring! Some most beautiful, the majority quite neutral in tint, and, occasionally, a fierce, fiery one tearing its way toward its mark. Observe those whirling and swirling thought-forms as they are thrown off from that business house. Across the street, notice that great octopus monster of a thought-form, with its great tentacles striving to wind around persons and to draw them into that flashy dance-hall and dram-shop; a devilish monster which we would do well to destroy. Turn your concentrated thought upon it, and ‘will’ it out of existence—there, that’s the right way; watch it sicken and shrivel! But, alas! more of its kind will come forth from that place.”

By reference to the above stated teachings of the occultists, ancient and modern, you will see that the occult teachers agree almost, if not indeed wholly, with the hypotheses of the modern investigators of the phenomena of Thought Power. The occultists, however, claim to have obtained their information by means of “psychic” or “astral” vision in which they have actually perceived what they describe; while the modern investigators, on the contrary, make no such claims of actual sensing, but have built their hypotheses entirely from actual observations and experiments concerning the results and effects of the forces in question.

So far, it should be noted, the modern investigators have practically corroborated the statements of the ancient occultists; this, certainly, so far as is concerned the actual operation of these forces in the form of thought-atmospheres, thought-contagion, thought-waves, thought-currents, thought-streams, and thought-forms. The modern investigators, however, have advanced no positive statements concerning the “colors,” or “astral tints,” which the occultists emphatically assert to exist and to be perceptible to supernormal or “psychic” vision.

Inasmuch, however, as the physical colors which we perceive by ordinary vision are held by scientists to be entirely due to particular rates of vibration of light-waves, it is not unreasonable to suppose that thought-vibrations of different and higher rates might cause the appearance of color, tints, hues, and shades to a vision capable of perceiving or registering them. This, however, is apart from the general subject of this book, and is here referred to merely because of its general interest.

Of more practical importance to us is the discovery that the occultists agree with the modern investigators in the fact that “thought-contagion” and “thought-induction” depend quite materially upon (1) similarity of thought states between the external thought-vibrations and those of the person influenced, and (2) the degree of Fearthought or Confident Expectation of any kind, on the part of the person influenced. Moreover, both classes of teachers and investigators hold that positive, desirable thought states are more powerful in their influence than are the negative, undesirable ones, and serve to neutralize or even to dissolve the latter; a fact which lies at the bottom of all systems or methods of “treating” thought atmospheres or conditions on the part of Mental Scientists, and others of similar schools.

Remember, always that “Sunlight always drives away darkness; the most effective way of dispelling darkness is to turn on the light!” By keeping your own mental keynote properly pitched, you not only are immune to the thought-vibrations of the lower order, but also are able to neutralize or to dissolve these by the power of your own thought. Surely a comforting and satisfying fact, is it not?

Rules of Thought-Induction

The student of the subject of Thought Power, when he begins to realize the fact that thoughts are radioactive and that they possess inductive power, usually finds himself wondering why all persons, at all times, are not completely overcome by the effect of the thought-influences surrounding and exerting their power upon them. He marvels at the fact that anyone can escape the thought-induction of the thought-atmosphere; but his observation and common sense informs him that most persons seem to be comparatively free from such influences, except in exceptional cases and under unusual conditions. This reflection brings the student to the point where he seeks for, and finds, certain general rules governing the phenomena of thought-induction. These general rules we shall now present to you.

(1) Protective Immunity. Nature operates in the direction of protecting living creatures from influences threatening them injury; so far as is possible, she interposes a protective shield between the creature and the adverse influence. Nature, finding the creature persistently threatened by influences which have proved themselves to be dangerous to the welfare of the species or class to which the creature belongs, begins to build up and establish what is called the “protective immunity” of the creature to that particular influence. By reason of this natural tendency the human race is now immune from certain diseases which formerly seriously threatened it; each generation acquires an additional degree of this immunity.

A leading reference work says: “Immunity may be described as the state or condition of an individual who is resistant or nonsusceptible to a particular infection. There is no such thing as absolute immunity. While animals or individuals may seem under natural conditions to be immune to certain diseases, yet when they are placed in an unfavorable environment, or when the natural vigor is lowered by climate or insufficient food, they succumb to diseases to which they are ordinarily immune.”

In the same way, Nature operates in the direction of protecting us from the perception or consciousness of certain sounds, sights, smells, and other sensations, which serve no useful purpose to us but which would serve to distract our attention from more useful reports of the senses. For instance, we are conscious of but a very small percentage of the things which our eyes see on the streets of a busy city; our ears receive a multitude of sounds which our consciousness fails to register. We become so accustomed to familiar odors that we fail to perceive them. And, in a like manner, we fail to “register” the greater portion of the thought-vibrations which are beating upon us from all sides, at all times; were it not so, we would never be able to think at all on our own account, or to have “a mind of our own.” It is only the exceptional (not the ordinary) thought-influences which reach us—and by self-training we may still further limit these exceptional influences.

In fact, it may be stated as a general principle that we are strongly affected by thought-induction proceeding from the radioactive thought of others only when our natural immunity to these is lacking, or when it is overbalanced by certain strong attractive powers in our own minds. These conditions arise, for the most part, from some of the following causes, viz.:

Rules of Thought-Induction

(1) General lack of resistive power of our own thoughts, arising from a lack of strong convictions and ideas of our own which are opposed to those involved in the thought-vibrations reaching us from others; (2) general agreement and harmony with the outside thought-vibrations, which, operating on the principle of “like attracts like,” actually attract and draw such thought-influences to us, or at least open the gates of our minds to their influx; (3) general belief in, or fear concerning, the power of the outside thought-influences to reach us— the “confident expectation” of earnest belief or of deep fear is practically the same thing, and, in either case, it opens the gates of our minds to the thought-influences in question.

(2) Neutralization. Thought-vibrations are subject to the process of “neutralization,” by means of which they are deprived of much of their strength and inductive power when they come in contact with thought-vibrations of an opposite character, either in the minds of individuals or in the general thought-atmosphere of persons and places. Thus, when a current of thought-vibrations comes in contact with an individual of strong, positive ideas and convictions of an opposite character, the current is weakened by the contact and conflict, and loses its power to influence either the individual or others. In the same way thought-currents are weakened or neutralized by contact with strong, positive thought-vibrations of an opposite character in the thought-atmosphere of a place. On the other hand, however, if the new thought-vibrations be in accord with the original current, the latter receives fresh strength and power.

The mental atmosphere of every place of public meeting, and of every place in which numbers of persons live, is constantly filled with thought-waves, thought-currents, thought-streams and thought-forms—all made up and composed of the thought-vibrations of numerous persons, drawn together by the force of their mutual attraction. These streams of thought-vibrations of course are constantly coming in contact with each other; when this happens a certain process is set up in which usually occurs either a combination and blending of the harmonious elements, or else a neutralization of the inharmonious elements.

In the process of neutralization a certain definite ratio is found to maintain. For instance, if the two opposing forces are of about the same degree of power and energy, each will lose practically an equal amount of inductive strength by reason of the neutralization. But, if they differ in comparative power and energy, they will each lose in the inverse ratio of their relative strength—the stronger will lose less, and the weaker will lose more. Thus if one of the opposing forces is twice the power of the other, it will lose only half as much as does the weaker one.

But in each and every case of neutralization there is a loss on both sides; this being so, it follows that the individual coming in conflict with strong opposing thought-influences must replenish his own thought-power by pouring into it a stream of strong, positive ideas representing his own convictions, principles or beliefs. This process of neutralization is also manifested in the process of “treatment” of things, places or conditions, on the part of the followers of Mental Science; here the adverse, undesirable, negative thought-atmospheres are neutralized and dissipated by turning upon them a steady, ever-replenished stream of positive, “good” thought-vibrations.

(3) Rhythm. In a preceding section we have spoken of the “whirlwinds” of thought-vibrations, which sometimes pass rapidly over a crowd, a community, or even over a whole country—or, at times, over the entire civilized world. These mental whirlwinds, starting from a focal centre, spread rapidly in an ever-widening circumference of its circles, and with ever-increasing force and power; that is “ever-widening” and “ever-increasing” up to a certain point. Sooner or later, however, the influence of the outside thought opposing it, combined with that natural rhythm which is found in all natural activities, serves to “slow down” the movement, and to dissipate its strength. Everything in Nature has its rise and its fall; its increase and its decrease; its birth and its death: and these thought-whirlwinds or whirlpools come under the general law.

If you will study the history of mental epidemics, crazes or other phases of extended thought-contagion, you will perceive the operation of this Law of Rhythm—this tendency to regain and restore the normal balance between the opposing poles of things. In the instances cited in a preceding chapter, you will note the gradual or rapid decline of the contagion, following its rise to its highest point. You may also see the principle manifested in any case of popular excitement, such as, for instance, a great religious revival, a political campaign, or in any other form of mental excitement in which a large number of persons are affected. From the stages of intense, burning ardor, excitement, or even frenzy, there is a corresponding slowing down and cooling off—the reaction follows the action, and is equal to it though in an opposite direction. Were this principle not in operation, there would be no limit to the spread and increase in force of a mental epidemic—it would veritably consume the world with its intensity.

(4) Harmonious Attraction. As we have informed you in the preceding sections of this book, there is manifest in the world of thought-vibrations a certain strong attraction between thought-waves or thought-currents, and the minds of those persons whose general thought and feeling are more or less in harmonious agreement with those represented in the thought-currents. “Like attracts like”; “birds of a feather flock together”; “mine own shall come to me”;—all these statements are illustrated by the actions of the thought-currents in response to “the drawing power of the mind.”

Persons of strong convictions (right or wrong, good or bad) are constantly attracting to themselves the thought-currents of other persons of similar convictions. Likewise, persons of certain strong emotional states, affections, desires, passions and inclinations, are constantly drawing to themselves the thought-currents of other persons of similar natures. We are connected by invisible mental links and filaments with others of similar thoughts and emotional states—similar natures and characters. Our thoughts and their thoughts have an “elective affinity” for each other—each draws and attracts the thought-currents of others of the same general character. We are constantly forming and maintaining mental partnerships in this way; we should be careful what kind of partners we join with in this thought relation.

If you have been drawing thought-currents of an undesirable nature, you should take mental stock of yourself for the purpose of discovering and eradicating those thoughts and other mental states which have proved to be the magnet drawing to you this undesirable crowd of thought-influences. You should then replace these objectionable mental states with thoughts and mental states of a desirable character. You may deliberately attract and draw to yourself the most desirable kind of thoughts and mental states. You may have any kind of mental partner that you desire, if you will but establish the first member of the firm in your own mind.

(5) Belief or Fear. As we have pointed out in other sections of this book, and also in other books of this series, the mental state known as “Confident Expectation” exerts a powerful dynamic force in the direction of attracting or drawing to the individual the objects or things which form the subject of his strong faith and hope. This principle is found active in the case before us, i. e., the case of thought-induction. The person who earnestly expects, hopes, and believes that the positive, advantageous thought-currents of others will reach and influence him, undoubtedly sets into operation the subtle forces which attract and draw such to him. Likewise, the individual who strongly fears (and therefore expects confidently) that the adverse, negative thoughts of others will reach and affect him, equally draws and attracts to himself that which he so strongly fears.

In either case, the principle is that of Confident Expectation. In each case there is present a strong faith or belief, which in one case is accompanied by hope, and in the other, by dread. In fact, at the last, Faith-Hope and Fear-Dread are perceived to be the opposite poles of the one mental state—the mental state of Confident Expectation. Each pole is possessed of a strong drawing power or attractive force; each draws to itself the objects or conditions corresponding to the thought. This realization of the essential identity of the two apparent opposites will be found to furnish the means of the reconciliation of the two facts, seemingly opposed to each other, which for so long has perplexed and disturbed the students of Mental Science.

The first phase of the power of Confident Expectation, i. e., that of Faith-Hope, is illustrated in the many cases of Mental Healing, or similar forms of Mental or Spiritual Therapeutics, in which sick persons by their earnest Faith and Hope attract and draw to themselves the healing thought and mental patterns of the “healer” or person giving the “treatment,” which thought-influences in turn serve to arouse within the patient his own recuperative force and energy, and thus to bring about a cure. The same principle operates in case of “treatments” for improved conditions, which result in awakening the attractive mental forces of the individual, himself, thus bringing about the desired improvement according to well-established psychological laws. Thus Faith and Hope are powerful mental states, capable of effecting important results.

The second phase of the power of Confident Expectation, i. e., that of Fear-Dread, is illustrated in the many cases of persons affected by their belief in Adverse Treatments, Malicious Magnetism, Black Magic, Witchcraft, and so on. The history of Psychology and Mental Science contains numerous instances in which persons have been seriously injured in health, and in some cases have actually died, by reason of their belief in the Power of Evil inherent in the adverse thoughts of others. Here the Fear-Dread has acted in the same way as does Faith-Hope—both being phases of Confident Expectation—that is to say, it has attracted to the person the evil influences which were dreaded, and the evil effects which were feared. Here “the thing I feared has come upon me.” There is nothing strange in the matter, once the principle is understood. No one who is filled with Faith-Hope in the Good, and who banishes Fearthought-Dread of the Evil, need ever suffer from any of the adverse mental influences above mentioned. This is the Truth which is destined to set many free from the curse of Error.

The five rules of thought-induction which we have just called to your attention will be found present and operative in practically all phenomena of Thought Power in all of its many phases. You will do well to study each very carefully.

“Treating” Thought Conditions

In the preceding sections of this book we have presented for your consideration the facts concerning the general principles involved in the several phases of the phenomena of Thought Power. These principles have been presented to you with an entire absence of insistence upon the acceptance of any speculative theories concerning the ultimate nature of thought, or mind. We have sought to emphasize the scientific “how,” rather than the metaphysical “why”; our concern has been almost entirely with the statement of “how it works”— the laws and principles governing its activity.

Hoping that we have succeeded in presenting to you the principles and laws of these activities in such a way that you have grasped them, and have committed to memory their essential points, we shall now proceed to the task of instructing you concerning the most practical and scientific methods and ways of applying these principles in your own particular case, so that you may avail yourself of the benefit of the right use of this wonderful force of Nature, and, at the same time, may avoid the mistake of allowing its negative phases to affect you and to work to your disadvantage.

It is quite true that in our general presentation of the principles and laws of Thought Power, in the preceding sections of this book, we have added here and there a word of caution or of advice concerning the use and application of the power in question, so that you would have a general knowledge of this phase of the subject even if nothing more were said concerning these particular points. But in order that you may apply more effectively these principles you will do well to consider carefully the special statements concerning such application which we are now about to present to you. More than all, however, it is important that you proceed actually to apply these principles in your everyday life; there is no better way of learning a thing than by actually “doing it”—providing that you proceed according to competent instruction concerning the general principles and laws governing the subject in question.

Creating a Thought-Atmosphere. As you have been informed in previous sections of this book, every person is surrounded by a thought-aura, or thought-atmosphere, composed of thought-vibrations radiating from his thoughts and mental states; these thought-vibrations tending to affect and influence other persons with whom such person comes in contact. The thought-aura or thought-atmosphere of a person, as you have seen, represents the general mental state of that person—his habitual mental states. It is a reflection of his mental character. It may be regarded as a practical extension of his personality.

We have shown you that the thought-vibrations composing the thought-atmosphere of a person tend to arouse in other persons a similar rate of vibration. The degree of such induced vibration, however, depends upon the degree of harmony between the mental characters of the other persons and that of the person sending forth the influence; there must be something in the nature of the other person before it can be called forth by inductive action—the seed must be there, else there will be no sprouting, blossoming, or fruit-bearing. There must be something to “catch” fire, before the fire of mental contagion will spread. We have described this to you before, so there is no necessity of repeating the explanation at length in this place.

There is another phase of the matter, however, which has not as yet been called to your attention. Here it is in a few words: Your general mental character, customary mental state, and habitual mental attitude will be recognized (consciously or subconsciously) by some of the persons with whom you come in contact, by means of your thought-atmosphere or thought-aura, even when, by reason of their own differing character, you fail to induce a similar feeling in themselves. They will often be able to “catch your vibrations,” even though these fail to induce a similar rate of vibration in themselves.

You have often “sensed” the vibrations of sincerity, earnestness, honesty, enthusiasm, reliability, in the thought-atmosphere of other persons. You have felt to a certainty that such mental qualities were theirs. In the same way, you have felt distinctly and clearly the vibrations of deceit, unreliability, dishonesty, lack of confidence, in the thought-atmospheres of others coming into your presence. Perhaps you have never thought that other persons could sense your own mental character in the same way; but they can, in many cases! This being so; it behooves you to build up for yourself a thought-atmosphere which will be of service to you, and which will affect and influence other persons in a way advantageous to your interests and welfare. If it is possible for other persons to “catch your thought-vibrations,” and thus to “read your thoughts,” it certainly will be well for you to generate thoughts and to emit vibrations of only the right kind—the kind likely to influence those other persons in your favor, rather than against you.

This, of course, will necessitate something like Character Building on your part, but in a way rather the reverse of that usually followed. The usual way is to build up your character, and to let that affect your thoughts, in this new way, you build up your thoughts, and let these react upon and influence your character so that the latter is reconstructed. However, we shall not here go into details concerning the subject of Character Building, as that special subject is considered in detail in another book of this series. While the change in your thoughts will greatly influence your character, we shall content ourselves here with considering the thoughts alone—your thoughts as they are concerned in producing an effect upon the persons with whom you come in contact.

If you wish other persons to feel that you have confidence in yourself, or in your business proposition, your political views, your religious teachings, your general opinions, you must first feel that confidence yourself—must feel it so strongly and positively that you will fairly radiate it and cause your thought-atmosphere to vibrate it vigorously. If you manage to do this, you may rest assured that the other persons will sense that positive confidence, and will be more or less influenced by it. If you fail to do this, and, instead, allow your mind and thought-atmosphere to be filled with the vibrations of lack of confidence, distrust, unbelief, unfaith, doubt, you may be assured that the other persons will “catch” those vibrations, and thus will be influenced against you—this, very often, without conscious recognition on their part of the reason for their feeling and impression.

If you feel that your thought-atmosphere is not just what it should be—that it is too negative, or else lacking in some of the positive characteristics which you consider desirable— then you should proceed to create a new thought-atmosphere, one containing a greater degree of positivity and composed of those qualities which you instinctively realize should be present and active in it. If you desire a thought-atmosphere similar to that possessed by individuals who are able to produce upon other persons the impressions they wish to be produced, you have but to start the work of pouring into your aura or thought-atmosphere just those thought-vibrations which such fortunate individuals seem to radiate. If you would be like those persons in this respect, you must begin to “think” as they do. It is all a matter of a given cause producing a given effect: if you wish to produce the effect, you must supply the cause.

In short, if you would create a new thought-atmosphere for yourself, you must start in to “treat” your mental atmosphere for the desired qualities. Now, a word here regarding this specialized use of the words, “treat,” “treatment,” etc., which are frequently met with in all instruction along the lines of Mental Science and similar subjects, and which we shall employ frequently in the following pages of this book. The word, “treat,” as so employed, means “to supply the needed thought-elements, ideas, mental pictures, etc., to the mind, to the thought-atmosphere of persons and places, or to any other aggregation of thought-vibrations.” A “treatment” of this kind is simply the act or process employed in this matter of “treating” a person, a place, a thing, for the purpose just named.

The process of “treatment” just described may be illustrated by the familiar act of turning on the light in a hitherto dark room; of opening the shutters and admitting the inflow of the rays of sunshine to a dark place; of letting a stream of pure, dear water flow into a bowl of dirty water. The light, the sunshine, or the clear water represent the positive elements of thought, while the darkness of the room, or the dirtiness of the water in the bowl, represent the negative elements of thought.

The positive elements of thought will always displace and neutralize the negative elements, provided that the positive elements are supplied in sufficient quantity and in the right way. We ask you to consider carefully the statement just made, and to commit it to memory; if you do this you will have always at your command a most powerful and valuable instrument capable of performing the most important work for you when most needed.

Now, from what we have just told you, what would you think should constitute the right method and way of “treating” your thought-atmosphere so as to create in it the qualities and powers which you wish it to possess? You will have no trouble in answering this question, if you have taken heed of what we have just said. You will answer at once: “I should begin to pour into my thought-atmosphere a sufficient quantity of the thoughts which represent the desired qualities.” Your answer is the right one—the one that follows logically from the given premises. You must open the windows of your mind to the inflow of positive, powerful thoughts, ideas and mental pictures—you must flood the dark places with the sunshine of positive thought.

Before proceeding further, however, we must call your attention to a most important fact of psychology which has a direct hearing on this matter of “thought treatments” of all kinds. Here it is: The power of the inflowing positive thoughts is immensely increased by your act of mentally picturing the inflow of the thought-vibrations into that which is being “treated” by you. The more clearly and strongly that you are able to picture in your imagination the process of the inflow of the positive thought, and the effect of these on the thought-atmosphere of that which you are “treating,” the greater will be the power and efficiency of that inflowing current.

Please note the above statement carefully, and commit it to memory. Practice until you can clearly imagine and mentally picture the presence of your thought-atmosphere, the inflow of the positive current, and the changed condition which is occurring by reason of the “treatment” The more “real” this picture seems to you, the greater the effect will be produced. This is a fact, as you may demonstrate to your own satisfaction; there is no need of entering into a technical discussion of the principle involved—it “works,” and that is the main thing.

Akin to this is the fact that the more clearly you can picture the mental quality or state which you are pouring into your thought-atmosphere by means of the stream or current of thought-vibrations, the greater power will it have to overcome and neutralize those negative qualities and states of which you wish to be rid.

In order to create a mental picture of this kind, you must (1) know the name best expressing and indicating that quality; (2) be able to recall instances in which that quality was manifested by others, so that you are quite familiar with its outward expressions; and (3) imagine yourself as possessed of and as manifesting that quality, yourself (even if you have never had this actual experience), so that you may clearly and vividly “feel” yourself now experiencing its inner phases. By so doing, you will have (a) the verbal symbol of the quality, (b) the idea of its outer expression, and (c) the feeling of the inner experience which accompanies the latter. When you have acquired this, you have the matter in your own hands, and under your own control.

The foregoing two paragraphs contain important truths— study them well, and commit to memory their essential points. The psychology involved is simple, but its effect is far-reaching and effective. When you know what you want, you have taken the first step toward its attainment. You must know its name, and its meaning; you must know how other persons act when they possess it—how it manifests in outward form; you must know how it feels to possess and to manifest it—how it exists in its inner form.

Ask yourself: What is the name of this quality; what are its characteristics; what does it mean when fully understood? (A good dictionary will give you the answer.) Then ask yourself: How do persons act when they possess and manifest this quality; what are its outward forms of expression? This question may be answered from your observation of other persons (select and study some good human pattern). Finally ask yourself: How does it feel to experience the possession and manifestation of this quality; what are the inner forms of its possession? (Your Thought Power imagination, working up the material of your observations of your human patterns, will be able to supply you with this feeling.) When you are able to answer these questions, you will be able to proceed effectively with your work of “treating” your thought-atmosphere.

We suggest that you now proceed to practice this method upon some particular mental quality—the quality of Courage for instance. Exert your thought, your memory, and your imagination, upon the ideal of Courage, according to the rules given above.

Having reached the point just mentioned, you may start in earnest to “treat” your thought-atmosphere for desired qualities and powers. The process is simple: turn on the stream of fresh, clear water—admit the sunshine to the room; that is all there is to it! Treat yourself whenever you have the opportunity, and without neglecting your duties or business—you will find plenty of time and opportunities.

You will notice the improvement from the very first; but do not get discouraged if at the start there occurs a little unpleasant “stirring up”—that is merely natural; all readjustments stir up conditions at first. Stick to it; persevere; do not allow yourself to be sidetracked.

Just one word of caution here: Never allow yourself to dwell on, picture, or imagine, the negative mental state which you wish to neutralize or eradicate. Forget the negatives so far as is possible; you need not think of them; the sunshine “takes care of” the darkness—you do not have to shovel out the latter. Cultivate the good plants, and the weeds will be choked out— this is the rule of the Garden of the Mind, at least!

“Treating” Places and Things. The general principles and rules relating to the “treating” of your own thought-atmosphere, which we have just stated to you, apply also to the case of “treating” places, things, and general conditions arising from thought-radioactivity. The thought-atmospheres of places, the thought-influences of things, the thought-conditions in general, which arise from the past or previous presence of thought-vibrations, may be successfully “treated” by you, and their undesirable conditions removed and replaced by desirable conditions, by an application of the very same principles which we have just described and explained to you in connection with “treating” your own thought-atmosphere. There probably will be needed certain minor modifications of the application of the principles, so as to make them fit the particular conditions of the cases before you; but the general principles remain the same, and the essential elements of the method of application will hold good in all cases.

If you rent an office, a house, a store, a room, you will do well to “treat” its thought-atmosphere—this, particularly if the former tenants have been of an undesirable character, if the history of the place is bad, or if you sense the presence of thought-vibrations of an undesirable character. In fact, it is a good plan to “treat” any new building or rooms rented or bought by you, and which you intend to occupy. Even if there be present no particularly undesirable thought-influences, or past record to be overcome, the “treatment” will serve to bring about speedily that harmony of thought-atmosphere and thought-vibrations which it is always well for one to secure and to maintain in the places occupied by him. You know how foreign and alien to you have been the new quarters occupied by you in the past, in many cases; and you remember how in time, after you have occupied the quarters for a while, they grew to feel “natural” and harmonious to you. By proper “treatment” you may secure this same agreeable harmony even from almost the very first.

Places with evil records and histories; places noted for the non-success of the former occupants; places in which mental or emotional inharmony or strife have been habitually manifested; and places in which for any reason whatsoever the thought-atmosphere has become undesirable and calculated to induce unfavorable impressions upon the minds of those occupying them, or those visiting them—all such places should be subjected to a careful and thorough mental disinfection, renovation, and general “treatment.”

The same is true, though in a less degree, concerning articles of furniture, tools, machinery, clothing, pictures, or any other form of personal property which has come into your possession after having been frequently used by some former owner. “Second-hand things” often carry with them the thought-influences of former owners, and for that reason are instinctively avoided by many persons; but a thorough mental “treatment” will remove all such objectionable influences, and will saturate the things with your own thought-vibrations.

In these “treatments” of places and things, you must follow the general rules already given. You must mentally picture the inflow of your positive thought-currents into the thought-atmosphere of the place or thing; you must vividly realize and picture to yourself the nature of the thought-qualities which you are pouring into them. The more clearly that you can visualize or picture that which is being performed on the plane of the thought-vibrations, and the more thoroughly you realize the nature and character of the particular thought-qualities being imparted by you, the more complete will be your work of “treating,” and the more satisfactory will be the result. The thought-qualities to be imparted to a place or thing must be those particular qualities which you perceive to be needed, and which, when present, will bring about the results and effects which you desire in connection with that place or thing. A general “treatment” for a condition of “general harmony with my ideals” also is to be advised in cases of this kind.

Thought Power Methods

Another important method of applying the principles of Thought Power by means of the transmission of thought-currents, and the consequent action of thought-induction, is that which may be called the “Direct Message.” In this case there is secured not only the general effect of the vibrations of your thought-atmosphere but also the direct and special effect of those vibrations which arise from strong particular ideas and thoughts existing in your own mind, and which you wish to “get across” into the mind of the person with whom you are talking.

In the “Direct Message” you flash directly from your own mind the message to the mind of the other person. It is as if you sent him a strong “wireless” message direct from your brain to his. The occultists say that in such cases there may be perceived an actual flash of Thought Power from the one brain to the other. Men and women of strong personalities possess to a high degree this power of sending the “Direct Message”; and this fact accounts in a large measure for their power of impressing and influencing other persons.

In applying the method of the “Direct Message,” you first arouse and create in your own mind a strong, clear and positive idea or thought which you wish to be conveyed to the mind of the other person. This is an important preliminary stage of the method, for unless you have something clear and strong to send as a message you cannot expect the other mind to receive a clear and strong message. Your message at the sending end must be vivid, intense and dynamic, in order that it may produce a like effect at the receiving end.

The more thoroughly convinced you are of the truth and reality of the idea and thought to be sent as a message in this way, the greater will be the degree of strength of the message, and the greater the degree of ease with which you may send it. Therefore, you must thoroughly convince yourself of the truth and reality of your message before you send it; you must arouse within yourself a degree of enthusiasm over its truth and reality; you must make it ring with truth within your own mind and soul; you must be able to feel the vibration of truth arising from it.

It is true that some persons possessing marked ability as actors may counterfeit, more or less successfully, this mental attitude of truth, and thus may obtain a considerable degree of strength in their thought-messages; but, nevertheless, there is nothing so strong and sure as the truth in such cases—the counterfeit truth has a tendency to “break down” at the critical moment, and to destroy the effect of the previous favorable impression of the message. Search for the truth in your idea or thought, and hold closely to it; “the truth is mighty and will prevail.”

Another point to be remembered in connection with the message is this: The message must appeal to the general desires, aims, aspirations, ambitions and wishes of the other person— must fit in with his ideals and hopes—in order to reach him easily and affect him strongly. The salesman whose message vibrates with the thought “I wish to save you money,” or “I wish to benefit you,” creates a far different impression from that which arises from the firmly held, strong thought that, “I want to sell you something,” or that, “I want to get an order from you.” The strong, vivid thought, “I like you,” is far better calculated to awaken a kindly response than the thought, “I want you to like me,” which so many employ.

Of course, certain messages awakening the fear of consequences resulting from an action, or the refusal to act, serve to appeal to the self-interest and desires of a person in certain cases, and often are so employed with more or less success. But, on the whole, it is far wiser to proceed on the principle embodied in the old fable—the fable in which it is related that after the strong north wind had failed to blow the cloak from the shoulders of the man, the sun accomplished the task by sending its rays upon him and causing him to seek relief from its heat by removing the cloak. Positives are better than negatives, in most cases.

In sending the “Direct Message” in a personal interview, you proceed as follows: (1) Having previously aroused the conviction of the truth of the idea in your own mind, and having awakened an enthusiasm concerning it in your own heart, you must call up the idea (thus energized and rendered dynamic) into your own consciousness—holding it there constantly throughout the entire interview; (2) you must exert a conscious, steady though imperceptible effort in the direction of projecting the stream of thought-vibrations to the mind of the other person— you will be able to do this with the greatest effect, and the least effort, if you will use your imagination to picture the actual passage of the thought-current from one brain to the other.

Professor E. B. Warman, a pioneer investigator of this and similar subjects, calls this employment of Thought Power, “Impulsion,” thus distinguishing it from “Compulsion,” the latter being held by him to indicate will-force. He says: “Compulsion is a force from without; Impulsion, a force from within. Compulsion will make an enemy of a friend; Impulsion will make a friend of an enemy. Which is preferable? By Impulsion, I mean that you should lodge the thought in the mind of the other man to do as you desire. Is it right? Yes, if your business is right. * * * It is merely another form—and a better form—of using persuasive powers.”

The same writer and teacher indicates an interesting feature of the employment of this method, as follows: “To lodge the thought successfully you should think in the first person singular (1); that is, think as if you were thinking for him. If you think in the second person (You), he will feel a sense of compulsion. By the first method he is impressed to do as you desire.” He illustrates this point of practice by several instances of his personal employment of it. For instance:

“I said nothing, but I thought very intently for him (impulsion). This is the thought I held on him: ‘Well, you come in at one o’clock.’ (That little word ‘well’ is a great compromiser.) All this probably occurred in the space of a minute, but it seemed many of them to me. Finally I looked up and said, ‘Well,——’ I thought the rest for him, but spoke not a word. Instantly he took my cue from the spoken word and voiced my unexpressed thought, saying, ‘Well, you come in at one o’clock.’ * * * On the way to the bank I held this thought on and for the banker—‘Well, I’ve decided to pay you.’ I held it so hard, so tenaciously, and with such confidence and concentration, and so exclusively of all other thoughts, that had I spoken to anyone on the way, I fear that I would have given utterance to my one and only thought, ‘Well, I’ve decided to pay you.’ * * * At precisely one o’clock I presented myself at his desk. He looked up at the clock, and as he did so, said, ‘I see you’re on time to the minute.’ I was almost afraid to speak, lest I might lose my grip on the thought I was holding on and for him; but I at once assured him that being on time was one of my cardinal principles. No sooner did I get my hold on that which I desired him to say than, simultaneously with my thought, he voiced it—‘Well. I’ve decided to pay you’.”

Again, he gives the following very interesting, and decidedly humorous, advice: “You have a caller either at the office or at home. It is your busy day. Time is precious. Your caller does not know when to depart. You can freeze him out or otherwise make him uncomfortable, or as a last resort you can ask him to go. Any of these might be efficacious, but things efficacious are not always expedient. There is a better way. Do not use compulsion, but impulsion. Impel him to go; that is, lodge the thought with him, in the first person singular. That is done by thinking for him, ‘Well, I must be going’; that is what I term holding the thought on or over him. Almost instantly he will be impressed with the thought as emanating directly from himself, and he will voice your thought as his own—‘Well, I must be going.’ When he thus expresses himself, let him go. Do not be dishonest by trying to be polite and saying, ‘Why, what’s your haste? I’m sorry you have to go so soon.’ It would serve you right if he then sat down and stayed an hour.”

If you have occasion to strive to convert or to convince other persons, in the course of your business or social life, you will find your efficiency in this direction greatly increased by a little practice in the art of sending these thought-messages along any of the several lines above mentioned. Some have found Professor Warman’s plan of “thinking for him,” in the first person singular, to be especially effective; others prefer the more familiar method: either will “do the work” so take your choice. You understand, of course, that these thought-messages may be sent during the course of your conversation, argument or discussion—or they may immediately follow it; use the method indicated by the circumstances of the case. Remember, also, that this is not hypnotism, mesmerism, or anything of that kind; it is simply an especially effective way of “getting across” to others that which is usually transmitted by the spoken word.

Some very good teachers lay great stress upon the transmission of Thought Power messages in the act of handshaking. They hold that in this way one may “get over” to another, in the most effective manner, the general impression sought to be made upon the mind of the other person. They point out the fact that the most “magnetic” persons are distinguished by their “live” handclasp, in which thought and feeling are expressed and impressed.

These teachers impress upon their pupils the importance of “throwing thought and feeling” into the handclasp. They advise, for instance, that one should hold firmly in thought the words: “I like you and you like me,” when shaking hands with a person whom one desires to impress in this way; the thought being accompanied by the mental picture of the passage of the thought-current from the one mind to the other, by means of the “line” of which the clasped hands are the connecting link.

Some of the most successful persons have discovered by actual experience the value of this method, though they usually fail to recognize the actual principle involved. They have found that “it works,” and they “let it go at that” without seeking the scientific explanation. Many of the best authorities are agreed that this method furnishes one of the most effective means of sending the Direct Message by means of Thought Power.

Another, and a somewhat more complex, form of sending thought-messages of this kind to another person is that which may be called the “Distant Message.” This form of thought-message is practically the same as that just described, except that in the present case the other person is not present in person, but is at some distance from you at the time the message is being sent. In cases of this kind you may effectively present an argument or a plea, an appeal or a petition, a warning or a caution, to another person, in advance of a personal interview, and rendering the latter far more effective than would be the case otherwise. You may even prepare the mental soil for a decision, by employing either the usual method or else the “impulsion” (first personal singular) method suggested by Professor Warman.

In sending a thought-message of this kind the sender proceeds just as if the other person were present at the place from which the message is sent. With his mind charged with the consciousness of the truth of his message the sender verbally addresses the other person just as though he were present in person. The verbal message corresponds to what would be the spoken message were the two persons actually in each other’s presence. The same arguments are used, and the same earnestness displayed. The only difference is that the other person is not aroused to such an earnest refutation of the argument as might be the case in a personal interview; the discussion and argument, consequently, is more “one sided.”

A writer in a popular magazine, in his article stating the results of an investigation of the subject now under consideration, cites a number of interesting cases in which the general principle of Thought Power was applied to practical ends along the lines just mentioned. Among other cases, he mentions the following:

“Miss H. gave an instance out of her own experience. She tried an experiment in this case: First she obtained the agency for a set of books that sold for $50. Then she selected the names of fifteen prospects, and sold each one a set, as fast as she could reach the prospect and present the proposition. She declared that she actually ‘made the sale’ to each one in her own room before she started out. She also told me about an insurance man who sells $100,000 policies at his desk before he approaches his prospect.”

The same writer reported as follows the same lady’s answer to his question, “How is it done?”:

“The secret is this: You concentrate definitely for prospects and then on individuals. You put in a few minutes each day picturing just what you want to take place, and then go out and hustle to accomplish that purpose. For example, if there is an ugly customer you desire to subdue, you create a word picture of yourself actually subduing him. You hold that picture steadily in your conscious mind for ten or more minutes— if possible. If you can think of that and nothing else for three minutes, without your thoughts flitting about, you will be doing well. A good time to focus your conscious mind on your supreme desire is while you are in the act of going to sleep, or while you are just waking in the morning. The best practice, however, is to get off by yourself, clear away from all noise and distractions, sit down or lie down, relax the body and mind completely, and concentrate on the thing that you wish your subconscious mind to do. If you will do that fifteen minutes daily, you will have no more doubts about the efficacy of the method.

“You must claim the desired quality or object before you actually possess it. Concentration is in the present—immediate—right now. You create the image or make a mold of what you want by affirmation and visualization, and then the subconscious mind makes that image a reality. You use your will in forming the image, but the will does not do the work. To use a well-understood figure of speech, the subconscious mind is the power that operates the engine, and your will does the steering. Everything depends upon the intensity of desire, and perfection in concentration. It is no small achievement to hold a single thought or idea in the mind for any length of time, but it can be acquired by practice. Generally, however, results will come in a few days. But do not get discouraged if you do not realize your expectation at first. Keep right on concentrating and working, and you will eventually achieve victory.”

In the above case the lady relating the personal experience, and those of others, places great emphasis upon the part played by “the subconscious mind, in the manifestation of Thought Power. She is quite right in doing so, yet some persons reading the statement may be led to believe that “the subconscious mind” is an entity performing the work in the case—which is a mistaken idea. The “subconscious mind” is not a distinct entity, but is rather a part of the mind of the individual—a plane or level of consciousness in his mentality.

A large portion of one’s thought-waves or thought-currents are sent out by the subconscious mentality; and a large part of one’s impressions received in this way are taken up by his subconscious mental mechanism. But the power employed in sending the subconscious messages of thought-vibration, and that which registers them on the subconscious receiving instruments, is Thought Power such as has been described in this book. “The subconscious mind” is merely a series of planes or levels of mental activity lying below those of ordinary consciousness. It will be well for you to bear in mind this important distinction.

Those who have made a careful study of this “Distant Message” phase of thought-transmission and thought-induction report that the efficacy of the plan depends materially upon the degree in which the sender “visualizes” or pictures mentally (a) the actual presence of the other person, and (b) the actual passage of the thought-current. One investigator says: “If you are able to visualize so effectively that the other person seems to be actually present before you in person, and so that you may actually sense the passage of the thought-vibrations, then the effect will be enormously increased.” Some teachers, in private lessons, have laid down quite elaborate rules and directions governing this method, but in the above statements will be found the essential principles of the matter and the practical gist of the method.

There have been written and taught many sensational elaborations of this method, most of which, however, are merely the work of an active imagination. To some, this method has seemed to threaten dire danger of “hypnotism at long range,” “black magic,” etc., and to be akin to controlling the wills of other persons at a distance by means of some magic power. Those who have carefully investigated the matter, however, assure all persons that there is present here nothing more than the ordinary suggestive effect of strong convictions transmitted by means of thought-vibrations in a personal interview—the ordinary inductive action of positive mental states such as we have described to you in previous sections of this book.

The Rules of Thought-Induction, set forth in detail in Section VII, of this book, apply here as well as in all other forms or phases of thought-induction. There is here present the effect of Harmonious Attraction and of Belief or Fear. There is no cause for undue alarm in the matter, and most certainly no one need feel any fear concerning any undue “influence” being exerted over him to his detriment, particularly if he will acquaint himself with the principles governing all thought-induction, and will avail himself of the ordinary protective methods indicated in such cases. In the remaining portion of this section of this book we shall point out the general principles and methods of Self-Protection, which apply to the present case as well as to all other forms of thought-induction—we advise you to study carefully these principles and methods.

Nature, in the various fields of her activity, is seen to supply a protective element to her creatures in all cases in which there is present an element which threatens to become destructive or harmful. To one creature it supplies the defensive armor of shell; to another, sharp quills or spines; to another, the power of swift flight; to another, a quick brain. It supplies to one the fur coat, protecting against the cold; to another, the instinct to hibernate; to another, the tendency to take on fatty deposits during the cold season. For every bane Nature furnishes an antidote. As might be expected, it supplies to man the means of protecting himself against adverse thought-induction. Some of these means man employs instinctively; but now that man has discovered the principles underlying Thought Power, and is employing it more effectively and more consciously, there have also been discovered methods of effectively and consciously counteracting and neutralizing the effects of its improper uses.

In the first place, as we have already informed you, everyone has a “protective immunity” from thought-induction of all kinds, which he exercises to a greater or less extent according to his development and state of knowledge. In a general way, it may be stated that no one need fear being adversely affected by thought-induction if he will (1) keep his own mind clear and free from low, mean, selfish, destructive thoughts, schemes, and plans to take advantage of others; (2) keep his emotional nature free from low, base passions and inclinations; and (3) keep his mind free from Fearthought. His power of resistance will be enormously increased if he will practice the art of encouraging the mental states directly opposed to those just noted, and thus manifest the characteristic mental states of Nobility, Cleanness, and Fearlessness.

You will see the reason for the above statement if you will refer to previous sections of this book and will read what has been said there concerning “The Attractive Power of Thought.” You will see that the rule of “like attracts like” in the world of thought-vibrations; and that the “something without” cannot kindle the flame unless it finds the “something within” to furnish the fuel for the mental combustion. Or, employing another figure of speech, you will see that just as physical personal cleanliness prevents the creation of congenial lodging places for noxious germs, so will mental personal cleanliness prevent the formation of congenial lodging places for mental microbes.

What has just been said applies in equal measure to what we have previously told you concerning the evil effect of Fearthought as an attracting force for undesirable thought-vibrations and thought-induction. A mental state of Fearthought will open the doors to undesirable thought-influences; while, in the same way, the mental states of Fearlessness, Courage, and Self-Confidence will render one practically immune from adverse influences of this kind.

Above everything else, you should build up for yourself the protective armor of Fearlessness concerning thought-influences. No thought-influence can enter your mental realm if you are surrounded by an aura of Fearlessness and Self-Confidence. We cannot impress this upon you too strongly. The following suggestions along these lines should prove helpful to you in case you feel the need of cultivating a greater degree of Fearlessness—a greater degree of immunity to thought-induction; we advise you to study them carefully in any event.

The Positive Centre. Begin by creating for yourself what has been called “the positive centre.” Here you enter into a strong conscious recognition and realization of yourself as the Ego, the “I AM I,” the Self, master of your physical and mental realm, able to govern your mental states and to change your mental attitude at will. You should persevere in this recognition and realization until you are able to feel yourself as this “I AM I”—until you can actually feel that “I Am HERE” at the very centre of your being. When you have reached this stage of the consciousness of Egohood, you will realize that YOU are superior to mental changes and physical changes, and that nothing in the outside world can really affect your position of security and power. This “I AM I,” which is your Real Self, is Pure Spirit, superior to both mind and body, and master of both. When you attain this consciousness you may laugh at the efforts of any person to influence or control you by psychic or mental influences of any kind whatsoever.

The Protective Aura. Even before you attain the full realization of the “I AM I,” or Real Self, however, and are thus rendered absolutely immune to outside influence, you may create for yourself an armor of protection from undesirable thought-induction by a simple mental process which we shall now describe to you. This armor of protection is known as “the protective aura”; it consists of your personal thought-aura or thought-atmosphere highly charged with positive thoughts of immunity and resistive power. As its name indicates, it serves as a protective armor of thought-vibrations which serves to repel and to deflect any adverse or undesirable thought-currents which may seek entrance into your mental realm by means of thought-induction.

To create the Protective Aura you must first create in your imagination as clear and as strong as possible a picture of it—a picture of what your thought-aura would look like if you were possessed of the power of seeing it with your ordinary vision. You must picture it extending around your body for a distance of several feet. Then you must picture as pouring into it the waves of the protective thought-vibrations with which you are charging it. You must picture it vibrating with protective strength and power.

You must see the aura as affording a sure and perfect protection against the influence of any thought-currents, thought-waves or thought-streams of any kind from other minds, provided that such carry vibrations which are adverse to your interests or which are undesirable to you. You must see this protective aura deflecting the undesirable thought-influences, or else causing them to rebound from its surface and to fly back to the source from which they came. Practice until you are able to create a clear and positive mental picture of the aura and its protective action.

This may seem somewhat fanciful to you when you first read the above statement. But there is involved in it certain natural (though but little understood) principles of the highest importance. A little practice will bring to you certain positive proofs of the efficacy of the method—proofs arising from your own experience. You will feel a certain freedom from outside impressions of an undesirable kind—a certain sense of poise and power—a certain freedom—a certain security and immunity—which will convince you that “there is something in all this, though I do not exactly understand the inner principles involved in it.”

You should keep your Protective Aura well charged with the protective vibrations; at least once a day you should create the mental picture of it in action, and at the same time should re-charge it with a fresh stream of positive thought—a few moments will be all that is required, once you have acquired the “knack.” The following Affirmation and Denial, silently uttered by you, will be found useful in creating and charging the Protective Aura—they serve to give form and pattern to your thought.

Affirmation. Say silently to yourself: “I am master of my mental atmosphere. I have created a Protective Aura around me which renders me immune to all undesirable thought-influences of whatever kind or character. I am fully protected. I am immune. I charge my aura with the most positive thought-vibrations, and thus render it impregnable.”

Denial. In the same way, say to yourself: “I deny to any and all undesirable thought-influences the power of affecting me. I deny to them the power of penetrating my protective aura. I am immune to their influence.”

This method will protect you from any form of adverse or undesirable phases of thought-induction, thought-contagion, or thought-infection. Its employment will give to you a new sense of power and poise; it will prevent you from being swept off your feet by any form of mental epidemic or excitement; it will serve to confound and confuse other persons who may attempt to employ upon you some of the forms of personal thought-influence such as we have indicated in the preceding pages. Do not allow the apparently fanciful nature of the method to prevent you from learning how to produce the desired condition, and to secure its benefits. A little actual experience with it will serve to convert you into an enthusiastic follower of the method. You owe it to yourself to give it a trial— an earnest, fair trial. It may come in quite handy and useful in some hour of need.

The Law of Correlation

Your effective employment of Thought Power, after all is said and done, will be found to consist largely of your ability to arouse into action the creative activities of thought. These activities operate chiefly through what has been called the Correlation of Thoughts and Things—the mutual relation existing between your thoughts and those things in the outside world which are connected with the former by the links or bonds of association. By the Law of Correlative Attraction your inner thoughts draw to you those persons, things, and circumstances which are correlated to them; and at the same time you are drawn and attracted toward those persons, things, and circumstances.

When you have found out exactly what you want; have kindled in your desire-nature a strong, ardent, burning craving and longing for that which you know you want; have established in your field of imagination the strong, definite mental pictures of that which you know you want; have aroused a lively hope and faith and confident expectation of obtaining that which you want; and have called into activity the forces of your will in the direction of attaining and manifesting that which you want; then you will have set into operation the Law of Attraction along the lines of the Correlation of Thoughts and Things. This, because you have generated thoughts sufficiently strong to serve as magnets, attracting to them that which is necessary for their objective expression, manifestation and realization; and, at the same time, attracting and drawing you to the persons, things and environment most likely to accomplish the same result.

Helen Wilmans, a leading teacher in the early days of Mental Science, based her entire teaching upon this Law of Attraction between thoughts and things. Over twenty-five years ago she announced her “Law of Mental Correlation,” the basis of which was as follows: There is always set up a strong relation or correlation between the individual and the things which form the subject of his chief thought. She taught her students that they could mold and determine their environment, health, financial condition and general success, by the nature and character of their ideals, provided that they kept their minds strongly filled with these ideals and the ideas arising from them. This, indeed, is the very essence and kernel of modern Mental Science, which in many forms and under many names has worked such great benefit to many thousands of its students during the past thirty years or more.

The following quotation from the above-mentioned pioneer teacher will serve to give you the spirit of her thought on the subject, which you will see agrees very closely with our own thought as set forth in the present book. Mrs. Wilmans said:

“There is nothing truer than that the quality of the thought which we entertain correlates certain externals in the outside world. This is a Law from which there is no escape. And it is this Law, this correlation of the thought with the object, that from time immemorial has led the people to believe in special providence. A man believes that he is led by providence in a certain direction; the direction is not of his own choosing, so far as his consciousness is concerned. But providence has nothing to do with it; there was in that man, unrecognized by himself, that which related him to some thing or some condition on the external plane, and under the Law of Correlation he went in that direction.

“Every thought a man can have relates him to some external thing, and draws him in the direction of it. This fact—on the plane where the thoughts of men are fleeting and of no comparative importance—has too frail an effect upon external life to be noticeable. But when much thought has been given to one subject, the result cannot be other than observable. Thus, continued thought upon disease allies us with the external conditions related to disease; or, more correctly speaking, it creates the disease. A belief in poverty not only burdens and oppresses us until it makes us mentally poor, but it allies us with poverty-stricken conditions. Thought not only allies us with certain external things that represent its own character, but when we have ascended from physical to mental it becomes creative.

“This is a marvelous thing; but if I know anything in the world, I know it to be true. What! can a person by holding certain thoughts create wealth? Yes, he can! A man holding certain thoughts—if he knows the Law that relates effect and cause on the mental plane—can actually create wealth by the character of the thoughts he entertains. This creation must, at this time, be supplemented by courageous action, intensified by creative thought and knowledge of self; but such action is only a part of the thought. This Law is easy to understand if one will only take the trouble to investigate it.

“The gradual recognition by a man of his own latent powers is the heaven within that is to be brought forward into the world and established in these conditions which correlate it. I have never taken a single step upward in the external world that was not the direct result of my recognition of some new power within my brain. I have never sought wealth at all—I have simply sought to know myself. I have believed in my own greatness, and in your greatness equally. I have denied that man was a creeping worm of the dust. I have seen him as the seed germ of all attainment. I place no limitation upon his powers of progression. I scorn the word ‘impossible’ as applied to what is in his power to be and to do. I think of his vast ability, and my own, with a jubilant feeling of surpassing triumph. I regard it as an assurance of present as well as prospective greatness, and a guarantee, eventually, of absolute mastery over all things and conditions which once mastered me. And in the direct measure of the power I have in holding this conception up before my perception, just in that measure am I successful in my undertakings. Let me lose sight of it, and my success declines. The most faithful and critical observation of this thing for many years has demonstrated its truth a certainty.

“A mental poorhouse projects from itself the spirit of a visible poorhouse, and this spirit expresses itself in visible externals correlated in its character. A mental palace sends forth the spirit of a visible palace with results that correlate it. And the same may be said of sickness and sin, of health and of goodness. No amount of money will give one that inner opulence which is the sure foundation for unchanging wealth; that opulence which is the Purse of Fortunatus, and which never can be exhausted. Mental wealth, which is the recognition of inner ability, is the only true root of external wealth. External wealth that has not this root is but a floating air-plant; there is no dependence to be placed in it.”

When strong Desire Power is kindled and set into operation; when the object of the desire is apprehended definitely by the individual, and is represented by clear, strong, definite mental pictures; when faith, hope and confident expectation is aroused; when the will holds itself to the task of purposeful determination; then the entire mental being of the individual, subconscious as well as conscious, is directed to the task of manifesting in objective form the ideas and ideals inspiring thought, imagination, faith, desire and will. The entire mentality is turned to the work of calling forth, directing, urging, guiding, spurring on and sending forth the energies of Thought Power and setting them into operation along the lines of the Law of Thought Attraction and the Law of Correlation between Thoughts and Things. This as we have repeatedly informed you, tends (1) to draw to the individual the things, persons, circumstances and environment of the external world which are conducive to the objective manifestation of the idea or ideal, and (2) to lead and urge the individual toward the persons or things of the outside world which are calculated to accomplish the same end.

Moreover, this process once set into operation tends to arouse the hitherto dormant subconscious mental faculties of the individual, calling upon the subconscious mentality to reveal and to disgorge its hidden treasures of ideas, memories, plans, creative work, etc.; to set into operation the marvellous powers of the constructive imagination along subconscious lines; to invoke the aid of the power of subconscious mentation or unconscious mental rumination; and, finally, to cause the superconscious faculties to superimpose some of their marvellous stores of wisdom upon the conscious realms of the mind. The mental resources of the individual are more than doubled by the addition of the treasures of the subconscious and the superconscious planes of mental power.

In the operation of the Law of Attraction, or the Law of the Correlation of Thoughts and Things, when once you have set them into activity, you will experience many happenings which may seem almost uncanny to you—but do not let these disturb you, for they are but the result of perfectly natural laws of cause and effect on the mental plane; there is nothing miraculous or supernatural about them. For instance, you may turn the corner and unexpectedly “run into” the one particular person who will fit into your particular scheme of things at that moment. Or, you may pick up a newspaper, or a magazine, and find in it something which will supply the missing link of some plan or idea of yours for which you have been earnestly searching for some time. Or, again, you may wander into a bookstore, or before a bookstand on the street, and there (apparently “by accident”) you will place your hand upon a volume containing exactly the particular information which you have been seeking, or which will indicate another book in which the desired information may be found. And, so on, the “strange happenings” at last becoming commonplace and expected.

These occurrences, however, are not to be taken as indications of the operation of a special providence, or as mere “luck.” In the world of natural things “nothing ever happens”— everything occurs according to the law of cause and effect. You have set into operation the mental causes, and the mental or physical results have followed in their train. Under the Law of Attraction, and according to the Law of Correlation between Thoughts and Things, there is started into operation a chain of cause and effect which often is far reaching and startlingly effective. Under these great Laws of Nature “your own shall come to you.”

Sometimes, moreover, you may find yourself fairly lifted out of your present environment, and deposited (not always gently) into the midst of a new environment, and amid new conditions, which are eventually found to be quite conducive to the realization of your ideas and ideals, but which at the time of the transplanting seem to be the overturning and upsetting of all that seemed favorable to your success.

What has seemed to be “the very worst kind of luck,” has very often turned out to be the one particular piece of good fortune upon which the after success of the individual depended. Sometimes the individual is torn away from the things to which he is tied—things which seem to him to be good and quite necessary for his success, but which really have been preventing the full expression of his ideals. In such cases the individual may cry aloud in bitter protest, but the Law is inexorable and proceeds directly to its logical end and aim. As time passes, the individual sees what it all means, and blesses the gods of things as they are for the separation and freedom which have worked out such good results for him.

In these and other ways the Law of Attraction and the Law of Correlation work out their ends. Once set into operation they move toward their objective like a glacier, or like a snowball rolling down hill. But it must not be forgotten that if you hold the wrong kind of thoughts (particularly if they are strengthened by dread, fearful belief, or other negative forms of Confident Expectation), then the movement of the mental glacier will be toward the things represented by those thoughts.

As Helen Wilmans reminded us, in the preceding quotations, the Law of Correlation may lead one to the poorhouse as well as to the palace. The direction depends entirely upon the character of your thoughts, what you believe to be your destiny and fate, and what you confidently expect will happen. Like all great natural forces, Thought Power under the operation of the Law of Correlation will act in either direction—either backward or forward, according to which lever is pulled. You have your hands on the levers—the direction is in your own hands—it is “up to you” to decide which way you shall travel.

The following practical suggestions concerning the efficient application and manifestation of Thought Power should be carefully studied by you, for they contain the essence of the principles and methods which we have described in the foregoing pages of this book:

I. The Positive Centre of Egohood. Always maintain your consciousness of Egohood—your consciousness of your Self, the Ego, the “I AM I” as a centre of consciousness and power in the All-Power of the Cosmos. Always hold yourself positive toward your mental states—their master. Always hold yourself positive toward undesirable thought-influences, denying them admission to your mental realm. Always hold yourself open to the higher influences of desirable thoughts and inspiration, but always maintain the right to inspect, examine and pass judgment even upon these before bidding them to enter. Affirm to yourself as follows: “I am a Centre of Positive Power.” Deny any possible influence over you of adverse or undesirable Thought Power, as follows: “I assert my Egohood and Mastery; I deny to all adverse or undesirable thought-influence the power to affect or to influence me even in the slightest degree—I am immune to such.”

II. Ideals and Mental Pictures. Always hold fast to your ideals of what you wish to be materialized in objective form in your experience; and endeavor to create and maintain clear and definite mental pictures of those ideals. See and think of things and conditions as you wish them to become actually—striving to see and think of these as actually existent at the present time, so far as is possible.

Here are the three rules: (1) Think of and see yourself as you wish to become actually; (2) think of and see other persons as you wish them to become actually; (3) think of and see your surrounding conditions and environment as you wish them to become actually.

These ideas and mental pictures are the patterns around which will be deposited the actual materializations—the molds into which will be poured the materialized substance which will crystallize and harden into objective reality. As are your patterns and your molds, so will be the materialized products. The mental idea or image is the pattern, mold or design of the objective, material form. Select and use only those patterns, molds or designs which you wish to be reproduced in objective, material form.

III. “Treatment” of Places, Conditions, and Environment. The essence of the “treatment” of places, conditions, environment, etc., is that of pouring out toward and into that which is “treated” a strong, positive stream of thought-vibrations. These thought-vibrations are to be keyed to the rhythm of the particular thoughts, ideas or mental pictures which represent that which you wish to have materialized and manifested in actual form; and are to be impelled and projected by the strength of your Desire-Faith-Will which has been aroused by you for the purpose. The secret of the projection of these thought-currents is to be found in the following suggestion.

IV. The Secret of Thought-Projection. The secret of thought-projection consists of (a) the formation of definite ideas and clear mental pictures of that which you wish to be manifested in objective form in the external world; and (b) the presence and activity of strong Desire Power, Faith Power, and Will Power, back of the ideas or mental pictures to be projected. The Desire-Faith-Will Power is poured forth into the objective, external world, on the material plane; but it takes form according to the pattern of the ideas and mental pictures through which it pours. This process is also well illustrated by the ancient metaphor or simile of the “Mental Magic Lantern,” which is described in the following two paragraphs:

V. “The Mental Magic Lantern.” The ancient teachers in the schools of occultism were wont to illustrate the process of the projection of Thought Power, in the phase of thought-forms, by reference to a primitive apparatus employed in those times for the projection of painted pictures upon a screen; an apparatus which was based upon the same principles as the more complex and perfect “magic lantern” of our own times—and which has its highest development in the motion-picture apparatus of today. There is no more appropriate illustrative figure than this to employ in the case of the projection of Thought Power in the phase of thought-forms, and you will do well to remember it.

In this figurative illustration, let the screen represent the external world of objectivity—the material world. Let the slide or film bearing the pictures represent your positive ideas, ideals, or mental pictures which you wish to become manifested or materialized on the screen of the material world. Let the light which projects the pictures, and which is placed back of the slide or film, represent the strong Desire-Faith-Will Power which you have aroused for the purpose of making your ideals become real—your mental pictures to take on actual material forms. You should think of this illustration the next time you witness a magic lantern show, or attend a motion picture exhibition. The ancient teachers held that this illustration, if held firmly in mind, tended to add force to the mental projective process. Remember, always, that (a) the picture on the slide or film must be clear, strong, and definite in outlines; and (b) the light of Desire-Faith-Will behind the slide or film must be strong, constant, persistent, and not dull, intermittent or flickering.

VI. The Master Formula of Attainment. In other books of this series we have called our students’ attention to The Master Formula of Attainment, which is as follows: (1) Definite Ideals; (2) Insistent Desire; (3) Confident Expectation; (4) Persistent Determination; and (5) Balanced Compensation. This Master Formula will create for you the Magic Elixir of Success. Employ it in your application of Thought Power.

Stated in popular form, the Master Formula is as follows: “You may have anything you want provided that you (1) know exactly what you want, (2) want it hard enough, (3) confidently expect to obtain it, (4) persistently determine to obtain it, and (5) are willing to pay the price of its attainment.” Ponder over it until you fully grasp it.

VII. The Touchstone of Positivity. In other books of this series we have called the attention of our students to the Touchstone of Positivity—the scale, measure or standard whereby one may determine whether his desires, thoughts, ideas, ideals or actions are “positive” or “negative.” Inasmuch as we have employed the terms “positive” and “negative” many times in the present book, we have thought it well to re-state the “Touchstone” here, for the use of those who have not read the other books; it is as follows: Apply to the idea, ideal, thought, belief, faith, desire, or action, the following question: “Will this make me better, stronger, and more efficient?”

Anything that will make you better, stronger, and more efficient, is “positive,” so far as you are concerned. Anything that will make you worse, weaker, and less efficient, is “negative,” so far as you are concerned. Anything that is neither “positive” nor yet “negative” must be classed as “neutral” in your categories. It is the part of wisdom to cultivate so far as is possible the “positive” qualities of thought, feeling, and action; and to repress and inhibit so far as is possible the “negative” qualities of thought, feeling, and action. You will do well to remember and to apply this “Touchstone of Positivity” in your use of Thought Power, as well as in the use of all forms of Personal Power.

In this book you will find the practical principles of the operation of that phase of your Personal Power which is known as “Thought Power”—these practical principles presented without the addition of any metaphysical theories or teachings seeking to account for the phenomena in question. We leave you free to add these metaphysical principles if you wish— many persons seem to find it more satisfying to do so. You will find that, whatever may be the metaphysical doctrine you select to explain these principles and phenomena, the practical facts of the application of these principles will remain virtually the same—they will fit into any metaphysical structure which you may see fit to build around them. This, because we have dealt only with “facts,” not with theories or doctrines seeking to account for those facts.

Analyze the practical methods of the various metaphysical schools, after having divested them of their theories and speculations, and you will find that their essence is almost identical with that of the methods herein advanced and presented to you. In other words, while the “why” phases of the subject differ widely from one another, the various schools usually are found in agreement upon the essential elements of the “how” phase of the subject.

The “how” side we consider the most important—in this particular connection—the rest we consider to consist largely of the choice of words, terms, and theories, of which latter one often is tempted to say (in the words of a popular humorist): “They’re all right; but they don’t mean anything.” The facts of a subject really “mean something”—the rest too often “doesn’t”; or even when it does, it very often means “something that isn’t so”! Keep your feet on the solid ground of facts, even though your eyes may be fixed on the stars.

Cosmic Thought Power

In the concluding paragraphs of the preceding section we called your attention to the fact that in this book we have presented to you the practical principles of Thought Power, and the practical effective methods of applying those principles, without attaching thereto any particular metaphysical theory or hypothesis seeking to explain the phenomena in question. In this way we have sought to confine this particular phase of the instruction to the plane of scientific psychology instead of endeavoring to tie it to any particular body of metaphysical teaching or form of transcendental speculation.

But, notwithstanding this expressed purpose and our endeavor to adhere strictly to it, we feel that we would leave incomplete our consideration of the subject of Thought Power were we to withhold any mention of the well-established scientific fact that in the Cosmos as a whole, and in every part of it, there is in strong evidence the operation of a Cosmic Principle of Thought Power serving to give shape and form, character and quality, to the material things and activities which serve as the outer aspect of that wonderful totality of phenomena which we know as the World of Nature.

There was a time when any discussion of this subject would inevitably lead to an abstruse metaphysical discussion, or at least a technical philosophical argument. But modern scientific thought in its philosophical phase has made it possible for one now to consider this particular subject without wandering from the field of scientific investigation, and without invading the field of speculative philosophy or metaphysics. In view of the facts just stated, we feel that we should not fail to present to your attention, and for your consideration, at least the general outlines of what scientific philosophy is now holding to be true concerning the presence and activity in the Cosmos of what may be styled “Cosmic Thought Power.”

In the old materialistic concept, the Cosmos or World of Nature, was pictured as a mechanism operated by purely mechanical laws. In this view, Life, Mind and Will were regarded as derivative products of Matter and Mechanical Laws; though just how these were derived from a principle or substance in which they were not immanent was not explained. This old view is rapidly passing away, and is being succeeded by a far more rational, reasonable and soul-satisfying conception, meeting the strict requirements of both Logical Reasoning and Intuition.

In this new view of practical philosophy and advanced science the Cosmos, or World of Nature, is seen to be animated, energized, and inspired by Life and Livingness. The Universe is conceived as being alive in every part, and in its totality. Instead of being a dead world moved by lifeless forces, or a world half dead and half alive, it is now seen to be “all alive.” The spontaneous action seen to be manifested by all natural things is held to be a characteristic sign of Life and Livingness.

We do not purpose entering at this place into a detailed statement of this modern scientific conception of a Living Universe. We have considered this phase of our instruction quite fully and completely in that volume of this series of books entitled “Spiritual Power,” and do not deem it proper to repeat this portion of the instruction in the present book. Those who feel attracted to this wonderful teaching of modern scientific philosophy are referred to the book just mentioned; a careful study of that work will open a new world of thought to many who have heretofore realized but dimly the great body of Truth which constitutes the subject-matter of that portion of our general instruction. We have referred to the conception of the Living Universe at this point, in the above several paragraphs, merely because the presence and activity of Cosmic Thought Power are explainable only by that conception.

There can be no Thought Power without Mind; there can be no Mind without Life. Cosmic Thought Power is inconceivable except as manifested by Cosmic Mind; and Cosmic Mind is necessarily a phase or element of the presence and power of Cosmic Life or Livingness. Looking at it from another angle, we see that it is likewise true that a Living Universe must manifest its Livingness in at least some degree of Cosmic Will and Cosmic Thought Power; and as might be expected, we find evidences of such manifestations on all sides, when we examine closely the activities of Nature.

The Will Power of the Living Universe is manifested in spontaneity, that attribute of all natural things. “Spontaneity” means all activity which springs from the nature of the acting thing, and which does not arise from a push or pull from some other thing external to itself. All spontaneous action is a manifestation of a power which, in ourselves, we know directly as Will. Philosophy and Science are now in practical agreement upon the basic axiom that “All Power, at the last, is Will Power.” That Energy which moves all Nature, and from which all natural activity proceeds, is explainable only as Will Power. All things have Will Power; and all things, regarded as a totality or whole system, are seen to be under the control and direction of One Will—the Cosmic Will of the Living Universe.

Further thought along these lines enables one to see that if there is a Cosmic Livingness manifesting Cosmic Will, then it is reasonable to conjecture that this Cosmic Will must proceed in the direction indicated by Cosmic Thought or Ideation—this being the way in which the individual Will proceeds to action. The ancient Hermetic axiom: “As above, so below; as within, so without; as in great, so in small” (so frequently cited by us in this instruction) applies here as in all other cases. Strict analogical reasoning brings the judgment that the Cosmic Will, as well as the individual will, proceeds according to the direction of Mind and Thought.

An examination of the processes of Nature tends to support and substantiate the conclusion reached by the analogical reasoning just mentioned. Everything in Nature is seen to proceed according to Law and Order—nothing is left to Chance. “Chance” (correctly defined) is merely a term indicating “Unperceived or Unknown Causes”—not Causelessness. The Universe is governed by Law: and that Law is clearly a Law of Pure Logical Procedure. There is a “because” for every event, as well as a “cause”; everything happens “because” of certain things. Such a “because” is a “reason”; and such a “reason” is explainable only under the hypothesis of an operative Cosmic Law of Logical Procedure; and a Law of Logical Procedure without Cosmic Mind and Thought is unthinkable.

That constant and continuous Creation which is perceived to be manifested in the World of Nature—that World which we know as the Cosmos—is explainable and understandable only upon the theory and general hypothesis that the Creative Process is essentially a Mental Process. Everywhere in Nature, from the development and growth of an acorn to the creation and evolution of a solar system, we see the presence of, first, an inner image, pattern, mold or design, and second, the materialization in objective form of that idea, pattern or design. There is always, first the “inner ideative pattern,” and, second, the “outer material form.” From the formation of the crystal to the growth and development of the human body, these two respective stages of Creation are found present. Ideation always precedes Materialization. Materialization is impossible without precedent Ideation.

This idea of Ideative Creation in the Cosmos, and in man’s individual life, is developed fully in that volume of this series entitled “Creative Power,” to which we feel justified in referring you in case this particular phase of the subject specially interests you. In that book we have illustrated a certain point of our instruction by a quotation from Edward Carpenter, which we feel warranted in also introducing at this point, so forcibly does it bring out the idea which we have just been considering. Carpenter says:

“There is now a disposition to posit the mental world as nearer the basis of existence than is the material world, and to look upon material phenomena rather as the outcome and expression of the mental. In observing our own thoughts and actions and bodily forms coming into existence, we seem to come upon something which we may call a law of Nature, just as much as gravitation or any other law—the law, namely, that within ourselves there is a continued movement outwards, from feeling toward thought, and then to action; from the inner to the outer; from the vague to the definite; from the emotional to the practical; from the world of dreams to the world of actual things and what we call reality.

“We may fairly conclude that the same progress may be witnessed both in our waking thoughts and in our dreams—namely, a continual ebullition and birth going on within us, and an evolution out of Mind-stuff of forms which are the expression and images of underlying feelings; that these forms, at first vague and undetermined in outline, rapidly gather definition and clearness and materiality, and press forward toward expression in the outer world. And we may fairly ask whether we are not here within our own minds witnessing what is really taking place everywhere and at all times—in other persons as well as in ourselves, and in the great Life which underlies and is the visible universe.

“You may say that there is no evidence that man ever produces a particle of Matter out of himself; and I will admit that this is so. But there is plenty of evidence that he produces shapes and forms; and if he produces shapes and forms, that is all we need. For, what Matter is in the abstract no one has the least experience and knowledge. All that we know is that the things we see are shapes and forms of what we call Matter. And if (as is possible and indeed probable) Matter is of the same stuff as Mind—only seen and envisaged from the opposite side—then the shapes and forms of the actual world are the shapes and forms of Mind, thus projected for us mutually to witness and to understand.”

We are not here trying to convert you to the idea that “All is Mind.” In fact, we do not hold to such an idea ourselves, and have no intention of trying to preach a doctrine which we do not ourselves accept. In our book of this series entitled “Spiritual Power,” we advance the teaching that there exists two Cosmic Principles, viz., the Positive Principle of Spiritual Essence and Power, and the Negative Principle of Material Substance. We hold that the Cosmic Processes result from the action of Spirit upon Matter, and the reaction arising therefrom.

The point we are trying to bring before your attention, here and now, is merely this: “Mental Power and Energy work changes in Material Substance.” This principle is true not only in the Cosmos as a whole, but also in the individual’s own world which exists on all sides of him, and which, at least to a great extent, he creates, builds up and maintains by the character and quality of his Thoughts—by his Thought Power, in fact. If you once grasp this general truth, you will be able to see “just how,” and to some extent, “just why” Thought Power creates for the individual the world on all sides of him.

You may here feel tempted to say to us: “This is all very interesting, no doubt; but what has it to do with the subject of the practical employment of Thought Power as taught in this book?” We hasten to answer that it has a very important connection with that subject—a connection which you will carefully note, if you are wise; If you will carefully follow us in these concluding pages of the book, you will realize just what is this important connection, and why we have introduced this additional phase of the instruction here at the close of this book on Thought Power.

A difference as marked as that between the two poles of anything is here discovered between the two respective mental attitudes manifested by various persons undertaking to apply consciously and deliberately the forces of Thought Power or Radio-Mentalism. On the one hand, there is that class of persons who regard Thought Power as a form of force somewhat apart and separate from the forces of Nature in general—something partaking of the character of the supernatural rather than the natural. On the other hand, there is that class of persons who recognize and realize that Thought Power is essentially a force of Nature—a subtle and fine force, it is true, but still strictly a natural power.

The persons of this first class are able to apply the forces and energies of Thought Power with more or less effect, and with greater or less success, according to the degree of effectiveness employed by them in their respective methods of calling forth and directing these forces. But, at the best, they are never able fully to “enter into contact” with the great body of Cosmic Thought Power which is ever operative on all sides of them, and thus to call to their aid the subtle forces and potent energies inherent in such Power.

The persons of the second class, on the contrary, enter more or less into this “contact” or relationship, by reason of their consciousness that the individual Thought Power is but a focal point or centre of manifestation in the great Cosmic Thought Power, and that the power of the latter may be drawn into the individual channel if the person will but open up those channels by Knowledge and Faith, then directing the flow of that power by means of Ideation and Volition. As the ancient teaching states it, the individual may manifest the Cosmic Thought Power in the degree that he recognizes and realizes the relation of his own Thought Power to it.

The recognition and realization of the truth that the Universe is Alive, that Livingness is the Universal State: that the Cosmos manifests Will Power and Thought Power, both in its totality and in its every part: that “All Power is Will Power,” and that all Will Power is directed by Thought: brings as a natural consequence the ability to manifest the hidden forces of the Cosmic Thought Power under the direction of the individual Will and Thought Power. Demonstration must always be preceded by Perception. Manifestation must be preceded by Recognition and Realization; You must “know the Truth” before you are able to “do the works.”

All Thought Power, the Cosmic phase as well as the individual, is Radioactive. The great centres of expression of the Cosmic Thought Power are continually “sending” strong, powerful waves of force, energy and power in all directions, throughout all space. The individual instrument of Thought Power which has been carefully keyed and attuned to the “wave lengths” of the Cosmic sending stations, is able to “pick up” the power thus radiated, as well as to “listen in” to the messages from those great centres. Other individual instruments not so keyed and attuned are unable to avail themselves of the infinite energies and power of the Cosmos which are open to the use of those properly attuned and keyed.

We have here given you a hint at a mighty truth—of a great principle which is known to those who have made a careful study of the subject. If you are wise, you will read and re-read these statements—both in the lines and between them: this to be followed by that conscious recognition and realization which must always precede the manifestation and demonstration of that truth. Commit to memory these three words, in the order above given, viz., (I) Recognition; (2) Realization; (3) Manifestation. Then add the following dynamic aphorism: “In the degree in which I recognize and realize the principle, in that same degree will I be able to manifest and demonstrate it.” In that statement is contained an ancient occult Secret of Power; those who are ready for it will find it revealed in the statement; those who are not as yet ready will find that the statement merely serves to conceal the Secret.

There is a tremendous truth revealed, or concealed, (as the case may be) in the ancient occult aphorism above quoted. It means, in its essential truth, that you are living, and moving and having your being in a Living Universe of Infinite Power. It means that this Infinite Power is at your command, disposal, and direction, in the degree in which you are able truly and fully to recognize and realize the fact of its existence, your relation to it, and your power and ability to “contact” and draw to yourself its inherent energies, forces, and powers. The statement, in fact, is so tremendous that the average person fails to comprehend its inner and actual meaning and truth, and, instead, contents himself with passing it by as “mere words,” or else as but a symbolic or poetical figurative expression.

If what we have said in this book will serve to hasten your “recognition and realization” of the tremendous facts of Thought Power, we shall be well satisfied, for “as truly as night follows day” so will that perception and cognition be followed by your ability to manifest, express, and demonstrate the principles involved. In conclusion, let us once more remind you of the great truth expressed in the Master Formula of Attainment upon which the practical methods of this instruction are based. Here it is, stated in popular form—commit it to memory if you have not already done so:

Master Formula of Attainment

“You may have anything you want, provided that you (1) know exactly what you want, (2) want it hard enough, (3) confidently expect to obtain it, (4) persistently determine to obtain it, and (5) are willing to pay the price of its attainment.”

Perceptive Power: The Art of Observation

Your World of Experience

In this book we shall direct your attention to a very important phase or form of your Personal Power. Inasmuch as your Personal Power is a phase, form, aspect, or mode of the expression and manifestation of that POWER from which all Power directly or indirectly proceeds, it follows that the particular form of Power to which we are now proceeding to call your attention is one of the manifold manifestations and expressions of that All-Power of the universe.

The particular phase or form of Personal Power which constitutes the subject matter of the present book is that known as Perceptive Power—the power by means of which you perceive, discern, observe, distinguish, and know the things of the outside world by means of the senses and the mental processes employing the raw material furnished by the sensory apparatus. By means of Perceptive Power you see, hear, feel the impressions received from the outside world. By means of Perceptive Power you are able not only to know that outside things exist, but also to apprehend them by the intellect, to discern differences between them, and to distinguish one class of things from others.

Your “percepts,” i. e., the products of your Perception, furnish the elemental material from which all your concepts, notions, and ideas concerning things are derived, constituted, composed, or made up. Your percepts are the units with which memory, imagination, thought, reason, and judgment build their structures. All mental processes begin with Perception, and depend upon it for their material.

Around and about you is a wonderful World of Things, infinite and inexhaustible in its contents. But within this world is a smaller and far more restricted world; a finite world consisting of the scattered items of material which you have abstracted from that outside world by means of your Perceptive Power. No matter bow great may be that outside world, this inner world represents all that you have perceived and observed of that greater realm. The size, the extent, the limits of that inner world are determined entirely by the degree of Perceptive Power which you have employed in the task of building up this little mental kingdom within yourself. You are its creator, its ruler, its architect, its builder—the maker of its boundaries. It is as large or as small, as great or as insignificant, as you determine it to be—no more, no less.

All that you know, have ever known, or ever will know of the great outside world is comprised in that particular mirrored representation or reflection of portions of it which constitutes your individual World of Experience. By “Experience” is meant: “The practical knowledge gained by observation or trial; the acquaintance acquired by personal observation or experiment.”

Your World of Experience is your world of actual perception, observation and experiment. Whatever the outside world may or may not be in itself, it is certain that all you know of it is that knowledge gained by your direct or indirect experience and observation of it. This knowledge is originally mirrored upon your mind by Perception—the rest is a matter of rational induction or deduction consisting of inference based upon this original material of experience and observation.

Your World of Experience is your inner world. It is located in your mentality—on the conscious or subconscious planes or fields of your mental being. It is your own—your very own. No other person may enter into it, or dwelt within its borders—it is sacred to yourself. It is different from the corresponding inner worlds of all other persons—no two persons possess identical Worlds of Experience.

You, Yourself, have created this unique World of Experience which is your very own. You, Yourself, are still creating it, and will continue to create it so long as you live. You create it with that wonderful tool or instrument which you call the Power of Perception that is, you so create its elementary materials which are then “worked up” and built up into more complex forms by the other faculties of your mind. You are the Creator of this World of Experience. If you are wise, you will perform your creative work so thoroughly and efficiently that in the end you will be justified in “looking upon it and calling it good.”

Careful analysis of your mental operations, experience, and consciousness will always reveal to you the important fact that you, Yourself, are always the beginning, always the centre, always the end of your World of Experience. From that point of beginning, from that central point, and toward that end, you have proceeded to the creation of your World of Experience. You build from the centre, outward; your horizon of experience constantly expands as your perceptive vision increases and takes in a greater area of the outside world. Through the glasses and tubes of the telescopes and the microscopes of the senses, you perceive and observe the things of the outside world, and represent them in your own World of Experience which abides within yourself; but it is you, Yourself, who are always at the observing end of these instruments.

We now invite you to consider the processes by means of which you have created this unique World of Experience—this inner world which is your very own.

Plato well said that the Ego is “imprisoned in the body like an oyster in his shell.” You, Yourself, cannot get outside of this shell—at least while you are on this particular plane of existence. You cannot escape from its confining limits and thus secure immediate contact with the outside world and so acquire direct knowledge of its facts and events. On the contrary, you are entirely dependent upon certain channels of communication with that outside world for your reports from it; these reports are then converted by you into the finished material with which you create that mirrored world of representation—your World of Experience. If these channels of communication had never been opened to you, then you would never have been able to create your World of Experience—there would exist no such World of Experience for you. In such case, the fact of your own existence would constitute your only item of experience and knowledge—your oyster-shell would never have opened to admit an inflow of the waters in which it is immersed, and you would be unaware even that such waters existed.

All that you know, ever have known, or ever can know of the outside world becomes known to you by means of the reports furnished by the channels of communication with the outside world—the channels of the senses. While your higher mental faculties may select from these reports such as they choose; may examine, combine and arrange them in logical classification; may draw inferences from them so as to learn the unknown from the known; may store them in memory, and rearrange them in the form of mental pictures of the imagination; yet, at the last, you will find that in these reports of the senses you have your only possible “raw materials of knowledge.” Upon the strength, clearness, and truth of these reports, as well as upon their number and variety, depend the particular degree and character of knowledge and experience possible of acquirement by you.

The “I AM I,” which is Yourself, is constantly receiving a stream of messages and experiences from the outside world. It is well within the facts of the case to compare that “I AM I,” which is Yourself, to the managing editor of a great metropolitan newspaper, seated at his desk, receiving from all parts of the world a multitude of messages of all kinds which give him the news of the day from which he makes up the next issue of his paper. From this point of the compass, and from that one, pour in the messages—he receives them all.

Some of these messages he discards as nonessential and uninteresting; some he bids his assistants to abridge, discarding a portion while retaining the rest; some he accepts in their entirety; to others he adds previously received details; some are headlined by him in accordance with the traditional policy of his journal; others he bids his editorial helpers to employ as premises from which to draw inferences to be expressed in the editorial columns; others are condensed into brief items for the general summary of the news of the day. He is not actually in the outside world in which these events are happening—he remains seated at his desk, receiving the messages from that outside world—and from these messages he is creating and building up a mirrored world—a representative, symbolic world which takes form in the printed newspaper.

You are in a position very similar to that of this managing editor. You, Yourself,—the “I AM I” element of yourself—are safely sheltered in the inner chamber of your being. Your “I AM I” is not present in the outside world—it is present only at the centre of your consciousness, your inner world which is a mirrored representation of the world external to itself. All that your “I AM I” knows of that outer world it knows by reason of the sensory messages received from it.

This thought may never have occurred to you, but it is a fact that the only world you really know is this inner World of Experience which you have created for yourself from the reports received through the sense-channels from the actual outer world. If your senses are normal and acute, your inner World of Experience will represent the result of your possession of such sense-qualities; if your senses are deficient or lacking in any respect, or if they are dull and untrained, then your inner World of Experience will as truly represent such conditions.

You see, then, that your World of Experience is not a complete representation of the outside world at all; it only represents such portions of that outside world which, in the first place, have been reported to you by your sense-impressions; and, in the second place, only such portions of these reports which have actually been accepted by you in Perception—all the rest is lacking.

Your World of Experience, then, is merely a symbolic picture of certain aspects of the outside world which have been perceived by you and taken into your inner world—it is a work of art, rather than a work of Nature; and you are the artist who has created that work. Moreover, your World of Experience is not permanent; it is constantly receiving finishing touches, improvements, alterations, and modifications at your hands, resulting from new reports reaching you. You, as you grow and change, are working incessantly (and often involuntarily) at the task of creating your World of Experience.

It is a matter of the soundest philosophical and scientific teaching that you, Yourself, have created, are now creating, and so long as you live will continue to create this inner World of Experience which constitutes “the world” to you. You create this world from the “raw material” furnished by Sensation, accepted and interpreted by Perception; your processes of classification, inference, induction and deduction; and your creation of ideas, concepts, and mental images from these “worked up” materials. You, Yourself, and none other but Yourself, are the creator of this inner world which is “all the world” to you—the only world that you really know, at the last analysis. This is a statement of tremendous importance to you, if rightly understood; and you should not lightly pass it by—you should carefully consider and assimilate it.

If you have any doubts concerning the truth of the above statements, and should feel desirous of further proof of them, you will find such proof at hand and in abundance. You need go no further than to consider how different the same outside world appears to different individuals observing it from the same place, at the same time. Each individual will be found to have received messages from the same outside world, under the same outer circumstances, but under different inner conditions—and each individual will have formed a different conception of that same outside world.

The same outside world is present in each case, but the respective inner Worlds of Experience of the several individuals will be found to differ very materially from each other—no two will be exactly the same, and an almost incredible diversity and variety of perceptions have resulted. This fact of diversity and variety does not arise from any essential conditions of the outer world, you must remember; it is caused solely by the differences in the receiving instruments of Sensation, the degrees of power and training of the faculty of Perception, and by the use made of this material by the higher powers of the mind, on the part of the respective several individuals. The difference comes from within—not from without.

But here we wish to impress upon your mind a very important fact, namely, the fact that the powers of Perception, Observation and Attention—those powers which by their varying degrees of perfection cause the differences to which we have directed your attention—are capable of training, development and cultivation; they respond readily to the proper methods employed for such purposes, and pay large returns for the investment of time and patience bestowed upon such tasks. It is a mistake to imagine that such powers are possible only to those who are “born with it”; it is an error to regard them as akin to the shape of the nose which is born with one, and which never can be altered or improved or exchanged for another more in accord with one’s wishes. On the contrary, there are no mental powers which respond more readily to training, development and cultivation than do these very ones now under consideration by us.

By means of approved scientific methods, not only weak faculties of this class may be developed into strong ones— inefficient ones into efficient ones—but even those which are considered reasonably strong and efficient may be made still stronger and still more efficient. Very few persons have done more than merely to begin to employ the full inherent powers of these faculties. Most of us are content if we find ourselves in the class of “the average” in such respects; we little dream of the wonderful possibilities ahead of us in this direction.

Here and there, however, are found thoughtful persons who are advocating the employment of methods of cultivating these faculties in the young, as an important part of their education. These wise men and women very properly hold that such education would enable the child to learn by Observation and the scientific employment of the powers of Attention, far more effectively than by simply committing to memory the mass of “book knowledge” which constitutes so large a part of the average modern education.

That such training, development, and cultivation is well worth while to you will be apparent when you stop to consider that through these mental faculties in question you receive every constituent of your entire World of Experience; that from such raw materials you obtain the only possible basis for your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions. If you seek a life rich in experience, in knowledge, in effective action, and in the highest emotional feeling, you will do well to begin here at the stage of the acquirement of these “raw materials of knowledge,” which are also the raw materials of all conscious experience and its expression. These raw materials are the bricks, the stone, the timbers from which the structures of our World of Experience must be constructed. Moreover, they constitute also the ground upon which these structures are erected, the background, the scenery—the solid earth underfoot, and the blue skies above that World of Experience.

You are a creator of this world within—whether or not you desire to be. You are creating—you must create—a World of Experience of some kind or character, and some degree of efficiency and merit. You cannot avoid the task. This being so, can you escape the conviction that it is your duty toward yourself, toward your fellows, toward the POWER which brought you into being, to build that world as well, as effectively, as beautifully, and as magnificently as lies within you so to do? It has well been said that “By their works they shall be known.” This World of Experience is one of the greatest of your “works”— it is the work upon which much of your other “works” depend. Therefore, it is the standard and measure by which you are to be judged—by others as well as by yourself. By it you shall be “known”—see to it that you are “known” well and favorably.

Consciousness and Sensation

Consciousness is one of the greatest mysteries of your being. You know perfectly well what it is to experience consciousness—but you know this largely by reason of its difference from unconsciousness. You find it almost impossible to define it satisfactorily, though you have not the slightest difficulty in distinguishing it from unconsciousness. It is unique; it is different from anything else of which you have knowledge or experience—this because it is only by means of it that you have any knowledge or experience of anything else. There are no other terms synonymous with it; if you seek to define it at all, you must employ the terms of consciousness in order to attempt the definition.

The dictionaries help us but little—for they, too, must use the terms of consciousness in order to state the definition, and this is very unsatisfactory. The following examples of standard definitions of the term will illustrate this fact: “Consciousness is the knowledge of one’s own existence, sensations, mental operations, etc.” “Consciousness is the state of being aware of one’s own existence, his condition, his sensations, his thoughts, feelings, and actions.” “Consciousness is that indefinable characteristic of mental states which causes us to be aware of them.”

From the position of strict logical thought, Consciousness is incapable of definition, because there is nothing else except its negation (i. e., unconsciousness) with which to compare it. It resembles nothing else; and a logical definition requires the terms of something else with which to define logically any certain thing. The only way, then, to understand Consciousness is to experience it. Fortunately, all of us have had such experience—otherwise we should never be able to understand what is meant by the term. The least objectionable term to employ in an attempt to define it, perhaps, is the term “awareness”—but, at the last, you perceive that you cannot be “aware” of anything unless you are “conscious” of it in at least some degree.

When we pass from the realm of psychology to that of physiology, we are no more successful in our efforts to explain Consciousness. We discover that the presence of nervous tissue is necessary in order to experience Consciousness—but whether that nervous tissue is the cause of Consciousness, or is merely the machinery by which the latter is manifested, scientists are unable to decide to their perfect satisfaction. Even Huxley with his giant intellect was compelled to report that: “How it is that anything so remarkable as Consciousness comes about by the result of irritating nervous tissue, is just as unaccountable as the appearance of the Jinnee when Aladdin rubbed his lamp.” It is at least somewhat comforting to realize that one’s own ignorance on this point is shared by even the greatest thinkers of past and present.

It must not be supposed that you are conscious of every impression made upon your mind—of every sensation reaching you through the channels of the senses. Attention decides for you which of such reports from the outside world rise to the plane of consciousness—and to what degree, if any, they awaken your conscious perception of them. There are countless sensations reaching you through your sense-organs of which you are not even dimly conscious, and which you do not perceive—here Attention performs its work of selection for you, it, itself, being influenced by other mental states. Attention is that wonderful mental power or faculty which may be described as either the “focusing of consciousness,” or else as “detention in consciousness.”

Likewise, it is true that your mind is at no time conscious of all of its contents—its accumulated experiences. In fact, at any one time you are conscious of but a very small portion of the contents of your mind; the remainder slumbers quietly in the realms of the subconscious planes of your mental empire, from whence they may be called forth when needed by memory or imagination. As your World of Experience enlarges, there is a constantly increasing store of these accumulated experiences placed for safe keeping in the subconscious regions of your mind; they are preserved there awaiting their recall into consciousness by the act of recollection or that of imagination.

Finally, it is an error to suppose that you are directly conscious of the objects of the outside world. Your “consciousness” does not come in direct contact with those outside objects. You are conscious merely of certain mental states or conditions within you, which in turn have arisen by reason of the excitation of certain nervous tissue associated with your “consciousing” faculties (whatever these may be at the last)—this excitation being caused by the sensory impulses which pass to the nervous tissues over the sensory nerves, the outer ends of which receive the impressions arising from their contact with outside forces.

For instance, when you “see” the pages of this book, you are merely perceiving the existence of these mental states arising from the excitation of certain nervous tissue connected with your optic nerves. The optic nerves report the contact with certain vibrations of the light-waves reflected from the surface of the page, and which thus carry the image, shadow, or picture of the printed page to the nervous tissue of the optical apparatus, just as they would carry them to the photographic plate or film in the camera.

There is a distinction here, however,—one which makes “all the difference in the world.” While both the photographic plate and the retina of your eye alike “register” the light-waves and thus produce the image, picture, or “shadow” of the outside thing, nevertheless the photographic plate is “unconscious” of it,—it has nothing with which to do the “consciousing”; on the contrary, your mind is “conscious” of it, for it has something which “consciouses” and “becomes aware” of such reports. The photographic plate neither “knows, nor “knows that it knows”; but your mind not only “knows” the report, but your “I AM I” also “knows” that your mind knows—you not only “know” but you “know that you know.” This is more than a play on words— it represents an important fact of conscious experience.

That there is “something” in the outside world—the world external to our minds—we know; even the quite clever metaphysical reasoning of certain extreme subjective idealists fails to shake our fundamental belief that “something exists” outside of our own mental world. But just what that “something” really IS, philosophers inform us we shall never know—they tell us that we “have nothing to know it with.” All that we can directly know is our mental pictures, representations, or photographs of that “something outside,” which, as you have seen are transmitted through our sense-apparatus. Profound philosophers hold that naught but an Omniscient Mind possibly can know the outside world “in itself”; what it is “in itself” equals that which it is known to be by and to such Infinite Mind.

Our World of Experience, then, is but the mind’s symbolic representation of the “something outside”—of that Universe as it is “in itself,” and as an Omniscient Mind does, or would, know it to be in its ultimate verity. At the best, our mental picture of it is but symbolic and approximate—its degree of verity depends upon the effectiveness and efficiency of our mental photography, and this, in turn, depends upon the quality and efficient employment of our mental photographic apparatus. This has led certain schools of philosophy and psychology to assert as an axiom the following statement: “The total content of consciousness is of sense-origin; the higher activities of mind, as well as the lower, are results left by the impressions originally made upon the mind by external objects, through sensations; our sensations are our elementary modes of being conscious, our elementary elements of experience, which are conditioned upon some of our organs of sense.”

Psychology informs us that the “redness” of the brick, or of the rose, is not in those objects themselves, but is within ourselves. It says that: “The ‘redness,’ as you call it, is a question of relation between your optic nerve and the light-waves which it is unable to absorb. In a lesser light, the ‘redness’ will be purple; at night, it will be black; a very little deviation from normal vision on your part, (i. e., ‘color blindness’) would make it green.” Ziehen speaks of, “The obvious error of former centuries, first refuted by Locke, though still shared by naive thought today, i. e., that the objects about us are ‘colored,’ ‘warm,’ ‘cold,’ etc. The nervous apparatus selects only certain motions of matter or of ether, which they transform into that form of nerve-excitation with which they are familiar; it is only this nerve-excitation which we perceive as ‘red,’ ‘warm’ or ‘hard’.”

Gordy says: “The rotors, and sounds, and odors that seem to fill the scene before us are only mental facts—things which like the joys and sorrows, the hopes and fears, that make up our conscious life, exist in our own minds and nowhere else. When we follow in imagination the vibrations of air radiating from the singing birds in every direction, and the waves of light radiating from the leaves of the trees, we are forced to conclude that leaves, songs of birds, blossoms, flowers are only exciting causes of effects which appear in our conscious life as sensations. The colors and sounds that we think of in ordinary life—that thrust themselves upon our notice at every moment—are not the undulations of ether and vibrations of air (things that science has learned about only after centuries of investigation), but are the colors and sounds of experience—sensations. Before we began our investigations, we thought that the odors, sounds, and colors of which we have direct knowledge, are physical facts, external to the mind; but we have learned that these supposed physical facts are not physical facts at all. We must say either that the world of sounds, and tastes, and odors, and colors, is purely subjective, in the sense of consisting of our own mental facts, or else that the conclusions reached by us are wrong.”

But we caution you here not to make the mistake common to many who fail to realize that “a little learning is a dangerous thing,” and who rush to the conclusion that the “outside somethings” have no existence whatever outside of our sensations concerning them. Even some brilliant philosophers have at times made this mistake—it has well been said of this extreme idealistic theory that “though it has never been logically disproved, yet no one really has ever believed and acted upon it; even the metaphysicians asserting that “the world is our dream” have failed to act upon that hypothesis. Something in us tells us that “something is there!” Reason asserts itself; sanity is preserved.

The philosophers of more evenly balanced philosophical temper have sought and found the Golden Mean, from which position they assert that though we can never know the “something outside” as it is “in itself”—as Omniscient Mind does or would know it—and though we can know only our more or less indistinct, distorted, and imperfect symbolic pictures, shadows, or photographs of it, nevertheless common-sense and practical reason assures us that “something is there”—at the least, certain “exciting forces” which produce in us the exciting effects called “sensations.”

In steering clear of the Scylla of the naive beliefs of “the man on the street” (who holds that the substance of our sensations is “in the things themselves,” rather than in us), we must be equally careful to avoid the Charybdis of those schools of Subjective Idealism which go so far as to hold that “the things themselves” have no existence in themselves, but exist solely in our minds. Here, as elsewhere, beware of the extremes—seek the middle channel, the “middle of the road”; strive to attain and maintain the Golden Mean. “Something is there,” and we are “conscious” of it—though our consciousness is indirect.

The Senses

You have seen that in the reports of Sensation you have the “raw material of knowledge.” Sensation is an elementary state of consciousness resulting from nerve action. As you have seen, when the retina is stimulated by light, the irritation is carried by the optic nerve to the nervous tissue of the brain, excitation of that tissue arises, consciousness results, and Sensation occurs. You also have seen that just “why” this happens is unknown to mankind—but this is “how” it happens. The same rule also applies to sensations arising from the senses of Hearing, Taste, Smell, or Touch—from any or all of the phases of the elementary sense of Feeling: for, know you, that all the senses are but modifications of the original sense of Feeling.

It is probable that you do not as yet fully realize the tremendous importance of the senses to you in the creation of your World of Experience; or how dependent you are upon these sense-reports from that outside world which the “I” cannot contact directly or without the intermediary of the sensory nervous system. Perhaps you will appreciate this fact more fully if you will try to imagine what your consciousness would be had you been born without any of the five senses. Make the experiment: give your imagination a little exercise.

The use of your imagination in this way will reveal to you the fact that even if you had been born with the most perfectly formed brain, composed of the finest grade of brain-matter, and with the advantages of the best mental inheritance in the way of natural capacity for mental activity, you would be absolutely devoid of any conscious World of Experience had all the natural and normal inlets of the senses remained closed by reason of physical imperfection. In such case your mind would remain as dormant as a seed buried in soil unfitted to produce its germination; you would be cut off from all that communication with the outer world from which all of your original experiences must come, and from which you receive all the knowledge which constitutes your World of Experience. You would not know, nor could you know, anything whatsoever concerning what exists in that outer world, or what events are occurring there. Your only knowledge would be that of your self-existence, and even that you would not be able to express in words or in the symbols of thought.

Professor R. P. Halleck has strikingly pictured the condition of a person born with this frightful handicap, as follows: “Suppose a child of intelligent parents were ushered into the world without a nerve leading from his otherwise perfect brain to any portion of his body; with no optic nerve to transmit the glorious sensations from the eye; no auditory nerve to convey the touch of a hand; no olfactory nerve to rouse the brain with the delicate aroma from the orchards and the wild flowers in spring; no gustatory, thermal, or muscular nerves; Could such a child live, as the years rolled on, the books of Shakespeare and of Milton would be opened in vain before the child’s eyes. The wisest men might talk to him with utmost eloquence, all to no purpose. Nature could not whisper one of her inspiring truths into his deaf ear, could not light up that dark mind with a picture of the rainbow or of a human face. No matter how perfect might be the child’s brain and his inherited capacity for mental activities, his faculties would remain for this life shrouded in Egyptian darkness. Perception could give memory nothing to retain, and thought could not weave her matchless fabrics without materials.”

The above is no mere fanciful picture; on the contrary, it is a statement of the position of science and philosophy concerning the dependence of the mind upon the avenues of sensation for the materials of the higher and more complex mental processes. The mind is as much dependent upon the material of sensations for its sustenance, as is the body dependent upon food for its nourishment. Both mind and body require for their respective activities the material from the outside world; this supplied, both mind and body are able to convert, transform and transmute this material into more complex forms of activity and substance.

A celebrated philosopher and psychologist once asked his students to consider the fanciful possibilities arising from a case in which the nerves of sight should be attached to the areas of the brain concerned with the office of hearing: and those of hearing, with the areas of sight: the faculties of the receiving apparatus thus exchanging duties. In such case, one would hear all colors and would see all sounds. One would thus perceive the sounds of flowers and paintings, and would see the beauties of the musical notes of the great composers. In such a case, the outer world would still be sending him the same messages—but he would be interpreting them differently.

A writer commenting on this possibility has said: “Beauty would still be ours, though speaking another tongue. The bird’s song would then strike our retina as a pageant of colors; we would see all the magical tones of the wind; hear as a great fugue the repeated and harmonized greens of the forest, the cadences of stormy skies.” This illustration, of course, is pure artistic fancy—but the result is logically pictured; it will serve to illustrate how dependent we are upon the mechanism of consciousness in its phase of sensation.

Psychologists have also pointed out the fact that the World of Experience of the individual is decreased by the absence of the power of normal functioning in any one or more of his several senses; and that this World of Experience would be increased if he were able to evolve additional senses. This is more than mere speculation, for science shows us that the sense of Feeling was the elementary sense, from which all the other senses have been evolved; and that is well within the possibilities of evolution that additional senses may be unfolded in the course of the evolutionary development of living forms.

In order to give you a personal illustration of your dependence upon your Senses for the character and extent of your World of Experience, we ask you here to use your imagination once more. Begin by imagining what the outside world would mean to you if you were merely a one-sense individual—possessed merely of the Sense of Touch. Your entire field of knowledge would be limited to your idea of how things feel to your Touch—it would be a very small World of Experience, would it not? Then, imagine yourself as evolving the senses of Taste and Smell—those half-brothers in the Sense-world. Can you not see how your world would enlarge, and how its character would change? Then imagine yourself as evolving the Sense of Hearing; and realize the wonderful addition to your World of Experience that such would furnish. And, then, last of all, imagine that some wonderful day your Sense of Sight would suddenly unfold into activity—and the great World of Sight Experience would unfold before your consciousness. Can you not see by this how materially your World of Experience depends upon Sensation— how each new sense adds to it, and each lacking sense detracts and subtracts from it? Your imagination employed in this flight has taught you a valuable lesson—and a true one!

In the same way, you will see that the possession of an additional sense—a sense as yet not evolved by man—would enable you to know the world in an entirely new way. There are undoubtedly properties in material objects of which you remain in total ignorance solely by reason of the absence of appropriate senses through which to become aware of them. Even as it is, you are able to hear only a small portion of the vibrations of sound, or to see only a small portion of the waves of light. Instruments invented by science are able to catch and record sound-waves and light-waves which your senses fail to register. Only a very small proportion of the outer world is really revealed to you through your senses; this because of the fact that your sense-instruments are not capable of registering them. A further evolution of your senses would enable you to become aware of an entirely new world of things which exists on all sides of you, but which form no part of your inner World of Experience.

The microscope, the telescope and other optical instruments show what your normal sight would perceive were your optical mechanism of a higher order. Delicate apparatus reveal sounds which your normal hearing would perceive were your auditory organs of a finer order. Delicate photographic plates register light-waves which your eyes perceive not, but which would become apparent to you were your optical mechanism more perfect. These “supplementary senses,” as these scientific appliances have been called, reveal to you the presence of objects and qualities of objects which are unknown to you when you depend upon your normal sense organs. Moreover, certain of the lower animals have a higher development of certain senses than has man; in fact, some careful thinkers even believe that certain of the lower animals possess senses lacking in man. The far-seeing eye of the eagle and the hawk perceive distant objects invisible to man; most of the lower animals have preserved that fine and delicate sense of smell which man has lost by disuse in the course of his rise to civilization; and some of the insects undoubtedly hear sounds below the register of the human ear.

An additional sense undoubtedly would open up a new world to you. Fancy the result of the development in you of a new sense which would register the waves of electricity or magnetism. In such case you would be able to “see” or “hear” what is going on at great distances—even on the other side of the globe; fancy may even picture you possessed of a sense enabling you to become aware of the waves of wireless telegraphy. A sense capable of registering the “X Ray” waves would enable you to see through a stone wall, and to perceive what is going on inside of a brick house or on the other side of a closed door. A similar extension of your sense of sight might enable you to see what is happening on Mars; or to perceive the life of the microscopic world in the drop of water. If you had appropriate sense instruments, you might even catch the vibrations of the thought-activities of others—a “telepathic sense” certainly would be most interesting and instructive!

Scientific imagination has pictured worlds in which living creatures possess seven, nine, fifteen, or more senses—and this is possible, theoretically, for seventeen senses would be really no more wonderful than are five, though they would seem so to five-sense creatures. Listen to these statements made by careful thinkers. Kay says: “An additional sense might probably make revelations to us no less surprising than the sense of sight to one who bas been born blind.” Carpenter says: “It does not seem at all improbable that there are properties of matter of which none of our senses can take immediate cognizance, and which other beings might be formed to perceive in the same manner as we are sensible to light, sound, etc.” Mason says: “If a new sense or two were added to the present normal number in man, that which is now the phenomenal world for all of us might, for all we know, burst into something amazingly wider and different, in consequence of the additional revelations through these new senses.” Isaac Taylor says: “It is not to be thought that the eye of man is the measure of the Creator’s power. Has He created nothing which He has not exposed to our senses? The contrary seems much more than barely possible; ought we not to think it almost certain?”

However, we have presented to you the above-stated speculative, and apparently somewhat fanciful ideas, merely for the purpose of bringing to you a clearer and more comprehensive conception of the relation between Yourself and the outside world; and to show you how dependent you are upon your senses for the material with which you build up and create your World of Experience. We have no desire to urge you to develop new senses, rest assured. But our purpose is none the less constructive and in the direction of opening up to you new worlds of knowledge—a new World of Experience. For, know you, that there is almost, if not quite, as much difference between the World of Experience of the man of untrained and undeveloped powers of Attention, Perception, and Observation, and that of the man who has highly developed these mental powers, as there would be between the latter individual and the one who had developed one or more new senses.

You have but to contrast the man of highly developed perceptive powers, with one of the opposite type, to realize that the two individuals dwell in entirely different Worlds of Experience. The former sees, hears, feels, and knows a multitude of facts of Life and Nature which are entirely unperceived and unknown to the latter type of individual. The developed man recognizes, considers and solves problems the very existence of which is unknown to the undeveloped man. It is as if the two types see with different eyes, hear with different ears, feel with different nerves of touch. In this book we are striving not to endow you with additional senses, but to enable you to perfect the senses you already possess—to perfect them to such an extent that they will take on powers and possibilities, effectiveness and active qualities, which to the uninitiated seem to be the result of additional mental faculties possessed only by the favored few and denied to the great masses of the human race.

The Mechanism of the Senses

The Sensory Mechanism—the vital machinery concerned with the processes of Sensation —consists of certain portions of the brain, certain portions of the nervous system, and the special organs of sense.

The Brain. What “mind,” in itself, may be or may not be; whatever may be the ultimate nature of its relation to the brain; we must at least admit that “the brain is the physical mechanism through and by means of which the mental processes are performed or manifested.” Moreover, we are forced to admit that the mind must depend upon certain portions of the brain and of the nervous system for the reception and perception of the messages from the outside world which compose the “raw material of knowledge” which constitute the elements of the World of Experience of the individual. The detailed study of the physiology of the brain is outside of the field sought to be covered by this book. Therefore, we shall confine our description of it to the technical definition, viz., “The brain is the whitish mass of soft matter which is inclosed in the cartilaginous or bony cranium of vertebrate animals; it is the centre of the nervous system and the seat of consciousness and volition.” Here we have the general description of the physical aspect of the brain, and the statement that it is “the seat of consciousness”—this is sufficient for our present purpose.

The Sensory Nerves. The nerves are “bundles of fibres which transmit nervous impulses between nerve-centres and various parts of the animal body.” They constitute important elements of the great nervous system which traverses the body, and which has been compared to a great telegraphic system. There are motor-nerves, which serve to transmit motor impulses (impulses producing motion) to the various parts of the body. There are also other classes of nerves which serve the performance of certain physiological functions, such as digestion, secretion, excretion, and circulation. With these classes of nerves, however, we are not concerned in our consideration of the general subject of the Senses.

Our sole concern here is with what are called “the sensory nerves”—that general class of nerves which transmit sensations from the various parts of the body to the central receiving office of the brain. These sensory nerves are the great telegraphic wires which report to the central office of the brain that irritation or excitation which their surface terminal-ends experience by reason of their contact with the objects of the outside world. When the surface terminal-ends of a sensory nerve are irritated or excited by reason of such contact with the outside object, they send to the brain a message demanding more or less attention. Whether these nerves be nerves of Touch, of Sight, of Hearing, of Taste, or of Smell, the action is essentially the same—at the last, all the sensory nerves are nerves of Feeling. Fix this last statement in your mind—it will aid you in your comprehension of the processes manifested by the several particular sense-organs and mechanism.

The Sense Organs. There are five general senses, according to the popularly accepted classification, namely: (1) Touch; (2) Sight; (3) Hearing; (4) Smell; and (5) Taste. Physiologists and psychologists often note an additional sense, called the “Muscular Sense,” which reveals the state of our muscles, and which furnishes us with our ideas of weight, spatial dimensions, etc. Others would add certain other senses, namely those connected with the feelings arising from the condition of certain internal physical organs, and which furnish us with reports manifesting the feelings of hunger, thirst, sexuality, repletion, indigestion, etc., or of burns, inflammations, bruises, cramps, etc. These latter classes, however, for convenience are usually included in the class of the Sense of Touch, and we shall not make the technical distinction in this book, interesting though it is for academic consideration.

Each particular sense has its appropriate organ of reception, and the special sensory nerves attached to it, the latter conveying the reports from the receiving organ to the brain. Thus, the Sense of Touch employs the nervous centres upon the surface of the skin and in the muscles, and the nerves attached to these which lead to the brain. The Sense of Sight employs the eye, and its appropriate nerves. The Sense of Hearing employs the ear, and its nerves. The Sense of Smell employs the nose, and its nerves. The Sense of Taste employs the tongue, portions of the mouth, and their nerves. Each organ of sense is specially adapted for the reception of the irritation or excitation arising from its appropriate stimuli. No organ of sense will report the stimuli appropriate to another. Each organ of sense has its own particular kind of irritation by which it is excited, Sound does not excite the eye; nor light, the ear. Each sense-organ functions only in its own special field.

Each and every sensation involves: (1) an external stimulus which, coming in contact with the sense-organ, serves to irritate or excite the latter; (2) a physical organ which receives the irritation or excitation caused by contact with the external object, and transmits it to the brain by means of the connecting nerve’s; (3) the connecting nerves which serve to transmit the irritating, or exciting message from the sense-organ to the brain-centre concerned with the latter; (4) the brain-centre concerned with the sense organ, and which receives the message from the latter carried by the sensory nerves; and (5) the mental impression, or state of perceptive consciousness, which arises from the physical impression, and which is the representation of the latter on the mental plane.

A Sensation, then, is seen to consist of (1) a physical condition of change arising from contact with an external object, this condition of change involving the sense-organ, the transmitting nerves, and the brain; and (2) the mental impression or state of perceptive consciousness resulting from the physical change or condition. In short, a completed Sensation is perceived to be “a mental representation of an external fact by which it is produced”; or “a mental representation which is the internal sign of an external fact exciting it.”

It should be noted here that one may have a partial Sensation, caused by the action of the imagination, in which there is no external object involved; likewise, the external object may produce the physical irritation and excitement, and the resulting message to the brain, but if the attention of the mind is strongly directed elsewhere the mental state or impression will not be produced; but in all cases of complete and full Sensation both the physical and the mental elements must be involved actively.

It is generally accepted that all the various senses, with their special organs, are evolutions from the original sense and organs of Feeling—the most elementary form of the latter being the Sense of Touch. In every Sensation something external must “touch” the sensitive organ or nerves of the sense involved. Sight, Hearing, Taste, Smell—all these are but refined and more complex forms and phases of Touch or Feeling; and their special organs are but more complex organs of Touch or Feeling. Touch of one kind or another, of some degree or mode, is concerned in every act of Sensation. Modern science tends to verify the ancient contention of Democritus that all the senses are but modifications of Touch.

Moreover, modern science informs us that everything external that acts upon the organs of sense acts in the form of “motion”; that nothing external can act upon the senses or be taken up by them unless it present itself to them in the form of motion. Thus, Light is motion resulting from undulations in the ether; Sound is motion resulting from vibrations of the air; Tastes and Smells are the result of motion arising from the chemical changes in the particles of minute substances coming in contact with the sensitive portions of the tongue and mouth, and of the nose; Touch results from the motion of objects external to our bodies, or of portions of our body, or both—all Touch implies motion.

The external world is made manifest to you through your senses only by reason of the motions caused by its energies— these external motions being taken up and continued by your nervous system, and finally brought to the attention and perception of your mind. Science holds that the various nervous actions which result in various sensations must be regarded as definite series of motions. The vibrations from outside yourself accelerate and are transformed into the vibrations within your nervous system, and thus produce Sensation. All that is transmitted from an organ of sense to the brain is a particular mode of motion. The particular modes of motion thus transmitted are then variously interpreted by the mind in the process of Perception.

All this serves once more to bring us to the realization that your World of Experience is merely a representation of the outer world—such portion of that outer world which your senses are able to receive and transmit to your mind, there to be interpreted and employed as the “raw materials of knowledge.” You do not know the outside world directly and immediately; all that you know of it is its reports to you over the channels, and through the medium of your senses. As Helmholt says: “Our sensations are for us only symbols of the objects in the external world, and correspond to them only in some such way as written characters or articulate words do to the things they denote.”

We ask you now to consider in further detail each of the five great classes of the Senses.

The Sense of Touch. The special receptive organ of the Sense of Touch extends practically over the entire outer surface of the body, though it manifests in greatly varying degrees according to the particular part of the body subjected to the contact with the external objects. The skin covering your body is attached to a very large number of sensory nerves which have their ending in it. When these nerve-ends come in contact with an external object, they become irritated and excited, and report the degree and character of such contact to your brain, employing for the transmission the entire length of the connecting nerves. They convey to your brain a peculiar report of pressure or contact, which your mind refers to the particular part of your body in which the receiving nerve-end is located. Not only this, but they report also the particular character or nature of the pressure or contact, so that your mind perceives the differences which indicate what you call “hardness,” “softness,” “roughness,” “smoothness,” etc.; or what you call “temperature”; and what you call “weight,” “shape,” “form,” or “size”; or what you call “pressure.”

Some of these nerve-ends report mere contact and degree of pressure; others merely report temperature; others report the other several material sensation-producing properties of the contacted object. Some of these nerve-ends are very sensitive, as, for example, the tip of the tongue, the finger-tips, etc.; others lack this degree of sensitiveness, as, for instance, the nerve-ends located in the back. The nerve-ends of certain portions of the body respond far more readily than do others to the excitement of temperature, as, for example, the nerve-ends of the cheek— this is why a woman will hold her hot iron near to her cheek in order to test its temperature. Certain nerve-ends abound in “heat spots” on the body, while others are located in the “cold spots” the region of which is particularly susceptible to impressions of cold.

Other sensory nerves concerned with the Sense of Touch have their ends in the muscles, as well as in the skin. The reports of such nerves are the basis of that variation of the Sense of Touch which some psychologists call the “Muscular Sense” in contradistinction to the other forms of Touch, the latter being called the “Tactile Sense”—the true Sense of Touch. The Muscular Sense reports differences in weight; space dimensions; pressure; movements in the contacted objects and certain other physical conditions in the contacted object—in fact the term “muscular sensations” has been applied to all those sensations originating in the tensed or relaxed muscles. The “muscular sensation” nerve-ends are excited not so much by the contact of the external object, as by the state of tension resulting from the extension or contraction of the muscles.

The Sense of Sight. The special receptive organ of the Sense of Sight consists of that delicate piece of physical mechanism known as the “eye.” This wonderful instrument, or piece of mechanism, consists of several parts, the actions of which are closely coordinated. The following description of the mechanism of the eye, made by Kirke, will give you a comprehensive and practical conception of it.

“The optical apparatus may be supposed for the sake of description to consist of several parts. First, of a series of transparent refracting surfaces and media by means of which images of external objects are brought to a focus upon the back of the eye and secondly, of a sensitive screen, the Retina, which is a specialized termination of the optic nerve, capable of being stimulated by luminous objects, and of sending through the optic nerve such an impression as to produce in the brain visual sensations. To these main parts may be added, thirdly, an apparatus for focusing objects at different angles from the eye, called ‘accommodation’. Even this does not complete the description of the whole organ of vision, since both eyes are usually employed in vision; and so, fourth, an arrangement exists by means of which the eyes may be turned in the same direction by a system of muscles, so that binocular vision is possible.

“The eye may be compared to a photographic camera, the transparent media corresponding to the photographic lens. In such a camera images of objects are thrown upon a ground-glass screen at the back of a box, the interior of which is painted black. In the eye, the camera proper is represented by the eyeball with its choroidal pigment, the screen by the retina, and the lens by the refracting media. In the case of the camera, the screen is enabled to receive clear images of objects at different distances, by an apparatus for focusing. The corresponding apparatus in the eye is the ‘accommodation’. The iris, which is capable of allowing more or less light to pass into the eye, corresponds with the different sized diaphragms used in photographic apparatus.”

But the eye does not really “see”—the mind is that which actually “sees.” The eye is merely a miniature natural photographic lens in which the rays of light are focused upon the screen of the retina; the retina is irritated and excited by these focused rays, and by means of the optic nerve it transmits this excitement to certain areas of the brain. From these changes in the brain-cells of those areas the physical phase of Sensation results; the mental phase being performed by the mind which becomes aware of these brain-changes in Perception, and thus “sees” them. Seeing, at the last, is a mental process—but the physical optical apparatus is required in order that the mind may perform it.

The Sense of Hearing. The special receptive organ of the Sense of Hearing is that delicate piece of physical mechanism known as the “ear.” The front portion of the internal ear is a labyrinthine cavity, consisting of intricate windings manifesting accurate scientific principles and mechanical arrangement. This cavity is so constructed that it may most effectively convey to the back portion of the internal ear the sound-waves reaching it from the external world. These sound-waves are vibrations of the air set in motion by some physical activity or change. In the inner part of the ear, at the back of this cavity, there is located the Tympanum, or “ear drum,” which receives the focused sound-waves from the cavity, and which thereupon intensifies and adapts them according to scientific mechanical principles. These intensified and adapted sound-vibrations are taken up by the ends of the auditory nerve, the excitation of the latter being then transmitted over the length of the auditory nerve to the brain. The mind then becomes consciously aware of the excitement of the auditory nerve, and thus “hears” the sound.

The mind becomes conscious of, and perceives and interprets those qualities and properties of sound which we know as (1) Pitch, consisting of the comparative number of vibrations: (2) Intensity, or the comparative volume or quantity of the vibrations; (3) Quality, or the special character or nature of the vibrations arising from the character of the agent producing the sound; and (4) Relation, or the comparative degree of harmony or discord, music or noise, resulting from the vibrations. The range of the Sense of Hearing is limited in human beings to a very narrow scale; there are many sound-vibrations which are either too low or too high for us to hear and know, but which are registered by special scientific instruments designed for the purpose.

The Sense of Smell. The special receptive organ of the Sense of Smell is that more or less efficient piece of physical mechanism known as the “nose.” The nostrils, or the external openings of the nose, admit the passage of minute portions of material objects, such as gaseous matter, or very small particles of solid matter—the admitted particles, however, consisting principally of tenuous gases thrown off from solid matter or fluids. The cavity of the nostrils is lined with a thin mucous membrane, well filled with the ends of minute olfactory nerves. The minute particles of matter, coming in contact with this delicate mucous membrane, irritate and excite these olfactory nerve-ends, and this excitement is transmitted by the olfactory nerves themselves to the brain; the brain excitement awakens conscious attention on the part of the mind, and the mental process of Sensation occurs.

Some particles of matter excite the olfactory nerves much more than do others; the difference arises from the respective chemical composition of the substances of which the particles consist. Some substances are very penetrating in their action upon these nerves—as, for instance, musk—this because of the fact that they give off a large number of molecules. Other substances possess a strong property of irritation in their action upon these nerves—as, for instance, ammonia—this because of some chemical property strongly affecting the olfactory nerves. The Sense of Smell is very active and efficient in the lower animals, and in primitive man; in civilized man, however, the sense is believed to have become partially atrophied from disuse resulting from lack of necessity.

The Sense of Taste. The special receptive organ of the Sense of Taste is that very efficient piece of physical machinery known as the “tongue.” Certain portions of the mouth also serve as receptive organs of Taste. The tongue contains certain tiny cells called “taste buds”; these are connected with the gustatory nerves, which in turn lead to the brain. When soluble material substances are taken into the mouth the chemical action of their constituents, coming in contact with the “taste buds,” sets up an irritation or excitement in the nerve-ends connected with them. This excitement is transmitted over the gustatory nerves to the brain; there producing an excitement of which the mind becomes conscious by Attention.

Taste has been classified by some as follows: (1) bitter; (2) sweet; (3) sour; (4) salty; (5) alkaline; (6) “hot” (as in the case of pepper, mustard, horseradish, etc.) and (7) “acrid” (i. e., bitter and “hot” combined). Much that we call taste really is “smell,” there being a close connection and relation between the physical organs and processes of these two respective senses; when your Sense of Smell is affected by a bad cold, catarrh, or similar condition, you will discover that your Sense of Taste is seemingly affected—this because of the close relation above noted.

Some psychologists hold that other features usually attributed to the Sense of Taste really are incidents of the Sense of Touch. Hoffding, noting this fact, says: “The pleasantness of many sorts of food (e. g. jelly) is certainly derived from their effect upon the delicate skin of the palate, and is therefore, much more a question of Touch than of Taste.” The Shah of Persia, visiting in England, is said to have reproached Europeans for their use of forks, saying, “You do not know that the Sense of Taste begins with the finger-tips.”

Development of the Senses. That the senses may be developed, cultivated, and trained to a marvelous degree, is a fact known to all practical psychologists. We shall give you specific instances and methods when we consider the subjects of Attention, Perception and Observation. But it must always be remembered by you that such training and development is mental and not physical. It is the mind, and not the body, which “senses” at the last. The sense-instruments must be there, it is true—but they serve merely as “instruments,” and are never by any chance the real “that-which-experiences-Sensation,” or that which directs it.

Training and development of the senses, really is training and development of the power of “consciousing” by the direct action of the “I AM I,” which is Yourself. We need scarcely add that, inasmuch as the senses supply the “raw material of knowledge,” it follows that your world of knowledge—your World of Experience is greatly enlarged and enriched by the scientific training and development of your senses, and by their rational culture. With the proper kind and quantity of the “raw materials,” the finished product must be more satisfactory in quantity and in quality—this is self-evident.

Perception and Discernment

Perception is: “The faculty, or act, or consciousness whereby it apprehends, comprehends, or takes cognizance of the reports of the senses reaching it in the form of Sensation.” James defines it as, “The consciousness of particular material things present to sense.” It is that power or faculty of the mind by means of which the latter interprets the “raw materials of thought” furnished through Sensation. Discernment is: “Perception intelligently applied and consciously directed.”

You will remember that in completed Sensation the final stage is that mental state arising from the consciousness of the physical impression upon the brain substance derived from the excitation of the sensory nerves; it is the mental representation of the physical impression. This mental state also constitutes the elemental and primary stage of Perception; the higher and more complex manifestations of Perception involve the exercise of memory, association, and a certain degree of reasoning power. Perception, aided by the other mental faculties to some extent, gives to you your first real knowledge of the outside world.

You will also remember that not all sensations are received in consciousness—not all are “perceived” by the mind; as a fact, but a comparatively small number of your sensations are so perceived. Moreover, in simple Perception there is but a comparatively slight apprehension or cognizance—but a slight “knowing”—of the object perceived. It is only when Voluntary Attention begins more actively to manifest its powers that your real “knowing” actually begins.

While Perception depends upon the senses for its “raw materials,” it relies for its fuller manifestation upon “thought” in some degree or form. Perception, then, may be regarded as “the thought arising from the feeling of Sensation.” Sensation is Feeling—Perception is the beginning of Thought. Sensation brings to you the “feeling” of the things of the outside world; Perception interprets this “feeling” by identifying it with the outside thing arousing the “feeling,” and referring it to that outside thing. From Perception all of your higher mental states arise.

The processes of Perception are as follows: (1) Attention causing consciousness to become aware of the definite Sensation arising from indefinite nervous excitement; (2) Thought interpreting the definite Sensation; and attributing it to the outside object causing it; and (3) Reason (based upon experience) perceiving the Sensation-producing element of the outside object to be a quality, property, or attribute of that outside object. For example: You touch a piece of heated iron. You first (1) become aware of a certain Sensation reaching you through your sensory nerves without any consciousness of anything but the “feeling” element; then (2) you interpret this feeling as “heat,” and attribute it to the piece of iron; then (3) you perceive that “heat” to be a quality of iron in that particular condition.

The above statement may seem to be merely a needless elaboration of a familiar experience, but when you were a little child you actually gained this experience by passing through precisely these several stages of Perception, and all your knowledge gained by actual experience has been so acquired. The infant or young child at first experiences but indefinite sensations—it is not able to interpret these, nor to refer them to particular external objects, nor to deduce that the feeling-producing powers constitute qualities in that and similar external objects. As it grows older, and “gains experience,” however, it begins to realize that Sensation has a practical meaning only in so far as it refers to definite objects causing it— that the meaning of Sensation must be sought in Perception. The natural education of the child consists almost entirely of its discovering by Perception the real meaning and source of Sensation. It is only in this way that the child brings about a harmonious relation and practical working unity between its World of Experience and the things of the outside world.

Perception, then, is seen to consist of your power to apprehend and cognize the qualities and relations of outside things reported by Sensation. The greater the extent of your discovery of such qualities and relations, the greater is the degree of practical knowledge and experience possessed by you. Your entire stock of knowledge is built up in this way; this because all that your mind is able to know about the things of the outside world is the knowledge of the characteristic qualities and relations of those things. When you define a thing, you but state its qualities and its relations; and such qualities and relations are known to you only by means of Perception. To know all the qualities and relations of a thing is equivalent to knowing fully the nature or character of that thing, at least so far as human knowledge is capable of full knowledge of anything.

In the higher acts of Perception all of the mental faculties or powers are represented. For instance: you obtain a sensation of form and color, evidently related to a certain tree. Your memory (based upon experience) identifies this form and color as connected with fruit. Your experience informs you that this particular fruit is a peach. Examining the object closer, you see that the peach is in that condition which your experience interprets as “ripe.” Your memory and experience inform you that ripe peaches are pleasant to the taste; and your imagination makes a mental picture of the sweetness and general satisfaction of the taste which form qualities of that peach. Then your Will acts to pluck that peach (if such be deemed proper in the light of reason and feeling) and to eat it. But all that you “know” about that peach when you see it has been gained by experience along the lines of the gradual and progressive processes of Sensation, Perception, Memory, Imagination and Thought. This, again, may seem needless elaboration—but such is the way by which you have learned about the qualities of peaches; and the processes by means of which you must learn about any and every other thing when you first become acquainted with it. You learn only by experience based upon your Perception of the qualities and relations of things; and your Perception arises from Sensation. Your World of Experience is created by Perception. You will do well to fix this fact in your mind, for it is important.

Distinction between Sensation and Perception. We ask you to consider, in the form of the following summary, the distinction between Sensation and Perception—this distinction is a somewhat difficult one for many students, and it is important for the purpose of the present instruction that you should be able clearly to make it. Here follows the Summary. In Sensation, the mind is conscious simply of an inflowing feeling; in Perception, the mind goes out toward the object of that feeling. Sensation flows inward; Perception moves outward. In Sensation, the mind is passive; in Perception, the mind is active. Sensation necessarily implies neither the belief in nor the conviction of the existence of an outside object (the infant’s early experiences show this plainly); Perception necessarily implies a belief in and conviction of the existence of an outside object causing Sensation. Sensation is concerned merely with inner mental states; Perception involves also the recognition of outer things. Sensation requires merely consciousness; Perception requires thought directed toward an outside object. Sensation knows only the inner “feeling” giving rise to it; Perception knows also the outside thing which causes the inner “feeling.”

Perception is a power of the mind—not of the physical senses; it is capable of an almost incredible degree of training, cultivation and development; there are certain laws governing its development and training. It is possible for you to train and develop your powers of Perception to such a degree that you may become a veritable Master of Perception. If your ambition does not reach such heights, you may at least develop and train your powers of Perception to such a degree and extent that you will double or treble your efficiency in your chosen field of endeavor, and also fit yourself for still higher planes of work in the world. You, Yourself, are the creator of your World of Experience—and you create it largely by means of your powers of Perception. It is for you to decide just what you wish to create—your action upon that decision will perform the creative work.

In order that you may realize the full possibilities of the development of the powers of Perception along the lines of each of the several senses, we call your attention to the following scientific statements of examples and instances of cases in which certain individuals have developed such powers far beyond that of the average person. Such individuals were not possessed of abnormal senses, or sense-organs—their sense-organs were probably no more efficient than are yours: but their mental powers of Perception had been so trained and developed as to cause them to appear to be gifted with abnormal powers.

Visual Perception. The mental power of Perception of the impressions received through the sense of Sight is capable of extraordinary improvement by training. This improvement, and the training which produces it, proceeds along three general lines, viz., (1) the line of increased quickness and readiness in the visual perception of general or special objects; (2) the line of increased capacity for discerning and perceiving minute objects which ordinarily escape visual observation; and (3) the line of increased powers of discriminating and perceiving the subtle and slight differences of form, size, color, and general composition or arrangement of parts, in the objects observed. It should be noted, in passing, that one may train his Visual Perception along any one of these three lines, and attain great efficiency in it, yet with but comparatively little improvement in the other two lines.

As examples of trained Visual Perception along the above mentioned lines, the following instances will serve to illustrate the principle. Houdin, who had developed marvelous powers of Visual Perception, once said: “I can safely assert that a lady seeing another pass at full speed in a carriage will have time to analyze her toilette from her bonnet to her shoes, and be able to describe not only the fashion and quality of the stuffs, but also to say whether the lace be real or only machine-made. I have known ladies to do this.”

Houdin, himself, acquired by practice and self-training the faculty of being able to pass rapidly before a shop window, bestowing but one full glance upon its contents, and then, when out of sight of the window, correctly to call off or write down a complete list of the window’s contents, including even the merest trifles there displayed. Not only this, but he also taught his assistants to perform the same feat as a preparation for respective careers as conjurers.

Celebrated artists have won wagers by painting satisfactory portraits of persons upon whom they had bestowed but a single though comprehensive glance. Noted scholars have acquired by practice the art of reading long sentences, paragraphs, or portions of printed pages at a single glance. In fact, many students are able to read a whole line of a printed column at a glance, after but slight practice. Professor Porter, once president of Yale, is said to have been able to read at a single, quick glance, a quarter and sometimes a half page of an ordinary text book.

Instances of similar proficiency are far from uncommon. Book reviewers frequently are able to catch the spirit of a book, and to obtain a very comprehensive idea of its contents, by rapidly turning its pages and “skimming through it,” stopping only here and there when some particularly attractive passage presents itself. Others frequently handling books acquire a similar proficiency.

Large department stores employ skilled observers to report the special features displayed in the business establishments of their rivals in trade. These observers promenade leisurely through the aisles and corridors of the rival establishments, carefully noting the details of the articles of merchandise there displayed, or the arrangement of the goods, or other points concerning which their employers desire information. They frequently attain wonderful proficiency along these lines; some of them are renowned for their almost photographic powers of Perception. Milliners and celebrated dressmakers are very careful not to subject their advanced styles and models to even the casual inspection of strangers, since these visitors often turn out to be the trained observers employed by others in the same lines of business.

Along the same general lines are the activities of the spies sent out by professional thieves to discover and report the details of the premises which have been selected as the scene of future burglaries. Disguised as beggars, peddlers, telegraph messengers, errand-boys, telephone inspectors, electric-light repairers, etc., these spies gain access to the premises. Once in a house or a room, the spy glances hastily around, carefully noting the location of the doors, windows, locks, receptacles, stairways, etc., from which observations a map is afterward drawn to be used by the professional burglars or sneak-thieves. Military spies often attain wonderful proficiency along these lines; a single glance frequently suffices to give them a comprehensive and detailed idea and mental picture of important military preparations and plans.

Along the second lines of Visual Perception, we find scientists and special workers in certain trades who have attained great efficiency in the direction of perceiving minute objects which escape the perceptive attention of the ordinary persons. Watchmakers possess this faculty; makers of delicate scientific instruments likewise have acquired the faculty of distinguishing minute objects and parts of things. Microscopists by practice develop the power of perceiving very minute objects and their details, where untrained observers gazing through the same lens perceive merely a tiny speck, or minute blur. The magnifying instrument increases the strength of the minute physical impression, but it requires the trained observer’s mental power of Perception to perceive and to “know” that impression made upon his brain tissue.

Along the third lines of Visual Perception, we have many instances of the wonderful efficiency of trained observers who are able to perceive and to discriminate between the subtle and slight differences in the form, size, color and general composition or arrangement of parts, in the objects under observation by them. In fact, specialists in any business, trade, art or profession must acquire proficiency of this kind in order to be successful in their particular line. Bank employees become very expert in handling coin, or banknotes; often they are able to detect counterfeits almost instinctively, so keen have become their powers of Visual Perception (though in this particular case they are often aided by Tactile Perception). Experts in handwriting are able to distinguish between the finest shades of difference in the written words—often being able to discover differences arising from the varying physical condition of the individual as evidenced in his several writings.

Artists, as you well know, are able to distinguish between shades and hues, and combinations of color. They are able to see diversity where the ordinary observer perceives sameness and identity. Subtle distinctions which are imperceptible to the ordinary observer, “stand out” most strikingly to the perceptive faculties of the trained artist or worker in colors. Dyers, and dealers in colored fabrics, as well as many purchasers of those fabrics, are able to distinguish between very minute differences in shades, tints, and hues of color in fabrics. The “color sense” of some trained observers sometimes seem to other persons like an additional sense. Herschel said that the highly trained Visual Perception of the workers upon the mosaics in the Vatican enabled them to distinguish correctly between 30,000 different shades of color.

Expert readers of character, and good judges of human nature, are often able so accurately to distinguish between the different shades of expression manifested by the human features, that they can interpret with a startling degree of correctness the inner feelings or thoughts of the person at that time. Persons having much to do with a number of subordinates in a school, office, workshop, army, etc., often become very efficient in many cases in “sensing” what is in the mind or feelings of those in their charge or under their authority. The skilled school-teacher acquires proficiency in this line; the expert salesman also becomes an adept in this direction.

Women, as a rule, seem by nature to possess this particular phase of this faculty well developed—this probably because their success and happiness in life frequently depends to a great extent upon their ability to sense and to act upon the moods of men; whatever may be the true reason, however, the woman of experience often surprises men by her perception of “what is in the mind” of the men—and of other women! We may like to call this “intuition”—but more often it is merely the result of an unconsciously developed power of accurate Visual Perception along these particular lines: the observer knows what certain expressions mean, even though those manifesting them are seeking to conceal their inner thoughts and feelings.

Auditory Perception. The power of Perception of impressions received through the sense of Hearing is capable of extraordinary improvement by training. This improvement, and the training which produces it, proceed along three general lines, viz., (1) the line of increased capacity for perception of the general distinction between the general properties of sound, namely, the quality, intensity, and the volume or quantity of the sound impressions; (2) the line of the increased capacity for perception of the musical attributes of sound, i. e., the pitch, the tone, the harmony; (3) the line of the increased capacity for perception of the articulateness, distance, and direction of sounds. It should be noted, however, that one may train his Auditory Perception along any one of these three lines, and attain great efficiency in it, yet with comparatively little improvement in the other two lines.

Physiologists and psychologists have made the interesting discovery that in the case of many persons who are supposed to be “slightly deaf,” or “somewhat hard of hearing,” there exists no physical deficiency whatever—the organs and mechanism of hearing are normal in many of such cases. The explanation of this apparent paradox is found in the fact that such persons have failed to develop normally the perceptive powers of that part of the mind which is concerned in Auditory Perception; in short, such persons are deficient in the power of attending to the sounds reaching them through their ears, and in the faculty of interpreting or understanding them—of perceiving them mentally. It is gratifying to be able to state that such cases are usually capable of being cured of their “deafness” under the proper methods of awakening the Attention, and of training the Auditory Perception.

In this connection it is interesting to note the cases of persons who seem to be deficient in hearing ordinary conversation, but who will very quickly and distinctly hear even the slightest whisper of the voices of persons who are discussing the careless hearer, i. e., making “personal remarks” concerning him, or her. Here we have a familiar example of the result of the failure to employ Attention, and the marked improvement when Attention is actually employed. As Harvey said: “That one-half of the deafness that exists is the result of inattention, cannot be doubted.” Some old women who experience much difficulty in hearing ordinary conversation, and complain that they are “hard of hearing,” will be found to be very keen in hearing a bit of whispered gossip, or the low-toned criticisms of themselves on the part of others. Attention follows Interest, in such cases; and Perception follows Attention.

It is generally held that Auditory Perception is more susceptible of education, cultivation and development, and may be more easily and effectively trained than any other form of Perception. You may witness on all sides many convincing illustrative examples of its possibilities in this direction. The blind depend upon this highly developed perceptive faculty to a great extent; they can walk easily through a crowded thoroughfare guided only by the sounds perceived and interpreted by them, but of which the normal individual will not be aware. They can tell when they are passing a stationary object, such as a lamp-post; and frequently they can discriminate between a standing man and a lamp-post by means of the difference in the reverberations of the sound of their own footsteps received through the ear and interpreted by Perception. They readily distinguish between the respective rumbles of the different street-cars, and can inform you to what particular car-line the passing car belongs. We have known cases in which the blind man has been able correctly to inform us of the size and type of a passing automobile. Likewise, blind persons usually can distinguish between an empty room and one in which another person happens to be—all by means of their keen perception of sounds.

The savage, by placing his ear upon the ground, often is able to perceive the approach of men or wild animals, frequently displaying an almost incredible degree of perceptive power in this direction. The director of a large orchestra usually can detect even the slightest failure or mistake in time or tune on the part of one of the many instruments under his direction, and to point unerringly to the guilty performer. Skilled musicians will perceive and shudder at slight inharmonies or similar imperfections occurring during the rendition of some complicated and technical number by a large orchestra, while others are totally unaware of any such occurrence.

There are persons who truthfully may be said never to forget a voice once heard—even though years have elapsed. We have known persons who could pick out the sound of a particular footstep from among many others echoing along the corridor of a large building. It is said that a mother sheep can distinguish the bleat of her own lamb from that of scores of other lambs in the flock. Young animals usually can unerringly recognize the sound of the voice of the mother; it is a poor chick which cannot recognize the “cluck” of its own hen. Human mothers frequently can distinguish the wail of their own particular infants from those of others in the same building. We witnessed a test of this several years ago, in which the blindfolded mothers almost without exception, moved directly toward the right crying infant!

Telegraphers know the difference between the sounds of the respective messages sent by different operators; they can usually name the particular operator, provided that they have had time to become acquainted with his manner of “sending.” Engineers and operatives in a railroad yard can distinguish between the different whistles of a large number of locomotives. Old steamboat men frequently know the whistles of every steamboat on the river; and many boys living on the shores are equally proficient in this respect.

Machinists can detect the slightest difference in the sound proceeding from the machine under their care, and often know the precise point at which trouble exists, and the nature of the disturbance as well—all from the slight difference in the general sound proceeding from the machine. It is a very inattentive man who cannot distinguish between the rings of his own telephone or door bell, and that of his neighbor.

Instances and illustrations of this kind might be multiplied almost indefinitely, but the principle involved is the same in all such cases. This principle is: Auditory Perception is developed by Attention and practice; and Attention is stimulated by Interest or self-interest.

Gustatory Perception. The power of Perception of impressions received through the sense of Taste is capable of extraordinary improvement by training. Unfortunately, however, but few persons consider it worth while to cultivate the sense of Taste scientifically, except the few who make gods of their stomachs, and who live to eat instead of eating to live.

Kay says: “There can be no doubt that if this sense (Taste) were properly trained and directed, instead of being, as it generally is, led astray or perverted by excessive indulgence, it would be a much more reliable guide than it is at present.” Professor G. Wilson says: “We eat what we should not eat; drink what we should not drink; eat too much of what we may eat; and drink too much of what we may drink. And the result is that we ruin our health, enfeeble our bodies, dull our intellects, brutalize our feelings, and harden our hearts.”

Moreover, as some modern physiologists hold, we miss most of our taste-values by not understanding how to extract the taste from our food—thus habituating ourselves to gross eating and gluttony, instead of being true epicures manifesting moderation in eating and drinking but securing the full taste-values and a high form of aesthetic enjoyment. Epicures inform us that there exists a harmony in tastes as well as in colors and in sounds—some tastes modifying, intensifying, or harmonizing with others with which they are associated. Dr. Muller says: “In the art of cooking, attention has at times been paid to the consonance or harmony of flavors in their combination or order of succession; just as in painting and music the fundamental principles of harmony have been employed empirically, while the theoretical laws were unknown.”

Examples of highly developed Gustatory Perception are had in the case of the “tea tasters,” and the “wine tasters” of commerce. The “tea taster” is employed to pass upon the flavor, quality, and value of submitted samples of tea. If experienced, he will be able to inform you as to the technical merits or demerits of the sample, its general grade, the locality of its production, the method of its curing, and also its current market value; all this resulting from the mere passing of the drawn tea over his tongue. The “wine-taster” performs a similar service, in much the same way. In both of the above-cited cases, however, the sense of smell plays a considerable part in the perceptive process.

In certain lines of business in which articles of food are dealt with, there are men who are adepts in “tasting” such articles, and thus determining their quality and value; this faculty is acquired by practice and training—Interest and Attention developing the Perception. Certain chemists, also, possess marked ability in this particular direction. Moreover, certain skilled epicures are said to be able to state correctly just what are the ingredients of any given sauce or dressing, as well as its relative proportions; and also to state correctly the manner in which has been killed the animal whose meat they are eating. Roman epicures were able to tell by the taste whether the fish was caught above or below a certain bridge; and some modern epicures claim to be able to decide by taste on which leg the partridge was accustomed to sleep. Such things, however, are entirely outside the world of the ordinary individual.

Olfactory Perception. The power of Perception of impressions received through the sense of Smell is capable of extraordinary improvement by training. But few modern civilized persons, however, deem it worth while to undertake any such development or training. Smell has grown out of fashion it would seem; some moderns seem even to regard it as an unworthy and animal-like sense—probably because of its lack of cultivation and training in modern times and in civilized communities. The ancients, however, regarded this sense as of high value and importance, and treated it with marked respect. Incense and perfumes played a large part in the lives of the ancients; and even today the Orientals pay much attention to them.

Thoughtful men have regretted the modern relegation of this sense to the background. They point out that mental associations frequently cluster around sensations of Smell far more strongly than around other classes of sensations. There is romance in the recollection of the smell of a favorite perfume, or of a certain flower—a romance which is readily revived by a present-day experience of that same odor. Did you ever read that wonderful poem that begins, “But, Oh! the smell of that jasmine flower?” There is a suggestive power and value to odors, far surpassing those of sights or sounds; they appeal to the emotions most powerfully; their memories persist longer. Many hold that as a valuable source of pleasure and of mental enjoyment the sense of Smell demands far more care and attention than it commonly receives.

The lower animals, and the primitive races of mankind, as well as the blind of our own time and land, have very highly developed senses of Smell—this due to use, habit, and necessity. Some young children also possess the power of effective Olfactory Perception—but disuse serves to eliminate this as they grow older, in most cases. Some psychologists, however, hold that the human race frequently exercises this sense and perceptive power along subconscious lines, and that many of our likes and dislikes are influenced thereby. Certain perfumes are held to be sexual excitants. Perfumers, chemists, and men whose business necessitates the knowledge of the odor and aroma of their wares—as for instance, dealers in certain kinds of food, tobacco, flowers, etc.,—frequently possess a highly developed power of Olfactory Perception. We see here the operation of the same general principle of development, namely, Interest, Attention, and Perception.

Tactile Perception. The power of Perception of the impressions received through the sense of Touch is capable of extraordinary improvement by training. This improvement, and the training which produces it, proceeds along four general lines, viz., (1) the line of increased perception of minute objects or parts of objects; (2) the line of increased perception of certain qualities and conditions of objects, and their details or composition, arrangement, or relation of their parts or attachments; (3) the line of increased perception of temperature; (4) the line of increased perception of conditions of weight, spatial dimensions, etc., by the so-called “muscular-sense.”

Watchmakers and others who constantly handle minute objects, and adjust delicate parts of mechanical contrivances, are found to possess wonderfully developed Tactile Perception. Their sensitive finger-tips become almost like organs of sight so far as is concerned their efficiency in the delicate work in which they are engaged. Likewise the manufacturer and the professional buyer of woolen, silk, or cotton fabrics frequently depends materially upon this highly trained Sense of Touch. Wool-sorters instantly grade the wool passing through their hands; and wool-buyers depend upon the same sense in deciding the value of the materials under examination. The engraver passes his hand lightly over the engraved plate, and is able to detect instantly even the slightest imperfection upon it. Experts in various lines of trade are often paid large salaries by reason of their developed and trained Tactile Perception.

We need scarcely call your attention to the highly developed Sense of Touch of the blind. To witness a trained blind man read rapidly by means of applying his finger-tips to the surface of the raised letters of a book is a revelation; and to witness his manual dexterity in successfully performing technical, delicate work which would be difficult even for a man of keen sight, is almost like witnessing a miracle. As Taine says: “At present we have only rough discrimination as to the tactile sensations; we can hardly distinguish their shades of difference, for want of being compelled to do so. With some blind persons, the sense of touch surpasses all imagination. It is enough to see blind men employ this sense, to comprehend all the discrimination which our touch might have, but has not acquired.”

Persons whose occupations necessitate a quick and ready perception of temperature will be found to have acquired the necessary development of this phase of the Sense of Touch. Cooks discriminate nicely in this matter; and manufacturing chemists, preservers; canners, makers of toilet preparations, and others become very proficient in the art of detecting the fine, nice distinctions and variations of temperature found necessary in their processes of manufacture. Some, indeed, become so expert as justly to be entitled to their title of “human thermometers.” The average housewife is able to gauge with a high degree of correctness the temperature of her oven, or of her cooking dishes, or of her iron. The experienced physician often is able to determine whether a patient has “a temperature” the moment he applies his hand—this being remarkable when it is remembered that the difference so detected is that merely of a few degrees.

That phase of Tactile Perception which is often called the “Muscular Sense,” also is capable of the highest development and training; in fact, instances of such cultivation are to be seen in the case of every skilled artisan. This phase of Tactile Perception employs the muscles, especially the voluntary muscles, as its organs and instruments of impression, by means of which it detects differences in weight, pressure, force, resistance, hardness, softness, spatial dimensions, etc. It is by means of this form of Perception that you become aware of the effort being put forth by the muscles in performing certain movements, and thus may direct and regulate them. Without it all voluntary purposeful muscular movements would be impossible, except in so far as the other senses might supply the deficiency.

Even in the simple act of walking, dressing, using knife and fork or shaving, we have evidences of training of this form of Tactile Perception. In drawing, painting, engraving, and other forms of manual exertion we display a still greater degree of training. When you detect differences of weight or of size by means of the hands, you manifest the same kind of training. The manual dexterity of the pianist, the skill of the rope-walker, the juggler, the conjuror, the acrobat, the skilled touch of the masseur, the Osteopathic or Chiropractic physician, depend upon the training of this phase of Perception. The billiard player depends for his skill upon this training; and so likewise does the expert baseball batter.

The artisan or the tradesman who “takes hold” of an object in order to determine its weight or size, is manifesting the skill which he has gained in the training of this phase of Perception. The blind man employs it to a still greater extent; by means of it he obtains all of his ideas of weight and size. The blind man, wishing to ascertain the size and shape of a table, passes his hand around it; wishing to ascertain its weight, he lifts it. Many of us instinctively “take hold” of an object when we wish to obtain an idea of its weight; and most of us find it much easier to estimate the size, length, breadth, height, or depth of an object by placing our hands upon it, instead of depending solely upon Visual Perception.

Important as is this phase of Tactile Perception which is technically known as the “Muscular Sense,” it is a surprising fact that but few of us have ever realized that it existed, at least until our attention has been directed to it. We have taken it for granted far more than has been the case concerning the other phases of Sensation and Perception.

The consideration of the foregoing instances and examples illustrating the principle of the special development, cultivation, and training of Perception should cause you to realize the wonderful possibilities existing for you in a similar direction.

What others have done, can do, and are now doing—that you also can do.

If you have employed your powers of analysis you will have already perceived the general principles underlying each and every one of these instances of special development, Viz., (1) Interest, or self-interest; (2) Desire, or strong wish to attain; (3) Purposeful Determination, or the Will to attain; (4) Practice, or acquiring the habit; (5) Exercise, or strengthening the habit; (6) Judgment, or the right direction of the application of the new faculty; and (7) Use, or the actual, efficient employment of the faculty for some definite purpose, end, and service.

Observation and Experiment

Observation is “the act or faculty of observing or taking notice with care.” To “observe” is “to notice carefully; to turn the attention to; to regard carefully and attentively for the purpose of discovering, noting, or detecting anything.” Thus, you see, Observation is the act of Attentive Perception, exercised for the purpose of discovering, noting, or detecting the qualities or relations of things. It is Perception attentively directed and applied with a definite purpose—and that purpose is the discovery of facts concerning that which is observed.

In our everyday life, Observation constitutes an important factor of Efficiency. Men must know something about the things connected with their occupations; and this “knowing about” is acquired only by investigation, inquiry, and Observation. In the keen battle which constitutes the struggle for existence in modern business, industrial or professional life, the efficient observer gradually works to the front, and the poor observer is crowded to the rear. There are, of course, other mental factors involved in Success; but, if the faculty of efficient Observation be lacking, the other factors are likely to avail little or nothing. The man striving for Success must begin by cultivating Observation.

The man who “knows” and who “knows how” is in demand in all walks of life. It will always be found that such “knowing” is based upon efficient Observation. Unless one discovers and detects the qualities and relations of things which are involved in his work and life, he will not “know” those things. At the last all that we can “know” about a thing are the facts concerning the qualities and relations of that thing. We discover these Facts only by means of direct or indirect Observation. Observation is the basis of all scientific knowledge; of all practical business knowledge; or all practical knowledge of any kind. Observation is a fundamental requisite for success in all lines of human endeavor, and of all individual culture.

One may obtain much important theoretical information from text-books, but such information is actually valuable only when it is added to, or corroborated by individual Observation. The real use of text-books is that of pointing out to one the direction in which he should apply his powers of Observation. The ideal plan is to establish a harmonious combination between books and personal Observation; but too many omit the latter element of the combination, and thus they become “bookish”—theoretical instead of practical—and are sooner or later pushed aside in the battle of life by the individuals who have supplemented their book knowledge with that gained at first hand by Observation. In this connection, moreover, it must not be forgotten that books in so far as they are practical and useful, are themselves the result of the Observation of their authors, or of the authorities accepted by the latter.

The entire structure of our scientific and technical knowledge has been evolved slowly from the discoveries made by Observation. Qualities and relations of individual objects are first observed; then comparison results in classifications of those objects, according to their degrees of likeness and unlikeness; then general classes and general principles are formulated, and hypotheses are advanced; then experimental Observation demonstrates clearly the truth or fallacy of those hypotheses, and, finally, general laws are established. But the entire structure of knowledge rests upon the solid basis of Observation; unless every part of it stands the test of Observation the strength of the whole edifice is doubtful, and its security is questionable.

Observation is concerned with “facts.” Facts are discovered only by Observation. Facts constitute the materials for practical knowledge. The practical individual is he who bases his knowledge upon actual Observation and upon logical induction and deduction from premises thus supplied. Not only is the “know” of the practical man derived from Observation, but his “know how” also comes from the same source. Books are employed by such a man not as fetiches to be bowed down to and worshipped, but rather as valuable servants and assistants to him in his work of Observation. To the practical man the ordinary books do not constitute the text of his Book of Knowledge—they are to him merely the footnotes of that great volume.

Eminent educators are sounding a warning note concerning the tendency to supplant Observation by mere books. They insist that unless this tendency be counteracted Observation will become a lost art, and practical knowledge merely tradition. They point out that whatever one learns by direct Observation is far better learned than what one learns (or thinks that he learns) from books or the reports of others. They advance the theory that the child should not be taught from books anything which it can observe for itself—until after it has employed fully its power of direct Observation in the direction of that thing; books, say they, should be regarded as supplementary to Observation.

Educational experts have reported a sad deficiency among school-children in the matter of the correct Observation of familiar objects. For instance: pupils usually are unable to distinguish between marble and granite; or between an oak tree and a beech tree; between cast iron and wrought iron; between iron and steel. Even farmers’ children usually are unable to state correctly whether the ears of the cow are in front of her horns or behind them, over them or under them; whether cats descend trees head first or hind feet first; whether horses and cows rise with their fore or hind feet first, and whether horses and cows differ from each other in this respect. Other children are unable to state correctly how many legs has a fly, and how many a spider; whether the fourth hour on the watch-dial is designated by the Roman numerals IV or IIII; and other presumably familiar facts.

As an ideal example of careful and effective Observation, we ask you to consider the following statement of Maupassant in which he relates how Flaubert laid down to him the fundamental rules of literary descriptive expression. Maupassant says that Flaubert told him: “Talent is nothing but long patience! Go to work! Everything which one desires to express must be looked at with sufficient attention, and during a sufficiently long time, to discover in it some aspect which no one has yet seen or described. In everything there is still some spot unexplored, because we are accustomed only to use our eyes with the recollection of what others before us have taught on the subject which we contemplate. The smallest object contains something unknown. Find it! To describe a fire that flames, and a tree on a plain, look, keep looking, at that flame and that tree until in your eyes they have lost all resemblance to any other tree or any other fire. That is the way to be original.”

Maupassant adds the following comment: “Having, besides, laid down this truth, that there are not in the whole world two grains of sand, two specks, two hands, or two noses exactly alike, Flaubert compelled me to describe in a few phrases a being or an object in such a manner as clearly to particularize it, and to distinguish it from all other beings or all other objects of the same race or the same species. He said to me: ‘When you pass a grocer seated at his shop door, a janitor smoking his pipe, a stand of hackney coaches, show me that grocer and that janitor—their attitude, their whole physical appearance— embracing, likewise, as indicated by the skillfulness of the picture, their whole moral nature; so that I cannot confound them with any other grocer, or any other janitor. Make me see, in one word, that a certain cab horse does not resemble the fifty others that follow or precede it’.”

George Randolph Chester, the popular story-writer, gives to those who seek to become writers the following advice concerning the important part played by Observation in the work of the writer:

“Observation is the faculty upon which both creation and imagination are built. After all, we have finite minds, and man only creates after known forms; he only imagines upon material foundations. Our most brilliant castles in the air are but more delicate variants of familiar structures of brick and stone; the most expert builders of air-castles, then, are those who have most closely observed and mentally indexed to minutest detail our mundane castles. There is no end of information, scarcely obtainable from reference-books, which the observing mind will and must acquire. What trees are indigenous to certain localities, and what are their characteristics of sprouting their leaves and developing and shedding them; of blossoming and budding and bearing fruit.

“Have you noticed how the white undersides of leaves, while fluttering up in a breeze, give quite a different shade of green to a tree? Have you observed the differing apparent color of still or running water at differing times of the day, at differing times of the year, under differing atmospheric conditions? How many common insects can you recall and describe? What effect has a frown upon the other features of man’s countenance? How many sorts of sunsets, as infinite in their variety as the shapes of clouds, can you at this moment mentally catalogue and briefly describe? Have you ever noticed the peculiar heave of the body given by a man straightening up under a hod of brick, or the unconscious rhythmic pauses, for rest of the muscles, indulged in by a man mixing mortar? * * * The importance of this faculty can scarcely be overestimated, as you will discover to your later humiliation if you set down details without knowing them to be entirely accurate.”

The Three Factors of Efficient Observation.

Your attention is now called to the Three Factors of Efficient Observation, i. e., the three elemental and fundamental elements of Efficient Observation.

I. Attention. It is scarcely necessary to do more than merely to call your attention to the fact that Attention is the first requisite of Purposeful Observation. Attention being the key to Perception, and Perception being the basis of Observation, it follows that Attention is the prime factor of Efficient Observation. Your Observation becomes effective in the degree in which your Attention is directed to the task—the degree in which you consciously and voluntarily “attend to” it.

A subsequent section of this book is devoted to the special consideration of the subject of Attention.

II. Interest. Attention proceeds along the lines of Interest. The greater Interest an object or a subject possesses for you, the greater degree of Attention do you direct toward it.

You will perceive this fact more fully in your consideration of the subject of Attention in a subsequent section of this book.

In this connection it should be noted that Interest may be awakened, stimulated, and continued by Attention intelligently applied under the Rules of Attention which we shall present for your consideration in that section of this book in which the subject of Attention is considered in detail.

III. Discrimination. One may cultivate Observation “on general principles” by directing it to all objects, without regard to their importance, essentiality, or special purpose. But such Observation will not be Efficient Observation. Efficient Observation requires discrimination along the lines of Purpose. Efficient Observation is Purposive Observation. Purposive Observation is Observation directed toward the discovery and detection of facts which will be “useful” to you in the general or special fields with which are concerned your work, your recreation, your studies, your culture.

If you proceed upon the principle that any and all kinds of Observation—the Observation of all manners, sorts and kinds of things—is Efficient Observation, you will have failed to catch the spirit of this instruction. If you had all Eternity in which to observe, and in which to accomplish an Infinity of Creative Work, then this indiscriminate Observation might serve your purposes and thus be advisable. But, inasmuch as you have only a limited time in which to observe, and a limited number of tasks possible of attainment by you in this life, then it behooves you to exercise an intelligent discrimination concerning the general or special classes of objects or subjects toward which you are to exercise Efficient Observation.

To “observe on general principles” is as impracticable and inefficient as to “think on general principles”—in either case you will “get nowhere,” as the current idiom so forcibly expresses it. In such cases you will be so occupied in observing or thinking about the nonessentials that you will have no time left in which to observe or think about the essential, necessary, efficient things in your particular field of activity. You will be like the squirrel in his wheel, continually traveling but never arriving anywhere—you will simply be wasting your time and energy. Your Efficient Observation, then, must have a definite purpose, and must proceed in a definite direction. It must be concerned with the lines of activity which represents your chief purposes in life—and it must be kept within at least the general limits of such purposes.

This Purposive Observation may proceed along two general lines, viz., (1) Simple Observation, i. e., the observation of the qualities of the objects brought into Attention by reason of their presence in or association with your general or special lines of work or study—to the end that you discover and detect so far as is possible their general character and nature, i. e., the “whatness” of them; (2) Experimental Observation, i. e., the observation of the aforesaid classes of things along the lines of trial, experiment, or test directed to the discovery and detection of their “workability” in certain directions—the way in which they will work or “work out” under certain applied conditions; in the latter form of Observation the assistance of Constructive Imagination is required.

In Simple Observation you merely discover or detect certain qualities or circumstances concerned with the object under observation; in Experimental Observation you proceed to change or vary the circumstance, that you may perceive the “working out” of those qualities under different relations. In Simple Observation you simply “watch” natural phenomena; in Experimental Observation you “set Nature to work” in order to make further discoveries or to detect the results arising from new conditions. Thus: man for centuries observed the phenomena concerned with thunderstorms, and learned some very important facts concerning them; later, Franklin, by means of his kite and key, applied the method of Experimental Observation to the same phenomena, and discovered the identity of their causing power with the better known forms of electricity. Simple Observation is employed in the initial stages of science, art and handiwork. Experimental Observation marks their more advanced stages, when the knowledge gained by the simpler phase has greatly progressed and has been subjected to the tests of experiment and trial in many cases and under varying circumstances.

In Simple Observation you observe what exists and what happens without your active interference; in Experimental Observation you interfere with things, and then watch the result. Experimental Observation, therefore, is Simple Observation plus your deliberate interference with, and regulation of, the active processes of the observed object. Thus: you observe certain actions of a young dog, and make certain discoveries concerning them; then you proceed by experiment to test the dog’s actions under changed conditions and relations with other things, and from the results thus obtained you make additional discoveries which give you a fuller understanding of the actions originally observed.

Experimental Observation is a “short cut” in Observation. If you had all Eternity in which to observe, and could perceive every natural happening anywhere in the universe, then you would not require Experimental Observation; in such case Nature would sooner or later present to your Simple Observation the entire materials for a complete knowledge concerning all of her processes. But inasmuch as your time and powers of perception are limited, you proceed to take the “short cut” of experiment, and thus anticipate many of Nature’s future and distant revelations and bring to the present time and place the actual events and happenings. Thus, man has discovered by scientific experiment and reasoning many things which would have required innumerable years for him to have discovered by Simple Observation. The animal and the primitive man employ Simple Observation alone; reasoning man has enormously increased his effective power by applying, it under the forms and methods of test, trial, and scientific experiment.

The following general Rules of Observation apply more particularly to Simple Observation along the general lines of Perception:

Rules of Observation

I. Concentration. Employ Concentrated Attention when you are deliberately observing an object. The clearness of your Perception and the strength of its impressions upon your Memory depend materially upon the degree of Concentration which you apply in the observation. (See final section of this book for special instruction concerning Concentration.)

II. Interest. Throw as much Interest as possible into every act of deliberate Observation. Interest brings forth the full power of Attention, and Attention is the working power by means of which effective Observation is accomplished. The greater the degree of Interest, the easier becomes the application of Concentrated Attention—and its continuance.

III. The Whole and the Parts. Observe the Whole Thing before you observe its constituent parts. See the observed thing as a whole, i. e., in its general outlines, in its main characteristics, in its appearance as a whole thing, before you proceed to observe its constituent parts, its details, its minor characteristics. Get your main facts, and your general outlines, well fixed in mind and memory; this done, proceed to add your subordinate parts and to fill in your details. Study first the tree as that whole thing called “a tree,” until you understand clearly its main characteristics and general outlines; then proceed to a study of its roots, its trunk, its limb, its branches, its leaves, its blossoms and its fruit; then proceed to the study of its soil, its normal environment, etc. Observe the tree and its parts in logical sequence and classification—in this way your reasoning powers will be able to take hold of it more effectively, and your memory of it will be much clearer. Lay a sound foundation, and build from the ground upwards. An important psychological principle is involved in this rule—you will do well to make a careful note of it.

IV. Reviewing Observations. In observing an object subsequently to your original observation of it, review in your memory your previously observed facts concerning that object; and then add to these your additional discoveries and detected facts. In this way you combine the two sets of perceived facts in your memory, so that when you think of the one you will also remember the other; you also will thus associate logically the two respective sets of discovered facts, and by so doing will be able to reason far more effectively concerning the entire subject or object of your Observation. You will also do well frequently to revive in memory the results of your observations of the object or subject, even though you are not conducting a fresh observation; this for reasons similar to those just mentioned.

V. Combined Observation. In observing an object, employ as many channels of sense-impression as possible. Discover not only how the thing looks, but also (when possible and expedient) how it sounds, tastes, smells, and how it feels to the touch and the “muscular sense.” This not only because the Memory obtains a clearer impression when the reports concerning a thing reach it through several channels, but also because it is probable that certain forms of your sense-perception are more effective than are the others; in such case, by this method the weak perceptive-impression of the one sense is reinforced and supported by the strong report from the other sense or senses.

VI. Visualized Observations. Wherever possible, you should endeavor to visualize, or create a mental picture of the object as you have observed it. The better and clearer, the deeper and the stronger, the mental picture of the observed thing you are able to create, the clearer will be your “idea” concerning it, and the better will you remember the results of your observation. You will do well frequently to recall this picture in recollection. If you are unable to see and remember it clearly, you should remedy the deficiency when you again observe it—continue this until you can mentally picture and remember it in complete detail, or nearly so. By following this plan you will both “know” and remember the observed thing, as a whole and in detail, far better than otherwise.

VII. Naming Observations. Wherever possible, you should endeavor to learn and remember the name of each of the qualities, parts, elements, factors or general and special characteristics of the observed thing. That is to say, just as in the preceding rule you have been advised to visualize or “see” the observed thing, as a whole and in its parts, so you are now advised to learn the “name” of such whole and parts. The ancient philosophers (particularly the Oriental teachers) had much to say concerning “name and form”: they have implied that in the knowledge of “name and form” consists all possible knowledge of a phenomenal thing. Be this as it may, it is a fact that the better you know the “name and form” of an observed object and its parts, the better do you practically and effectively “know” the same—and the better do you remember it. Your perceptions of the “names and forms” of things are the bricks with which are built up the greater part of your structure of knowledge; add to this your perceptions of “how the things act,” and there is very little missing in the full conception. Words serve to crystallize thoughts.

You will do well to write down the “names” above referred to, when you are conducting a deliberate and earnest observation of anything. Put down on paper the facts which you have discovered and detected in your observation, whenever such is possible and expedient. Review this list frequently— particularly before each new observation of the thing. It is not necessary to go into a technical explanation concerning this principle; enough to know that it is scientifically sound— and, above all, that it “works out.” If, however, you insist upon some sort of an explanation, here is one: Just as words are crystallized observations, so are written or printed words the “hard crystals” of Observation—unwritten words too often are like the crystals of snow or ice which melt away by reason of a slight change of the emotional temperature. While this is not an academic, technical definition, it is at least an efficient pragmatic explanation—it will “work out” in actual practice.

The General Rule. A general rule concerning deliberate and Purposeful Observation is this: What is worth deliberately observing, is worth observing thoroughly; what is worth observing thoroughly, is worth observing as completely as may be. If you wish to “know” a thing thoroughly and completely, because of its importance to you as an item of knowledge, you must proceed as does the child sucking a sweet orange—you must extract every drop of sweetness in it. Or, you must be as a weasel sucking an egg—you must suck it dry. Just as the egg is full of meat, or the orange full of sweet juice, so is every “worth while” object full of facts—and it is your business to extract those facts from it.

You must attack the observed object from all angles, all sides—not forgetting that “everything has two sides: the outside and the inside.” You must go to its centre; and extend your observation to its full circumference. “Worth while” knowledge is the knowledge of facts. Every “worth while” object or subject is full of facts. These facts may be extracted by Observation conducted under the principles of scientific analysis, dissection and separation. You, yourself, have all the elements of an efficient observer within you—it is for you to decide, however, whether you wish to express them. We can merely point out the principles to you—you must do the rest.

Concluding our consideration of the general subject of Observation, we ask you carefully and earnestly to consider the following true incident in the life of an eminent scientist. The story embodies in it most, if, indeed, not all of the essential elements of Efficient Perception and Purposive Observation. If you will grasp the spirit of the story, then will you realize just what Observation actually is, in its full meaning. When you comprehend the lesson of this true story, then will you understand the Art and Science of Observation. We advise you to fix well in your memory the essential features of this remarkable story, true as it is in every detail and in its sequel. Here follows the story:

How Agassiz Taught Observation

Louis Agassiz was one of the world’s greatest naturalists. Moreover, he was renowned as a teacher of his special branch of science. His pupils were noted for their keen powers of Perception, scientific analysis and synthesis. He could lecture on the subject of an animal of apparently no interest whatsoever, and his audience would listen as if to an entrancing story—this because he knew the really interesting facts about the apparently uninteresting creature, and could make others perceive them. He taught his students to know the facts of animal-life so well that they frequently were able to reconstruct the picture of an animal from being shown merely a few of its unimportant bones. His advice to his students was: “See, Observe, Remember; Interest is the key to these three doors of Knowledge.”

One day there arrived at Agassiz’s laboratory a pupil from a distance; he had traveled far to learn the science of zoology at the school of the master. The great teacher, instead of directing him to study certain textbooks, simply made him take a chair. Placing before the seated student a fish taken from its jar of alcohol, Agassiz told him to observe the creature carefully, noting down on paper every fact he could discover from an examination of its body, without cutting it open or using any instruments. He then excused himself, telling the student to continue at his task until his return.

The student was a little piqued at the simplicity of the task. He felt that he knew all about a fish’s body, but he cursorily examined the specimen more as a matter of politeness and of duty than from any belief in the value of the task or its result. He examined the fish for about fifteen minutes, noting down carefully the few things he perceived concerning its shape, size, conformation, color, etc. Then he waited somewhat impatiently for the teacher’s return; but the teacher failed to come back to him. He asked the assistants to find the professor; but they reported that he had seemingly dropped out of sight. However, they advised the student to await his return, and to continue the task while doing so.

The student was disgusted, to state it mildly. He looked at that fish from nose to tail; he turned it over and looked at the under side of it. He discovered a few additional facts—but very few. He felt that there was no one—even the great teacher— who could discover anything more about that fish. He began to think that he had made a mistake in coming to that particular teacher—the man must be silly to set him at such a task, and then to go away and forget him. He went out for lunch; when he returned, the teacher was still away. The assistants told him that the professor had returned during his absence, and had left word for the young man to continue the task set him. Then he became more than disgusted—he was filled with impotent rage.

In his anger he took another look at that despised fish. He grew tired of the monotonous gazing at the creature; and in desperation he began to classify and count its scales. This over with, he drew a picture of the fish in order to pass the time. In making the drawing, he discovered that the fish had no eyelids. (Agassiz afterward told him that “a pencil is the best of eyes.”) Continuing with the sketch, he made a number of similar discoveries, and finally began to work up a little interest in the task. He forgot his former weariness and disgust, and the returning teacher found him deeply engrossed in his discoveries concerning the fish. But Agassiz said: “You have missed nearly all the interesting points; keep on observing.” The young man felt a bit disappointed, for he had expected to be commended; but he kept on, and was reluctant to leave when called a hour or so later. His interest had begun to awaken; his Attention followed Interest; and he had begun to manifest Purposive Observation with Concentrated Attention.

That evening, in his room, the pupil began to think about that fish; he recalled the many facts he had discovered about it, and he began to see where other facts might be sought and found. He became impatient at the slow passage of the time—he longed to be at his work. He had begun to extract facts from that fish, and his intellectual appetite had been sharpened by his success. Attention had awakened Interest; and Interest has resulted in further and closer Attention. He had discovered the endless chain of Attention-Interest-Attention-Interest-Attention, and so on and on and on.

The next day, and for several days thereafter, that student eagerly worked over the same fish. He drew pictures of everything he discovered; and he sought for and wrote down the names of the detected qualities and relations. He had recognized the value of “name and form” as a working-principle of Observation. Aided merely by an occasional general suggestion from the teacher, the young man persisted until he knew practically everything there was to be known about the external facts concerning its habits, etc. When he was finally relieved from his task, it was said that he knew more about that particular kind of fish (from the outside) than any living man except Agassiz himself—a tribute well worth while, his fellow students thought.

The student, himself, afterward developed into an eminent scientist, and carried into his own work and instruction the fundamental principles which Agassiz had imparted to him in that lesson upon the fish, trifling and tiresome as the task had at first appeared to be. In after years, when he had won renown and fame on his own account, this one-time student said in a public address, after telling the tale: “That was the best zoological lesson I ever had,—a lesson whose influence has extended to the details of every subsequent study; a legacy that Agassiz has left to me, as he left it to many others, of inestimable value, which we could not buy, with which we cannot part.”

We are not asking you to emulate this student—you probably have different needs and other aims in life. But we do ask you to try to “catch the spirit” of the teacher, which he successfully passed on to this pupil. Once you have grasped the spirit of the idea, the details will unfold themselves.

Cultivating Observation

In addition to the general rules concerning Observation which we have presented for your consideration—and in addition to that illuminating story of the pupil of Agassiz— we wish to direct your attention to several special exercises designed for the cultivation of the several particular forms of Observation concerned with the five respective phases of sense-perception. These exercises, however, are not presented as “cut and dried” methods, but rather are given as suggestive illustrations of certain effective forms of exercise and training along the special lines indicated.

Sight Observation. Exercises for the cultivation and training of Perception and Observation through the channels of the Sense of Sight fall into two general classes, viz., (1) exercises for training Sight Observation along the lines of rapid perception; and (2) exercises for training Sight Observation along the lines of full and comprehensive perception. It will be well for you to train your powers of Sight Observation along both of these lines; the ideal, of course, being that of comprehensive perception performed as rapidly as is consistent with efficiency.

In exercises and methods along the lines of Rapid Visual Perception the main purpose is to develop the power of seeing clearly as many things or details as possible in one rapid though comprehensive glance. It is astonishing how greatly this power may be increased by deliberate exercise and practice. We have pointed out to you that young thieves are trained in this way by the master criminals. They are trained gradually, proceeding from simple tasks to more complex ones; the teachers proceeding according to strict scientific principles which they have learned by experience. While deploring the evil uses to which such principles have been prostituted in such cases, we must admit their efficiency. The plan is as follows: A few small articles are shown to the student, and he is allowed to give to them but a single swift glance, endeavoring to note as many points as possible. At first, he is able to observe few objects and still fewer details; but from day to day he increases his capacity, until in a comparatively short time he is able to display almost incredible proficiency.

Houdin’s method of passing rapidly before a shop-window, observing as many objects or details as possible in a single glance, also serves as the basis of many exercises along this line. This exercise may be varied by rapidly noting the details of the dress of a passing person—women usually have already developed marked proficiency in this direction.

Interesting games have been invented for the purpose of developing this particular form of Perception. One of them is performed as follows: Place a number of small objects on a table, under a cloth; remove the cloth for a moment, and let the participants take a single glance at the objects, then replace the cloth. The participants must then each write down what they have observed. At first, they will be found to have observed very little; but after a little practice they will surprise themselves and the observers by their rapidly developing proficiency.

In Italy, the little boys play a game called “Morro,” in which the same general principles are employed. One boy exhibits a closed fist, from which he suddenly extends one or more fingers; the other boy must state instantly the exact number of extended fingers, the penalty for failure being a sharp blow. This sounds as if the task were simple—we suggest that you play the game several times before passing final judgment.

In other countries a similar game is played by the children, the principles of which are as follows: The first child places a number of dried peas or beans in his hand; the closed hand is held before the other child, and then suddenly opened; the observing child must name exactly, and without a moment’s hesitation, the number of objects in the hand—the penalty being a sharp slap on the cheek. Games of this kind develop marked powers of rapid sight-perception on the part of the gamins playing them, which powers are often of benefit or service to them in the later years.

Kipling gives an interesting and instructive illustration of a similar game in his story entitled “Kim.” The boy, Kim, and a native boy, are being trained by a master-hand for the Indian Secret Service. Old Lurgan Sahib, the instructor, places fifteen jewels on a tray, and bids the two boys to take a rapid but careful glance at them—the tray then being withdrawn.

Kim, a novice, reports that he has seen on the tray five blue stones, one big, one smaller, and three quite small. He says that there were four green stones, and one with a hole in it; also one yellow stone that he could see through, and one stone like a pipe-stem; also two red stones, and one ivory object, little and brownish—this is as far as Kim can go.

The native child, who has received some previous training along the same lines, reports that on the tray he has perceived, first, two flawed sapphires, one of two ruttees and one of four, as he should judge; the four ruttee sapphire is chipped at the edge; he saw also one Turkestan turquoise, plain with green veins; also two other stones inscribed, one with “the name of God” in gilt, the other (which had come from an old ring) being cracked across so that the inscription could not be read. He saw also five blue stones; four flamed emeralds, one drilled in two places, and one a little carven—their weights being three, five, and four ruttees, respectively, so far as he could judge. He also saw one piece of greenish amber, and a cheap cut topaz from Europe; one ruby of Burma, of two ruttees, and without a flaw; and one ballas ruby, flawed, weighing two ruttees; also a carved ivory from China, representing a rat sucking an egg; and, finally, a ball of crystal as big as a bean, set in gold leaf.

Old Lurgan Sahib, comforting the chagrined Kim, tells him that “the secret consists in doing it many times over, till it is done perfectly, for it is worth doing.” In this game there is material for an almost unlimited variety, and consequently of an almost unlimited interest—the latter being an important element of such game-exercises.

Another game-exercise along the same general lines is that in which the participants are seated before a screen or curtain. The person behind the curtain (or screen) tosses up an object which, of course, is seen only for a moment by those in front; the latter write down a statement of what they have seen, the one having the best total average winning the game. In case of skilled players, several objects may be tossed up at one time.

Another game is that in which the observer is asked to name correctly the total number of spots on a domino displayed for a moment; then of two dominoes, and then of a greater number as the skill of the players increases. Similarly, the observer may be asked to name correctly the color, suit and number of spots on a playing card shown him for a moment; the number of cards then being added to. Likewise, the observer may be asked to name as many words as possible of a printed page presented to his view for a moment.

The principle in all such formal methods of exercise or game-exercises in Rapid Sight Observation, is the same, viz., that of observing rapidly and comprehensively an object or number of objects presented to the view for a brief period of inspection. Skill is attained only by practice and experiment. A surprising degree of skill and efficiency in this direction results from even a moderate amount of practice and exercise. As we have said, the element of Interest should be introduced into the exercises so far as is possible, for it is the keystone of the arch of Observation.

Exercises and methods designed for the cultivation and training of the power of Comprehensive Sight Observation proceed along the same general lines indicated in the preceding pages, i. e., along the lines of practice and exercise of the perceptive faculty involved, proceeding from the simple to the complex, from the easy to the more difficult feats. In this class of exercises, however, the element of time—of rapidity of perception—is not the dominant one; the element of comprehensiveness, completeness, and inclusiveness is the important one. The idea here is not “how rapidly,” but “how thoroughly” one perceives and observes. The following typical exercises will illustrate the general principle involved in all methods of this class.

Go into a room in which there are no other persons present, taking your time for the observation. Note the details of the room and its furnishings, writing down on paper that which you observe. Take note of the approximate size of the room, its shape, the location of the windows and doors, the alcoves (if any); then note the details of the papering, the color of the wood of the doors, window-frame, and panel; note the furniture and pictures, the carpets or rugs, and similar items of furnishings or decoration. In short, note anything and everything concerning the room and its contents. A day or so later, repeat the process; you will find that many little things have been omitted from your first list. Remember the experience of Agassiz’s pupil— your’s will be similar.

Or, following the same general plan, carefully observe some small object—again bearing in mind the pupil of Agassiz and his method. Some time after, repeat the process and discover how many points you missed the first time. Or, in the same way, take a short walk, mentally noting the buildings, details of paving, and the thousand-and-one things which you perceive when your attention is directed toward them. In all probability you will discover that you have really known very little about the house in which you live. Try to draw a rough picture of it, including the location and shape of its doors and windows, its rooms, its cornice, its steps, its porch, its chimneys—you will be surprised to discover how little you had previously observed conserving the house, though you may have lived in it for many years. Or, again, walk through a park or bit of woods, noting the different kinds of trees and plants coming under your interested observation. In all of these exercises you will do well to use the pencil for writing down names, and for drawing outlines, maps, etc.,—the pencil is a wonderful aid to Perception.

Refer to the previously mentioned statement of Maupassant, in which he tells how Flaubert instructed him in the art of observing persons and things; note his statement that there are no two things exactly alike—each thing is a little different. Then try to discover by observation those particular distinguishing points of difference. Note also Chester’s advice to would-be writers—in it the same principle is emphasized. Another writer has said that “every individual may be described in a single paragraph.” Try to so observe that you may write that paragraph concerning the person under observation! Start a “paragraph record” of your friends and acquaintances. It will be extremely interesting, and very instructive. We might fill page after page with exercises and methods of practicing this form of Perception and Observation through the Sense of Sight, but the general principle involved in each would be the same; we have sought to impress this principle upon you in the foregoing statements and typical exercises.

In practicing the above suggested exercises, or any of your own along the same lines, you must not lose sight of the general Rules of Observation stated in the preceding section of this book; these rules apply in all cases coming under your observation. Above all, remember the tale of the pupil of Agassiz:

Hearing Observation. In developing and training Perception and Observation through the channels of the Sense of Hearing, the general principles of Sight Observation should be observed—the only difference being that instead of “seeing” things attentively you “hear” them in that way.

Listen to what is going on around you, when you wish to exercise and practice in this way. There are plenty of things to hear, if you will turn your Attention to them. Refer to the previous section of this book in which we have called your attention to the efficient auditory-perception of persons in different occupations requiring the same—this will give you a clearer idea of the character of the tasks you should set yourself in this work. You will not suffer from lack of material for your exercises, never fear. You will learn something by closing your eyes and trying to locate and “know” things through the attentive Sense of Hearing.

Study the voices of persons, noting their accent, tones, and personal characteristics. You may learn readily to determine the nationality of different speakers, and even to tell from what particular part or section of your own country they have come. Study the sounds of the footsteps of different persons; you will soon discover that there is “character” in footsteps, as well as mere physical habit. When you attend concerts and musical recitals, practice listening to one particular instrument, shutting from your Attention all the other instruments. In short, if you wish to cultivate and train your powers of Hearing Observation begin to take an interest in sounds, tones, voices and other forms of impressions concerned with the Sense of Hearing: this will set into operation the Attention, which in turn will awaken new Interest, and so on. Interest is the first step, and probably the most important one.

Tasting and Smelling Observation. We do not think it necessary to go into details concerning the cultivation and training of the power of Taste or Smell Perception and Observation. The general principles previously mentioned apply equally in the present case. Interest, Attention, Use, Practice, and Exercise—the employment of these will bring the desired end and result. An interesting experiment in Taste Perception is that in which, while a bottle of perfume is held under his nose, a blindfolded person is asked to distinguish between the taste of several familiar foods placed in his mouth; the distraction of his Sense of Smell from the food will be found to affect materially the clearness of his Taste Perception. Testing the Sense of Smell when the person is blindfolded will also show how poorly that sense is developed in most persons; and at the same time will furnish an excellent method of developing and training that particular sense-perception. Blindfold an habitual smoker who is a good judge of tobacco, and also place cotton-batting in his nostrils; then let him try to report the quality of the tobacco he is smoking, by taste alone. The result in most cases is surprising.

Touch Perception and Observation should proceed along all of the several lines mentioned in our previous consideration of the Sense of Touch. You should learn effectively to distinguish between the different perceptions in the following classes, viz., (1) the perception of minute objects or parts of objects; (2) the perception of the details of composition, arrangement, or relations of the parts of objects, including the qualities of hardness, softness, roughness, smoothness, etc., and (3) the perception of differences in temperature.

In this connection, practice and exercise directed toward the cultivation and training of the “Muscular Sense” is important and interesting. Such exercises and training may proceed along the lines of developing the perception of weight, size, pressure, resistance, form shape, etc., and as well in the development of skill in using tools, instruments and similar appliances. Manual training in all of its forms is valuable training, not only in itself and for its immediate results, but also by reason of the fact that it tends to develop and train certain very important brain-areas, and thus to render one more generally efficient along many lines of mental work and activity.

Expectant Attention. Your consideration of the subject of the training and cultivation of Efficient Perception and Observation will be incomplete if you fail to note the part Expectant Attention plays in the process of Perception. Let us illustrate Expectant Attention as follows: You have read the preceding page; did you notice whether the letter “m” occurred frequently or seldom in its lines? Did that letter appear there at all? You cannot answer these questions without referring to the page itself—you were not “looking for” “m’s,” and so cannot with certainty say anything concerning the appearance of that letter on that particular page. Now then, glance over the page, with the letter “m” in mind, and note how this letter literally “stands out” in each line. Why? Because you are “looking for it” this time—your Expectant Attention has been directed toward it.

The above illustrates the principle of Expectant Attention, i. e., that “we see that for which we look,” and which “is in our mind.” The moral is: “Keep in mind that which you are ‘looking for’.” This is the mental preparation for the perceptive task—and should be noted and applied in every deliberate act of Attention and Perception, as well as in all manifestation of Observation.

As Kay says: “The mind, as well as the eye, perceives only that which it possesses the power to perceive.” You daily fail to perceive many things simply because you have not prepared your mind to “look for them,” and to recognize them when they are found. In such cases, you are really “absent minded” so far as those unperceived things are concerned. You will do well to fix this fact in your memory and understanding—it is an important one.

The Science of Apperception

In our foregoing consideration of the subject of Perception we have confined ourselves to that general phase of the subject which is concerned chiefly with the perception of the qualities, properties and attributes of the objects under consideration. That phase of the subject comprises practically all that is usually included in the category of Perception.

But of late years psychologists have been inclined to include also in that category a form of apprehension and cognition which is concerned with the discovery of the relations and associations of the observed things. Although some would hold that such mental processes more properly belong to the category of Reflection than to that of Perception, the tide of psychological opinion seems to be running in the direction of the latter-day classification just mentioned. This additional phase of Perception is known as Apperception.

Apperception is defined as: “Perception called forth by the relations existing between the external object and other objects already known.” Another definition is: “Perception arising from the likeness or association of the observed object with other objects previously perceived and known.” A third definition is: “Apperception is the discernment of the relations and associations between a newly perceived thing and one previously perceived; it is the blending of perception and association.”

Perhaps the following illustrative story will convey the idea better than do the formal definitions. A boy, concealed in a tree, watches the passers-by. One passer-by, noticing the tree, remarks to a friend: “What a fine stick of timber!” The boy says to himself: “Good morning, Mr. Lumberman!” The next passer-by says: “Mighty good bark on that tree!” The boy mutters: “Good morning, Mr. Tanner!” The third man says: “I’ll bet there’s a squirrel’s nest in that tree!” The boy whispers: “Good morning, Mr. Hunter!” In the above story, each passer-by perceives the same general external aspect of the tree; but in addition, each apperceives those certain related or associated elements possessed by the tree which particularly concerns him because of his interest or interests. Each apperceives the tree according to the relations and association arising from his own most interesting experiences. And finally, the boy is seen to have apperceived the tree in its qualities as a hiding-place, according to his own previous experience and their related associations.

In the broad sense, for that matter, all the higher acts of Perception are really also acts of Apperception. This because each higher perceptive act or process involves memory, association, thought and imagination, as well as Simple Perception. Apperception blends into Reasoning and Logical Thought so closely that it is often difficult to distinguish between the two respective processes. Moreover, your perceptions are nearly always more or less colored by your apperceptions. You see things in their relations to and associations with your previous experience, rather than as they really are apart from the latter. You build associative links to things, and thereafter find it difficult to detach the latter from their relations and associated things. Apperception often tends to cause you to entertain preconceived ideas and prejudices for or against things under observation; this too frequently interferes with true efficient Perception on your part. Apperception is an excellent servant, but a very tyrannical master—often a very unjust one.

An understanding of Apperception will explain many things which have heretofore perplexed you. It will give you the solution of that perplexing question as to why different persons readily find entirely opposite qualities and properties existing in the same thing—their respective reports frequently differ so greatly as to be most difficult to reconcile them intelligently. Apperception, untrained and unrestrained, causes persons to “find just what they expect to find.” A man harboring certain preconceived notions concerning a particular subject or object will most likely apperceive in it just those qualities or attributes which agree with his particular notions; while another man with opposite notions will apperceive facts quite opposite to those apperceived by the first man. Each finds that for which he looks, and which he expects to find; and each ignores or fails to apperceive the opposite set of facts or conditions.

Interest, self-interest, preconceived notions, prejudices, previous associations, previous experiences—these tend to color your Apperception, and to cause you to see through their colored glasses instead of through the clear colorless glasses of Truth and Reason. You will find yourself inclined to see things, not as they really are, but according to their degree of agreement or disagreement with your previous associations and experience, or with your prejudices and preconceived ideas. Other facts connected with them will almost seem not to exist for you, unless you are careful. A fact related to your previous experience will tend to outweigh a half dozen equally valuable facts with which you have had no previous experience. This will doubtless be all right if you wish to become a bitter partisan, or an enthusiastic advocate of some particular cause or interest; but it will not be right for you if you wish to become an honest, consistent, logical thinker. If you seek Truth for the sake of its truth, then you must always be on the look-out for this phase of Apperception, for it is always at your elbow playing the part of the tempter and deceiver.

But, as we have said, Apperception is an excellent servant, although a poor master. You may set it to efficient work as a servant by impressing it with the strong idea of the general direction of your search for knowledge—by fixing strongly upon it the idea of the special or general class of information for which you are seeking, and then bidding it to discover facts in accord and harmony with them, and with the things which will aid and serve your general purpose and aim. Apperception so trained will invariably and inevitably seek out the desired related or associated facts for you whenever they abide in the object or subject under observation or investigation. It will always seek to discover for you the facts related to or associated with your main purposes and aims. It will do this by the force of Interested Attention, Concentration, and Subconscious Mentation.

Moreover, by your understanding of the principles of Apperception you will be able to acquire knowledge of the right kind, and in a logical manner. By learning the correct basic principles of any subject which you wish to master, and by setting these before your Attention in the proper manner, you tend to arouse the power of Apperception, and to direct it toward the building of a logical and scientific structure of Thought upon the solid foundations which you have exhibited to it. In such cases, Apperception will eagerly search for facts with which to build the structure; it will seek for them in almost every act of simple Perception. It will seek in every experience something which will “fit into” the structure. It will seek this material as the essential facts of experience, and will lightly pass over the non-essentials. Trained and well-directed Apperception stands by, always eager to pounce upon any presented facts which it believes to be directly associated with and related to the general structure of your thought and feelings.

If you wish for an actual illustration of this action on the part of the faculty of Apperception—this power which seeks to aid and assist you in your pursuit of knowledge and information, you will find many such within your own everyday experience. A little exercise of the memory will show you that whenever you have begun to become specially interested in an object or subject there has begun to be manifested a peculiar awakening of “something within you” which displayed great eagerness to discover and uncover facts, details, relations and associations concerning the subject or object of your interest. You will find that your Attention frequently was suddenly directed to and caught by some item in a newspaper or magazine, or some portion of a book, which had a direct or indirect relation to or association with that subject or object. In fact, you will find it was difficult for you to pick up any newspaper, magazine or book without finding such related or associated information— even though you might have read its pages several times before, without discovering any such thing in it. You will find that your World of Experience then extended its boundaries rapidly in the locality of that special object or subject of your interest. A new world of facts was discovered by you; and a new body of relations and associations was uncovered for you.

That “something within you” is an excellent servant—an untiring worker in your interest. It will work even while you are asleep—for it proceeds along subconscious, as well as conscious, lines of activity. This power of Apperception once set to work by you in a definite direction, and with a well-defined purpose, will call to its aid the powers of Memory and Constructive Imagination as well as those of Perception and Observation. It will be well for you to come to an understanding with your faculty of Apperception, and to issue your commands to it. But you should always retain the mastery of it—for while it is an excellent servant, it will develop into a tyrannical master if you surrender control to it. It is but a tool and instrument for the use of that Master which you, Yourself, should always be in your World of Experience.

The faculty of Apperception is essentially concerned with the establishment of relations and associations between a newly perceived fact and other facts previously perceived and already known. Apperception is a “relating activity.” Apperception has well been described as “the combining activity of the mind that brings order and harmony into our mental life by transforming the consciousness of related facts into ‘the consciousness of relations’.” Perception brings to you the apprehension of particular facts actually related and associated; but Apperception is required before you may discern such relationship and association. When it is remembered that Thought is concerned largely with the discovery of the relations between different particular things, the importance of Apperception begins to be realized.

Apperception also may be said to be that phase of Thought by which you “perceive and discern” the relations existing between the different items of knowledge existing in your inner World of Experience. Two separate known facts may have places in your World of Experience, having been placed there by Perception; but you may not be consciously aware of any relation or association existing between them. When your mind “wakes up” to the fact that the two facts are related in certain ways, and that there is a logical association existing between them, then you have exercised the faculty of Apperception. Or again, you may perceive a new fact, but have not as yet become aware that it has any logical or practical relation to other facts previously known to you; in such case, also, Apperception supplies the missing connection, and the two facts become welded in your Thought.

Men had perceived many facts concerning electricity; but Apperception was required to relate these facts to lighting, heating, motive-power, transmission of messages, etc. Coal had been perceived ages before it was apperceived as related to the subject of heating. Petroleum had been perceived long before it was apperceived in its relation to the subject of lighting, heating, motive-power, etc. Certain gases were perceived long before it was apperceived that they bore an important relation to raising a balloon. Wool was perceived long before the primitive man apperceived its relation to warm covering for the human body. The heat generated by friction was perceived long before some one apperceived its relation to fire-producing activity. The progress of the human race has resulted largely by reason of man’s faculty of Apperception—the power of discovering new relations in things. The future progress of the race depends largely upon the further exercise of the faculty of Apperception in the direction of additional discoveries of new relations between things already perceived.

The progressive man is ever on the lookout for the discernment of new relations concerning the things already perceived by him. All discoveries in science, and all inventions, are the result of this discernment of new relations by the exercise of Apperception. A prominent college professor was wont to advise his pupils: “Be ever on the hunt for relations. The only progress possible is that arising from the discovery of new relations. No matter what is a man’s occupation, his success depends largely upon his close study of relations. A faulty knowledge of relations frequently results in failure. Whenever you learn a new thing, apparently unrelated to any other part of your knowledge, make haste to establish relations and associations for it.”

Your degree of knowledge of anything depends materially upon your knowledge of its relations and associations. In fact, about all that you can ever hope to know concerning anything is (1) its qualities and characteristics; and (2) its relations and associations. You “know” a thing only as you “know” these two classes of facts concerning it. The first class is known to you through Perception; the second, through Apperception. Apperception is the connecting link between Simple Perception and Simple Thought; it partakes of the nature of both of these mental powers, which it likewise connects and binds together in the mental processes.

Apperception is manifested in two general ways, the active principle of both being the same. These two ways are as follows: (1) the way of Experimental Observation, in which you “set things to work,” in which you test them under varying circumstances, in which you “try them out” and conduct experiments with them—all on the physical plane, though under your mental Observation; and (2) the way of Constructive Imagination, in which you perform various experiments with things, similar to those above noted—but this time on the mental plane instead of the physical.

In the first of the above noted ways, you do your work with your hands and in the world of matter; in the second way, you perform the work “all in your mind,” and with the aid of the mental faculties alone. The inventor on the physical plane employs both of these ways; the inventors on the mental plane—the great planners, designers, constructors who see first the thing as “ideal” to be afterward materialized as “real”— these men employ the second way, principally. But, in either case, the “raw materials” of Apperception are furnished by Perception—they can come from no other source.

When one holds before his mind a definite, clear and strong ideal which he insistently desires, confidently expects, and persistently wills to become materialized into reality, then he sets into activity the powers of Apperception in behalf of the realization of that ideal—toward making that ideal become real. Then, as a writer has well said, “your apperceptive conceptions stand like armed soldiers, within the strongholds of consciousness, ready to seize upon everything likely to prove of service to the great cause.” Without the definite, clear, strong positive ideal, these soldiers are asleep, and accordingly fail “to seize upon” the valuable related facts, and you never become conscious of them. When Apperception is aroused, you become aware of a great world of related facts of which you had previously been unaware. But without the incentive of the ideal, or “subject held in mind,” Apperception will not be aroused; in such case “your apperceiving conceptions will have been asleep, and their natural prey will have escaped them.”

The field of Apperception must be cultivated by Interest, Definite Ideals, and Fixed Purpose, before it will bring forth its crop of related and associated ideas and facts. Teachers realize this when their leading authorities bid them to “prepare the mind of the pupil for the efficient assimilation of the knowledge to be imparted to them”; and that “we must prepare the minds of our pupils for the apperception of concepts; we must help them to array in their minds their apperceiving conceptions”; and “let us put a definite question before them which is the definite aim of the lessons to answer.” Also, “We must bring out of the memory and experienced perceptions of the pupils everything that bears upon the lesson; this can be done best by asking them questions, because in this way we secure the greatest amount of mental activity on their part.” You will do well to note the above suggestions concerning the knowledge-extracting power of questions.

While it is true that the present volume has for its sole field the consideration of Perceptive Power—the associated subjects of Creative Power, Constructive Imagination, Subconscious Mentation, etc., forming the respective fields of companion volumes—yet we feel that we should at least call to your attention the general principles of the application of Apperception in the other mental processes to which we have just referred. The following paragraphs will be devoted to that purpose; the careful consideration of what is stated in them should at least set you on the right road, and point out the way toward further training along those particular lines if you should so elect.

Those who have accomplished great results by the employment of Apperception along the lines of Ideation and Constructive Imagination, report that they owe their success largely to an observance of certain fundamental rules which may be stated as follows:

I. Fill the mind with the “raw materials” furnished by the Perception of the important facts in your special field of endeavor and work. In the present book the accepted methods of accomplishing this stage of the process have been pointed out, and practical working plans presented to you.

II. Create a strong, clear, positive, definite “ideal” of that which you wish to accomplish—accompanied with a positive, definite purpose to attain and accomplish the materialization of that ideal. Set before your mind the definite question which you wish to be answered; make the demand that your mind shall answer that question by means of bringing out from the great storehouse of Memory the related and associated concepts and facts which have been placed there by Perception; and by means of causing the Constructive Imagination to picture these concepts and facts in new orders, combinations, and arrangements, so as to conduct an effective process of mental testing, trying-out, and experimentation.

III. By means of your Definite Ideals, Insistent Desire, Confident Expectation, and Persistent Determination, set into operation the activities of the great planes of Subconscious Mentation which are at your disposal, and which will readily respond to the demand. By doing this you will start that process of “unconscious rumination” which all great inventors and discoverers in any field have experienced. Place before your subconscious faculties the questions which you wish to be answered—the questions concerning the new relations and associations between certain known facts and others not as yet recognized as related to or associated with them.

IV. From time to time, indulge in the mental process of Reverie—“go into the Silence,” as some of our metaphysical friends call it—not into a condition of day-dreaming, but rather that of a state of “shutting-out outside perceptions” so as to concentrate the Attention upon the inner field of Apperception.

Some advise that this process should be undertaken at the same hour on each successive day, until the problem is solved; others hold that the subconscious faculties themselves will serve notice upon you that they are ready to “report progress.” In either case, at such times you should “roll over in your mind” the question before you; discovering just what relations and associations you know concerning the thing in question, and seeking to discover at least the general direction of other relations and associations. Experiment, test, and “try out” mentally any arrangement, plan, process, or combination which may present itself to you. You will find that from the subconscious realms of your mentality there will at times “flash out,” or “pop out” some entirely new plan or idea involved in the general question. When you have “ruminated” sufficiently to exhaust the material presented to you in this way, you should bring the sitting to a close; and once more dismiss the entire subject from your conscious field of mentation, with a parting demand upon your subconscious faculties to “do some more work on this question.”

V. The above successive processes of conscious “stock-taking,” and “subconscious rumination,” should be continued until you feel that you have exhausted the subject for the time being. Then, take a rest—at least so far as is concerned your conscious field of mentation; your subconscious field will continue at work, as you will discover when you consult it again after your interval of rest. If this process and method should seem somewhat fantastical to you, rest assured that the reports coming from some of the most practical and “hard-headed” workers along the lines of invention and discovery, in many different fields of human endeavor, show that they have followed some such plan and method—although they may use different terms in which to express it.

The essence of the above rules may be expressed as follows: In your World of Experience you have stored away thousands of facts and ideas composed of the raw materials of your Perception. They are all there, though you may have apparently forgotten many of them; all that is needed is the discovery and discernment of the connecting links of Relation and Association— these will prove to be the “loose ends” by means of which you may unravel the ball of Subconscious Memory. By employing the above methods of Apperceptive Subconsciousing, you will bring to the surface of consciousness these missing facts and ideas; and in addition, your Constructive Imagination will work over into new combinations and arrangements of Relation and Association the materials “sent up” from the subconscious storehouse of Memory. But, last as first, the materials supplied by Perception constitute the entire materials of which your World of Experience is constructed. Remember that here, as elsewhere, “you can get out of anything only what has been put into it.” Therefore, proceed to cultivate efficient Apperception by first developing efficient Perception. The working materials of Apperception are but the combined elements deposited in the Subconscious by the processes of Perception. Apperception can uncover only that which has previously been registered in the mind by Perception. Apperception works up the raw materials of Perception into more complex forms of Percepts or Concepts.

The Power of Attention

We wish now to direct your attention to that wonderful power of the mind which is known as “Attention,” and to indicate to you certain fundamental laws of its activity.

Attention is defined as: “The mental act, process, or faculty of application to any object of sense, representation, or thought”; or, “The act of concentrating the mind on any object of sense, or on any mental conception.” A more technical definition is: “Consciousness concentrated in order intellectually to conquer a particular object or subject.”

The scientific conception of Attention is well illustrated by the following celebrated statement of Sir William Hamilton: “Attention is consciousness—and something more. It is consciousness voluntarily applied, under its law of limitations, to some determinate object; it is consciousness concentrated. * * * Attention is consciousness applied by an act of will, or desire, under a particular law. This law, which we call the law of limitation, is, that the intention of our knowledge is in the inverse ratio of its extension—in other words, that the fewer the objects we consider at once, the clearer and more distinct will be our knowledge of them. * * * An act of Attention, that is an act of concentration, seems as necessary to every exertion of consciousness, as a certain contraction of the pupil is requisite to every exertion of vision. Attention is to consciousness what the contraction of the pupil is to sight; or to the eye of the mind what the microscope or telescope is to the bodily eye. The faculty of Attention is not, therefore, a special faculty, but is merely consciousness acting under the law of limitation to which it is subjected. But whatever be its relation to the special faculties, Attention doubles all their efficiency, and affords them a power of which they would otherwise be destitute. It is, in fact, as we are at present constituted, the primary condition of their activity.”

Attention, then, is that action of the mind whereby it brings into consciousness any subject or object to which that action is directed. It is the focusing of consciousness; or, some prefer to say, it is a detention in consciousness. The sun’s rays may be scattered over a large surface, and its heat scarcely be perceptible; or, on the other hand, they may be focused through a sun-glass to such an extent that they burn a hole in a piece of hard wood. In the same way, you may spread your consciousness over a number of objects, and thus become but dimly aware of any of them; and, on the other hand, you may concentrate and focus your consciousness by an act of Attention, so as to become most intensely and most vividly aware of the facts concerning that object. As Hamilton has said in the above-quoted statement: “The fewer objects we consider at once, the clearer and more distinct will be our knowledge of them.”

Psychologists usually divide the activities of Attention into two general classes, viz., (1) Involuntary Attention, and (2) Voluntary Attention.

Involuntary Attention is that form of Attention which you give to the passing objects which arouse your interest or curiosity, or even by your “passing notice.” Your Attention is attracted easily to such objects or events, without any effort on your part. This form of Attention is an almost automatic, instinctive, or purely reflex action arising from the stimulation of the senses or appeal to the feelings. No effort of the Will is required in such cases; in fact, it often requires a distinct effort of the Will to direct the Attention away from such distracting sensations or feelings.

Young children—even infants—and the lower animals manifest Involuntary Attention to a marked degree; in fact, it is held that very young children are incapable of any other form of Attention. Uncultured persons manifest but very little Attention other than this. Many persons who have failed to cultivate Voluntary Attention properly get but slightly beyond the stage of Involuntary Attention at any time; they may habitually manifest such reflex conscious action; almost any passing stimulus will take their Attention away from their work or tasks.

Involuntary Attention is awakened chiefly by one or more of the following general causes: (1) Present Enjoyment or pleasurable sensation—the attentive process continuing merely so long as the sensation affords pleasure (the same rule applies to Pain and, painful sensations); (2) Curiosity, or curious interest—the attentive process continuing merely so long as the curiosity remains unsatisfied; (3) Novelty, or unexplained objects or events—the attentive process continuing merely so long as the explanation is lacking, or until the novelty passes away; (4) Sudden Impressions upon the senses, such as sudden and startling movements, sights, or sounds—the attentive process continuing merely so long as the sudden and startling quality of the sensation persists; (5) Intensity of Sensation, such as that arising from a flash of lightning, an explosion, loud speaking or cries, or any similar intensely exciting object or event reported by Sensation.

The distinguishing characteristic of Involuntary Attention of any and all forms is this: It is called forth by the influence on the mind directly exerted by an external object or event itself—it is not directed by conscious Will, its activity is practically automatic, instinctive or reflex, and not voluntary or deliberate.

Voluntary Attention is that form of Attention which you give to objects or subjects selected or determined by your reason, and which is directed by an act of your Will accompanied by more or less sense of mental effort. It is always consciously directed to some object or subject of your own selection, and is always manifested with at least a slight degree of the peculiar sense of conscious effort which distinguishes all Will-activities. This characteristic sense of conscious voluntary direction and effort is the test between the activities of Voluntary Attention and Involuntary Attention—it is always present in the former, and always lacking in the latter. By many of the best psychologists, Voluntary Attention is regarded as one of the most important, and one of the most characteristic activities of the Will.

Voluntary Attention is one of the leading characteristics of individuals manifesting marked Will Power, men of culture and practical mental development, students who succeed, successful men of affairs, inventors, discoverers—in short, of men and women who are Mental Masters instead of Mental Slaves. It is a mark of experience, reasoning power, and will power. It distinguishes the individuals of deliberation, of determination, of purposive resolution. To develop it in children is one of the first, and often the most difficult, of the tasks of the teacher. It may be stated as a general principle or rule that: “Every individual who has accomplished anything worth while in any field of voluntary endeavor, has done so largely by his or her developed and trained powers of Voluntary Attention.” It may be stated with equal certainty that: “No individual lacking in development of the power of Voluntary Attention ever has accomplished anything worth white in the field of voluntary endeavor so long as such lack persists.”

The distinguishing characteristic of Voluntary Attention of any and of all forms is this: It is called forth not by the direct influence upon the mind exerted by an external object or event itself; but, instead, by the influence exerted upon the mind by reason of the perceived relation existing between the observed subject, object, or event and something else which in and of itself attracts the thought, feeling, and will by reason of its own qualities.

There must always be an “attraction” calling forth Attention, it is true; but in Involuntary Attention the attraction is direct, while in Voluntary Attention it is indirect. Involuntary Attention acts in direct response to a simple feeling; while Voluntary Attention acts because of a purpose or determination to do, to know, or to attain something. Involuntary Attention is elementary and instinctive; Voluntary Attention is derivative and complex and is an acquired faculty. The former moves to satisfy a simple feeling; the latter moves to accomplish a purpose based upon the satisfaction of a higher, deeper and more complex feeling. The former is superficial and transient; the latter is more fundamental and stable.

From this point, our consideration of Attention shall be confined to Voluntary Attention—for that is the phase and form of Attention which you must develop, cultivate and train in order to attain to that phase of Personal Power which is the subject-matter of this book, i. e., Perceptive Power.

Voluntary Attention and Sensation. In our previous consideration of the subject of Sensation, we have called your attention to the fact that you are conscious merely of a very few of the many reports of Sensation which reach you over the channels of your senses; and that such reports fail to reach the plane of your conscious recognition. As all of these reports are more or less calculated to arouse your Involuntary Attention, why is it that some of them succeed while others fail?

The answer to the last question is that in many cases the more familiar sensations fail to register because of their lack of novelty, their lack of appeal to curiosity, or from similar failure to satisfy the demands of your Involuntary Attention which we have previously classified. But there is another reason, namely, that your Voluntary Attention tends to shut out and inhibit to a great extent those sensations which are not in harmony and agreement with certain thoughts, feelings or purposes which “your mind is set upon”; and tends to give welcome admission to those which possess the requisite quality of harmony and agreement. You may not be fully conscious of this work of selection—but your Voluntary Attention is aware of it, and is performing it all the time.

There is a constant “struggle for existence” in your consciousness manifested by the sensations flowing in through the various channels of the senses. The law of “the survival of the fittest” decides the struggle—but the “fittest” are always those to which the greatest degree of Voluntary Attention is given by you. If your power of Voluntary Attention is developed, and trained by practice and habit, it will shut out from consciousness those inflowing sensations which are not in accord with “what is on your mind,” while admitting and welcoming those which are in accord with it.

It is an axiom of psychology that if Attention is centered upon one of several classes of sensations, that selected class will at once assume greatly increased strength and intensity, while those opposed to it will lose power and intensity. This is particularly true when the Attention happens to be Voluntary Attention. The moral is obvious. It has well been said that persons of weak powers of Voluntary Attention are practically at the mercy of their sensations—that they belong less to themselves than to any subject or object which happens to attract their Involuntary Attention. It being remembered that “The intensity of a sensation depends largely upon the degree of Attention bestowed upon it,” you should choose well the many candidates for Attention which throng the Corridors of Sensation, seeking admission through your Door of Perception.

You doubtless have had many personal experiences in which your Attention was so strongly attracted and held by certain objects or ideas that you became almost totally oblivious to all else that was going on around you. One in a “brown study,” or indulging in a “day dream” often has this experience. An ardent lover frequently becomes oblivious of everything else and everybody else in the world except oneself and the loved one; you remember the old line about “only one world, and only two persons in it,” etc., do you not? Science ignores the indwelling romance, and sees in this phenomenon merely another case of Concentrated Attention and Inhibition of Subordinate Sensations. How often have you become so engrossed in your newspaper, or in your thoughts, that you have been carried past your railroad station or other destination? The same explanation applies to such cases.

A celebrated French writer intensely occupied with his work was totally oblivious of the terrible happenings of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, although the centre of the carnage was directly beneath his windows. A noted German philosopher was so deeply buried in his studies that he did not hear the great guns of the bombardment of his college town; and after the surrender of the town he was surprised when the soldiers of Napoleon broke into his room searching for escaped prisoners. Socrates once became so thoroughly engrossed in philosophical thought, when he was in the army, that he stood stock still and allowed the entire army to pass on, without being aware of anything unusual; it was only when, hours later, he solved the perplexing problem, that he discovered that the army was many miles away from where he had been standing; he was forced to march half the night to overtake his company.

Many instances are recorded in which persons have been severely wounded, but who by reason of their intense mental concentration upon something else have not perceived their pain for some time afterward. Public speakers suffering great physical pain have temporarily inhibited the perception of it by concentrating their Attention upon their addresses. Noted writers suffering from excruciating neuralgia have been known to inhibit continuance of the pain by concentrating upon their work. Many persons have inhibited the pain of minor surgical operations, or of wounds, by intently “thinking about something else.” There is every difference between the painful sensation upon which “the mind is kept,” and a similar one where “the mind is kept off it,” as all physicians know.

It is related of Henry Clay that he once became so intensely engrossed in the delivery of one of his great speeches in Congress that he failed to perceive the repeated prickings of a large pin vigorously applied by a fellow Congressman, this latter performance resulting from a previous request from Clay that he be halted in his speech after a certain time had elapsed. The pin wounds repeatedly drew blood from his leg, but Clay never felt the sensation. Some have held that the stoical endurance of the American Indian, and the spiritual endurance of the martyrs, arose from the same general cause: in the one case the dominant idea of traditional Courage and Endurance occupied the Attention; in the other case the exaltation of Faith was the inhibiting factor; the same psychological principle was involved in each case.

Voluntary Attention in Observation, Thought and Memory. Voluntary Attention is an indispensable factor of intelligent observation and thought. What we actually perceive and observe concerning any subject or object depends almost entirely upon the degree of Voluntary Attention that we bestow upon it. The great difference between the man of great powers of observation and reflection, and the ordinary man, is that the former attentively observes the facts concerning matters which he is investigating and perceives resemblances and differences between them which later form the bases of his reasoning on the subject. Some have asserted that the principal difference between the efficient man and the inefficient one ties in the greater capacity of the former for close, continuous, concentrated Voluntary Attention. Some, indeed, have asserted that in the capacity for Concentrated Voluntary Attention is to be found the secret of genius. Newton was fond of asserting that the sole difference between himself and ordinary men consisted of his greater power of Concentrated Voluntary Attention. It is an axiom of Memory Culture that “Memory depends primarily upon the degree of Attention given to the original impression, and to its repetitions in the process of its recollection.”

As might be expected from the foregoing, it has been found that one of the most marked characteristics of a weak mind is that of a lack of ability to concentrate the Voluntary Attention upon a subject or object for any marked length of time, or with any marked degree of intensity. Medical science informs us that imbeciles and idiots are practically destitute of the power of Concentrated Voluntary Attention; and that in certain forms of mental disorders one of the most characteristic symptoms is that of steadily weakening Voluntary Attention. In old age, when the mind begins to weaken and fail, it will be noticed that the aged person is able to remember quite well the events of his early years, but that he is unable to concentrate sufficient attention upon present happenings to fix them in his memory. In illness, the power of Voluntary Attention often is temporarily weakened.

The following several quotations from eminent psychologists may prove of interest in this connection.

Hamilton says: “Attention constitutes the better half of all intellectual power.” Brodie says: “It is Attention, more than any difference in the abstract power of reasoning, which constitutes the vast difference which exists between minds of different individuals.” Butler says: “The most important intellectual habit that I know of is the habit of attending exclusively to the matter in hand. It is commonly said that genius cannot be infused by education, yet this power of Concentrated Attention, which belongs as a part of his gift to every great discoverer, is unquestionably capable of almost indefinite augmentation by resolute practice.”

The Laws of Voluntary Attention

The following are the most general and important Laws of Voluntary Attention:

I. The Value of Interest. Attention attaches itself more easily to interesting subjects or objects; it rebels against attachment to uninteresting subjects or objects. The greater the degree of Interest that exists, or can be created, in a subject or object to which it is desired that Attention shall attach itself, the greater the ease with which Attention is directed toward such, and the greater the ease in holding it there. But, where Interest is originally lacking in the subject or object of Attention, it may be created by associating these with other subjects or objects in which Interest abides; or else by examining the original subject or object for possible points of Interest, the latter usually being discovered in the course of the examination, or else being awakened by the latter.

II. Variety of Stimulus. Attention tends to decline and weaken if the original stimulus remains unvaried, and becomes monotonous. Novelty in an object or subject tends to awaken Interest, and thus to give intensity to Attention; when the novelty vanishes, Interest wanes, and Attention loses its stimulus. The remedy is found in so conducting the observation as gradually to unfold new attributes in the subject or object; or else by changing the viewpoint, so as to present the subject or object from a new angle of Interest. The discovery of new attributes, properties, qualities, or associations in objects or subjects under consideration will usually awaken new Interest, and as a consequence, renewed Attention. Such process of awakening new Interest, at the same time, tends to vary the stimulus and to add variety to the mental task.

III. Physical Strain. When Attention is directed constantly toward a certain object or subject for too long a period of time, the nervous system (including the brain-cells) become wearied and their efficiency becomes temporarily impaired. The remedy for this is found in the method of dividing the subject or object into mental sections or classes, each class or section being observed, examined or considered separately; the Attention then being directed to the next section or class when signs of weariness manifest themselves. By “breaking up” the process in this way, you obtain not only the relief from the physical strain, but also add new interest, varying stimulus, and a better impression upon the memory.

IV. Resting Attention. When Voluntary Attention becomes wearied from too constant application to a certain task, it should be rested. But it is not necessary to give it the “rest” of an entire absence of Attention to any object or subject, as in sleep, drowsiness, or similar states—though of course a normal amount of sleep is necessary for health and efficiency. The Voluntary Attention, or rather your powers of Voluntary Attention, may be effectively rested by several methods, the two most important are the following: (1) by directing the Voluntary Attention into entirely different channels, or (2) by withdrawing the voluntary effort and allowing Involuntary Attention to occupy the field for a time. The reason for each of these methods is given in the following paragraphs:

(a) By directing the Voluntary Attention into different channels you bring variety, new interest, and a new stimulus into play; the mental spirit of Attention is invigorated and re-energized, and your physical nervous system and brain-cells are rested by reason of the change of the direction of the Attention. Many busy men rest themselves by changing their mental tasks from time to time under this method—by “thinking of something else.”

(b) By allowing Involuntary Attention to exert itself for the time, such as by looking out of the window, light reading, taking a walk, playing an out-of-door game, attending a play or “movie picture,” you obtain rest under this second method; this also being true if you indulge in a reverie, or day-dream, allowing imagination full sway for the time being. Some of the brightest thinkers have rested themselves after periods of intense application of Voluntary Attention, by reading light stories or detective tales; by playing simple games or romping with the children; or by similar forms of diversion.

Mental Concentration

You have heard much of the value and importance of Mental Concentration. You have in a general way realized that it plays an important part in all perceptive and reasoning processes. You doubtless have felt at times that you lacked the power of Mental Concentration—or, at least, that it would be well if your powers of this kind were more highly developed. You have felt strongly, particularly when your mind has manifested a decided tendency to wander away from the subject or object under consideration, that a greater degree of Mental Concentration on your part would be very desirable. But, in all probability, you have never stopped to consider just what this power really is. We trust that when you have finished the reading and study of this part of our book you will have a clearer and more definite idea of the nature and meaning of Mental Concentration; and a better understanding of the methods whereby it may be developed and employed.

The term, Concentration, in its general sense, means: “The act or process of bringing, coming, approaching, or directing toward a common point or centre; or of bringing to or meeting in one point.” Mental Concentration, then, is bringing and holding the mind to one point; of focusing its powers upon a central point. As the average person would express it, it is “keeping one’s mind on the subject”; the ancient Oriental philosophers called it, “keeping the mind one-pointed.”

Mental Concentration, however, is not a special faculty or power of the mind. It is simply a high degree of Voluntary Attention. It is Voluntary Attention manifested in a positive manner, in a quite definite direction, and with a clearly defined purpose. Indeed, in all forms, phases, or degrees of Attention there is a certain manifestation of Mental Concentration— the holding of the mind “one-pointed.” Even in Involuntary Attention there is some degree of focused Attention, and the “shutting out” of other sensations and perceptions; for example, the child gazing with fascination upon the passing procession, upon the organ-grinder and his monkey, or upon the window of the toy store or candy shop. In Voluntary Attention there is a still greater degree of Mental Concentration—a greater contraction of the field of consciousness, and a greater limitation of the scope of observation.

In the popular conception, the idea of Mental Concentration is usually associated with the process of holding the mind rigidly and immovably fixed upon some one point. This conception is erroneous: such a process would soon result in a state of self-hypnosis, and hypnosis would then be the achievement of the highest degree of Mental Concentration. Such process would have as its end and aim the “thinking of nothing,” for the Attention so held would speedily develop a state of dim consciousness, soon passing into semi-consciousness, and finally into unconsciousness. Mental Concentration, in the true sense, is not this process of “thinking of nothing,” but rather that of intensive thinking of some one subject or object, in its various phases, accompanied by an inhibition or “shutting out” of other impressions and other thoughts.

Mental Concentration consists of the three following elements, viz, (1) The application of earnest Voluntary Attention upon one particular subject or object; (2) the application of Perception, Observation, Apperception and Thought upon that subject or object, with the determined and definite purpose of extracting from it all possible information concerning its qualities and relations; (3) the restriction and limitation of the field of Attention by means of a determined inhibition or “shutting out” of other sensations, perceptions, and thoughts. This third element, usually ignored in popular thought on the subject of Mental Concentration, is really the characteristic and most essential element involved in the process.

Mental Concentration calls into action the power of the will; for that matter, Voluntary Attention, as its name indicates, is distinctly an act of will. Mental Concentration, as we have said, is merely an intensive form of Voluntary Attention—it is Voluntary Attention, “only a little more so.” In ordinary Voluntary Attention, the will acts so as to direct and hold the Attention upon a particular subject or object; in Mental Concentration, the will manifests itself especially in the coordinate action of keeping out of the field of consciousness other impressions, perceptions, and thoughts. In this dual-action there is obtained (1) “keeping in mind” the selected subject or object; and (2) “keeping out of the mind” all other subjects or objects.

Mental Concentration imposes “a continuity of Attention to the same subject.” But this “continuity of Attention” is by no means fully insured by the mere act of “keeping in mind” the selected subject or object of thought; it requires also the “keeping out of the mind” all disturbing or distracting influences. If the will relaxes its hold upon the Attention, then the latter is quite likely to be attracted to and carried away by some of the countless thoughts, ideas, or notions which constitute the “stream of thought,” and which are brought into consciousness by means of the Law of Association. In order to secure efficient Mental Concentration, the will must be trained to prevent the Attention from being seduced, allured, enticed, decoyed, inveigled, and led astray by attractive “passing thoughts.”

Gordy brings out this idea very clearly in the following passage: “As you use your will to give your attention to geometry, although it attracts you less than a number of other subjects, so if you really study it, you will use your will to prevent your mind from being dragged away from it by the interests that are constantly importuning you. He who possesses this power in a high degree possesses in a high degree the power of Voluntary Attention—to give steadiness to the mind, to prevent it from going capriciously here and there under the influence of the interests that happen to be present at the particular moment.”

The Secret of Mental Concentration, then, is seen to consist of the manifestation of its essential characteristic—the added characteristic superimposed upon those of ordinary Voluntary Attention—namely, that of “keeping out,” “shutting out,” or inhibiting the influence of distracting, disturbing, and diverting “outside thought,” or “other ideas.” Voluntary Attention, once directed and held by the will upon a certain object or subject, will readily permit the efficient activity of Perception, Apperception and Thought, provided that by Mental Concentration the “other” or “outside” attractions are “shut out” and “kept out” of consciousness. We ask you to consider carefully, and to fix in your mind, this fact of the importance of the “shutting out” and “keeping out” process. If you will acquire the “knack” of this “keeping out” and “shutting out” process, you will have mastered the art and science of Mental Concentration—for Voluntary Attention will “do the rest” for you.

A writer on the subject of practical psychology has aptly compared this “shutting out” process to the act of placing “blinkers” on a horse. The “blinkers” prevent the horse from seeing things which are likely to disturb, distract, or divert his Attention from his business of life; they “shut out” and “keep out” the sensations and perceptions of “other” and “outside” things. They narrow his field of Attention, and therefore limit and concentrate his area of present consciousness. They render him practically blind to distracting, diverting and disturbing sights; hence they are sometimes called “blinders,” and are defined as “leather screens on the bridle, serving to hinder a horse from seeing objects at the side.” If you wish to develop your power of Mental Concentration, you should acquire the knack of applying these mental blinkers or blinders, and should habituate yourself to their employment at times in which concentrated thought is desirable.

Mental Concentration is a valuable instrument of efficient Perception, Observation and Thought. Its value arises from the fact expressed in that axiom of psychology which states that, “The fewer the objects observed at one time, the greater is the intensity of the concentrated Voluntary Attention employed in the observation.” It greatly magnifies the powers of the perceptive and reflective faculties of the mind, because it diminishes the area of the field of Attention. It gives a steadiness to the mind, and bestows a wonderfully increased power of accomplishment upon the faculties involved in the mental processes. In one way, Mental Concentration may be compared to the microscope which makes mentally visible the minute details of the observed object; in another way, it may be compared to the telescope which brings the observed object nearer to the eye of the mind.

The best way of beginning to develop Mental Concentration is that of acquiring the habit of thinking of, or doing, but “one thing at a time.” Such habit, in itself, is valuable and tends directly toward efficiency and economy of thought; the opposite habit results in squandering time and energy. Many prominent men have testified to the value of attending to but one thing at a time-giving to it the undivided Attention for the time being, then withdrawing that Attention completely and focusing it upon the next thing to be observed or considered.

Luys says: “It is necessary in Mental Concentration that one single impression at a time shall be imprinted on the sensorium, and that the elements of the sensorium themselves shall be in a kind of silence and receptive calm.” Kay says: “It is as one is able to shut out every other object from the mind—every idea, even that of self—that he attains the highest degree of mental power. If we would possess the power of concentrated attention to a high degree, we must cultivate the habit of attending to what is directly before the mind, to the exclusion of all else. All distracting thoughts and feelings that tend to withdraw the mind from what is immediately before it are therefore to be avoided.”

This habit of attending to but one thing at a time has, also, another valuable feature, i. e., that of enabling you to put “out of your mind,” to “shut out” and “keep out” of mind the subject or object which you previously have been considering but which you have now laid aside for the time being. By means of this habit, you are enabled to put that subject or object into its appropriate compartment of the mind; to shut that compartment and to keep it closed until you once more wish to examine its contents. With all the other mental compartments closed, you will be able to examine, consider and decide upon the contents of the particular one which you have now before you.

This ability to put aside subjects and objects of thought when one is through with his present consideration of them—this shutting the particular compartment of the mind containing them—is one of the marked powers of men and women who have attained prominence in the various fields of human endeavor. Many prominent persons analyzing the causes of their success in efficient Perception, Observation, Thought and Action, have attributed it largely to this power which they have acquired by practice and through habit. To be able to “take your mind off a thing,” when you are through with it, is quite as important as to be able to “put your mind on a thing,” when you wish to observe or consider it.

We advise you to acquire, by practice and exercise, the faculty and habit of attending to but one thing at a time; and that of passing from that thing to another (when you wish to do so) with ease and facility, but never carrying the “loose end” of thought of one thing over into the thought of the next thing. Napoleon, that great master of Mental Concentration, frequently said that his mind was like a great chest of many drawers: when he wished to consider the contents of any particular drawer, he pulled it out; when he was through considering these he closed the drawer—and then kept it closed until he wished to open it once more for a definite purpose. He was careful not to mix the contents of the respective drawers; and he never had two drawers opened at the same time. The senior J. Pierpont Morgan is said to have developed by training a similarly efficient mind; when he was considering a subject he regarded it with absolute Mental Concentration; when the consideration was concluded, he dismissed it completely from his field of conscious Attention, and turned to some other subject.

Granville said: “A frequent cause of failure in the faculty of Concentrated Attention is that of striving to think of more than one thing at a time.” Beattie says: “While employed on any one subject, our thoughts should not wander to another. This rule holds good of our rest, play or recreation, as well as of our work. When we go to the fields of exercise, we should leave all our speculations behind; otherwise we will fatigue the body and distract the mind, and will confirm ourselves in those habits of Inattention which, when persisted in, constitute what is called an ‘absent minded’ person.”

What at first may seem an exception to the rule of Mental Concentration is found in the fact that often one finds himself better able to concentrate upon a subject or object when his Attention is faintly stirred by something else—by something of but slight interest, such as, for instance, a dull sermon, a piece of light music, or the voices of persons engaged in idle or light conversation.

This apparent exception, however, when rightly understood is really a verification of the rule rather than an exception to it. It is explained by the well-known fact that a slight stimulus often serves to attract feebly and hold lightly the idle, Involuntary Attention—to “keep it busy”—thus preventing it from being attracted by stronger and more active sensory or representative stimuli which would tend to distract, divert and disturb the Voluntary Attention from its definite task.

We once heard a lady explain this process as follows: “It is like giving the baby an empty spool to play with, in order to keep it out of mischief!” This furnishes the explanation of the familiar phenomenon of a person whittling a stick, or drawing figures on a sheet of paper, in order better to “think about” a thing under consideration. It also gives the reason for the fact that many a time, while listening to a dull sermon, uninteresting lecture, or tiresome play, one is able to “think out” certain problems or questions which have previously been “too much for him.” Thus the dull preacher, or his brother in other fields of public work, often is a blessing in disguise; though few such would appreciate a testimonial to this effect.

In the earlier stages of our present consideration of this particular subject, we directed your attention to the fact that Mental Concentration is not a state of “thinking about nothing,” but rather is one of intense “thinking about something.” That “something,” however, does not consist of some one indivisible point of thought or perception—if it were this, then the conscious Attention would soon flag, and a state of lessened consciousness, such as drowsiness or even sleep would intervene: continued focused Attention upon an “indivisible point,” or upon any other abstract thing, would result in at least some degree of self-hypnosis, unless sleep asserted itself. The “one thing” must be a concrete thing, i. e., an actual thing made up of parts, elements, factors.

Hazlitt says: “Concentration does not, as popularly supposed, mean keeping the mind fastened on one object or idea or in one place. It consists in having a problem or purpose constantly before one. It means keeping our thought moving toward one desired end.”

Mental Concentration is not like a stagnant pool of water. It is not motionless; it is in constant and continuous motion— intense motion. It is like an active, swift whirlpool, abiding in one place or point in the “stream of thought”; its whirls draw to it all that it needs from the mental waters around it. It moves, is always moving, yet it moves not from its own place.

This leads us to a reference to the Laws of Attention set forth in the preceding section of this book; for in the understanding and application of those principles is to be found the effective “working method” of Mental Concentration. These Laws of Attention, stated briefly, are as follows: (1) The Law of Interest, whereby the presence of a lively Interest is a necessary factor of the manifestation of Attention; (2) The Law of Variety of Stimulus, whereby the element of Novelty is a necessary factor in the manifestation of the continuation of Attention; (3) The Law of Physical Strain, whereby the element of “breaking up” the object or subject of Attention is necessary in order to avoid the exhaustion of the nervous mechanism employed in Attention; (4) The Law of Rest, whereby the element of variation in the direction of the Attention is necessary in order to comply with the requisites of the respective Laws of Interest, Variety of Stimulus, and Physical Strain. Reference to the detailed statement of the Laws of Attention (appearing in the concluding pages of the previous section of this book) is advised at this stage of your study of the present phase of Voluntary Attention—the phase of Mental Concentration.

Now, then, in your practice of Mental Concentration, you will find it practically impossible to observe these Laws of Attention if you attempt to concentrate continuously upon an abstract idea, i. e., upon the idea of a subject or object lacking concreteness, divisibility, and analysis into parts, elements and factors; for this reason, such attempted continued Concentration of Attention results in lessened conscious, or even in sleep, self-hypnosis, or unconsciousness of some kind. But when your subject or object is concrete, and therefore capable of analysis into parts, elements, or factors, then you will find it possible and comparatively easy to observe these Laws of Attention, and, therefore, to apply efficiently the principle of Mental Concentration.

The best way to proceed to apply these laws and principles is to divide your subject or object under consideration into its several parts, elements, and factors; then to proceed to consider each of these constituent groups in regular logical order, passing from one to another when weariness, lessened activity, and decreased power of concentration manifest themselves. In this way, and in this way alone, is it possible for you to maintain Continuous Interest, Variety of Stimulus, avoidance of Physical Strain, and to obtain Rest for the Attention. The Variety of Stimulus provides a Continuous Interest, avoids Physical Strain, and provides Rest for the Attention.

Here, also, we ask you to refer to that section of this book entitled “Observation and Experiment,” and to note the “Rules of Observation” therein presented. Note, especially, the reference to “The Whole and the Parts,” “Combined Observation,” “Visualized Observations,” “Naming Observations,” and “The General Rule.” These Rules of Observation should be observed by you in your practice of Mental Concentration. The rule of “The Whole and the Parts” points out the course to be pursued in your Mental Concentration if you would observe the Laws of Attention—and observe them you must, if you wish to attain efficient Mental Concentration.

You should concentrate first on the more general aspect of the subject or object under consideration—the thing as a Whole. But this “whole” must be a real Whole, made up of parts, elements and factors, and not merely an abstract Whole thought of as existing “in, of, and by itself.” For instance, if you wish to concentrate upon the subject “House,” you must concentrate upon an actual house, a real house, (either one in existence, one which has been in existence, or one which is possible of being in existence), made up of all the constituent parts of a house; not of the abstract idea of “House.” It must be “a house,” and not merely “House”—the latter being a mere word, name or term, and not a representation of a real or possible thing. Read over this statement until you “get it”—until you “catch the idea.” Abstract things have no real existence outside of abstract thought—only concrete things actually exist, or can so exist. Abstract ideas, in the words of the popular humorist, “are all right, but they don’t mean anything!”

From your concentrated consideration of the Whole of your subject or object, then proceed to concentrate upon the leading parts, elements or factors of that Whole. Exhausting this, or feeling fatigue or loss of interest, then proceed to a minor or subordinate class of parts, elements or factors; and so on, and on, and on, until finally you have given concentrated attention to all the parts, elements, and factors of that Whole. This may take more than one “sitting”—in most cases it will require many such. Keep at it, however, until you have sucked the juice from the orange, or extracted the meat from the egg.

Let your ideal end and purpose be to exhaust the subject or object of all possible information concerning all of its qualities and relations. Let your method be to work from the Whole to its Parts—from General to Particulars. Pursue the investigation along the lines of Analysis, i. e., that of analyzing, dissecting, separating, taking apart, resolving and refining the subject or object into its constituent, composing, correlated parts, elements, and factors—and into the disclosure of its relations and associations. The nearer you come to this, the closer will you be to the attainment of your ideal end and purpose, aim and intention. You will be helped in your task if you will hold before you the concrete, actual illustrative example of the pupil of Agassiz, of whom we have told you.

Finally, never overlook the all-important fact that “Interest is the arouser and maintainer of Attention”; and its corollary: “Interest may be aroused, increased, and maintained by Attention.” The endless chain of Efficient Observation and Perception is composed of these links: Interest-Attention-Interest-Attention-Interest-Attention-Interest-Attention-Interest, and so on ad infinitum. Interest always precedes Attention; and Attention always precedes Interest. Like the familiar argument in the old-time debating societies, in which the question of “Which comes first, the Chicken or the Egg?, is never answered—so is it impossible to say which “comes first,” Interest or Attention! It is like the old song: “We’re here because we’re here because we’re here because,” etc. There is no beginning, and no ending—the endless chain is endless because it has no ends, i. e., because it is like a ring or circle, having no point of beginning or ending.

And now, once more let us remind you that you are the Creator of your World of Experience. You create it with that instrument which you call your mind. Create it well—the best that is within you should be devoted to the task. Build it strong— build it wide—build it high! Be not content with the narrow expanse of the World of Experience of the average man—build it wide, and then continue to widen and expand it so long as you live. Be not content with the lowlands of Knowledge, and with the limited view to which you are restricted by life on the lower planes of Perception. Insist upon ascending the Mount of Achievement, around which winds the Path of Knowledge. At each turn of the spiral road you will obtain a fuller and wider view of the surrounding country—a more comprehensive vision—a truer perspective—by means of which you may more intelligently, and more justly, estimate the comparative proportions and value of the things on the plains (or planes) below. So build your World of Experience that, when it is completed, you may be able to gaze upon it and say: “It is a good and well-built world. I have done my best. The best that I have found within me is represented in it!”

In conclusion, let us remind you that in the development and cultivation of Perceptive Power, as in every other task set by human desire and executed by human will, you will proceed more satisfactorily if you will bear in mind and act upon the principle of the Master Formula of Attainment which forms an important element of the instruction contained in the “Personal Power Books” of which the present volume is one.

The Master Formula of Attainment is as follows: “(1) Definite Ideals; (2) Insistent Desire; (3) Confident Expectation; (4) Persistent Determination; (5) Balanced Compensation.” Reduced to popular terms, it is as follows: “You may have anything you want, provided that you (1) know exactly what you want, (2) want it hard enough, (3) confidently expect to obtain it, (4) persistently determine to obtain it, and (5) are willing to pay the price of its attainment.”

The cultivation and development of Perceptive Power also meets the requirements of the Touchstone of Positivity which is frequently referred to in the several books forming this series. The Touchstone of Positivity is the following Test Question applied to any and every undertaking contemplated by you: “Will this make me stronger, better, and more efficient?”

That well-developed and cultivated Perceptive Power will tend to make you “stronger, better, and more efficient” is self-evident. That you will be able to develop and cultivate Perceptive Power is assured, provided that you “know exactly what you want, want it hard enough, confidently expect to attain it, persistently determine to obtain it, and are willing to pay the price of its attainment.”

Reasoning Power: Practical Logic

Practical Logic

In this book you are asked to consider that wonderful phase of Personal Power known as Reasoning Power, and to include in such consideration the principles of Practical Logic. In the practical instruction which is set forth in the series of books of which the present volume is one, Personal Power is regarded as being a phase of the expression and manifestation of POWER, i. e., the All-Power from which all forms and phases of particular Power directly or indirectly proceed.

Reason is the activity of the highest faculties of cognition, thought, understanding and knowledge. It is the highest process of the intellect, the thinking faculty, the faculty of understanding, the faculty of knowing. Reasoning proceeds by logical processes, even when the reasoner knows naught of formal rules of Logic. Logic is: “The science or art of exact reasoning, or of pure and formal thought; or the laws according to which the processes of pure thinking should be conducted.”

Logic may lie regarded from either of two general viewpoints, viz., (1) that of Formal Logic, in which the subject is treated in accordance with the academic, technical, formal position; or (2) that of Practical Logic, in which technical form and academic treatment are largely set aside in favor of the presentation concerned with efficient use, employment, work, utility and action. In the present consideration there shall be but little reference to the methods of Formal Logic; the subject will be presented almost entirely according to the methods of Practical Logic.

Reasoning applied according to the methods of Practical Logic, consists of the processes of consecutive thinking in which the mind passes before it in review the essential facts concerning a subject, and then, after a careful consideration of their respective characteristics and relations, draws conclusions and makes judgments conformable with truth. Reasoning, and Practical Logic, are concerned with the discovery of the truth regarding the existence, nature and character of any subject or object of thought to which the attention is directed for that purpose; moreover, they are concerned with the discovery of efficient means whereby definite ends may be secured, and definite results effected.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of Reasoning according to the methods of Practical Logic may be expressed by the term “purposive effort,” i. e., effort directed definitely and with purpose. Reasoning inspired by Practical Logic must ever be purposive—it must have an aim and end, an intention, object and purpose, and must be inspired and directed by these motives. That aim and end, intention, object and purpose of Reason and Practical Logic is always found to be: the discovery of truth and of facts.

When you reason about anything, you do so in order to discover something at present unknown to you. That which you seek is unknown to you, though usually you have a more or less general notion of the direction which the mind must travel in its search for it. You may not know just what you want, or just what you hope to find; but you are conscious of the want of a general or particular “something,” and you have a more or less definite idea of the general class of things to which it belongs, and in which it must be sought. The more clearly and definitely you perceive the exact nature of the want, the more definite and determined will be your reasoning leading up to its discovery. It has been well said that, “All reasoning begins in doubt”; that “the process of reasoning is always one of problem solving; the occasion for reasoning is always a ‘thwarted purpose’.”

If you were Omniscient—All-Knowing—(as the Absolute or Supreme Being of philosophy and theology always is held to be), then you would never have any need of reasoning, and, consequently, would never reason at all. This, because in such case you would have nothing left about which to reason—you would know all things. Your purpose would never be thwarted, for there would be nothing to thwart it, and nothing by means of which it might be thwarted. You would never be perplexed about anything whatsoever, and would never have to “think out” or “think about” anything.

Philosophers have held that an Omniscient Omnipotent Being can not properly be held to “think” at all in the form of reasoning; such a Being would transcend Reason—it would “know” everything that is to be known, without effort, directly and immediately; moreover, it would have no “thwarted purpose” to overcome and remedy by means of Reasoning. Reasoning, then, is seen to be a mental power reserved for finite beings who have much to learn, and many “thwarted purposes” to overcome and to remedy—and who need to employ reasoning in order to cure such troubles and to remedy such deficiencies. Reasoning Power, then, is seen to belong to the category of Personal Power.

Logic investigates the processes of Reasoning in order, (1) to discover the qualities distinguishing correct thinking; and (2) to formulate rules and methods whereby invalid thinking may be avoided, and valid thinking may be secured. It announces certain basic laws and principles which have been found to govern all valid thinking; it teaches certain rules and methods by means of which valid thinking may be insured and secured, and invalid thinking avoided.

Formal Logic strives to give to the form of Logical Reasoning the technical, scientific accuracy of mathematical formulas; its teachers have sought to discover and announce logical terms and formulas, often of extreme technicality and complexity, which correspond to those employed in higher mathematics. Practical Logic, on the contrary, holds that only in a very inadequate way can Logic be reduced to algebraic expression; its teachers seek rather to announce plain, practical rules and methods whereby the average thinking individual may assure himself that he is pursuing the correct general laws and principles of Reasoning, and that he is avoiding the fallacies which beset the road of thought.

As we have already told you, we shall have very little to do with Formal Logic in this book; but we shall have much to do with Practical Logic. We shall proceed upon the theory that, “Psychology is descriptive; Logic is regulative and corrective; Reason is creative.” The edifice of our instruction is built upon sound foundations, having a strong pillar at each corner. These foundation pillars are as follows, (1) Psychology, (2) Practical Logic, (3) Experience, and (4) Common Sense. Each pillar has its definite and particular place and purpose in the whole plan; but no one of them would be strong enough to support the structure were the other three removed. It is only when the four elements represented by these pillars are united in strength, and harmony of arrangement, that the structure is properly supported and scientifically balanced.

You probably have desired (at some time in your life at least) to learn something concerning the principles of Practical Logic or Logical Reasoning. Most persons have felt this desire. Many persons have sought such information in the technical textbooks of Formal Logic; but most of them have found in such books chiefly a great disappointment. Instead of practical instruction, they have found strange, mysterious terms. Instead of practical rules, they have found abstruse, artificial formulas having apparently no relation to everyday life and thought and their requirements. They have asked for the bread of instruction, and have been given the cold stone of formal, technical, academic categories, and hair-splitting distinctions having no discernible connection with the actual thinking processes of the average man. Many an eager seeker after the truths of Logical Thinking has become discouraged after an experience of this kind—possibly after several such—and has given up all hopes of ever learning anything about the real meaning and use of Logic.

But, we are glad to be able to say, there has been of late years a decided tendency in the direction of bringing down the subject of Logic from the region of thin air and extreme coldness in which it has been kept for so long—down to the warmer and more comfortable valleys wherein most of us dwell. Formal Logic is taking its place with the study of the “dead languages”; Practical Logic is taking a place on the level with the study of the living tongues. The pragmatic spirit of modern thought is insisting that the essential, usable, workable elements of Logic be separated from its ancient dead forms, and be made obtainable in living, practical forms adapted to the requirements of everyday life. Practical Logic is “coming to the front,” while Formal Logic in many cases is being “shown out by the back door” of practical mental establishments.

It has been said that, “The theory of every operation of the mind is later than its performance; men were accustomed to think correctly long before they began to reflect upon their thinking faculties and the processes by which their results were obtained.” It has also been said that, “A meagre soul can never be made fat, nor a narrow soul be made large, by merely studying the Rules of Thinking.” So, have your thinking first, and plenty to think about, and then ask your logician to teach you how to scrutinize with a nice eye the processes by which you have arrived at your conclusions.

The real office of Practical Logic is largely corrective and regulative. It points out and corrects fallacious reasoning on your part; it enables you to detect fallacious, sophistical, or casuistical reasoning on the part of others; it exercises a direction over your habitual processes of thought, thereby inhibiting illogical forms of thought and supplanting them by true logical forms. If it simply enabled you to detect the false reasoning of other persons, and to prevent you from being deceived by such, the study of Practical Logic would be well “worth while”; in reality, it not only accomplishes this task, but also performs other equally important work for the individual who earnestly studies its principles.

There are many persons who have never even heard of the rules and methods of Logical Reasoning, and who do not know even the meaning of the principal terms employed in that science, but who, nevertheless, have really been employing these methods with more or less correctness, and observing these rules more or less faithfully, during their entire period of life. They are like the man in the French comedy who expressed surprise when informed that he had been “talking prose” all his life, for (said he) “I never learned prose, never studied it, never was taught it—never even knew that I was talking it; I must have a remarkable mind!” So, many would doubtless wonder if informed that they were using logical forms and methods in their thought; they, too, might think their minds to be wonderful, inasmuch as they had never studied Logic and never know that they were employing its methods with more or less success.

Jevons says: “Ninety-nine people out of a hundred might be surprised on hearing that they had been employing syllogisms and other logical forms, converting propositions, framing hypotheses, and making classifications with genera and species. If asked whether they were logicians, they would probably answer, No! They would be partly right; for I believe that a large number even of educated persons have no clear idea what Logic is. Yet, in a certain way, every one must have been a logician since he began to speak. I may be asked: If indeed we cannot help being logicians, why do we need Logic at all? The answer is that there are logicians and logicians. All persons are logicians in some manner or degree; but unfortunately, many persons are bad logicians, and suffer harm in consequence. It is just the same in other matters. * * * We must reason well or ill; but Logic is the Science of Reasoning which enables us to distinguish between the good reasoning which leads to truth, and the bad reasoning which leads to error and misfortune.”

The logicians did not invent the essential forms of Logic; instead, they discovered them already in existence and being employed with more or less accuracy and precision by all thinking individuals. The laws of Logical Thought are not commands announced by some ruling authority; they are merely statements of “the way the mind works” when it reasons truly and efficiently; they are Laws of Nature, not laws of men. The Laws of Practical Logic are simply the statements of certain principles and methods observed and applied, more or less faithfully and consistently, by intelligent men and women when they reason seriously, carefully, and deliberately.

Men reasoned more or less correctly, observing more or less faithfully the essential logical forms, long before the term “Logic” was coined, and still longer before the present-day principles and methods of Logic were announced. This, however, is no more remarkable than the fact that all Nature, and all contained within Nature, obeyed the Law of Gravitation long before that law was discovered, and still longer before its principles of operation were generally and commonly known to men. Newton simply discovered the existence of certain physical laws—and announced them; logicians simply discovered the existence of certain mental laws—and announced them.

It is true that men have done good thinking without a formal acquaintance with the Laws of Logical Thought; but they did so “in spite of” their lack of knowledge—not “because of” it. No man ever thought efficiently because of his ignorance of the principles of Logic! On the other hand, you can no more reasonably expect to become a proficient and efficient logical reasoner by merely knowing the laws of Practical Logic, than you could expect to become a proficient and efficient mathematician by simply knowing the Laws of Mathematics. In either case, something more is needed; but in each case it is equally true that you will do well to learn thoroughly those rules, principles, and laws in order to attain correctness, to secure freedom from error, and to detect the errors of others which are often claimed to be truth, in these respective branches of scientific thought.

In the spirit of the above statements, the following instruction in the principles of Practical Logic is offered to you.

The Psychology of Reasoning

Psychology does not attempt to solve the problem of “just what Mind is.” Instead, it contents itself with regarding Mind as experiencing “a series of mental states,” and of discovering and announcing “just how” the mental processes arise, proceed, and manifest themselves. In this way, Psychology inquires into the mental processes involved in the activities of Reasoning, and reports just what laws, principles, and methods of procedure it has discovered to be active in that important field of mentation.

In the first place, it discovers and reports that Reasoning is a phase or form of Thinking; that phase or form which is concerned with considering, deliberating, forming opinions, judging, concluding and ascertaining valid grounds for belief in anything. It discovers and reports that Thinking employs Thoughts as its material, these Thoughts being combined, woven and manufactured into the complex products of Reasoning.

Thoughts are of varying degrees of complexity, ranging from the simplest perception to the most complex general idea. The simplest form of Thought is that known as the Percept, or the simple idea derived from Perception. But even the simplest Percept is really complex, and composed of several elements, as you shall see presently. Perception is not the simplest and most elementary mental process; below it in the scale is what is known as Sensation. Sensation, however, is not usually included in the category of Thought; on the contrary, it is considered to be “the raw material of Thought.” It is worth while to pause here a moment in order to note the distinction between Sensation and Perception.

Sensation is: “The mental state arising from the excitation of portions of the nervous system by reason of their contact with objects or forces external to the nervous system.”

Perception is: ‘“The mental state arising from (1) the conscious recognition of the sensory reports; (2) the interpretation of these reports as particular kinds of Sensation: and (3) the association of these reports with the external object or force originally giving rise to them.

Example: There is placed before you a certain external object—the object known to most persons as an Orange. Your mental processes concerning it are as follows: Your sense of Sight reports certain conditions arising from an excitation of the optical nerves; your sense of Touch reports certain conditions arising from the contact of the nerves of your finger-tips with something external to it; your sense of Smell reports certain conditions arising from the contact of your nerve-ends located in the mucous membrane of your nostrils with certain subtle emanations of the substance of something external to them; your sense of Taste reports certain conditions arising from the contact of the nerves located in your mouth and tongue with an outside substance which has been placed within the mouth, or upon the extended tongue; your sense of Hearing makes no report in this particular case.

Your Perception then proceeds to recognize and interpret these Sensations; in doing so, it is aided by your past experience with Sensation, by means of which you have evolved from the simple-sensation stage of the young infant to the perceptive stage of the adult of at least average experience with external things. Your Perception also proceeds to associate these Sensations with things external to itself. It recognizes and interprets these sensory reports in terms of perception of size, shape, form, distance, color, etc.; in terms of perception of weight, size, shape, form, degree of hardness, etc.; in terms of perception of odor, fragrance, aroma, etc.; in terms of sweetness and agreeable taste, etc. To all of these sensory reports it applies certain terms which it has adopted as representing certain perceived sensations. It recognizes the perceptive elements of roundness, certain size, certain shape, certain form-characteristics, yellowish color; of certain weight and certain “feel”; of fragrance and aroma; of sweetness and pleasant taste. It interprets these perceptive elements in symbolic forms of thought and speech called “words,” or “terms.” It associates these perceptive elements or characteristics with the external object which has given rise to the several sensory-stimuli in question.

You may object that you “perceive” instinctively, and that you never perform consciously the processes just described. But we would remind you that while Sensation is instinctive, Perception is acquired through experience, and becomes instinctive only by reason of repeated practice and cultivation of the habit. The young infant “senses,” but does not “perceive.” It learns only by experience to distinguish between its various sensations; to recognize them as such; to interpret them; to associate them with external objects. It “feels” from the start; but it must learn by gradual experience to recognize, interpret, and associate with external objects, such feelings and sensations.

Sully gives us a simple, effective figurative illustration of the difference between Sensations and Perceptions. He says: “Sensations are the alphabet by which we spell out the objects presented to us. In order to grasp and apprehend these objects, these letters must be put together after the manner of words. Thus the apprehension of an apple by the eye involves the putting together of various sensations of sight, touch and taste. This is the mind’s work, and is known as Perception.” He further tells us that by these Sensation-letters we may spell out, and make up Perceptive words; for instance, from the several Sensation-letters of O, R, A, N, G, E, we may spell out and make up the Perceptive-word “ORANGE.”

Gordy also gives us a practical explanation, as follows: “What does the mind do with its sensations of colors, odors and tastes in order to perceive colors, odors and tastes as qualities of objects. It groups them together, does it not? When you look at an apple, you group its color, taste, and smell together as qualities of one object. * * * You perceive only when they seem to be qualities actually forming a part of the objects in the world about us, or states of our own bodies. * * * Strictly speaking, what we do when we perceive is to make a group consisting of one or more sensations, and ideas of sensations, and to regard the group as qualities of an external object.”

A Percept is: “A Thought in which one or more sensory elements are recognized, interpreted, and associated with an external object; are regarded as being qualities of that object; and are incorporated into a group, giving the impression of a single and unitary whole, which is regarded as constituting the idea and meaning of that object.” Illustration: When we perceive an external object, e. g., an Orange, we experience a group or aggregate of sensory impressions which by recognition, interpretation and association we combine into the unitary, single Thought of “that Orange.” (Not an Orange, or any Orange, however, but merely and strictly “that particular Orange”; the “an” and “any” being an element of another class of Thoughts).

The form or phase of Thought which is immediately above the Precept in the scale of Reasoning is known as the Concept, or the complex idea derived from Conception. The Concept is constituted, composed, and made up of several Percepts. Just as the Percept represents the Thought of the composite qualities of a particular object, so does the Concept represent the Thought of the composite essential and common qualities of a certain class of objects. Thus, we have found that the Percept of “that Orange” is a composite of the qualities of that particular Orange; now we find that the Concept of “Orange” (meaning any and every Orange—all Oranges) is a composite of the qualities which are possessed in common by all Oranges, and which each and every Orange must possess in order to be “an Orange” at all—all the essential qualities of Oranges in general—all the qualities which must be stated in a complete definition of the general term, “Orange.”

Conception is: “The mental act of combining perceptive ideas into a more general group-idea of a general class of, objects; by it is formed the Concept, or the Thought or idea representing the whole number of objects denoted by the several general perceptive ideas composing it.” To understand the process of Conception more clearly, you must first understand the essential nature and character of the Concept which is formed by the act of Conception. We ask you to give careful attention to the following consideration of the Concept, for you must understand this thoroughly if you wish to manifest efficient Reasoning Power along the lines of Practical Logic.

The dictionary definition of Concept is: An abstract general conception; a general notion; a universal idea; the idea or a larger or smaller class of particular things.” In traditional Logic, the Concept is, “The idea of a characteristic or characteristics belonging to more than one person or thing and, thus, to a general class of things; it stands opposed to the Percept which is an idea dealing with particular things only.”

The act of Conception consists of several stages or phases, which are always performed with greater or less precision and accuracy by the person “thinking,” although he may not be conscious of their nature or of the order observed in their manifestation. Having acquired only gradually the art of performing this process; having obtained it along the lines of the evolution and development of his mental activity from early childhood; and having taken on the habit of performing it, he employs it more or less unconsciously, and he takes it for granted. Analysis, however, will show that these stages or phases are necessary, and that they are always performed consciously or unconsciously by the thinking individual.

The processes above referred to are as follows: (1) Perception of numerous particular objects; (2) Comparison of these particular objects, and noting wherein they agree or differ in their qualities; (3) Selection of certain individual objects which are found to agree in definite fundamental qualities— to be “similar” or “alike” in certain respects; (4) Generalizing, or classifying these similar or “like” objects into classes, which classes have as their essential and necessary qualities those characteristics which have been discovered to be common to and universal among those selected individual objects; (5) Denominating or giving a name or applying a term to that general class of objects—putting a verbal tag or label on it to distinguish it as a whole.

Thus the general class of fruit known as “The Orange,” or “Oranges,” includes all the fruit of that general kind; and its class-qualities are those which are essential and necessary to all Oranges, and which are common and universal among all Oranges, though the numerous particular Oranges may differ materially in non-essential characteristics. The Thought, Idea, or Notion of “The Orange,” or “Oranges” (as a class) is the Concept “Orange,” to which that general term is applied. Into that class must fit, and under that name or term must fall, each and every one, any and all, of the fruit known as Oranges.

Gordy says: “Conception is that act of mind by which it forms an idea of a class, or that act of mind that enables us to use general names intelligently. * * * We never see a class (i. e., an indefinite number of individuals that resemble each other in certain particulars). Classes do not make themselves known to us through any of the senses. How then does the mind form an idea of a class? To answer that question is to state what the mind does in Conception.”

Smaller Concepts may be combined into larger ones, by the application of the characteristic principles of Conception, viz., (1) Cognition of several particular Concepts; (2) Comparison of one particular Concept with another or others, for the purpose of noting resemblances and differences; (3) Selection of certain particular Concepts which are found to agree or resemble each other in one or more particulars; (4) Generalizing or classifying these “like” Concepts into larger Concepts; (5) Affixing names and terms to these larger Concepts.

The process of Conception may be continued at great length, higher and still higher generalizations being made. The end comes only when you have generalized every existing object into one supreme and universal class—the Summum Genus— comprising either all existing things regarded as a whole, or the ultimate essence or substance of such. To this Ultimate Concept is given the class term or name, “Being,” the sole essential and necessary quality of which is Existence in some form, phase, mode or degree of Being-ness—a Something or Somewhat of which the only essential quality is that “It exists.”

Besides the quantitative distinction between different kinds of Concepts, i. e., the difference consisting of the number of objects included in their content, there is to be noted a qualitative distinction, i. e., a difference in general kind, character, or quality. The several most important kinds of qualitative differences between Concepts are based upon the following lines of distinction: (1) Material Quality, (2) Incidental Quality, (3) Causal Quality; each of these are considered below in further detail.

The material quality of a Concept is determined by the fundamental material character of the objects represented in the general idea, considered apart from their incidental relations or associations with other things. Example: The Concept “Sheep” is formed and composed of the essential and necessary fundamental qualities common to and universally present in the entire number of particular objects called “sheep”; this apart from any use or employment of sheep, or any part or portion of their bodies, their energy, etc. In the same way, following the same rule of qualitative unity of character, the Concept “Sheep” may become a part, element, or factor in the larger Concept called “Ruminants.” Likewise, the latter Concept may be included in the still larger one of “Mammals”; and this, in turn, into a still greater one called “Animals”; and so on, until the Ultimate Concept of “Being” is reached.

The incidental quality of a Concept is determined not by the fundamental material character of the objects represented in the general idea, but rather by their incidental relations or associations with other things—certain subordinate or secondary qualities. The most important incidental qualities of this kind are those concerned with Utility, Use, Employment and Practical Application to certain purposes or ends. Example: Things (and their Percepts) may be classified under the category of the quality of “being useful for fuel purposes”; of “being useful as light-producing agents”; of “employment as disinfectants”; of “use as medicinal remedies”; as “use for tanning purposes,” “curing purposes,” “preserving purposes,” “pickling purposes”; or use, employment, utility, or possible application for any purpose whatsoever. Under this mode of conceptual classification, Coal, Wood, Oil, Fats, etc., may be included in the Concept of Fuel (i. e., “things serving for heat-producing purposes”). In the same way, Torches, Oil, Candles, Electric-Lamps, etc., may be included in the Concept of “light-producing things.” Such examples might be extended indefinitely, but the above will serve to illustrate the characteristic element of this form of classification of Concepts.

The casual quality of a Concept is determined neither by the fundamental material character, nor by the incidental relations or associations, of the objects represented in the general idea; but rather by the power of such objects to produce casual results or effects by reason of their presence and actions. The “causal quality” of a particular thing is represented by the idea of “how does it work; what it will do; what results or effects proceed from its presence and action.” The “causal qualities” of a number of things, when found to agree in general causal character, result in their being combined and included in a Concept of a “Law.” Such a “Law” is merely the Concept embodying the general idea of “how and in what way this class of things works.” A still higher causal synthesis, or generalization, results in the Concept of a “Principle,” or “Law of Laws” of Action—a Cause of Causes. Raised to its highest power, this form of Concept posits the existence of an Ultimate Principle of Cause—a Causeless Cause.

Psychology also furnishes us with a comprehensive classification of the several general processes involving in Logical Reasoning; this classification proceeds as follows:

Judgment upon the Materials of Thought, resulting from the following processes, viz.:

1. Analysis or the discovery of differences in character.

2. Synthesis, or the discovery of resemblances in character.

3. Inference, or the induction or deduction of new facts or truths from others previously discovered by Analysis or Synthesis.

The following brief statements will serve to explain in greater detail the nature and meaning of the above-mentioned several processes involved in Logical Reasoning:

Judgment is that mental process involving comparison and discrimination (i. e., discernment of resemblances and differences in the qualities of respective Percepts or Concepts), whereby the mind forms opinions and decisions concerning the nature of things under consideration. In the processes of Judgment, the mind compares its perceptive or conceptive thoughts, ideas, or notions, and then reaches a decision concerning (a) their degree of resemblance or difference; (b) their respective relations of “the whole and its parts,” or of “the parts and their whole”; (3) their respective relations of cause and effect, or effect and cause; or (4) their respective incidental relations. Judgments (when completed) are always affirmative or negative. The mind cannot reason or think logically without judging; to think or reason logically is to judge. From its simplest and most elemental stages and phases, to its most complex and derivative forms and modes, Reasoning is found to employ the processes of Judgment—it cannot proceed without them.

Analysis is that mental process whereby differences between the qualities, properties and attributes—the respective characters—of two or more objects of perception or conception are detected and discovered As a consequence of Analysis, particular Percepts or Concepts are mentally analyzed, dissected, separated, refined, or resolved into their constituent parts, elements, or factors, each of which is represented by a simpler mental idea and its appropriate term.

Synthesis is that mental process whereby resemblances in the qualities, properties and attributes—the respective characters—of two or more objects of perception or conception are detected and discovered. As a consequence of Synthesis, particular Percepts and Concepts are mentally synthesized, joined, combined, associated, related, put-together, united and fused into a Concept of a higher order, a greater class, a more general and more nearly universal character—into a greater Whole, Law, or Principle.

Inference is that mental process whereby, through Analogy, Induction, or Deduction, new facts or truths are adduced or drawn from others previously discovered by the processes of Analysis or Synthesis, or by both of these combined. It has been defined as: “Deduction or Induction from preceding known facts or premises, resulting in the discovery of new facts and truths.” Again, it has been stated as: “The process of coordinating and systematizing previously acquired knowledge, so that new knowledge is thereby gained through induction or deduction, or similar process.” Inference is the process of reasoning from the known to the unknown; or the discovery of a third fact from two facts already known. It produces a new and third Judgment based upon two prior Judgments which have been arrived at through some previous reasoning of some kind. Its forms are known, respectively, as Logical Analogy, Logical Induction, and Logical Deduction.

Note: You are requested to familiarize yourself with the above-stated explanations of Analysis, Synthesis, Inference, and Judgment; as well as of the previously stated explanations of Precepts and Concepts. A thorough understanding of these elements of Logical Reasoning, or Reasoning Thought, is essential for your comprehension of the further instruction to be presented in the following sections of this book. The fundamental building-materials of Thought, i. e., Percepts and Concepts, and the basic processes whereby such materials are put together and built into the structure of Thought: these must be understood by those who desire to engage in the working of Thought-Building, Logical Reasoning, or Rational Thought.

The Seven Axioms of Logical Reasoning

In Logical Reasoning, you are asked to apply the principles of several fundamental and basic axioms. An “axiom” is “a self-evident and necessary truth; a proposition which it is necessary to take for granted; an established principle.” These Axioms of Logical Reasoning, however, while offered as self-evident and necessary to be taken for granted, are not the arbitrary dogmas or dicta of real or pretended authority; instead, they represent the universal experience of human thought rationally applied and directed; they represent truths “of which the contrary is unthinkable, and which would constitute a scandal of rational thought.” These Axioms are in constant use, in the thought processes of reasoning human beings; they are “taken for granted,” and are either directly asserted or tacitly implied in all Logical Reasoning.

The Seven Axioms of Logical Reasoning (which we shall consider in detail in the succeeding sections of this book) are named, and briefly stated, in the following paragraphs, as follows:

I. The Axiom of Logical Analysis: “Every thing is composed, constituted and made-up of (a) parts, elements and factors, and (b) qualities, properties and attributes, which in combination, arrangement, correlation and coordination constitute its character and make it just what it is, and into which it may be analyzed, dissected and separated in thought.”

II. The Axiom of Logical Synthesis: “Every thing belongs to a class of things possessing one or more common and essential characteristics; many things belong to several classes of different (though not opposing) character.”

III. The Axiom of Logical Judgment: “All Logical Judgment is based upon these three fundamental Laws of Thought, viz., (1) A thing is always just what it is, and nothing else, at a given time and place, no matter what particular name or term may be employed to indicate, designate or represent it; (2) A thing cannot both be and not be just what it is affirmed to be, at the same time and place; (3) A thing must either be, or not be, that which it is affirmed to be, at a given time and place—there is no third alternative.

IV. The Axiom of Logical Analogy: “A few things which are alike in many respects, are probably (though not certainly) alike in some other respects.”

V. The Axiom of Logical Induction: “What is discovered to be true of a great number of observed objects, things, or individuals of a definite general class, is practically certain to be true of that general class as a whole; the characteristics assumed to be possessed in common by all the individual objects or things in a definite general class, constitute the accepted essential characteristics of that class as a whole.”

VI. The Axiom of Logical Causation: “Every change, happening, event, or entrance into or exit from existence, proceeds from precedent conditions or causes; given the same causative factors, the same material elements, and the same environmental conditions, the same results and effects will follow in all cases so determined and conditioned.”

VII. The Axiom of Logical Deduction: “What is true of the class as a whole must be true of each, every, and all of the individuals composing that class.”

Note: You are advised to commit to memory the above-stated Seven Axioms of Logical Reasoning. A consistent and intelligent application of their respective principles will open to you many doors of the Temple of Logical Thought.

The Law of Logical Analysis

You are now invited to consider that important Law of Logical Reasoning known as the Law of Logical Analysis. This Law represents the universal experience of human thought rationally applied and directed. The Law of Logical Analysis is expressed in the first of the Seven Axioms of Logical Reasoning, which is as follows:

I. THE AXIOM OF LOGICAL ANALYSIS: “Every thing is composed, constituted and made-up of (a) parts, elements and factors, and (b) qualities, properties and attributes, which in combination, arrangement, correlation and coordination constitute its character and make it just what it is, and into which it may be analyzed, dissected and separated in thought.”

This axiom states a truth which is verified by all human experience, is supported by the common-sense reports of the race, and is substantiated by the judgment of the keenest logical and philosophical thought; It is to be regarded as a self-evident truth, and as a proposition which may be taken for granted; it is assumed in all logical thought, and is implied in all true reasoning. The following consideration is not intended to be offered as proof of its truth; but is designed merely to elucidate and make clear the manifestation of this principle in the world of thought and things.

Our consideration properly begins with a definition of the term “Thing,” as employed in this axiom. Let us come to an understanding of the meaning of this important term; by so doing we reduce the risk of misunderstanding in the course of this instruction. Inasmuch as the greater part of all disputes arise from misunderstanding of, and non-agreement upon, the principal terms employed in the reasoning, it is important that an agreement of this kind be reached at the beginning of an argument or other process of reasoning. This will serve to explain the frequent resort to definitions which you will discover in the course of this instruction.

A “Thing” (in the present usage of the term) is: “Any separate and distinguishable object of thought.” The term “separate” (as employed in this definition) means, “distinct, apart from others”; the terms “distinguishable” (as employed in this definition) means, “capable of being set apart from others by visible marks, signs, or characteristics; or, capable of definition of terms, or logical division.” A more technical definition of “Thing” is: “Whatever exists, or may be conceived to exist, as a separate, concrete entity, or as a specific, particular object of thought.” In this category of Things are contained all objects of which we have, or can have any practical knowledge through the senses, or through thought employing the material furnished by the senses. If there are any entities outside of this category, we do not and cannot know them in the way in which we know the things of ordinary experience.

Parts, Elements, and Factors

Now for the definitions of the three terms employed in that clause of the axiom following the symbol “(a)”, viz., “parts, elements, and factors.” A “Part” is: “A constituent portion of a whole; a portion less than the whole of a thing.” An “Element” is: “One of the essential parts or principles of which anything is composed, and upon which its distinctive character is based.” A “Factor” is “One of the elements of a thing, which when multiplied or combined constitutes that product which is the whole of the thing.”

It will require but little thought on your part to convince you that everything you have ever experienced, or can imagine yourself as experiencing, is “composed, constituted, and made up of parts, elements, and factors,” and is subject to physical or mental analysis into such. You can form no idea of a concrete, definite thing as being devoid of “parts, elements or factors”; your imagination, as well as your reason, will find itself unable to form a conception of such a thing for you. Even if you were to find yourself able to conceive of such a thing, you would not be able to find words and terms with which to express the thought.

The principle of composition and analysis is illustrated by the ancient Buddhistic story of the dialogue between a sage and the king who was visiting him. The sage asked the king: “What do you mean when you think or speak of your chariot?” The king replied: “When I think or speak of my chariot, I mean my vehicle which is composed of the body, the wheels, the axle, and the pole.” Again the question was asked: “What do you mean when you think and speak of a river?” The answer was: “When I think and speak of a river, I mean its flowing water, its bed, and its bank.”

The sage then asked the king: “Do the body, the wheels, the axle, and the pole of the chariot, taken apart from one another, represent your thought and idea of a chariot? Do the flowing water, the river-bed, the river-banks, taken apart from one another, represent your thought and idea of a river?” The king replied: “Nay, reverend sir; these things, apart from one another and not joined together, are naught but separate and distinct things, and when in that condition constitute neither the chariot nor the river; in such case there is no chariot and no river to be perceived and known to my mind.”

Then asked the sage: “Can you think of a chariot or of a river without including in your thought these parts which constitute it?” “Nay, sir; I cannot think of either chariot or river in this way; when I attempt it I find myself thinking of nothing, or of a mere word or name.” “Then,” said the sage, “can you think of a chariot or a river by thinking merely of the separated parts which when combined constitute them?” “Nay, reverend sir,” replied the king, “when I try to do so I find myself thinking merely of separate and disconnected parts, and not of the chariot or the river at all; in such case, as before, I find that to me the chariot and the river are mere words or names, and have no present real existence at all.”

“Then,” asked the sage, “tell me of what your real thought of the chariot and of the river must consist; of what is it composed; of what is it made up.” “Reverend sir,” replied the king, “I find that my real thought of the chariot, and of the river, is composed, constituted, and made up of my several ideas of their various parts, and of my idea of the combination, correlation and coordination of those parts; of those several parts existing, and being assembled, arranged, and put together in a certain fashion.” “Good,” said the sage, “you have now discovered for yourself the true nature of all things. Everything of which you can think is so composed, constituted and made up; so are the several parts, elements and factors ‘put together’ in a certain fashion, and acting in combination, coordination and correlation.”

Thus the ancient sage, employing the Socratic Method of delivering the mind of its thought by means of asking leading questions, taught to the king the lesson of the true nature of things, and thoughts of things. You may employ this method in the way of applying the general principle to anything and everything which is the subject or object of your actual experience, and which is the result of your processes of perception and conception. All Percepts and all Concepts are made up of “put together” parts, elements and factors of thought (as you have seen in the preceding section of this book); and, being so, they are each and all subject to analysis and resolution into such constituent elements.

In considering the subject of composition and analysis, however, you must not lose sight of the important part played in it by the respective forms of arrangement and correlation present in the “putting together” of the several elements, parts, or factors of a thing. For instance, there are many chemical elements, harmless in themselves, or harmless when combined in certain proportions, which are poisonous when combined in certain other proportions. The same is true concerning explosives; for instance, nitro-glycerine is composed of two harmless and non-explosive materials, which when combined in certain proportions produce the high-explosive. Formulas must include not only the constituent elements, but also the proportions in which these must be combined.

Carbon, in different forms, produces the diamond, charcoal, and other substances manifesting widely different appearances. From some seventy or eighty chemical elements, combined in different proportions, all the countless number of organic and inorganic material substances are made up and constituted. In considering the principle of Composition, the associated principles of Correlation, (i. e. mutual or reciprocal relation), and Coordination (i. e., common and harmonious action, movement or condition), must be also taken into consideration. The phenomena of Composition consist not only of the “putting together,” but also of the arrangement observed in the “putting together.”

The Law of Composition and Analysis manifests in the mental as well as in the physical field. In every field of Physics or Psychology it is found manifest. No exceptions have thus far been discovered. All apparent exceptions are ultimately found unquestionably coming under the rule.

Qualities, Properties and Attributes

Now for the definitions of the three terms, employed in that clause of our axiom following the symbol “(b),” viz., “qualities, properties and attributes.” A “Quality” is: “Anything that makes, or helps to make, anything such as it is; a distinguishing property, characteristic or attribute.” A “Property” is: “A peculiar quality of a thing; a distinctive attribute; an inherent and naturally essential characteristic of anything.” An “Attribute” is: “An inherent quality, essential property, or characteristic disposition.”

In the preceding section of this book, you have seen that in the act or process of Perception you recognize certain sensory reports (arising from contact with external objects) as being associated with those particular objects; and interpret them as representing certain qualities, properties or attributes inherent and abiding in those objects. In a Percept(as you have discovered) you regard the perceived elements as “representing qualities of the perceived object; these being incorporated into a group, giving the impression of a single and unitary whole, which is regarded as constituting the idea and meaning of that object.” Therefore, your Percept of a particular object is composed and made up of “put together” separate perceptions arising from separate sensations. Likewise, the object represented by your Percept is regarded as being composed and made up of the “put together” particular qualities, properties and attributes which are represented by the perceptive elements which constitute your completed Percept.

Illustration: When you perceive a particular Orange placed before you, you become conscious of a number of sensations arising by reason of the presence of the Orange, and of its contact with your sensory organism. These several sensations being recognized, interpreted, and associated with that Orange, are transformed into perceptive elements, and combined in your completed Percept of “that Orange.” Your Percept, then is composed and made up of several elements, each of which represents a particular quality, property or attribute of that Orange.

In the illustrative figure on the next page, we have (1) a circle representing your Percept of that particular Orange; and (2) a number of smaller circles included in the limits of the larger one, each of which represents the perceptive element associated with some particular quality, property or attitude of the Orange, viz., (a) its form, (b) its weight, (c) its hardness or softness, (d) its color, (e) its fragrance, (f) its taste, (g) its size. Each of these respective perceptive element is called a “simple percept”; their fusion and union into the particular idea of “that Orange” constitutes a “complex percept”—technically known as “a Percept,” such as has been described to you.

You should note here the important fact that you are able to distinguish between one object of thought and other such objects—between one perceived thing and other such things— solely by reason of your perception of the differences in the respective qualities, properties and attributes of the several objects or things. You distinguish and discriminate between objects and things solely by reason of your perception of their distinctive respective “characters.” The “character” of anything, i. e., “that peculiar quality, or the sum of qualities, by which a person or thing is distinguished from others,” is composed and made up of “characteristics.”

Characteristics

The term “Characteristics” means: “Distinguishing traits, qualities, attributes or properties.” In the category of Characteristics are found not only the qualities, properties and attributes which we have just considered, but also the parts, elements and factors and their arrangement, correlations and coordinations, which we considered a little further back in this section of this book. The Characteristics of a thing make it “just what it is”—that particular thing as distinguished from other particular things.

“External Characteristics.” In addition to the Characteristics (i. e., the qualities, properties and attributes; the parts, elements and factors) which we have considered in these pages, there are certain “quasi-characteristics” of things which some thinkers would include in the category of Characteristics or Attributes. These “quasi-characteristics” compose a class of relation-attributes, i. e., attributes denoting the relations known as “contiguity of time, space, and cause and effect” which the object bears to other things or objects. These relation-attributes are often called the “external characteristics” of the object or thing. Example: (a) the relation of Cause and Effect existing between two things; (b) the relation of nearness or distance in space between two things; (c) the relation of nearness or distance in time between two things.

The “quasi-characteristics,” or “external characteristics,” while properly “belonging to” an object or things, nevertheless are not true characteristics, such as the “internal characteristics” which we have previously described in the pages. The “internal characteristics” (i. e., the parts, elements and factors, the qualities, properties and attributes, of a thing) are essentially connected with the inner nature of that thing; while the “external characteristics” depend not upon the inner nature of the thing, but, instead, upon the external “conditions” under which the thing exists. By “Conditions” is meant: “The state, circumstances, or relative position in or under which anything exists.”

We shall consider the subject of “External Characteristics” in the following section of this book, which is devoted to the examination of “The Law of Logical Synthesis.” We believe this to be the more logical method of treating that particular subject, inasmuch as it is involved in Apperception, rather than in Perception.

The Law of Logical Synthesis

You are now invited to consider that important Law of Logical Reasoning known as the Law of Logical Synthesis. This Law represents the universal experience of human thought, rationally applied and directed. The Law of Logical Synthesis is expressed in the second of the Seven Axioms of Logical Reasoning, which is as follows:

II. THE AXIOM OF LOGICAL SYNTHESIS: “Every thing belongs to a class of things possessing one or more common and essential characteristics; many things belong to several classes of different (though not opposing) character.”

The principle, law, and truth embodied in this axiom is employed in all logical thinking. It is regarded as a self-evident truth, properly to be taken for granted; it is assumed in all logical thought, and is implied in all true reasoning. The following consideration is not intended to be offered as proof of its truth; but is designed merely to elucidate and make clearer the manifestation of this principle in the world of thought and things.

By “Logical Synthesis” is meant: “The act of synthesizing, combining, putting together, or arranging systematically into classes or groups, two or more individual or particular things possessing common essential characteristics.” By “Class” is meant: “A group of individual or particular things possessing common essential characteristics.”

The principle of Classification, as employed in Logical Reasoning, is applied under two general methods, viz., (1) the method of Practical Classification, and (2) the method of Logical Synthesis. Practical Classification consists of placing particular things (represented by their appropriate Percepts) into loosely constructed classes depending upon the general resemblance discovered to exist between the respective characteristics of such things; this form of Classification is employed merely for convenience of thought and expression. Logical Synthesis consists of the processes whereby Reason unites into a General Idea or Concept the several elements of a number of particular Percepts bearing a very close resemblance to each other in the matter of their essential characteristics. This form of Classification or Synthesis has for its purpose the creation of an intelligent idea of a general class, genus, or species of things; such created ideas afterward to be used as material for the higher processes of Logical Reasoning or Logical Inference. We now ask you to consider in further detail each of these two general methods of Classification.

Practical Classification

By reference to your own experience, you will find that you are in the habit of grouping your ideas of things into certain loosely-knitted classes; you think of them as “all of a kind,” for the purpose of convenience, yet you do not make the subdivisions into genera, species, families, etc. Your ordinary classification of this kind, you will find, arises from your perception of certain general kinds, forms, or classes of relationship existing between the particular things in question.

Examples of this kind of relation between particular things are found in cases of: (1) the relations of existence in the same place; (2) the relation of existence in the same period of time; (3) the relation of cause and effect, as for instance, thunder and lightning; (4) personal relations, as, for instance, parent and child, husband and wife, brother and sister, etc., (5) mass relations, as, for instance, members of the same religious denomination, the same political party, the same base-ball team, the same legislature, the same club, etc., (6) utilitarian relations, as, for instance, coal and fire, oil and light, steam and motive-power, etc., (7) relations of common purpose or use, as, for instance, coal, wood, and oil (considered as heat-producers), or candles, oil, and electric-light (considered as light-producers); (8) relations of resemblance of prominent characteristics, as, for instance, all black things, all sweet things, all solid things, all poisonous things, all explosive things; (9) the special relations of whole and parts, as, for instance, the automobile and its numerous parts, fixtures and attachments. This list of possible Practical Classification might be extended almost indefinitely; but the above mentioned more important classes will serve to illustrate the principle employed and observed in all such classification.

You will find it of great importance to cultivate this form of Classification. By tying your notions of things into separate bundles—by placing them in the appropriate pigeon-holes of memory—by “cross indexing” them, as it were—you will be able to perform your work of Practical Thinking and Efficient Thought with a minimum expenditure of time and effort, and with a maximum of desirable results.

Put things into Classes in your mind—but be careful that each thing properly belongs in that class, else you may experience trouble when you have need to refer to that class of things. You cannot well classify things properly unless you have previously acquired clear and correct Percepts or Concepts of them. The man who has the materials of thought well classified and systematically arranged, will be able to “think out” the desired answer long before the man not so prepared is able to do it— indeed, the latter person may not be able to do it at all. System in the Classification of ideas, information and knowledge will give one an immense advantage over others who follow the “higgledy-piggledy” method—or lack of method.

Professor Halleck well says: “Whenever a person is comparing a fact in order to put it in the same class with other specimens, he is Thinking. Comparison is an absolutely essential factor of Thought, and Classification demands comparison. The man who has not properly classified the myriad individual objects with which he has to deal, must advance like a cripple. He, only, can travel with seven-leagued boots who has thought out the relations existing between these stray individuals and put them into their proper classes. In a minute, a business man may put his hand on any one of ten thousand letters, if they are properly classified. In the same way, the student of any science can, if he studies his subject aright, have all of his knowledge of any subject classified and speedily available for use.”

You will be able to put the same thing into very many classes, under the method of Practical Classification. The more classes, the better; for each class-relation gives you another handle with which to grasp the thought of that thing when you need it; each is another “cross index” by means of which you may find it when it is required.

Some psychologists indicate the process of Practical Classification by the name or term, “Apperception,” so as to distinguish it from the Classification of Logical Synthesis known in Logic as Conception. The important mental process known as Apperception is overlooked in most works dealing with the subject of Formal Logic; indeed this particular subject belongs rather to the field of Practical Logic. Professor Gordy says: “Apperception is the most fundamental form of mental activity. It is that combining activity of the mind that brings order and harmony of related facts into the consciousness of relations.” In the processes of Constructive Imagination, the factor of Apperception, or “the knowledge of practical relations,” is a very important element.

Practical Logic is largely concerned with the discovery of the practical relations between things; and the proper classifications of such relations. Unrelated knowledge is only half-knowledge. Be keen in your search for relations; and be careful in your classification of them after they are discovered. Men advance by reason of their discovery of new relations in things; and by properly classifying and indexing these in their minds. Halleck well says: “Whenever one learns a new thing, apparently unrelated to any other part of his knowledge, he should make haste to form connections. In doing this, he will think”

This, then, is what the method of Practical Classification means; as for the method of Logical Synthesis, or Generalization—“that is another story.” You have doubtless noted that under the method of Practical Classification the arrangement into classes is made according to the “quasi-attributes,” or the “external characteristics” of the different things, rather than according to the true qualities, properties, and attributes—the “internal characteristics” of the different objects. In Logical Synthesis, or Generalization, the division and classification proceed according to strict logical requirements; in it only the true qualities, properties and attributes are taken into consideration—only the “internal characteristics” are employed in the process of Logical Classification.

Logical Synthesis, or Generalization is: “The act or process of bringing two or more particular Percepts, agreeing in some important point or points of character, into a common or general class, under a common or general head, name or term; or to bring a particular fact, or series of facts, into a wider circle of similar facts, to which an appropriate term has been affixed. The general idea, class or conception thus produced is known as a Concept. The Concept, so produced, is the general idea or notion; or the idea or notion of a general class of things, which is composed, constituted and made up of a number of particular ideas of particular individual things possessing class-characteristics in common. The term applied to the Concept becomes the class name.”

In Logical Synthesis, or Generalization, the term “class” does not (as in Practical Classification) mean merely a crowd, collection, aggregation or assembled number of individuals not necessarily possessing essential “internal characteristics”; instead, it here clearly means an indefinite number of individual things (perhaps far apart in time or space) which possess certain essential “internal characteristics” in common, and which are practically identical and “alike” in these essential respects.

In Logical Synthesis, or Generalization, many individual things are carefully compared for “resemblances” and agreement; their respective non-essential “differences” and disagreements being laid aside in the general classification. That is to say, if the several things agree in the major characteristics, then their disagreements in their minor characteristics are overlooked in the general classification. These minor disagreements, however, may later form the basis for the formation of sub-classes, etc. Agreements are the basis of Synthesis; Disagreements are the basis of Analysis.

In this way, all Concepts of Classes, Orders, Families, Species, and Genera arise. Let us take the general Concept of “Bird” as an illustration. The conceptual term, “Bird” is defined as: “Any and every feathered, winged, warm-blooded, egg-laying, biped vertebrate; great or small, young or old.”

Here, then, are the essential common parts, elements and factors, qualities, properties and attributes, which each and every bird, and all birds (in normal condition) must possess in order to constitute them true Birds, viz., (1) A vertebra; (2) two legs; (3) wings; (4) warm-blood; (5) feathers; (6) egg-laying functions in the female; (7) all in combination in the same animal, at the same time. Bats and butterflies are not birds, though they have wings; flying-fish and flying-squirrels are not birds, though they fly; reptiles are not birds, though some of them lay eggs; and so on: all the essential characteristics must be present in the same animal, at the same time; the creatures just mentioned, while possessing some of these characteristics, lack others, and so cannot be Birds.

The Concept of “Birds” may be synthesized into the greater Concept of Vertebrates; and this, in turn, into the still greater Concept of Animals; and this, again, into the still more general Concept of Natural Objects. Likewise, the Concept of “Birds” may be analyzed and separated into its various subclasses, families, species, sub-species, varieties, etc. As we have already said, “Synthesis proceeds according to resemblances; Analysis proceeds according to differences.”

Note: It must not be overlooked that while the stricter and more precise forms of Logical Classification deal with Concepts of classes composed of many individuals having only a few common characteristics, yet there are certain forms employed in Logical Reasoning in which a certain variation of this particular principle is manifested. These forms are as follows: (1) Class Concepts in which many objects or individuals possess practically only one common essential characteristic; and (2) Class Concepts in which are included merely one individual or object having one or more special characteristics. Examples of each are given in the following two paragraphs.

(a) The Class Concept may include many individuals having practically but one common essential characteristic; as, for instance, Class Concepts of “white things,” “colored things,” “beautiful things,” “live things,” “dead things,” in fact, any kind of things having but one essential quality necessary to admit them to the class. Any quality or condition may serve as the basis for such classification, and as the one essential quality or element of such Concept. Thus when we say: “This thing is sweet,” we place it in the class of “sweet things,” the one essential attribute of such class being “sweetness.”

(b) The Class Concept may include only one individual or object having one or more special qualities, or conditions. For example: The Eiffel Tower, the Capitol at Washington, the Washington Monument, the Rosetta Stone, Niagara Falls, Napoleon Bonaparte, are each “in a class by itself,” and each has some special characteristic distinguishing it from all other things. Here the individual or object constitutes the “whole thing” of its special class.

These two special forms of Class Concepts are, of course, capable of being synthesized into greater Class Concepts; but only the first-mentioned may be analyzed into sub-classes; the latter defies analysis of this kind, for its consists of only one individual.

In forming Concepts by Logical Synthesis, or Generalization, care must be taken to discriminate between (1) the “essential characteristics” of the various individual things you wish to combine into a general class; and (2) the “non-essential characteristics” possessed by some (but not all) of the particular things. An “essential characteristic” is “a characteristic which is common to the whole class; one which is necessary to entitle the individual to admission to the class.” A “non-essential characteristic” is “a characteristic which a member of a class may, or may not have, which is not necessary to admit him to the class, but which does not debar him from it.”

The true “essential characteristics” of the “Bird” Concept are those previously noted, viz., vertebra, two legs, wings, warm-blood, feathers, egg-laying, in combination in the same individual. The “non-essential attributes” possessed by the individual members of the class, are, for example: differences in coloring, in general or special conformation, size, food-habits, nest-building-habits, configuration of beak, bill, feet, wings, tail, body, etc. Such widely varying creatures as owls, sparrows, eagles, condors, vultures, wrens, humming birds, cranes, storks, crows, ostriches, parrots, wood-peckers, etc., all have the “essential characteristics” denoting Bird-ness; yet each has many “non-essential characteristics” which have “nothing to do with the case” of their Bird-ness.

The Concept is a mental symbol; yet it cannot be pictured as a mental image. The mind is able to grasp the conceptual symbol of “Bird,” yet it cannot picture the Concept “Bird”; it cannot visualize it! Think over this for a moment, and you will see just why this is so. You may visualize or picture a bird; but you cannot do this with the abstract conceptual idea of “Bird” (i. e., all birds). This, because of the ever-present “non-essential characteristics” found in each and every bird, in different form and kind—each bird having some of them, but no bird having all of them; each of them is present in some birds, but none of them is present in all birds.

A picture of the Concept “Bird” (i. e., All-Birds) would have to portray a creature having, at the same time and place, the long legs of the crane or stork, and the short legs of the wren or sparrow; the long bill of the hummingbird, the snipe, etc., the short bill of the sparrow or wren, and the beak of the eagle; the claws of the hawk, the feet of the chicken, and the web-feet of the duck; the neck of the swan, of the crane, of the wren, of the sparrow, and of the duck; not to speak of the almost infinite variation of color, size, relative proportions of the several parts of the body, etc. An attempt—even a feeble attempt—to produce such a picture would result in a production equalling the vision of the sufferer from delirium tremens, or the creation of some of the “post-futurist” schools of art. So, you see, the Concept can exist merely as a mental symbol; never as a mental picture. Like the mathematical symbol, it exists merely for the purposes of work. Without such symbols, moreover, Logical Reasoning would be impossible.

Rules of Logical Synthesis, or Generalization

The following are the technical rules employed in the formation of Concepts by Logical Synthesis, or Generalization.

I. Discover the Essential Characteristics. First discover the essential characteristics necessary to admit the particular individual things into the general class, entitling them to the class-term, and making the ideas of them proper elements of the Concept. This is done by comparing the individuals regarded by you as promising candidates for admission to the class. This comparison will reveal (a) characteristics possessed by only some of the individuals. These cannot be cancelled; therefore, they are perceived to be essential characteristics of that class of things, and, consequently, are the essential elements of the Concept representing that class.

II. Admit Only the Essential Characteristics. Admit to the Concept only the essential characteristics which have been discovered in the class. Rule out the cancelled non-essentials. The essential characteristics of the class constitute the essential elements of the Concept. Nothing but such essential elements belong to the Concept. Nothing that does not belong to the Concept must be included in it.

III. Include All Qualified Individuals. Include in the Concept each, every, and all individual Percepts, or lesser Concepts, which possess all the essential elements, i. e., all the essential characteristics of the class; but exclude all individual Percepts or lesser Concepts which have not all such essential elements. The Concept must include all that belongs to it; but nothing that does not belong to it.

IV. Synthesize in Logical Sequence. The synthesis of the individuals into classes, and of these into higher classes, should proceed according to logical sequence, i. e., (a) from lower to higher, (b) from simple to complex, (e) without omission of a logical intermediate stage—without a “logical break.” For instance: It is illogical to synthesize “horses, trout, and swallows” directly into the great class of “Animals”; here, the logical method and sequence requires the recognition of the respective intermediate classes known as “mammals,” “fishes,” and “birds,” before the great class of “Animals” is reached.

V. Synthesize in Uniform Order. The process of synthesis should proceed in uniform order, and according to the principle of classification adopted in beginning it. For instance: It is logical to classify individual men, either (a) according to race, as, for instance, into the sub-classes known as Caucasians, Mongolians, American Indians, etc.; or (b) according to religion, as, for instance, into the sub-classes known as Christians, Buddhists, Atheists, etc. But it is illogical to confuse and confound these two respective divisions of classification.

We may logically group men into branches of a great religion, and these into divisions, and these into the whole great religious class itself. Likewise, we may logically group men into sub-races, these into minor races, these into major races, and these into the whole family of Mankind. But it is illogical to classify men as follows: Caucasians, Buddhists, Mongolians, Christians, American Indians, Atheists, etc. This, because such classification is contrary to Nature, lacks rational order, and is confusing and misleading; this being so, it tends to fallacious reasoning when its faulty Concepts are employed in Induction or Deduction.

You will see this more clearly if you stop to consider that a Caucasian may be either a Christian, an Atheist, or a Buddhist, but be cannot be either Caucasian or an American Indian—he must remain a Caucasian. Likewise a Mongolian may be either a Buddhist, a Christian, or an Atheist—but he cannot be a Caucasian. The validity of this rule arises from the fact that it agrees with the foregoing four other rules; when it is violated, one or more of the other four rules (usually, all of them) are likewise violated.

Note: We would call your attention here to this important principle involved in all Concepts or Logical Classifications: “The more general the class the fewer are its essential elements or characteristics and the larger the number of individuals included in it. Likewise, the less general the class, the more numerous are its essential elements or characteristics, and the fewer are the number of individuals included in it.” Example: Consider the following Concepts in the light of the above statement, viz., “Bird”; “Finch”; “Sparrow” (a particular member of the Finch family); “Chippy” (a particular member of the Sparrow family); “That particular Chippy” (a particular individual of the Chippy family). Here you pass from the consideration of “All Birds,” comprising countless individuals with but very few essential characteristics, by gradual stages down to the consideration of but one bird with a multitude of essential characteristics (each individual, in a sense, is “in a class by itself” inasmuch as no two individuals are precisely alike).

The Law of Logical Judgment

You are now invited to consider that important Law of Logical Reasoning known as the Law of Logical Judgment. This Law represents the universal experience of human thought rationally applied and directed. The Law of Logical Judgment is expressed in the third of the Seven Axioms of Logical Reasoning, which is as follows:

III. THE AXIOM OF LOGICAL JUDGMENT: “All Logical Judgment is based upon these three fundamental Laws of Thought, viz., (1) A thing is always just what it is, and nothing else; at a given time and place, no matter what name or term may be employed to indicate, designate or represent it; (2) A thing cannot both be and yet not be just what it is affirmed to be, at the same time and place; (3) A thing must either be, or not be, that which it is affirmed to be, at a given time and place—there is no third alternative.”

This axiom embodies the essential principles of the ancient “Three Laws of Thought” which were first stated nearly two thousand years ago by the old Greek philosophers. In their original form they were as follows: “Whatever is, is; No thing can both be and not be; Every thing must either be or not be.” These laws are known, technically, as “The Law of Identity,” “The Law of Contradiction,” and “The Law of Excluded Middle,” respectively.

Jevons has said of these laws: “Students are seldom able to see at first their full meaning and importance. All arguments may be explained when these self-evident laws are granted. It is not too much to say that the whole of Logic will be plain to those who will constantly use these laws as their key.” The three divisions of the Axiom of Logical Judgment (embodying these three Laws of Thought) will be considered in detail as we proceed with our instruction concerning the Law of Logical Judgment in this section of this book.

Judgment is: “That mental process involving comparison and discrimination (i. e., discernment of resemblances and differences in the qualities of respective Percepts or Concepts), where the mind forms opinions and decisions concerning the nature of the things under consideration.”

Judgment is that power of the Reason whereby it perceives the agreement or disagreement between two objects of thought. Reason, in the process of Judgment, compares and decides. It is manifest in every act of reasoning thought. It manifests when you form your Percepts, when you create your Concepts, when you state your Propositions, when you make your Inferences. The mind cannot reason without employing Judgments; to reason is to judge, to judge is to reason. Reasoning is a continuous process, and Judgment is always involved in it. Reasoning is the golden thread upon which are strung the pearls of successive Judgments. Logical Reasoning is “one Logical Judgment after another.”

Let us now consider in detail the three elements involved in the Axiom of Logical Judgment which expresses the Law of Logical Judgment.

The Law of Identity. The first element of the Law of Logical Judgment is that originally known as “The Law of Identity,” which in our axiom is as follows: “A thing is always just what it is, and nothing else, at a given time and place, no matter what name or term may be employed to indicate, designate, or represent it.”

The first part of this statement, i. e., that “A thing is always just what it is, and nothing else, at a given time and place,” is so thoroughly self-evident that it requires no argument to substantiate it; in fact, the student first having it presented to his attention, is often inclined to regard the statement as a waste of words—its truth is so clearly evident. Its importance is realized only when one encounters fallacious reasoning in which the rule is violated.

This principle, like the bee or wasp, “has its sting in its tail”; the rest of it is comparatively harmless. The sting-containing tail is as follows: “no matter what name or term may be employed to indicate, designate or represent it.” Let us carefully examine this “sting” which wounds so many who trifle with it.

Let us begin by reminding you that, “Most arguments are really disputes over terms, rather than about facts.” Again, that: “Rational argument or thought is impossible without a preceding agreement upon the meaning of the principal terms employed.” Once more: “The essential point of issue of an argument once properly stated and clearly defined, the argument is then at least partly completed—sometimes fully completed.” The first rule of Reasoning based upon Practical Logic is: “First, define your terms.” Careful observation will show you that most disagreements and arguments are really “disputes over words.”

So, you see, in order to apply the principle that “‘A thing is always just what it is, and ‘nothing else,” you must first find out the “just what it is” of the thing under consideration— the subject of reasoning, thought, argument, dispute. This is accomplished by ascertaining and formulating the logical definition of the term most fitly indicating it. The following suggestions will prove useful to you in this direction.

Logical Definition. First, impress upon your mind the following statement: “My full idea of just what a thing is, is expressed in a full, exact, and complete definition of the logical term indicating it. A dozen different names and terms may be applied to that thing in common speech, discussion or argument; but its essential logical meaning is not altered in the least by reason of changes of names or terms—the thing remains ‘just what it is’ in spite of the changed names or terms. Before I attach a name or term to a thing, in logical thought, reasoning or argument, I must be certain that such name or term fitly, completely and logically designates that thing. I must also remember that a name or term indicating more than one thing is practically several names or terms.”

The following statement of the leading requisites of a Logical Definition will serve to indicate the character of the latter: (1) The definition should state all the essential characteristics of the thing; (2) Non-essential characteristics should not be stated in the definition; (3) Names or terms indicating the thing should not be included in the definition—it is illogical to define a thing by itself, or in its own terms; (4) The definition should be stated in affirmative terms, negative terms being avoided so far as is possible; (5) The definition should be stated in plain, clear terms—all obscure, ambiguous, or equivocal terms (terms capable of several possible meanings, or conveying only vague, hazy and confused meanings), as well as all figurative language, being avoided. You will discover that but very few such logical definitions are employed in ordinary, popular argument, debate, dispute, or reasoning thought—hence, the great number of fallacies apparent in such.

Socrates, the famous Greek philosopher, held that a logical definition contained in itself the answer to most of the questions and problems vexing the mind of man. Accordingly, he formulated the now famous “Socratic Method” which consisted of having his pupils answer, in the form of logical definitions, his questions concerning the essential and fundamental nature and character of the things under discussion. Thus, he brought them down to first principles, or, in the words of the current popular phrase, “down to brass tacks.” He made them solve their own problems in this way. He “delivered” them of their essential ideas—his method was obstetrical. Socrates held that most questions and disputes arose over “the meaning of words and terms”: he was a wise man!

The “Socratic Method,” reduced to its simplest elements, may be applied by you in reaching your logical definition in which is to be stated “just what this thing is,” in the following three forms:

(1) Ask yourself the questions: “What are the essential parts, elements and factors involved in this thing? What are its essential qualities, properties and attributes? What are its causes? What are its effects? How does it act? What work does it perform? What does it do? Of what greater thing is it a part; into what class, or classes, of things does it fit?

(2) Ask yourself the following questions: “What? When? Where? How? Why? What follows?”

(3) Ask yourselves the following questions: “What is it? How do I know it? What of it?”

These three simple forms of applying the “Socratic Method” will serve to “deliver” your mind of much essential information concerning the thing in question; this will aid you in formulating and passing upon the logical definition of that thing.

It is difficult to leave the subject of Socrates in this consideration of the Law of Identity; for that old philosopher made this law his cardinal principle; his teaching was based largely upon its truth and the means whereby it might be applied in practical reasoning. Socrates had become disgusted with the notorious practices of the Sophists, particularly with their habit of quibbling about terms and the names of things. He objected especially to their employment of forms of argument which amounted to but little if anything more than “a play upon words”—a species of “punning” in extreme cases. So, he emphasized the Law of Identity, and asserted that “a thing is always itself, no matter what name may be attached to it”; and that it is one’s business to find out “just what” the thing is. To him “White” was none the less white if the name “Black” was applied to it. He insisted that “calling a thing so, does not make it so.” He was opposed to the bad habit of “calling things wrong names.”

Socrates cautioned his pupils always to be on guard against arguments, or processes of quasi-reasoning, which are really but disputes about terms and names, and in which the “suchness,” the “whichness,” and the “thingness” of particular things are either carelessly or else deliberately ignored. His favorite aphorism was: “Reason about Things, not about terms or words.”

A noted modern logician has expressed the spirit of the Socratic thought in the following words: “Whatever is actually true of one term is also actually true of any term which is stated to be the same in essential meaning as the first term. Terms may be substituted, one for the other, provided that it is agreed that they refer to exactly the same things.” Even the symbol “X” may be substituted for the class-term “Bird,” if it be agreed that by “X” is meant “feathered, winged, warm-blooded, egg-laying, biped vertebrate.” Do you get the idea? It is this: “It is the meaning of the term, not the form, letters or sound, that counts.”

Before leaving the subject of the Law of Identity, let us give you a few concrete examples of its value—a few real proofs of its virtue. The study of Fallacy arising from the violation of a Law of Logic will go further toward proving the value and virtue of that law than will much greater study of its technical principles and meaning. The results of the violation of any valid law will bring to one the most convincing proofs of its validity; this is true in every branch or field of human thought or action.

Illustrations of the Law of Identity. The following examples serve to illustrate the general principles of the application of the Law of Identity:

Professor William James, in one of his essays, tells of a hunter who saw a squirrel clinging to the trunk of a tree. The hunter walked slowly around the tree to which the squirrel was clinging; the squirrel, at the same time, moved around the trunk of the tree so that its back was never presented to the hunter. Query: Did the hunter “walk around” the squirrel, or did he fail to do so? According to the laws of Logical Reasoning, he must either have “‘walked around” the squirrel, or not have done so; he could not both have done so and yet not have done so—it must be one thing or the other, but which? This “trick-question” has perplexed many keen, practical minds at first; to many it has seemed like a problem “in Einstein.” But it really is “sophistical” in the form stated—the form so strenuously objected to by old Socrates; when the Law of Identity is applied to it, the difficulty vanishes.

The gist of the question depends upon another question, viz., “just what is meant by ‘walking around’ the squirrel?” If by “walking around the squirrel” is meant that “the man proceeded so as to face in turn both the back and the front of the squirrel,” then the answer must be that he did not do so. If, on the contrary, by “walking around the squirrel” is meant that “the man proceeded so as to move completely around the place where the squirrel was situated, i. e., the trunk of the tree,” then the answer must be that he did so. Without an agreement upon “just what” is meant by “walking around”—the logical meaning of the term—there can be no logical judgment; but this agreement once reached, this meaning once established, there can be but one logical judgment—and that a very easy one at which to arrive. The Law of Identity governs this case, when its principles are logically applied; and in it you have an example of the virtue of the rules: “Define your terms,” and “Reason about Things, not about words.”

Another example: A Whale is popularly known as a fish; it looks like a fish, it swims like a fish, it lives in water like a fish. Then, is or is it not a fish? Popular opinion holds that it is a fish, because of the characteristics above noted. Naturalists hold that it is not a fish, because it is a mammal, has lungs, is warm-blooded, and suckles its young at its breast and gives it milk, just as does any other mammal. Which is right? The disputants might argue indefinitely unless there was some agreement upon the meaning of the term “Fish”; some logical definition of it. Reference to capable and competent authorities show that: “A fish is cold-blooded, has gills, and does not suckle its young, having no teats or mammary glands to do so.” This scientific meaning of the term “Fish” being ascertained and accepted, this answer immediately follows: “The Whale is not a fish, though it looks like one and lives and swims in the water like one.” On the contrary, the same reasoning shows that the Whale, having all the essential qualities of a “mammal,” is and must be a mammal.

Another example: A person asserts that the water in the bath-tub is “hot,” another says that it is merely “warm,” a third holds that it is “tepid,” a fourth believes that it is “cool.” How is the dispute to be settled? Each reports the degree of “heat sensation,” or rather the “heat perception,” experienced by himself. Yet the temperature of that water remains certain, definite, fixed, at least for the moment. Lacking a standard of meaning governing the use of these several terms, there can be no agreement. The thermometer gives the certain, definite, fixed temperature; but it does not report whether such be “hot,” “warm,” “tepid,” or “cool”—neither does the dictionary. Let us suppose that the disputants agree to accept the definition given by certain authorities on bathing. These authorities report that: “Water is hot when its temperature is above 98 deg. Fahr.; that it is warm from 85 to 98 deg. Fahr.; that it is tepid from 75 to 85 deg. Fahr.; that it is ice cold at 32 deg. Fahr. This, or any similar standard, once accepted or adopted, the Judgment becomes certain—the thermometer gives the true answer.

Another example: A particularly dangerous form of Fallacy claiming the protection of the Laws of Thought is that which arises from the assumption of some relative, comparative or personal opinion by which the actions of persons or the character of things are measured. The Fallacy consists in assuming that such relative, comparative or personal opinion represents an actual, fixed, certain standard, instead of being one dependent entirely upon the personal views, opinions, training or prejudice of the individual employing it. For instance, it is often argued that such a person is “noble,” “courageous,” “virtuous,” “vicious,” “selfish,” “unbusinesslike,” etc., etc., etc.

Such reasoning or arguments are always more or less futile and inconclusive, because no fixed standard is agreed upon or accepted—no fixed measure of value agreed upon or accepted by the disputants. If some such fixed standard (as, for instance; one representing the best opinion of the time and place) is agreed upon and accepted, then the Judgment is speedily reached. In absence of such, the reasoning or argument travels round in a circle, ever moving but never reaching a conclusion. The rule in such cases is this: “Define your terms; obtain an agreement upon the standard of measurement or value; and THEN reason logically from such.” One is even justified in inquiring of others, or of himself, “good for what,” when the argument or reasoning is concerned with the question or whether or not a certain thing or action is “good.”

Other examples illustrating the need of clearness of definition of terms are found in the later section of this book, entitled “The Law of Deduction,” under the head “The Terms Must Be Unequivocal and Not Ambiguous.” That portion of our instruction should be studied and considered in connection with the present statements—and vice-versa—for they are both concerned with the same principle of Judgment.

The Law of Contradiction. The second element of the Law of Logical Judgment is that originally known as “The Law of Contradiction,” which in our axiom is stated as follows: “A thing cannot both be and not be just what it is affirmed to be, at the same time and place.” We shall consider this logical principle in connection with “The Law of Excluded Middle,” inasmuch as the same essential principle is involved in each, and in both; the two laws being complementary one to the other.

The Law of Excluded Middle. The third element of the Law of Logical Judgment is that originally known as “The Law of Excluded Middle,” which in our axiom is stated as follows: “A thing must either be, or not be, that which it is affirmed to be, at a given time and place.”

In the case of these two respective laws, as in the case of the one which we have just considered, the “sting” is found in the tail. In these cases, the “sting” consists of the clause contained in the statement of each, i. e., “at the same time and place,” or “at a given time and place.” When this point of “time and place,” and that of “definition of terms,” are fully understood, the application of these two principles becomes easy. The words, “at the same time and place,” or “at a given time and place,” give additional definiteness to the proposition, and serve to bring into a clear relief its essential meaning.

The valid application of these two principles is illustrated by the following familiar examples: “You are either just where you are, or not just where you are, at the time you are reading these words; you must either be there, or not be there—you cannot both be and yet not be there, and there is no third alternative in which the two extremes are harmonized, or in which neither is the truth. This requires no argument—it is self-evident. Again: A dog must either be an animal, or else not be an animal (at a given time and place); it cannot both be and yet not be such— and there is no third alternative. This is self-evident. Again: A particular rose, at a given time and place, must either be “red,” or else “not red”; it cannot both be and yet not be “red”—and there is no third alternative. Again: A whale must either be or not be a fish; it cannot both be and yet not be—and there is no third alternative.

Such cases might be multiplied indefinitely. The principle involved is self-evident; it is “as plain as the nose on your face.” It is only when we consider the unwarranted and fallacious attempts to employ the principle that its importance is made clear. Let us now consider a few examples of this fallacious application.

(1) The Element of Time and Place. The time-element and space-element must be taken into consideration in the logical application of the Laws of Contradiction and Excluded Middle, respectively. While it is impossible for a thing both to be and yet not be so-and-so or such-and-such, at a given time and place, or at the same time and place; and while it is impossible for a thing to avoid either being or else not being that under these conditions; yet it is quite possible for a thing to be such-and-such at one time and place, and not to be such-and-and such at another time and place. Example: A piece of iron may be red-hot at one time, and not red-hot at another time. Likewise, a piece of iron may be red-hot at one end (i. e., one place) and not red-hot at the other end (i. e., another place). But at the same time and place it must be either red-hot or not so; it cannot be both, and it must be either.

Again: A man may be angry at one time and place, and not angry at another time and place; but at the same time and place he must be either one thing or the other—he cannot be both. Again: A piece of cloth may be red in one place (one part) and blue at another at the same time; or it may be red today, and be dyed purple tomorrow: but at the same time and place it must either be red or not red—it cannot be both. Query: A man has cold feet, and a hot head; is he “hot” or is he “cold”? If so; why? Are the principles of Logical Judgment overcome, or their laws violated, in such a case? In this connection, you are asked to note that even in such cases as those above cited, the Law of Identity governs: the thing or man, at any given time and place, is always “just what it is” at that time and place— notwithstanding “just what” that “just what” may be found to be.

(2) The Element of Relative Terms. The distinction between absolute terms and relative terms, to which we have alluded in the preceding pages, also plays an important part in the application of these two laws or principles. Relative, comparative or personal terms must not be employed as absolute, fixed, certain, definite terms in such application. We have already given you a typically illustrative example in the case of the water in the bathtub. Differences of opinion concerning the “warmness” or “coolness” or “just rightness” of the temperature of a room furnish another example. Here, the absolute, certain, fixed, definite “just what” the temperature is consists of the report of the thermometer that “it is so many degrees, Fahrenheit.” Whether it is “cool,” “warm,” or “just right,” is a matter of individual feeling, unless a fixed standard be accepted or adopted, by means of which these terms acquire a definite meaning.

Here is a variation, illustrating the same principle: A man stands before three different basins filled with water. The right-hand basin contains water heated to 120 degrees Fahrenheit; the left-hand basin, water cooled to 35 degrees, Fahrenheit; the middle basin, water heated to 75 degrees, Fahrenheit. The man places one hand in the “cold” basin; his other hand in the “hot” one; and holds them there until they distinctly feel the respective kinds of temperature. Then, he withdraws both hands, and suddenly plunges them into the water in the middle basin—which is heated to 75 degrees, Fahrenheit. This causes his “hot water hand” to feel cold; and his “cold water hand” to feel warm; by reason of the contrast.

Query: Is the water of the middle basin “cold” or “not cold?” One hand says one thing: the other hand, another. How and why do the Laws of Logical Judgment apply in this case. The answer is: The only certain fact is that the water in the middle basin is “of a temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit.” Only this and nothing more; the rest is a matter of interpretation of sensation according to the existing conditions. If water of 75 degrees, Fahrenheit, be regarded (as it is) by authorities as “tepid” or “lukewarm,” then the water must be regarded as so,

The Law of Logical Judgment notwithstanding the conflicting reports of sensation made by the respective hands.

(Note: If two thermometers disagree in their reports, get a standard one, and abide by its decision.)

We advise you to fix the words “lukewarm water” in your memory, associating them with the above typical example. By doing so you will have at hand a convenient and useful reminder not to commit the Fallacy of confusing relative terms with absolute ones—personal feelings with fixed standards— permanent values with temporary ones. When you hear men arguing about their states of feeling, or their “notions” which they mistake for fixed, absolute standards and values, remember the story of “the hot hand and the cold hand, and the tepid water in between.” We shall not, however, here press the additional point that “the truth is found between the two extremes”—although this, too, is a fact of general experience, it is, nevertheless, “another story” and must be told elsewhere.

(3) The Element of False Opposites. Another perplexing and frequently experienced obstacle to the proper application of the laws and principles now under consideration, is that which arises from a confusion concerning the logical “opposite” of a certain attribute, property or quality of an object.

Thus, many persons think that the true opposite of “white” is “black”; upon this basis one applying the rules of the respective Laws of Contradiction and Excluded Middle would be compelled to reason as follows: “This thing before me must be either white or else black, for it cannot be both, and there is no third alternative.” This reasoning is, of course, fallacious, for the thing in question might be neither white nor black; it might be green, or yellow, or blue, or orange, or purple, or any other color—it might even be colorless—without our rules being violated. The explanation lies in the fact that “black” is not the logical “opposite” of “white”: the true logical “opposite” of “white” being “not-white.” All other colors are in the “not-white” class; and it may be stated with logical certainty that “everything that exists must be either ‘white’ or else ‘not-white’—it cannot be both, and there is nothing else for it to be but one or the other of these.”

The same state of affairs is found in the respective cases of the apparent “opposites” known as “hot and cold,” “sharp and dull,”—and of all other cases in which the contrasting terms represent conditions manifested by the two extreme poles of a general class of things or characteristics; there being many degrees of difference between these two extreme poles. The same rule applies in cases like “Republican and Democrat.” “Catholic and Protestant,” etc. A man may be neither a Republican nor a Democrat; neither a Catholic nor a Protestant; for there is always a “third alternative,” or “a something else to be,” in such cases. The proper grouping of the “opposites” in these cases is as follows: “Republican or non-Republican; Democrat or non-Democrat; Catholic or non-Catholic; Protestant or non-Protestant.” Thus, each and every man that lives, no matter what may be his politics or religion—even if he be without political or religious affiliations—must be either a Republican or a non-Republican; a Democrat or a non-Democrat; a Catholic or a non-Catholic; or, for that matter, either the King of England or “not the King of England.” The little prefixes “not” or “non” indicate the true logical “opposite” to anything whatsoever, when attached to the name or term designating that thing.

The combined Laws of Contradiction and Excluded Middle, rightly understood and logically applied, are found to possess the absolute character of arithmetical or geometrical laws and principles. No true exceptions to these laws ever have been discovered; every apparent exception, when analyzed and explained, becomes an additional verification. The human mind is compelled to think according to these laws, when it reasons logically.

The Law of Logical Analogy

You are now invited to consider that important Law of Logical Reasoning known as the Law of Logical Analogy. This Law represents the universal experience of human thought rationally applied and directed. The Law of Logical Analogy is expressed in the fourth of the Seven Axioms of Logical Reasoning, which is as follows:

IV. THE AXIOM OF LOGICAL ANALOGY: “A few things which are alike in many respects are probably (though not certainly) alike in some other respects.”

The principle of reasoning is the one most frequently employed by the average person; many, indeed, but seldom use any other form. Rightly understood, and employed within proper limits, it constitutes an important rule of rational thought; but the possibilities of the careless and unwarranted extension of its employment by those not recognizing its limitations has caused logicians to advance but cautiously its claims.

Reasoning by Analogy is the most primitive form of reasoning, and it certainly was the only form employed by primitive man, just as today it is the only form known to the undeveloped races, and, indeed, the only one used by untrained, uncultured minds even in civilized communities. It has a valid foundation in observation and experience; and, when a single-story structure is erected upon it, it frequently serves well its purpose; but when we attempt to build upon it a skyscraper, the rising structure frequently becomes insecure and often tumbles to the ground. Indeed, usually it is dangerous to build upon it a structure which rises above the ground-floor story.

Many valuable discoveries have been made through the principle of Analogy. Thus, a man who has mined gold in California, and who was then visiting in New South Wales, noticed that the mountains in the latter country were very similar in appearance to certain mountains in California in which he had dug gold. He, reasoning by Analogy, concluded that the mountains being alike in some respects, also should be alike in other respects; and so he dug for gold in them. His “guess” proved to be correct; he found rich ore in the hills, and the result was the great discovery of gold in Australia.

Geologists employed the principle of Analogy in their judgment that certain rocks were originally formed by processes similar to those observed to be in operation in the present period of the earth’s history. Noticing the marks on a sandy sea-beach from which the waves had just receded, they reasoned that the similar marks on certain rock-formations were produced in the same way at some early period of the history of the earth, the soft material afterward becoming hardened by natural processes. Seeing on certain rocks marks similar to those now impressed upon clay by raindrops and by the footprints of birds, mammals and insects, they reasoned that the markings on the rocks were caused in the same way, by prehistoric creatures, at some early geological period when the rocks were in a plastic condition.

In the same way, it is reasoned that the printed tables of Logarithms used by the Chinese were either copied from similar tables of the English, or else both had a common origin. The probability of mere coincidence was overcome by the discovery that certain errors in the English tables were duplicated in the ones used by the Chinese. The Analogy was so complete that the hypothesis of copying or a common origin was the only reasonable one. In the same way, it is reasoned that inasmuch as the planet Mars is found to have certain areas believed to be seas, and certain others believed to be land, therefore conditions on that planet must resemble to some extent those of the Earth.

Moreover, at each pole of Mars there is observed to be a white, rounded spot which is perceived to decrease in circumference when exposed to the sun’s direct rays, and to increase at other times, just as do the masses of ice and snow found around the poles of the Earth. Here the Analogy is so close that astronomers feel justified in believing that Mars has ice and snow at its poles, just as has the Earth. The same kind of reasoning has led to the belief that Mars has an atmosphere, with winds, clouds, rain and snow, very similar to corresponding phenomena manifested on the Earth. The reasoning, indeed, is often carried so far as to reach the conclusion that there is probably life of some kind on the planet Mars.

On the other hand, this form of reasoning often proves dangerous. For instance, the close resemblance between two kinds of fungus, or two kinds of fruit, may be so great as to cause persons to believe that they are practically identical; yet one class is wholesome food, the other class being poisonous. Or, “the other way around,” certain non-venomous serpents so closely resemble the venomous ones as to be mistaken for them. Children are often made ill or are killed by eating poisonous berries which they have gathered, and which they have mistaken for harmless berries of a similar appearance. Many persons have been killed by eating poisonous toadstools under the belief that they are mushrooms, the resemblance being very close. Jevons says: “In Norway, mushrooms are seldom seen, and are not eaten. Once when I was there, I found a few and ate them. I was afterward much amused by the people at the inn, who went out and collected toadstools and wanted me to eat them also. This was clearly a case of mistaken reasoning by Analogy.”

A physician visiting a patient discovers that there are present certain symptoms which are found in the early stages of scarlet-fever—the other symptoms not having as yet presented themselves. He reasons by Analogy that the missing symptoms are also proceeding to manifestation, and that this in all probability is a case of scarlet fever in its early stages. The scientist examining the fossil remains of an extinct species of animal, and finding that it possesses strong, blunt claws, reasons by Analogy that the creature had procured its food by scratching or burrowing in the earth. Buckland reconstructed an extinct animal from a few scattered fossil bones; the later discovery of an entire skeleton of the animal proved that his reconstruction had been absolutely correct in both generals and in details; this constituted a most successful example of reasoning by Analogy.

But, once more, there is always a great possibility of error in this form of reasoning. The dog, fearing a stick or a stone, will run away from you when you stoop suddenly to tie your shoe, to pick up a flower, or to turn over a peculiar leaf. It is cruel to reason by Analogy that because many drunkards have red noses, therefore all red noses are marks of habits of excessive drinking—the red nose of the quite temperate John Jones must not be taken as an evidence of dissolute habits. We have seen the danger of reasoning that a whale is “a fish” because it looks like one, swims like one, lives in the water like one. Halleck says: “Many false analogies are manufactured, and It is excellent training and practice to expose them. The majority of persons think so little that they swallow these false analogies just as newly-fledged robins swallow small stones dropped into their open mouths.”

The best thought today holds that true Logical Reasoning should be conducted along the lines of Induction and Deduction, whenever this is possible in view of all the circumstances of the case; and that Analogy should be regarded as merely an imperfect form of these processes, or rather as a form of Imperfect Induction or Imperfect Deduction, and accordingly regarded as a makeshift to be employed only when true Induction or Deduction are impracticable under the particular circumstances of the case. At the best, Analogy is held to be but a “guess”—sometimes a “scientific guess,” or a “rational guess,” but still a “guess” at the last.

Here is the explanation of the employment by mankind of the principle of Analogy. Primitive man soon discovered that superficial resemblances existing between the various things of his everyday experience were reasonably sure evidences of a real inner and essential sameness between those things. One thing was found good to eat; therefore, another thing resembling it in appearance must be good to eat. Up to a certain point this form of reasoning was found to be correct. What was much more to the point with the primitive man, it was better than no reasoning at all. He knew absolutely nothing about certain reasoning based upon careful and extended observation, induction and deduction—these required more time and attention than he was able to bestow upon them, and, in fact, such more complex methods of reasoning never occurred to his mind. The degree of probability found in the results of reasoning by Analogy was sufficient to attract his attention, and to prove useful to him—so he was content, until he afterward discovered a better way—and that better way was really an evolution of the original way, after all.

It remained for the careful thinkers in advanced stages of the evolution of the race to discover that the principal value of Analogy is to be found in its suggestiveness; and that even where Analogy leads to the detection of truth and real facts it usually does so only when the observations or experiments upon which it is based have been sufficiently extended and carefully reasoned upon. It has been said: “Analogy may be applied with even reasonable confidence only when the degree of ascertained similarity is great, and when the extent of the preliminary observation is sufficiently wide.” Again, that: “Even where Analogy leads to the discovery of truth, the final establishment of such truth is never actually accomplished by Analogy, but really by some stricter logical method.”

Reasoning from Analogy results in merely probable conclusions; but the degree of probability may be raised to a high degree by pursuing the right methods and observing the proper precautions. Indeed, in the active affairs of ordinary life Analogy is really the only form of reasoning possible to most of us under ordinary existing circumstances, and we are very often forced to act upon conclusions reached only in this way. Reasoning by Analogy, carefully and cautiously exercised; has led to many important discoveries of natural science, mechanics, medicine, psychology, etc.; and it is often effectively applied in the practice of Law and in judicial decisions. In short: Analogy is useful (often necessary—frequently the only possible way); but its application must always be surrounded by the greatest care, and exercised with the greatest caution.

The essential distinction between Analogy and Induction is as follows: Analogy proceeds upon the general principle that, “A few things having many characteristics in common, also have other characteristics in common.” Induction proceeds upon the general principle that, “Many things having a few characteristics in common, all other things of the same class also have all these same essential characteristics.” Further, in Analogy we usually confine ourselves chiefly to the observation of the external and incidental characteristics of the several things in question; in Induction, however, we extend the observation and apply it particularly to the internal and essential characteristics of the things examined—we “go deeper into” the examination, and search for the essential elements.

The following diagram will illustrate the principal points of distinction between the processes of Analogy and Induction, respectively:

Examples: If we find that X has the characteristics known as a, b, c, d, e, f, respectively, and then find that Y has the characteristics a, b, c, d, respectively, we reason by Analogy that Y also possesses the additional common characteristics e and f, respectively, because these are found in X with which Y has so much else in common. Thus, finding that the planet Venus has the attributes of light, heat, water, and atmosphere in common with the Earth, we reason by Analogy that Venus probably possesses the additional attribute of “the presence of living things,” in common with the Earth—the latter having been found to possess it.

Induction, on the other hand, would reason as follows: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, (members of a general class of things) notwithstanding their great differences in many external and incidental characteristics, are found to possess in common the three internal and essential characteristics designated 1, 2, and 3, respectively; therefore it is probable that the remaining letters of the alphabet-class, viz., X, Y, and Z, also possess these three essential characteristics, notwithstanding that X, Y, and Z, manifest sundry differences in external and incidental characteristics from the remaining twenty-three letters of the alphabet-class.

Thus, finding that all known heavenly bodies obey the Law of Gravitation, the astronomer reasons by Induction that a newly discovered star must also obey that Law, though he has not as yet had time to examine its movements. Likewise, a chemist finding before him a transparent, colorless crystal composed of Carbonate of Lime, knows, by deduction based upon the Premises of Induction, that it will react to other stated chemicals in a certain definite manner; this because all forms of Carbonate of Lime, notwithstanding their external and incidental differences, have the internal, essential characteristic of such reaction.

The General Rule of Analogy, is as follows: “(1) The greater the number of points of discovered resemblance, the greater the degree of probability of the Analogy; the fewer such points, the less the degree of such probability. (2) The inferred additional points of resemblance become the more probable in the degree in which they are related to, or essentially connected with, those points of resemblance already established by observation and experiment. (3) Discovered points of essential difference often are sufficient entirely to destroy the presumption and inference of Analogy based upon many discovered points of external and incidental resemblance.”

We need scarcely consider in detail the many forms of possible application of the principle of Analogy; it is as familiar to you as is breathing or walking. You employ it in some form during almost every hour of your waking periods. It has its evident uses in forming everyday conclusions, opinions, judgments and decisions. You could not do without it, even if you so desired. The most that you can do in the matter of its application is to endeavor to employ it correctly, always recognizing its weak-points and dangers, and always observing carefully and consistently the above-stated rules concerning its degree of value and probability, its use, and its limitations.

Probably the best use of Analogy is that in which its conclusions are recognized as being merely tentative, i. e., adopted experimentally and for a trial, afterward to be subjected to more careful observation, examination and testing. By its employment in this way we often arrive at a valuable idea of a “probable cause,” or a “working hypothesis,” which afterward may be verified or disproved. Its reports must always be recognized as “probable truth,” never as “certain truth.”

Jevons ably sums up the matter when he says: “In order to be clear about our conclusions, we ought never to rest satisfied with mere Analogy, but ought to try to discover the general laws governing the case. In Analogy we seem to reason from one fact to another, without troubling ourselves either with Deduction or Induction. But it is only by a kind of ‘guess’ that we do so; it is not really conclusive reasoning. We ought properly to ascertain what general Laws of Nature are shown to exist by the facts observed, and then to infer what will happen according to those Laws. ... We find that reasoning by Analogy is not to be depended upon, unless we make such further inquiry into the causes and laws of the things in question which really necessitates the employment of Inductive and Deductive Reasoning.”

The Law of Logical Induction

You are now invited to consider that important Law of Logical Reasoning known as the Law of Logical Induction. This Law represents the universal experience of human thought rationally applied and directed. The Law of Logical Induction is expressed in the fifth of the Seven Axioms of Logical Reasoning, which is as follows:

V. THE AXIOM OF LOGICAL INDUCTION: “What is discovered to be true of a great number of observed objects, things or individuals of a definite general class, is practically certain to be true of that general class as a whole; the characteristics assumed to be possessed in common by all the individual objects or things in a definite general class, constitute the accepted essential characteristics of that class as a whole.”

This fundamental principle of Induction has been stated in many forms, among which are the following: “What is true of the many, is true of the whole.” “That which belongs or does not belong to many things of the same kind, belongs or does not belong to all things of the same kind.” Mills’ statement of the Principle of Induction is very comprehensive; it is as follows: “Induction is that operation of the mind by which we infer that what we know in a particular case or cases will be true in all cases which resemble the former in certain assignable respects. In other words, Induction is the process by which we conclude that what is true of certain individuals of a class is true of the whole class; or that what is true at certain times will be true in similar circumstances at all times.”

In the early days of Logic, the principle of Induction was largely neglected by reason of the great emphasis placed upon the principle of Deduction. The followers of the old philosophies and systems of Logic, which were fathered by Aristotle and long afterward wet-nursed by the Scholastic School of Philosophy, and which for many centuries dominated the world of logical thought and philosophy, believed that it was possible to arrive at all human knowledge by the methods of Formal Logic applied along the lines of Deductive Reasoning. The Syllogism was elevated to the highest rank, and logicians bowed down before it and worshipped it. As Jevons says: “Men preferred trusting to Aristotle, rather than using their own eyes.”

Of course, it was necessary to find bases for the Premises employed in such Deductive Reasoning, and a certain degree of Induction was employed in finding these. But, at the best, but Imperfect Induction, or a sublimated form of Analogy, served the purpose in most cases; in other cases, resort was had to “A Priori” Judgments, i. e., Propositions assumed to be true more or less independent of extended observation, experiment, or wide experience—more often held to be “innate ideas” or “universal intuitions.” Logicians reasoned from assumed causes to effects, but too often without first being sure that the assumed causes were real causes. They ignored “A Posteriori, reasoning, i. e., reasoning proceeding from effect to causes—Judgments based upon experimental proof. They contented themselves with deducing particular facts from assumed general principles; they neglected the correlated logical process of reasoning by Induction from particular facts to general principles—and thus assuring themselves of the validity of the general principles which formed the bases of their deductive processes.

The rise of Inductive Reasoning to its proper place was due in a great measure to the influence of Roger Bacon (A. D. 12141292) and of Francis Bacon (A. D. 1561-1629); the former laid the basis, the latter advanced the idea and formulated methods of applying the principles. Francis Bacon is often styled “The Father of Inductive Reasoning and the Founder of the Scientific Method”; but the preliminary work of Roger Bacon must not be overlooked nor forgotten. Today, practically all scientific thought is based upon the conclusions reached by Inductive Reasoning. The Physical Sciences would perish were this principle eliminated; even modern Psychology is based upon it.

Modern Logic gives Inductive Reasoning a high place; indeed, there are learned logicians who even go so far as to claim that Deductive Reasoning is but a reflection of Inductive Reasoning, and that Deduction usually is but a re-statement of the conclusions already arrived at through Induction— but here the truth probably lies between the two extremes, and Induction and Deduction are seen to be correlated and coordinated processes of Logical Reasoning.

In our consideration of the subject of Logical Synthesis, or Classification, we have shown you how and why individual objects possessing certain common characteristics are grouped or “generalized” into classes; the common characteristics of all these individual objects thus becoming the “essential characteristics” of that class. The same principle, as you have seen, governs the grouping or “generalization” of these classes into larger classes, and so on. We now ask you to make note of the fact that all such Logical Synthesis, Classification and Generalization proceeds according to the Law of Logical Induction. It is governed by the principle that: “The characteristics assumed to be possessed in common by all the individual objects or things in a definite class, constitute the accepted essential characteristics of that class as a whole”— such characteristics become the “essential elements or qualities” of the Concept representing that general class of particular things or individual objects.

But, no matter how many may be the individual objects or particular things of the general class which have been observed and examined for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not they possess the certain necessary characteristics deemed essential to the class, it is practically impossible that all such individual objects and particular things can be so observed and examined in the great majority of cases. In fact, it is almost certain that in most cases there are far more not so observed and examined than are so treated; this, because of the natural limitations of man’s powers of observation, experiment and, inspection.

Hence, usually the Law of Induction bases its conclusions upon human experience with the many rather than with the all of a class of things and objects. This fact is expressed in the axiom, as follows: “What is discovered to be true of a great number of observed objects, things or individuals of a definite general class, is practically certain to be true of that general class as a whole.”

If all the individual things and particular objects in a certain class are observed, subjected to experiment, and found to possess certain characteristics in common, then the Judgment must be that these common characteristics absolutely and certainly are the “essential elements or qualities” of that class, and of its associated Concept. But when only “a great number” of such are observed, inspected, and found to possess such common characteristics, then the Judgment must be merely “practically certain,” i. e., possessing a high degree of probability of truth.” In very many cases, it is true, this high degree of probability falls but little short of absolute certainty.

All that Inductive Reasoning may truthfully claim is to announce principles, laws and judgments which for all practical purposes of life may be considered as true and certain. But this is likewise true of all forms of Logical Inference, or human reasoning; even Deductive Reasoning, with its boasted formal “certainty,” must be based upon Premises assumed to be true by the principles of induction: it is always a case of “so-and-so is true, if such-and-such be true.” Naught but Omniscience could reason with absolute certainty; and Omniscience would not need to “reason,” for it would already know all that is possible to be known—Reasoning is but the method employed to “find out” and know something that is not known.

In the light of the foregoing statements concerning the possibilities, probabilities, and natural limitations of the Principles of Inductive Reasoning, let us now consider the general methods employed in conducting its processes. Inductive Reasoning proceeds according to the following steps or stages, viz., (1) Preliminary Observation; (2) Making the Hypothesis; (3) Verification by Testing. Each of these respective processes are described in further detail in the next following pages of this section of this book.

I. Preliminary Observation. In this process preliminary to that of actual Inductive Reasoning, there is conducted an examination of a great number of individual objects or particular things believed likely to belong to a certain general class of things, activities or events. Such examination is for the purpose of ascertaining definitely the common characteristics of such things, in order to decide whether or not these constitute the “essential elements or qualities” of that class as a whole. Usually, a more or less general classification, based upon Logical Analogy, or Imperfect Induction, has preceded such test, trial or experiment. Observation and Experiment, however, do not constitute Induction; they merely supply Induction with its working material.

II. Making the Hypothesis. In this process of Inductive Reasoning, there is performed the mental action of combining into a general idea (akin to a Concept) the total results of the extended series of observations and experiments which have preceded this stage; and of representing this general idea in the form of what is known as an Hypothesis, i. e., “A supposition, proposition or principle assumed or taken for granted in order to deduce therefrom particular proofs.”

Hypothesis is the simplest term indicating the result of Inductive Observation and Experiment. Theory is held to be a stronger term, and usually indicates an Hypothesis which has been verified at least to some extent by subsequent observation. A Law is an Hypothesis or Theory raised to a very high degree of probability by reason of extended and positive observation and experiment. A Principle is “a Law of Laws,” or “the Reason of Laws,” or a Universal Law including in its content several subordinate Laws which are governed by its essential characteristics and powers.

A Law, from another viewpoint, may be said to be: “A general rule of procedure according to which things move, act, and work”; a Principle being: “That by reason of which change-producing actions and motions proceed, and in which they have their source.” But the latter two terms, Law and Principle, respectively, have a wide range of meaning, are subjected to varied interpretations and definitions, and are applied to many different general ideas; we give here merely their respective meanings as usually understood and employed in Logic, Physical Science and Psychology.

Hypotheses, as might be supposed, possess varying respective degrees of validity or probability. Some are merely “tentative,” or “‘working hypotheses” employed for convenience of thought and further investigation; others rise to the dignity of verified Theory, or perhaps even to the high rank of Laws and Principles. The following general rule is usually employed by logical, scientific thinkers to determine the respective value and strength of Hypotheses.

Rule for Valuation of Hypotheses: (1) If the Hypothesis involves only a few essential characteristics of its class, it must be supported by a much larger number of particular observations and experiments than if it involves a greater number of such. (2) The greater the number of facts and phenomena satisfactorily accounted for by an Hypothesis, the greater is its probable validity. (3) Where there is more than one Hypothesis claiming recognition as the explanation of a series of given facts or phenomena, then that one which is found to account for the greater number of such effects is to be considered as the most probable, all else being considered. (4) Where more than one Hypothesis is so advanced, each one of which seemingly possessing equal value, then further observation and experiment is necessary; a later stage of the inquiry will probably uncover and reveal certain additional facts which are explainable only by one particular Hypothesis, and not by the others; or possibly one such Hypothesis may be found to include the others as minor and constituent factors or elements.

III. Verification by Testing. In this process of Inductive Reasoning, there is performed a subsequent investigation in which there is “tested out” the application of the tentatively adopted “working hypothesis” to additional particular cases, or to new individual objects and things. The test is conducted for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the Hypothesis “works out” satisfactorily in such application. Each case in which it is found to “work out” satisfactorily tends to strengthen it. But if there are found one or more cases in which it will not “work out” satisfactorily (provided that the failure cannot be accounted for or explained away logically and rationally) it is weakened to that extent; if such failures are numerous, the result may be the rejection of the Hypothesis in question, though, here, allowance must always be made for possible disturbing causes, and a search for these should be conducted— experience having demonstrated the need of such precaution.

The process and method of Verifying an Hypothesis have been humorously illustrated by the story of Cinderella. The Glass Slipper constitutes “the facts of the case”—it symbolizes the given series of phenomena. Cinderella is the Hypothesis—or, rather, one of the Hypotheses, for each one of her rival sisters is also an Hypothesis. The process of testing for verification consists of trying the Glass Slipper in turn on the feet of the several rival candidates. The Hypotheses of the rival sisters are each found invalid—the Glass Slipper will fit the foot of none of them, even though they cut off their toes and heels in order to “make the facts square with the theory,” When, however, the Cinderella Hypothesis is tested by applying it to the facts of the Glass Slipper, lo! the “fit” is found to be perfect—the hypothesis is verified, and raised to the rank of a Verified Theory; later, when Cinderella marries the Prince, it may, perchance, be elevated to the exalted position of a Law, or even that of a Principle!

Rules of Verification. The test of Verification is not merely simple observation, but rather “experimental observation,” i. e., observation resulting from “a test, trial, or experiment” conducted on scientific principles, in which the possibilities of error are largely eliminated.

The success of the test, trial and experiment is determined by the proportion of cases found to be explainable by reason of the Hypothesis; the greater the number of cases so explained and accounted for, the greater degree of probability and validity must be attached to the Hypothesis, and the more perfect will be deemed the Induction. The “facts” and the Hypothesis must agree with each other; the greater the agreement, the greater the probability, validity and degree of verification.

A reasonable number of failures is usually sufficient to discredit an Hypothesis, unless such can be explained by the presence and action of a disturbing agency. Once, a promising theory of Astronomy was seemingly discredited by the erratic movement of a certain planet; later a “disturbing agent” was detected in the form of a certain previously undiscovered planet which had served to pull the first-named planet out of place; the discovery of the new planet explained the discrepancy, and cancelled the evidence against the theory.

If the Hypothesis is found materially wrong, and therefore discredited, two alternative courses are open, viz., (1) to discard the Hypothesis, and then to seek for a new and better one; or (2) to modify the faulty Hypothesis in some minor degree, and to then test it once more in its new form—this frequently cures the trouble, and settles the matter satisfactorily.

The Law of Parsimony. The Law of Parsimony, carefully applied, often results satisfactorily in deciding between two or more promising Hypothesis. This Law is stated as follows: “(1) Explanations should not be unnecessarily extended, multiplied or complicated; but should be limited so far as is possible, and rendered simple so far as is possible. (2) All else being equal, a simple explanation should be preferred to a complex one; a limited explanation, to a more extended one; a close, ready, immediate explanation, to a remote one. (3) An unknown must not be accounted for or explained, by one still less knowable, or still more unknown, when a known explanation is at hand.” The Law of Parsimony has also been called “The Law of the Economy of Thought.” It is a valuable and efficient, though comparatively little known, principle of Logical Thought. We advise you to commit it to memory, and to apply it.

The Law of Logical Causation

You are now invited to consider that important Law of Logical Reasoning known as the Law of Logical Causation. This Law represents the universal experience of human thought rationally applied and directed. The Law of Logical Causation is expressed in the sixth of the Seven Axioms of Logical Reasoning, which is as Follows:

VI. THE AXIOM OF LOGICAL CAUSATION: “Every change, happening, event, or entrance into or exit from existence, proceeds from precedent conditions or causes; given the same causative factors, the same material elements, and the same environmental conditions, the same results and effects will follow in all cases so determined and conditioned.”

This axiom states a truth which is verified by all human experience, is supported by the common-sense reports of the race, and is substantiated by the judgment of the keenest logical and philosophical thought. It is regarded as self-evident truth, and as a proposition which may be taken for granted; it is assumed in all logical thought, and is implied in all true reasoning. The following consideration is not intended to be offered as proof of its truth; but is designed merely to elucidate and make clearer the manifestation of this principle in the world of thought and things.

The Law of Causation is expressed in popular terms as follows: “Everything that happens is the result of a Cause; without a Cause, nothing happens.” A more technical statement is: “All changes in things, and, therefore, all actions, movements, events, happenings, and occurrences involving change, are the results or effects of certain antecedent activities, conditions, forms or states of things, known as Causes. These Causes being present, the results and effects must occur; these Causes being absent, the results and effects cannot occur.”

The following statements of technical, authoritative writers of the subject may serve to illustrate further the natural principle operating through this law: Jevons says: “The Cause of an event means the circumstances which must have preceded in order that the event should happen.” Baldwin says: “Every event is the result or sequel of some previous event, or events, without which it could not have happened, and which being present it must take place.” McGilvary says: “Causation is the relation of Cause to Effect. The Cause of any event is a preceding event without which the event in question would not have occurred. Both Causes and Effects are always events; not things, but things in action. The complete Cause would be all the indispensable previous events. But as all inquiry that is of any value is confined within limits, the question as to the Cause of an event is not generally a demand for the complete inventory of indispensable previous events, but some event which, in connection with other events, taken for granted, is needed to account for the event under discussion.”

If we deny the Law of Causation, we may as well deny the existence of all Natural Law and Order; for Natural Law and Order cannot proceed from Chance, but is clearly the manifestation of the Law of Causation. A Law is “the way things act and proceed”; and all things are discovered to act and proceed according to orderly sequence and logical order: this universal fact attests the validity of the Law of Causation.

The ancients employed the term, “The Cosmos” to indicate “the World conceived as proceeding according to Law and Order”; the opposite conception and term being that of “Chaos,” or “The World conceived as lacking Law and Order, and hence, the World conceived as existing in a state of lawlessness, disorder, and confusion.” The position of modern science is that so forcibly expressed by one of its pioneers in the axiom: “The Universe is governed by Laws.” The only alternative is the conception of a World of Chance. The latter is unthinkable in view of the discovery of the constant and invariable operation of the Law of Causation in the Universe.

Logical thought recognizes the existence of “Chance” only in the sense and signification of, “The unknown, unperceived or remote Causes of an event.” It denies the existence of “Chance,” in the sense and signification of, “Absence or lack of Causes.” A leading reference work says: “Chance is a word which in its original and strict meaning may be defined as the causelessness of an event. But with the growing insight into the universal prevalence of Causality, Chance in this sense of the term is no longer regarded as possible. The word continues to be used in a different sense, viz., the unknown cause or causes of an event. The cause or causes may be entirely unknown, or unknown only in detail. In either case there is a lack of predictability; and in so far as an event is unpredictable it is said to be due to Chance. The unpredictable event is itself called ‘an accident,’ sometimes also itself ‘a chance’.”

You will notice that in the Axiom of Causation is stated that not only “every change, happening, or event,” but also “every entrance into or exit from existence” comes under the Law, and “proceeds from precedent conditions or causes.” An event is “that which comes, arrives, or happens.” Events arise from and are accompanied by changes in things. Every change in things implies a Cause or Causes producing the change; it is logical to posit a necessary Cause to account for every change.

Now, “every entrance into or exit from existence” is a change, or “becoming”; consequently every “coming into existence” or “exit from existence” must have its Cause. But, note this important fact: If there be posited a Something or Somewhat which is Eternal, and which, therefore, has never “come into existence,” or “entered into existence,” or “become existent,” then the existence of that Something or Somewhat does not imply the necessary precedent existence and action of a Cause; and, logically, we have no right to demand a Cause for such.

Consequently, each and every school of philosophy, metaphysics, or theology equally is entitled to be absolved from the necessity of “explaining by Cause” the fact of the existence of its own particular posited Eternal Ultimate Principle, Law, Process, or Being, upon some one of which all philosophies, systems of metaphysics and theologies base their respective reasoning. If there exists anything that is Eternal, then such thing must of necessity be Causeless. Only that which is conceived as “coming into” or “entering into” existence requires the positing of a Cause to explain such “becoming.” As Bowne says: “It is not existence as such that demands a Cause, but a changing existence. * * * It is entrance and exit only that give rise to this demand. Whatever manifests them must have a Cause; whatever does not manifest them can dispense with a Cause.”

However, in this particular instruction we are dealing only with Natural Things; things which become objects of perception and conception. All such things are temporal things; things which have come into existence, which manifest constant change during their period of existence, and which are destined to pass out of existence, all through a process of “becoming.” Such things, then, are clearly under the Law of Causation. In the present consideration, therefore, we are dealing only with things that come, dwell a while, and then go—all under the Law of Change, and therefore, under the Law of Causation.

The importance of the Law of Causation is realized more fully when it is recognized that in the Cause or Causes of an event, happening, change or entrance into existence, are to be found the “because,” “reason,” and “explanation” of the occurrence. When you know the Cause or Causes, then you are aware of the “reasons” explaining and accounting for the Effect or Result. When you say that such-and-such a thing happened because of so-and-so, then that “so-and-so” represents the Cause or Causes because of which the thing happened, occurred, changed or made its entrance into existence—or passed out of existence. So, you see, there are great principles involved in the Law of Causation.

The application of the principles of the Law of Causation in Logical Reasoning is performed chiefly in certain phases of Inductive Reasoning, which form the subject of the preceding section of this book devoted to the consideration of the Law of Induction. Inductive Reasoning is actively concerned with the discovery of the unknown Causes of known effects and results—of known events, happenings, changes, entrances into and exits from existence—in short, with the relations of Cause and Effect existing between all things. At that point of our instruction in which Inductive Reasoning was considered in detail, your attention was directed to the general laws and principles involved in that form of Logical Reasoning. However, at this point, we think it proper to call your attention to some special rules observed by trained reasoners in those processes of Inductive Reasoning having to do With the operation of the Law of Causation.

Difficulties of Discovering Causal Relations. The following general classes of difficulties experienced in determining the relation of Cause and Effect manifesting in correlated things should be carefully noted by you. Frequently, the knowledge of the precise nature of the difficulty will prevent you from committing a fallacy of reasoning, or from indulging in False Reasoning, along these particular lines; it will also serve to indicate at least the general direction in which lies the true solution of some difficult problems arising in the study of Cause and Effect.

I. Causes Beyond Experience. Where the Cause lies outside of human experience, or at least out of the experience of the individual, and is therefore not to be comprehended or understood, the remedy is: (1) if it be found that while one’s individual experience does not include the possible knowledge of the unknown Cause, then he should seek the solution in the experience of acknowledged authorities on the subject in question—care, however, being taken to satisfy himself that the authority actually is possessed by those claiming it or reputed to possess it, rather than depending merely upon their unwarranted and impudent assumption of it, or upon the uncritical judgment of those who attribute it to such persons; (2) if it be found that the knowledge of the unknown Cause necessarily lies out of all human experience, then the question should be put aside, because the mind is unable to apprehend any knowledge other than that originally based upon human experience; failure to act upon this principle results merely in circular reasoning—the mind traveling about like the squirrel in his wheel, ever moving but never really advancing.

II. Joint Causes. Where there are two or more Causes acting conjointly, thereby rendering it difficult to determine which is the predominant Cause, or to eliminate from the problem the associated Causes, then the remedy is to observe other cases in which some one of the several possible Causes has by itself operated to produce similar results independent of the other possible Causes. If any one of the said possible Causes is found to be capable of producing an Effect identical with or quite similar to the Effect under observation (without the possible presence or action of the other possible Causes): and where the other possible Causes are not found to be capable of so producing such identical or similar Effects; then it is logical to reason that the successful possible Cause is the true Cause. In the absence of such decisive result of the test, you must either label the question as “undecided,” or else tentatively assume that the Effect is the result of the several possible Causes necessarily acting conjointly. Tests along these lines will frequently eliminate certain of the factors as non-essential in the joint action, thus narrowing the unanalyzed combination to the remaining factors.

III. Modifying Causes. Where there are found to exist some modifying or counteracting Cause or Causes, which tend to confuse the investigator and to cloud the result of his investigation, then the remedy is that of Elimination (see the below stated rule of Elimination).

IV. Plurality of Possible Causes. Where there are found present and active several possible Causes, either of which seems to be sufficient to account for the Effect, then here again the remedy is found in Elimination (see the rule stated below).

V. Cause or Co-Effect. Where to the casual reasoner there seems to be found in a supposed Cause the sufficient explanation of the Effect; but where to the more careful reasoner the supposed Cause appears to be possibly merely a co-Effect of the true unknown Cause rather than that true Cause itself, then here again the remedy is that of Elimination (see the rule stated below).

VI. Coincidence. Where the apparent relation of Cause and Effect is seen probably or possibly to be the result of mere Coincidence, the relation of Cause and Effect probably or possibly being merely a relation of Time and Place arising from a concurrent happening, i. e., a happening at the same time and in the same place, though without any true logical relation of Cause and Effect existing between the respective happenings, then once more the remedy is found in Elimination (see the below stated rule).

VIII. Reversal of Relation. Where the apparent Cause is suspected really to be the Effect, and the supposed Effect really to be the Cause, then the remedy lies in testing the apparent Cause and the apparent Effect apart from each other, and under different conditions. In such case, careful observation and experiment are necessary.

Rule of Elimination. The Rule of Elimination (above referred to in several cases) is as follows: “Test each possible or probable Cause separately, and apart from other possible or probable Causes of a certain Effect, with the end and purpose of eliminating from the problem such apparent Causes which may be discovered to be incapable of meeting the logical causal requirements of the case, which requirements the True Cause must fulfill. The particular possible or probable Cause which is left after all the others have been eliminated (provided that it, itself, successfully meets the requirements of the case) is then to be accepted as the true Cause—at least so long as no other candidate for the office of True Cause, also meeting the requirements, presents itself and challenges the holder of the office.”

Illustrations of Elimination. The following examples serve to illustrate the Rule of Elimination which, in one form or another, is employed by the most careful thinkers.

1. A gun is discharged. The savage tries to fire it again, while still unloaded. He fails. He then places a shell within it, and finds that it “goes off.” Henceforth he eliminates the unloaded gun from the category of possible Causes or Casual conditions of “gun-firing.”

2. A person is made sick by something eaten at a dinner, but he does not know just which particular dish was tainted. He proceeds to test the thing by Elimination. He remembers that he ate soup, meat, fish, bread and vegetables. He discovers that a number of other persons also were made sick at that dinner; while others still were not so affected. He examines the latter class, and finds that all of them ate meat, and that some of them ate soup and bread, or vegetables, as the case might be. He eliminates all of these articles of food as probable factors of the illness, by reason of the fact that many of the well persons had eaten of each. When he reaches the item of fish, however, he finds that none of the well persons had partaken of it. Further inquiry reveals the fact that all of the sick persons had eaten it. He reasons from this that the fish was the tainted article of food which caused his sickness. If he alone had been made sick, his test would have shown either (a) that his particular portion of some article of food had been tainted, or (b) that his stomach was in bad order, or (c) that some particular combination of food had disagreed with him by reason of some personal idiosyncracy. We have here several elements of possible Cause and Effect, and the detection of the True Cause. Try to discover each—it will give you good practice and exercise.

3. Nitro-glycerine is discovered to be explosive. A man wishing to discover the prime explosive factors of the composite article tried separately the several constituent ingredients, i. e., glycerine and the nitric and other acids which composed it. He found that none of the several separated ingredients exploded, and that no other than a certain special combination of these exploded. In the case of many explosives, the explosion occurs only when the several ingredients are combined in certain proportions. Hence the conclusion that all of these factors, in certain combination and coordination, are the necessary factors of the cause, and constitute the True Cause of the Effect.

4. A man finds that his cup of tea is bad. He tries the experiment of using a different brand of tea, boiling it in the same kind of water; this results in another bad cup of tea. He then separately tries both brands of tea, using a different kind of water from that first used; both cups are found good. He decides that something was wrong with the water, and that the water was the True Cause of the Effect.

5. A scientific man fills a receiver full of air, and causes a bell to ring within the closed receiver; he hears the sound. Then he exhausts the air from the receiver, and causes the bell to swing; he hears no sound. Hence he reasons that the Effect (i. e., the sound of the bell) which was present in one case, and absent in the other, resulted from the discovered essential Cause (i. e., the presence of their air which conducted the sound-waves).

6. A man finds a room well lighted; he notices a number of peculiar glowing globes about the room (he had never seen an electric light lamp before). He experiments by turning off the globes, one after the other; and then turning them on again, one by one: he finds that the light in the room decreases by reason of the first action, and increases by reason of the second. Therefore he reasons that the peculiar glowing globes are the True Cause of the light in the room.

7. A man weighs a barrel filled with flour; he finds that it registers 210 pounds. He knows that the empty barrel alone weighs 14 pounds. He reasons that he has 196 pounds of flour in that barrel, which is the Cause of that part of the Effect which was not attributable to the barrel.

“These are trifling examples and illustrations,” you may say. Well, they are so, provided that you fail to grasp the basic principle involved in each. But these basic principles are precisely the ones employed by the great scientists, and by reason of which they have made their great discoveries of Laws and Principles. Perhaps, however, you may grasp these principles better when we present to you illustrations of certain Fallacies resulting from a failure to apply them. Here are a few familiar and typically illustrative cases involving such Fallacies.

I. Mistaken Causes: The rooster thought that his crowing caused the sun to rise; because, always just after he crowed, up came the sun. His fallacy was exposed when one day he overslept himself, and the sun rose without his crowing. Again: In ancient times, from the coincidence of the simultaneous appearance of a comet and an epidemic of the plague, it was reasoned that the comet was the cause of the plague. The fallacy was exposed when it was shown that other comets had appeared without the coincident appearance of the plague; and likewise, that other plagues had appeared when no comet accompanied them. Again: A child reasoned that because deaths in that town were always preceded by the visits of a physician, therefore, the doctors were the Causes of the deaths. You may expose this fallacy for yourself. Again: Ignorant and violently prejudiced people have sought to attribute the occurrence of bad crops, unfavorable seasons, bad weather in harvesting season, etc., to the fact that a particular political party happened to be in power. You may smile at this, but cases of this kind actually have been experienced. Other cases just as silly are those in which a certain administration, or political party in power, has been held to be the Cause of things which were utterly beyond its power to affect one way or another, and which proceeded from entirely different Causes.

II. Confusion of Cause and Effect: Some ignorant persons think that the eruptive pimples which are the symptoms of certain diseases are really the Cause of the disease instead of its Effect. Again: It might be argued that silk-hats are the Cause of Civilization, because the greater the degree of Civilization the greater the number of high-hats appearing on the streets. Again: that, for the same reasons, automobiles are the Cause of Prosperity instead of an Effect of it. Again: that, for the same reasons, straw hats are the cause of hot weather. Again: that certain royal personages were the respective Causes of the high degree of culture, prosperity and progress during certain periods, instead of their being merely incidental and coincidental facts—this is quite a common fallacy.

The foregoing examples may seem to be absurdly exaggerated cases of Fallacy of this kind; but others of the same general character, and equally contrary to reason, are being manifested by presumably intelligent persons every day in the year—and often are undetected and unexposed. When you train your mind along the lines of Practical Logic, you will by habit escape perpetrating these offences against Logical Reasoning, and will instinctively recognize and detect such when seriously and solemnly advanced by others. This is quite “worth while,” is it not?

The “Jevons’ Rules” of Discovery of Causes and Effects. Concluding our consideration of the subject of the application of the Law of Cause and Effect, we would call your particular and especial attention to the well-known, generally accepted, and very practical and useful rules laid down by Professor Jevons, that eminent teacher of Logic, which rules will serve to aid you in discovering and identifying true cases of Cause and Effect. These rules are as follows:

1. “Whenever we can alter the quantity of the things experimented on, we can apply the following rule for discovering which are Causes and which are Effects, viz.: Vary the quantity of one thing, making it at one time greater and at another time less, and if you observe any other thing which varies just at the same times, it will in all probability be an Effect.

2. “When things vary regularly and frequently, there is a simple rule by following which you can judge whether changes are connected together as Causes and Effects; this rule is as follows: Those things which change at exactly the same times are in all likelihood connected together.”

The above, and the previously presented rules, when applied by Common Sense and according to Experience, will render you an efficient reasoner along the lines of the relations of Cause and Effect—and such lines really extend over a vast field of your practical thought. Knowledge of the Causes and Effects of things under consideration is sometimes the most valuable of all possible knowledge.

The second, and concluding, part of the Axiom of Logical Causation states: “Given the same causative factors, the same material elements, and the same environmental conditions, the same results and affects will follow in all cases so determined and conditioned.” This principle is so intimately and absolutely bound up with, correlated to and coordinated with, the first principle announced in that axiom, that it inevitably, invariably and infallibly follows as an absolute necessity of the truth of the former; the two cannot be divorced. Reason has joined these two together so firmly that they cannot be put asunder. To deny either, or both, is equivalent to asserting the reign of Chance, rather than that of Law and Order—to regarding the Universe as Chaos, rather than as the Cosmos.

This truth is expressed in many strong phases employed by eminent thinkers. For instance: “From the same Causes, the same Effects proceed”; “What is true at certain times, under certain conditions, will be true under similar circumstances at all times.” It is based upon the realization that Nature proceeds according to fixed and certain Law—according to a uniform, constant, invariable routine and sequence of Orderly Trend; that the Universe is governed by Law, and not by Chance, and proceeds according to Rule, and not in any “higgledy-piggledy,” irregular, nonuniform course. If we deny the validity of Natural Law, we may as well stop thinking at all, for the most important part of our thought is based upon the conception and premise of Universal Law and Order.

We are justified in believing in “Nature’s Common Course,” for all experience supports such belief, and all Logical Reasoning verifies it. It has been said that: “We do not ask for the reasons of this uniformity—we cannot help believing in it even if we try not to do so.” It is a “necessity of rational thought.”

The Law of Logical Deduction

You are now invited to consider that important Law of Logical Reasoning known as the Law of Logical Deduction. This Law represents the universal experience of human thought, rationally applied and directed. The Law of Logical Deduction is expressed in the seventh of the Seven Axioms of Logical Reasoning, which is as follows:

VII. AXIOM OF LOGICAL DEDUCTION: “What is true of the class as a whole, must be true of each, every and all the individuals composing that class.”

The principle, law and truth embodied in this axiom is employed in all Logical Reasoning. It is regarded as self-evident truth, properly to be taken for granted; it is assumed in all logical thought, and is implied in all true reasoning. The Law of Logical Deduction from the earliest times has been recognized and employed in Logical Reasoning. In fact, until the rise into favor of Inductive Reasoning the logicians held that Deduction was the only valid form of logical inference. At present, it is clearly perceived that inasmuch as the material for all Deduction must be furnished ready-made by Induction, and inasmuch as Induction must be verified by subsequent Deduction, consequently, these two great forms of Logical Reasoning can not be divorced one from the other.

Some ardent advocates of Inductive Reasoning, in fact, go so far as to claim that Deduction is really nothing more or less than a method of making practical application of the results of Induction; and that the conclusions reached by Deduction have been previously implicitly asserted in the judgments passed upon the individual objects when they are admitted into their respective logical classes. We shall, however, not enter, here into such technical discussion, particularly as we believe that in this, as in most cases, the truth is to be found in the middle course—between the two extremes.

Deduction is the logical process whereby we deduce by inference an unknown particular truth from two already known general truths. As has been said by an eminent logician, it is “getting some knowledge from other knowledge.” Again, it has been stated as, “finding out what is true if certain other things are true.” Examples of Deduction follow: “All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal.” “All horses are animals; this creature is a horse; therefore, this creature is an animal”, “All magnets attract steel; this piece of steel is a magnet; therefore, this piece of steel will attract other steel.” “All mushrooms are good to eat; this fungus is a mushroom; therefore, this fungus is good to eat.” “No fish is a warm-blooded mammal; the whale is a warm-blooded mammal; therefore, the whale is not a fish.” “All A is B; this thing is an A; therefore, this thing is B.”

In the above-stated examples you find that there are two already-known facts—two Propositions, two judgments: these are called the “Premises.” There is also a third fact, a newly discovered fact—a third Judgment; this is called the “Conclusion,” or “Deduced Judgment.” A Premise is: “A Proposition antecedently supposed or proved, from two of which a Conclusion is drawn by Deductive Inference.” The most general of the two Premises is known as the Major Premise; the less general is known as the Minor Premise. For instance, in the classical illustration, the Major Premise is: “All men are mortal; the Minor Premise is “Socrates is a man”; the Conclusion is “Socrates is mortal.”

The Syllogism. To the average student one of the most forbidding things revealed in Formal Logic is that bearing the unfamiliar name of the “Syllogism.” The name itself seems to suggest terrifying possibilities in the form of technicalities and academic hair-splitting; and a cursory examination of the distinction between the manifold forms of the Syllogism is calculated to add to this feeling of apprehension. But, really, the only difficult feature of the Syllogism (in its simpler forms, at least) is its name. As a matter of fact, you use Syllogism every day in your ordinary thinking, and have always done so, though perhaps you have not realized the fact.

A Syllogism is simply: “The regular logical form of every logical argument or process of Deductive Reasoning.” Each of the examples given above to illustrate the principle of Deduction is a Syllogism. The classical example is: “All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal.” Each Syllogism consists of three elements, viz., the Major Premise, the Minor Premise, and the Conclusion. The Major Premise contains the most Universal term (in the above example, this is “mortal”). The Minor Premise contains the most Particular term (in the above example, this is “Socrates”). The Conclusion contains the most Particular term as its subject, and the most Universal term as its predicate (as, for instance, “Socrates is mortal”). There is also a “middle term” which does not appear in the Conclusion, but which appears in the Minor Premise and the Major Premise (in the above example the “middle term” is “Man” (or “Men”).

The Major Premise of a Syllogism has been previously arrived at by means of Induction. The Minor Premise is the result of previous Induction or Deduction, as the case may be. The Conclusion is the Judgment obtained by the present process of Deduction. The three elements of the Syllogism are known as “Propositions.” A Proposition is: “A Judgment between two Concepts, formally expressed in words.”

You may think that the idea of the Syllogism is purely technical and artificial, having nothing to do with “plain, practical everyday thinking”; but if so, you are mistaken. You employ the Syllogism constantly when you think in the form of reasoning, argument, or decision; though you employ it more or less unconsciously. When you see a wasp moving toward you, you seem to say to yourself merely, “I must look out for that wasp”; but your mind really is thinking (though for the most part more or less unconsciously) “All wasps sting; that insect is a wasp; therefore, that insect stings.” If it were not for your previously acquired knowledge of your Major Premise, i. e., “All wasps sting”; and of your Minor Premise, i. e., “That insect is a wasp”; you would not be able to arrive at your (more or less unconscious) Conclusion, i. e., “That insect stings,” which, in turn arouses your desire and will to “look out for that wasp.”

You follow the same general course when you move away from the place at which you hear the rattlesnakes’s warning. You follow it when you retreat rapidly from the presence of the skunk—though you do not stop to analyze your thought into its elements, or to translate it into words. You follow it when you gently lay down the stick of strange looking substance when someone calls out to you: “Look out; that is dynamite.” You use it when you “know” that a particular pauper pays no taxes; though your mind only unconsciously goes through the thinking stages of “He is a pauper; paupers do not pay taxes; therefore, he does not pay taxes.” In short, you employ it (though more or less unconsciously) in every thinking process of Deduction, by means of which a decision, or Judgment is reached. If you will take the trouble to analyze any thought leading up to a Deductive Judgment, you will find that each step or stage of the Syllogism has been employed.

But, here is an important point: In ordinary thought and deductive thinking, there is a “slurring,” suppression, or omission from conscious thought of one or more of the three respective Propositions composing the Syllogism. The missing Proposition, however, still exists in the mind of the thinker—in his subconscious or unconscious fields of mentation. They are always “taken for granted” or implied, even though one may not be conscious of their presence. When you analyze even the most informal argument, or simplest deductive inference, you will find that the missing elements are always there “in the mind.” Logicians apply to the results of this “slurring” or “leaving out” process the term, “Enthymeme” (meaning, “in the mind”). You are not required to remember this name, however: you may think of it simply as “A Short-Cut Syllogism”—for that is exactly what it is.

“Short-Cut” Syllogisms vary greatly in particular form, but are reducible to three general classes. Here follow examples of each of the three classes. With Major Premise omitted: “We are a free people; therefore, we are happy.” Here the Major Premise, i. e., “All free people are happy,” is unexpressed, though existing “in the mind.” With Minor Premise omitted: “Poets are imaginative: therefore, Byron was imaginative.” Here the Minor Premise, i. e., “Byron was a poet,” is unexpressed, though existing “in the mind.” With Conclusion omitted: “All braggarts are cowards; Bombastes is a braggart.” Here the Conclusion, i. e., “therefore, Bombastes is a coward,” is unexpressed, though existing “in the mind,” and also probably intended to be called into the mind of the listener or reader.

This last form is often employed very effectively in debate or public speaking. The Frenchman’s characteristic shrug of the shoulders is really a syllogistic “short-cut,” in which the Conclusion is unexpressed in words, though existing “in the mind” and suggested by the gesture. Also, when you say, “I allow you to draw your own conclusion,” you are employing this form of “short-cut”—often quite effectively.

You will find it excellent mental exercise and practice to restore a “short-cut” Syllogism to its original and complete form. Stanley Williams says: “It is one of the finest exercises of the mind that it is possible to employ—an exercise superior even to geometry and other branches of mathematics, because in it we are dealing with the practical everyday inference of our reason.” Such practice will enable you readily to detect fundamental fallacies advanced in the reasoning or arguments of other persons. As an illustrative example of this form of practice we offer the following: “This thing will sink in water, for it is a stone.” Restored to syllogistic form, it is: “All stones sink in water; this thing is a stone; therefore, this thing will sink in water.”

The textbooks of Formal Logic will give you a terrifying list of the numerous forms of Propositions and Syllogisms. This list frequently discourages the practical man, and drives him away from a further investigation of the subject. But inasmuch as all of such forms may be reduced to the few simple forms referred to by us in this section of this book, and inasmuch as the technical distinctions are of very little real practical value to the person who desires merely to become familiar with “the working principles” of Practical Logic, we shall omit further reference to them here. In addition, the textbooks of Formal Logic present a number of highly technical rules which govern the logical forms of the Syllogism; these also we shall omit. With the aid of Common Sense, and a knowledge of the fundamental principles of Practical Logic, one may easily dispense with these hair-splitting distinctions.

There are, however, several basic rules under which Deductive Reasoning must proceed in order to be valid, and which if violated result in fallacy or false-reasoning—this becoming sophistry when deliberately employed to deceive others or one’s self. These basic rules we now ask you to consider; they are as follows:

I. The Terms must be Unequivocal, and not Ambiguous.

II. The Premises must Represent Actual Facts.

III. Particular Terms must not be Employed as Universal Terms.

IV. The Conclusion must Contain Nothing which is not Involved in the Premises.

You are now invited to consider carefully the following more detailed statements concerning each of the above-stated general rules of Deductive Reasoning, together with examples illustrating each rule.

I. The Terms must be Unequivocal, and not Ambiguous, i. e., they must be clear, plain, and not employed in more than one meaning or sense. This, because the same term, employed in the same argument in more than one of its meanings, practically becomes two terms, or more; in such case, one Premise may contain the term employed in one sense, while in the other Premise the same term may be employed in another sense, which would result in false reasoning and absurd conclusions. This was a favorite device of the ancient Sophists; it is employed frequently (in more or less involved and disguised form) by many sophistical speakers and writers of our own time and lands. Here is a classical illustration: “A man says: ‘I am lying’; if he is lying, he is telling the truth; if he is telling the truth, he is lying.”

Other examples of Fallacy arising from a violation of this rule follow: “Feathers are light; light is contrary to darkness; therefore, feathers are contrary to darkness.” “No courageous thing flies; all eagles fly; therefore, eagles are not courageous.” “All artists design; all designing persons are untrustworthy; therefore, all artists are untrustworthy.” “Vice ran in the family; the police ‘ran in’ the family; therefore, the police were vicious.” “No cat has two tails; every cat has one more tail than no cat; therefore, every cat has three (i. e., one more than two) tails.” One form of this Fallacy consists in placing the mental or verbal accent or stress upon the wrong term; as for example: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor; all that is not against thy neighbor is for him; therefore, thou shalt bear false witness for thy neighbor.” The above examples, in more complex and subtle form, illustrate the favorite devices of certain sophistical reasoners, debaters and teachers.

Another variety of this form of Fallacy consists of the use of the words “all” or similar terms, in one place as a collective term, denoting “a combined and united whole”; and in another place as a singular term, denoting “any, each, or every single individual or object forming a part of a whole.” Example: The statement that, “Any man can carry away all the sticks in this pile,” (meaning to carry away all the sticks singly, one by one) is far different from the assertion that any man can carry away all such sticks at once, in a single load. Likewise, the statement that “No man can carry away all the sticks in this pile” (meaning to carry them away in a single load), is far different from saying that no man could carry away all of them, one by one. This form of Fallacy is far more common than you might imagine from the above stated simple examples. It becomes more dangerous when expressed in more complex and involved form.

Another variety of the same form consists in confusing the meaning of a grammatical phrase. Example: “The animals walked in two-by-two; two and two make four; therefore, the animals walked in by fours.” “You have said that what you bought in the market yesterday, you ate today; you bought raw meat in the market yesterday; therefore, you ate raw meat today.” “You have said that it is not true that virtue consists of utility; if this be true, then virtue lacks utility; therefore, you hold that utility is a thing lacking in virtue.” “Patriotism is the last rest of a scoundrel; therefore, every patriot is a scoundrel.” Such sophistical quibbles and tricks distinguish shyster lawyers, Smart Aleck debaters, and others of their kind; they are beneath contempt when employed in argument with serious intent— and they are so employed far oftener than you might suspect. Did you ever hear of the shyster who asked the witness under cross-examination, the question: “Have you quit beating your wife?” and insisted upon a “Yes, or No” answer. The man had never beaten his wife: imagine his dilemma!

Another variety of the same class of Fallacy is that in which the principles of a general law are sought to be applied to a particular case in which the circumstances are entirely different. Example: “All who kill are murderers; soldiers kill; therefore, soldiers are murderers.” This sophistry is discovered when one refers to the definition of “murder,” which is: “illegally killing a human being with malice aforethought.” Yet public men of a certain type have sought persistently to perpetrate this sophistry, and thus to influence the public mind in certain directions. Once more: the sophistry that, “In Aesop’s fable the fast hare was beaten by the slow tortoise; of the two horses entered in this race, one is fast, the other slow; therefore, the slow horse should win this race.” Here, of course, Aesop’s tortoise won “in spite of” its slowness, not “because” of it.

II. The Premises Must Represent Actual Facts, i. e., they must represent facts derived from one’s own careful observation and experiment, or from his own logical reasoning; or else from carefully considered and accepted reports of the experiences, observations, or reasoning of others deemed to be capable and in a position to observe, experiment, or reason carefully and correctly, and to judge with logical precision. The importance of this rule becomes apparent when one realizes the truth of the ancient aphorism: “One can prove anything whatsoever, if he be permitted to assume certain Premises; this, without violating a single technical rule of Deduction.” Admitting the Premises of an argument or process of reasoning, the conclusion proceeds certainly, inevitably and invariably to a logical conclusion, without regard to the actual truth of the Premises so employed. But, remember always, that a logical conclusion is never truer than are the Premises from which it is deduced, even though the processes of reasoning or argument be logically perfect. If you start with the Major Premise that, “All White is Black,” you may reason with absolute logical correctness to the Conclusion that, “This is black snow.”

Your Premises must represent correct observation, experiment and the experience of yourself, or of others deemed to be competent authorities. Your own experience must be subjected to logical inspection, and must bear the test of logical Induction and Deduction. The evidence of other persons must be subjected to logical and critical inspection and judgment. The two main factors determining the degree of the validity of this last-mentioned class of evidence are as follows: (1) Ability, and (2) Veracity; but alas! such associated virtues are rare, for some able men lack veracity, and many veracious men lack ability to observe, reason and judge.

Many a “good man and true” lacks critical perception and logical judgment; such a man is particularly dangerous, because his virtue is apt to be mistaken for the ability which he really lacks. Again, a man may be very able in his own particular line of thought and work, but still like a child or a dunce in certain other lines. The man recognized as an “authority” in one line may be an ignoramus in another line; a failure to perceive this has led astray public opinion and personal belief in very many cases, some of which may have come under your own observation. The “authority,” to be valid, must be real and not merely assumed. Common sense must be employed in deciding upon the validity of the opinions of claimed “authorities.” The “authority” should be subjected to the test-question: “How do you know?” You are justified in being “from Missouri” in this respect.

Fallacy of “Begging the Question”: This is quite common, and it frequently deceives even careful persons whose attention has not been directed to the logical principle violated in it. It consists of assuming, “taking for granted” (or asking others to do so) a Premise (usually a Major Premise) which is not based upon logical reasoning or upon actual human experience and judgment.

It is true that “all reasoning or argument must begin with a Proposition not actually proved at the time,” and which is to be “taken for granted” as representing valid human experience and judgment—something which is assumed to be “self-evident,” and requiring no further proof or demonstration. Otherwise, the reasoning process would be like running back along the links of an endless chain; one must begin somewhere. But such “self-evident truth” must really be one based on universal human experience, a well-verified hypothesis, or a valid logical deduction from these; a mere assumption or claim will not answer.

Likewise, it is illogical and contrary to common sense to hold that a Proposition or Premise must be accepted as true and valid until it is actually disproved. The contrary is true: the rule is that “The Burden of Proof” lies upon the person advancing the Proposition; “He who affirms must prove, if called upon to do so.” A favorite device of some debaters, writers of a certain type, and some persons engaged in argument, is to “shift the burden of proof,” and to hold that unless the Proposition is disproved it must be admitted to the argument. The absolute rule is: “The Proposition must be positively proved, if demanded; no mere negative failure to disprove it can constitute or serve as positive proof of the Proposition.”

The Fallacy of “Begging the Question,” is a very common and, often a very dangerous one; it appears in many forms, and under many disguises. It is particularly dangerous, because especially insidious, when it appears in disguised form in the Major Premise; here the formal Conclusion becomes merely an echo or repetition of the original Proposition, the latter being cleverly injected into the argument without being subjected to logical inspection or proof. Once admitted to the argument, the Proposition, thus boldly assumed, becomes the valid basis for subsequent deduction and reasoning of a perfectly logical character. The unsupported Proposition is treated as if it were really the Conclusion of a previous process of syllogistic reasoning; whereas, it really is merely “taken for granted” or assumed without valid basis. In effect, it is really a case of attempting to prove a Conclusion by itself, without the presence of supporting Premises.

Many public speakers commit this fallacy—often quite deliberately. Experience has shown them that usually (in the popular phrase) they “can get away with it.” Aaron Burr illustrated the practice in his celebrated cynical statement that, “Truth is that which is boldly asserted, and plausibly maintained.” Bulwer makes one of his characters, an unusually clever rascal, say: “Whenever you are about to utter something astonishingly false, always begin with: ‘It is an acknowledged fact,’ etc.; or ‘It is admitted by all,’ etc.; or ‘No thinking person denies,’ etc.; or ‘It is a truth undeniable,’ etc.” The same character advises that when one is called upon for the proof of something admitting of no logical proof, he should “look solemn, and, striking his breast, should say: ‘I find it here!’”

Another form of “Begging the Question” consists of the use of “question-begging epithets,” i. e., of terms or epithets suggesting or conveying unpleasant or evil associated meanings, and thus serving to arouse prejudice against, or even to damn the thing, by the use of the epithet or term which really has not been proved to apply to the thing in question at all, and of which the thing is possibly entirely innocent and free. Thus, we often hear arguments in which it is “boldly asserted” (without the slightest proof, be it noted) that such and such an idea is “atheistic,” “anarchistic,” “unpatriotic,” or “immoral”; the audience, bearer, or reader being asked to “swallow whole” without investigation or thought, the idea represented by such terms. It is a case of “giving a dog a bad name” and thus causing him to be stoned to death. Jevons says: “We should always be on our guard against being misled by ‘question-begging epithets’.”

The Fallacy of “Circular Reasoning” is another variety of this general class of Fallacy; like the other varieties and forms, it is quite common, and often is quite dangerous. It consists of, attempting to prove a Proposition by itself; or, proving a series of Propositions one by the other in a Vicious Circle.” In its simplest form it is perpetrated by simply attempting to demonstrate or to prove a thing by means of its own definition, as for example: “Glass breaks because it is brittle; it is brittle because it breaks easily”; or, “We can see through glass because it is transparent; it is transparent because we can see through it”; or “The girl is dumb, because she lacks the power of speech; she lacks the power of speech, because she is mute.” An extension of the false principle is found in arguments or syllogisms in which the Major Premise is merely the unproved Conclusion stated in different terms but having the same essential meaning.

More complex, and consequently more dangerous, forms are as follows: “My Church is the true Church, because it was established by God, and God could have established none other; it must have been established by God, because it is the true Church, and such could have been established by none other than God.” You will notice how convincing this seems at first hearing; but you will perceive that not even a single iota of proof, not even a single trace of logical argument, is offered in the whole statement; there is not even the slightest evidence, proof, or reasoning presented to show any connection between God and the establishment of truth of that particular Church; yet persons are deceived by just such false reasoning concerning many important subjects.

Again: “My political party is honest, because it advocates honest principles; the principles advocated by it must be honest, because they are advocated by an honest party.” Once more: “The Koran is infallibly true, because Allah inspired it; we know that Allah inspired it, because it is so stated in the Koran.” Finally: “The man is truthful, because he states so himself; being truthful, that which he states must be truth.”

Circular Reasoning, however, is most successfully employed in long arguments, where its detection is difficult; while in simpler form the same false reasoning would be readily detected.

Frequently it is perpetrated by the use of synonyms which are suggested and assumed to express more than the original term employed in the Proposition, but which really do not do so. A particularly dangerous and subtle form is that in which as McGilvary says: “There are two or more Syllogisms interrelated in such a way that the Conclusion of each Syllogism is the Premise of some other. In this way, the Conclusion, or what is proved, in one Syllogism is used in another Syllogism as a basis of proof for a Proposition which, in its turn, ultimately comes to be used as a basis of proof for the first Syllogism.” Read over this last statement until you thoroughly understand it; when you are able to do this, you will be prepared to give battle to the Vicious Circle.

III. Particular Terms must not be employed as Universal Terms; that is to say, terms denoting only “part” or “some, of a class of things must not be so used that they seem to denote “all” or “the whole” of that class. In order that you may thoroughly understand this rule, we shall now call your attention to the essential distinction between Particular Terms and Universal Terms expressed in the form of Particular Judgments and Universal Judgments, respectively.

Particular Judgments are Judgments which are not general, i. e., which do not include “all” or “the whole” of the class of things to which it applies; but which, instead, include only a part, portion, or “some” of that class—or “at least some” of that class. Particular Judgments are marked by the presence in them of the words, “some,” “certain,” “a few,” “many,” “most,” or similar terms indicating that merely a part, portion, or “at least some” of the entire class is denoted. The terms, “this,” and “these,” also usually denote Particularity but in exceptional cases they are sometimes employed to denote whole classes—exactness of meaning should be ascertained when such terms are employed in forms possible of being interpreted in either way.

Examples of Particular Judgments are as follows: “Some bread is biscuit”; “Certain snakes are venomous”; “Many men are vain”; “Most mules are stubborn”; “A few negroes are albinoes”; “That Virginian is a Republican”; “This Irishman is a Protestant.” When Particular Judgments are announced or employed, they indicate expressly that only a part or portion of a general class is involved in the statement; in them is also implied the fact that “there is something left in the class”

Here, however, is an important point to remember in connection with that implied “something left in the class,” viz., that the remaining portion so “left in the class” may lack the characteristics affirmed of the portion denoted by the Particular Term, or it may not lack them. By employing the Particular term (i. e., “some” or its equivalents) we may mean either (1) that the “remaining or other part or portion” lacks the characteristic in question; or (2) that our certain knowledge of the class extends merely to that particular part or portion indicated by the Particular Term and involved in the Particular Judgment; or (3) that there remains a general doubt or possible indecision concerning the “remaining part.”

The meaning “at least some” covers each and all of the above stated three respective contingencies; therefore, this meaning should always be kept in mind when dealing with Particular Terms or Particular Judgments in Deductive Reasoning.

Universal Judgments are Judgments which are general, i. e., which include the entire class of things to which it applies—all the parts, portions, or individuals in that class, and not merely a part, portion, or “some” of the class. For instance, when we say that “All men are mortal,” we mean that the entire class of “men” possess the characteristic of mortality. Universal Judgments are marked by the presence in them of the words, “all,” “every,” “each,” “any,” “the whole,” or similar terms denoting “all the number or class”; also by “no,” i. e., “not any of the number or class”. Universality either takes in the entire number or class, or else leaves out the entire number or class; the principle is the same in both cases. Examples: “All men are mortal”; “Every dog is an animal”; “Each man was armed”; “Any dog will eat meat”; “The whole family was present”; or, “No dog is a cat”; “None of the family were absent”; “Not any of the fishes have warm blood.”

Note the following important point: Universality is also sometimes implied and tacitly indicated in certain Particular Terms employed for convenience to denote entire numbers or classes of things, and not merely single individual things. For instance: “Man is mortal”; here the term “‘Man” is employed in the Universal sense and meaning of “All men,” and therefore becomes a Universal Term—the Judgment becoming a Universal Judgment. Terms like “The Horse,” or “The Cow,” etc., or “A Horse,” or “A Cow,” (meaning “any horse” or “any cow”), are also frequently employed in this way; when so employed they become Universal Terms, and mark Universal Judgments. In such cases, the Universality of the Judgment is tacitly indicated, the magic words, “all,”, “each,” “every,” “any,” etc., always being implied. Care must always be taken to determine whether such terms are employed in the ordinary Particular sense and meaning, or, instead, in this special Universal sense and meaning. Many grave Fallacies arise from confusing or confounding Universals and Particulars in this way.

Examples of Fallacies arising from a violation of the rule now under consideration are as follows: “White is a color; Black is a color; therefore, Black is White”: here “Color” is used in its Universal sense of “All Color,” instead of its Particular sense of “some Color.” The same fallacious use of Particular Terms for Universal Terms results in the following several false Conclusions: “All birds are bipeds; no man is a bird; therefore, no man is a biped”; “Some Chinamen are highbinders; this man is a Chinaman; therefore, this man is a highbinder”; “Some Russians are Bolsheviks; Ivan is a Russian; therefore, Ivan is a Bolshevik”; “Biscuit is bread; this loaf is bread; therefore, this loaf is a biscuit”; “Indians are Americans; John Smith is an American; therefore, John Smith is an Indian”; “All thieves are human; the bishop is human; therefore, the bishop is a thief.”

But why multiply examples? The principle is plain, once it is grasped. Once understood, it is seen to apply to countless cases; and is found to be violated in the reasoning and arguments of many persons who should (or do) know better. When used for the purpose of deceiving, it becomes sophistry or casuistry; and it is often so used, particularly by subtle suggestions and in disguised form.

Here is the essential principle: Terms denoting merely “some” must not be used to denote “all.” When we say that, “All dogs are animals,” we do not mean “all animals,” but rather we mean “some animals”—the Particular mark “some” being implied and tacitly indicated. Fully stated, the Judgment or Proposition would be as follows: “All dogs are some animals,” i. e., that all-the-dogs-there-are-in-existence constitute a part, portion, or “some” of the entire class of animals—not “all” or “the whole” of the “animal” class. The implication would be that also there are “some animals which are not dogs,” as well as that “some animals which are dogs.”

The following diagram (with accompanying explanation) will be found helpful in fixing and keeping this principle in your mind. It is based upon the analysis of the familiar “trick Judgment” stated as follows: “Biscuit is Bread, but Bread is not Biscuit.” Analyzed, this Judgment means: “All Biscuit is some Bread; Some Bread is all Biscuit”—with the implication that “There is also some Bread which is not any Biscuit.” Stated more simply, we have: “All Biscuit is Bread; but all Bread is not Biscuit: there is some Bread which is not Biscuit; but there is no Biscuit which is not Bread.”

There are three rules governing Deductive Reasoning which are derived from a number of more technical ones set forth in works upon Formal Logic. Practical Logic employs these Derivative Rules, considering them sufficient for its general purposes; these rules are as follows:

I. “One Premise, at least, must be Universal”; this because of the fact that, “From two Particular Premises, no logical Conclusion can be drawn.” An example of the violation of this rule is found in the Syllogism: “Some men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is—” What? The only logical Conclusion possible is that “Socrates may be either mortal or not mortal; he must be one or the other; he cannot be both”; but this is no more than the Law of Opposition and Law of Excluded Middle tell us. There is no definite Conclusion possible from two Particular Premises; one Premise, at least, must be Universal.

II. “If One Premise is Particular, the Conclusion also must be Particular”; this because of the fact that, “A Universal Conclusion can be drawn only from two Universal Premises.” Examples: From the Universal Premise, “All birds lay eggs,” and the Particular Premise, “Some animals are birds,” we may logically deduce merely the Particular Conclusion that, “Some animals lay eggs”; but we cannot logically deduce the Universal Conclusion that, “All animals lay eggs.” But, on the other hand, from the following two Universal Premises, “All finches are birds; all sparrows are finches”; we may logically deduce the Universal Conclusion that, “All sparrows are birds.”

III. “The Conclusion must Contain Nothing that is not Involved in the Premises”; this, because, as the Conclusion is necessarily made up of the material of the two Premises, any addition to this material would be an unwarranted and illogical introduction or “dragging in” of foreign matter or extra material which, in the words of “Pooh-Bah” “have nothing to do with the case.” Such foreign matter, thus dragged into the case, is, as the lawyers say, “incompetent, immaterial, irrelevant, and impertinent.” Yet this Fallacy, often deliberately employed as specious sophistry, is frequently perpetrated, and often succeeds in accomplishing its purpose.

The Fallacy consists in the statement of Irrelevant Conclusions. In one of its phases the Irrelevant Conclusion is caused by the employment of certain terms as Universal Terms in the Conclusion, while in the Premises they were used as Particular Terms; we have already considered this form of the Fallacy. The second phase consists of the introduction into the Conclusion of Judgments entirely foreign and alien to the issue, and which are not in any way logically involved in the Premises. This last mentioned form is sometimes known as “Non Sequitor,” meaning, “It does not follow.” Non Sequitor is marked by: “The introduction or dragging-in of points ‘not at issue’ in an argument or course of reasoning, i. e., points having nothing at all to do with the case under consideration, or points having no possible logical relation to the original Premises.”

Examples follow: “All men are rational; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is truly noble.” “Episcopacy is of Scriptural origin; the Church of England is an Episcopal church; therefore, the Church of England should be supported by tithes.” “The Church is a good institution; the State is a good institution; therefore, the Church and the State should be united.” “The evidence shows that John Smith is a liar; all murderers are liars; therefore, John Smith should be hanged.” “This place is called Stony Stratford; I was never so bitten by fleas in my life as here; therefore, rightly is this place called Stony Stratford.” More cleverly disguised forms of this Fallacy, yet involving the same essential principle, pass muster every day in argument, debate and serious discussion. Remember the adage: “If it does not follow logically from the Premises, it is foreign to the issue.”

There is another Fallacy frequently appearing in reasoning and argument, but one which is not referred to in the specific Rules of Logical Reasoning. We wish to direct your attention to it: it is known as the Fallacy of Prejudice. It is quite common, and often quite dangerous. You should give it careful consideration and honest thought.

Fallacy of Prejudice. By “Prejudice” is meant: “Prejudgment; unwarranted and unreasonable predilection for or objection to anything; especially, an opinion or leaning favorable or adverse to anything, without just grounds, or before sufficient knowledge.” The common forms of Prejudiced Judgment are as follows: (1) Prejudice in favor of Propositions agreeing with our feelings, emotions, or general “likes”; or against Propositions running contrary to our feelings, emotions, or “likes.” (2) Prejudices in favor of Propositions advanced by persons favorably regarded or liked by us; or against Propositions advanced by persons unfavorably regarded or disliked by us. (3) Prejudice in favor of opinions at present held and previously stated by us; or against opinions at present opposed, and previously disputed by us. Let us consider briefly each of these three forms.

(a) It is quite difficult to divorce our judgments from our feelings. Our likes, loves and hates tend to prejudice our judgments, and to give us a “mental slant” in the direction of the “like” and against the “dislike.” Bernard Shaw tells us that most of our reasoning consists of either trying to excuse or justify our previous judgments and actions caused by our states of feeling, or else of trying to invent excuses for present or future judgments or actions likewise so caused. Feeling and emotion resemble the tinted glass which colors the rays of the sun which pass through it. Everything we consider is apt to be seen colored in the tints and shades which our feelings have imparted to it. You should ever be on your guard against the interposition of the colored screen between your reasoning faculties and the objects or subjects of logical thought. Strive ever to secure the clear, unimpeded passage of the White Light of Pure Reason; let it shine upon the objects of your thought.

(b) We find it difficult to give the proper value to an opinion, proposition or judgment announced by a person or persons disliked by us. Likewise, we find it quite easy to place an exaggerated value upon opinions, propositions or judgments announced by those whom we like. Here, once more, Feeling seeks to usurp the office of Reason. Truth is Truth, by whomsoever stated; and Untruth is none the less Untruth even when stated by an estimable person, or one very dear to us. A thing “is, or is not, so,” without regard to our opinion of, or our feelings toward, the person making one or the other of these necessary judgments. It is our business to find out “which is which,” by Reason alone, bidding Feeling to step aside and to “keep its thumb off the scale.” Judgments should stand on their own feet; the crutches of Feeling are not required; they are a sign of weakness on the part of Reason.

(c) It is characteristic of the human mind to incline to support even the weakest opinion or judgment already lodged in it; and to defend such against the attacks of even the strongest truths and reasons. Even when the conflict is confined to one’s own mind, and no other person is involved in it, this remains true. Even though the preconceived opinion or judgment may have been based originally upon insufficient and unstable grounds of reasoning, the slightest proof and the weakest evidence, nevertheless it often requires the very strongest evidence and proof, the most positive reasoning and most certain logic to cause us to budge an inch from our position. We have said to ourselves that the thing was so; we have expressed the same opinion to others; and to change is akin to “backing down.” The thing may be “a poor thing, but it is our very own”; we hate to part with it—to separate it from us too strongly suggests an amputation or the removal of a mental appendix. It is quite right and proper to “hold fast to our opinion”; but we should be sure that the latter is well grounded in fact, and well supported by logical reasoning. We should endeavor to keep at least a fairly “open mind,” even though we keep a keen-eyed sturdy watchman at the gate.

Some Practical “Points”

We desire now to call your attention to several common sense, practical general “points” which should prove useful and helpful to you in the task of “making up your mind” concerning various subjects and questions toward which you have directed your reasoning powers and logical thought. Some of these have been expressly stated or else implied in some part of the foregoing instruction; others arise from the experience of men in applying the principles which have been presented to you in these pages. In either case, the present reference is intended to be merely suggestive, not a detailed exposition.

Point I. All logical argument, reasoning, or proof must begin with something necessarily taken for granted, admitted or accepted as self-evident and axiomatic; or else “assumed for the sake of the argument,” and accepted tentatively in order to permit the argument, discussion or reasoning to begin. Without such a starting point, there can be no reasoning, argument or discussion on any subject whatsoever; an effort to find the ultimate and fundamental proof, fact or truth in any case will be endless, for the chain must be endless so far as we are concerned, inasmuch as there is a limit to our respective lives, while there is apparently no limit to such backward tracing of Conclusions to their Premises, these to preceding Conclusions and their Premises, and so on, and on, ad infinitum. If we are to begin at all, we must begin somewhere; and that position of “somewhere” always is occupied by a Something or Somewhat which must be accepted, admitted, or assumed as a basis, and which must be “taken for granted” at least tentatively. This Something or Somewhat is usually known as “the first principle” of the argument, discussion or reasoning.

Point II. There can be no logical argument or discussion between persons who do not accept the same “first principles,” at least tentatively; neither can there be logical reasoning on the part of the individual who does not accept some “first principle,” at least tentatively, in order to think intelligently on any subject whatsoever. A realization of the fact would prevent much futile argument and discussion, and much purposeless and inconclusive reasoning.

Point III. The “goodness” or “badness” of a condition, action or belief may be determined only by first agreeing upon its associated object, purpose, end or effect. It is impossible to determine whether or not a thing is “good,” unless we first ask and answer the question, “good for what?” This brings a realization that most so-called “good” or “bad” is purely relative; that what is one man’s good, is another man’s bad. The rain that is welcomed by farmers in one section is dreaded by those in another; a rise in the market makes some men rich, while ruining others; the point of view of the average practicing physician or undertaker must of necessity be entirely different from that of their sought-for and desired patrons. There must be an accepted standard—a stated “good for this, or because of that.”

Point IV. The old proverb, “De gustibus non est disputandum” (i. e., “There is no disputing about tastes”) expresses a truth which, if generally recognized, would prevent much futile argument and discussion, and save much fruitless reasoning. Without a standard, arguments of this kind are without end. To each person his own taste is a standard, in absence of the acceptance of a higher one. As a writer has said: “Tastes differ so much among individuals, nations, or in different ages that it is utterly impossible to set up a standard of taste applicable to all men and to all ages of society.”

Not only are there countless individual preferences in taste, but there are also local standards generally accepted as authoritative, and there are even passing fashions of taste in all communities. There are two general forces at work in setting standards of taste: the current standards result from a balance between these two. These two factors are (a) the numberless individual tastes caused by the temperaments, education, or associations of the different persons, and (b) the comparatively uniform standards of taste adopted or accepted by the majority of the most intelligent and cultured persons in any community at any given time. But in any case, there can be no logical discussion or argument concerning Taste, unless some certain or general standard be accepted or assumed at least tentatively.

Point V. Likewise, there can be no logical argument or reasoning concerning the subject of the merits or demerits of particular or general behavior, unless a definite, certain standard of conduct and behavior be accepted, adopted, admitted, or assumed at least tentatively, by the reasoning person or the parties to the argument. This standard may be “the law” of that time and place; the accepted common general rule of good behavior and conduct—the accepted customs—of that time and place; the accepted principles of ethics of the best thought of that time and place or the moral codes, commandments, or teachings of some particular accepted religion.

The religious standards, for instance, may consist of the Ten Commandments; or of Christ’s Two Commandments; or of the Golden Rule; or of the Sermon on the Mount; or of the teachings and rules of the Church: in other lands, this being true of the particular religions accepted and at least nominally followed by the people of the land. The legal standards are set by the respective laws of the states or countries in question. The general moral standards are represented by the customs and habits of the best part of a community. The modern ethical standards are represented by the following statement of Professor Davidson: “It is not enough for a man to understand the conditions of rational life in his own time. He must likewise love these conditions and hate whatever leads to life of an opposite kind. This is only another way of saying that he must love the good and hate the evil; for the good is simply what conduces to rational and moral life, and the evil simply what leads away from it.”

But, whatever may be the standard adopted, accepted or assumed, there must be some such standard, else all argument, discussion or reasoning on the subject must be futile, meaningless, and endless.

Point VI. Reasoning and argument about the nature and characteristics of things in general, or in particular, should always be conducted on the basis of “things as they are,” rather than upon “things as they ought to be.” The “ought to be” question is quite proper in its place—but its place is “some other place”; it has no place in the thought concerning the nature, characteristics, and present state or conditions of the thing or things in question. A failure to observe this precautionary measure is the cause of much futile and endless discussion, and of much muddled thinking. Nature, Life, Society, and Things in general, must first be known “as they are,” before any improvement or progress is possible. We must know “what things are, and how they behave:” before we can reason out possibly better ways. Many persons shrink from seeing “things as they are” in Nature—they are afraid to look facts in the face; they are afraid of “the naked Truth,” evidently considering it “un-nice,” if not, indeed, actually indecent.

Your Premises should be: “All A is B,” or “This A is a B” (if such be the case), rather than “All A should be C” or “This A should be a C”—that is, if you are arguing or reasoning about the nature of, or the truth concerning the thing in question, or of the present facts of the case. The “should be” or “ought to be” or the “it is a pity that it is not,” is quite another matter; such requires a new Premise, involving an entirely different line of argument or course of reasoning. In logical reasoning, the scientific spirit, not that of the sentimentalist, should govern. This is not asking too much of you: if Omniscience sees and knows everything, then it must see and know things “as they are”—you are merely asked to endeavor to follow the same course to the best of your ability.

Point VII. You will do well to realize and recognize that “everything has its opposite”; that there are always “two sides to every question”; that most statements of truth are merely half-truths, the other half being left unstated; that Truth is usually discovered “in the middle of the road,” or to be the Golden Mean between the two extremes. Truth usually is found to consist of a reconciliation of the “opposites”; or the harmonization of the two “opposing” (but not really “contradictory”) aspects of the case. In most cases it will be found that neither “All A is B,” is true; but that the truth is that “Some A is B, and Some A is not B.” Consequently, when you encounter a case in which each of the two sides has many capable adherents, and each is well supported by fact and argument, you may be reasonably sure that the whole truth lies in between the two extremes, and may be found by reconciliation and “a broader and deeper solution.”

There formerly raged a violent dispute as to whether Heredity or Environment is the prepotent factor in shaping character; much was said on each side, and each side arrayed strong facts to support it. Then, along came Herbert Spencer with his “deeper and broader solution” that Heredity is merely the results of past Environment, and that present Environment is merely Heredity “in the making.” Likewise, the same gifted philosopher harmonized the old dispute between the adherents of Intuition (of a certain kind) and those of Experience regarded as the basis of certain “universal notions”; he showed that such universal notions might be called Intuitive, but that this Intuition originally arose from the actual experience of the race, and in time, through inheritance, become fixed in the race as “necessary beliefs.”

All this brings us to a realization that, as a writer has said: “Anything may be defended by logical argument or reasoning that does not involve a logical contradiction in terms,” i. e., that does not conflict with the universal Laws of Thought which we have presented to you in this instruction.

Point VIII. Much attention of late years has been given to the Pragmatic aspect of things—to the aspect of Practical Use and Utility. The Pragmatic test, i. e., How will it work? What will it do? What use is it?” is now being applied in every field of human thought, every branch of study, every important question of Judgment and of Logical Reasoning. There is in the air of the times a disposition to demand of everything the answer to the great question: “What of it?” (You will remember the three questions suggested by us to you in a preceding part of this instruction, viz., “What is it? How do you know it? What of it?—this last is the Pragmatic factor.) There is found a strong tendency on the part of modern writers and teachers on the Art of Thinking to advise that one should not waste time and effort on reasoning which “leads nowhere,” and which is purely academic in character—“scholarly but not scientific”; but should confine one’s thought to practical questions admitting of definite answer and practical, useful application.

A writer voices this bluntly as follows: “Put away from you all questions which do not admit of a definite answer; and also those of which the answers can have no practical meaning, importance, service or use to you.” Henry Hazlitt states this idea with more gentleness, as follows: “The Pragmatic method can be applied with profit to nearly all our positive problems. Before starting to solve a question—while deciding, for instance, on the validity of some nice distinction in Logic—we should ask ourselves, ‘What practical difference will it make if I hold one opinion or the other? How will my belief influence my action?’—(using the word ‘action’ in its broadest sense). This may often lead our line of inquiry into more fruitful channels, keep us from making fine but needless distinctions, help us to word our questions more relevantly, and lead us to make the distinctions where we really need them.”

Point IX. We have at different points in this instruction pointed out to you the fact that the best reasoning, the truest reasoning, is “purposive reasoning.” In fact, it is not too much to say that there is no real or true reasoning that is not reasoning with and for a purpose. That purpose is the discovery of truth— the answer to a particular or general question. The clearer that purpose, the more clearly understood that question, then the truer, clearer, more definite, and more effective will be the reasoning process. As Hazlitt says: “We cannot think on ‘general principles.’ To try this is like attempting to chew laughing gas. To think at all requires a purpose, no matter how vague. The best thinking, moreover, requires a definite purpose, and the more definite this purpose the more definite will be our thinking. Therefore, in taking up any special line of thought, we must find just what our end and purpose is, and thus get clearly in mind what our problems are. * * * Our first step is to get our problem or problems in mind, and to state them as definitely as possible. A problem properly stated is a problem partly solved.”

Our problems necessitating our reasoning are questions— questions demanding an answer. Our business is to clear away the non-essential elements of the question, and to reduce it to its simplest, most fundamental and basic, essential elements. You should ask yourself: “Just what is the nature of this question; and just what must be the nature of the answer when found?” The analysis required for this reduction of the question to its simplest essential elements, and for the perception of the necessary general character of the sought-for answer, will in itself set you well on your way in your process of reasoning out that answer. Sometimes the careful examination of the “opposite side” will clear away much obstructing material; the analysis of the elements of the thing sought to be avoided, or of the elements of your ignorance, will often point directly and unerringly to the solution. Hegel was quite right in his doctrine that a thing can be fully known only by also fully knowing its opposite.

In beginning your reasoning, carry in mind the homely aphorism of the old hunter, i. e, “When you start out to hunt anything, be sure you know just what you’re hunting—or else you mightn’t recognize it when you run across it.”

Point X. The best thinkers have found an important working principle to consist of the “breaking-up method,” i. e., the method of dividing, or breaking-up the subject of thought into convenient classes, divisions, or parts—each of these being handled in turn by the mind. Logical division and analysis should be followed in the “breaking-up,” in order that the best results may be obtained. The rule of the “breaking-up” should be: Logical Order; Definiteness; Utility.

Jeremy Bentham, though not the originator of this method, was one of its most able practitioners; it has been claimed that “the secret of his strength and originality of thought lay in this method.” John Stuart Mill, in one of his essays, directed attention to Bentham’s use of this method, of which he said: “It may be shortly described as the method of detail: of treating wholes by separating them into their parts; abstractions by resolving them into things; classes and generalities by distinguishing them into the individuals of which they are made up; and breaking every question into pieces before attempting to solve it.”

Hazlitt says: “The systematic thinker is careful of the manner in which he marshals his difficulties. He knows that certain problems should properly be considered before certain others, and he saves himself labor and sometimes error by considering them in that order. * * * Knowledge furnishes problems, and the discovery of problems itself constitutes an intellectual advance.

Whenever you are thrashing out a subject, write down every problem, difficulty and objection that occurs to you. When you get what you consider a satisfactory solution, see whether or not it answers all of them.”

You are advised to observe the following general rules in your reasoning, arguments, and discussions. Most of these points have been referred to, or else stated, in the foregoing instruction:

(1) Define and understand your principal terms, and demand the same of your opponent.

(2) Be certain of the Premises employed; beware of Begging the Question, and of allowing your opponent to do so.

(3) Proceed logically, observing the Laws of Thought rationally interpreted; and insist upon your opponent doing the same.

(4) Avoid prejudice, and unwarranted preconceived opinion; but respect your own opinions, and do not discard them unless better are obtained.

(5) Understand and observe the distinction between Particular Judgments and Universal Judgments; and be on guard against confusing or confounding them, on your own part and that of your opponent.

(6) Admit, and permit, nothing in the Conclusion which is not involved in the Premises.

(7) Apply always (to yourself and to your opponent) the leading questions: “What is it? How do you know it? What of it?”

An observance of the ten general points set forth in the foregoing pages, and of the several general rules briefly stated above, will serve to furnish you with what a writer has expressed as: “An equipment of tests and requirements which would save many people from wasting their time and thought upon discussions, arguments and reasoning, of which they realize neither the origin nor the end.”

In your task of attaining efficient Reasoning Power, you will be aided by a study and the observance of the principles of the Master Formula of Attainment which forms an important element of our instruction. The Master Formula, precisely stated, is as follows: I. Definite Ideals; II. Insistent Desire; III. Confident Expectation; IV. Persistent Determination; V. Balanced Compensation. Reduced to popular terms, it reads: “You may have anything you want, provided that you (1) know exactly what you want, (2) want it hard enough, (3) confidently expect to obtain it, (4) persistently determine to obtain it, and (5) are willing to pay the price of its attainment.”

Character Power: Positive Individuality

The Springs of Character

Character is, “The peculiar quality, or the sum of such qualities, by which a person or a thing is distinguished from others.” The term as applied to human beings usually is defined as, “The strong intellectual or moral qualities of a person”; but others have sought to emphasize the part played by actions and conduct in human character, and have accordingly suggested the definition of “Character” as “The general rule of conduct governing the acts and actions of a person.” Another definition of “Character,” one offered in a leading reference work, is, “The nature of the individual, manifesting in and as the continuity of his various successive voluntary and habitual acts.”

For the purposes of the present consideration of the subject, we may pass by the technical and academic definitions of the term in question, and content ourselves with the idea or concept of “Character” as, “The essential principle of the nature of the individual which governs and decides his habitual mode of action, and which therefore expresses and manifests his individuality.” As the individual is known to us almost exclusively through his actions, and as his principle of action is his character, therefore the character of an individual is practically “the individual in himself,” so far as is concerned our knowledge of him.

There is frequently found to be some confusion concerning the relation between “character” and “reputation.” Some writers use these terms as if they were synonymous, while others employ them as if they denoted widely separated ideas. The general opinion of the most careful authorities, however, is that “character” denotes the true nature of the individual, while “reputation” denotes the particular view of the character of an individual, which is favored by public opinion, and which may be far different from the true character of that person. Someone has said that there are three phases of the character of an individual, viz., (1) his true nature and character, as an omniscient mind would perceive it; (2) his own opinion of his true nature and character; and (3) the public opinion of his character, which constitutes his “reputation.”

As there is a “cause and a because” of and for everything—a “reason and explanation” of and for every fact discovered by human knowledge—so there must be a causal reason and explanation of that principle of human conduct and action which we know as “character.” The individual is perceived to have such-and-such character, and to act in accordance with it. He is discovered to possess certain habits of thought, feeling and action, and to express and manifest these characteristic states in his activities of life. This habitual character or nature cannot be supposed to exist in and of itself, without cause, reason or explanation. Rather must it be assumed that this character and nature, like everything else in the manifested universe, has its reason and explanation in an antecedent and preceding chain of circumstances and conditions, influences and determining factors. Accordingly, the psychologist proceeds to seek for and to discover these causes and “becauses,” these reasons and explanations of character.

Halleck expresses the conclusions of orthodox psychology on the subject of the causal sources of character, in the following statement:

“Character is the resultant of several factors—will, heredity, and environment. Let us take an actual case to represent these at work. Shakespeare was born of parents who could neither read nor write. There was something in the boy more than either of them. A part of that additional something was due to his will, which, by always acting in a definite way, often in the line of the greatest resistance, gave him stability when others were wavering like reeds in the wind. Unlike Marlowe, Shakespeare was not killed in an alehouse, although he must have felt promptings to waste his time and nervous force there, as did so many of his fellow dramatists. In resisting these tendencies, in putting the best of himself, not into revels, but into his dramatic work, he acquired character. That heredity was not all in his case is shown by the fact that he had brothers and sisters, who never climbed the heights with him. His limited earlier opportunities show that environment was not all that made him. Besides, environment did not make Shakespeares out of others born in that age. There was will power in him that rose above heredity and environment, and gave him a character that breathes forth in every play.

“The modern tendency is to over-estimate the effects of heredity and environment in forming character; but, on the other hand, we must not underestimate them. The child of a Hottentot put in Shakespeare’s home, and afterward sent away to London with him, would not have given the will sufficient material to fashion over into such a noble product. We may also suppose a case to show the great power of environment. Had a band of gypsies stolen Shakespeare at birth, carried him to Tartary, and left him among the nomads, his environment would never have allowed him to produce such plays as he placed upon the English stage. Heredity is a powerful factor, for it supplies raw materials for the will to shape. Even the will cannot make anything without material. Will acts through choice, and some kinds of environment afford far more opportunities for choice than others. Shakespeare found in London the germ of true theatrical taste, already vivified by a long line of miracle plays, moralities and interludes. In youth he connected himself with the theatre, and his will responded powerfully to his environment. Some surroundings are rich in suggestion, affording opportunity for choice; while others are poor. The will is absolutely confined to a choice between alternatives.

“Character, then, is a resultant of will power, heredity, and environment. A man cannot choose his parents, but he can to a certain extent determine his environment. Shakespeare left Stratford and went to London. He might have chosen to go to some insignificant town where the surroundings would have been uninspiring. In middle life a man’s decisions represent his character. He will be swayed by the resultant force of all his preceding choices; in other words, by his character.

“What has the will to do with character? Character is largely a resultant of every voluntary act from childhood to the grave. We gradually make our characters by separate acts of will, just as the blacksmith by repeated blows beats out a horseshoe or an anchor from a shapeless mass of iron. A finished anchor or a horseshoe was never the product of a single blow. A man acquires ‘character’ by separate voluntary acts. We apply the term ‘conduct’ to those actions unified into a whole, which relates to the welfare of the self, either directly or indirectly, through the welfare of others. We are coins, the metal of which has been dug from the mines of our inborn intellectual and moral faculties by the will power. If we properly work those mines, we may find metal enough in us to justify a stamp of a very high value. On the other hand, though there is much unmined metal beneath the surface, we often form a character marked with a penny stamp. It may be true that circumstances stamp us to a certain extent, but it is also true that the way in which we use them stamps us indelibly.”

While the above quotation from Professor Halleck gives an exceptionally clear and full view of the representative thought of modern orthodox psychology concerning the springs and sources of character, and is deserving of the most respectful consideration and careful study, nevertheless there is a view of the subject which transcends that of even such able psychological thought, and which enables us to interpret the latter in terms of a higher knowledge. This view is accepted and employed in the present instruction. There is no particular name applied to this higher presentation, however, and we must content ourselves with allowing it to explain and define itself as we proceed to consider it. We may say, however, that it may be thought of as “The New Psychology,” or “Applied Psychology,” with the addition of a certain “spiritual” element. Let us consider this view of the subject by means of its teachings, rather than by attempting to define it or to give it a name.

In the first place, in this new view of the subject the will is not accorded the supreme place. True it is that the will is the most important instrument employed in the development of character—but, at the last, the will is perceived to be but the instrument, not the user of the instrument. The user of the implement of will is that mysterious entity which abides in the centre of the consciousness of the individual, and which is known to him as the “I,” Ego, or “I AM I” principle of his being. This “I AM I” is that focal centre of consciousness and of will established by that POWER which is the source and origin of All Power. It is the supreme centre of the Personal Power of the individual—it is that Something or Somewhat which is the user of the physical, mental and spiritual tools, instruments and implements of the being of the individual.

This “I AM I” of the individual is the user of the instrument or implement of will in the process of the development of character. By means of this instrument it is able to mold and fashion the character at will, employing in the process, however, the raw materials afforded by heredity and environment— employing them, moreover, in a manner and to a degree not generally recognized by modern orthodox psychology, when the consciousness of the “I AM I” is awakened to self-recognition, self-realization and self-manifestation. In order to understand more clearly how these raw materials are so employed in the fashioning and creating of character, let us briefly consider just what are these raw materials, i. e., heredity and environment, in their last analysis. The last analysis shows each of these in some ways to be less than we had expected, and yet in other ways more than we had suspected; each is, moreover, shown to be a most efficient servant of the “I AM I,” yet in itself by no means the master of character.

Heredity is usually defined as, “Hereditary transmission of physical or psychical qualities of parents to their offspring.” The term, however, has a far more extended meaning than that thus indicated. Instead of being limited to the transmission of the qualities to the individual from his parents, its meaning may be extended to include the transmission of qualities to the individual from the entire line of his ancestors—the racial qualities, the tribal qualities, the general family qualities. Heredity, in fact, is the transmission of the essence of the entire experience of the human race—and even of the experience of the life-forms which were the ancestors of the race of man. At the last, heredity is seen to be the transmitted record of the past experience of the life-forces of the universe.

Heredity is the impressed records of the past experience, the past environment, of the life forms. It must include the best as well as the worst, and all that lies in between. Special combinations of these records may serve to give a “set” or a tendency toward certain lines of action on the part of the individual; but these may be overcome or transcended by the employment of the will; and other combinations may be thus built up or fashioned from the other elements of character which abide in the deeper subconscious regions of the self, just as truly as from those elements lying nearer to the surface of consciousness. The determined will may oust from the throne of character those elements of heredity which seem to be objectionable, and may supplant them by the more desirable elements which abide in the subconscious self merely awaiting the call or demand of environment or will.

It has well been said that we have “the whole menagerie” of heredity within us—the tiger, the ape, the peacock, and all the rest. But equally true is it that in each of us is to be found the Master of the Show, who is able to control the animals; to summon forth those which serve best his purposes, and to confine safely those of an undesirable character. Sometimes, alas! this Master of the Show is asleep, or at least drowsy, and the animals conduct the show themselves; but the Master once aroused into self-recognition and self-realization, he then proceeds to exercise his powers of self-manifestation. The “I AM I” is the Master of the Show—the tamer of wild-beasts, the trainer of the animals of the menagerie of the self.

Heredity, at the last, is seen to be but the transmitted records of the past experiences of the race. These racial experiences were the result of the contact of countless generations of individuals of the race with their respective environments. These reactions to the stimuli of environment, repeated over and over again through innumerable generations, gradually tended to become set or fixed to some degree in the plastic mental substance of the race. We have instances of this transmission and fixation in the case of the “instinct” of animals, which results from the gradual fixing and setting in the mind-substance of certain habits of action, or rather of the tendency toward those habits. The duck takes naturally to water, the wild goose tends naturally toward migration in winter, by reason of this inherited instinct or acquired habit of action. The water acts as a stimulus to arouse this instinct in the duck; the approach of cold weather arouses it in the wild goose.

Heredity, then, is seen to be nothing more than the transmitted germ of the acquired habits of past generations to respond in a certain way to certain phases or conditions of environment. Habit, in the individual, is the acquired tendency to respond in certain ways to certain forms or conditions of environment. So, as you see, heredity is but one phase or form of tendency or habit to respond to the stimuli of environment. Environment is the real external conditioning and determining factor associated with both heredity and habit—the latter two being the internal factors. From the reaction of the internal to the external, our characteristic actions arise. Thus environment is a most important element in the development and manifestation of character, and it behooves us to investigate the nature of this important element—Environment.

Environment is defined as “that which environs or surrounds, particularly the surrounding conditions, influences or forces.” In short, environment is composed of those forces, influences, or conditions of the outside world which by means of their contact affect, influence and exert a modifying power over us. Careful thinkers have announced their belief that the character of the race, and that of the individual, are determined by the effect of their environment upon them, and by their reaction to their environment. If man were merely an automaton, or a mechanical contrivance, then, indeed, he would be but the helpless slave to environment. But as he is not a mere automaton or machine, he is not the helpless slave so pictured.

As man emerges into the higher forms of self-consciousness and begins to experience the consciousness of Egohood, he also begins to become aware that at least to some extent he can overcome the power of environment. He finds himself able to modify his environment—to change his environment in many cases—by the power of his will. He is able to do this even before he arrives at the stage of fully awakened Egohood in which he becomes consciously aware of the being and power of his “I AM I.” When he reaches the latter stage, he is able consciously to employ his will in the direction of modifying his physical environment, and also of creating new mental representations of environment—this last a most important though but little understood principle and process.

The real environment which affects the individual is not the external environment in itself, but rather the mental representation—the mental images—of that environment. If a person from his birth were deprived of the report of the senses of sight, hearing, feeling, etc., then the effect of the external environment upon him would be lacking—it would not exist for him. In such case he would have no “ideas” of the external things of his environment: and it is these “ideas of things” which so largely influence and determine his character. It is the mental images of things—often of purely imaginary things, for that matter—which exert the greatest effect upon his character. This being perceived, it may be then realized that if we can supply the person with the right kind of mental images we can do much toward determining and developing his character, especially if from the subconscious regions of his being we can bring up the appropriate tendencies and habits of reaction to these “right kind of mental images” which we have seen have been placed in those regions by the processes of heredity.

This then, in short, is the method of the New Psychology (with the added spiritual element) of developing and cultivating your character. Let us briefly recapitulate the three important principles involved in the method, as follows:

(1) You are aroused into a conscious recognition, realization and manifestation of the “I AM I” which abides at the centre of your consciousness, and which is your Real Self; and are taught to apply your new-found power in the direction of working upon the raw materials of heredity and environment which abide within yourself, and at the same time to gather new material of the right kind from determined and selected contact with your external environment.

(2) You are then taught to bring from the hidden recesses of your subconscious self the right kind of tendencies, habits and inclinations which have been placed there by the processes of heredity. This “right kind” of inherited tendencies, habits and inclinations abide in your subconscious regions, and in those of each and every other individual, no matter how hidden from sight they may be, and how much in evidence may be the opposite characteristics. The race is old, and the chain of heredity is long and extends in countless directions. The best as well as the worst abides in you, and in each and every individual, for each person is really the inheritor of the characteristics of every one of the original ancestors of the race, and of every one of many generations of their successors.

Scientists have asserted that it may be stated as a true general principle that in the veins of each and every individual human being living today there flows the blood of each and every individual living ten thousand years ago and probably even as late as five thousand years ago. This being true, it follows that the mental heredity must follow the same channels of distribution. Each of us then is the heir of the ages—each of us has within us the potential characteristics of each and every individual of countless generations of men and women.

This being the case, we may safely assert that the germ of each and every possible form of human character abides within your subconscious self, and is capable of being drawn upon by you to serve as the raw material of character which you may mold and fashion into the kind of finished character you most desire. And, mark you this, the New Psychology (with the added spiritual element) has discovered the way whereby you may draw upon and bring to the surface these desired elements of heredity, as well as those of the personal experience and environment of yourself.

(3) You are then taught to create the particular kind of mental pictures which will produce the desired reaction on the part of the inherited or acquired tendencies and characteristics brought into the field of your consciousness in the manner above referred to. You are taught how to create for yourself a “working environment”—to erect and to operate a “laboratory of environment,” in which you may produce those combinations of mind and soul which you seek to acquire and make your own.

You are taught how to condense the essence of environmental influences in such a manner as to render them available in your experimental and creative work of character building. You are able to build up a miniature World of Experience within yourself, in which you can reproduce the processes of Nature and thus duplicate her results.

Noted botanists and naturalists have been able to anticipate Nature’s evolutionary plans, and to produce “here and now” plant forms and animal forms which, in the ordinary course of evolution, would not have reached the earth-scene until after thousands of more years of slow development: so may you, if you are sufficiently persistent and insistent, develop your character along the desired lines to such a degree of proficiency as unaided nature is able to produce only at rare intervals, by exceptional combinations of elements, through many generations of race-evolution.

The key to the new methods of character building is, of course, found in the arousing of the full degree of the conscious recognition, realization and manifestation of your “I AM I.” Without this, full success along these lines is impossible. But, even though you obtain only a partial measure of this superior consciousness, you may obtain a corresponding degree of success along these lines. By applying these methods, you, and also practically every individual of average intelligence and will power, will be enabled to secure satisfactory results in some degree at least; and, moreover, by means of the continued and persistent application of these principles and the methods based thereupon, the fuller awakening of the desired consciousness of the Real Self is encouraged. When your inner nature feels most keenly the need of the fuller awakening, then there is set into operation the forces which serve to encourage and to hasten such process. The insistent demand and the persistent application of the working principles here bring forth the supply-just as they do on all of the planes of Nature’s manifestations and processes.

The plan and methods of the development of character which are taught in this book are not necessarily based upon the purely metaphysical theories concerning the nature of mind, although, of course, they fit very well into such conceptions and afford efficient channels for their expression. Those who base their conceptions of mind upon the functions and activities of the brain will, likewise, find in these plans and methods an efficient and useful means of putting into application the practical features of their phase of mental philosophy or mental science.

Just as electricity may be employed and set to work along certain lines, and under certain laws of application, with satisfactory results, notwithstanding the different particular theories concerning the essential nature of the energy itself, so the powers of your mind may be set into operation effectively by means of these plans and methods, without regard to your particular views concerning the essential nature of mind. So far as the actual practical application of the powers of the mind is concerned, it makes little or no difference whether you regard mind as a substance, or even as an entity, or whether, on the other hand, you regard mind as a product of the activities of the brain, or even as simply the processes of brain activity.

So far as this instruction is concerned, you may proceed either upon the theory that mind produces the brain-cells, or upon that which holds that brain-cells produce mind. Personally, we are inclined to the opinion that the truth concerning this matter consists of a reconciliation of these two opposing hypotheses, and that mind (as we know it in our experience) is the product of the mutual action and reaction between the spiritual and the material aspects of our mental nature. But we do not insist even upon this: you are left free to choose for yourself, and even to build up an entirely new and different hypothesis—the plan and methods will be found to work out equally well in either case.

Scientific experiments have demonstrated the fact that your brain-cells may be greatly and rapidly increased in number by means of proper exercises and active use. Moreover, it is now an accepted scientific fact that there are certain areas of the brain which are concerned with respective particular mental and emotional states or faculties. Certain areas of the brain which are concerned with certain particular forms of thought and feeling, and even of will activity, have been discovered to be capable of increase of area and of power under the stimulus of scientifically arranged systems of exercise and employment. The old-time phrenologists insisted upon this fact, derided as were their theories when first promulgated; and modern psychological experiments have served to corroborate and to verify the general principles of these old teachings, once so ridiculed.

Modern psychology teaches that the number of brain-cells actively developed depends materially upon the degree of active use of the particular mental faculties employing these cells. It is estimated that the brain of the average individual contains many billions of brain-cells in various stages of active development. In some cases it is estimated that not more than 500,000,000 cells are actively employed and developed; while in others as many as 5,000,000,000 are actively developed and employed. It is also stated that the number of brain-cells present always is far in excess of those actually employed and fully developed; Nature preserves an enormous reserve stock for possible emergencies. It is also held that active employment of the brain-cells in any particular area tends to hasten the full development of the reserve cells in that area; and also that Nature causes the brain-cells to multiply themselves in any area in order to keep pace with the demands made upon it. So, you see, there is no danger of your stock of brain-cells becoming depleted.

Professor Elmer Gates has conducted important and interesting experiments along these lines, all of which tend to corroborate the facts above stated. The following statement made by this scientist a few years ago will prove interesting and instructive in this connection. We ask you to consider it carefully, for it contains the hint of wonderful future achievements along the same line of investigation and experiment. Professor Gates says:

“The first experiment in my investigations regarding the mind consisted in giving certain animals an extraordinary and excessive training in one mental faculty—e. g., seeing or hearing—and in depriving other animals, identical in age and breed, of the opportunity of using that faculty. I then killed both classes of animals, and examined their brains to see if any structural difference had been caused by excessive mental activity, as compared with the deprivation or absence thereof. During five or six months, for five or six hours each day, I trained dogs in discriminating colors. The result was that upon examining the occipital areas of their brains I found a far greater number of brain-cells than any animal of like breed ever possessed. These experiments served to localize mental functions, and above all to demonstrate the fact that more brains can be given to an animal, or to a human being, in consequence of a better use of the mental faculties. The trained dogs were taught to discriminate between seven shades of red, and six or eight of green, besides manifesting in other ways more mental ability than any untrained dog.

“The application of these principles to human education is obvious. A child that had been trained for six weeks after birth in the excessive use of the temperature senses—detection of heat and cold—was found, after dying of scarlet fever, to possess in the temperature areas of the brain more than twenty-four times the average number of cells. As a matter of fact, the child was able to detect differences in temperature unrecognizable by other children of its age. Under usual circumstances and education, children develop less than ten per cent of the cells in their brain-areas. By processes of brain-building, however, more cells can be put in these otherwise fallow areas, the child thus acquiring a better brain and more power of mind. Brain-building should properly begin a few weeks after birth, because, as soon as the brain is fully developed in all its areas, the child is prepared to acquire, by technical and professional education, special knowledge and particular kinds of skill.”

Phrenological measurements, made at different periods of the life of the same adult individual, have demonstrated beyond question that there occurs a perceptible increase in the area of the brain concerned with the activity of certain mental faculties, providing that such faculties have been actively employed in the occupation, the vocation or avocation, of the individual. In cases in which the occupation of the individual has been changed by circumstances, and his activities directed into different channels of mental expression, there has been noted a cessation of development of certain brain areas, and a corresponding increase in other brain areas; the increased areas being found to be those concerned with the processes of the particular faculties involved actively in the new line of work or channel of mental expression.

So, you see, physiology as well as psychology furnishes us with sufficient facts to corroborate the principle upon which this instruction is based, namely, that in the mind or the brain of man there abides abundant material to serve for the building-up of the qualities of character—the mental and emotional qualities, faculties, and powers; and that by scientifically designed and directed methods and exercises each or any of the qualities, faculties or powers of your character may be increased, strengthened and rendered more efficient—and that your undesirable qualities may be restricted and inhibited by means of the development of their opposites.

You have the power to “make yourself over,” and to mold your character closer to your heart’s desire. To a great extent, every man is self-created; you are creating character every day of your life, consciously or unconsciously: then why not create it Character Power consciously, scientifically, and according to a purpose and plan designed by your reason and approved by your conscience?

Positive and Negative Qualities

Your mental and emotional qualities may be classed as either (1) Positive, or (2) Negative. The terms “positive” and “negative,” respectively, as used in the present connection, denote the character of these qualities in their relation to the successful accomplishment of your rightful aims, ambitions, purposes and ends—either the successful accomplishment of your general rightful purposes, or of your special rightful purposes. Positive qualities contribute to your successful accomplishment, attainment, manifestation and expression of rightful ideals. Negative qualities contribute to your failure to accomplish or attain, or to manifest and express rightful ideals. Positive qualities push and pull you forward; negative qualities push or pull you backward. Positive qualities tend to urge you upward and onward; negative qualities tend to drag you downward and backward. Positive qualities are helpful to you; negative qualities are harmful to you.

The best statement of the character and nature of Positive Qualities and Negative Qualities, respectively, is as follows:

Positive Qualities make you stronger, better and more efficient.

Negative Qualities make you weaker, worse and less efficient.

The Test Question to be applied by you to any mental or emotional quality—any feeling, emotion, thought, mental-attitude, or course of action, is: “Will this serve to make me stronger, better and more efficient?”

The Touchstone of Positivity

The above-mentioned Test Question to be applied by you to any mental or emotional quality—any feeling, emotion, thought, mental attitude, or course of action—the question “Will this make me stronger, better, and more efficient?”—has well been called “The Touchstone of Positivity,” for it serves to determine Positivity when such exists in a quality of character. A “touchstone” is a mineral employed to test gold and silver by means of the streak left upon the stone by the metal when the latter is rubbed upon it. When the gold or silver of Positivity is applied to this Touchstone, the characteristic mark is left upon it and the genuineness of the mental or emotional metal is determined—the baser metals leave no such mark.

The spirit of the Touchstone of Positivity consists of the following standard of excellence: (1) Expressing and manifesting the best possible kind of actions, physical, mental and spiritual (2) with the greatest possible degree of ability, power and energy, and (3) with the maximum of actual and useful effect proportioned to the actual degree of power, strength or energy expended.

The Touchstone is the standard representing your Summum Bonum, or “chief Good”—your chief ends and aims in life. Surely the ideal is a worthy one: when rightly understood and interpreted it is seen to include the essence of that which men of widely differing theories of life agree upon as the rightful aim and end of human effort. In this light, the question: “Will this make me stronger, better and more efficient?” is perceived to be a worthy, consistent, and legitimate test of the value of your mental and emotional qualities of character. The nearer to this standard your character-qualities approach in their development and manifestation, the greater is their value to you. To this end you should cultivate and develop your positive elements of character; to this end you should restrict, restrain and inhibit your negative elements of character.

The Positive Norm and the Two Negations

Every mental or emotional quality or faculty of character has its Positive Norm, and its two Negative Extremes. The “Norm” of anything is “the authoritative standard, model, or type” of that thing. The Negative Extremes of anything serve to “negate” the Positive Norm. To “negate” the Positive Norm is to deny, contradict, nullify and render it inactive and ineffective.

Every Norm has two extremes of Negation—two Negative Extremes. For convenience, we may style the two Negations, or two Negative Extremes, as follows: (1) The Deficiency-Negative, i. e., the state or condition in which the Norm is negated by the absence of its essential character, or by the presence of its antithetical opposite; and (2) the Excess-Negative, i. e., the state or condition in which the Norm is negated by the presence of its general character manifested to such an excessive degree or in such a perverted form that thereby the essential virtue of the Norm is practically nullified and its power rendered inactive.

The Deficiency-Negative represents the departure from the Norm on the side of lack, deficiency or absence. The Excess-Negative represents the departure from the Norm on the side of excess, intemperance, superfluity, extravagance, “overmuchness” or perversion of its essential spirit. The Positive Norm is the Golden Mean; the two Negations or Negative Extremes are the extreme departures from the Positive Norm, on either side of the latter. Either Negative Extreme serves to negate the Positive Norm associated with it.

The following illustration drawn from everyday life may help to fix the above idea in your mind. A normal amount of heat is necessary to your physical well-being. That normal amount is a matter of but comparatively few degrees of temperature—a narrow space between fixed limits on the great scale of heat-vibrations: it represents your Positive Norm of Heat. Below that limit, you begin to suffer, and finally you will die for lack of heat—or as we usually call it, from “too much cold”—this represents your Deficiency-Negative of Heat. Above that limit, or Norm, you begin to suffer from excess heat, and finally will die therefrom—this represents your Excess-Negative of Heat.

Increase the temperature of the earth by a comparatively few degrees, and every living thing on it would perish; decrease it correspondingly below the normal limit, and every living thing on the earth would perish just as truly as in the event of extreme cold. Application of the ultra-cold liquid air to the surface of the skin will result in the production of a blister similar to that caused by scalding-hot water. In their effects and results upon man, lack of heat and excess of heat are both negatives—the “not enough” is no worse than the “too much.” The only positive for him is found in the Norm—his normal range of temperature. The same rule applies to every phase of character-qualities, and to many other things in Nature as well. Strive ever to secure and to maintain the Golden Mean.

Few persons realize that by “carrying a good thing too far” they tend to negate its Norm as truly as if they manifested the opposite quality or Deficiency-Negative of that thing; but such is the actual result of such an extreme course of action. When you manifest the Excess-Negative of a positive mental or emotional characteristic, you really negate its property of making you “stronger, better and more efficient” quite as truly as if you had negated it by manifesting its opposite or Deficiency-Negative. In either case, the negation serves to make you “weaker, worse and less efficient.” You must never lose sight of this great principle of Polarity. When in this instruction we warn you against manifesting negative mental or emotional states, we mean either negative, i. e., Excess-Negative as truly as Deficiency-Negative.

You have been shown that every element of character has its positive phase, and its two phases of negation, each of the latter constituting a true “negative” to the positive phase: you are now asked to consider a correlated fact. By a law of Nature, positive and negatives cannot co-exist in active manifestation at the same time and place. If one is present and active, the opposite must be nonactive and practically absent. Just as a thing cannot be both hard and soft, or sharp and blunt, or heavy and light, or rough and smooth, at the same time and place, so positive and negative mental qualities cannot both be actively manifested at the same time and place, this being likewise true of the two opposing negatives associated with each positive.

The presence and activity of a positive tends to inhibit the activity of either and both of its associated negatives; the activity of one negative tends to inhibit the activity of its associated positive and also of its opposite negative. “Inhibit” means “to check, to hold back, to restrain; to forbid, to prohibit, to interdict.” “Inhibition” means “act or state of being inhibited; state of restraint, prohibition, or embargo.”

General Rules for Development or Inhibition

Based upon the above-stated laws or principles of the relation and correlation of the positives and negatives of character-qualities, we have the following general rules concerning the respective development or inhibition of the qualities of character:

I. To Develop a Positive. To develop a positive character-quality you should (a) earnestly and consistently express and manifest it in action, so as to obtain the benefits arising from exercise, practice, and use; (b) supply it with the appropriate suggestive mental environment, in order to obtain the natural reaction to such and the stimulus from it; (c) carefully and faithfully refrain from expressing or manifesting its deficiency-negative, or from supplying such with appropriate suggestive mental environment; (d) hold firmly in mind, and adhere faithfully to, the essential idea and basic conception of the Positive Norm of the quality, and add to it the positive elements of Discrimination, Balance, and the Sense of Humor, in order to prevent the excessive expression and perverted manifestation of the quality which tends to transform it into its excess-negative and thus to rob it of its essential positive virtue.

II. To Inhibit a Deficiency-Negative. To inhibit a deficiency-negative character-quality, you should (a) carefully and faithfully refrain from expressing it, or from supplying it with appropriate suggestive mental environment; and (b) endeavor constantly and determinedly to express and manifest its associated positive.

Here we have an illustration of the principle that (1) expressing a negative tends to inhibit its associated positive; and (2) expressing a positive tends to inhibit its associated negative. Example: By turning on the light (positive) you inhibit the darkness (negative) in the room. Or, by pouring muddy water (negative) in a bowl of clear water (positive), you tend to inhibit the positive; whereas, on the other hand, by allowing a stream of clear water (positive) to flow into a bowl of dirty water (negative) you tend to inhibit the negative. The best way to inhibit a negative is to develop its associated positive. Turn on the light, and you need not shovel the darkness out of the room.

III. To Inhibit an Excess-Negative. To inhibit an excess-negative character-quality, you have but to (a) strongly idealize and visualize the associated Positive Norm, thus having before you a clear, strong picture of the positive quality rationally and properly manifested; and (b) adding to and blending with the quality a liberal and sufficient mixture of the elements of Judgment, Reason, Moderation, Sense of Real Values, Sense of Balance and Proportion,—and, last but not least, a goodly portion of the Sense of Humor.

Excess-Negatives usually are really perversions, or corruptions, of the positive-norm of a character-quality. The positive quality has been turned away from the right road of expression, and has wandered into the quagmire of Excess, Morbidity, and Misapplication. The addition of other positive elements of character tends to bring about the necessary reaction to the normal, and the positive quality once more is set upon the right road of manifestation. You will see the application of this principle more clearly when you consider the illustrations of excess-negatives given in the following sections of this book. You are here asked to commit to memory the following suggestive aphorism: “Excessive expression or manifestation of a positive character-quality is equivalent to a perversion or corruption of the essential spirit of that quality; by means of it the positive nature of the quality is transformed into a negative, and thus loses its virtue.”

Charting Your Character-Qualities

Before you can proceed intelligently to develop your character along the true lines of strength, goodness and efficiency, you must come to an agreement with yourself concerning the matter of your present development of character—an understanding of just what qualities of your character are strong, just which of them are weak, just which need developing, just which require restricting. You should “take stock” of your mental equipment, carefully noting the state of activity and strength being manifested by your positive qualities, and by your negative qualities as well, so that you will know “just where you stand” in the matter of character-qualities.

In a general way you know your strong qualities, and your weak ones; if you are honest with yourself you will have no difficulty in noting down on your Character Chart the degree of development and activity which you have attained in the case of most of your mental and emotional faculties. But unless you have made a careful analysis of character-qualities in general, you will fail to some extent in preparing an efficient Character Chart for use in your work of character building. Therefore, we have thought it well to prepare for you, and to present to you in this book, a comprehensive Character Chart showing the principal qualities of character manifested by men in general.

You will find this Character Chart to be quite useful to you in your work of character-building. The sight of the word indicating some positive quality will cause your mind to form a clear and strong concept of that quality, which will serve as a mental mold or framework around which your work of building up that quality may proceed. Likewise, the word denoting some negative quality will cause that quality to take on a definite form and aspect in your mind, thereby enabling you to combat it more effectively—you can fight a flesh-and-blood enemy much better than you can combat an antagonistic, ghostly, nebulous form. When you know your enemies; and see them actually before you, you are the better prepared to fight and conquer them. As some one has said, “An enemy known is half-beaten.” Drive the enemy out into the open—into the “clearing”—and you will have him at a disadvantage.

Self-Examination

We suggest that you study carefully the following Character Chart; and that at the same time carefully study yourself, your character. Be honest and frank with yourself; do not try to deceive yourself, for by doing so you will hurt yourself. If you have a strong positive quality well-developed, do not allow false modesty to prevent you from marking it down on the Character Chart. Likewise, if you are weak and deficient in some quality, or have its negative opposite too active, do not let pride prevent you from marking it down. The Character Chart is the diagnosis of your case, you know—the diagnosis upon which the treatment is to be based and administered—and unless you be honest and frank with yourself in preparing this chart, you will fail to obtain the full benefits of this instruction and of the self-treatment based upon it.

You will notice that in the Character Chart there is noted (in the middle column) the Positive Norm of each particular faculty or quality of character; and that on either side of this there appears the Deficiency-Negative, and the Excess-Negative, respectively. You should carefully consider each one of these three groups, and then decide which of the three phases is predominant in your character. Sometimes you will find yourself just a little to one side or the other of the Positive Norm, yet not far enough away to place you in the category of either of the negatives.

You should “check off” carefully with your pencil the particular place you occupy in each of the groups. By doing this you provide yourself with a plain guide or prescription for self-treatment along the lines of character-building.

I. The Egoistic Qualities

Deficiency‑Negative

Lack of Egohood
Lack of Self‑Control
Lack of Self‑Confidence
Lack of Initiative

Positive Norm

Egohood
Self‑Control
Self‑Confidence
Initiative

Excess‑Negative

Egotism
Asceticism
Egotistic Conceit
Egotistic Rashness

II. The Intellectual Qualities

Deficiency‑Negative
Inefficient Perception
Careless Observation
Fallacious Reasoning
Lack of Imagination
Inefficient Memory

Positive Norm

Efficient Observation
Efficient Perception
Logical Reasoning
Constructive Imagination
Efficient Memory

Excess‑Negative

Purposeless Observation
Non‑Discriminative Perception
Hair‑Splitting Reasoning
Idle Fancy
Memory of Non‑Essentials

III. The Motive Qualities

Positive Norm

Concentrated Attention
Persistent Determination
Stability
Industry

Deficiency-Negative

Lack of concentration
Lack of Persistency
Instability
Slothfulness

Excess-Negative

Over-Concentration
Stubborn obstinacy
Inertness
Slavery to Work

IV. The Emotive Qualities

Deficiency-Negative

Cowardice
Lack of Spirit
Improvidence
Hopeless Doubt
Apathetic Lethargy
Lack of Ambition

Positive Norm

Courage
Balanced Temper
Provident Acquisitiveness
Hopeful Faith
Earnest Interest
Ambition

Excess-Negative

Recklessness
Ill Temper
Miserly Greed
Visionary Credulity
Unbalanced Enthusiasm
Inordinate Ambition

V. The Associated Qualities

Deficiency-Negative

Undue Gravity
Cheerlessness
Tactlessness

Positive Norm

Humor
Cheerfulness
Tact

Excess-Negative

Undue Levity
Strained Cheerfulness
Insincere Suavity

VI. The Moral Qualities

Deficiency-Negative
Untruthfulness
Inequity
Lack of Sympathy
Disloyalty
Refusal to Serve
Temperance
Chastity

Positive Norm

Veracity
Equity
Kindliness
Loyalty
Service
Intemperance
“Sexophobia”

Excess-Negative

Morbid Candor

Censoriousness
Maudlin Sympathy
Blind Partisanship
Servility
Austerity Unchastity

VII. The Spiritual Qualities

Positive Norm

Spirituality
Reverence

Deficiency-Negative

Lack of Spirituality
Lack of Reverence

Excess-Negative

Perverted Spirituality
Superstitious Awe

The above chart of the principal character-qualities is not offered as an all-inclusive or complete list or table of each and every character-quality noted by observers and known in our own experience. Rather, it is intended merely as a general suggestive list or table of such general qualities. However, it is thought that but few if any typical general character-qualities are absent from it.

Those qualities not specifically designated in the list or table are believed to be covered by those which are so designated and included, in one or more of the following ways, viz., (1) where the undesignated quality is included under some other name or term; (2) where the undesignated quality is treated as a phase, form, aspect or degree of some one of the designated qualities; (3) where the undesignated quality is a composite attribute, its elements being represented in the list or table of the designated qualities. In all such case, however, we believe that you will find the missing character-quality present in spirit and meaning, if not in name and form.

The numerous character-qualities designated in the Character Chart are considered in detail in the several succeeding sections of this book. We advise you to study carefully this detailed analysis of the several qualities, so that you may understand each one fully; and that you submit yourself to an honest, vigorous, and exhaustive self-examination concerning the form and degree in which each respective quality is now being manifested and expressed by you. Remember the old adage: “Man, Know Thyself!”

The Egoistic Qualities

The first of the several classes of the Character-Qualities is that known as “The Egoistic Qualities.” The several particular qualities composing that class are as follows:

I. The Egoistic Qualities

Deficiency-Negative

Lack of Egohood
Lack of Self-Control
Lack of Self-Confidence
Lack of Initiative

Positive Norm

Egohood
Self-Control
Self-Confidence
Initiative

Excess-Negative

Egotism
Asceticism
Egotistic
Conceit
Egotistic
Rashness

You are now asked to consider each of the above stated several particular character-qualities composing the class of the “Egoistic Qualities.”

Egohood consists of the conscious recognition, realization and manifestation of one’s individuality. True individuality is based upon the conscious recognition and realization that one’s Self, or Ego, is a reality—a centre of real power and life in the great cosmic manifestation of power and life. Egohood is the state of full conscious realization of one’s Self as the Ego or permanent subject of all mental and physical experience of the individual. Egohood is the quality of the conscious recognition, realization, and manifestation of the “I AM I” of the individual.

Egohood possesses two general phases, namely (1) the recognition of the real relation and correlation between the Ego and its world of experience; and (2) the recognition of the real relation and correlation between the Ego and the Universal Principle of POWER.

In the first phase, above noted, the Ego perceives and realizes the distinction between itself, on the one hand, and its experiences of thought, feeling, will-action, etc., on the other hand. In this phase, the Ego is conscious of itself as an entity endowed with and possessing certain mental and physical instruments of expression and experience, which “belong to” it but which in no way constitute its essential being. This recognition brings with it a sense of the right and power of mastery over these mental and physical instruments of expression and experience. The individual in whom Egohood is awakened is conscious of his mental and emotional faculties as rightfully being servants of his will, and not as the masters of his will.

In the second phase, above noted, the Ego perceives itself to be a centre of life, consciousness and power in and of the great Universal Principle of Power. As a consequence, it experiences a conscious certainty of true being and reality; a certainty of eternal and immutable existence; and a certainty of security and safety, notwithstanding the storms and tempests of the personal existence in the world of experience and expression. The consciousness of this relation to Universal Power and Ultimate Reality gives to the Ego a sense of power and certainty which nothing else can impart; it links it to the eternal verities, and imparts to it a confidence and sense of security impossible to those who have not unfolded into this consciousness.

The subject of Egohood has been referred to in a preceding section of this book; it has also been considered in considerable detail and to a greater extent in that initial book of this series entitled “Personal Power,” to which we refer the student wishing to proceed further in his study of this particular branch of our general instruction.

The Deficiency-Negative of Egohood is known as “Lack of Egohood,” which is marked by an absence of the realization of the presence of the Ego as a real entity, and as the master of the mental and emotional faculties—its instruments of expression and experience; and also by an absence of the realization of the relation of the Real Self, or Ego, to the Universal Principle of Power—the Ultimate Reality—and the correlation existing between THAT and the Ego.

The Excess Negative of Egohood is that known as “Egotism,” which is marked by a false sense of the importance of one’s personality, and which results in self-conceit, overweening vanity, arrogance, and inordinate desire for admiration and public notice. It differs essentially from Egohood inasmuch as it is based upon vanity concerning one’s real or assumed personal qualities, traits, abilities or powers; whereas Egohood bases its sense of power upon the conscious fact of its individual (impersonal) reality and importance.

Lack of Egohood (the Deficiency-Negative of Egohood) cannot exist in coordinated being with Egohood; for the two are antithetical opposites. Neither can Egotism exist in coordinated being with true Egohood; Egohood is based upon the true conception of the “I AM I” focus or centre of Universal Power as being the basic fact of individual existence, Personality being regarded by it as merely the “part in the play” performed by the individual—the manifestation of the instruments of its expression and experience—worthy of being regarded with true pride and satisfaction, but in no wise to be mistaken for the Real Self or to become the ground of arrogance, conceit, vanity, etc.

Self-Control consists of the control and mastery of the instruments of expression and experience by the Ego, or “I AM I” of the individual. Self-Control distinguishes the great individuals of the race. Those in whom the consciousness of Egohood is well-awakened begin to manifest Self-Control almost involuntarily; discovering the Ego to be the “I AM I” at the centre of the being of the individual, they begin to assert that sovereignty which is a prerogative of that dominant position. Such an individual refuses to continue or to become a slave of the thoughts, feelings, emotions and habits of his instruments of expression and experience, but, instead, asserts his mastery over them, and orders his mental and emotional kingdom to conform to what he conceives to be his Summum Bonum or “Chief Good.”

The Deficiency-Negative of Self-Control is known as “Lack of Self-Control”; this negative quality is marked by a greater or less degree of the absence of authority of the Ego over the mental and emotional instruments under its control, and by the tendency to let these instruments act like runaway horses, or as spoiled children, i. e., without control, restraint, or mastery.

The Excess-Negative of Self-Control is that quality known as Asceticism, i. e., undue austerity, extreme self-denial, sell-mortification, self-punishment, etc. Asceticism inclines toward extreme self-denial based upon the false belief that there is some particular virtue in denying to oneself anything and everything that gives pleasure in any form. It seems to proceed upon the theory that anything that gives pleasure is evil, not because of any probable injurious effects but rather simply because it possesses the property of giving pleasure. Asceticism seems to regard pleasure as evil, and pain as good— this is an abnormal, morbid and pernicious doctrine in the view of sane, thoughtful individuals. Self-Control (the Positive Norm) is based upon no such ideas or ideals; instead, it holds that “all things are good to be used, in their right time and place, but nothing is good enough to use, dominate or master the individual.” True Self-Control is the sane Middle Ground, or Golden Mean, between Uncontrolled Indulgence, on the one hand, and Asceticism, on the other hand. It is the perfect flower which supplants the two weeds of the extremes of the negatives.

Self-Confidence consists of the conscious confidence, reliance and belief in oneself. It arises from an underlying conviction that the Ego, or “I AM I,” is in control of the instruments and faculties of expression and experience, and has developed these to an extent sufficient for them to function effectively and efficiently. It is a healthy, normal, rational mental and emotional quality, and is present in all individuals who dare to attempt to accomplish things in the world of experience. Its keynote is “I can, I will; I dare. I do I” It employs the Master Formula of Attainment, viz., (1) Definite Ideals; (2) Insistent Desire; (3) Confident Expectation; (4) Persistent Determination; (5) Balanced Compensation. It is the spirit of the “I AM I,” conscious of its nature and of its inherent powers, pressing forward to expression and realization in objective form. Self-confidence is one of the most positive of the positive qualities, and should be developed carefully and persistently by all who wish to “do things” in the world.

The Deficiency-Negative of Self-Confidence is known as “Lack of Self-Confidence” and is marked by the absence of all the essential qualities which characterize the Positive Norm of Self-Confidence. It is the quality so prominent in the “I Can’t,” and “I’m Afraid to Try” individuals. It paralyzes all human effort and endeavor. Many persons having many other positive qualities well developed fail to demonstrate and manifest them effectively because they lack Self-Confidence. Self-Confidence is an important element of character, the absence of which prevents the expression and manifestation of many of the other positive qualities.

The Excess-Negative of Self-Confidence is that known as “Egotistic Conceit,” which is composed of vain conceit, false-assurance, and an overweening arrogant “cocksureness.” Self-Confidence is based upon one’s belief in the development of his own faculties, his control and efficient direction thereof, and his innate and inherent powers: Egotistic Conceit, on the other hand, is based upon the vain feeling that one’s talents, capacity, personal qualities, and attractions are of a superior order, simply because they happen to be his own—a part of his own egotistical personal self—rather than because of their actual degree of development, direction and control. Egotistic Conceit is a grotesque caricature of true Self-Confidence, and really is a negative of the latter.

Initiative consists of the institution of one’s action by himself, instead of by the orders or directions of others. To “initiate” is “to introduce, to make a beginning, to set afoot, to originate, to commence, to begin or enter upon.” Persons possessed of Initiative are able “to do things without being told”—a valuable faculty when rightly applied. Persons in whom this faculty is well developed are able to act without special orders when confronted by conditions concerning which they have received no directions. They are able to act “upon their own,” when necessity arises. They are “Self-Starters.” They find themselves inspired by self-confidence, and filled by a sense of their own ability to act intelligently and effectively on their own account, without being specially ordered or directed by those in authority over them. Men with initiative of this kind are eagerly sought in all lines of human endeavor. They are comparatively scarce; many are called for, but few are chosen. These men are the generals and other commanding officers of the army of everyday life and work.

The man of Initiative—these “self-starters”—however, are not uninfluenced by the opinions and views of others, though they may seem to be so. Instead, they carefully consider and weigh the views and opinions of others as well as their own, and then come to a decision and form a judgment; then they act on their own responsibility, without requiring orders or commands from these others. They acquaint themselves with the “pros and cons” of the subject of their actions, and thus are able to decide intelligently and to act upon that decision. They are not egotistical in their judgments, but are quite willing to adopt an opinion or idea of another if it seems to fit in with the general purpose and end; but they are “self-starters,” and do not require others to initiate their actions, or to command their steps for them.

The Deficiency-Negative of Initiative is known as “Lack of Initiative,” which is marked by an absence of all of the characteristics of Initiative. Those who lack Initiative are unable or unwilling to undertake any enterprise or course of action on their own account. They may be excellent servants and obeyers-of-orders, but they cannot act without “being told” to do the thing, how and when to do it, and when to stop doing it. They seem to lack the power of “self-starting,” and that of self direction. They need always to be “told” Their office in life is to be led, or driven; the best that can be expected of them is that they will obey orders faithfully—and this is much, in many cases.

The Excess-Negative of Initiative is known as “Egotistic Rashness,” which is marked by a disposition to act not only without orders or direction, but also without due consideration, forethought and judgment. Those of this type seem to think that every plan of action or conduct which occurs to them is good simply because they, themselves, happened to think of it. They are inclined to undervalue the opinions and experience of others, simply because they are those of the “others” instead of their own. Vanity, vain conceit and personal false-pride take the place of judgment, open-mindedness, careful consideration, accompanied by self-confidence. Such persons are the fools who “rush in where angels fear to tread.” They lack balance, sense of true proportion, and that true individuality which transcends mere personality. This negative quality is a counterfeit of true Initiative; it is the donkey wearing the lion’s skin, the peacock wearing the feathers of the eagle, the ape wearing the garb of the man.

Egohood is based upon true individuality; Egotism is based upon self-exalted personality. Egohood is posited upon the consciousness of true being—its expression is “I AM I,” in that sense of the term which indicates its fundamental reality, and verity as a focal centre of consciousness and power in the Universal Principle of Power, and as a centre of activity in one’s mental and emotional kingdom. Egotism is posited in the limited consciousness of personality—the consciousness of oneself as “John Smith,” instead of “I AM I”; it regards its temporary, passing, changeable and variable aggregate of mental and emotional states as being its true nature, instead of things “belonging to” the “I AM I.” Egohood has true pride based upon its essential, constant and fundamental nature; Egotism has false pride based upon its superficial, inconstant, and non-essential nature.

An understanding of the above stated distinction between Egohood and Egotism will explain the difference between the counterfeit and the real in the list of the qualities above considered. The Positive Norm in each case will be found to rest upon the consciousness of true Egohood; whereas in each case the Excess-Negative will be found to rest upon the consciousness of False Selfhood or Egotism. The remedy is apparent: develop true Individuality and Egohood, and thus dispel the shadowy presence of Egoism or False Selfhood. Remember the rule: Develop the Positives, and thus weaken and inhibit the Negatives.

The Intellectual Qualities

The second of the several classes of the Character-Qualities is that known as “The Intellectual Qualities.” The several general qualities composing that class are as follows:

II. The Intellectual Qualities

Deficiency-Negative

Careless Observation
Inefficient Perception
Fallacious Reasoning
Lack of Imagination
Inefficient Memory

Positive Norm

Efficient Observation
Efficient Perception
Logical Reasoning
Constructive Imagination
Efficient Memory

Excess-Negative

Purposeless Observation
Non-Discriminative Perception
Hair-Splitting Reasoning
Idle Fancy
Memory of Non-Essentials

You are now asked to consider each of the above-stated character-qualities composing the class of the “Intellectual Qualities.”

Efficient Observation consists of the efficient, purposive observation of the objects, subjects and events of one’s experience. “Observation” means, “The act or faculty of taking notice, observing, noting with care, discovering.” Observation depends upon the degree of attention and interest inspiring the act. Observation constitutes a most important factor in efficient thinking and reasoning. It supplies the raw material of thought. Likewise, it is the efficient basis of creative imagination, invention and designing; and upon its foundation the structure of memory is built. Our memory records and our images of reproductive imagination are but variants of observed things and facts. The three elements of Efficient Observation are (1) Attention, in which the mind goes out toward the object of observation; (2) Interest, which inspires and holds the Attention; and (3) Discrimination, which distinguishes between the discovery and detection of facts concerning things which contribute to our efficiency, on the one hand, and the noting of facts and things which serve no practical purpose or end in our lives, on the other hand.

The Excess-Negative of Efficient Observation is known as “Careless Observation,” in which are lacking all the elements of the positive quality. The majority of persons are deficient in Observation, hence their lack of material for efficient thought, creative and constructive imagination, and effective memory.

The Excess-Negative of Efficient Observation is known as “Purposeless Observation,” in which the attention is devoted to every passing object of experience, without rational discrimination based upon efficient use, purpose or definite end. It stores the mind with a lot of “junk,” instead of with useful material.

Efficient Perception consists of the efficient, purposive perception of the objects, subjects, and events of one’s experience. “Perception” is “The faculty, or act, of consciousness whereby it apprehends, comprehends, or takes cognizance of the reports of the senses reaching it in the form of sensation.” Perception is the assimilation of the material supplied by Observation. In Observation, you “note” the things and facts of your experience; in Perception, you identify those facts or things according to their nature and character, and thus “know” them for what they are. Perception furnishes the units of thought, reasoning, judgment and constructive imagination; it supplies the building-blocks from which the structures of efficient reasoning and invention are to be built. Percepts constitute the simple ideas from which are built and constituted our Concepts, General Ideas, Logical Classes and other higher elements of thought.

The Deficiency-Negative of Efficient Perception is known as “Inefficient Perception,” in which are lacking all the elements of the positive quality. The great masses of persons lack the faculty of Efficient Perception, and thus are without the materials of efficient thought, reasoning, invention, constructive imagination, etc.

The Excess-Negative of Efficient Perception is known as “Non-Discriminative Perception,” which is characterized by the frittering away of perceptive power on objects, facts and events which are non-essential to our efficient thought, reasoning and constructive imagination, and which fill the mind with a mass of worthless material serving no useful or practical purpose. Perceptive Power without Discrimination is practically useless, and serves to choke and clog the true perceptive areas of the mind.

Logical Reasoning consists of the employment of the reasoning faculties along the lines of logical inference, induction and deduction. “Reasoning” is “The act or process of proceeding from that which is known to that which is not known, for the purpose of discovering truth.” The report of the reasoning process is known as a “judgment.” A Judgment is arrived at by means of the respective processes of Analysis, or the distinction of differences; of Synthesis, or the distinction of resemblances; and of Inference, or the distinction of essential identity.

Logic may be styled “the science of correct reasoning”: it is a formal statement of the laws and rules of correct reasoning as discovered by the great thinkers of the race. It is not an artificial scheme or plan of reasoning, but is rather the formulation and statement of the principles which distinguish efficient and correct thinking and reasoning from that of the opposite character. Logic points out the road to the discovery of Truth; the road itself already exists—it has existed ever since the rational faculties were created or evolved in man.

The Deficiency-Negative of Logical Reasoning is known as “Fallacious Reasoning,” or reasoning either (a) based upon false premises, (b) conducted upon illogical principles, (c) resulting in an illogical and unwarranted conclusion or judgment; or (d) combining all of these false methods. The great mass of persons reason more or less fallaciously, and therefore fail to reach the truth concerning the subjects under consideration.

The Excess-Negative of Logical Reasoning is known as “Hair-Splitting Reasoning,” in which the main purpose and end of reasoning, i. e., the discovery of Truth, is overlooked; and in which the technical form takes the place of the spirit and substance of the thought—in which one reasons about terms and forms, rather than about things. The counterfeit reasoning is inefficient, because it results in no real and practical advantage, use or purpose; and, also, because it tends most readily to false and deceptive reasoning, casuistry and sophistry.

Constructive Imagination consists of the employment of the faculty of Imagination along constructive, creative, efficient lines—toward some definite and useful purpose. “Imagination” (in its true sense) is “The power of the mind to create mental images of objects of sense previously perceived; or the power to reconstruct or recombine the materials furnished by experience or memory, and to employ these for the accomplishment of some useful and practical purpose.” In Constructive Imagination the powers of Imagination are employed for the purpose of construction, creation, invention—in accordance with some definite purpose, and toward some definite end. Constructive Imagination is the chief instrument of the inventor, the designer, the “forward looking” business or professional man, the workman, the military officer, the writer, the artist, etc. It is one of the most important and useful of the mental faculties, and is truly a positive quality, inasmuch as it tends to make you “stronger, better, and more efficient.”

The Deficiency-Negative of Constructive Imagination is known as “Lack of Imagination,” in which the powers of Imagination are not actively employed and applied, or in which they remain in an undeveloped state. The person lacking in Imagination is under a serious handicap, and will not be likely to move forward in life—for he cannot “see ahead,” plan, design, invent, or construct.

The Excess-Negative of Constructive Imagination is known as “Idle Fancy,” in which the powers of Imagination, perhaps highly developed and active, are dissipated by reason of indulgence in idle fancy, day-dreaming, building “Castles in Spain,” purposeless reverie, etc., having no relation to practical life, and being directed to no definite end. This phase of Imagination is typically negative, inasmuch as it tends to make you “weaker, worse, and less efficient” according to the standard of Positive Efficiency as set forth in this instruction.

Efficient Memory consists of the efficient, purposive employment of the faculty of Memory—the direction of the powers of Memory to some definite, useful purpose and end, according to the true principles and methods governing the employment of the processes of Memory. The importance of an Efficient Memory need not be urged here—it is too well known to require argument. The “usable” knowledge of the individual is stored away in his memory, subject to efficient recollection, remembrance and recognition. Memory is to the mind what the reproducing instrument is to the phonograph; in either case that which is recorded and stored away is practically useless if it cannot be reproduced. An Efficient Memory is truly positive, inasmuch as it tends to make you “stronger, better, and more efficient” in a marked degree—it meets without qualification the test of the Touchstone of Positivity; The Deficiency-Negative of Efficient Memory is known as “Inefficient Memory,” which is marked by an absence of practically all of the characteristics distinguishing the positive quality. An Inefficient Memory is a most serious handicap to the individual, and is truly a negative quality, for it truly renders the individual “weaker, worse, and less efficient” in every way.

The Excess-Negative of Efficient Memory is known as “Memory of Non-Essentials,” which is marked by an undue attention to and an unnecessary remembrance of the non-essential, trivial, useless, unimportant details and incidents of everyday experience. This kind of memory is frequently found in persons of undeveloped intellect, young children, savages, and also among the impractical, inefficient persons who abound on all sides; such persons will be found to lack concentration and trained attention, and to have interest only in the trivialities of life.

The Motive Qualities

The third of the several classes of Character-Qualities is that known as “The Motive Qualities.” The term “Motive” means “That which moves or incites to action.” The several general qualities composing that class are as follows:

III. The Motive Qualities

Deficiency-Negative

Lack of concentration
Lack of Persistency
Instability
Slothfulness

Positive Norm

Concentrated Attention
Persistent Determination
Stability
Industry

Excess-Negative

Over-Concentration
Stubborn obstinacy
Inertness
Slavery to Work

You are now asked to consider each of the above stated qualities composing the class of the “Motive Qualities.”

Concentrated Attention consists of the deliberate voluntary concentration or focusing of the attention upon the subject or object under consideration. Attention is “The application of the mind to any object of sense, thought, or “memory”; or, more technically, “Attention is consciousness concentrated in order intelligently to conquer a particular object or subject.” Attention has well been compared to the contraction of the pupil of the eye in the processes of sight. The Law of Attention is: “The fewer objects we consider at once, the clearer and more distinct will be our knowledge of them.” Concentrated Attention is the focusing of the mind intently upon that which is before it, to the exclusion of all else for the time being.

The power or faculty of Concentrated Attention distinguishes the great individuals of the race who have “done things”—the Mental Masters. It has been stated as a general principle: “Every individual who has accomplished anything worth while in any field of voluntary endeavor, has done so largely by his or her developed and trained powers of voluntary attention; no individual lacking in development of the power of voluntary attention ever has accomplished anything worthwhile while such lack persists.” Concentrated Attention meets the requirement of the Touchstone of Positivity, and is to be considered as a positive character-quality; for it truly tends to make you “stronger, better, and more efficient.” It is one of the characteristics of a strong and well-trained will, and by some is held to constitute one of the most important of the typical activities of the will.

The Deficiency-Negative of Concentrated Attention is known as “Lack of Concentration,” and is marked by a tendency to scatter and diffuse the power of attention, the result being that “inattention” results. Lack of Concentration, or the tendency toward Inattention, is a weakness of character, and must be classed among the negative character-qualities.

The Excess-Negative of Concentrated Attention is known as “Over-Concentration,” and is marked by a mental state closely resembling self-hypnosis. It results in “absent-mindness” concerning all else except the subject or object under attention. Moreover, instead of resulting in increased power and clearness of thought, it really produces the opposite—this because the mind is practically “put asleep” by reason of the tiring of the attention. Beware of inducing “self-hypnosis” by an abnormal and undue forcing of the powers of attention. Keep in the Middle of the Road!

Persistent Determination consists of the persistent, persevering, tenacious application of the powers of the Will—the firm, steadfast, steady, fixed, resolute, constant determination to carry out that which has been undertaken. This quality of character is found in the strong men and women of the race who have surmounted obstacles of environment— it is one of the characteristic marks ofsuch individuals. It causes one to “be sure you’re right, then go ahead”; to stand by one’s purposes; to hold on even when things look the darkest; to refuse to surrender to adverse circumstances. It is one of the elements of the “Master Formula of Attainment.” It is one of the most positive of the positive character-qualities, and should be carefully and determinedly developed.

The Deficiency-Negative of Persistent Determination is known as “Lack of Persistency,” or Irresolution, and is marked by an absence of the characteristics of the positive quality; it is a negative, weakening, destructive mental trait, and should be overcome.

The Excess-Negative of Persistent Determination is known as “Stubborn Obstinacy,” which is really a perversion of the positive quality. It consists of a stubborn, mulish obstinacy which refuses to move away from a given spot. Those manifesting it often regard it as “doggedness,” or “firmness,” whereas it is rather a willful, unreasonable mulishness and obstinacy, unwilling to move or to be moved even when every reason dictates the move. It is not “will,” but “willfulness” which inspires this mental state. It may be cured by mixing Reason and other positive qualities into the elements of Persistency and Determination which (without the mixture) have reached the degree of perversion.

Stability consists of the mental state of steadiness, steadfastness, fixedness, durability, firmness of position and foundation. Those in whom it is well developed are marked by a thoroughness, a continuity of purpose and of action, a general “stick-to-it-iveness.” They are to be “depended upon,” and are regarded as reliable and to be counted upon with confidence and certainty. They are “always there,” and are always known to be “on the job.” Persons in whom this quality is well developed are the “solid” individuals in any walk of life. The quality, in its norm, is decidedly a positive quality, for it tends to make you “stronger, better, and more efficient”; it should be cultivated and developed.

The Deficiency-Negative of Stability is known as “Instability,” which is marked by fickleness, inconstancy of purpose and action, waywardness, excessive desire for and habit of change, restlessness; those in whom it is marked are known for their “weather-cock” nature, their tendency to change at each shift of the breeze of circumstance, their fickleness, their irresolution, their inconstancy, their general lack of dependability. The quality has every mark of negativity, and should be inhibited.

The Excess-Negative of Stability is known as “Inertness,” i. e., “tendency to remain inert, sluggish, passive, and indisposed to activity or movement.” Persons of this type tend easily to “get in a rut,” to “get set in their ways,” and to become fossilized. They are incapable of change, even when the change is required and is approved of by reason. This quality is a grotesque caricature of true Stability—it is really a perversion rather than an excess.

Industry consists of the active and energetic manifestation of diligence, perseverance, assiduity, and interest in useful employment and work. This quality consists not merely of the outer manifestation of work, but also of the inner inclination and desire to work, to accomplish, to execute, to “do things.”

The successful man in any walk of life is industrious, whatever else he may be. He finds a joy in his work, because it is his channel of expression and manifestation. He realizes to the full the truth of the adage, “Blessed is he who hath found his work.” He delights in tearing down in order to re-construct: in building-up; in doing, in executing, in accomplishing. Industry is a positive quality, for it makes you “stronger, better, and more efficient.”

The Deficiency-Negative of Industry is known as “Slothfulness,” which is marked by disinclination to action, sluggishness, laziness, idleness, indolence, etc. This quality is so manifestly negative that no further comment concerning it is needed.

The Excess-Negative of Industry is known as “Slavery to Work,” which consists of the degradation and perversion of normal Active Industry into a habitual routine of slavish drudgery and arduous toil and travail, of which habit is the motive power, and which lacks the spirit of industry pursued for a definite end and animated by the desire to accomplish.

A writer says: “Work and Labor imply strenuous but not necessarily excessive exertion. Toil implies a painful and exhausting severity of labor. Drudgery implies mean and degrading work, or, at least, work which wearies or disgusts from its minuteness or dull uniformity.” Work employed toward a definite end, and animated with interest, desire and ambition, is positive; but work performed from mere habit, without interest or ambition, is a mere ox-like performance, and becomes negative in its effects: the former exalts, the latter degrades.

The Emotive Qualities

The fourth of the several classes of Character-Qualities is that known as “The Emotive Qualities.” The term “Emotive” means, “attended by, or of the nature of, emotion”; the term also carries with it the idea of “movement of the mind or soul to action.” The several general qualities composing that class are as follows:

IV. The Emotive Qualities

Deficiency-Negative

Cowardice
Lack of Spirit
Improvidence
Hopeless Doubt
Apathetic
Lethargy
Lack of Ambition

Positive Norm

Courage
Balanced Temper
Provident Acquisitiveness
Hopeful Faith
Earnest Interest
Ambition

Excess-Negative Recklessness

Ill Temper
Miserly Greed
Visionary Credulity
Unbalanced Enthusiasm
Inordinate Ambition

You are now asked to consider each of the above-stated qualities composing the class of “Emotive Qualities.”

Courage consists of “Those qualities of the mind which enable one to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness, without or despite fear.” Those qualities may be summed up as, heroism, bravery, intrepidity, valor, gallantry, daring, firmness, hardihood, stoutness of heart, boldness, dauntlessness, resolution, etc. It is a most positive quality, when manifested in its normal degree and form. The old adage asserts that “Faint heart never won fair lady,” and we may add “nor anything else worth acquiring.” That Courage “makes one stronger, better, and more efficient,” and therefore is a positive quality, requires no argument, for all human experience proves it. The successful individual must have courage to encounter dangers and difficulties; fortitude to endure physical and mental pain and distress; resolution to maintain his ground and to sustain his will not to recede; valor to lead and conduct his enterprises to a successful termination. Courage is that bold, resistant, defiant, self—protective spirit which marks the men and women who “do things” and who “arrive.”

The Deficiency-Negative of Courage is known as “Cowardice,” which consists of “want of courage to face danger or difficulties; extreme timidity; pusillanimity; lack of spirit; proceeding from or expressing base fear.” Cowardice is the quality of the timid, fearful, chicken-hearted, white-livered, pusillanimous, recreant, craven soul. It is one of the most negative of the negative character-qualities, and always tends to make one “weaker, worse, and less efficient.” Its germ or essence is found to consist of the surrender to base fear—a craven dread and apprehension, accompanied by a lack of spirit to meet and combat that of which one is afraid. One may experience fear, and still possess courage to confront and combat it; but the coward not only experiences the fear, but also lacks the spirit to meet it and to give it battle. Some of the most courageous men freely admit that they experience fear—but they go forth to give it battle, instead of seeking to run away from it. The truest courage is of that which proceeds to the battle despite fear—in defiance of fear.

Fear is the most depressing of all the emotional states. It has been called “the mother of negative emotions”; its brood is a large one, including not only Cowardice, but also Worry, Jealousy and other elements of the black side of emotional experience. The Buddhists call it “the freezing emotion,” and treat it as equal in undesirable rank with Anger, or “the burning-up emotion.” They hold that Fear and Anger constitute the two great parents of the negative emotions. Fear and Anger are the two great “emotional unbalancers”: Fear being the depressing-unbalancer; Anger being the maddening-unbalancer. Fear freezes the soul; Anger burns up. Fear paralyzes the Will; Anger sets it crazy.

The extreme phase of Fear is that known as “Panic”—the latter word originating in the Greek term indicating the mental state of those who suddenly caught sight of the god, Pan. Panic causes one to “fly all to pieces,” and to become irresolute, timorous and disposed to flee before shadows or from vain sounds. Fear may be overcome by boldly facing it and gazing into its eyes. At the best, Fear is a “big bluffer”; call its bluff, and it retires from the game. It is a make-believe thing—a counterfeit; it is a lathe painted to resemble iron. Confront it boldly, seize hold of it, and its falsity of nature will reveal itself. Confront it with Will and Determination, and it will retreat from the scene, though uttering fierce cries intended to terrify you who have conquered it. Bring into its presence its positive opposite— Courage, and its negative shadow will disappear. Treat Fear as a reality, and you but strengthen its power; deny its reality, and it melts away into the shadow-world from which it emerged. When you find it confronting you, and seeking to deny you entrance to the Gateway of Success, boldly confront it and deny its real existence, and it will fade away into nothingness, though bestowing upon you its hateful grin and baleful glare until the very last—leaving the gateway free for your passage through its portals.

The Excess-Negative of Courage is known as “Recklessness,” which consists of a perversion of Courage, and is composed of the elements of foolish daring, without judgment or prudence; foolhardiness, rashness, thoughtless action, precipitation, incautiousness, unwariness; action without thought or care of consequences. This quality undoubtedly tends to make you “weaker, worse and less efficient.” Being a perversion, rather than a true positive, this quality should be restrained and restricted, and transformed into the true positive norm of Courage by blending with it Prudence, Reason, Judgment and Foresight.

Balanced Temper consists of a well-balanced, well-poised temper. “Temper” (in this usage) means “Disposition of the mind as respects the passions and emotions, particularly the passion or emotion of Anger.” The dictionaries give the two following antithetical definitions of the term, “Temper,” viz., (1) Calmness of mind, poise of disposition; (2) undue heat of mind; passion, irritation, proneness to anger.” The individual of the Balanced Temper is spirited and animated, yet poised, self-controlled and balanced; firm of purpose, strong of spirit, yet slow to wrath. He lacks the spiritless condition of the deficiency-negative, yet he also escapes the perversion of the excess-negative of ill-temper, rage, wrathfulness, proneness to anger, etc. Balanced Temper is a true positive quality, and in every sense tends to make you “stronger, better and more efficient.”

The Deficiency-Negative of Balanced Temper is known as “Lack of Spirit”—the term “spirit,” in this usage, being defined as “temper or disposition of the mind; energy, vivacity, ardor, enthusiasm, courage, etc.” Lack of Spirit is marked by spiritlessness; it is vigorless, wanting in courage, lacking in animation or liveliness of temperament, destitute of activity of spirit. It is not a state of being “slow to wrath,” but rather a state of abnormal meekness, excessive gentleness, morbid humbleness, submissive spiritlessness, yielding mildness, and is incapable even of “righteous indignation”—it is the sheeplike passivity and negativity, the rabbit-like submissiveness. It is truly negative, always tending to render you “weaker, worse, and less efficient.” It must not be confounded with Balanced Temper, for the latter is a lively spirit well-controlled, nicely balanced and well-poised, while the former is weak spiritlessness, lack of courage, and lack of real interest and enthusiasm in life and living—a state of apathy, lethargy, and lifelessness of spirit. Balanced Temper manifests the calmness of Life; Lack of Spirit manifests the calmness of Death: the two are polar opposites. Be not deceived by those who would persuade you that the two are identical—they are antithetical.

The Excess-Negative of Balanced Temper is known as “Ill Temper”: the term “Ill” meaning “contrary to good; opposed to advantage; bad, evil, wrong; not in accordance with fitness.” Ill Temper is marked by a strong tendency toward anger, wrathfulness, “loss of temper,” rage, fury, ire, madness of temper etc. Ill Temper manifests in a greater or less tendency toward Anger. Anger is defined as, “A strong passion or emotion of displeasure, usually involving antagonism and desire to punish, excited by a real or supposed injury or insult to one’s self or others, or by the intent to do such injury.” Resentment is Anger smouldering beneath the surface, and often consisting of very deep and enduring Anger. Wrath and Ire are the feelings of those roused to bitter Anger. Rage is, “A vehement ebullition of Anger.” Fury is, “Rage amounting almost to madness.” “Righteousness Indignation,” though sometimes blending into negative Anger, nevertheless often belongs rather to the quality of Balanced Temper, for rightly defined it is, “A generous outburst of temper in view of things which are unworthy to be done.”

Anger, in the sense of rage, fury, wrath, ill-temper, etc., is a very negative emotional state: it tends to make you “weaker, worse, and less efficient” in every true sense of these terms. The origin of the term throws light on its character: it has its sources in the Sanscrit term meaning “pain, anguish”; and in the Latin term meaning “a strangling anguish”; and in the Greek term meaning “to strangle.” Anger, strongly manifested, really is a form of madness or temporary insanity. The person filled with rage and fury really is mentally unbalanced for the time being. Surely no further warning against Anger is needed here.

All the best psychological, physiological, philosophical, and religious teachings indicate the danger and viciousness of Anger. Listen to these statements: “He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.” “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty.” “The discretion of a man maketh him slow to anger.” “Make no friendship with a man that is given to anger, and with a wrathful man thou shalt not go.” So much for the morality phase, or the worldly-wisdom side, of the subject. For the physiological-psychological side or phase, note the following statement of Dr. Benjamin Ward Richardson:

“The passions which act most severely upon the physical life are Anger, Fear, Hatred and Grief. Of all of these passions which I have enumerated, as most detrimental to life, Anger stands first. He is a man very rich in physical power who can afford to be angry. The richest cannot afford it many times without insuring the penalty—a penalty that is always severe. We say that a man was ‘red’ with fury, or that he was ‘white’ with rage, by which terms we seek to express the extent of his fury. Physiologically, we are speaking of the nervous condition of the minute circulation of his blood. Red fury means partial paralysis of the minute blood-vessels; white rage means temporary suspension of the action of the heart, the prime mover of the circulation itself. But such disturbances cannot often be produced with the occurrence of permanent organic evils of the vital organs, especially of the heart and brain.”

The control of Anger, like the control of Fear, is most important. The ancient Greeks, and the ancient and modern Buddhists, hold that the man who has learned to control these two negative emotions is well advanced on the road to Mastery; and that he who has mastered these two twin-evils has thereby gained sufficient strength whereby he may easily overcome and master the remaining negative qualities. Here, you will do well to remember that (1) Deficiency-Negatives are overcome by manifesting and cultivating the Positive Norm associated with them; and that (2) Excess-Negatives may be overcome by so blending them with tempering, modifying, and harmonizing elements that they are transmuted into the Positive Norms associated with them.

Provident Acquisitiveness consists of the feeling and desire prompting toward the prudent, careful, thoughtful acquisition of material, useful things tending toward the well-being, comfort and happiness of one’s self and those in whom one is interested. The term “Provident” means, “Foreseeing wants and making provision to supply them.” The term “Acquisitiveness” means “The quality of acquiring, gaining, obtaining, attaining, procuring, winning, securing, earning, desired things, usually by one’s own exertions.” That this character-quality is a positive one, cannot be doubted. Expressed and manifested in the normal and positive degree, it certainly tends to make you “stronger, better and more efficient.”

Some so-called philosophers and moralists have sought to identify this character-quality with its excess-negative, or perversion, and have either actually or tacitly condemned it as unworthy or even reprehensible. But, at the last, such teachings are seen to be a more or less hypocritical pretense, or a more or less vain pose; the lives of such teachers frequently being in direct contradiction to their teachings. It cannot be denied that, in the present state of human society at least, it is a worthy, righteous and normal course of conduct for one to seek to procure and provide the things essential to the comfort, happiness and welfare of oneself and those dependent upon him or in whom he is interested. Those who manifest such traits of conduct and character are commended by the general average of society; and those who fail to manifest them are condemned by public, or even punished by law.

The above statements refer also to the provident and prudent acquisition of Money. Money is merely a symbol of the things which it will purchase. In our civilization, Money stands not for itself but rather for that which it may be used to acquire and secure. In seeking to acquire Money, one is but striving to obtain food, shelter, clothing, necessities, comforts, conveniences, or luxuries, of many and varied kinds. It may be true that “Money is the root of evil,” but it is equally true that Money is the wherewithal—the necessary means or instrument—with which we obtain the necessary, useful, and good things of life. Money is neither better nor worse than the things which it is employed to purchase. The evil of Money consists in its wrong-getting and wrong-spending—in its misuse rather than in its use, in many cases. Most of the revilement of Money on the part of pseudo-moralists is mere cant and claptrap. There is no virtue inherent in Poverty, in spite of the pious pretense to the contrary. Poverty is a curse, and the individual rightfully strives to avoid or to overcome it.

The Deficiency-Negative of Provident Acquisitiveness is known as “Improvidence,” which consists of “Failure to provide for the future,” not only in the direction of being careless, wasteful, shiftless, prodigal, etc., but also in the direction of failing to acquire, make, gain, procure, secure, and earn a reasonable and just recompense for one’s services, time and labor. Improvidence may consist either of a failure to “get,” or a failure to “hold”—or both.

The Excess-Negative of Provident Acquisitiveness is known as “Miserly Greed,” which consists of either, or both, of the qualities of (1) unduly greedy, avaricious, rapacious desire for gain and wealth, and (2) miserly, parsimonious, penurious, stingy, niggardly hoarding of wealth or property. In either case, or phase, Miserly Greed overreaches itself, and defeats its original object of happiness and content; this, because, instead of mastering and using wealth and property, it allows itself to be made a servant of, and to be used by, wealth and property.

Neither of the two negatives just mentioned meet the test of the Touchstone of Positivity, viz., “Will this make me stronger, better and more efficient?” The Positive Norm of Provident Acquisitiveness, on the contrary, meets the test fully; therefore it is worthy of being cultivated, developed, expressed and manifested by those who wish to become “stronger, better, and more efficient,” according to the Rule of Positivity.

Hopeful Faith consists of the mental attitude which is marked by a harmonious combination and blending of Hope and Faith. Hope is, “The desire for good, accompanied by an expectation of obtaining it.” Faith is, “Firm belief in regard to important truth.” The mental attitude of Hopeful Faith is a most positive one, and certainly tends to make one “stronger, better and more efficient,” when manifested in normal and well-balanced degree and form. This mental attitude comprises that “Confident Expectation” which is one of the elemental principles of our “Master Formula of Attainment” Of Hope, the thoughtful write and speak in words of praise. Spurzeim says: “Hope is necessary to the happiness of man in almost all situations.” Johnson says: “Hope is the chief blessing of man; and that hope only is rational of which we are sensible that it cannot deceive us. Whatever enlarges hope, will also enlarge courage.” Collier says: “Hope is a vigorous principle; it is furnished with light and heat to advise and to execute. It sets the head and heart to work, and animates a man to do his utmost. And thus, it is perpetually pushing and assuring it. It puts a difficulty out of countenance, and makes a seeming impossibility give way.” Tennyson sings of “The mighty hopes that make us men”; and Coleridge warns us that:

“Work without hope draws nectar in a sieve, And hope without an object cannot live.”

Of Faith, the wise also speak in glowing terms. St. Paul says: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.” A writer says: “Faith is the soul going out of itself for all it wants.” Parkhurst says: “Faith is the heroism of the intellect.” Hazlitt says: “Faith is necessary to victory.” Elizabeth Oakes Smith sings:

“Faith is the subtle chain

Which binds us to the Infinite;

The voice of a deep life within,

That will remain until we crowd it hence.”

To many who have wearied of dogmatism and blind faith upon assumed authority, the word “Faith, has lost some of its original charm, power and meaning. But Faith has a far deeper and more fundamental meaning. Its roots are imbedded in that Universal Principle of POWER, of which the Ego or “I AM I” is a focal centre of expression and manifestation.

The Positive Individual has Hopeful Faith—Faith in the Cosmic Laws, Faith in the Powers that Be—Faith in HIMSELF. His Faith in Himself is the natural result of his Faith in the Ultimate Meaning of Things, and in the Cosmic Law. Coming in contact with POWER, he allows its forces and energies to be transmitted to himself. Feeling its inflow through the channels of his inner being, he cannot escape having Hopeful Faith. But his is not the weaker Faith which merely “believes” and “dares to expect”—his is the strong, hopeful Faith that KNOWS!

The Deficiency-Negative of Hopeful Faith is known as “Hopeless Doubt,” which is marked by an absence of all that makes Hopeful Faith what it is. As might be expected, this is a most negative quality, and tends ever toward making you “weaker, worse and less efficient.” The individual possessing it is damned to a hell of his own making; he mentally creates his negative, unsuccessful, inefficient, unhappy state by his own mental attitude, thoughts and feeling. That which he fears, indeed, “comes upon him,” he supplies the mental pattern for it—the mold into which the material of Circumstance is poured. He sets in operation the Law of Attraction—but in the wrong direction. This mental attitude should be cured, vigorously and at once.

The Excess-Negative of Hopeful Faith is known as “Visionary Credulity,” which consists of false-faith and false-hope in and upon unworthy objects, and in absence of valid rational ground and bases of belief and hope. The term “Visionary” means, “Existing in imagination only, and lacking in reality; fanciful, fantastic, unreal; fanciful visions of castles-in-the-air, or day-dreams.” “Credulity” means, “The quality of being credulous, i. e., of believing on very slight evidence; being unsuspecting, easily imposed upon, superstitious, gullible, etc.”

Persons of this type readily believe almost all that is told them, and hope to realize and “cash in” on such promises. They will believe that the moon is made of green cheese, if they are told so in the tones and with an air of authority; and they will rush to invest their money in shares in the Lunar Cheese-Supply Co., Inc. As some one has said: “Show them an egg, and the next minute the air is full of feathers”; and he might have added, “and they will begin at once to figure on the fortune coming to them from the sale of feather-dusters.”

This negative quality is a perversion of the positive norm of Hopeful Faith, of course. It may be transmuted into the latter by a rational blending and balancing of Judgment and Discrimination, and the development and employment of Logical Reasoning.

Earnest Interest consists of the application of the attention to objects or subjects which in themselves are of a positive and helpful character, and which tend to make you “stronger, better and more efficient” when knowledge of their nature and their application is acquired. “Interest” is “Excitement of feeling accompanying special attention; the moving power of attention, based upon feeling or emotion.” “Earnest” is defined as “Eager intent, serious, fixed, determined,” etc. Interest is the motive element of Attention, and Attention is the key of observation, thought, perception, reasoning, memory, voluntary action, etc. Earnest Interest, then is seen to be the positive moving power of feeling which is expressed and manifested in many important mental activities, and actions of the will.

Earnestness has been defined as, “Eagerness, seriousness, intentness and fixed determination in pursuit of an object; zealousness combined with sincerity.” Pascal says: “Earnestness is Enthusiasm tempered by Reason.” Bovee says: “Earnestness is the devotion of all the faculties. It is the cause of patience; it gives endurance, overcomes pain, strengthens weakness, braves dangers, sustains hope, makes light of difficulties, and lessens the sense of weariness in overcoming them.” Dickens says: “There is no substitute for thorough-going; ardent, and sincere earnestness.” Earnestness is illustrated by the adage, “Whatever you do, do with all your might.”

Enthusiasm is the sublimated form of Earnestness—it is Earnestness raised to its highest power. So exalting is its power, when directed by reason, that it sometimes causes one to feel that he is actually inspired by a higher power. The Greek term from which our word “Enthusiasm” is derived, means “to be inspired by the gods.” The English term Enthusiasm, means, “Enkindled and kindling fervor of the soul; ardent zeal or interest; lively manifestation of zeal.” Without at least a fair degree of Enthusiasm, no man or woman ever attained success. Enthusiasm is a “soul power” which inspires the individual, and which, being contagious, influences those with whom he comes in contact. In its normal degree and form it is a very positive character-quality.

The Deficiency-Negative of Earnest Interest is known as “Apathetic Lethargy.” Apathy is, “Want of feeling; privation of passion, emotion, or excitement; supineness, sluggishness of emotional feeling.” Lethargy is, “Morbid indifference to feeling and desire for action; listlessness; inattention; heaviness of mind and soul.” This negative quality is deadening to the soul. It paralyzes desire and will, and consequently kills out all ambition and incentive to action. It renders one a living corpse. By all means inhibit this negative quality if it is manifesting in you. Its influence is pernicious. Destroy the foul weed by cultivating the sturdy plant of its positive opposite, Earnest Interest. Take an interest in things; manifest zeal in your activities; flood your soul with balanced enthusiasm.

The Excess-Negative of Earnest Interest is known as “Unbalanced Enthusiasm,” which consists of an irritating, ill-judged, unbalanced manifestation of emotional excitement and enthusiasm. This is a mark of that neurotic, hysterical, superficial, semi-delirious “flightiness” which by some is mistaken for Enthusiasm. This wild enthusiasm, however, does not rise from the deep places of the soul, but is a surface manifestation. It dissipates emotional energy which might otherwise be usefully employed; it defeats its own object by reason of its excessive expression, its superficiality, and its lack of balance. It may be transformed into true Enthusiasm by a liberal addition of and blending with Reason, Judgment and Discrimination, which serve to give body and consistency, depth and weight, to its otherwise volatile substance. Without such treatment, this perverted quality is quite negative in its effects, and tends to render you “weaker, worse and less efficient.”

Ambition is, “An eager desire for success, achievement, power, attainment, preferment, honor, or superiority.” Properly understood and interpreted, properly balanced and poised, it is a valuable quality of the individual. It is the “insistent desire,” the “want to hard enough,” that animates the men who “do things” in the world. Without it, there would be no progress, no success, no attainment, no achievement. The extreme form and excessive manifestation of Ambition has caused the term to suffer some degree of reproach; but this need not attach to the term properly employed, and representing the right quality of thought, feeling and will. If, in your mind, the term has suffered by reason of evil associations, you may substitute the term, “Aspiration,” defined as “Strong and high desire; desire to attain something high and great,” for this is the real meaning of Right Ambition. Ambition, or Aspiration, is a positive quality— it tends to make you stronger, better, and more efficient. In the form of “Insistent Desire” it is one of the elements of “The Master Formula of Attainment.” Without it, the Will is not called into “Persistent Determination”—another element of the Master Formula.

The Deficiency-Negative of Ambition is known as “Lack of Ambition”; it represents characteristics antithetically opposed to those of the positive quality. Without Ambition, there is no progress, no attainment, no anything “worth while.” “Lack of Ambition” is negative—it makes one “weaker, worse, and less efficient.” It is a disease of Emotion and Will, and needs treatment by the methods of the New Psychology such as are set forth in subsequent sections of this book.

The Excess-Negative of Ambition is known as “Inordinate Ambition”; its nature is expressed by the term “Inordinate,” which means, “Excessive, immoderate, not limited by ordinary and usual bounds, rules or laws.” Like all other inordinate, excessive, immoderate forms or degrees of qualities good in themselves—good in the positive norm—Inordinate Ambition is a curse rather than a blessing to the individual and to the race. It seeks to “rule or ruin,” and usually ends in the latter. History and common experience supply illustrative examples of convincing power—no further argument is required to point out that Inordinate Ambition is negative in its nature—that it tends to make the individual “weaker, worse, and less efficient,” in the end and often from the very start. “Beware the extremes!”

The Associated Qualities

The fifth of the several classes of Character-Qualities is that known as “The Associated Qualities.” The term associated” is applied to this class because of the fact that its several qualities are associated closely with one or more of the qualities forming other classes, rather than forming an independent class of their own. The several qualities composing this class are as follows:

V. The Associated Qualities

Deficiency-Negative

Undue Gravity
Cheerlessness
Tactlessness

Positive Norm

Humor
Cheerfulness
Tact

Excess-Negative

Undue Levity
Strained Cheerfulness
Insincere Suavity

You are now asked to consider each of the above-stated qualities composing the class of the “Associated Qualities.”

Humor consists of that quality of human thought, imagination and feeling, which enables one to perceive the incongruous or fantastic aspects, elements or phases of the subjects or objects under consideration; which tends to induce or produce laughter or mirth; and which is expressed in wit, satire, facetiousness, jocularity, etc. Humor causes one to see “the funny side of things,” and thus to escape the effects of over-seriousness, ponderous gravity, tendency to overestimate the comparative value or importance of particular views of things, one-sidedness, etc. The sense of humor has well been called “the saving grace,” for it saves men from fanaticism, bigotry, and undue partisanship by causing them to see the incongruous, absurd, and ludicrous aspects of such one-sided views. Humor has punctured the balloon of more than one solemn absurdity and fallacy. It also relieves the tension of serious discussion and thought, and clears away the clouds of over-emphasis. Moreover, it tends to lubricate the machinery of human intercourse and association. Properly developed, and rationally and sensibly manifested, Humor is a positive quality, meeting the test of the Touchstone of Positivity and being found to make you “stronger, better, and more efficient.”

The Deficiency-Negative of Humor is known as “Undue Gravity,” which is marked by the absence of all the characteristics of the positive quality; it manifests as over-seriousness, ponderous and excessive gravity, absence of the perception of the incongruous and the ridiculous, lack of wit, and dislike of jocularity. This quality is often accompanied by cruel judgment of others, lack of sympathy, bigotry, extreme partisanship, and general narrowness of vision and interest. It is negative in its effects and results.

The Excess-Negative of Humor is known as “Undue Levity,” which is marked by extreme frivolity, trifling, silliness, the desire to play the part of the buffoon on all occasions appropriate and inappropriate; to make forced jokes, indulge in clownish antics; to strain to “think up” cheap puns, silly allusions and questionable quips; and to strive to make everything appear trifling, ridiculous and silly. Another perverted form of humor is that manifestation of so-called “wit” which seeks to wound others rather than to arouse healthy mirth or genuine humorous feelings. These perversions may be overcome by the addition and blending of Reason, Judgment, Discrimination, and (in the last case) of Kindness and Sympathy. This course is advised, for the perverted qualities in question are negative in effect and results, and in no way tend to make you “stronger, better and more efficient”—in fact, they tend to make you “weaker, worse and less efficient.”

Cheerfulness consists of the qualities which tend to make one cheerful, cheery, bright, joyful, happy, vivacious, buoyant and blithe. Cheerfulness is a positive quality not only in its effects upon one’s associates, but also in its effects upon oneself. Modern physiological-psychology informs us that the mental attitude of Cheerfulness tends to create the most beneficial physical conditions; the opposite mental attitude producing the contrary effect. Cheerfulness keeps the brain clear, keys emotional nature to a desirable pitch, and “lets the sunshine in” on life in general. Moreover, it renders one an agreeable companion and associate, makes friends, promotes human intercourse, and does much to create a pleasing personality— the latter being a decided asset. Its advantages and desirability are seen more plainly when we contrast this quality with its negative opposite.

The Deficiency-Negative of Cheerfulness is known as “Cheerlessness,” which consists of the qualities creating the mental atmosphere of gloom, sadness, discouragement, dejection, forlornness, melancholy—“the blues,” in short. This quality is quite negative and harmful to the individual, both in its effects upon his physical and mental being, and also in its effects upon his associates and those with whom he comes in contact. It poisons his blood, depresses his vitality, impairs his judgments, clouds his feelings, and muddies his emotions. It causes others to avoid his company, to flee his presence, and to regard him as a depressing, discouraging visitor. The confirmed pessimist is not popular—his presence is depressing.

The “Sunny Jim” is preferred to the “Gloomy Gus,” for obvious reasons. Human Wet-Blankets are avoided. Men prefer sunshine to gloom in their atmosphere. The world proceeds on the lines indicated by the writer of the following lines:

“Laugh, and the world laughs with you;

Weep, and you weep alone.

For this sad old earth

Is in need of mirth—

It has troubles enough of its own.”

You would act wisely to adopt that principle of the ancient Japanese code of “Bushido,” which instructed the young noblemen of that country to maintain always the cheerful, pleasant demeanor—concealing ever their pain, sorrow, and grief from those with whom they come in contact. The code taught this course not as a matter of policy, but as a matter of politeness and right-conduct toward others, particularly toward strangers—and as a manifestation of proper stoical pride and self-respect. It regarded the opposite course as an “indecent exposure” of one’s sacred emotions, griefs and sorrows; it taught the virtue of “emotional modesty.”

The Excess-Negative of Cheerfulness is known as “Strained Cheerfulness,” which consists of a forced and unnatural assumption of pleasure and “gladness” unwarranted by the true feelings and the facts of the case. This is a perversion of the true Cheerfulness which comes from the heart. It differs from the honest inhibiting of Cheerlessness and Gloom, inasmuch as it proceeds to counterfeit the real feeling, or to carry the latter to a ridiculous and unwarranted extent.

This artificial “gladness,” and counterfeit pleasure is quite in favor with many at the present time. The social fields are well supplied with “Gladiolas”; “Pollyannity” is in vogue. They deceive no one, and disgust many honest persons. This unnatural “dragging in” of “Gladness” upon all occasions, is as unconvincing as the repeated assertion of “I am an honest man” by the man whose honesty and truthfulness are under suspicion; or the similar strained and constantly repeated assertion of virtue by the woman of questionable character. A stoical cheerfulness under even the worst happenings is honest, natural and commendable; but to make pretended virtues of pain and adversity, and to loudly claim to “be glad” despite them, rings false, and is not deserving of praise. The addition and blending of Discrimination, Truth and Honesty is needed in such cases. Hysteria always is negative, despite its shrill assertions and excited affirmation of “gladness.”

Tact consists of the faculty of “nice perception and discernment,” and of “the ready power to appreciate and to say and do what is required under the circumstances.” It is a judicious mixture of the quality of Agreeableness and Desire to Please, and that of Caution and Secretiveness. Its expression is Politeness and Suavity; its manifestation is Diplomacy. Politeness consists of courteous, obliging, civil manners, directed toward the recognition of the wants and wishes of others, the anticipation of such, and the observance of a pleasing demeanor toward one’s associates. Suavity consists of the quality of being pleasing in manner and demeanor; urbanity; agreeableness. Diplomacy consists of the observance of a tactful suavity, accompanied by a certain caution and reserve concerning one’s own desires, plans, and designs; it is characterized by tact, shrewdness, and mental dexterity.

True Tact is based upon an understanding of the feelings of others, and that understanding is best arrived at by means of a real interest and sympathy with them—a “fellow feeling” for them. It has its spirit in the feeling of kindness for others, a liberal tolerance and broad charity toward them, and a desire to make them feel at ease and to contribute to their mental and emotional satisfaction and comfort. True Tact is a positive quality, and tends to make you “stronger, better, and more efficient”; this fact is perceived more clearly when we consider the effect of its negative opposite, i. e., Tactlessness. Tact is fitly subject to adverse criticism only when it is manifested in a perverted form, or to an unwarranted degree.

The Deficiency-Negative of Tact is known as “Tactlessness,” which is marked by an absence of all that constitutes the positive quality of Tact; it causes one to say even pleasant things in an unpleasant manner, and to exercise an almost positive genius for speaking in a tone and acting in a manner likely to offend, distress or even hurt others. Those manifesting this negative quality manage to blunder along, committing unpardonable errors, with an almost entire lack of understanding or appreciation of what they are doing—and with an almost total inability to perceive the point of view or the feelings of the other persons. Surely such a quality cannot be held to contribute to the real worth and efficiency of a person—it is clearly a negative quality, and should be treated as such.

The Excess-Negative of Tact is known as “Insincere Suavity,” and is marked by “smoothness,” agreeableness, and subtle flattery, accompanied by a lack of sincerity, and by the presence of actual deceit, in dealing and associating with others. It tends toward hypocrisy, duplicity, deceit, deception, double-dealing, and false pretensions. It acts to flatter, to “soft soap,” and to praise falsely those persons sought to be taken advantage of. It is like the actions of the boa-constrictor, which first covers with saliva the small animals which it plans to swallow a little later. This quality, fortunately, frequently defeats its own ends. It is a perversion of the positive quality; it should be treated with a liberal blend of Honesty, Truthfulness, and real Sympathy for others.

The Moral Qualities

The sixth of the several classes of Character-Qualities is that known as “The Moral Qualities.” The term “Moral” means, “Relating to duty or obligation; pertaining to those intentions and actions of which Right and Wrong, Virtue and Vice, are predicated.” The several general qualities composing that class are as follows:

VI. The Moral Qualities

Deficiency-Negative

Untruthfulness
Inequity
Lack of Sympathy
Disloyalty
Refusal to Serve
Intemperance
Unchastity

Positive Norm

Veracity
Equity
Kindliness
Loyalty
Service
Temperance
Chastity

Excess-Negative

Morbid Candor
Censoriousness
Maudlin Sympathy
Blind Partisanship
Servility
Austerity
“Sexophobia”

You are now asked to consider each of the above-stated qualities composing the class of the “Moral Qualities.”

Veracity means, “The state or quality of being observant of truth, truthful, veracious, and fair, straightforward and honest in expression.” Its essence is “Honesty and Truthfulness.” Honesty and Truthfulness constitute the basic foundation upon which the structure of human intercourse rests. In all dealings between man and man there must always be the tacit assumption of the existence of Honesty of purpose and Truthfulness of statement, else there can be no confidence and faith manifested between individuals; and without confidence and faith there can be no trust. All normal schools of morality and ethics postulate Honesty and Truthfulness as positive virtues—the fundamental positive virtues, in fact; their negatives are always regarded as vices. The man who has gained the reputation of being Honest and Truthful has secured a valuable asset; the one who has acquired the opposite kind of reputation has taken on a heavy liability.

The man whose “word is as good as his bond,” possesses a valuable capital of character. That “Honesty is the best policy” is proverbial. Being “on the level,” and “on the square” certainly is being “stronger, better, and more efficient”—being positive, in fact. In spite of apparent indications to the contrary which may present themselves from time to time in our experience, the wisdom of the race reports that “in the long run” (and in many of the short runs as well) Honesty and Truthfulness “win out.” The individual who would seriously preach the contrary, and who would advocate the pursuit of the opposite policy, quite properly would be condemned and denounced as a false prophet, a dangerous guide, and an enemy to society.

The Deficiency-Negative of Veracity is known as “Untruthfulness,” which is marked by an absence of the essential characteristics of the positive quality. Its spirit is “Dishonesty” in thought and expression. It is expressed in the desire and tendency to lie, equivocate, testify falsely, bear false witness, mislead, deceive; this usually accompanied by the tendency to cheat, defraud, and betray confidence. The dishonest man and the liar (usually represented by the same individual) are quite properly objects of scorn and condemnation on the part of right-thinking people. The manifestation of such qualities serves to undermine the structure of society and to destroy the floors of mutual dealings between man and man, for these rest primarily upon the foundations of confidence, faith and trust. Dishonesty and Untruthfulness are negative qualities, tending to render anyone “weaker, worse, and less efficient.”

The Excess-Negative of Veracity is known as “Morbid Candor.” This consists of what has been called “ingrown conscientiousness”, or an abnormal and morbid exaggeration of the requirements of Veracity, and a more or less developed feeling that it is the bounden duty of every person to “tell the whole truth” (or rather, what he interprets to be this), in and out of season, and “without sense or reason.” It is generally found that such persons’ conception of “the whole truth” almost always is that of “unpleasant fact assumed to be the truth”; they fail to feel the sense of duty impelling them to tell “the whole truth” when it happens to be pleasant—in fact, they seem to have a mental “blind spot” for pleasant truths. Their characteristic self-justification is that “I think it my duty to tell you the truth about yourself and your actions” (or those of someone near and dear to the person to whom “the truth” is told). Likewise, they are disposed to spread gossip and scandal under cover of this perverted sense of truthfulness and candor. They would rather tell an unpleasant “truth” (?) than to eat a good meal. They make a virtue of their inclinations and desire to wound and to humiliate others. They make odious the virtue of truth, by reason of their exaggerations and perverted judgments and feelings. They are not content with what they style “calling a spade a spade”—they call it “a dirty old shovel.” They are really quite “one sided”; they do not tell “the whole truth” at all. They tell only the unpleasant and disagreeable parts of the facts of the case—only that which appeals to their perverted tastes. Like the scavenger birds, they scent only carrion—only that upon which their depraved thought feeds. This perverted quality is decidedly negative; it makes one “weaker, worse, and less efficient”—and, also, a nuisance.

Equity consists of the desire and tendency to observe and comply with the rules of justice and fairness, and to give to each man his due while exacting from him his rightful due. In the popular terminology, Equity consists of the desire to “give everyone a square deal,” and to expect everyone to act likewise. The synonyms of the term “Equity” are “right, justice, impartiality, rectitude, fairness, honesty, uprightness.” Its spirit is Equality of Treatment, and Justice, the meaning of the latter being, “The rendering to everyone of that which is his due; and the impartial judgment of one’s conduct or motives.” Grotius, the old Dutch jurist, summed up man’s duty to man in the following adage, the words of which are worthy of being inscribed in letters of gold over the doors of every public institution—you will do well to commit them to memory. The adage runs: “Wrong no man, and render unto every man his due.” Equity is a positive quality, and renders you “stronger, better, and more efficient.”

The Deficiency-Negative of Equity is known as “Inequity,” which is marked by a lack of desire for fairness, justice, and equity; it tends toward an easy invasion and violation of the rights of others, and toward general “unfairness,” dishonesty, and lack of “squareness” in dealings with others; and toward at least a tacit approval of such behavior on the part of others. It is a negative element of character, and its results in the long run are injurious to the individual ruled by it.

The Excess-Negative of Equity is known as “Censoriousness,” or the tendency to censure unduly either oneself or others because of the failure to observe the formal requirements of Justice, Custom, or Law; the “letter, of the law being exalted, while the “spirit” is lost sight of. When one is unduly censorious of oneself, he is disposed to indulge in self-condemnation and self-reproach concerning matters of formal observance. When he is unduly censorious of others, he becomes intolerant, persecuting, condemnatory and over-critical of their formal actions. Rabid reformers, self-constituted censors of the general public, and others of this general kind have this negative quality highly developed. It may be cured by adding a liberal blend of the elements of Reason, Judgment, Discrimination, Tolerance, Charity, Sympathy, and Understanding of Human Nature— with a sufficient quantity of the element of Humor.

Kindliness consists of the manifestation of a humane, sympathetic, benevolent, kind, tolerant, charitable and helpful mental attitude toward others, inspired by affection, fellow-feeling and good-will. It manifests in the direction of a sympathetic and kindly desire to make others happy and prosperous; it expresses the spirit of benevolence, generosity, and philanthropy. It is regarded as a positive virtue by all schools of ethics; and all practical philosophers consider it a positive character-quality. In the long run, it tends to make you “stronger, better, and more efficient” Manifested normally, it draws to one the kindly sympathy and liking of others, and thus promotes his own well-being and happiness; the manifestation of the opposite quality tends to repel the kindly interest of others, and thus is negative in its effects.

The Deficiency-Negative of normal Kindliness is known as “Lack of Sympathy,” and is marked by the absence of sympathy, tolerance, charity, fellow-feeling, affection, or love, and by the lack of all inclination to help, aid, assist, or render kindly services to others. It is a repelling, deadening, negative character-quality which should be inhibited by the cultivation of its positive opposite.

The Excess-Negative of normal Kindliness is known as “Maudlin Sympathy,” which is marked by the presence of sickly sentimentality. It is a neurotic, hysterical emotional state in which the feeling of “love” for one’s fellows is reduced to a state of “mushy-gush,” and is manifested in a perverted display of morbid sympathy for and toward often quite unworthy objects. To many, the term “Brotherly Love” has lost its real and positive meaning by reason of the perverted and misdirected manifestations of so-called “love” and sympathy on the part of many persons of the type just indicated. The perverted excess-negative should be cured by an addition of Common Sense and Discrimination—a blending of “head” with “heart”— and a goodly portion of normal Equity and Justice, with a dash of the ability to detect incongruity. Here, once more, an excess of a virtue becomes a vice.

Loyalty consists of “The state or quality of being loyal, i. e., of being faithful and true to principle, or to those to whom one owes fidelity, truthfulness and honest dealings.” Loyalty is a staunch virtue, and one upon which enduring human relations must be based. The man whose loyalty is beyond question— the man “you can depend upon,” and who “sticks by you” to the end—is a real man; the reputation of possessing such character-quality is a valuable asset to anyone. Not only is the reputation gained by the manifestation of this quality valuable and helpful, but the practice and manifestation of the quality itself is strengthening, invigorating and “backbone”-producing in its effects. It tends to make you “stronger, better, and more efficient.”

The Deficiency-Negative of Loyalty is known as “Disloyalty,” which is marked by faithlessness, treachery, desertion, perfidy, inconstancy and general unreliability. Disloyalty is a despicable quality of character, and is condemned by all men. It is negative in nature and in effects—it most decidedly tends to render one “weaker, worse, and less efficient.”

The Excess-Negative of Loyalty is known as “Blind Partisanship,” which is marked by an unreasoning adherence to a person, party or faction; an attachment based upon the fact of habit or prejudice rather than upon actual merit, quality, virtue or truth. This is a state of Loyalty “gone to seed,” and having lost its essential spirit and life. It is a counterfeit of true Loyalty, and has no real meaning in fact or truth—yet it is a most common quality among mankind. It may be cured by the addition of Logical Thought, Discrimination and Equity.

Service consists of the desire to perform the duty due to others, and to manifest the proper and equitable labor or effort for those to whom it is owing. All men owe service to society, to their fellow-men, to their dependents, and to those with whom they have dealings. The Law of Compensation exacts the performance of service. One must pay for what he gets— must pay in service. He must be willing to “pay the price”—to render Compensation. The price of service received, is service rendered or to be rendered. He who seeks to get everything and to render no equivalent service for it, is a thief or a parasite—he is a “slacker.” The negation of the quality of Service is weakening, degrading, demoralizing and degenerating in its nature and affects. Service, properly understood and equitably performed, is positive in nature and effects—it tends to render you “stronger, better, and more efficient.” The motto, “Ich Dien,” (i. e., “I serve”), rightly understood, is a worthy one.

The Deficiency-Negative of Service is known as “Refusal to Serve,” and consists of the desire and tendency to shirk or to refuse rightful service and duty; to “get” without rendering an equivalent; to want to “live on” others, or upon society in general, without rendering compensating service. This is a negative quality, and it renders one “weaker, worse, and less efficient,” without doubt.

The Excess-Negative of Service is known as “Servility,” which consists of the servile mental attitude, the “slave spirit,” and the actions arising therefrom. It is marked by slavishness, meanness of spirit, cringing, fawning, and often is accompanied by sycophancy, base flattery, and toadying. This perversion may be cured by a liberal addition of true Egoism, Self-Respect, Equity, etc. True Service is distinguished by a blending of Self-Respect and Equity, and is the antithesis of Servility—the latter is a base caricature of the positive quality, and should never be mistaken for it.

Temperance consists of, “Habitual moderation of the appetites and passions.” It has for its motto, “Nothing too much.” It seeks to maintain the Golden Mean, by means of which one may “use” every fit thing at the right time, in the right place, and in the right manner; and yet never “misuse” nor “abuse” even the best thing. True Temperance does not mean the total inhibition of the natural appetites, tastes and passions, nor the total abstinence from the satisfaction of these; rather does it mean their self-controlled restraint, accompanied by the right to manifest them in moderation, lawfully, righteously, and morally, under the control of the conscience, judgment and will. Its essence is “well-balanced moderation.” That Temperance is a positive character-quality cannot be denied: it is perceived to make one “stronger, better, and more efficient,” and its negative opposite, i. e., Intemperance, is seen to render one “weaker, worse, and less efficient.” The positive should be developed and cultivated; the negative should be inhibited.

The Deficiency-Negative of Temperance is known as “Intemperance,” which is marked by the absence of all the characteristics of Temperance; and, accordingly, by the tendency toward excessive, uncontrolled, unbridled indulgence of the appetites, tastes, and passions, without regard to reason or right. Intemperance is a negative quality, and should be overcome by the cultivation of its positive opposite.

The Excess-Negative of Temperance is known as “Austerity,” which consists of extreme and unreasonable severity, sternness, strictness, rigorousness regarding judging, living and acting; the code of extreme, severe and unreasonable self-denial of the appetites, tastes, and passions; the manifestation of the ideals of asceticism. Persons in whom this quality is well-developed and active are inclined to regard practically all of the natural appetites, tastes, and passions as unworthy and depraved, and as therefore to be rigorously inhibited and repressed. This quality violates the spirit of true Temperance, which is “Moderation in all things”; it leads to intolerance, fanaticism, persecution, and general narrowness of heart and spirit.

Chastity is, “The quality or state of being Chaste, i. e., pure, clean, virtuous—especially in the matter of sexual relations.” Chastity is a positive quality, a positive virtue, approved of and encouraged by the best religious, moral, ethical and “common-sense” thought of civilized lands. It is held to promote the welfare of the race, the protection of society, and the well-being of the individual. Individuals, communities and nations habitually and extensively violating the rule of Chastity are pushed to the wall in the course of evolution, as all history informs us, and as all human experiences corroborates. Sexual cleanliness is not only a virtue for the individual and for society in general—it is also a necessity of ultimate well-being, success, and survival. Individual exceptions only serve to verify the general rule; Unchastity exacts a tremendous toll in the long run, and on the average. Chastity is a positive quality; it makes you “stronger, better, and more efficient.”

The Deficiency-Negative of Chastity is known as “Unchastity”; it lacks every characteristic of the positive quality, and is its antithetical opposite. It is marked by lewdness, lust, lasciviousness, lechery, profligacy, licentiousness, sensuality, wantonness, impurity, and viciousness. In its train follow practically all of the vices of mankind. It is vicious, harmful, and negative—it certainly makes one “weaker, worse, and less efficient.” The poet truthfully tells us that “to be hated, it needs but to be seen,” and likewise warns us against that familiarity which causes us to lose our first disgust and hatred for it.

The Excess-Negative of Chastity is known as “Sexophobia”— that abnormal, morbid state of mind and feeling that causes persons to think and feel that Sex, in itself, is evil, impure, and lewd. This view is quite contrary to Nature and to Reason, and is not advanced by true Morality, Religion, or Ethics; it is contrary to Common-Sense, as well. Sex has its rightful and proper place—an important place in Nature; it has its important and worthy part to play in the life of natural things. Without it, Life would perish. Its vice consists only in its abuse, its improper use, its unwarranted manifestation. Science informs us that this perverted, exaggerated hatred of Sex and all that belongs to Sex, is not only unnatural, abnormal and irrational—but that it is also in many cases actually pathological. Often, indeed, Sex thus treated by individuals turns upon and devours them—Sex reviled takes its revenge upon the revilers. The Pathology of Sex reveals numerous cases of sexual perversions and abnormalities arising from this morbid thought and feeling toward the principle of Sex in itself. True Chastity dwells in the light; the perverted form seeks and dwells in the darkness.

Many so-called advocates of “Sexual Purity” (defined in the terms of Sexophobia) are really “prurient prudes”; their thoughts are unclean and fungus-like growths—they lack the purifying rays of the sun. Chastity must not be confounded with or mistaken for this base counterfeit—this miserable wolf wearing the skin of the sheep. This perversion, like all other Excess-Negatives, is decidedly negative in nature and in its effects; it tends to make one “weaker, worse, and less efficient.” It is doubly dangerous because it seeks refuge in the Temple of Chastity, and often wears the garb of the priests of that Temple. This may seem like strong language—but it is warranted by the facts of the case, which are known to all earnest investigators of the subject.

The Spiritual Qualities

The seventh of the several classes of Character-Qualities is that known as “The Spiritual Qualities.” The term Spiritual,” as here used, means, “Pertaining to the soul or spirit; and concerned with the Spiritual Principle from which all things proceed.” The several general qualities composing that class are as follows:

VII. The Spiritual Qualities

Deficiency-Negative

Lack of Spirituality
Lack of Reverence

Positive Norm

Spirituality
Reverence

Excess-Negative

Perverted Spirituality
Superstitious Awe

You are now asked to consider each of the above-stated qualities composing the class of the “Spiritual Qualities.”

Spirituality (in the true sense) consists of the unfoldment in consciousness of the recognition and realization of the actual being and immanent presence of the Ultimate Spiritual Principle of Being, from which all things proceed, and in which all things “live and move and have their being.” This Spiritual Consciousness is based on an intuitive “Faith that knows, and not merely believes”: it proceeds from a spiritual awakening which brings the “I AM I” of the individual into direct contact with the Universal Spiritual Principle of Being or POWER. It is arrived at by spiritual evolution—by the unfoldment of the spiritual faculties or powers which are latent within every individual, and which are capable of being developed and cultivated by intelligent effort. By preparing the soil; supplying nourishment and water; and placing the growing thing so that it will catch the life-giving rays of the Sun of Spirit; you will aid materially in its growth and development.

Spirituality, in this sense, is a most positive character-quality, as all know who have carefully investigated the matter. It is not a mere “goody-goody” state of mind—nor is it bound up with Ecclesiasticism; instead it is a soul state in which the being and presence of the Spiritual Principle of POWER is recognized, realized and also manifested in action. A prominent man once said that “The practical mystic is a man to be reckoned with in any and all walks of life.” The truly spiritual man is a Tower of Strength, and a Reservoir of Power. The great leaders of the race—the Men of Destiny—have been men in whom Spiritual Consciousness has been awakened. It is true that in many cases they have afterward misused their power, and misdirected its energies; but their power originally came from spiritual sources, nevertheless, and its subsequent misdirection and misapplication brought about its own punishment.

You will be made “stronger, better and more efficient” if you will encourage and open yourself to the inflow of Spiritual Consciousness. You may do this in or out of the churches—in or out of the established forms of religious practice. Spiritual Consciousness is a matter of the Inner Experience, and not of the Outer Form. Man is better, stronger and more efficient by reason of opening his soul to the inflow of the Infinite, and by living up to the best that he finds awakened within himself as the result of this.

As for the particular forms or creeds through which men seek to express and manifest their intuitions of Spiritual Consciousness, the present writers feel in accord with the ancient Oriental sage who said: “There is but One Supreme Being, though men worship many semblances and pictured forms of that Formless One; though they give many names to that Nameless One; though they give many descriptions of that Indescribable One. There are many paths to that One, but there is only one goal and destination. In worshipping their own highest conception of God, men worship the Principle of Reality which is over and above all of their possible conceptions. To that One, all worship arises—even from altars erected to the worship of men’s pitifully conceived deities, with their petty images and childish pictures. There is but One, though men call IT by many different names, and explain IT in many different ways.”

The Deficiency-Negative of Spirituality is known as “Lack of Spirituality,” and is marked by an absence of the characteristics of the positive quality. Here the spiritual faculties are asleep; the spiritual intuition undeveloped. This state may exist in the case of the formal church-member, as well as in the unbeliever, or in anyone in whom the Higher Consciousness has not been awakened. Real Religion is a matter of Inner Experience, and not of Outer Formalism with its creeds, rites and observances. The absence of Spiritual Consciousness is a weakness, and is negative in effect and results.

The Excess-Negative of Spirituality is known as “Perverted Spirituality,” which is marked by gross superstition, unreasoning credulity, religious vagaries, fanaticism, the running after new religions and strange doctrines, the cultivation of the so-called “psychic powers” of doubtful value or even of harmful effect, the joining of strange cults, and the craze for new “isms,” “ologies,” and “inspired doctrines.” This perversion often takes on the form of “pathological religion.” It may be relieved or cured by the proper addition of Logical Thought, Observation, Deduction, Judgment, and Discrimination—and, above all, by the cultivation of the consciousness of the reality of the “I AM I,” and of its relation to and correlation with the Universal Principle of Being. “When the gods come, the half-gods disappear.”

Reverence consists of, “Profound respect and esteem manifested toward that which is deemed sublime and sacred.” It is the feeling or emotion entertained by men toward the subject or object of their highest conceptions of Being and Reality. It is the obeisance of the soul made to its Source and Origin— the veneration accorded by the Finite Manifestation toward the Infinite Manifestor. It is a worthy emotion, and tendency; and is expressed by man in his various forms of worship. In its highest and purest forms, it is accompanied only by Love, all Fear having been cast out. In its lower forms, Fear plays a prominent part. The positive nature of this quality is lessened in the degree that Fear is present. It becomes the more positive in its nature and effect in the degree that Fear is banished and Love and Confidence has taken its place. Reverence, rightly manifested and rightly understood, is a positive quality, and tends to make you “stronger, better, and more efficient.” It is worthy of development and cultivation.

The Deficiency-Negative of Spirituality is known as “Lack of Reverence,” which is characterized by a greater or less degree of Irreverence or the mental and emotional attitude directly opposed to that of Reverence as described above.

The Excess-Negative of Reverence is known as Superstitious Awe, which consists of base fear, terrible dread, and superstitious terror arising from crude, superstitious beliefs in and conceptions of supernatural entities or things. Superstition means, “Misguided or unenlightened religious feeling or belief; or credulous belief in supernatural things.” Awe means, “Reverential fear or dread.” Fear is the characteristic element of all forms of superstition, and, as we have seen, Fear is essentially a negative quality, weakening in its effects.

Superstitious Awe sometimes also attaches itself to the individuals posing as prophets, preachers, and inspired teachers of mysterious doctrines or religions; or even to the dignitaries of some of the more familiar forms of ecclesiastical organization. Fear and awe are the main elements of the emotional feeling arising from such causes. Fear is negative and renders one “weaker, worse, and less efficient”; Love and Confidence are positive and render one “stronger, better, and more efficient.”

The Seven Principles of Character-Building

There are seven special principles governing the cultivation and development of the positive character-qualities. Each of these general principles is embodied in a particular psychological method based upon strictly scientific foundations. The practice and application of these methods have been found by experiment and actual employment to be highly efficient in the direction of the cultivation and development of the character-qualities which reason and experience have determined to be positive, i. e., to tend to “make one stronger, better, and more efficient.” There is nothing fanciful or visionary in these methods. They are based upon cold, scientific facts, carefully tested and subjected to trial and experiment, and may be verified by anyone who will faithfully put them into practice and use.

The Seven Principles of Character-Building, “above referred to, are as follows:

I. The Principle of Idealization.

II. The Principle of Visualization.

III. The Principle of Mental Declaration, or Affirmation.

IV. The Principle of Nourishing with Suggestive Ideas.

V. The Principle of Rehearsing in Imagination.

VI. The Principle of Directing the Physical Expression.

VII. The Principle of Establishing the Habitual Manifestation.

You are now asked to consider in fuller detail each of the Seven Principles of Character-Building, with a statement of the facts upon which it is based, and the general method whereby it may be effectively applied.

I. Idealization

Idealization is “the act or process of giving an ideal form or character” to the character-quality under consideration; of combining its full meaning and content in a unitary idea embodying the basic conception involved in the thought or term designating it. The principle of Idealization is employed not only that a full, intelligent conception of the quality may be had, but also that there may be created an ideal mold or pattern, design or framework, in or around which the substance of the quality may arrange and build itself into the perfect form and shape to be expressed in objective manifestation.

In order to build up a desired trait or quality of character, it is necessary first to create in the mind a strong and efficient idea of that trait or quality. All things in Nature are built around an ideal form—the ideal form of the oak tree is in the acorn, and the growth of the tree proceeds according to the pattern of the ideal form. All the creative work of man proceeds from the ideal to the real—from the mental idea to the material reality.

Halleck says: “The Brooklyn Bridge first existed in the mind before the structure became an objective reality. The projectors had first to plan what they intended to do. Then they had to put these plans on paper in the forms of drawings, the mind going before the pencil, and telling the fingers where to put the next line. Only after the mental object was complete, was matter slowly poured into this mental mold. Only then did that wonderful bridge, connecting two great cities, become a reality.

The same is true of every step in material progress, from the invention of a sewing machine to that of the telephone. In the battle of life, those succeed best who can form definite ideas of what they are going to do, before they start to do it. Others get into trouble, and often are forced to retrace their steps.”

In the process of Idealization, in the work of character-building, you must first of all acquire a full, comprehensive and complete idea of the nature of the character-quality which you wish to develop—for that is the mental pattern upon which you are to fashion and shape the growth of that quality; the mold into which you are to pour the mental substance out of which character-qualities are built. Unless you have a full and complete pattern or mold, the product will be incomplete and Imperfect. You will find that your ideas concerning most character-qualities are very hazy, indefinite and imperfect; if you build or pattern upon these, you will obtain results far from complete and perfect. You will do well to begin by referring to a dictionary, then exercising your general recollection and thought concerning the report furnished you by that reference work.

For instance: you wish to develop Courage within yourself, because you find yourself lacking in that quality. Stop a moment, and see how little you know concerning Courage— you know it only in a general way. Reference to the dictionary brings the report that “courage is that quality of mind which enables one to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness, or without fear.” The synonyms given for Courage are as follows: “Heroism, bravery, intrepidity, valor, valiantness, gallantry, daring, firmness, hardihood, stoutness of heart, boldness, dauntlessness, resolution.” If you will proceed further in your dictionary search, you may “run down” the meaning of each of these synonyms, writing down the definition and explanation of each; by so doing you will have built up a wonderfully strong concept or conception of Courage—you will know it from top to bottom, and from all sides and points of view. You will find that for the first time in your life you really know what Courage means.

If you wish to proceed further, you may refer to some standard reference work in which quotations from eminent writers, poets, and speakers are given, indexed under their appropriate headings. Under the heading of “Courage” you will find many strong quotations in which the word or idea of Courage is used as the central thought. You will find yourself filled with a new and inspired realization of the inner meaning of Courage—you will have Courage idealized, Courage apotheosized, Courage deified.

Having done this, you should use your recollection and powers of association in order to bring before your mind the numerous instances and examples of courageous action and behavior of which you have read or heard. You should recall the individuals noted in history for their courageous behavior in face of danger and difficulties; you should recall the individuals in private life who have manifested acts showing the possession of the quality of Courage. In short, you should build up a strong and complete mental picture of Courage, using your basic definition or conception as its central point.

The same course should be pursued by you in the case of any particular character-quality which you may wish to develop in yourself. The principle is universal, and is applicable in all cases to all individuals. Do not pass this by as fanciful or unimportant detail—it is very practical and most important, as you will discover if you will try to put on paper your conception of any character-quality without having followed the course above outlined. Your ignorance concerning any of these qualities is unsuspected by you, until you make the discovery in the way above mentioned; having made the discovery, you will “get busy” in this way if you purpose trying to develop a character-quality—for unless you know what you are trying to build, you cannot expect to build it very well. First, know thoroughly what you intend to seek and obtain; then, bend every effort toward obtaining it. The Idealization comes first; the Realization follows.

II. Visualization

The principle of Visualization is employed for the purpose of creating a clear mental picture of the character-quality deemed desirable and worthy of development because of its positive nature. This mental picture must show the quality in actual manifestation and expression on your part—your imagination is called into effect in picturing you as already possessing the quality in question, and as efficiently manifesting it in action. Thus is set into operation that psychological law which creates mental paths over which the will afterwards tends to travel easily and instinctively.

“Visualization” is “The act of picturing a mental image in memory or imagination”; another definition is, “The creation of a mental image or picture representing a physical form or activity.” In the special usage of this term in the New Psychology, it means, “Forming mental pictures or images of oneself as possessing a desired mental state, and as acting in accordance therewith.” As we have stated, the purpose of the practice of Visualization in the process of character-building is that of building and establishing mental paths over which the will may and will travel easily in future performances. Just as one’s feet naturally and instinctively tread in the path which other feet have made for them across a field, through a forest, or along a stream, so does the will tend to tread the path which has been established for it either by the habit of continued and repeated action, or by the habit of idealistic Visualization or mental picturing which we are now considering.

In applying the principle of Visualization, you should picture yourself mentally as already being that which you desire actually to be, and as acting in accordance with the possession of such qualities of character. You should visualize yourself as in possession of the positive; qualities you wish to acquire; but under no circumstances should you allow yourself to indulge in the practice of visualizing yourself in the possession of negative qualities: this, because in either and each case you will be building mental paths of character over which the will may find it very easy to travel in future manifestations of character.

In the process of Visualization, as herein described, the imagination is called into play, and is pressed into active service. There was a time in which the imagination was regarded as being concerned only with fanciful picturing having no relation to real accomplishment. Today, on the contrary, the imagination is seen to be a most important factor in the creative work of man along all lines of expression. Everything that man has created, he first created in his imagination—the physical creation being merely the reproduction of the mental image. The better and clearer the mental picture of anything you wish to accomplish, the better will be your chance of accomplishing it, all else being equal. Constructive Imagination is the secret of the attainment of the inventor, and of the success of all persons, in any walk of life, who improve upon older methods and who extend the limits of man’s achievements.

Therefore, do not dismiss the subject of the principle of Visualization as being “mere imagination.” Instead, learn to employ the principle earnestly and in good faith, for by so doing you set into operation one of Nature’s great hidden forces—one of her finer forces. By creating the right kind of mental pictures of that which you wish to be and to do, you are erecting the mental model which your will may employ in its future work of character-building. It will try to copy faithfully the model you give it—so be careful to give it the right kind of model. Build carefully on the plane of the ideal; for your work will be reproduced on the plane of objective reality. Hang the right kind of pictures in your mental gallery; for they will be used as models by the silent artists working on the subconscious planes of your being.

III. Mental Declaration, or Affirmation

The principle of Mental Declaration, or Affirmation, is employed for the purpose of bringing into operation the psychological law which tends to “set” and fix in the character those traits, qualities and tendencies which are verbally declared, asserted and affirmed with conviction and confidence. In modern psychology, this principle is frequently referred to under the term “Affirmation,” or “Auto-Suggestion.”

“Affirmation” means “The act of affirming or positively asserting and declaring.” In the special meaning of the term as employed in modern psychology, the term “Affirmation” means practically that which is known and indicated by the term “Auto-Suggestion.” Auto-Suggestion is a “Suggestion” made by the individual to himself; and when persistently practiced it takes on the full power and effect of that which psychologists know as “Suggestion.” The term “Suggestion,” in this usage, is “The process of communicating an idea to the subconscious mind, in an unobtrusive manner, carrying conviction.” A “suggestion” is not an argument, or the presentation of proof; on the contrary, it is rather a positive, confident statement made in the tones and spirit of conviction. Suggestion proceeds upon the psychological theory that “The mind of man is largely subconscious; and the subconscious mentality is highly amenable to Suggestion.”

It would be departing from the special field of psychology sought to be covered in this book were we here to enter upon a detailed consideration of the respective subjects of Subconscious Mind, Suggestion, etc., interesting as such subjects may be. Instead, we will assume that you are acquainted in at least a general way with those leading facts concerning such subjects, and shall treat the subject of Mental Declaration, Affirmation or Auto-Suggestion with that understanding. Those who wish to acquaint themselves more fully with the subject of the Subconscious Mind are referred to the volume of the present series devoted to that special subject of “Subconscious Power.”

Mental Declaration, Affirmation or Auto-Suggestion is very simple in its application. It consists merely of saying to yourself, positively, emphatically, earnestly and persistently: “I Am Fearless,” or “I Am Self-Controlled,” or “I Am Truthful,” etc., etc.; the “I Am” assertion preceding the statement of the possession of the particular character-quality sought to be developed and cultivated, and brought into the field of your mental activity.

You should never make the affirmation or declaration in the form of a denial, as for instance: “I am not afraid.” “I am not untruthful,” etc. This, because in such a denial you are really suggesting the negative term to the subconscious mentality, and thus bringing it into the field of attention, thereby strengthening it instead of weakening it as you desire to do. Mental Declarations, Affirmations and Auto-Suggestions should be positive, and never should be expressed in negative terms.

The power of Mental Declaration, Affirmation or Auto-Suggestion is augmented greatly by an accompanying “acting out” of the character-quality as described later in our explanation of “The Direction of Physical Expression,” and by the practice of “Visualization,” as previously described, and also by the practice of the principle “Rehearsing in Imagination,” as later explained. The combination of (1) Direction of the Physical Expression, (3) Visualization, and (4) Mental Rehearsal, furnishes an ideal method of cultivating and developing any desired character-qualities.

In declaring, affirming or auto-suggesting the desired character-qualities, be careful not to fall into a parrot-like repetition of the words. There is no special virtue in the words themselves—the entire virtue consists of the lively meaning of the words which the mind absorbs. Your declarations or affirmations must be alive, full of energy and animation—not dead, meaningless statements of words repeated without a vivid consciousness of their meaning.

Mental Declaration, or Affirmation, is not by any means a “mumbo-jumbo” process of repeating mysterious words constituting a “charm”—it is not a superstitious magic rite. Instead, it is a purely scientific process, based upon definite psychological law, and is dearly explainable in psychological-physiological terms. Remember, always, that “there is a reason” for this process of “sez I to myself, sez I”—and that this reason is a valid, scientific one, based upon efficient observation, experimentation and demonstration.

IV. Nourishing With Suggestive Ideas.

The principle of Nourishing with Suggestive Ideas is employed for the purpose of bringing into operation and effect that psychological law under the operation of which mental qualities are fed and nourished by means of the presentation of suggestive ideas, or starved by the withholding of such ideas from them. This psychological law, simply stated, is as follows: “Feed your positive qualities with appropriate suggestive ideas; starve your negative qualities by withholding appropriate suggestive ideas.”

In considering the application of this principle, you should take note of the fact that the element in the character-qualities which is to be “fed,” or “starved” by giving or withholding suggestive ideas, as the case may be, is the feeling or emotional element of such qualities. The feeling or emotional element is present in every character-quality, and, in fact, is the element which supplies the motive power of the manifestation of the quality itself. This being perceived, it follows that an understanding of the nature of emotion must be had in order that you may be able to grasp the principle involved in the case now before you for consideration.

Emotion is made up of two elements—two streams combining to form a mighty river. These two elements are (1) Simple Feeling, and (2) Representative Ideas. Emotion is technically “Feeling combined with Idea.” A leading psychologist has compared the River of Emotion to the Lower Mississippi River, which is composed of the waters of (1) the Missouri River (representing Representative Ideas), and (2) the Upper Mississippi (representing Simple Feelings). The two streams combining, the Lower Mississippi River (representing Completed Emotion) is formed, and thenceforth flows toward the Gulf of Will—much broader and deeper than before the junction. The waters of both the Missouri and the Upper Mississippi are always present in every part of the Lower Mississippi—and the elements of Feeling and Idea are always present in every emotional state—even when Emotion flows into the Gulf of Will.

The above statement, and the accompanying illustrative figure, will give you the secret of the application of the principle now before us for consideration. If you withhold the stream of Suggestive Ideas, the River of Emotion will consist merely of Simple Feeling, never rising to the power, never displaying the depth, never extending to the width of the true River of Emotion. But, on the other hand, if we let flow into the stream of Simple Feeling a copious and abundant stream of Suggestive Ideas, then will the River of Emotion be given increased power, depth and width.

Completed Emotion never comes into being except in response to definite Suggestive Ideas. These Ideas may arise from the direct perception and observation of some suggestive object, which object awakens either the memory of direct experiences or else of inherited race-experience, and thus sets the imagination to work. Any idea, whether derived from direct observation, or else arising from memory, which suggests the satisfaction of emotional feeling—or any picture of the imagination which is likewise suggestive of similar results—will tend to awaken or to kindle emotion. This, because such ideas combine with the inherited or acquired elements of Simple Feeling, and, fusing with these, create emotion, or become emotion itself.

The imagination supplies us with some of the strongest suggestive ideas inspiring emotion. Halleck well says: “Those ideas which give us pictures of a concrete act of injustice, of the doing of a noble deed, or of actual suffering, seldom fail to arouse emotion. If a man intends to get a contribution for the sick poor, let him not speak in general terms of the inconvenience of sickness, the pains of poverty. One vivid picture of a forlorn room where a feeble mother is watching a sick child for which she is unable to procure proper food, will be infinitely more effective. Any idea which suggests gratification of desire, any idea which vividly pictures something affecting the welfare of the self or of others, is apt to be followed by emotion. Stating the case generally, the rapidity of the rise of an internally inhibited emotion will be due to the amount of pleasure or pain, immediate, or remote, to ourselves or to others” in whom we are interested, which the idea suggests.”

From the above, you will see that it follows logically that the more that your feeling is supplied with appropriate, suggestive ideas and mental images, the greater will be the power, depth and width of the emotion aroused; and conversely, that the more that your feelings are deprived of such suggestive ideas and mental pictures, the weaker and the less effective will be the resulting emotion. Hence the general rule: “Feed your positives, and starve your negatives.”

Keep your mind well filled with the suggestive ideas and mental pictures which logically suggest the positive character-qualities; and keep it as free as possible from the suggestive ideas and mental pictures which suggest the negative character-qualities; in following this course you will be proceeding scientifically with your work of character-building. Visualize yourself as manifesting the positive qualities—as expressing your feeling and desire for their objects—as gratifying your desire and craving for such objects—and you will be setting into operation a powerful law of mental activity in the direction of the attainment of the positive qualities which your reason dictates should be cultivated and developed.

See yourself as you wish to be, i. e., in possession of the positive qualities, and manifesting freely, efficiently and effectively such positive qualities. Emotions are hungry creatures; feed well those which you desire shall thrive, and starve into submission those which you are determined to restrain, restrict and inhibit. Remember, always, that: “Suggestive Ideas constitute the natural food of Emotion; and the Imagination is the great Department Store of Suggestive Ideas.”

V. Rehearsing in Imagination

The principle of Rehearsing in Imagination is employed for the purpose of “acting out” in imagination those actions which you desire to render habitual, and which result naturally from the manifestation of the character-qualities which you are seeking to develop; thus bringing into operation the psychological law which operates in the direction of “causing ideals to become real,” and in creating mental patterns of action which will be reproduced in actual manifestation. Just as the actor who wishes to become proficient in the representation of his part must practice, rehearse, and “act out” in private the part which he wishes to play, so must you practice, rehearse, and “act out” in imagination the parts which you desire to play when you have fully developed and cultivated the positive qualities to which you are applying the methods of character-building.

Careful and extended experience and experiments in the psychological laboratories have demonstrated the correctness of the above-stated principle of character-building. It has been found that when the individual experimented upon will earnestly, diligently and faithfully carry out the instructions to rehearse in imagination the actions which will naturally result from the possession of the developed character-qualities in question, then he will rapidly develop those qualities which are necessary to cause his ideals to become real. It would seem that Nature feels the demand upon it for the development of the qualities in question, just as it feels the demand of the growing plant for certain elements of growth, and thereupon responds to that demand by supplying that which is needed.

When you are engaged in the work of developing and cultivating a desired positive character-quality, you should avail yourself of the materials gathered by you in the processes of Idealization and Visualization, respectively, thus forming a clear conception and mental picture of just how you would act if you were really in possession of that positive character-quality fully developed and in a state of normal activity. Get this idea and picture well fixed in your mind, as perfect in detail as is possible to you; then proceed to “act out” the part in imagination. Go about it just as if you were actually learning a part to be played on the stage, and for which you would be handsomely rewarded if you succeeded in playing the part successfully. Go about it seriously, earnestly and in good faith, and with persistent determination. Learn well the part; then play it out well in your imaginative rehearsals.

Imagine yourself in all sorts of positions in which you will be called upon to exercise the positive quality in question; invent circumstances, conditions and events in which you must play this part in order to be successful. Then mentally picture yourself as successfully playing the part, going through the motions; displaying the necessary strength, power and fortitude; saying and doing the right things; and, finally as meeting with success in the matter. Never, under any circumstances, should you indulge in a rehearsal of the manifestation of negative qualities—and steadfastly refuse to accept such roles even in imagination; for, otherwise, you will make it too easy for you to actually play such parts in real life. Rehearse only those parts which you really desire to play, and “cut out” the other parts.

There is no magic or uncanny mystery about the workings of this principle; it proceeds strictly in accordance with scientific psychological law. By rehearsing and “acting out” these parts in imagination, you set in operation certain mental forces which tend to bring to the surface of your consciousness the mental powers which are latent there, and which are a part of your heredity—the mental powers associated with the manifestation of the positive qualities which you are “acting out.” Moreover, at the same time, you are acquiring the mental habit of acting in this particular way, and thus establishing new paths over which the will may easily travel. Or, to put it another way, you are exercising that set of brain cells which have to do with the manifestation of the positive quality in question—and are thereby causing these cells to develop by use and exercise according to natural law.

Aside from all explanations and theories—though there are plenty of good ones to be had—the principal fact concerning this principle is this: It “works out” in actual effect, and will produce the desired effect. You do your part—and the psychological law of this principle will do its part in return.

VI. Directing the Physical Expression

The principle of Directing the Physical Expression is employed for the purpose of setting into operation the psychological law which relates and correlates the inner mental state with its outer physical expression, and which causes each of these elements to react upon the other, thereby establishing the full correlation. Just as this law causes thoughts and feelings to take form in physical action, so does it cause physical action to arouse a corresponding and associated set of mental thoughts and feelings. The first above-mentioned result is a matter of common knowledge; the latter, though equally well established, is practically unknown to the average person.

The correlation and coordination of mental states and physical expression is universal and elemental. Particularly marked is this correlation in the case of emotional feeling and muscular action. The lower animals manifest it in their characteristic physical expressions of emotional states; the tossing of the mane, the showing of the teeth, the unsheathing of the claws, the distended fur or hair of the body, the dropped tail, the wagging tail—all these are typical examples of the operation of the principle.

The human infant gives vigorous physical expression to its pleasurable and disagreeable emotional feelings. The adult being also manifests marked physical expression of his inner emotional states, as for instance, his smile, his scowl or frown, his clenched fists, his look of amazement or perplexity, the changing expression of his eyes, his general bodily attitude. The skilled pantomimist or moving-picture actor is able to express by mere physical gesture, expression and posture, the entire range of human emotions.

Psychologists are now quite generally agreed that if the body remains entirely passive, then the emotional state can scarcely be said to exist. They hold that the specific muscular action accompanying an emotion is so truly an essential part of the emotion that it cannot be divorced from the latter. They cite as evidence this fact that when the features are deliberately fixed in the facial expression of one emotion, it is impossible to call up into conscious action a contrary emotion. Furthermore, they assert that by restricting and restraining the physical expression of a strong emotion, one usually is able to inhibit the further growth of that emotional state. Likewise, that by refusing to express the physical form of an emotion, the inner flame of the emotional state flickers and finally dies out entirely.

There is discovered to exist a peculiar action and reaction between the inner emotional state and its outer physical expression. Each acts upon the other, and in turn each experiences the reaction from the other; this process of action and reaction proceeds until the climax of the emotional state is reached, when it dies down gradually in the same way. Each inner excitement produces an outer excitement, the latter reacting upon the inner states, and thus intensifying them, and so on until the climax is reached.

In Anger, for instance, you will find the following stages manifested: First, there will appear the rising inner excitement, which is closely followed by the physical expression, i. e., the clenched fists, the compressed lips, the scowl, the labored breathing, the increased heart-beat, etc. These physical actions will then react upon the inner flame, causing it to burn more brightly and more fiercely; the heat of this increased inner flame will then “warm up” an increased degree of physical expression. And so the action and reaction continue until the person is roused to fierce passion and rage.

From these facts the psychologists have deduced certain methods of controlling and directing the emotional states. These methods are of two general classes, as follows: (1) Methods of Inhibiting Negative Emotions by means of refusing physical expression to them, and (2) Methods of Cultivating and Developing Positive Emotions by means of inducing their physical expression. Let us now consider each of these in turn.

(1) Inhibiting Negative Emotions. The discovery that emotional states may be restrained, restricted and inhibited, or at least prevented from rising to their completed form, by means of a deliberate refusal to allow them to manifest in physical expression, is of the greatest practical importance to those individuals who seek to cultivate and develop the positive elements of character and to restrain and curb its negative elements. It places in your hands the key whereby you may at will lock the door of any particular emotion, and thus prevent the exit of its tenant. By means of this discovery, many who were formerly slaves of their emotional states have become the masters of this part of their mental being.

For instance: Many quick-tempered men have discovered that they are able to repress the development of a rising feeling of anger simply by holding their voices down to a quiet level tone and to a calm utterance; by refusing to allow their brows to contract in a frown; and by preventing their fists from clenching and their breathing to become labored. By refusing to permit the muscular contraction, they have aborted the rising passion. Many so-called “cold-blooded” persons owe their immunity to hasty emotional states to the simple practice of muscular restraint and control, i. e., to the habit of restricting and restraining the physical expression of the threatening disadvantageous emotional feeling. There thus being no physical action to react upon the emotional state, the latter has no fuel to keep alive its flame, and it soon dies out.

The physical expression and muscular contraction, which is the outer phase of the emotional feeling, should be thought of by you as “the oil which poured on the fire causes it to burn more fiercely.” If you want the flame of inner emotion to burn fiercely, pour on the oil in goodly quantity. If, on the contrary, you wish the fire to die out quickly, refuse to supply it with fuel. Carry in mind this figurative illustration so that you will have it at hand when you need it most.

In applying this method you have but to note the instinctive impulse toward muscular action which accompanies the first dawn of the rising emotional state, and then resolutely and determinedly to employ the will in the direction of refusing further physical expression. At first this may be difficult, but you will find that once you have “acquired the knack,” it will be easy. In fact, the very withdrawal of the attention from the exciting outside object arousing the emotion, and placing it instead upon the physical movements, will tend to quiet the emotional storm. Each and every emotional state has its own particular forms of physical expression, and when you are on the lookout for these you will detect the preliminary symptoms at once. Then you must assert yourself and give the order, “Stop just where you are! I refuse expression to you! You shall not pass the barrier of my will!” Stick to this command, back it up with your will; and you will have mastered the emotion.

The orientals practice a method of emotional mastery by means of the control of the rhythmic rate of breathing, which method is really but one form or phase of the general method above indicated. Some of these oriental methods have been in use for over two thousand years, perhaps even much longer. Leaving out the fanciful theories and technical terms, the underlying principles of these methods may be stated as follows: (1) Every emotional state has its appropriate rate or rhythm of breathing; (2) if one will refuse to allow the breathing process to proceed according to this appropriate rate or rhythm, then the associated emotional state can not rise to its completed stage.

As an illustration of the above-stated principle, you have but to think of yourself as becoming angry. If, when you find this emotional state manifesting within you, you will determinedly refuse to allow yourself to breathe according to “the Anger rate or rhythm,” and instead will keep your breathing rate or rhythm down to that of the calm, well-poised, self-controlled mental state, then you will have aborted the rising emotion of anger. Again: if you refuse to manifest the anger-breath and the fear-breath, you will have conquered Anger and Fear, the twin-devils of the emotional world according to the oriental philosophies. You will do well to consider carefully this method, and practice and apply it.

Another method of preventing the rise of negative emotions is based upon the same general principle, that principle, however, being here applied in a different manner. This new method is one but little known to the western psychologists, but it has been taught and practiced by the Buddhists for many centuries. It may be stated as follows: By concentrating the attention upon the several physical states, muscular movements, expressions, gestures and postures, correlated with an inner emotional state, so that you mentally analyze that emotional state into its associated physical elements of expression, you will cause the spirit or soul of the emotion to take flight (as if in disgust), leaving nothing but the shell of its physical elements for further observation and experiment.

Example: If you feel yourself growing angry, or jealous, or worried, for instance, you should begin to think about the several forms or elements of physical expression accompanying the emotional state. Analyze the physical expression into its ultimate elements, proceeding in a cold-blooded scientific spirit. When you are through with this task, you will find yourself contemplating merely the lifeless shell of the departed emotional state, from which the soul has fled in disgust and despair. When you are able to see in the feeling of Anger merely the physical elements—the clenched fists, the frown, the scowl, the compressed lips, the flushed face, the labored breathing, the increased heartbeat, you will have left but very little of the original internal feeling of Anger.

You do not need to wait until the negative emotion actually manifests itself, in order to perform this analysis; it may be performed in imagination, at other times, by counterfeiting the feeling and thus observing the instinctive physical actions accompanying it. Act it out, and you will find the lathe-and-plaster beneath the thing which has seemed like solid masonry to you.

A warning is necessary here, however. We advise you to conduct the above experiment only upon the negative emotions—those emotions which you wish to inhibit, restrain, restrict and master. Do not try it upon the positive emotions— upon those you wish to develop, cultivate and strengthen. The reason is obvious. You are here striving merely for mastery and self-control—you are not a candidate for asceticism or anchoritism, remember. You do not wish to “kill out” all emotional feeling and expression, by any means, for many emotional states are positive and contribute to the task of making you “stronger, better, and more efficient”—these you wish to cultivate and develop. It is only the negative emotions that you wish to restrict, restrain and inhibit.

Maintain the Golden Mean, and remember the adage: “Nothing too much!” You should strive only to kill out the weeds in the Garden of Character—you should cultivate the many beautiful plants and flowers of emotion which are to be found there. Do not pull up by the roots the plants of the positive emotion in order to see what makes them grow. Do not pick to pieces the flowers of the positive emotions in order to discover the elusive “flower in itself.” Remain human with the positive human emotions; do not try to become an emotionless being with all “head” and no “heart.” Mastery of Emotion is one thing; Asceticism and Renunciation of Emotion is another and a far different thing. “Keep in the middle of the road,” and avoid the two dangerous extremes on either side.

(2) Developing Positive Emotions. The methods just described as being effective in inhibiting the negative emotions, if their action and direction be reversed, will prove equally efficacious in the direction of developing and cultivating the positive emotions. The old adage, “It’s a poor rule that won’t work both ways,” is found to apply in this case. This great psychological law will work equally well in either direction, thus furnishing another illustration of the axiom of physics, and of metaphysics as well, that: “Action and Reaction are equal in power, though in an opposite direction.” Interesting and important as is the application of the principle which we have just asked you to consider, equally interesting and important is the converse application of that principle. You are now asked to consider such application of the principle—the reverse action of the rule.

Psychologists have discovered that if you will deliberately and positively assume the physical expression of any particular emotional state, you will find yourself gradually experiencing the inner emotional feeling correlated to that physical action. Thus, if you sit in a moping posture, sighing and speaking in a melancholy tone, you will soon experience a feeling of depression and sadness. Reversing the attitude and expression, i. e., sitting properly with shoulders thrown back, smiling and speaking in a cheerful tone; in short, acting like a cheerful person; you will find yourself really feeling cheerful. Your depression will have flown away, and you will soon feel “bright, cheerful and happy,” as every normal person should feel.

The psychologists furnish us with many illustrations of this phase of the general principle involved. The following selected cases will serve as illustrations of the typical instances cited by leading technical writers on the subject:

A German professor assures us that when one walks for a little time, assuming the mincing air and step of a silly schoolgirl, he will begin to feel as frivolous and as “giddy” as does the girl whom he is counterfeiting. Actors, we are reminded, frequently experience the inner feelings of the character whose outer actions they are representing on the stage. Likewise, if we cast the eyes upward, assuming the reverential attitude of the pictured saints, the Madonna, or the girl in the well-known picture of “The Soul’s Awakening,” we will be inspired with a feeling of awe, and the emotion of reverence, devotion and mystic longing. Counterfeiting the expression of the Mona Lisa will give us the key to the inner feeling expressing itself in the inscrutable smile which the artist has so subtly conveyed to us in the painting.

Again, closing our eyes, and directing our glances sidewise in a “suspicious, crafty glance,” continued for some little time, we will feel rising within us the crafty, suspicious, cunning, designing feeling of the fox and his human counterparts. Or, if we will continue to glance half-downward, and a little to one side, we will soon begin to experience the feelings of the coquettish woman—quite vain and self-satisfied, and rather inclined to a little flirtation. Professor William James has assured us that whistling to keep up courage is no mere figure of speech; and that, “if we wish to conquer undesirable emotional tendencies in ourselves, we must assiduously, and in the first instance cold-bloodedly, go through the outward movements of those contrary dispositions which we prefer to cultivate.”

Here, then, is the essence of the method: If you wish to develop and cultivate a positive emotional state or character-quality (or to inhibit a negative one by means of developing and strengthening its correlated positive), you may do so by deliberately “acting out” the physical expression of that positive emotion, just as the actor would act out that part on the stage. By giving full expression to the physical actions associated with an inner emotional state, you feed the inner flame; and by first earnestly counterfeiting that physical expression, you may actually kindle that inner flame. Therefore, in cultivating an emotional state, you should (1) throw as much earnestness as possible into its physical expression when you are manifesting it; and you should also (2) seek to induce the feeling by deliberately inducing its physical expression.

You may easily ascertain the appropriate physical expressions of an emotional feeling, if you do not already know them, by throwing yourself into the part in imagination, and letting yourself “act it out.” Cast aside the cultivated and acquired repression of your emotional feelings (at least on such occasions) and let instinct and Nature show you how that particular feeling and emotion expresses itself in physical form and motion. A little private practice along these lines will surprise you by the revelation of unsuspected depths of feeling and expression possible to you—you will be surprised to discover how good an actor you are when you “act” before the mirror.

You will not need a chart of the complete physical expression of any or all of the emotional states. Instinct has supplied you with an inner chart, with all the details worked out; though you have hidden that chart under the accumulated habits of many generations of conventional restraint, in all probability, particularly if you are an Anglo-Saxon. If you are of the Latin races, or have the blood of such races in the mixture flowing through your veins, you will find the instinctive expression much nearer to the surface. But, no matter how deeply buried it may be, it exists surely in everyone—for Nature has placed it there in her processes of racial psychic inheritance. You will make interesting discoveries concerning your emotional nature if you practice this method. You will find that you have “the whole menagerie” within yourself—you will hear the muffled roarings of the animals in the recesses of your nature; but you will find yourself the Master of the Show, by reason of your grasp of the fundamental principles of their nature and activities, and by the knowledge of the basic facts of your own being.

In applying this principle in the direction of developing and cultivating the positive emotions, you must reverse in every particular the direction of the principle as we have explained it to you in our consideration of the methods designed for the restraint, restriction and inhibition of the negative emotions. Instead of shutting off the supply of fuel, here you must “pour oil on the fire” of emotion by encouraging, expressing, and even actually counterfeiting and “acting out” the physical expression. Likewise, just as when in the work of repressing the negative emotions you refused to allow your breathing to take on the rate and rhythm of the negative emotion, so here, in developing the positive emotions, you must first deliberately induce, assume, and produce the desired breathing rate or rhythm. “Breathe as you wish to feel,” is the oriental adage applying in this case.

Furthermore, you may here even reverse the method of “analyzing into its physical elements” the negative emotion, which you have been taught to apply in cases in which you wish to neutralize the effect of the latter. In this reversed action, or converse method, instead of “analyzing” the negative element into its physical elements, you proceed to “synthesize” (i. e., combine, put together) these physical elements so as to create an inner emotional state. Instead of driving out the soul of the emotion by dissecting its body, you here build-up an appropriate body into which the soul of the emotion may enter. This analysis, and the synthesis, as the case may be, is performed mentally, of course. In the synthesis you form a mental picture of the coordinated and combined physical elements of expression, visualizing these as animated by the soul or spirit of the positive emotion. In this way you awaken the sleeping spirit of the positive emotion, which then proceeds to live, and act, and breathe through its physical form.

We ask that you do not dismiss as fanciful and impractical these methods of controlling the physical expression of emotion. While they may be new to you, and while they may be different from anything you have previously thought or learned concerning this matter, nevertheless they are the most practical and efficient methods discovered by modern psychology—or, perhaps we should say, “re-discovered,” for these methods have long been known to the orientals.

VII. Establishing Habitual Manifestation

The principle of Establishing the Habitual Manifestation of the positive character-qualities is employed for the purpose of building up a “line of least resistance,” and establishing a “second nature,” along which and according to which course the will will tend to travel in future actions.

This principle is based upon the well-established psychological law that the expression of the emotions and the manifestation of the will proceed along the “line of least resistance,” the latter being the line of established habit; and upon the fact that in establishing a new set of habit-action there is created a “second nature, of even greater power than that of the original “nature” of the individual.

“Habit” is that tendency of the mind, feelings, emotion, and will to move along the line of least resistance established by previous actions of the same or similar nature. When one performs with difficulty a voluntary act several times, the repetitions of that act become steadily easier, more involuntary, more instinctive, more habitual. Here follows the technical statement of psychology concerning the nature and operation of habit:

“An acquired habit is an established and traveled pathway of discharge of nervous energy, over which subsequent currents ever after tend to travel or escape into action. The two laws governing such habitual action are as follows: (1) All actions tend to recur and to be manifested more easily after each performance; (2) Actions, at first voluntary, by frequent repetition tend to become involuntary, and are performed principally by the subconscious will.” Here the mind is seen to work and perform just as does material substance such as, for instance, the piece of paper or cloth which after being once folded thereafter tends to fold more or less easily along the lines of the original crease.

This principle being perceived, it logically follows that if you are desirous of cultivating and developing the positive character-qualities you will do well to start to acquire the habit of actually expressing them—the more often you actually manifest such character-qualities, the more easily, instinctively, and automatically will you express them subsequently. You must create a wide, clear mental path over which your will may travel in future manifestation. Such a path may be created by firmly establishing the habit of actually manifesting the desired positive character-qualities.

Here follow the classical, well-established Psychological Rules of Habit, adapted to the particular task before you:

Acquire Momentum at the Start, when you undertake the task of cultivating a positive character-quality either for its own sake or for the purpose of inhibiting its correlated negative quality. Give the positive quality “a good running start,” so that it will be launched with a strong and vigorous initiative. Be in earnest, and put enthusiasm and vigor into your work of character-building.

Beware of Slipping at the Start, when you undertake the development of a positive character-quality. This, because such a failure discourages the will, and renders easier any subsequent slips or stumbles. Your positive character-quality must be given the habit of Success from the very start—this will put new life, vigor, and confidence into it. Beware of early discouragements, before the habit has been established and the tendency “set.”

Express Promptly in Action your Positive Qualities, when they present themselves in consciousness to you. Do not allow procrastination or delayed expression to deaden your will-to-action in such cases. Let the positive qualities express themselves in action at the first possible opportunity—this gives the inner spirit of the feeling a body to inhabit—and causes it to take on an objective form.

Exercise the Positive Quality in Actual Work—this as early and as often as possible. Character-qualities, like muscles, grow and develop by use and exercise. If you cannot find an opportunity to exercise the quality in actual work, then do the next best thing and give it a good rehearsal, or “acting out,” both of inner feeling and of physical expression. Keep the faculty “fit” and in good condition by “trotting it around the track” every once in a while. Character-qualities, also like muscles, tend to atrophy, stiffen and weaken, if not used and exercised. Beware of allowing your positive character-qualities to become “muscle bound.”

In your work of Character Building, in your task of building up a Positive Individuality, as in any other form of mental work, you will be aided by employing the principles of “The Master Formula of Attainment” which is frequently referred to in the instruction contained in the series of books of which the present volume is a part. The Master Formula of Attainment is composed of the following several elements, viz., (1) Definite Ideals; (2) Insistent Desire; (3) Confident Expectation; (4) Persistent Determination; (5) Balanced Compensation. Its principles may be expressed in popular form as follows: “You may have anything you want, provided that you (1) know exactly what you want, (2) want it hard enough, (3) confidently expect to obtain it, (4) persistently determine to obtain it, and (5) are willing to pay the price of its attainment.” We suggest that you apply the principles of the Master Formula in your work of building up a strong positive character.

Poise and Power

In this instruction we have sought to lead you to concentrate upon, and to exercise, express, and manifest the Positive Norm of the various classes of character-qualities which are present within you in at least some form of development and cultivation; and also to lead you to inhibit and starve out the Deficiency-Negatives of those positive qualities, and to transform the Excess-Negatives into their appropriate Positive Norms by the addition and blending of the positive elements which serve to neutralize the perversion-excess constituting the negative form of the positive qualities.

The two negatives, i. e., the Deficiency-Negative and the Excess-Negative, respectively, represent the “extremes” of any particular class of character-qualities. Situated exactly at the central point between these two poles or “extremes,” is to be found the Positive Norm of the quality in question. Many find it difficult to attain and maintain the state of the Positive Norm. They find that the pendulum of expression and manifestation tends to swing from one extreme to the other—the swing being wide in some cases, and narrow in others.

Human nature tends to “run to extremes.” Becoming tired and disgusted with one extreme of a character-quality, it seeks to escape from it, and in so doing tends to swing equally far in the other direction—,and thus reaches the other extreme. The reformed libertine often becomes an ascetic; the ascetic who “breaks loose” tends to rival his libertine cousin. Few are able to “master the extremes,” and to secure the Poise and Power which comes only to him who has found and held that place and position represented by the Positive Norm. That place and position must be found and held by all who wish to attain Mastery.

Not only in physics, but in the realm of psychology as well, are the Law of Polarity, the Principle of “The Opposites,” and the Law of Rhythm found to manifest their presence and power. The mental or the physical pendulum swings as far in one direction as in the other. Action at one extreme tends to produce Reaction to the opposite extreme. The rule is: “Action and Reaction are equal; though in an opposite direction.” From the perception of this great fact of Nature and of Life, the ancients deduced numerous adages and aphorisms; as for instance: “Too much is as bad as not enough”; “Nothing too much”; “A virtue carried to excess may become a vice”; “Seek ever the Golden Mean.”

The Golden Mean is always found represented by the Positive Norm, which abides at the central point between the two negative extremes—which escapes the “too much” as well as the “‘not enough,” and which is always the “just right” concerning the character-quality in question. The truly wise seek to attain and maintain this Golden Mean—this Positive Norm. They refuse to be mastered by either negative extreme. They employ the two extremes as weights on the balancing-pole which they use in traveling over the tight-rope of conduct and behavior. They stand erect and refuse to fall to either side. When one weight seems likely to pull them over to its side, they dip the pole in the opposite direction and thus maintain their balance.

The individual who has attained Mastery has learned the Secret of Balance. He has seen the disturbances and inharmony manifested by each of the two extremes of any set of character-qualities, and he seeks and finds a way out of the trouble. He discovers the place of Poise and Power at the central point of the Golden Mean. But only by recognizing and realizing the existence and location of the two extremes is he able to find that central point. If you will observe the great individuals who have attained prominence in any walk of life, and who have achieved success in their own respective fields, you will discover that they not only possess Power, but that they also manifest Poise and Balance. Their Power brings to them Poise: their Poise brings to them Power. The “well-balanced” person is the strong individual; the “ill-balanced” or “unbalanced” person is the weak one. Balance is an essential attribute of Power; without it, there is no Power.

In the heart of the storm of the opposing extremes, there is to be found a Secret Place—a Quiet Place—a Place of Power. This is the real home of the “I AM I.” He who discovers this place, and who takes up his abode there, may defy the Winds of Circumstance and the Storms of Change. He is thrice-blessed, thrice-wise, thrice-strong. The only way to find that Place of Poise and Power is to learn and apply the Secret of Balance. We have given you here, in a few simple words, the essence of a certain bit of the Ancient Wisdom: it is as true today as when it was first announced many thousands of years ago by certain Wise Men who came out of the East, and who pointed out the direction of that place in which the demand for “Light, more light” might be supplied, and from which “all Light comes.”

The Man of Character-Power, of Positive Individuality, is he who has discovered the Secret of Balance, of the Positive Norm, of the Golden Mean, and who thereby has attained Poise and Power—that Power which comes from Poise, and that Poise that comes from Power. We conclude this phase of our instruction with the admonition:

“Seek ever to attain and maintain the Golden Mean!”

Regenerative Power: Vital Rejuvenation

Regeneration

In this book we shall present for your consideration certain facts and principles concerning the conservation and the efficient employment of the Life Forces or Vital Force generally known as Vitality, or rather of certain of its subtle forms. This instruction proceeds along lines which are not generally recognized by or known to the average individual, although the facts and principles in question were known to the ancient sages, and have been taught and practiced for many centuries by many persons who have had the benefit of this ancient wisdom which was formerly the exclusive property of the secret schools of esoteric philosophy in Oriental lands and in ancient Greece.

This knowledge also was imparted thousands of years ago by the great Hindu sages to their chosen pupils, and formed a part of the Occult instruction given to the student of the Inner Teaching of the Brahmans and Buddhists of that land. There is every reason to believe that a similar teaching was given the neophytes in the occult schools of ancient Persia, Chaldea, and Egypt. References to it are also found in the esoteric writings of the ancient Hebrews. It was taught in “The Mysteries” of the arcane schools of ancient Greece, and was taken over from this source by the Neoplatonists, and the Gnostics of the early centuries of the Christian Era. It was also a part of the teaching of the Essenes, that strange school of esoteric wisdom which believed to have exerted a strong influence upon the early Christian Church.

But here, as in many other instances, the knowledge which originally was held to be based upon the existence and activity of certain hidden and secret forces of Nature, or perhaps even upon actual supernatural powers, is now known to be but a scientific statement of purely natural cause and effect arising from the power and activity of simple, elemental forces of Nature which always have existed and have been operative, but which have been comparatively unknown to the great masses of people. Science has dispelled much of the mystery of the ancient philosophies and religions, but it has served also to corroborate their original facts.

Thus, Electricity and Magnetism, long known to the ancients and ascribed by them to supernatural causes, have been brought under the authority of Natural Law, and then harnessed and made to work efficiently in the service of man. Likewise, for many centuries the phenomena of Mental Influence were known to the ancients, and ascribed by them to occult and supernatural causes. Modern Science was at first disposed to deny such phenomena, and to regard the whole belief as pure superstition. However, in time their true causes were discovered, and the subjects of Hypnotism and Mental Suggestion is now taught in the highest schools, and is given a place in all of the authoritative textbooks.

So it has been, and is, with this phase or form of Vital Power or Life Force which constitutes the subject of our present consideration. For many centuries, and in many lands, it formed a part of the esoteric instruction in the secret schools of the occult philosophies, and in the temples of the ancient religions. Its principles of application were discovered, and methods for their employment were evolved. It was taught only to the chosen few, being regarded as a precious secret to be withheld from the masses and to be reserved for the elect. It was believed to be supernatural in origin and nature, and was treated with an almost religious awe and veneration; in fact, in many cases it formed a part of the inner and higher religious teachings of the priesthood, from which the laity were debarred.

Later, it formed a part of the secret and occult doctrines which were held and taught by the arcane schools of philosophy in the Middle Ages, traces of which are now found in the rituals of many of the modern secret orders and societies, though their real meaning and spirit has been lost and only the verbal outer covering or shell remains. It was this knowledge which was the real and true underlying reason for the advocacy of celibacy in the priesthoods and holy orders of many religions, including those of the Early Christian Church. It was this knowledge which was the animating spirit of the early schools and orders of asceticism, which afterward developed into fanatical phases and forms, the true spirit and meaning of the teaching having been lost.

Modern Science, true to its customary procedure, for a long time was disposed to regard this ancient teaching as fantastic superstition, ignorance, and supernaturalism, and to deny to it any virtue or validity. However, in time the physiologists discovered the existence and activity of certain principles concerned with the reproductive organism, and with its effect and action upon the entire physical and mental system of the individual. The investigations and observations of the effect of certain glands of the body upon general health and vigor gave new interest to the subject, and certain recent experiments along the lines of gland transplantation have revealed marvelous results.

There is every indication that the present century is destined to witness many important discoveries along these particular lines. However, it is not necessary to wait for these anticipated discoveries in order to benefit by what is already known to careful thinkers concerning this subject While such discoveries may be regarded by some as necessary before the seal of authority of Science may be formally placed upon the general principles and facts concerned with the general subject nevertheless there are thousands of careful investigators and conservative thinkers who feel that sufficient is already known concerning these facts and principles to justify their being accepted as a basis for theory and practice by all persons of average intelligence. Such individuals have long known of these facts and principles, and have had practical demonstrations of their value to mankind when properly and intelligently applied.

The essence and spirit of this body of knowledge, principle and mass of facts, is indicated by the term “Regeneration” employed with a special meaning and content. We ask you to consider carefully this term in such special meaning, to the end that you may “catch the spirit” of the idea and principle embodied in it. As we have sought to impress upon you in other volumes of this series, it is always well to begin with a clear understanding of the principal terms employed in a discussion, argument, or presentation of a proposition or principle—to know “just what” is being considered and discussed. So many terms are employed with so many different shades of meaning, and often with forms of meaning quite opposed to each other, that it is always proper to investigate a term employed in a particular sense, in order to ascertain “just what” is sought to be indicated by it, and is involved in its content.

The term “Regeneration,” of course, is derived from the term “Generation.” The prefix “re” means “again,” “anew,” etc. The term “Generation” means “the act, process, or result of generating,” and is derived from the verb “to generate.” The term “Generate” means: “To beget, to produce, to engender, to cause to be, to bring into life; to originate, especially by means of a vital or chemical process.” It is usually employed in the sense of “begetting,” “reproduction,” or “procreation,” or the production of the young of animal or plant life.

“Regeneration” is defined as: “The act of regenerating, or of generating or producing anew; and, in a special sense, of “giving new life, strength, or vigor to a living being.” A person is said to be “regenerated” physically when by any means or method he acquires “new life, new energy, new vigor.” The theologians, recognizing the strength of the word, employed it more or less figuratively in the sense of: “Being born anew in spirit”; in such usage the term is frequently employed in theological expression and religious teaching. This theological usage, however, is noted here merely for the purpose of general statement: our present employment of the term has no reference whatever to such special usage and meaning.

In the special meaning of the term “Regeneration,” which has grown around it in the course of thought along the lines of our subject, the “giving of new life, strength, or vigor” to the individual is literally true, and not merely figurative. By means of such Regeneration, the individual is given continued new life, strength, and vigor—mental as well as physical. Just as every living thing has been given original life, strength, and vigor by Generation, so may it be given new life, strength, and vigor by Regeneration. In both Generation and Regeneration, moreover, the same potent forces of Nature are involved and set into activity, i. e., the forces concerned with the sexual or reproductive organism.

The “secret doctrine,” “inner teaching,” “arcane wisdom,” etc., of the ancient philosophies and religions, and of the more modern secret societies and schools, concerning the secret of Regeneration, is this: “Nature’s Generative Power may be employed as Regenerative Power; the same forces which bring man into life, strength, and vigor, will renew and reproduce his life, strength, and vigor, if rightly applied and directed.”

This is a somewhat startling doctrine when announced for the first time to the average individual. To him it seems contrary to common sense and opposed to common experience. It is only when he begins to understand the basic principles of the idea, and when the misconceptions concerning it have been removed by explanation, that the light begins to dawn upon him. When be has fully grasped the fundamental principles, and the essential reasoning involved in the idea, he tends toward becoming quite enthusiastic concerning it, and to him it seems self-evident. The more he considers it, the more reasonable and certain does it become; and when he learns of the discoveries of modern Science concerning it, he passes beyond the point of possible doubt or distrust.

Before presenting to you the conclusions of advanced modern scientific thought concerning this subject of Regeneration, we shall ask you to undertake a general, brief and cursory consideration of the history of this idea of Regeneration as it was conceived by the ancient philosophers and sages. This, not only because of the general interest connected with such consideration, but also that hereafter you may recognize the hidden and cryptic references to Regeneration which appear in many of the old mystic, occult and esoteric writings and formulas—among those of alchemy as well as those of mysticism. An understanding of this will throw light on many hitherto dark subjects, and will prove the key which will unlock the doors of many old and strange doctrines. In the light of modern knowledge, many of these old presentations of occult knowledge may be read and studied with profit; but without this light, they will ever remain dark subjects to the modern student.

The attention of the ancient thinkers was directed from the very first to the Mystery of Reproduction—the Miracle of Generation. Observing the operations of its laws in plant and animal life, and noting that the Essence of Life seemed to be concentrated into the tiny seed of the plant or the animal, they soon came to realize that Nature here manifested a marvelous power of concentration of the Life Forces into a small space. Consequently they regarded such concentrated Vital Force with a religious awe, and considered it to be supernatural.

Further observations concerning the effect of sexual mutilation upon animals and men, and of the changes wrought in mind and body by the quickening of the reproductive power in puberty and adolescence, and by the decrease of such power in old age, led these ancient thinkers to the conclusion that in the generative forces were to be found a highly concentrated Essence of Life which, if properly controlled and directed, was capable of renewing and continuing the vital strength and vigor of the individual almost indefinitely.

In the very ancient Yoga Philosophy of the Hindus, dating back to long before the Christian Era, are found many references to this control and application of this Regenerative Power, i. e., of the Generative Power employed for the purpose of increasing and maintaining the mental and physical energy, strength and vigor of the individual, in addition to its more familiar offices and activities. This Regenerative Power was known as the “Ojas,” and was conceived as of a fiery, ardent, highly concentrated and highly active nature. It was taught that by means of the direction of the Ojas along certain physical and psychical channels not only might the Yogi greatly increase his physical strength, energy and vigor, but that he might also thereby cultivate great mental powers and psychic qualities.

Swami Vivekananda, the celebrated Hindu teacher who visited Europe and America about thirty years ago, and who taught Yoga to western students for several years, says of this Ojas Force in his book entitled “Raja Yoga”:

“The Yogis claim that of all the energies that the human body comprises, the highest is that what they call Ojas. Now this Ojas is stored up in the brain, and the more the Ojas is in a man’s head, the more powerful he is, the more intellectual, the more spiritually strong will that man be. This is the action of Ojas. One man may speak beautiful language and beautiful thoughts, but they do not impress people; another man speaks neither beautiful language nor beautiful thoughts, yet his words charm. That is the power of Ojas coming out.

Every movement coming from him will be powerful. Now in mankind there is more or less of this Ojas stored up. And all the forces that are working in the body, in their highest form, become Ojas. You must remember that it is only a question of transformation. The same force which is working outside, as electricity or magnetism, will become changed into inner force; the same forces that are working as muscular energy will be changed into Ojas.

“The Yogis say that that part of the human energy which is expressed as sex energy, in sexual functions, sexual thought, and so on, when checked and controlled, easily becomes changed into Ojas; and as this lowest centre is the one which guides all these functions, therefore the Yogi pays particular attention to that centre. He tries to take up all this sexual energy and convert it into Ojas. It is only the chaste man or woman who can make the Ojas rise and become stored in the brain, and that is why chastity has always been considered the highest virtue, because man feels that if he is unchaste, spirituality goes away; he loses mental vigor, and strong moral stamina. That is why in all of the religious orders in the world that have produced spiritual giants you will always find this intense chastity insisted upon. That is why the monks came into existence, giving up marriage. There must be perfect chastity, in thought, word and deed. Without it the practice of Raja Yoga is dangerous, and may lead to insanity. If people practice Raja Yoga and at the same time lead an impure life, how can they expect to become Yogis?”

The above is not merely the personal teaching of Vivekananda: it is his statement of the teaching of the Yoga Philosophy which was established several thousand years ago—long before our present era. Its essential idea is found to permeate many of the modern Hindu philosophies and religions, though in many cases it has become corrupted by the loss of its original spirit, and has developed into fanatical asceticism and a degradation of the idea of sex and reproduction. The original idea of the teaching was that sex is not impure, but that in their proper place and use its activities are proper and normal; but that in its perverted excesses and misuse it becomes an evil. Regeneration is upheld, not because Generation is wrong, but because Regeneration is an additional field for the expression and manifestation of the concentrated Vital Force present in the system of man.

The ancient Buddhists also held that Regeneration was a function and office of the Creative Powers present in the sexual organism. They held that the Will-to-Live, that Active Principle which is the Cause of Creation, exists in its most concentrated and potent form in the Sexual Energy; and that the latter may be employed not only in Generation, but also in Regeneration. This Regeneration, they taught, produces great mental and spiritual strength, energy and vigor, which if directed intelligently will develop even supernormal powers of mind and body in the individual. They held, in some cases, that this Creative Energy, or Will-to-Live, would carry the individual beyond the necessity of physical life in reincarnated forms, and would deliver him from the Wheel of Life and thereby enable him to reach Nirvana.

The ancient Egyptians also taught a similar doctrine in the esoteric and secret Isis cult. The Creative Principle, or Life-Energy, was conceived as feminine. The neophyte was taught that by a conservation of this Life-Energy, and a refusal to expend it in Generation, it might be transmuted into Vital Force which by the process of Regeneration would vitalize, animate and vivify the body and mind of the person, and give to him psychical and spiritual powers which are surely superhuman and possibly supernatural as well. This teaching was withheld from the common people, being reserved for the elect. It was held that in certain cases the mortal man might even be transformed into a god by means of the efficient employment of the Power of Regeneration.

The ancient Jews, in their esoteric teachings and doctrines, held to the truth of a similar belief and practice. Constant references to it are found in the Kaballah, and in other occult Hebrew writings. Some of these ancient writers taught that the story of Adam and Eve is merely an allegorical representation of this principle. This theory held that Adam and Eve represented the male and female human beings as they were originally; these beings were destined to live forever, their Creative Energy being constantly turned inward in the processes of Regeneration. They were tempted by the suggestions of an Evil Spirit, and thereafter turned their Creative Energy into the channels of Generation and away from those of Regeneration, thereby perpetuating the race as a whole but bringing Death to its individual members.

The Neoplatonists, and the Gnostics, two great schools of mystical philosophy which flourished in the early centuries of the Christian Era, taught the Doctrine of Regeneration in various forms, and many of the members of the Early Christian Church were influenced by it. These schools obtained their teaching from both Oriental and Ancient Greek sources—the ancient Greek Mysteries included teaching and practice of Regeneration. Gradually, however, the spirit of the teaching was lost, and all that was left was the pitiful husk of perverted Asceticism, and a Degradation of the Sexual Ideals. Sex grew to be considered unclean; repression, and asceticism became gloried as holy. The influence of this perversion and misapplication of the original teaching and doctrine is felt even unto this day.

In the Middle Ages the alchemists and occult philosophers devoted much attention to the subject of Regeneration. Frequent references to it under the figurative term, “The Elixir of Life,” are found in old writings of these thinkers. Legends inform us that some of these ancients” developed the power and ability to live far beyond the allotted lifetime of man, and retained their full vigor, strength and vital energies to the last. The masses of people thought that the “Elixir of Life” was a cordial or tincture of wonderful properties; but those who knew the secret code realized that this potent Elixir was naught but the highly concentrated Creative Energies of man; existing in potency and latency in his reproductive organism, the same being transmuted into an Inner Vitality instead of being dissipated in lustful practices or expended in the functions of Generation.

In this fundamental idea of Regeneration, then, is to be found the true explanation of the universal insistence upon chastity, continence, and often upon celibacy, on the part of the priests and great spiritual leaders, as well as on the part of the great occultists and partakers of “the Mysteries.” This was not, as generally supposed, because of any idea of the essential impurity of Sex, but rather because of the belief that the higher powers of man, physical, mental, psychical and spiritual, were increased in power and efficiency by means of the practice of Regeneration rather than that of Generation—the turning of the Creative Energy inward, rather than outward. It was the idea of Creation on the mental, psychical and spiritual planes, rather than upon the plane of materiality and the physical, that was back of this common custom and rule. But, as we have said, the spirit of the idea was frequently lost in the passage of the years, and only the ugly, lifeless, outer shell remained.

Modern Science has now discovered certain remarkable facts in the realm of physiology which tend to prove the correctness of the old doctrine of Transmutation of Sexual Energy, or Regeneration. More than this, actual surgical experiments have demonstrated that the theory can be made to work out in practice, in the case of animals and of human beings as well. Of course, new theories are being advanced to explain these phenomena, and new names are being coined to apply to them. But the old principle and essential facts remain the same, as true now under the new theories and new names as they were under the old theories and ancient terminology.

In our present consideration of this interesting and important subject we shall take the best to be found in either, and both, the ancient and the modern teachings and knowledge concerning the facts and the principles involved therein. There is an essential and fundamental agreement between them, underlying the differences of theory and interpretation, and despite the character of the different terms employed to indicate the phenomena and the principle of which they are manifestations.

The Power of Sex

The term “Sex,” in its original and general meaning, is defined as: “The distinguishing peculiarity of male and female; or the distinction of the offices and functions of the male and female living individuals.” In its later, and more special meaning, however, the term is employed in the sense of: “The functions and offices of the male and female living individuals which are concerned with the primary and secondary manifestations of the sexual or reproductive powers and activities.”

Sex is an evolutionary manifestation of Nature. It has as its evident primary purpose and intent the furthering of the work of reproduction of the living forms which have been produced by Nature, or by those of her processes which are known as “The Life Forces,” or “The Vital Energies,” and which are concerned with the maintenance, preservation and continuance of Life in the forms which have been evolved as the vehicles or mechanism of the manifestation of Life.

Nature, in those phases or forms of her manifestations which are concerned with Life, evidently has as her primary purpose the production and maintenance of the life-forms. To these ends she devotes an enormous amount and a high degree of energy, force and power, and manifests an almost incredible degree of activity. Whatever Nature is held to be at the last, and whatever else may be conceived to be a part of her purposes and designs, it cannot be denied that she seems to be intensely concerned and indefatigably active in the direction of creating, preserving and continuing Life in and through the life-forms which she has produced in the processes of evolution.

To this end, she has evolved and perfected the wondrous physical mechanism by means of which the physical processes are carried on. To this end, she has developed the recuperative and reparative agencies in the organism of the living creature by means of which are overcome the harmful effects of injuries and disease. To this end, she has quickened the senses, instinct, and reasoning powers of the living creature, that these may be employed for the preservation of the physical organism through which Life manifests itself. Finally, to this end she has evolved the marvelous mechanism of the reproductive organism by means of which the living creature is enabled to perpetuate, reproduce and generate its kind; this being accompanied by the marvelous physical, mental and emotional characteristics which have been evolved in order to serve this purpose and to promote its ends.

The ancient Buddhists recognized this tendency in Nature which acts in the direction of promoting Life and living. In their teaching concerning “The Will-to-Live” they claimed that all Creation proceeds from and by means of this primal desire and impulse. Schopenhauer taught a similar doctrine. In his philosophy, the “kernel of things” is this urge, striving, seeking, desire or “will-to-live.” Both the Buddhists and Schopenhauer also held that this “will-to-live” has its most active form in the Sex Instinct, or Reproductive Urge. Bergson, in his modern philosophy, holds that the Vital Impulse is the essential and fundamental energy, power, or force manifested in the universal activities.

Nature, however, seems to have changed her mind, or else to have improved upon her original plans, in this matter of the continuance of Life in her living forms. It would seem that from the very first, however, she found herself under the Law of Change, and that by reason of this she was either unable, or else not desirous of, continuing the existence of the living creature permanently in its original form. At any rate, there seems to have been an inherent desire and tendency toward change and variation in the life-forms—the processes of Evolution seem to establish this fact—whatever may be its real reason or cause. It was apparently in the manifestation of this evident intent, purpose, tendency, or necessity, that Nature evolved Sex in living-forms.

Those who have not studied the subject are generally of the belief that the distinction of Sex is manifest in all the living forms, even among the lowest and most elemental forms. But this is not correct; the distinction of Sex was absent in the first manifestations of Life, and was not evolved until the processes of Creative Evolution had proceeded comparatively far in the scale of Life. The lowest and most elemental life-forms of course were possessed of the power of Reproduction or Generation—this, indeed, is one of the most essential of the characteristics of plant-life and animal-life. But the distinctions of Sex were not present in the elementary life-forms of the past, nor in the existing primitive life-forms. Nature managed to proceed without the distinction of “male” and “female” for a considerable time—though it may be asserted that if Sex and Reproductive Power are identical, then Sex was present from the first, though without the differentiation of male and female qualities.

The simplest and most elementary life-forms are those of the single-cell creatures which are found in the slime of the ocean beds. These forms are very minute, and are of such extreme simplicity of organization that they are not, strictly speaking, organisms at all—for they are not possessed of true organs.

They resemble minute globules of gelatinous substance, very much like glue. Yet they perform the processes of assimilation and digestion of food and of its elimination; also those of reproduction.

These lowly life-forms do not manifest the differentiation of male and female sex-characteristics. According to which viewpoint we adopt, we may state that they are either (a) without Sex, or (b) are all female, or (c) are bi-sexual, i. e., a combination of both sexes. These elementary creatures reproduce their kind, just as truly as do the highest species of plant-life or animal-life. But they reproduce themselves in a very primitive manner, namely, by division or separation.

The elementary parent creature grows in size, and finally assumes the appearance of a miniature dumb-bell, with two swollen ends connected by a tiny, thin filament or connecting-rod. Finally, this filament or connecting-rod breaks, and there exist two living creatures where before there was but one. It has been said that if these creatures were possessed of reason, each would be unable to decide whether it was the mother or the daughter—the parent or the offspring. So far as Science has been able to determine, there is present in this reproductive process no union of cell-elements, no conjugation of reproductive factors. The creature is but a single cell, and no differentiation of sexual elements has been discovered to exist in it.

A little higher in the scale of elementary life-forms we find that division of the animal kingdom called the Protozoa. These tiny creatures are also but single-celled individuals, but in many cases these unite into groups and form a compound organism. These creatures also reproduce by subdivision, or separation, similar to that above noted; but before this subdivision or separation takes place there occurs what is known as sexual “conjugation,” in which two single-celled creatures unite and coalesce; and when the subdivision begins there appear on the parent form a number of tiny “buds,” the latter afterward dropping off and thereafter existing as separate individuals. These uniting and coalescing two cells, however, are not true male and female; instead, they are bi-sexual, and the male element of each fertilizes the female element of the other, or, more technically stated, “the male elements of the two individuals are exchanged, and the new male nucleus fuses with the original female portion of each”; the two reorganized individual cells separate from each other after the conjugation, and “reassume their original existence before beginning again to divide in the usual manner.”

Here, then, we see the differentiation of male and female— the Evolution of Sex, in the strict meaning of the latter term. “Why,” we may ask, “does Nature make this change; why did she not continue to reproduce by simple subdivision and separation of the creature?” Science answers: “The Origin of Sex is an unsettled problem. We do not understand how or why, from being at first hermaphroditic or asexual, as was probably the case, the male and female characteristics became gradually established.”

On the other hand, Science perceives that Variation proceeds from Sex differentiation, and as Variation seems to be the trend of Nature, this may be the “reason” for the evolution of Sex. The following quotation from an authoritative reference work points to this conclusion: “The male is the more active, more variable, and specialized sex, while the female is passive, conservative, and departs less from the normal standard. It would be a natural result that the offspring would tend to vary. Weissmann goes so far as to claim that the intermingling of the sexual elements in fertilization is the only cause of variation. Before him, Treviranus, Brooks, and Galton claimed that the sexual reproduction provokes variation.”

In the evolution of the differentiation of Sex—the distinction between male and female creatures, cells, or elements— there was produced (1) the male creature, cell, or element, distinguished by the presence of “sperm” in the normal adult creature, cell, or element; and (2) the female creature, cell, or element, distinguished by the presence of “ova” or eggs in the normal adult creature, cell, or element. An organism producing “sperm” is male; one producing “ova” is a female; and one producing both “sperm” and “ova” is a true hermaphrodite; while one producing neither “sperm” or “ova” is a neuter— though neuters are, for the most part, incomplete females.

But Nature, even after evolving and producing the differentiation of the male and female elements of reproduction, did not at once begin to place these elements, separated, in different individuals—it did not at once begin to manifest male and female forms. Rather, it seemingly was at first inclined to place both elements in one life-form, thus rendering each creature bi-sexual or hermaphroditic. Indeed, it extended this plan in some cases quite high up in the scale of the life-forms. For instance, it is quite common in plant-life; and in animal-life it is found in the oyster, in shell-fish in general, in barnacles, in the tape-worm, in the earth-worm, and in the great family of snails.

Science entertains differing opinions concerning the procedure of the Evolution of Sex, and the place in time and order in it occupied by the bi-sexual condition or hermaphroditism. The following quotation from Geddes, an authority on the subject, will show these divergent views in brief form. Geddes says:

“One view of the matter is that hermaphroditism was the primitive state among the multicellular animals, at least after the differentiation of the sex-elements had been accomplished. In alternating rhythms, eggs and sperms were produced. The organism was alternately male and female. On this primitive hermaphroditism, there may be more or less of a recapitulation in the life-history of the organism.

“Gegenbaur states the common opinion in the following cautious and terse words: ‘The hermaphrodite stage is the lower, and the condition of distinct sexes has been derived from it. Unisexual differentiation, by the reduction of one kind of sexual apparatus, takes place at very different stages in the development of the organism; and often when the sexual organs have attained a very high degree of differentiation! * * * Quite different is the view which regards hermaphroditism as a secondary condition, derived from a primitive unisexuality. Thus Pelseneer maintains that the study of certain of the lower forms of life ‘shows that in these groups the separation of the sexes preceded hermaphroditism; various cases in other groups tending to show that this is true universally; and the same conclusion applies to plants. In certain groups, at least, hermaphroditism is grafted upon the female sex’.”

Whatever may have been the precise order of the conditions of unisexuality and bi-sexuality, respectively, all investigation seems to show that in the beginning the female distinctive element was predominant, and, in a sense, really the original element. The male distinctive element seems to have been developed by evolutionary differentiation. The female element is concerned primarily with the actual reproductive process, the male element serving rather to energize by fertilization the female element, and thus affording a greater possibility or probability of variation. Even in the hermaphroditic forms, moreover, the fertilization is effected by the conjugation of the two elements of different creatures, instances of self-fertilization being rare and always more or less abnormal. In the conjugation of the hermaphroditic creatures the male element of each fertilizes the female element of the other—the dual fertilization being simultaneous in most cases.

As the scale of life is ascended, the male element becomes more active and more highly developed, and more important. Placed in separated individuals, the male element becomes better adapted for fertilization of the female element in the female creatures far removed in space from the females of the immediate family-group to which the male belongs, and thus still greater variety becomes possible. The male element, high or low in form, however, is always the subordinate reproductive element, the female element or mother-element being the original and the always-predominant factor in the reproductive process. In short, the female-element is the factor essentially necessary for reproduction in any form of life, while the male element is the factor evolved for convenience in the reproductive processes. The female-element brings into being the form of the offspring, the male-element being at the best an accessory.

Nature has devised and perfected many very ingenious methods by means of which the male, or fertilizing element of Sex is conveyed to its female, or generative element. In both plant-life and animal-life the most intricate and delicate mechanism for this purpose has been produced by Nature. In fact, Nature seems to have devoted a very large portion of her time and work for this particular purpose, thus showing the importance of the reproductive processes in her general economy. In many cases, indeed, particularly in the lower forms of life, it would almost seem that the office of living is actually subordinated to that of reproducing life—that the living thing exists, not so much for the purpose of its own livingness, but rather for the purpose of transmitting the life-impulses and the vital-processes to future individuals of its species and class. The individual good is seemingly secondary to the good of the species, class, general group, and, above all, to that of Life itself.

In plant-life the male-element, the fertilizing factor, is called the “pollen,” a fine, microscopic dust or powder. The female-element, or generative factor, is called the “ovule,” a tiny egg-cell. The fertilization of the female-element, or ovule, is effected by placing upon it the male-element, or pollen. This “placing” is effected in many different ways. In many cases the pollen is carried to the flower by the passing winds, again sometimes by the flowing stream. In most cases, however, the pollen is carried by small insects, small birds, and even by small animals like the snail.

Bees are active factors in the fertilization of plants, and many plants depend upon them exclusively for this service. Other plants depend upon particular insects, it being held that each and every plant has its own favorite and most appropriate species of insect for such purposes. The shape of the sexual channels of each flower is especially formed so as to fit properly around the body of the fertilizing insect, so that the pollen is easily attached to the latter and as easily brushed off so that it may reach the ovules of other flowers. The plants attract these insects by means of sweet, honey-like fluids, and by bright colors and fragrant odors.

The flower of the plant is its sexual organism. The Calyx, or cup of the flower, covering its lower parts, and usually green in color, and the Corolla, or crown of the flower, composed of petals which are usually colored beautifully, are the outer sexual organism of the plant. In them are contained the Stamen, or male appendage containing the pollen, and also the Pistil, or female appendage containing the ovules. These details of the sexual organism of the plants have a direct correspondence to the similar organism of animal-life. The same principle is operative in both plant-life and animal-life, and the same general mechanism is provided for its processes.

The following quotation from Kellog illustrates the wonderful instinctive action of the plants manifested in the processes of fertilization:

“In many instances, the action of plants seems almost to be prompted by intelligence. At the proper moment, the Corolla contracts in such a way as to bring the Stamen nearer to the Stigma (the crown of the Pistil), or in contact with it, so as to procure fecundation. In some aquatic plants, the flowers elevate themselves above the surface of the water while the process of fecundation is effected, submerging themselves immediately afterward. Other very curious changes occur in flowers of different species during the reproductive act.

“The Stigma is observed to become moistened, and even to become slightly odorous. Often, too, it becomes congested with the juices of the plant, and sometimes even acquires an uncommon and most remarkable degree of contractibility. This is the case with the Stigma of the tulip and of one variety of the sensitive-plant. In these plants it is observed to occur not only after the application of the pollen to the Stigma, but also when excited by any other means of stimulation.

“The flowers of some plants, during and after fecundation, also show an increase of heat, in some cases so marked as to be readily detected with the thermometer. This is said to be especially the case with the Arum of Italy. In some plants in which the Pistil is longer than the Stamens, thus elevating the Stigma above the Anthers, the female appendage of the plant is often observed to bend over and depress itself, so as to come within reach of the Anthers (the pollen-sac of the Stamen).”

In animal-life, Nature has been even still more ingenious and painstaking in her provision for the ready fertilization of the female-element of the creature. Fertilization, in animal-life, is summed up by Geddes in the following stated three stages, viz., “(1) The process whereby the spermatozoa are brought into general proximity to the ova; (2) the approach of the spermatozoon to the ovum; (3) the fertilization in the strict sense—the orderly union of the two sex-nuclei. ...” The Spermatozoa (singular, Spermatozoon) are microscopic, living cells which exist in great numbers in the Sperm, or male-element of reproduction. Only one Spermatozoon, however, succeeds in penetrating the Ovum, or female, element of reproduction— the others perish; Nature provides this great number of competing Spermatozoa, thereby rendering almost certain the success of one of their number.

Geddes, the leading authority on the subject, says: “The adaptations which secure that the sperms shall reach the ova are very varied. Sometimes it seems almost a matter of chance, for the sperms from adjacent males to be washed into the female, as in sponges and bivalves, with the nutritive water-currents. In other cases, especially well seen in most fishes, the female deposits her unfertilized ova in the water; the male follows and covers them with spermatozoa. Many may have watched from a bridge the female salmon ploughing along the gravelly river bed depositing her ova, careful to secure a suitable ground, yet not disturbing the already laid eggs of her neighbors. Meanwhile she is attended by her (frequently much smaller) mate, who deposits milt upon the ova.

“In the frog, again, the eggs are fertilized by the male just as they leave the body of his embraced mate. Or it may be that the sperms are lodged in special packets, which are taken up by the female in most of the newts, or which are surrounded by one of the male aims in many cuttle-fishes, or passed by one of the male spider’s palps (i. e., ‘feelers’ attached to the mouth of certain insects and crustaceans) to the female receptacle. In the majority of animals, e. g., insects and the higher vertebrates, however, the sperms pass direct from the male to the female. Even here the history is very varied. They may pass into special receptacles, as in insects, to be used as occasion demands; or, in higher animals, they may with persistent motor energy work their way up the female ducts. There they may soon meet with and fertilize ova which have been liberated from the ovary; or they may persist for a long period, as in the case of certain animals, to be used thereafter; or they may eventually perish, unused.

“When the sperms have come, in any of these varied ways, in close proximity to the ovum, there is every reason to believe that a strong osmotic attraction is set up between the two kinds of elements...... The spermatozoa, which seem so well to deserve Rolph’s epithet of ‘starved,’ appear to be powerfully drawn to the well-nourished ovum, and the latter frequently rises to meet the sperm in a small ‘attractive cone.’ Often, however, there is an obstacle in the way of entrance in the form of the egg-shell, which may be penetrable only at one spot, well called the micropyle. Dewitz has made the interesting observation that round the egg-shells of the cockroach ova, the sperms move in regular circles of ever-varying orbit; and points out that thus, sooner or late, a sperm must hit upon an entrance. He showed that this was a characteristic motion of these elements on smooth spheres, for round empty egg-shells or on similar vesicles they moved in an equally orderly and systematic fashion.

“The persistence with which the spermatozoa often force their way to the ova makes it impossible to doubt the reality of a strong chemotactic attraction. One illustration may suffice. According to Dr. Sadone’s account of the impregnation of the rotifer, Hydatina Senta, the spermatozoa of the male, which are injected into the body-cavity of the female, reach the totally enclosed eggs by boring through the thin membrane at a point where the mature ova are situated—a process not known in any other animals. The oval head of a spermatozoon was seen to attach itself to the membrane of the ovary, the tail continuing to make lashing movements, the head was gradually forced through the membrane, and the tail followed, the whole process taking about ten minutes.”

Nature has been very careful to provide for that attraction between the sexes in the animal kingdom which will cause them to frequent the society of each other, particularly during the mating season. Even among animals, such as the fishes, and the frogs, where the male-element is deposited upon the eggs after they are laid by the female, there is manifested a strong sex-companionship between the two sexes during this period. The ordinary association of the future parents during the mating season, among the mammals and birds particularly, is too well known to require comment.

In the case of a species of fluke known as Diplozoon, the two individuals, male and female, physically combine in an almost lifetime union. Again, in the Bilharzia, a parasitic tremantode, the male carries the female about with him in a “gynaecophoric tube” composed of folds of skin. Once more, in certain species of barnacles the female carries her mate around with her, safely and securely secreted in a pocket-like contrivance in her body; this mate is much smaller than the female, and was formerly mistaken for a parasite.

Derivative Sex Attributes

In addition to the primary attributes or characteristics of Sex which you have considered in the preceding section of this book, there are certain secondary or derivative sexual attributes or characteristics which you are now asked to consider in the present section. By “derivative attributes” are meant those characteristic qualities which are not primary or original, but which are secondary, incidental and obtained by derivation, in short, those characteristic qualities which flow and proceed from the primary, original, and fundamental nature of the thing under consideration, which thing in the present instance is Sex.

First among the secondary or derivative characteristics or attributes of sex is that known as Sexual Dimorphism, or the distinction of form and physical appearance of the two sexes of certain species. An authoritative reference work contains the following reference to this subject:

“Sexual Dimorphism is due to the rise of secondary characters. Such features are the male lion’s mane, the horns of the buck, the gay plumage which distinguishes the cock from the hen, and the plumes, colored combs and wattles, topknots, brilliant, conspicuous bands and spots, spurs, and those markings or new plumage especially developed during the breeding season. Males tend among vertebrates to be larger, they lead the flock, guard the females and young; in character they are more jealous and pugnacious. This is the case not only with mammals and birds, but with reptiles and frogs. The vociferous cries in Spring of frogs and toads are mainly from male throats, the females being much less noisy.

“Certain fishes, such as the salmon, during the breeding season, are distinguished by bright colors and ornamental appendages. Of the invertebrates only insects, spiders, and crustacea afford examples. Among coleoptera the stag-beetles are remarkable for their size and the enormous jaws and horns of the males; and there are two sets of males, those which in lack of armature resemble the females, and those which are much larger and remarkably aberrant (i. e., deviating from type). In certain spiders the males are gayly colored and their legs greatly modified in shape. Darwin has explained Sexual Diomorphism by his theory of Sexual Selection. Sexual Diomorphism reaches its acme in the males of certain solitary barnacles; they are minute, very much reduced in structure, living inside the mantle cavity of the female, where they are anchored by their antennae.”

The same authority explains the above reference to Sexual Selection as follows:

“The principle of Sexual Selection depends, as Darwin states, not on a struggle for existence, but on a struggle between the males for possession of the females. The result is not death to the unsuccessful competitor, but few or no offspring. In many cases, however, victory depends not on general vigor, but on the possession of special weapons confined to the male sex, as the spurs of the cock or the horns of the stag. The war is perhaps severest between the males of polygamous animals, and these seem oftenest provided with special weapons of offence. Among birds the contest is often less gross and fierce, the males rivalling each other in attracting the females by their powers of song or display of plumage.

“Darwin concludes that when the males and females of any animal have the same habits of life, but differ in structure, color, or ornament, such differences have been mainly caused by sexual selection; i. e., by individual males having had, in successive generations, some slight advantages over other males, in their weapons, means of defence, or charms, and having transmitted these advantages to their male offspring. Although Wallace does not accept the theory of Sexual Selection, claiming that bright colors were originally normal in both sexes, but have been eliminated in the females, yet the facts seem to substantiate the views of Darwin. As observed by Romanes, it is ‘a theory wholly and completely distinct from Natural Selection’.”

Whatever may have been the predominant evolutionary cause leading to this distinctive marking and equipment of the male animals, the fact remains unquestioned that the female animals are attracted by these special characteristics of the male, and bestow their favors upon the attractively marked individual males, the less fortunate males being comparatively discarded. Nature has evolved this means of attracting the sex-element of the females by the special physical appearance or weapons of the male; the manifestation of such characteristics is unquestionably a derivative sex attribute. The attractive male animal succeeds in propagating his kind, just as truly as the attractive flower tends toward greater fertility by reason of being favored by the visiting insects which serve the purpose of fertilization.

The primary characteristics or attributes of Sex are those immediately or very closely associated with the processes of fertilization, namely, (a) the power of producing respectively the sperm and the ova, and (b) the possession of the organs necessary for conjugation, oviposition, gestation, parturition and nutrition of the immature young in any stage. The secondary, or derivative characteristics of Sex are those which are concerned with “the differences between the sexes is size, shape, appearance, ornamentation, armament, color and coloration, voice, and instincts and habits not directly associated with the reproductive processes.”

The primary or original sexual characteristics or attributes are those which are concerned directly with the sexual act of fertilization. The secondary or derivative sexual characteristics are those which are concerned with the attraction between the individuals of the two sexes, whereby at least some degree of “sexual selection” is performed—in the “love making” or “falling in love” of the animals, and in the simpler corresponding processes in plant-life.

Darwin devoted much attention to these secondary or derivative sexual characteristics in animals, and, as before stated, explained the same by his theory of Sexual Selection, i. e., the hypothesis that as the females almost invariably select as mates those individual males so attractively marked, these special characteristics thereafter in time become fixed in the male offspring—the unattractive males, having fewer offspring, being unable to exert a corresponding influence on the characteristics of the species.

These secondary or derivative sexual attributes or characteristics, however, are not universally present in the animal-world. On the contrary, among many mammals, and among many birds, there are no distinguishing marks between the two sexes excepting those of the primary sexual attributes or characteristics, i. e., the reproductive organism itself. But, almost invariably, when such secondary characteristics are found in a species, they are found in the male animal rather than in the female. In many cases the male possesses the attractive markings, etc., only during the mating season, thus showing clearly and unmistakably Nature’s purpose in manifesting the distinction, and in her use of it.

Darwin’s theory of Sexual Selection is well illustrated by the following quotation from one of his books: “Courage, pugnacity, perseverance, strength and size of body, weapons of all kinds, musical organs, both vocal and instrumental, bright colors, stripes and marks, and ornamental appendages, have all been indirectly gained by the one sex or the other, through the influence of love or jealousy, through the appreciation of the beautiful in sound, color or form, and through the exertion of a choice; and these powers of the mind manifestly depend upon the development of the cerebral system.”

Another authority adds: “The secondary characters to be accounted for are confined to one sex, and are in close relation with the breeding season and the breeding habits. In those cases where they differ from the females, the males are the most active in courtship, and the best armed, and are rendered the most attractive in many ways. They fight with their rivals for the possession of the female, or display their attractions before her, and either by conquest, or being preferred, have an advantage of less favored males.”

With this understanding of the nature, cause and reason of the many secondary characteristics appearing in the animal world, you will read a new and strange meaning in your experience of the world of living things. You will see the Presence of Sex in the living world around you, and will see the fine hand of Nature manipulating the appearance and actions of all living things in direct relation to the Power of Sex. Were the activities of Sex to be brought to a sudden termination, not only would the world of living things soon die out for want of fresh material, but even while it survived with constantly decreasing force and lessening numbers it would be a far different, and a far less attractive and less beautiful world than it now appears to be to our senses.

The above thought is brought out more clearly in the following quotation from Grant Allen, the English naturalist, who says:

“Everything high and ennobling in our nature springs directly out of the sexual instinct. Its alliance is wholly with whatever is purest and most beautiful within us. To it we owe our brightest colors, graceful forms, melodious sounds, and rhythmical motion. To it we owe the evolution of music, of poetry, of romance, of belles lettres; the evolution of sculpture, of decorative art, of dramatic entertainment. To it we owe the entire existence of our esthetic sense, which is, in the last resort, a secondary sexual attribute. From it springs the love of beauty; around it, too, are grouped the paternal and marital relations; the love of little pattering feet and baby laughter; the home with all the associations that cluster around it; in one word, the heart and all that is best in it.

“If we look around among the inferior animals, we shall see that germs of everything which is best in humanity took their rise with them in the sexual instinct. The song of the nightingale, or of Shelley’s skylark, is a song that has been acquired by the bird himself to charm the ears of his attentive partner. The chirp of the cricket, the cheerful note of the grasshopper, the twittering of the sparrow, the pleasant caw of the rookery—all these as Darwin showed, are direct products of sexual selection. Every pleasant sound that greets our ears from the hedge or copse in a summer walk has the self-same origin.

“If we were to take away from the country the music conferred upon it by the sense of sex, we should have taken away every vocal charm it possesses, save the murmuring of brooks and the whispering of breezes through the leaves. No thrush, no blackbird, no linnet would be left us; no rattle of the night-jar over the twilight fields; no chirp of insect, no chatter of tree-frog, no cry of cuckoo from the leafy covert. The whippoorwill and the bobolink would be as mute as the serpent. Every beautiful voice in wild nature, from the mockingbird to the cicada, is, in essence, a love-call; and without such love-calls the music of the fields would be mute, the forests would be silent.”

Had Allen extended his thought to the realm of the plants, he would have been able to have emphasized quite as forcibly our dependence upon the sexual energies and influence of the world of plants, flowers, and fruits. For without Sex, there would be no beautiful buds and flowers upon which to feast our eyes. The rose, the lily, the violet, and all the great array of wild and cultivated flowers would be absent from our sight, and their fragrance would no longer delight our sense of smell. No longer would the wealth of cherry-blossoms charm us; no longer the perfume of the honey-suckle or lilac, the heliotrope or the sweet-pea, refresh us. For these flowers are not only the sexual organism of the plant, but their beauty and fragrance arise by reason of Nature’s clever plan to attract to them the insects needed to fertilize them, and thus to promote the process of reproduction of their kind.

Likewise, absent also would be the delicious fruits and berries—those cleverly designed carriers of the seed of the plants and trees; gone also would be the nuts, great and small. Missing, likewise, would be the seeds of the wheat, rye, barley, and corn—the grains which form such an important element of our food.

Were Sex to cease its entire manifestation in plant-life for even a single season, all animal-life would perish—and, before perishing, we would gaze sadly upon a world robbed of a great portion of its beauty, and of its appeals to sight, taste and smell. These things, so true and important to us, are too close to us to be appreciated; it is only when we consider the effects of their possible absence that we begin to realize the all-important part played by Sex in the world in which we live, and move and have our being, even apart from the part it plays in our own personal lives.

No less wonderful, no less powerful, is the effect produced by Sex upon the emotional nature of living things, upon the desires arising from them, and upon the actions resulting from such desires. Such an important place in our mental and emotional world; and in our world of will, does Sex occupy, that were she to withdraw or suspend her activities and influence there would be but comparatively little left for living creatures to feel, to desire, to will to do, and to manifest in action. Directly or indirectly Sex is involved in the greater portions of our feelings, desires and actions of will. Often hidden, Sex usually will be found to be present, exerting a potent though silent and subtle influence upon feeling, thought, desire, will and acts.

To begin with the lower forms of life in the animal kingdom, we find that even there is to be found the ever-present and ever-active influence of Sex in the feelings, desires and acts of the living creature. Not only is exhibited there the primary urge of Sex in the direction of matehood and the cooperation of the male and female in the fundamental reproductive processes, but there also are found the derivative manifestations of feeling, desire, and action which are concerned with the protection of the female, the provision of shelter for the mother and the young where this is necessary, and the subsequent defence of the young together with the provision for their food and nourishment.

Even the fishes, the insects, and other lowly forms of life manifest the feeling, desire, and will to protect their eggs, and their young offspring. Quite elaborate arrangements are made by these creatures for the future welfare of their offspring, the eggs being placed in close proximity to the food supply, and where they may not readily be destroyed by their natural enemies. Some of the insects place their eggs either upon, or in the bodies of other living creatures; these bodies being the proper food for the young insects when hatched from the egg. One is amazed in reading scientific works upon Insect Life, such as Fabre’s for instance, to discover how complex and ingenious are some of the devices of the parent insect directed to this end.

Of course, you may say, this is “merely instinct,” but instinct is but the more or less unconscious habit which has arisen from previous deliberate and conscious action. Moreover, even if it be but instinct, the manifestation of that instinct is accompanied by feeling, desire and will-action on the part of the creature. To the insect, as well as to the bird, and as well as to the higher animal, the eggs or the young are objects of intense solicitude and interest. Some insects will die in defence of their eggs; and the fact that birds will often sacrifice themselves in the protection of their eggs or their young is too well known to require argument. If you have ever tried to disturb a “setting” hen, you will realize the depth and intensity of her affection for her precious eggs, and her ardent desire to cover them and to keep them warm—even though she be unconscious of the ultimate object of her endeavors.

In bird-life is to be seen the performance of arduous labors in the building of the nest, and in its subsequent protection from natural enemies. The elemental selfishness of the adult birds is overcome by their deep feeling and desire to feed the young when hatched, or, in some cases, to feed the brooding mother-bird. In certain species, the male bird alternates with the female in the “setting” process. Some male fishes watch over and protect the egg-nest or place of deposit and shelter. All of these and similar actions are performed simply because the creature “wants to”—because its feelings and desires prompt such action. For the time being, the instinct of self-preservation is secondary to that of the protection of the offspring—a clear manifestation of Sex influence.

The mutual attraction, desire for companionship, and “love” of living creatures for their mates (apart from the attraction of the direct sexual act) undoubtedly arises from the deep-rooted instinct or desire for the protection of the young. This is evidenced by the fact that where the protection of the father-animal is not necessary, then there is no sign of “love” between the parents; and that where such need is the greatest, there is the “love” between the parents greatest in power and in length of duration. The measure of the “love” of the mated animals, and of the duration thereof, is directly proportioned to the need of the protection of the young by the parents, particularly by the male parent.

The eggs of the spider require no parental care: hence the male and female spiders “love” only during the moment of actual intercourse—the female frequently devours her mate immediately afterward. The eggs of the bee require no parental care, the neuters attending to this; hence the male drones are put to death after their services have been rendered, and the mother-bee, the queen, evinces no interest whatever in her offspring, or in her mates after the act of fertilization is performed.

In the case of certain insects, the living substance of the male parent is actually drawn from his body and into the body of the female, naught but the dead shell of the devoted male mate being left; the females of certain species of spiders devour their mates after fertilization is effected; the food thus obtained by eating or absorption is employed for the building of the egg-substance in the body of the female. Nature is very “matter of fact” in the love-making of these creatures; there is very little sentiment wasted in the matter, and the flame of passion burns but for a moment, then dies out forever.

Snakes and other reptiles which deposit their eggs in a safe place and then leave them, or which bring forth their young fully equipped for life work, usually manifest no affection between the mates following the sexual act; and such creatures seem devoid of paternal affection: Nature evidently does not provide such emotions where they serve no good purpose or need in the reproductive offices and the subsequent protection of the offspring. Most birds, while ardent lovers and devoted mates during the mating and brooding season, and while usually willing to sacrifice themselves for the mate or for their young during that period, lose the mutual affection after the need of that period is passed—though in a few exceptional cases the affection continues over longer periods—sometimes even for life, it is claimed.

The cuckoos and similar birds which deposit their eggs in the nests of other birds, there to be hatched along with the legitimate brood of the foster parents, are inveterate polygamists and polyandrists, cohabiting indiscriminately and showing not the slightest signs of permanent or continued affection for their whilom mates. On the other hand, those birds and other animals whose young require careful and continued attention always are found to manifest a strong “mate-love” during the period of that need. Nature has evidently established this rule for the protection of the young, and the continuance of the species.

Darwin explains this upon the theory that the ancestral creatures who manifested the necessary “mate-love” transmitted it to their numerous well-protected offspring; while those not manifesting it had but comparatively few offspring to inherit their unfavorable tendencies: consequently, the habit and custom soon became set and fixed in the species. Other thinkers, however, while admitting that the rule would work out as Darwin indicated, nevertheless believe that the original impulse was there in the beginning, and that in addition to the “survival value” of such habits there is also to be taken into consideration an “unconscious intuition” which manifests in action through instinct, and which gradually becomes set and fixed as habit.

In the higher animals, or of such species of them in which the young creatures require the protection and food-supplying offices of the male parent, there is often seen a marked and often long-continued attachment between the parent animals, and a comparatively permanent companionship even after the mating and breeding season. Among the higher wild animals, mating is often comparatively permanent, sometimes enduring for the life of the two mates; and here, as might be expected, there is to be found a need for such association, for by the time one brood is ready to be cast off to pursue life on their own account, Nature has begun preparations for the following brood. This rule is true among the lower races of man, as well, and in about the same degree.

The human infant is probably the most helpless thing in the world—it can do nothing for itself except to nurse its mother’s breast, and it must even be held up during that performance. Moreover, its period of dependence continues for a long time, so long in fact that its younger brother or sister is held in Nature’s vision before the first child is ready to do anything much for itself. As might be expected, here we find a comparatively strong and long-continued attachment between the parents, even in primitive human society. Here, again, according to Darwin, the “survival value” of such a custom is great, and soon becomes set and fixed as a habit of the race.

As mankind advances in culture, knowledge, and experience, there occurs the grafting of many new and strange mental and emotional growths upon the parent stock of human love for the mate. The original purpose, need and instinct is always there— Nature attends carefully to this—but there exists in addition many new requirements of the emotional nature which often cause the original and elemental urge to be overlooked, at least for a time.

As Carpenter says: “Nature (personifying under this term the more unconscious, even though human, instincts and forces) takes pretty good care in her own way that Sex shall not be neglected. She has her own purposes to work out, which in a sense have nothing to do with the individual—her racial purposes. But she acts in the rough, with tremendous sweep and power, and with little adjustment to or consideration for the later developed and more conscious and intelligent ideals of humanity.”

Nordau says: “The more highly cultivated, the more original, the more differentiated an individual, the more complex the qualities which he attributes to the longed-for and expected individual of the opposite sex. ... The lower and simpler the ideal, the easier it is for the individual to find the realization of it in corporate form. Hence, common and simple natures fall in love very easily, and find no difficulty in replacing the object of their love by another; while delicate and complex natures find it a long and tedious task to discover their ideal or anything approximating it, in real life, and in giving it a successor if it happens to lose it.”

Human love between the sexes may be of high or of low degree; of extreme elemental simplicity of character, or of extreme complexity of nature; it may manifest itself in many ways—sometimes the physical manifestation being almost lost sight of for the time being, owing to the power and force of the other elements and factors involved. But, high or low, simple or complex (even in the form of the most ideal Platonic Friendship) the element of Sex is always there, and sometimes that element manifests its force with a terrifying sudden directness and intensity when and where the least expected. In the Unconscious of each individual, Sex abides in all its power, awaiting its time and opportunity to manifest itself—those who are wise never lose sight of this fact: the unwise ignore or deny it, and this folly in many cases results in their undoing.

Were Nature, in her phase and form of Sex, to cease her activities, and to withdraw her influence over the feelings, desires, will and actions of mankind, then all of Man’s feelings, desires, will and actions which result directly or indirectly from Sex Attraction would cease. Such a change occurring overnight would cause an entirely different world to present itself in experience with the dawn of the new day. Seventy-five per cent, or more, of human action then would have ceased to manifest itself. All the consciousness of differentiation between the sexes then having ceased, all the attractions between the sexes would have come to an end; and all sexual feelings, desires and tendencies toward action, all will and all voluntary action resulting from such feelings and desires would cease to be experienced or manifested by men and women. All would then be practically of one sex, or rather, sexless, in feeling, emotion, will, habits and actions! This indeed would be a new world—a world almost inconceivable to our imagination.

In such a world, everything which now causes a man’s feelings concerning a woman to be different from his feelings concerning a man, or vice-versa; everything which now causes a man to act differently toward a woman than toward a man, and vice-versa;—all these things would have vanished, and would be remembered but as a dream. A moment’s consideration will cause you to realize what tremendous changes this would cause in our world of experience. Everything would be topsy-turvy, inside-out, “at sixes and sevens.” Add to this the loss of the element of love of offspring, the desire to protect offspring, all family life and action, and you would have Chaos. Social life, business life, industrial life, art, music, and all else, would be changed beyond recognition, if not indeed be entirely destroyed.

Combine into a single, compositive imaginative picture the idea of the withdrawal of Sex from the world of plant-life, the world of animal-life, and the world of human-life, and you will begin to realize at least faintly the all-important part played by Sex in the processes of Nature, and the tremendous force and power exerted therein by Sex, as well as the almost infinite extension of the influence of Sex throughout all Nature and her manifestations. Sex, symbolized as Love, not only brings the world of living things into being, but it also keeps that world alive and in action. Well did the old song inform us that “It’s Love that makes the world go ’round.”

Transmutation of Sex-Energy

In the preceding section of this book we have considered the more commonly and better known secondary or derivative attributes and characteristics of Sex. Therein, you have perceived that Sex-Energy is directed by Nature not alone along the channels of the primary activities of Sex concerned directly with the performance of the sexual functions and with the processes of the physical generation and development of the offspring, but also along certain special channels which are concerned with the evolution and maintenance of certain special physical, mental, and emotional characteristics of the living forms—which special characteristics would not have been developed, and would not be maintained, were the Sex-Energy inoperative.

In the present section you are asked to consider an additional, and very important, derivative manifestation of Sex-Energy— one in which the general physical, mental, and emotional nature of the individual (apart from its employment in purely sexual activities) is strengthened, invigorated and given power by the indirect activities of Sex-Energy. In short, you will be shown that Sex-Energy may be, and indeed is; employed by Nature in the processes of Regeneration of the individual as well as in those of Generation or Reproduction.

This phase of the operation of Sex-Energy is not so well known as are its other phases, and, indeed, for a long time Science was disposed to ignore or to deny the existence of such phase, leaving the knowledge of it, and the discussion concerning it, to the non-scientific layman. But certain recent discoveries of Science have awakened new interest in the subject on the part of scientific observers. Science now having been supplied with a valid physiological basis for thought along these lines, it is extremely probable that the next twenty years will bring important scientific investigations and discoveries concerning the operation and the application of the natural laws involved in this particular subject.

As we have previously informed you, the esoteric philosophers and arcane schools of the ancient world recognized the presence and the operation of these natural laws of Regeneration, and made the study of them an important branch of their work and teaching. But here, as in other branches of knowledge, these ancient thinkers did not direct their thought along what are now known as “scientific lines.” Instead, they were in the habit of explaining all known facts by reference to occult causes— often supernatural causes. They were right concerning their facts, but their inductive reasoning was weakened by their habit of taking it for granted that “causes” were to be found only in the realms of the supernatural and not in Nature herself. The modern scientific mind, on the contrary, seeks ever to find a natural cause for all effects and activities perceived to exist in the natural world.

Accordingly, these ancient thinkers usually attributed both Generation and Regeneration to “occult” forces, or supernatural powers. They regarded Sex-Energy as a Divine Principle in many cases, or else as a reflection of the Secret Creative Energy which they held to exist apart from the world though acting upon it. Modern Science, on the contrary, regards the Sex-Energy merely as a phase of the manifestation of “That Infinite and Eternal Energy from which all things proceed,” and which is found present and operative in all natural processes. Modern Science finds in Nature all that the ancients were accustomed to regard as “super-natural,” i. e., over and above Nature. It holds that “whatever is, is natural”—that whatever is possible of human knowledge, or in human experience, is “natural,” and that even where causes are as yet unknown they must be assumed to be in Nature and not outside of it.

The ancients knew little or nothing about the actual physiological processes of Generation as these are known to modern Science. They regarded Generation and Reproduction as caused by the union and mingling of two occult “forces” which abode in the beings of male and female creatures. Modern Science, in its branch known as Physiology, on the contrary, knows that Generation or Reproduction is caused by the union of the reproductive cells of the parent creatures—the “sperm” cells and the cells of the “ova” or egg. The microscope has revealed the character and the appearance of the spermatozoa and the ova, and the physical and physiological processes of Reproduction and Generation are definitely known and taught. Life itself, it is true, lies beyond the microscope or the dissecting-knife—but Science at least is able to tell “just how Life works” in these processes.

In the same way, the ancients believed that Regeneration or the Transmutation of Sex-Energy was caused by a direction of the occult “forces” of Generation along new channels. Modern Science, however, whenever it has investigated the subject at all, has held that this Regeneration or Transmutation of Sex-Energy proceeds along the strict lines of physiological process. It holds that the sex-glands of the male and female secrete certain elements which make for the invigoration of the mental and physical nature of the man or woman, just as do certain other glands of the body secrete certain elements which produce decided and marked effects upon the mind and body of the individual in whose body they exist and are active. Such special secretion of the sex-glands being admitted or assumed as possible, Science finds no difficulty whatsoever in explaining the effects of Regeneration or Transmutation of Sex-Energy.

Even before the recent scientific discoveries of the effects resulting from the transplantation of the sex-glands into the bodies of the lower animals (and in a few instances into the bodies of human beings), there have been modern thinkers and writers upon the subject who have held that the sex-glands are capable of such secretion of a “regenerative element,” and that in every individual the processes of Regeneration are operative to at least some extent; and that by the proper methods of application the secretion of these regenerative elements will be increased, and may be deliberately directed to the mental and physical processes of the individual. Such a conception is usually found to lie at the base of the teaching of certain modern schools of thought which advocate chastity, continence and sexual temperance on the part of their followers.

Thus, you see, these modern thinkers are really marching abreast with the ancient thinkers along the same lines—so far as the facts of the case are concerned. Though the ancients explained these facts by the theory of “occult forces,” or supernatural powers operative in the natural world, while the modern thinkers explain the same facts by the accepted laws of physiological process, there is a common agreement upon the facts of the case so far as the effects and phenomena are concerned. The effects are agreed upon as true, valid and existing, in both cases—though the “causes” assumed to account for the effects are quite different, at least on the surface of thought.

The following quotations from writers on this subject during the past twenty-five years, or thereabouts, will serve to illustrate how the current of modern thought has been running in this direction—even before the recent discoveries concerning the internal secretions of the other glands of the body, and of the transplantation of the sex-glands, to both of which we have just referred. In each of the following quotations the writer is either a recognized medical authority upon the subject, or else a layman who has given careful attention to, made careful observations, and conducted careful experiments along these lines. There are many others of equal authority who might have also been quoted in this connection—the following are merely a few selected from the great number of intelligent and competent authorities available.

Dr. Kellogg, advocating the continent life, says: “The sexual function is double in its purpose. First, the sexual organs are always active, even when not excited to such a degree as to obtrude their activity upon the consciousness, as they supply the body with a needed vital stimulus and regulator. Secondly, they furnish the only means by which the physical life of the individual and the perpetuation of the race may be accomplished. In neither of these important functions is the personal gratification of the individual the primary consideration. The exercise of the sexual function with a purely selfish purpose would seem to be a debasement of the sacred function in which man approaches most nearly to the creative power of which he is the image.”

Dr. Nicholas says: “It is a medical and physiological fact that the best blood of the body goes to form the elements of reproduction in both sexes. In a pure and orderly life this matter is reabsorbed. It goes back into the circulation ready to form the finest brain, nerve and muscular tissue. This life of man, carried back and diffused through his system, makes him manly, strong, brave, heroic. The suspension of the use of the generative organs is attended with a notable increase of bodily and mental vigor and spiritual life. Nature finds another use for the unexpended sexual energy in employing it for the building up of a keener brain, and more vital and enduring nerves and muscles.”

Dr. Kellogg, says again: “Recent investigations have shown that the sexual glands are useful, not only as a means of race-perpetuation, but for the physical well-being of the individual, through the vital stimulus exercised by them through the influence of their peculiar secretion upon the processes of development and nutrition. In view of this fact, it is evident that, so far as the individual is concerned, physical benefit is to be looked for, not in the loss of the secretion of the sexual glands, but in its retention and appropriation. In other words, reproduction is accomplished at the sacrifice of individual interests, a law which prevails throughout the whole organic world, being, in some instances, so pronounced that the development of progeny is accomplished only through the death of one or more parents. These discoveries afford thoroughly satisfactory and scientific explanations of two facts which heretofore have rested solely upon a basis of observation and experience, viz.: (1) That continence is favorable to physical vigor; (2) that sexual intemperance is productive of exhaustion and debility to a most extraordinary degree.”

Professor Acton says: “Physiologically considered, it is not a fact that the power of secretion is annihilated in well-formed adults leading a healthy life, and yet remaining continent. No continent man need be deterred by the apocryphal fear of atrophy from leading a chaste life. It is a device of the unchaste, a lame excuse for their own incontinence, unfounded on any physiological law. I may state that, after many years’ experience, I have never seen an instance of atrophy of the generative organs from this cause. I have, it is true, met the complaint; but in what classes of cases does it occur? It arises, in all instances, from the exactly opposite cause, abuse!”

Professor Newton says: “It is important to know that there are other uses for the procreative element than the generation of physical offspring; and far better uses than its waste in momentary pleasure. It may, indeed, be better wasted than employed in imposing unwelcome burdens upon toiling and outraged women. But there should be no waste. This element when retained in the system may be coined into new thoughts, perhaps new inventions, grand conceptions of the true, the beautiful, the useful; or into fresh emotions of joy, and impulses of kindness and blessing to all around. This is, in fact, but another department of procreation. It is the procreation of thoughts, ideas, feelings of good-will, intuitions of truth— that is, it is the procreation on the mental and spiritual planes, instead of on the physical plane. It is really just as really a part of the generative function as is the begetting of physical offspring. It is by far the greater part, for physical procreation can ordinarily be participated in but seldom, while mental and spiritual procreation may and should go on through all our earthly lives—yea, through all our immortal existence.”

Dr. Stockham says: “Physicists have demonstrated with incontrovertible facts that it is eminently healthy to conserve the vital principle. The seminal secretion has a wonderfully immanent value; and, if retained, is absorbed into the system and adds enormously to man’s magnetic, mental, and spiritual force. In ordinary married life this force is constantly being wasted. Other things being equal, the man who wisely conserves is improved in concentrated mental and physical power and effectiveness, like a Daniel amid his companions. He builds, and constructs, he is the organizer and executive head of industries, he is the orator and the inventor. He is the leader of great movements, because his power is drawn from an inexhaustible storage battery. Although woman has not the sperm to conserve, yet equally with man she has the thrilling potency of sex, that, when well directed, heals sensitive nerves, vitalizes the blood, and restores tissue.”

Dr. Talmey says: “Continence, if long continued, has been claimed to be the cause of impotence. But there is no valid reason for this belief. To prove the harmfulness of continence, an analogue is brought forward between the atrophy of a muscle in enforced idleness and the injury to the sex organs in enforced abstinence. But the proof is somewhat feeble. The essential organs of generation are not muscles, but glands; and who has ever heard of a tear gland atrophying for want of crying. * * * The instinct of generation has been compared with the instinct of hunger and thirst, and as the latter must be satisfied, so it is held the former must be gratified. But there is no proper parallelism between these two instincts. Food and drink are vital necessities of the organism from the first day of conception, to replace the stuffs consumed in the metabolism of the vital functions. The generative instinct appears a number of years after birth, hence does not serve any vital necessity.”

Dr. Stockham says: “The testes may be considered analogous to the salivary and lachrymal glands, in which there is no fluid secreted except at the demand of their respective functions. The thought of food makes the mouth water for a short time only, while the presence of food causes abundant yield of saliva. It is customary for physiologists to assume that the spermatic secretion is analogous to bile, which, when once formed, must be expelled. But substitute the word ‘tears’ for bile, and you put before the mind an idea entirely different. Tears, as falling drops, are not essential to life and health. A man may be in perfect health and not cry once in five or fifty years. The lachrymal fluid is ever present, but in such small quantities that it is unnoticed. Where are the tears while they remain unshed? They are ever ready, waiting to spring forth when there is an adequate cause, but they do not accumulate and distress the man because they are not shed daily, weekly or monthly.

“The component elements of the tears are prepared in the system, they are on hand, passing through the circulation, ready to mix and flow whenever they are needed; but if they mix, accumulate, and flow without adequate cause, there is a disease of the lachrymal glands. While there are no exact analogies in the body, yet the tears and the spermatic fluids are much more closely analogous in their normal manner of secretion and use than are the bile and the semen. Neither flow of tears nor of semen is essential to life or health. Both are largely under the control of the imagination, the emotions, the will; and the flow of either is liable to be arrested in a moment of sudden mental action.

“The mammary gland is an apt illustration of the law of supply and demand. In its anatomical construction and physiological function is it not analogous to the seed-producing gland of the male? No one has ever hinted that it is essential for health that the natural lacteal fluid of the mammary gland must be continually or frequently secreted or expelled. It is not considered ‘a physical necessity’ or a demand of nature. Indeed, the contrary opinion prevails—that a too abundant flow of milk is derogative to healthful conditions. Milk flows in answer to the demand of a new-born infant, and, should it come at any other time than when thus demanded, it is considered a perversion of nature and an unnecessary drain upon the system. May it not prove that the unnecessary secretion and expulsion of the semen is as great a perversion of nature? May it not also prove that erectile tissue in action is not a positive evidence of secretion in the gland?”

Parkhurst, writing along the same general lines, says: “The prostatic fluid, according to Robin, is secreted at the moment of ejaculation. The remaining element of the spermatic ‘Secretion is produced, under normal circumstances, only as required, either for impregnation or for the maintenance of the affectional function. The theory that the sperm is naturally secreted only as it is required, brings it into harmony with other secretions. The tears, the saliva, and the perspiration, are always required in small quantities, and the secretion is continuous; but if required in large quantities, the secretion becomes great almost instantly. The mother’s milk is chiefly secreted just as it is required for the infant, and when not required the secretion entirely ceases; yet it recommences the moment the birth of another child makes it necessary. * * *

“A man accustomed to abstinence will not suffer from any accumulation of secretions, while a man whose absorbing glands have never had trouble to take up the secretions, will be in trouble; just as a dairy cow which has not been milked will be in trouble, though if running wild she would never have any necessity for milking.......The objection that man needs physical relief from a continuous secretion, is answered by the admitted fact that men, not deficient in sexual vigor, live for months, and probably for years, in strict abstinence, without the physical inconvenience such as is often complained of by men who happen to be deprived of their accustomed indulgence for a week or two at a time.”

An anonymous writer on the subject of “Sex Polarity” (the identity of whom, however, is known to the present writers), several years ago, said:

“Nature devotes a great amount of energy to the task of reproducing living forms. Many of the lower forms of life seem to live merely for the purpose of reproducing life—of passing along the flame of life from torch to torch. Nature’s reproductive energies are highly concentrated, and are wonderfully potent. The amount of creative energy concentrated and compressed into the mustard seed is equal to that diffused over a whole large plant—in fact, the essence of the entire creative energy which is to serve the plant for its lifetime must be stored up within the seed itself, for the vital force cannot come from outside, although the outer nourishment is needed to build up the physical shape, form and substance of the plant. The germ of the animal contains within itself enough stored-up energy to carry the creature through its normal period of life. In the processes of reproduction and procreation, Nature avails herself of her inner powers, and every minute she works miracles of concentration and conservation of energy.

“The ancient occultists recognized the wonderful power stored in the reproductive organism, which is given out not only in the act of actual reproduction and procreation, but which may also be dissipated in the unnatural excesses and practices to which the race is addicted. They soon discovered that this wonderful concentrated power could be used not only for the purpose of generation, but also for the purpose of re-generation of the life activities within one’s own body, the exhaustion of which occurs if the vital forces be given out in procreation or waste. In other words, that the wonderfully concentrated forces of the sexual functions, if not otherwise used or dissipated, might be used by the individual himself or herself in re-energizing, re-charging, or re-generating the vital powers within his or her own organism. This was one of the reasons that continence was enjoined as a duty upon the members of the ancient esoteric and occult brotherhoods and sisterhoods. * * *

“Outside of the list of the occult brotherhoods, all of whose staunch members were strictly continent, history gives us a long list of eminent men who followed the practice of continence, which indicates the correctness of the old occult teachings of generation. Newton, Kant, Paschal, Michael Angelo, Plato, and many other eminent men were strictly continent. All the great occultists and mystics of ancient times observed strict continence. The Greek athletes training for the great Olympic games were required to observe strict continence, the experience of the trainers being that by following this course the athletes were able to conserve their strength and vigor much better than otherwise. The prize-fighters of today are compelled by their trainers and backers to observe strict continence during the period of training for the combat. Many of the former ‘champions’ who ‘went to pieces’ suddenly, owe their downfall to a violation of this rule.”

Dr. Henderson, reporting his experience among men subjected to great strain in tropical countries, said: “I have seen many suffer severely, destroying their strength, health, and happiness, and life, by following the promptings of their unbridled passions. Need I say that I have never seen a man suffer from keeping himself pure.” Dr. Talmey says: “The conventional view that incontinence in men is a necessary condition of health must be corrected. Instead of the popular fallacy that a young man is physically the worse for a clean moral life, the entire weight of the world’s foremost medical scholars is unreservedly of the opinion that he is physically better for it. It is recognized by the highest authorities that continence is perfectly compatible with the most perfect health. Chastity, properly understood, is health; it never does harm to mind or body. It is the consensus of the opinions of the great medical thinkers that it is not prejudicial to the health of man to keep his body clean.”

Dr. Armitage says: “A writer has said: ‘Chastity, yes, even continence, is the prime necessity of the successful athlete.’ It is further urged in support of this view, that the male animals, even those so active sexually as the bull, are known to maintain perfect health and vigor when forced to live apart from the females. Moreover, the best breeders of animals know very well that restraint and moderation on the part of their male animals will result in an improvement of the stock, as compared with the opposite course.” Dr. Kellogg also has reminded us that: “Breeders of stock who wish to secure sound progeny will not allow the most robust stallion to associate with mares as many times during the whole season as some of these salacious human males perform a similar act within a month.”

Dr. Sperry says: “It is true that moderate sexual activity tends, temporarily, at least, to increase and intensify the sexual impulses and energies; but such exaltation of sexuality is not evidence of increased general healthfulness and efficiency. If the usual physiological expression of sexuality be held in check, its energies (which most easily, it is true, seek expression in sexual lines) are transferred to the other departments, to which they contribute largely in the life and power of each, and in the material addition of general vigor. The force then becomes creative, or productive, in other lines. In other words, sexuality, if it be denied the reproductive expression, and provided that it also be kept from artificial excitation, seems to develop a sort of dynamic force or energy, which the nutritive, the motor, and the relational departments can use to their individual and collective advantage.

“On the other hand, those who unnaturally or excessively expend along sexual lines what may seem to them to be exclusively sexual energy, available only for sexual expression, thereby deprive the system at large of what might have become general stimulation and vitality. Indeed, the sexual department of a continent adult seems to be a sort of storage battery of vitality, a veritable reservoir for surplus energy. This energy, which seems so like a tremendous dynamic force, may be expended just as each individual shall elect: it may be wasted in lustful and abnormal sensuality; or it may be used partly for the legitimate purposes of reproduction, and the remainder in lustful practices; or it may be expended in exalting and intensifying the nutritive, the muscular, and the mental life. This remarkable fact is of great practical importance.”

Illustrations and quotations along the same lines might be continued at much greater length, but those which have just been presented will serve to give you a general idea of the thought concerning this subject which has been current among thinking persons for the last twenty-five years and more. Some of these modern thinkers are fully cognizant of the resemblance of their thought to that of the ancients whose minds had been directed along the same channels; others seem not to have been aware of the fact that as long ago as twenty-five hundred years or more the thoughts of men were striving to uncover the workings of this same principle.

You will note, however, that these modern seekers after truth along these lines employ the terms of physiology instead of those of metaphysics or of occultism. They have been striving to account for the phenomena of Regeneration or Transmutation of Sex-Energy by the theories of “gland secretions” and similar physiological processes. This is especially remarkable in view of the fact that, at the time when most of the above-quoted statements of fact and theory were written by the persons named, the recent scientific discoveries concerning the effect of the secretions of the ductless glands had not as yet been made, nor had there been as yet conducted the recent experiments in gland transplantation which have given positive evidence of the proof of the general theory of Regeneration or Transmutation of Sex-Energy.

The Ductless Glands

Advanced investigators in the ranks of physiological research have in recent years made very important discoveries concerning the secretions of the various glands of the animal body (including of course the human body), and their effect upon the health, vigor, growth and general functioning of the entire body. The “ductless glands” of the body, especially, have been found to secrete substances of the greatest value in the physiological processes, the absence of which has been found to cause deterioration and degeneracy of parts of the body, and the stimulation of which by artificial methods has been found to cause renewed activity, strength and vigor to such parts.

The term “Secretion,” in the sense in which the term is employed in physiology, means: “Any substance secreted, i. e., separated from the blood and elaborated into a new substance.” The term “Gland,” as employed in physiology, means: “An organ whose function is that of secreting some substance to be used in, or to be eliminated from, the body.”

Physiology divides the glands into two general classes, viz,. (1) the true secreting glands, and (2) the ductless glands. The true secreting glands are defined as: “The special organs which are intended for the production of the chief secretions; as e. g., the Lachrymal Glands, the Mammary Glands, the Salivary Glands, the Liver, the Pancreas, and the Kidneys.” The principal ductless glands, according to the customary classification, are as follows: the Suprarenal Capsules, the Spleen, the Thymus, the Thyroid, the Parathyroids, the Pituitary Body, and the Pineal Glands; and, although orthodox physiology vigorously resents and combats the suggestion, the advanced investigators hold that the Testes and the Ovaries are additional ductless glands, and that they secrete subtle substances as do the other ductless glands, in addition to serving the better known office of cell-formation for reproductive purposes.

In the present inquiry we have little or no concern with the so-called true secreting glands, viz., the glands secreting the saliva, the tears, the sweat, the bile, the pancreatic juices, the milk, etc. These glands and their secretions, highly important though they are, are different in structure and in office from the other great class of glands which we are called upon to consider in our investigations concerning the processes of Regeneration. Accordingly, we shall now pass them by with the above scant mention.

The Ductless Glands. The following definition of the Ductless Glands, taken from an authoritative reference work, represents the orthodox view of their character and function:

“Glands of the second class, i. e., the Ductless Glands, resemble those of the first class, i. e., the True Secreting Glands, in external conformation and in the possession of a solid parenchymatous tissue, but differ from them in the absence of a duct or opening for the removal of the products of secretion; and, indeed, except in the case of the Thymus, no material resembling a secreted product is yielded by any of them. In all of them the tissue mainly consists of cells and nuclei, with a great abundance of blood vessels. They furnish necessary material to the body in some as yet uncertained way. If they are removed by operation, or are absent from birth, or atrophied during life, the result is a condition of disease. * * * The Ductless Glands seem to produce some substance of great importance to the well-being of the body; but what it is, and how it affects the organism, are still involved in difficulties. However, as they are all closely associated with the blood system, they may as well be called vascular glands.”

The reluctance of orthodox physiologists to admit the Ductless Glands, and especially the Testes and the Ovaries, to the category of true secreting glands, which is evident in the above quotation, is still more evident in the following additional quotation from the same authoritative orthodox reference work:

“Neither a definition nor a classification of glands has yet been agreed upon by comparative anatomists. Since the word itself offers no clew to its real meaning, we must attempt to define it from universally accepted examples. Among these may be mentioned salivary glands, lachrymal glands, sweat glands, and poison glands. All of these are organs which produce some particular substance from the blood with which they are supplied; furthermore this substance is not cellular nor living, but is a mere chemical product. These facts give us a clew to our definition, and we may say that a gland is any cell or group of cells whose function is the production of a chemical substance, usually fluid, peculiar to itself. Such a definition will not include all those organs to which the name ‘gland’ is given, but it will include all to which it ought to be applied. As an example of the incorrect use of the term, we may refer to ‘reproductive’ or ‘genital’ glands, as applied to the Testis or Ovary. These organs are not in any true sense glands, for they do not produce any chemical substance peculiar to themselves, but are simply the portions of the body where those cells are formed from which the next generation arises. So also the use of ‘gland’ in connection with the Suprarenal Capsule, the Pituitary Body, and the Pineal Body is incorrect and confusing.”

The above statement that the term “gland” is properly to be limited so as not to include “all those organs to which the name ‘gland’ is given, but all to which it ought to be applied,” is rather naive and ingenuous coming from such a source. In spite of this ultra-conservative position, however, advanced physiologists continue to apply the term “gland” to a constantly widening class of physical organs, the inclusion of the “genitals” being particularly insisted upon for good and valid reasons. Indeed, in other parts of the same reference book from which the above is quoted, we find the following statement: “The larger glands, such as the liver, kidney, pancreas, spleen, thyroid, thymus, testicle, and even the pituitary gland, have all their special diseases.” So we feel justified in continuing to use the term “gland” as it actually is employed by advanced physiologists, instead of “as it ought to be” according to this ultra-orthodox authority.

Let us now consider in a little further detail the various Ductless Glands which, as we have seen, “furnish necessary material to the body in some as yet unascertained way, and which if they are removed by operation, or are absent from birth, or atrophied during life, result in a condition of disease”; and which “seem to produce some substance of great importance to the well-being of the body, though what it is and how it affects the organism, are still involved in difficulties.”

The Thyroid Gland is a very vascular (i. e., vessel-containing) gland, lying on the front and sides of the larynx (i. e., upper end of the windpipe). It secretes and stores large amounts of iodine combinations and other chemical substances. The Thyroid secretions have trophic (i. e., nutritive) functions connected with the feeding or nourishing of the nervous system. Absence of the Thyroid Gland in children is characteristic of cretinism (i. e., idiocity accompanied by physical degeneracy and deformity, usually with goitre). Atrophy of the Thyroid Gland in adults causes myxoedema. Hypertrophy of the Thyroid Gland causes Basedow’s disease. Removal of the Thyroid Gland is followed by diminished albumen and fat metabolism and lessened assimilation of sugar.

The function of the Thyroid Gland is stated to be that of “the production of an internal secretion which influences bodily nutrition in many ways.” The prepared extract of the Thyroid Glands of sheep are employed in the treatment of diseases brought about by the atrophy or loss of functioning of the Thyroid Gland. This treatment consists of feeding the patient with the extract of the Thyroid Gland of sheep, or of the dried gland itself, together with phosphoric acid and iron tonics. Grafting of the Thyroid Gland, by transplanting the Thyroid of an animal upon the human patient, has also been employed. The prepared extract of the Thyroid Gland of the sheep, however, is the customary and generally preferred treatment.

The secretions of the Thyroid Gland stimulate and are stimulated by the secretions of the reproductive glands. A reference work says: “The Thyroid Gland has a very profound influence on nutrition, and disorders of it set up very definite physiological disturbances. Many nervous manifestations are due to a lack of its secretion, and accordingly these diseases are effectively treated by doses of Thyroid extract. The gland is also given in obesity, certain forms of neurasthenia, chronic rheumatism, chronic skin diseases, and disturbances of nutrition in the scalp, hair, and nails, and in many other conditions due to faulty metabolism. Thyroid must be given with care and in small doses at first, since it contains great possibilities for harm.”

The Parathyroid Glands are small glands, closely connected with the Thyroid Gland though having quite different functions and offices. The Parathyroids are regarded as “a neuro-muscular balance wheel or control.” Moreover, their secretions have antitoxic properties, and when these glands are removed tetanus, or lackjaw, frequently results. Unlike the Thyroid Gland, the secretions of the Parathyroids contain no iodine. They influence calcium metabolism, and the tetanus which results from their removal is believed to be caused by the withdrawal of calcium from the cells, as these conditions are promptly relieved by calcium feeding. The extract of the Parathyroids is employed in medical practice in paralysis agitans, tetanus, epilepsy and chorea.

The Pituitary Body, or Hypophysis, is a small glandular body situated at the base of the brain. It is described as “consisting of two portions, seeming to have different functions not as yet determined.” In some manner its secretions seem to preside over the nutrition of the skeleton, and one of its portions is believed to stimulate the smooth muscle of the uterus. Its secretions are now employed in medical practice in connection with the unstriped muscle fibre of the uterus. Pituitary extract is administered to hasten labor, to stimulate the peristaltic action of the intestine in paretic conditions, in shock, in uterine hemorrhage, in amenorrhea, in polyuria, and also to stimulate the secretion of milk.

The Pineal Gland, or Epiphysis, is a small gland closely related to the Pituitary Body or Hypophysis, and situated just behind it. Its functions and offices are still somewhat in doubt, but leading authorities have held that during early life it influences the development of the reproductive organism; that it influences the deposit of subcutaneous fat; and that it has an effect upon general physical and mental growth and development. Advanced practitioners have treated cases of mentally backward children by administering a watery extract of the Pineal Gland of bullocks, and have reported favorable results.

The Thymus Gland is located in the neck of infants, behind the sternum or breastbone; it normally disappears in adult life, its functions being actively manifested in foetal life and early childhood. It is supposed to regulate nutrition and to control blood-pressure. It is intimately related to growth and development during its period of activity. It seems to be concerned with the retention of the calcium salts by the body and in the ossification of bone. In advanced medical practice an extract of the Thymus Gland is administered in the treatment of malnutrition, delayed development, rickets, certain forms of goitre, chlorosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The Adrenal Glands, or Suprarenal Capsules are two small bodies situated immediately in front of the upper end of each kidney. Their internal secretion is highly essential to life. Their function is to control the pigmentation of the skin, to arrest the action of poisons in the body, and to govern the vasomotor system regulating blood-pressure. Extracts of these secretions are employed in medical practice in eye, nose, and throat surgery, to control bleeding; and they are also administered internally in diseases marked by excessive bleeding or hemorrhages, also in some cases of tuberculosis and of asthma. The dried and prepared adrenal or suprarenal substances of animals constitute a powerful and valuable astringent and haemostatic. Suprarenal Extract and Adrenaline are recognized medicinal agents of great value; they relieve surgical shock, and in certain diseases prolong life for long periods.

The consideration of the above-stated subject of the Ductless Glands and their Internal Secretions results in the discovery of two important facts, viz., (1) that the Ductless Glands and their Internal Secretions play a most important part in the vital processes of the body; and (2) that these Internal Secretions of the Ductless Glands are so definitely designed for certain vital offices that extracts made from them have been, and are, effectively employed in the treatment of disease by advanced practitioners of medicine. Let us consider each of these two leading facts in a little further detail.

The Internal Secretions. The New International Encyclopaedia, in its article upon “Internal Secretions,” says: “Internal Secretions are substances secreted by animal organs or tissues which preside over the development, growth, reproduction, and the chemical regulation of the body. They are also called Hormones, and are defined by Kirkes as substances ‘produced by one tissue or organ to which some other portion of the body has been biologically adapted to such an extent that its normal function can proceed only under the influence of the substance.’ The more important organs which, according to modern views, produce internal secretions are the Thyroid, Parathyroid, Pituitary, Thymus, Suprarenals, and Chromaffin Tissues, the Pancreas, the Duodenal and Pyloric Mucosa, the Liver, Kidney, Testis, Ovary, Corpus Luteum, Placenta and Foetus. These substances are definite, but complex, chemical bodies and differ from the enzymes in being thermostable. By these enzymes we mean the external secretions, such as diastase, pepsin, typsin, etc., elaborated by the digestive organs. The function of the Internal Secretions seems to be to provoke the manufacture of enzymes and to promote their action, and generally to act as excitants to physiologic activity.

“The Hormones which definitely have been proved to exist are: the pancreatic secretion, formed in the epithelium of the duodenal mucous membrane, which stimulates the flow of pancreatic juice; a Hormone formed in the pancreas which influences the absorptive activity of the intestinal epithelium; the gastric secretin formed in the pyloric mucosa, which stimulates the secretion of gastric juice; vasodilator Hormones formed in functionally active tissue which have a specific effect upon the vessels of the functioning organ; a vasa-constricting and diuretic Hormone secreted in the posterior lobe of the pituitary body; another vasa-constricting Hormone in the kidneys; a Hormone produced in the anterior lobe of the pituitary body, determining the growth of bone and connective tissue; a Hormone controlling the oxidation of sugar and manufactured in the pancreas; a thymus Hormone which influences the development of the reproductive organs; a Hormone produced by the salivary glands which controls the flow of water from the blood capillaries in these glands; a foetal Hormone which stimulates the growth of the mammary glands; ovarian and testicular Hormones which have to do with the processes of reproduction. * * *

“The subject of the Internal Secretions is one of no little intricacy. A deficiency or an excess of one or several of these secretions, it will be seen, may upset the whole chemical balance of metabolism. Indeed, without certain of these secretions the body cannot live. * * * The action of the Internal Secretions is complex and as yet imperfectly understood. Many facts, however, have been collated from experimental observations which throw considerable light upon this obscure subject. Some of these observations illustrate the manner in which Hormone balance is preserved. * * * *”

The Therapeutic Value of the Internal Secretions. In modern medicine there is found frequent reference to what is called “Organo-therapy,” or “Opotheraphy,” which terms are employed to indicate “the use of animal organs, their extracts or active principles, as medicines.” As we have stated in the preceding pages, the extract of the several Ductless Glands are now being employed extensively in the treatment of certain diseases, particularly those diseases which are held to result from a deficiency of the particular internal secretion in question.

Modern Organotherapy usually is held to have begun with Brown-Sequard, although, in 1850, Berthold began a serious investigation of the Internal Secretions of the Ductless Glands, followed shortly after by those of Claude Berpard. Brown-Sequard advanced as his basic principle the following axiomatic statement: “All glands of the body, whether they are excretory canals or not, give to the blood useful principles, the absence of which is felt when the glands are extirpated or destroyed by disease.” Subsequent investigations and observations have tended to corroborate the Brown-Sequard basic principle.

The New International Encyclopaedia, in its article upon Organotherapy, says: “Almost every gland and tissue in the body has been studied experimentally, and several substances of unique value have been added to our therapeutic resources, e. g., adrenaline, thyroid extract, and pituitary extract. To a large extent, however, Organotherapy still rests upon an empirical basis, and this for several reasons: some of these glands have more than one active principle; similar physiological effects are produced by several glands; antagonisms are observed between certain glands and even parts of the same gland, and it is difficult to analyze the symptoms calling for a particular principle; there is a great difficulty in securing active preparations, many of those on the market being inert; and, finally, there is undoubtedly a subtle, vital difference between animal extracts and their human equivalent. By many writers these active principles are considered as chemical entities which they term Hormones, typical examples of which are secretin, adrenaline, and thyroid extract. * * * * Animal extracts should be prepared from adult healthy normal animals. Those preferably selected are sheep and hogs. Gland tissues are no longer given raw. The thyroid gland has been transplanted into cretins with some degree of success. Many different preparations have been made, among which may be mentioned glycerin extracts, watery extracts, the dried and powdered gland, and compressed tablets. Some glandular principles are inactive when given by the mouth, and must be injected hypodermically to secure their physiological effects.”

The foregoing consideration of the Ductless Glands and their Internal Secretions, including the subject of the therapeutic employment of the active principles and extracts of these secretions, logically leads us to the consideration of the physiological functions and offices of those Ductless Glands (for they are undoubtedly such) known as the Genital Glands, i. e., the Testes and the Ovaries, respectively; and to the consideration of the therapeutic employment of the principles of such in the treatment of diseased conditions. This new phase of the subject is intensely interesting, and extremely instructive, and has a most direct bearing upon the general subject of Regeneration which is the subject-matter of this book. In the next following section of this book this new phase of the subject is considered in detail.

Offices of the Genital Glands

One of the important results of the investigations of the Ductless Glands which have occupied the attention of advanced physiologists of recent years, and one which has been combatted by certain of the more orthodox physiologists for some reason, is the discovery that the Genital Glands are true Ductless Glands manifesting internal secretions of certain substances apart from those primarily concerned with the primary reproductive processes. This discovery has afforded a scientific explanation of the facts which for ages have been asserted by the occultists and other heterodox thinkers, i. e., the facts concerned with the processes of Regeneration.

In the preceding section of this book we have called your attention to the fact that there is a disposition on the part of certain ultraconservative physiologists to question even the fact that the Genital Glands are true “glands” at all. These orthodox scientists strive to maintain the antiquated idea that the Genital Glands “are not in any true sense ‘glands,’ for they do not produce any chemical substances peculiar to themselves, but are simply the portions of the body where those cells are formed from which the next generation arises.”

But, as you have probably noticed, these same ultra-conservative scientists quite as earnestly maintain that “the use of the term ‘gland’ in connection with the suprarenal capsules, the pituitary body, and the pineal body, is incorrect and confusing.” This, notwithstanding the fact that Science has not only discovered the truth that these Ductless Glands undoubtedly do manifest important internal secretions; that such secretions have been widely and successfully employed in therapeutic practice; and that the physiological effect of such secretions upon the physical processes have been definitely determined by experiment.

Advanced modern physiology has at least tentatively advanced the theory that the Genital Glands, particularly the Testes and the Ovaries, not only produce the primary reproductive cells, but that they also secrete other substances of a high potency which are believed to exert a strong influence not only upon the growth and development of the embryo after the ovum has been fertilized by the sperm, but also upon the growth and development of the body of the individual in whose Genital Glands they have been secreted.

The Testes and the Ovaries are found to manifest true internal secretions of this kind, which secretions meet the requirements of Internal Secretions which are stated as follows: “Internal Secretions are substances elaborated in Ductless. Glands and discharged directly into the blood; they are substances secreted by animal organs or tissues which preside over the development, growth, reproduction, and the chemical regulation of the body.”

In Section IV of this book we have called your attention to quotations from several authorities which express the belief of such thinkers and investigators that the internal secretions of the Genital Glands are discharged into the blood, thereafter to perform certain important offices in the growth, development, and vital processes of the individual.

For instance, these authorities says that: “It goes back into the circulation ready to form the finest brain, nerve, and muscular tissue”; and, “The unexpended sexual energy is employed for the building up of a keener brain, and more vital and enduring nerves and muscles”; and, “The sexual glands are useful for the physical well-being of the individual, through the vital stimulus exercised by them through their peculiar secretion upon the processes of development and nutrition”; and, “The seminal secretion has a wonderfully immanent value, and if retained is absorbed into the system and adds enormously to man’s magnetic, mental, and spiritual force”; and, “The sexual energies may be transferred to the other departments, to which they contribute largely in the life and power of each, and in the production of general vigor”; and, “The sexual department of a continent adult seems to be a sort of storage battery of vitality, a veritable reservoir for surplus energy.”

In addition to these positive statements, the following quotations will serve to illustrate the strong and rapidly spreading belief along these lines among thoughtful scientific investigators and observers. Professor Kingsley says: “The interstitial cells carry secretions in men which pass into the blood. They apparently cause secondary male characteristics such as, among other things, hair on the face and change of voice at the close of boyhood. They also govern most female characteristics.” Professor Keith says: “The interstitial gland has as much to do with the growth, in certain particulars, as the pituitary gland has in general bodily growth. All the changes we see in children after they begin to grow, which bring to prominence racial characteristics, depend upon the action of the interstitial gland. If the gland is removed, or remains in abeyance, the maturing of the body is prolonged or altered.”

The effect upon the physical and mental characteristics of the lower animals, and of men and women, which is produced by disease of or the removal of the Genital Glands is so striking that it is impossible to escape the conviction that these glands internally secrete substances which are appropriated by the blood and which directly affect the physical and mental condition of the individual.

For instance, all are familiar with the changed mental and physical condition of the cock transformed into a capon; of the young stallion transformed into a gelding; of the young bull transformed into a steer; of the normal human male transformed into a eunuch;—the transformation in each of these cases being caused by the removal of the male Genital Glands. The transformation is followed by marked physical and mental changes. The body loses its male characteristics, and tends to become sluggish, heavy, slow; the eyes lose their sparkle, the voice changes its character; courage is lost and ambition disappears; inertia and docility are manifested. There is a general “heaviness” of body, mind, and emotional nature. A similar mental and physical change is manifested in female animals, and in women, who have been deprived of their ovaries.

It has been noted that the seed of plants and of animals are composed of a highly concentrated food substance, this in some cases being also true of the outer covering surrounding the seed proper. This is Nature’s provision for supplying the developing young life-form with highly concentrated food-material until it is able to draw its supply of food from outside sources. Man instinctively recognizes the high food-value of such material when he seeks and finds an important part of his food supply in the seed substances of plants and animals. In nuts, fruit, berries, grain, and in eggs, he finds this valuable seed-substance. This substance is supplied by the action of the secretions of the Genital Glands or sex-cells of animal or plant, and such office is undoubtedly a part of the varied functions of the sexual organism. Moreover, there is evidently “something more” in milk than the ordinary food materials contained in it.

The above, and many other discovered facts, have gradually led thoughtful investigators and observers to the conclusion that in the Genital Glands of animals and men there are secreted powerful and subtle chemical elements which are, in part at least, absorbed into the blood and thence carried to all parts of the system, there serving to energize, invigorate and strengthen the cells, organs, and parts of the body—including the brain and nervous system. Some have gone so far as to hazard the opinion that old age is chiefly due to the lessening of the supply of these secretions. From general hypothesis to particular theory, this thought has proceeded; and then, as usual, the special theory has sought expression, manifestation, and exemplification in actual experiment.

It was the natural, logical evolution of this thought which caused the early investigators among modern scientists to arrive at the conclusion that, if the Genital Glands actually do produce these internal secretions, then if these secretions could be introduced artificially into the system there should result a marked and definite physiological change. This was accompanied by the belief that certain abnormal physical conditions caused by a deficiency of such secretions might be remedied by the supplying of the particular elements contained in them. From this basic position the experiments of the early investigators proceeded.

Brown-Sequard was the pioneer in this experimental work, although he was aided by the earlier investigations of Berthold and Bernard. Brown-Sequard, an eminent physiologist, the professor of experimental medicine at the College de France, in the year 1889, announced the startling results of certain experiments conducted by him over a period of several years. He started with the basic hypothesis that: “All glands of the body, whether they are excretory canals or not, give to the blood useful principles, the absence of which is felt when the glands are extirpated or destroyed by disease.”

Upon this basis, he reasoned that from his experiments he had demonstrated conclusively that human life, and physical and mental vigor, could be prolonged by means of the administering of a hypodermic injection of a fluid extract in which the testicles of sheep had been macerated: this extract being the afterward famous “Brown-Sequard Elixir.” The value of this discovery, and the reputation of the discovery, were seriously affected by the sensational announcements of the newspapers concerning the “Elixir of Life,” and by the ridicule and abuse which came as the result of the reaction of the disappointed general public who had been lead to expect a miracle—the boon of Eternal Youth and Physical Immortality.

This unfortunate reaction, and the resulting ridicule, operated so as to bring disfavor upon the discovery and the experiments which had led to them: the real merits of the theory and experiments were lost sight of for a long time. Later, however, interest in the discovery was reawakened by new experiments which served to substantiate them, and at present Brown-Sequard is regarded as a pioneer in the now important branch of medical theory and practice. A leading reference work says of him and his work: “Recent experiments serve to substantiate the views and statements of Brown-Sequard. His famous Elixir, consisting of an extract of lamb’s testicles, he administered to himself, and reported marvelous stimulating and rejuvenating effects. While other observers failed to substantiate his somewhat extravagant assertions, it was recognized that there undoubtedly existed a powerful oxidizing and stimulating element in these organs, and physiologists were led into wider fields of investigation.”

Science has not as yet determined the exact way in which the internal secretions of the genital glands produce general physical and mental changes in the individual, but the following quotations from authoritative reference works will serve to indicate the general direction of scientific thought on the subject:

“It is known that several, perhaps very many, if not all glands have also the power of secreting substances to which Starling has given the name of ‘hormones.’ These pass into the blood and cause other glands to secrete. Thus, an acid in the duodenum causes it to secrete a hormone to which the name of ‘secretin’ is given. This passes to the pancreas and causes increased secretion from that gland. It is probable that the pancreas, in turn, also secretes something which activates a ferment in the muscles. It is evident therefore that the connection between the different glands of the body is a very complicated one, and that the effects of a drug which acts upon any one of them may be of a very far-reaching character. It is by no means impossible that all glands have a double or even triple function, and that sometimes the external may be even less important than the internal secretion. On this point, however, we have but little definite knowledge, and a great field is open for future research. At the same time, there are many indications of the importance of an internal secretion in popular treatment. * * * It now seems probable that all glands which have what may be termed an external secretion ... have also an internal secretion, so that while they are pouring out one secretion from the ducts into the intestine or external air, they are also pouring into the lymphatics, and thus into the blood, an internal secretion. In fact, a splitting appears to take place in the process of secretion somewhat resembling that which takes place in the formation of a toxin and anti-toxin.”

Another authoritative reference work gives the following interesting statement concerning the mutual affinity of certain secretions for certain other glands, and of the mutual antagonism observed to exist between others:

“The Suprarenal Glands have been shown to be stimulated by, and to work in harmony with, the Thyroid and Pituitary; they antagonize the Pancreas, especially in the control of sugar secretion; they inhibit the Thymus and Secretin, and stimulate the Testic and Ovary. The Thyroid stimulates and is stimulated by the Reproductive Glands, co-operates with the Hypophysis, stimulates the Adrenals, and inhibits the Pancreas. Thyroid secretion in excess stimulates the Intestines. The posterior lobe of the Hypophysis stimulates the smooth muscle of the Uterus and Intestines, co-operates with the Thyroid, stimulates the Mammae, and is antagonized by the Ovary and Pineal Body. There is said to be an antagonistic action between it and the Pancreas. The Pancreas controls and is controlled by the Adrenals, and is assisted by the Parathyroids; it is stimulated by the secretion formed in the Duodenal Mucosa, and is apparently inhibited by the Thyroid and the Hypophysis. The Spleen is believed to have a stimulating influence upon the Stomach and digestion generally, and to furnish a stimulant to the muscles of the Intestines. When to these actions and cross-actions are added those of the Reproductive Glands, the Pineal Body, the Thymus, Parathyroids, Mammae, and Liver, it will be appreciated that the subject of the Internal Secretions is one of no little delicacy.”

One of the most significant hints along these lines so far offered by Science is that in which is pointed out the close affinity existing between the Genital Glands and the Thyroid Glands. Again, in this connection, may be pointed out the close affinity between the Brain and the Genital Organism, on the one hand; and the close affinity existing between the Brain and the Thyroid, on the other hand. Here we seem to have a triangle of sympathetic action, or affinity of process: the three respective sides being represented by (1) the Brain, (2) the Thyroid, and (3) the Genitals, respectively.

We need not dwell here upon the close affinity between Brain and Genital Glands, or upon their action and reaction—this is too well known to require extended discussion. You know that excessive mental work will weaken the genital powers; and that excessive sexual activity will weaken the brain action: these are matters of common knowledge and general experience, needing no elaboration or argument.

As for the other phases of the triangular affinity, we may refer, in the first place, to the well-established relation between the Thyroid and the Genital Organism; and, in the second place, to the result of deficiency in the Thyroid secretions in the direction of producing impaired Brain action and even idiocy. Treatment of mental weakness by means of Thyroid extract has proved quite successful. There is here seen to be a close relation of Brain, Thyroid, and Genital Glands.

An Authoritative reference work says: “Under the influence of Thyroid Gland these symptoms (those of myxoedema) disappear, and the patient is frequently restored to a normal condition. When the Thyroid Gland is absent in children, not only is the expression of the face dull and heavy as in the adult, but the growth both of body and mind is arrested, and the child remains a stunted idiot. The effect of the administering of Thyroid Gland in such cases is marvelous, the child growing in body and becoming healthy and intelligent. In the case of the Thyroid the function of the gland appears to be to prepare a secretion which is poured out into the blood and alters tissue-changes.”

Whatever may be the true and final explanation, however, it is a fact proved by many experiments that extracts prepared from the secretions of the Genital Organs frequently produce marvelous physiological and psychological changes in the organism into which they are injected or otherwise administered. Since the time of Brown-Sequard there have been many earnest investigators and experimenters along these lines, publicity being avoided, however, for obvious reasons since the unfortunate Brown-Sequard experience. There have been many cases reported in medical journals of the reinvigorating effect of administered extracts of Testes or of Ova.

A reference work conservatively states: “Of the reproductive glands, orchitic (testicular) extract, while not enjoying much favor, has been shown to promote oxidation in the body, and has been given with varying results in hysteria, neurasthenia, locomotor ataxia, epilepsy, and insanity. Ovarian extract is similar in its action, though less powerful. An intensified effect is obtained from extract of the corpus luteum. These substances have been used in chlorosis, in the nervous disturbances following oophorectomy, and during the menopause. Great caution is advised in their use.”

However, the most striking proofs of the effects produced upon the general physical and mental being of the individual by the action of the internal secretions of the Genital Glands are those which have been furnished during the past few years by the surgical experimenters along the lines of “Gland Transplantation” in animals and in human beings. The records of this phase of modern advanced surgery read like fairy-tales, and the leading practitioners in this branch of therapeutics run a great danger of suffering as did Brown-Sequard by reason of sensational newspaper reports, and the subsequent reaction of a disappointed general public. The public is being led to expect miracles, and is likely to become indignant when it is told that the whole subject is still merely in the experimental stage, and that Nature’s rigid laws still are operative.

Gland Transplantation

We shall now ask you to consider the plain, actual facts of “Genital Gland Transplantation” as reported in serious scientific works, and which are now receiving extended notice on the part of the scientific reviews and similar publications. Ignoring the fantastic reports which have already been begun by certain more or less sensational newspapers, the facts of the case as they are reported by the serious and careful scientific publications are substantially as follows:

Steinach, an eminent Viennese surgeon, startled the scientific world several years ago by announcing that he had succeeded in transforming male animals into females, and vice-versa. His experiments were conducted upon small animals, generally upon rats and guinea-pigs, and consisted of the transplanting of the Genital Glands from the animal of one sex to the body of the animal of the opposite sex. The rats or guinea pigs were first castrated, and then the ovaries or testes (as the case might be) were transplanted, or implanted.

When the operation was successful, the animal subsequently lost its original secondary sexual characteristics and assumed those corresponding to the sex-character of the implanted gland.

Thus, the males became females, and the females became males, so far as their secondary sex characteristics were concerned; when the operations were failures, the animals became neuters manifesting no special secondary sex characteristics.

Steinach, as the result of these experiments, announced his theory that the differences in secondary sex characteristics between male and female arise not from the anatomical character of the sex organs, but rather from the secretions of certain genital cells. These cells, called Leydig cells, or Lutein cells, were found to manifest a secretion which determines the secondary sexual characteristics of the animal. “These cells,” said Steinach, “are really glands.” These secretions of the transplanted glands developed feminine physical form and mental and emotional characteristics in the female animal, and masculine physical form, and mental and emotional characteristics, in the female animal.

But this, important as it was in itself, was but the beginning of Steinach’s startling discoveries. He also found that upon the state and activity of these sexual glands depended largely the health, vigor, and general vitality of the individual animal. His series of experiments proved this beyond question. Steinach found that individual animals were often much younger than their age would indicate, or much older; investigation revealed a direct connection between this youthfulness or “oldness” and the state and condition of these particular glands. This was found true concerning both males and females.

Steinach then came to the conclusion that it might be possible to give new youth to an old animal by supplying him with new Genital Glands. So he began to experiment upon old rats for this purpose. The aged male rat is marked by a coarse, bristly coat, falling out of the hair, sinking of the head, excessive curvature of the back, loss of weight, weakness of muscle, and similar signs of senility; his pugnacity disappears, his eyes blink, his face assumes a stupid expression, and he apparently loses all interest in life.

By means of Roentgen rays, ligatures of the Genital Glands and by the grafting of the Genital Glands of young rats upon old ones, Steinach obtained the almost miraculous result of transforming their advanced senility into youthful vigor and energy. The once old rats became young in every way. They assumed a youthful contour and form, and manifested youthful physical and mental, as well as emotional characteristics.

The experiments have now proceeded so far that the “old rats made young,” again growing old by the passage of time, have been “made young” for the second time, and with the same remarkable results. How long this process of repeated renewal of youth may be continued remains for time to decide—the experiments are too recent to allow of this question being decided.

A general and popular account of the Steinach experiments appeared in “The Literary Digest,” published November 20, 1920; from which the following is culled:

“A man named Steinach, in Vienna, has been experimenting for ten years with rats. Full accounts of his work were published last summer in the great biological journal founded by Roux, and these were summarized and discussed by the ‘London Athenaeum,’ which is now the most interesting of all English weeklies. It is from the ‘Athanaeum’s’ account that I am taking these facts. Steinach has been studying the interstitial cells that fill in the spaces between the tubules of the testes in males, and between the follicles of the ovaries in females. His reason for choosing these cells for his experiments is that they are a well-spring of life. Furthermore, since all our vital functions are interrelated, to make these cells active gives the whole organism new life and strength. This is not the only way of stimulating the organism, but it seems the most powerful.

“An old rat is like a senile old man; he is bald and emaciated, his eyes are clouded, his breathing is labored. He stays in one place, with bent back, and has small interest in anything. If you cut (or ligate?) one of his genital ducts, however, which is a comparatively slight operation, it has the effect of making the interstitial cells multiply actively. Waves of life flood his being. Within a few weeks he is transformed. These currents restore and rebuild him; skin, muscle and mind. Both in looks and behavior he is indistinguishable from other strong rats. He has cast off old age. Senility begins after twenty or thirty months in a rat. He is then about through. But when an operation is performed on a senile rat he gets from six to eight months’ new life. In other words, the addition to his normal span is 20 to 30 per cent. The rat lives it vigorously, eagerly, back to his prime. When senility again comes upon him it is in a modified form. His organism as a whole is in better shape. It is his mind now that tires. As Steinach has already cut (or ligated?) one or both of his genital ducts, that method of stimulating his cells cannot, of course, be repeated. But another operation is ready. Some unfortunate young male is deprived of his testes by Steinach, and these are implanted forthwith in this hoary old rat. A second spell of active life follows, not so long as the first. It ends in acute psychic senility. The rat goes all to pieces. It is as if the brain, twice restimulated to emotion, curiosity, keenness, had approached the very limit of its running, and was completely exhausted.

“Steinach has not as yet tried whether a third rejuvenation is possible. That remains to be seen. He lives in Vienna, and everything there has come to a stop. He has no assistants, no funds, with which to conduct further experiments. ‘May happier lands or cities carry the work on,’ he writes at the end. Steinach has naturally found it more difficult to give new youth to females. But here, too, he has in a measure succeeded. X-Ray treatment and ovarian transplantation are the methods employed. As to human experiments, there is a colleague of Steinach’s named Lichtenstern, who has operated on numerous men and women with apparent success. There has not been time yet to measure how long their new lease of life is to be; but they have regained the joy of life they had lost—strength and powers of work. Still, all this needs confirming.”

In “Current Opinion” for January, 1921, there appeared a general mention of the work of Steinach, based upon an article in the “Illustrirte Zeitung” written by Dr. Erich Ebsteain, who apparently confirms the reports of the success of the Steinach experiments. The article in question contains the following interesting statements:

“These cells are really glands. Whether an individual be in a state of vigor or debility depends upon the state of these glands. Sometimes we see a person advanced in years who has more strength and more vitality than one of half his age. The difference is due to the state of the glands to which Steinach thus directs attention. Steinach asked himself if it were possible, through a special treatment of these glands, to renew the vigor of youth in the aged or in the debilitated. The thing called youth may be the effect of the freshness of these glands. * * * * A little over two years ago Steinach encouraged two of his pupils to undertake the surgery of rejuvenation upon human objects. The results were in many instances no less remarkable than those obtained with rats. There was a renewal of physical vigor, a diminution of the trembling of the hands, a finer bearing, more alertness mentally.

“It was observed that the rates thus operated on had their lives prolonged considerably beyond the normal longevity for their species. How long these effects may endure in the case of human beings is yet to be determined, because this form of surgery is of too recent origin to draw sweeping inferences. Certain it is that the gland surgery practiced upon the rat attains results no less striking when applied to aged men and aged women. Repeated experiments seem to confirm the theory of Steinach that sex characteristics do not reside where they have hitherto been assumed to reside, but in the glands which give forth a secretion known by the name of Boux, after the brilliant physiologist whose theories first gave Steinach his clue.”

While Steinach and his students have been conducting experiments along the lines above indicated, there have been others in Europe and America who have been making similar experiments, and who have evolved from the original experiments upon the lower animals to such an extent that they are now performing similar operations upon human individuals, with, at least in many cases, quite remarkable results, so far as the reports indicate. We shall now ask you to consider in brief outline the nature and results of such experiments and lines of treatment; for, apart from their own general interest and importance, these have a direct bearing upon the subject of Regeneration by methods entirely different from their own—psychological methods, not surgical operations. The physiological principle, however, is the same in both forms of treatment or procedure.

It is somewhat difficult to obtain definite details concerning the experiments now being conducted by a number of surgeons in Europe and the United States in the direction of the transplanting of the Genital Glands of animals into the bodies of men and women. This difficulty arises from several causes, among which the principal are (1) the observance of professional ethics in the matter of sensational reports partaking of the nature of advertising; (2) the fear of sensational newspaper reports, highly seasoned, and almost invariably followed by the reaction of the popular mind accompanied by ridicule and abuse, and (3) the reluctance of the patient concerning public notoriety which is usually accompanied by ridicule, adverse comment, and mistaken estimates of the causes leading the patient to undergo such an operation.

The last named cause is particularly effective in preventing publicity. The popular mind, hearing of operations of this kind, seems to jump to the conclusion that the patient has undergone the operation for the purpose of regaining lost sexual power, or for strengthening weak sexual power—“sexual power” being construed as meaning the power to indulge in the sexual act with a marked degree of frequency and repetition. This last conception, coupled with the fact that goats’ glands are usually employed in the transplantation, the goat being commonly known as an abnormally lustful animal, causes a derisive and scornful comment and criticism which the average man or woman dreads and shuns.

The injustice of criticism of this kind is particularly marked in this case, for the reason that the operation is usually undertaken not for the purpose of obtaining increase of the power to indulge frequently in the sexual act, but rather for the cure of general debility, nervous prostration, premature senility, and similar complaints. Moreover, the surgeons performing this class of operations almost invariably caution their patients against subsequent excessive sexual indulgence, and preach most vigorously the doctrine of the Conservation of the Life Forces imminent in the sexual-gland secretions. Their instructions to the patient, and the treatment itself, are based upon the principle that the vital fluids generated in the male and female Genital Glands (the Testes and the Ovaries), which are not expended in the reproductive processes, are taken up by the blood and are then absorbed by the various tissues of the body-strength, health, vigor, and, improved functioning power thus being imparted to them.

Indeed, in many cases the surgeons have employed certain methods well known to physicians to restrain the reinvigorated man from sexual indulgence for at least a year following the operation, in order that he may conserve and receive the benefit of the reabsorbed internal secretions of the Genital Glands which had been stimulated into renewed activity by the operation. These surgeons vary this practice only in exceptional cases in which offspring are desired by the reinvigorated patient. It is generally held by the surgeons practicing this method that overindulgence in the sexual act, following the reinvigoration caused by the implantation of the goat’s glands, will defeat and nullify the benefits which normally arise from the increased stimulation. “Conservation and Regeneration” is the slogan of these practitioners.

The transplanting operation, however, is reported as having been quite successful in the cure of sterility of both man and woman. This, of course, means nothing more than increased generative power, and not Regenerative Power in general. More important, therefore, are the numerous reported cases of marked cures effected by the transplantation of the Genital Glands in cases of nervous prostration, general debility, feeble mentality, insanity, dementia praecox, locomotor ataxia, mental depression, melancholia, prostatitis, hardening of the arteries, high blood-pressure, failing eyesight, vertigo, defective hearing and deafness, chronic constipation, chronic skin diseases, eczema, psoriasis, senility, etc., and of “general breakdown.”

It is claimed that in many cases the patients undergoing the transplantation operation become rejuvenated in physical appearance, their eyes becoming brighter, their skin clearer and softer, and their carriage and walk becoming like those of much younger persons. Hardened arteries are reported to have been transformed into normal condition and functioning, and high blood-pressure to have disappeared. In some cases, women who had passed the Menopause stage of life have had a return of the menstrual flow. In short, these men and women seem to have responded to the treatment just as did Steinach’s rats and guinea-pigs—they have “taken on a new lease of life.”

Of course, it is too early to determine just how long this renewed youth and vigor will continue, or whether it may again be renewed when age again makes its appearance; but cases treated three or four years ago are said to show no sign of a relapse, or of a loss of their renewed vitality. Some have estimated the probable continuance of the effect of the transplanting at about fifteen years, and they hold that the experiments upon animals justify the hope of the successful renewal of the effect by a second operation at the end of that time. These advanced experimenters dream of the increase of man’s normal life from the proverbial “three-score-and-ten” to at least twice that number of years—but this realization belongs to the future, and is but tentative conjecture at the present time.

The gland-transplantation is usually effected by implanting the Genital Gland of a young male goat into the body of the man; and the Genital Glands of a young female goat into the woman; the transplanting being performed within a few minutes after the removal of the glands from the living goats. Sometimes the whole gland is implanted; again only a portion. Women are reported as responding to the treatment even more rapidly and more decidedly than men, so far as is concerned the return of youthful physical appearance, youthful spirits, and youthful mental vigor.

The following selected quotations from an article appearing in “The New York American,” of March 14, 1920, will furnish some further interesting information concerning the details of this form of surgical treatment. The article in question contains an interview with Dr. J. R. Brinkley, an American surgeon, who has performed a number of these operations during the past several years. Dr. Brinkley is reported as saying:

“Where substitution of glands of any character is essential, they should be taken from the goat operated upon immediately before the human implanting, and be inserted at once. Glands should not be taken from the ape or other animals for human use. The goat is immune to tuberculosis. He is a clean animal, full of health and vitality. Apes are very subject to tuberculosis. One can never tell whether or not an ape is entirely free from disease. It is generally unlawful to substitute our human glands, and, even though they could be readily obtained, they are apt to be infected with some disease. * * *

“The goat alone among mammals reacts to poisons almost identically as human beings react, and the poison gases of the war had precisely the same effect upon him as upon the soldiers. So 1,500 goats did their bit in the war in an experimental way. These points in his favor, and other similarities to man, are the reasons which led me to select the goat as the best possible material in this work. Goat-glands alone seem to be harmonious and sympathetic when transplanted into the human body. In other words, the hormones of goat and man agree.

We still know less about the causes of hormones than the effects. On account of the mutual tolerance of goat and human hormones, the goat gland speedily attaches a blood supply in the human body, and cell by cell is replaced so that it soon functions as the original gland would had it been present and normal. * * *

“I have named the process ‘re-creative gland operation’ in accordance with the belief now general among genetists and anatomists that if the clock of time is ever to be turned back for humanity it can be only through glandular transplantations. Glands have proved much superior to any animal extract or serum in this class of cases. Often in serums the poison elements are retained, but not the nutritive. We use the whole goat gland, as a rule, because we do not know in what part of it the hormones hide. The attempted transplantation of kidneys have thus far failed, because the kidney product is waste matter, not live cells as in the case of the interstitial glands.”

We have directed your attention to the foregoing reports of the Steinach experiments, and those of the operation of gland transplantation upon human beings, merely for the purpose of illustrating and proving the modern interest in the subject on the part of scientific investigators, and the existence of a scientific basis for the general principle of Regeneration. These experiments undoubtedly are of great importance in the field of scientific research along the lines of the determination of the offices of the Ductless Glands, the internal secretions, the hormones, etc., as well as along those of the nature of the derivative offices and functions of the sexual organism. Moreover, these experiments seemingly indicate the opening of a new and important branch of surgical practice, and practical therapy.

But with such matters, important though they may be in their own field, we have no immediate concern in this inquiry into the principles of Regeneration. Having employed these reports as illustrations of a general principle, we may now be permitted to pass beyond them in our general inquiry. We believe that the average human being is able to increase, develop, and manifest his Regenerative Power by purely psychological methods; however, these methods bring actively into play the purely physiological processes of the body.

While in exceptional cases the individual may be justified in seeking medical or surgical methods of developing Regenerative Power—of employing glandular extracts, or gland transplantation—we believe that in the great majority of cases the individual may accomplish the desired result, and obtain the hoped for effect, by the employment of the purely psychological methods to which we have referred, and which we shall now proceed to consider in detail in this inquiry and instruction.

The Secret of Regeneration

A careful analysis of the methods employed by the ancient sages and their followers in the processes of Regeneration, and an equally careful analysis of the methods employed by the modern scientific experimenters along the same general lines, reveals the presence of a common underlying principle of applying and directing the regenerative forces of the Sex Energy of the individual.

This common underlying principle of application and direction is found to consist of the awakening and arousing of the subtle elements of the internal secretions of the Genital Glands, and the direction of their energies into the channels of the general invigoration, stimulation, and vitalization of the various glands, organs, and nerve-centres of the entire physical organism. The invigoration, stimulation and vitalization of the brain result in an increase of mental efficiency; the invigoration, stimulation and vitalization of the other physical centres result in an increase of physical efficiency, health, and vigor.

The careful investigator of the phenomena of Regeneration, if he be well informed concerning the subject of the effect and influence of the psychological factors upon the physical factors of the human organism, soon discovers that the ancient teachers of Regeneration called into activity and effect these psychological factors, which, in turn, brought into action and effect the physical factors. Likewise, the modern scientific experimenters, while calling into action and effect the purely physical factors, also have brought into action and effect the purely psychological factors.

This joint and coordinated action and effect is produced by each of these different classes of experimenters and investigators, notwithstanding the fact that each class seemingly overlooks the particular factor which is not emphasized in its own theory and practice, and notwithstanding the fact that each class attributes the obtained result to the presence and activity of the particular factor which is especially emphasized in its own theory and teaching. You will see how this has worked out as we now proceed to consider the respective theories of these different classes of investigators and experimenters.

The ancient sages, and the teachers of the esoteric schools, believed that the Sex Energy is an immaterial energy abiding in the physical organism, just as electricity or magnetism abides in physical substances. They knew nothing of “internal secretions,” or “hormones,” or of the chemical organic substances in which the regenerative force of Nature abides. They were right so far as their knowledge extended, but their knowledge of physical processes did not go far enough. They discovered that these subtle energies of the body may be called into activity, and directed into action, by means of the exercise of thought and will. Here again they were right concerning the main facts, though ignorant of the intermediate stage of the processes employed.

Not knowing anything of the physical regenerative factors, they never dreamt of producing Regeneration in the lower animals; and for that matter, the minds of the animals not being capable of being appealed to, or set into operation, their methods would have been without effect in such cases. Their entire attention was fixed upon the psychological processes involved in the manifestation of Regeneration, and these processes seemed to them to have no logical or natural relation to those processes which they recognized as being purely physical.

The modern, scientific investigators and experimenters, on the contrary, recognize only the purely physical factors involved in their experiments and the results of these; the psychological factors involved being practically ignored by them. They are strengthened in this mental attitude by the fact that the same class of results are obtained in the experiments upon the lower animals, in which the psychological element is clearly absent. To them, the entire process is of a chemico-physiological character. They recognize the existence of certain subtle, potent chemical substances secreted by the organism, and they perceive the effect upon the general physical system of the stimulation and increase of these secretions. The chemico-physiological explanation is sufficient to account for the results, and they see no need of looking for a further explanation in psychology.

But, in spite of this, the psychological factor is present and operative, at least to some extent, in all cases in which the subject of the experiment is a human being having a knowledge of, or at least a suspicion of, the object sought to be obtained by the experiment. The element of Suggestion enters into the equation, even though it be not invited; and where Suggestion is present and active, there the powers of the Subconscious (or Unconscious) Mentality are active in the direction of producing results and effects. Just as, in a similar way, Suggestion causes an increased secretion in many other glands of the human body, so does it increase the secretion of the Genital Glands; and just as the direction of the vital forces and processes is influenced by Suggestion, so is the direction of the Regenerative processes so influenced.

In other volumes of this series of books we have explained the part played by the Subconscious Mentality in the human physical economy. One phase of this plane of mentality presides over the vital and physiological processes, and exercises the power of law and order over them. The physical processes are not purely chemico-mechanical activities, but are directly under the influence and direction of the Subconscious Mentality, or “Unconscious Mind” as some have preferred to call it. Moreover, this Subconscious Mentality, or Unconscious Mind, which presides over the physical processes, is always more or less amenable to Suggestion and more or less under the possible direction of Will. The Thought and the Will of the individual are capable of producing either Disease or Health in his body, according to laws and principles now well understood and recognized by Science. Accordingly, the physiological processes involved in Regeneration may be, and often are, strongly influenced by the Thought and Will of the individual.

The foregoing facts logically lead the careful thinker to the conclusion that the methods of the modern scientific investigators and experimenters may be improved and rendered far more efficient by means of a definite and deliberate application of the principles of Psycho-Therapy to the work of Regeneration, in addition to employment of the purely physical methods of the administration of the gland-extracts of Organotherapy or the implantation of the Genital Glands by means of a surgical operation. Such a thinker will be apt to decide that if, in addition to these physical methods, the patient is led through Suggestion or Auto-Suggestion, or similar methods of Psycho-Therapy, to “confidently expect” the efficient operation of the physical mechanism thus called into action, in the definite direction and manner which he has been led to visualize clearly and strongly, and to employ his will power persistently in the same special direction, then the work of the physician or surgeon will be rendered far more effective and certain.

But, be this as it may, it is not our purpose here to attempt to point out to the physician or surgeon the methods by means of which his particular system of setting into operation the processes of Regeneration may be improved and rendered more effective. Not only would he most naturally resent being thus advised in such a matter by a non-medical layman, and would probably be justified in reminding the latter of the virtue of the old proverbs which recite the advisability of “minding your own business,” and which solemnly commands, “Shoemaker! Stick to your last!” but also, frankly, we are not here in the least concerned with the possible improvement of his methods, or the extension of his hypothesis.

Nor are we undertaking a propaganda in favor of the administration of gland-extracts, or of the gland implantation operation. Rather do we conceive the real purpose of our present consideration of the subject to be that of indicating the psychological methods whereby Regeneration may be effected and produced, and to point out how these methods may be improved and more efficiently applied than they were by the ancient teachers and their followers.

We believe that these ancient teachers and practitioners were essentially right in their general principles of application and method, although lacking in a complete theory concerning the fundamental principles involved in the process; and we believe that the fuller understanding concerning the chemico-physiological factors of the process, which has come to modern thinkers by reason of the researches, investigations and experiments of the scientific physiologists, will enable the modern psychotherapist to apply these old methods far more effectively, and in a more definite and positive form. The particulars of this improved method, and of the general theory underlying it, will form the subject of our instruction in the remaining pages of the present section of this book.

In the first place, modern psychology, particularly that phase of it which is concerned with the consideration of the influence of mental states upon physiological processes, furnishes the student with a wealth of illustrative material exemplifying the effect of emotional states upon the secretions of the body— upon the ordinary secretions and upon the internal secretions as well.

It is a matter of common knowledge that the secretion of the gastric and intestinal juices is largely augmented by the sight or even the thought and imaginative images of appetizing food. Actual experiments upon the lower animals have demonstrated that these digestive juices begin to be actively secreted by the animal when its favorite food is brought within its sight; and elaborate and ingenious experiments have shown that when the mind of a human being is filled with thoughts and imaginative images of appetizing food, then the secretion of such digestive fluids is largely increased.

Moreover, it is a matter of common experience among human beings that suggestions concerning delicious foods “make the mouth water” and cause the appetite to manifest itself; and that suggestions concerning the opposite class of substances result in producing feelings of nausea. The mere suggestion of sucking a lemon will cause an increased secretion and flow of saliva.

Again, the presence of the infant, or the sound of its hungry cry, will cause an increased secretion of milk within the mammary glands of the mother. It is also known that certain suggestions, thoughts, or emotions will tend to hasten the menstrual flow, while another class of emotions and suggestions will tend to retard it.

Certain strong emotions, particularly those of fright, will cause the secretion of chemical substances which will produce an evacuation of the bowels—an artificially induced diarrhea. Pleasant emotional states cause a flow of the digestive juices and promote the appetite; while unpleasant news, grief, worry and similar emotional states will cause one to lose all appetite for food.

Again, it has been proved that fear, anger, and especially jealousy, produce secretions which tend to poison the system; while cheerful, hopeful and inspiring mental states are seen to induce secretions which act as a physical tonic.

It is a matter of common experience, and of scientific record, that sad and depressing emotional states, long continued, tend to bring about a state of ill-health, lessened vitality, and even ultimate death; these physiological processes now being known to result directly from the presence and action of toxic secretions in the blood. On the other hand, it is as well known that the emotional states of successful love, certainty or strong hope of success in business or social undertakings, etc., will produce a marked improvement in the general health of the individual, in some cases almost “working a miracle” in his physical condition.

The effect of depressing emotions in the direction of inducing disease and retarding cure, and the effect of cheerful, inspiring emotions in the direction of maintaining or restoring health, are too well known to require extended argument to prove the action of the emotional states upon physiological conditions.

Finally, the effect of emotional states upon the sexual organism is well known to physicians, and recognized to at least some extent by the general public. That the sexual organism is aroused into activity and increased secretion by thoughts, mental images, and feelings of an amorous character is generally recognized. Indeed, in the case of young persons, physicians and moralists make a point of the importance of the avoidance of books, pictures, plays, and other suggestions which tend to arouse such feelings. There is on all sides the conviction that it is well “to keep the mind off such things.” The artificial stimulation of the sexual nature by erotic literature, suggestive pictures, amatory plays, etc., is an established fact. That such things stimulate the sexual secretions is undoubted.

In the second place, modern psychology, especially those of its phases which are concerned with the effect and influence of “mind” or “thought” upon general health or disease, or upon their special phases or forms, teaches positively that the character of one’s thoughts, fixed ideas, beliefs, and, above all, of his confident expectation, has a positive and decided effect upon the functioning of his physical organism. In fact, the whole structure of Mental Healing, Faith Cure, Suggestive Therapeutics, etc., rests upon the two principles of Therapeutic Psychology, or Psychological Therapeutics, which may be stated as follows: (1) the strong mental idea, thought, or mental picture of certain physical conditions, and (2) the confident expectation, lively hope, firm belief, or strong expectant attention directed toward the materialization or objectification of that idea, thought, or mental picture.

We do not deem it necessary to enter here upon an extended argument seeking to prove the truth of Mental Healing, or the Effect of the Mind upon the Body in the direction of producing Health or Disease. We feel warranted in assuming that you are sufficiently familiar with the accepted facts of the case, which are now known to most intelligent persons, to render needless any such extended argument or array of demonstrated facts. Psycho-Therapy is now an established and well-recognized branch of medical science; and the reaction of Body to Mind is now an accepted fact of both modern physiology and modern psychology.

But, in spite of the general public knowledge concerning the effect of Mind upon Body, there is found a general disposition to overlook the fact that, although the mental states constitute the prime motive element of the physiological effect, yet there are present intermediate physiological processes and factors which are required to produce the result. Though the mental state of the patient sets into operation the recuperative and reparative processes of Nature in the body of the individual, these processes manifest along the established and normal lines of physiological functioning.

In many, if indeed not in all, of the “mental cures,” the mind acts so as to set into activity the secretive functions of the various glands and organs, which acting upon the other glands, organs, and centres of the body bring about the restoration of normal health. The Mind is the prime, active agent; but it employs the mechanism and instruments of the physiological organism, among which the secretive processes hold a high rank. This fact is often overlooked by those who employ, and those who are benefited by, the powers of Mental Healing.

All this brings us down to the fact that in the processes of Regeneration, by means of which the general system is strengthened, re-invigorated, re-energized, by the forces and energies inherent in the internal secretions of the Genital Glands, there must be recognized the presence and action of two factors, one purely physiological, the other purely psychological.

The physiological factor, which is the only one recognized by the medical practitioners and surgeons treating and operating for the purpose of inducing and producing Regeneration, is that which is concerned with the production of the internal secretions of the Genital Glands, and their distribution to and their appropriation by the blood.

The psychological factor, which was the only one recognized by the ancient sages, and by many of their modern followers, is that which is concerned with the action of the mental states upon the physiological functions and activities—the employment of the Mind to set into operation the “forces” or “energies” of the Sex-Nature and to direct these to the general physical system, including the brain.

If you have followed us carefully in the foregoing consideration of the subject, you will see that our thought leads logically to the conclusion that the best and most effective methods to be employed in the processes of Regeneration are those methods which recognize and manifest the following two principles: (1) the existence of the special secretions of the Genital Glands which are designed for, and which operate in the direction of, the promotion, preservation and maintenance of the general vigor, strength, and energy of the entire body; and (2) the existence of certain powers of the mind which are capable of calling into efficient and effective activity the energies inherent in these special secretions of the Genital Glands, and of directing them to such parts of the body which may require increased strength and vitality, or to the entire physical system as a whole.

You will also note that in this suggested method, or methods, there are combined the essential theory and facts both of the ancient sages and teachers of Regeneration, and of the modern scientific practitioners who are striving to produce the manifestation of Regenerative Power by means of the administration of gland-extracts, or by gland implantation, or both, The physiological facts are admitted and are taken actively into consideration; the psychological activities and powers are employed under the guidance and direction of the mind, thought, and will of the individual.

That the ancient sages and their followers obtained wonderful results in Regeneration by means of the practice of their general principles of application, i. e., the employment of the powers of the mind in the direction of arousing and distributing the Regenerative Power, cannot be denied. Many thousands have testified to the virtues and efficacy of their methods for many centuries, and their underlying principles constitute the essence of many schools of belief and practice at the present time. But, as all students of practical psychology must admit, the old sages lacked the clear visualization of the operation of the physiological processes which is now possible, and thereby were unable to employ the mental powers with the greatest efficiency—for a clear-cut, definite mental picture of the physical processes aids materially in its materialization. This deficiency is overcome by the combination-method now suggested.

Likewise, the modern scientific investigators and experimenters have produced wonderful results by means of the practice of their general principles of application, i. e., the introduction of the genital secretions into the system by the administration of gland-extracts or by the operation of gland implantation. But, as all students of Psycho-Therapy must admit, they have overlooked, or else discarded, the additional element of the Power of the Mind in the phases of Ideation, Visualization, and Volition, which would have enormously increased the efficacy of their methods. Their introduced secretions, if stimulated by the mind and directed by the will of the patient, would be far more effective than under the present system in which the psychological factors and elements of Regeneration are overlooked or ignored.

In this case, as in many others in all fields of human thought and work, the Secret is found in the reconciliation and harmonizing of the two principles which are apparently antithetically opposite to each other and having no common ground of identity or agreement, but which, at the last, are seen by the vision or Intuition to be really but the two polar extremes of the same general truth or principle—the two sides of the same shield.

The Practice of Regeneration

In the practice of Regeneration according to the methods of the ancient sages, modified by the discoveries of the later investigators of the subject, and employed in the light of the modern scientific knowledge concerning the nature of the internal secretions of the Genital Glands, the following three general principles are to be employed:

General Principles of Practice

(1) The employment of the psychological powers in the direction of the normal production of the internal secretions of the Genital Glands for the purposes of physical and mental reinvigoration, recuperation and revitalization; (2) The employment of the psychological powers in the direction of a sane and rational temperance in the matter of the expenditure of the sexual energies in the primary activities of the sex nature, and (3) the employment of the psychological powers in the direction of an efficient distribution of the internal secretions and sexual energies to the general physical and mental organism. These three several principles of the practice of Regeneration we shall now ask you to consider in detail.

I. The Production of Regenerative Power. In the lower animal kingdom, Nature employs the subconscious or unconscious mentality of the creatures in the production of both the generative cells and the regenerative secretions and energies, at the appropriate times and in the normal quantities, without any interference or assistance from the conscious mentality. But man, here as elsewhere, pays the price of the evolution of his conscious mentality while also reaping the benefits.

In many different ways man has consciously interfered with the normal and regular operations of his subconscious mind, and as a result he has brought on more or less abnormal physical conditions which are unknown among the lower animals. For ages he has suffered more or less by reason of this; the higher he has mounted the ladder of conscious mentality the more has he interfered with the natural, instinctive operations of the subconscious mentality presiding over his physical functions.

Of course, Nature has managed to overcome this difficulty to a considerable extent by the exercise of her seemingly boundless ingenuity, but in spite of this man has managed to throw many obstacles in the path of Nature—he has poured sand into Natures oil-cups, and has thrown scrap-iron into delicate parts of her intricate machinery. The study of Psycho-Therapy, Suggestion, and the general subject of the Influence of Mental States upon Physical Conditions will furnish countless illustrations of the above stated general principle.

But, here as elsewhere, a still higher knowledge is now tending to “lead man out of this unfortunate condition, and in the end he will be all the better for his employment of his conscious mind in reference to his physical processes. This, because he is now learning that just as the conscious mind may interfere with the normal processes of the subconscious mentality presiding over the physical functions, so it may be employed to aid and encourage this subconscious mentality in its beneficent vital activities. The wonderful results of the various forms of Mental Healing afford an illustration of this fact; and every day men are learning that the right kind of mental states will not only bring about a restoration of health but will also preserve, maintain and promote the normal condition of health.

Man in his original and primitive state was like any of the higher animals in his employment of his sexual powers. He used these powers solely for the purpose of reproduction, in response to the instinctive urge, and was governed by the instinctive promptings of the female of the species, as are all the higher animals; the sexual act normally being performed only at certain periods determined by the instincts of the female, and being refrained from during the period of gestation and nursing.

As man evolved in conscious mentality he began to cultivate deliberately his sex indulgences, and to exercise his sex powers in a manner and to an extent unknown to the higher animals. There is no higher animal which violates the natural; instinctive sex rules as does man. Man has developed the habit of sex indulgence in and out of season, and in direct contradiction to the normal promptings of the female nature. He has developed race habits which have became “second nature.” He has broken down the instinct which causes the female animal to repulse the advances of the male at all times except those of the mating period, and which causes the male animal to evince no interest in the sexual activities while the female is pregnant or while she is nursing her young.

In short, man has gradually transformed the sexual activities from their natural manifestation of reproduction into their abnormal manifestation of a regular, oft-repeated, physical performance which affords satisfying sensations. He has deliberately taken the sexual appetite, just as he has taken the other physical appetites, away from the simple, natural, normal plane of manifestation.

This habit has been strengthened during the long history of the race, until at the present time the natural and normal purpose of the sexual organism has been lost sight of; the latter is now regarded as designed primarily for the purposes of pleasurable indulgence, its energies are artificially stimulated by the imagination and general thought on the subject, and its powers are recklessly wasted and dissipated in over-indulgence and excess. This, of course, is equally true of the functions of eating and drinking, for these also were designed by Nature for certain definite and simple purposes, but have now become perverted into sense-gratification which too often is carried to almost insane excesses.

On the other hand, the mind of man has suffered from a reaction from the above-stated perversion of the original sex nature. Just as many men have made a god of sex-indulgence, and have bowed down before it and worshipped at its shrine, so have other men made a devil of it, and now speak and think of it as a malignant thing—a tempting demon to be feared and hated. This reaction has resulted in a decided perversion, namely that which has caused men to regard Sex as essentially evil, and as a work of the tempting, evil spirit in man’s nature.

Even those indulging in sexual excesses frequently speak of Sex in the coarsest, most abusive terms, and manifest an evident contempt for it even while making a god (or a devil) of it. Many who admit the power of Sex over them, and who make a habit of excessive sexual indulgence, frankly admit that they consider it “a necessary evil,” and feel inclined to apologize for its existence and its power over them. Many, at least tacitly, seem to regard Sex as akin to a drug-habit which, privately indulged in, excessively and often harmfully, is to be detested, abused and apologized for in public.

These two mental attitudes toward Sex, resulting from the action of and reaction from the perverted habits of the race which are so far removed from the evident intentions and purposes of Nature, have resulted in two strong, but opposite, general classes of mental states concerning thoughts, ideas, and mental pictures toward Sex.

On the one hand is the conscious mental attitude which is reflected in the subconscious mentality and which results in the active stimulation of the sexual nature for the purposes of sexual indulgence. This attitude, in its extreme form, results in the employment of every means of mental and emotional excitation of the sexual energies to the end of enabling the individual to manifest sexual activity frequently and repeatedly—this ability being mistaken for “sexual power,” and as something to be sought for and encouraged. This is clearly contrary to Nature.

On the other hand, there is the mental attitude which regards Sex as an evil, impure thing, all thoughts of which are to be resisted, inhibited and repressed so far as is possible—in this view Sex is regarded as a devilish device designed to trap the unwary and to lead them to perdition. As all modern psychologists and physiologists know, this perverted mental attitude really defeats its own object, and in the end brings on either more or less of sexual perversion or else occasional reactions in which the individual falls a victim to the, to him, devilish devices from which he is seeking to escape—the reaction carrying him to the other extreme.

Careful thinkers have seen that the escape from these two extremes of wrong-views is to be found only in that universal panacea—the Golden Mean between the two extremes. In this case the Golden Mean is the mental attitude of viewing Sex as just what it is in Nature’s eyes and mind, i. e., a natural, normal, clean, pure, physical process of reproduction of the species, proper and good in its right time and place, but neither a god to be worshiped nor yet a devil to be feared and dreaded. If men were to think and speak of Sex just as of any other natural function, then all the mystery would fall from it, and also all the exaggerated worship of it on one hand and the exaggerated fear and dread of it on the other hand. There is a great need of a mighty Teacher who will cast out from the Temple of Sex these false leering gods and grinning devils.

The understanding of the scientific principles of Regeneration will do much toward bringing about in the individual a sane mental balance concerning Sex. This sane balance and knowledge will set into operation and activity the natural powers of the sexual organism whereby the regenerative secretions are produced.

When the mind clearly perceives that the sexual organism has as one of its purposes the secretion of certain powerful substances containing energies which will produce mental and physical invigoration, energy and power, and that this energy is largely dissipated by the sexual excesses of the average individual, then will it gradually adjust itself to this new view, and will employ its subconscious powers in that direction rather than in the old way.

The new need being recognized, the subconscious mentality will proceed to supply it; the old need being seen to have been exaggerated, the subconscious mentality will no longer over-supply it, but will limit its supply to normal and natural proportions. A new, proper, normal and natural balance will be established, and the old, abnormal, “lop-sided’ adjustment will be replaced by the normal, well-balanced equipoise.

Likewise, this new and sane mental attitude toward Sex will do away with the perverted conception of Sex as an unclean, impure element of human nature. When it is perceived that Sex is essentially pure and worthy, and that all of “evil” connected with it arises from artificial, unnatural excesses and habits, then will cease that forced repression of all thoughts concerning the sexual nature, which repression is so often accompanied by or followed by the reaction to the other extreme. Just as the knowledge of the Truth is followed by the casting out of the false gods and hideous idols of Sex Worship, so is that knowledge followed by the casting out of the images of the devils and demons of Sex Revilement. As the ancient proverb said: “When the true gods arrive, the false gods and devils disappear.”

All this brings us up to the question of “The Production of Regenerative Power,” or the means of “The normal production of the internal secretions of the genital glands for the purpose of physical and mental reinvigoration, recuperation and revitalization.” We might devote many pages of detailed description of methods designed for this important purpose, but at the end the essence of the idea would be found to be contained in one paragraph, as follows:

Fix in your mind the clear, strong, definite idea or mental picture of the secretion of the Regenerative Substances by the Genital Glands, and add to the idea or picture the details of the purpose and certain effect of such secretions upon the entire mental and physical system. So far as possible, visualize the production of these regenerative elements, and the concentrated power latent within them. Desire earnestly and ardently that your organism shall secrete these substances in sufficient amount, and with sufficient power, to effect the results wished by you. Confidently expect that Nature will perform this work for you, through the processes of the subconscious mentality and the mechanism of the sexual organism. And, finally, set your will into operation with determination— persistently will that your subconscious mentality and your physical organism shall operate along the lines which you have clearly and strongly pictured, idealized and visualized, which you confidently expect to be actualized, and which you are now willing into operation. If you do this, Nature will do the rest.

Finally, do not permit yourself to be deluded by the teachings of certain mistaken teachers of Regeneration, and their followers, who hold that in order to produce a full secretion of Regenerative Power it is necessary, or at least advisable, to direct the thought and imagination toward amatory subjects or exciting images for the purpose of stimulating the sexual glands to additional secretion. Not only is this unnecessary, but it is positively contrary to the spirit of the true teachings of Regeneration; and the practice of such methods tend to produce results diametrically opposed to those of Regeneration.

We warn you positively against any such teachings and the methods based upon the same. Instead of “holding the thought” of sexually exciting things, you should hold the mind firmly and steadily upon the regenerative offices of the sexual-organism— its re-generative functions, not its generative ones. The ideal should be that of Conservation and Regeneration, not of indulgence, dissipation and the thoughts and objects leading up to them. We expressly caution you to use wise discrimination in this matter, and to beware of this wolf-teaching disguised in the garments of the Truth.

In the psychological principles and methods outlined in the single paragraph of instruction given a little further back you will find all that is required in the way of instruction along these special lines. You will find in that paragraph a complete working theory of practice, and an efficient practical working method of employing that theory, the application of which will set into activity and operation the psychological forces concerned with the Production of Regenerative Power.

If you will set these psychological forces into operation, then Nature will operate through the subconscious mentality which presides over the physical organism, and will produce these secretions in sufficient amount and strength, just as by means of similar methods she secretes the necessary gastric and intestinal juices, the bile, etc. Unmarried men and women need have no fear that the practice of these psychological methods will impair their reproductive powers when they enter into the married state of life. On the contrary, they will be even still better fitted for these important offices, when the time for them arrives, by reason of their previous avoidance of waste and dissipation of their reproductive powers and the appropriate secretions.

In this method, your conscious mind is concerned merely with the furnishing of the design, plan, mold, or pattern of that which you wish to be materialized or actualized—your subconscious mentality attends to the details of the process in its own special way. This is the same psychological principle which operates in all cases of Mental Healing, and in all instances of the Influence of Mind over Body. In it are called into action the three great psychological principles of Idealization, Visualization and Actualization. In it are manifested the great powers of “Definite Ideals, Insistent Desire, Confident Expectation and Persistent Determination.” If you will practice this method you will soon have actual proof of its effective performance, for you will experience the increased energy and power resulting from its, employment.

II. Sane and Rational Sexual Temperance. The excessive use, or rather the abuse, of the sexual organism in the direction of sexual indulgence is logically followed by the depletion of the regenerative powers of the general system, as well as by the waste which arises by reason of the diversion to the reproductive organism of the vital energy which Nature intends also to be distributed to the other organs, glands and centres of the system. The individual who wastes or dissipates his or her sexual energies inevitably draws upon Nature’s reserve forces intended for other purposes, and at the same time diverts from its legitimate channels the regenerative energies which Nature has provided for the invigoration, strengthening and vitalization of the whole system.

Wisdom plainly dictates a change in this respect. One who gives serious thought to the subject cannot well escape becoming impressed with the need of a hardy temperance in the employment of these important energies and secreted substances. The theory is plain, but the actual practice and application is soon perceived to be fraught with difficulties. Many of the teachers along the lines of Regeneration have failed by reason of their too radical and too extreme teachings concerning the methods to be employed, and the too rigid and inelastic rules laid down by them for the guidance of their followers.

Such teachers have overlooked, or else have deliberately ignored, the fact that many generations of excessive use or abuse of the sexual powers have resulted in the establishment of race-habits which have become firmly rooted in the race-consciousness, and which are most difficult to overcome. Attempts to observe faithfully such rules have often been followed by a natural reaction in which the whole idea has been rejected as impractical, impracticable and contrary to human nature.

Strictly speaking, it may be stated that the only legitimate purpose of the sexual relations between the sexes is that of reproduction; and that, accordingly, all other employment of them is illegitimate and abnormal. But, in view of the acquired habits of the race which are manifested in the marital relations of most individuals, attempts to confine the sexual relation to such comparatively infrequent exercise of the sexual powers have proved most difficult, and efforts in this direction have met with failure. Here, again, the Golden Mean must be sought. Fanaticism, extreme methods and rules, and similar courses are, therefore, to be avoided, and practical wisdom must be established and maintained.

For this reason, we shall not attempt to lay down positive, set, cut-and-dried, inflexible rules governing this matter. Instead, we shall content ourselves with urging our students to endeavor to use moderation, temperance, and normal self-restraint in their practice of Regeneration. We feel well satisfied in adopting this idea of the Golden Mean by reason of our knowledge that the individual who acquires a clear and full knowledge of the principles of Regeneration as set forth in this book will instinctively, subconsciously and almost automatically begin gradually to exercise such moderation, temperance and rational restraint in the case, without the severe struggle which usually follows the attempt to employ the extreme methods and rules laid down by the radical, extreme and sometimes fanatical teaching along these lines.

Knowledge usually operates to modify even the subconscious actions which are opposed to the known Truth. There is a great fact embodied in the statement that “the Truth shall set you free.” The knowledge of the truths concerning Regeneration will gradually filter down from the conscious to the subconscious mentality, and the latter will proceed to modify, tone down and bring to normal condition the desires which lead to such action. The desire and will to exercise the powers of Regeneration will tend to modify, neutralize and inhibit the will and desire to abuse the sexual powers and to dissipate their energies.

An old story of George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends (commonly known as the Quakers) will illustrate this psychological principle. The story relates that an ardent and extreme Quaker complained to Fox that William Penn, recently converted to Quakerism, persisted in wearing his sword; the wearing of weapons being opposed to the teachings and rules of the Friends. The complaining Quaker wished Fox to command Penn to discard his sword, or else to expel him from the Society. Fox, however, being well versed in human psychology, said: “Nay, let Friend William wear his sword so long as he feels a desire to do so; when the time comes for him to discard it, he will no longer wish to wear it!” Time proved the wisdom of Fox, for Penn eventually found within himself such a distaste for the wearing of a sword that, without commands, he discarded it. Had he been commanded to drop the sword before his inner consciousness dictated it, he would probably have rebelled and withdrawn from the Society.

And so, in the case before us, it usually will be found that the knowledge of the Truth, seeping into the inner consciousness and filtering down to the subconscious mentality, will cause the disappearance of the acquired, abnormal race-habits, and will bring the desire and will of the individual back to the normal standard. In the same way, the same causes will operate to remove the abnormal dread, fear and hatred of Sex from the minds of those who have entertained these feelings, and will thus remove the peril of the dangerous reactions from such mental attitude which we have noted, and will bring the individual back to the normal standard of a sane mental attitude toward Sex, with its inevitable accompaniment of temperance, moderation and desirable restraint and control.

In this connection we would add that the habit and practice of directing the sexual energy to the general system, in the method of Regeneration, will strongly tend to inhibit and neutralize the inordinate sexual cravings and urges toward indulgence which have rendered the practice of sexual temperance and moderation so difficult for so many persons. The diffusion of the sexual energies in this general direction will be found to relieve the localized pressure toward manifestation in sexual indulgence, and will serve to free the individual from the tyrant desires which in the past have led him astray from the path of wisdom, and often from the path of duty and morality. The transmutation of the sexual energy into mental and physical energy works a tremendous change in the nature and character of the struggle with the old acquired race-habits: this fact is attested to by thousands who have undergone this experience. At the same time, the ability to employ the sexual energy for the purposes of procreation is not affected or impaired.

Here is the General Rule: Strive for the Golden Mean; exercise moderation, temperance and self-control; strive to transmute the impulse into creative energy along the lines of mental and physical creative work; and remember always that, in the end, the Truth will set you free.

The subject of the Practice of Regeneration will be considered further in the following section of this book.

Transmutation

In the preceding section of this book you have considered the two phases of the practice of Regeneration known, respectively, as the Production of Regenerative Power, and the exercise of Sane and Rational Temperance in the use of the sexual energies in their primary offices. In the present section we shall ask you to consider the third phase of the Practice of Regeneration, namely, that phase known as the Direction of the Transmuted Sexual Energy.

III. The Direction of the Transmuted Sexual Energy. We have now reached that point in our inquiry and instruction concerned with the important subject of the employment of the psychological powers in the direction of an efficient distribution of the internal secretions and sexual energies to the general physical and mental organism. To this final end all the teaching and methods of Regeneration tend.

Here, as in the case of the normal production of these secretions and energies, we find that the essence of the methods to be employed may be condensed into a few sentences. The details of the practice must be left to the exercise of the judgment and common sense of the individual, but there is but little if any danger of his going astray in the matter once he has fixed in his mind the fundamental, basic essential principles. These fundamental and basic essential principles in the present case may be stated as follows:

Form in your mind the clear, definite, positive idea or mental picture of the presence within the Genital Glands of an abundant supply of the concentrated, potent Regenerative Power. Employ your ideative and imagining faculties to create a positive, clear and strong idea or mental image of the presence within you of such potent energies inherent in the internal secretions of the Genital Glands. At the same time cultivate the firm conviction and belief that these potent energies are capable of regenerating, reinvigorating and strengthening the entire physical and mental organism, or any part of it to which they may be specially directed by you; and, above all, endeavor to enter into a full recognition and realization of your power to so direct these energies to the parts of your organism selected by you, just as you would direct a stream of electricity or magnetism under your control and direction.

At the same time, you should awaken within yourself the strong, insistent desire and wish that these potent energies will flow under your direction, and according to your concentrated will, proceeding to the regions of your organism which you have selected for the purpose of Regeneration. This insistent desire is an important basis for the exercise of the persistent will. Finally, you should firmly, determinedly and persistently employ your will toward the end that these energies may flow freely when and where you may direct them, this direction being supplied by your mental picture or strong idea which serves as the chart, map, pattern, or mold for the actualization or materialization of the process.

In directing the flow of the Regenerative Power to any part of your physical or mental organism, you should first form the mental pattern, chart, or mold, which you desire to be followed in the actualization process. You must also actually “see” (mentally) the flow of the power to the parts, glands, or centres indicated in your mental chart or pattern. The more clearly you can visualize the process, the more effective will be the result. After you have practiced the method of Regeneration for a short time, this visualization and conscious use of the directing will become practically instinctive and automatic, the subconscious mentality having taken over the process as a habit, just as it does any action which you practice or perform frequently.

You may either “treat” your entire system in this way, or else you may direct the flow of power to any particular part, portion, or centre of your body which you may feel to require or likely to be specially benefited by the reinvigoration and strengthening. However, even when you treat special parts of the body in this way, it is well to conclude the treatment by a general treatment in which you “flush” or saturate the whole body with a supply of the reinvigorating power.

For increased mental power and activity, the current is to be directed to the brain; for increased breathing power, to the lungs; for increased muscular power, to the muscles in question; for increased digestive power, to the stomach and intestines; and so on, each organ or part receiving its special treatment.

Many have found it helpful to employ the rhythmic breathing method in connection with this process of directing the flow of the Regenerative Power. This method is simple: it consists merely of slow, deep, regular breathing, in slow measured rhythm or “regular time.” With each inhalation you should visualize the rise of the Regenerative Power to the Solar Plexus (in the region of the “pit of the stomach”), and with each exhalation you should visualize the outward flow (upward or downward, or both, as the case may be) of the Regenerative Power to the selected parts of the body, or to the body as a whole. This produces what may be called a psychological “pumping” process which is reproduced in actualization by the rise and distribution of the Regenerative Power. A certain “knack” is required here, but a little practice soon produces this—the process is quite easy of performance.

You will find this method to be extremely helpful when employed at times when you are tired, fatigued, or overworked; also when you may feel depressed, despondent or “blue.” It seems to “pump new life into one;” as an enthusiastic practicer of the method once expressed it. It acts to stimulate the circulation, to “clean out” the nerve-channels, to vitalize the brain, and to stimulate, reinvigorate and energize the entire system. In many cases it produces the feeling, and the subsequent outward manifestation, of youthfulness of spirit. Indeed, the ancients were quite justified in figuratively styling it “The Elixir of Life,” or “The Fountain of Youth.” Its enthusiastic followers, ancient and modern, attribute to it all of the actual benefits which are reported as following the surgical “gland transplantation” which we have noted in preceding sections of this book.

The unmarried man or woman may employ this method with excellent results when he or she experiences the rise of exciting amatory or sexual feelings which in many cases may cause physical or mental strain or distress. In such cases there is experienced a decided and positive “relief”—the tension is withdrawn—when this method is employed; moreover, the sexual energy is in such case actually transmuted into Regenerative Power and is employed for the upbuilding and strengthening of body and mind. If young persons of both sexes knew of this method, there would be fewer cases of their “going wrong” because of their sexual passions. Instead of a forced repression, under a nervous strain and tension, there would be secured the relief of transmutation and diffusion of these potent energies of the system, and health and vigor would replace nervous strain and the strenuous effort of repression.

If the moralists would teach this method and principle in connection with their general precepts, their task would be rendered easier and far more successful. There is a great field open here for workers along the lines of “social purity” and similar movements. There is a far greater force in a positive “do,” than in a negative “don’t”. Here, indeed, is “the way out” for persons whose sexual natures assert themselves too strongly, and who wish to lead a chaste, moral, sexual life although beset by the temptations which arise on all sides. Here is a method of practical “morality,’ in keeping with the highest precepts of religion, duty, and social rectitude. Those interested in the moral welfare of the race would do well to consider carefully and seriously the principles of Regeneration.

The effect of the Regenerative Power is especially noticeable when the individual is employed in “creative” work along material or mental lines. The Regenerative Power, being essentially “creative,” acts with special force when the hands or head’ are employed in work which manifests in inventing, designing, construction, building-up, putting together—in short, in “creative work” in general. One may create mentally, materially, on many planes, as well as on the procreative plane of manifestation. Writers, inventors, designers, teachers, artisans, architects, and many others performing constructive, creative work, may be greatly benefited by the methods of Regeneration. Here is another valuable hint: in fact, the study of Regenerative Power and Regeneration is filled with valuable and suggestive hints which may be taken up and applied to advantage by those wise enough to perceive and appreciate them.

In addition to the physical and mental improvement manifested by those practicing the methods of Regeneration, there is another phase of development which has attracted the attention of careful students of this subject, and which should be mentioned here. We allude to that subtle, powerful “something” which is known as “personal magnetism”—this is well known in actual experience, although it is subtle and so elusive that it is most difficult to describe. It may be said to consist of that peculiar personal “charm” which some persons have, and which others seem to lack.

Persons who are “strongly sexed” frequently display this power in higher or lower forms and phases; this has caused some writers to suppose that it is intimately related to the sexual nature, and to suggest the development of the latter as a means of cultivating the power. But this view is but a half-truth, and a dangerous half-truth at that. It is not necessary for one to develop the ordinary procreative sexual power in order to become “magnetic”; rather should one endeavor to master the principles and methods of Regeneration as the road to such power.

The person who succeeds in transmuting the sexual energy, and in diffusing it to all the physical and emotional centres of his system, becomes highly “magnetic”—highly charged with “personal magnetism,” in many cases. Here, then, is a safe, moral and efficacious method, which may be approved of by the most conservative moralist, and which is free from the glaring faults and dangerous elements of the “strongly sexed” teachings. Moreover, the “magnetism” generated by this method is clean, wholesome, and exalting, and far removed from the impure, harmful, lowering influence too often present in the “magnetism” of persons of the “highly sexed” type who live lives too often far from desirable, beneficial, moral, or righteous.

In this connection we wish to call your attention to a fact which has been noted and commented upon by many careful students of the subject of Regeneration, and which has greatly puzzled many good people. We allude to the fact that persons practicing the methods of Regeneration, and who live according to its principles, seem to possess a potent quality of attraction for persons of the other sex; in many cases such attraction and its results proving embarrassing and in the nature of a temptation. The explanation of this fact is found in the Law of Polarity which is found manifest in all natural activities; we shall not go into details concerning this law, but merely wish to indicate the nature of the explanation. The person understanding the principles and methods of Personal Power will have no difficulty in meeting successfully these results of his attracting power.

Concerning this attractive influence, the following comments of Dr. Hiram E. Butler, may prove interesting and instructive. Dr. Butler, a lifelong and earnest investigator and teacher of the principles of Regeneration, though perhaps somewhat of an extremist in his views and methods, says:

“Those following these methods will have all the bloom of health, and in addition will possess that personal magnetism which is so attractive, and which is really one of the strongest factors of success even in a business way; it is, in fact, the main requisite for the success of speakers, teachers, lawyers, doctors and salesmen. We have often heard that those who are living this life have added power of attracting the opposite sex. Now, here lies one of the greatest dangers—that of attracting to oneself those who will use every means to ensnare one. Young people who live this life become possessed of such attractive powers that they usually have their choice of a companion from any class of life. This, however, is the least important consideration.”

Dr. Butler also says: “We know that it is an impossibility to express in words one-half that is to be attained through this mode of life; but we will mention a few facts and leave you to prove them by experience; then you will know for yourself. It gives a joyous happy feeling to body and mind: clears up the intellect so that one may readily understand the most abstruse subjects; it gives strength and decision of character and directness of purpose; a love of refinement, purity, goodness, honor, justice and morality; in every conceivable direction it adds to the capacity of mind and body; a process of growth which will steadily continue; we have never known anyone who could define the limits of the possibility of increase; we have known some of the most marvelous mind-powers gained through living the regenerate life; we have seen young men and women with pale faces, dim eyes, and poor health, begin a course of lessons on this subject, but before the course closed inside of three weeks, their eyes would grow bright and the color would return to their cheeks.”

In addition to the physical and mental benefits resulting from the knowledge and practice of the principles and methods of Regeneration, there are spiritual benefits to be derived from them. The awakening of the mind and soul to the true nature and character of the Principle of Sex is akin to the admission of Light to the dark chambers of the soul, this radiance serving to drive out many slimy, crawling, loathsome creatures which have been making their home there. Chief among these loathsome creatures are those twin-devils known, respectively as “Abuse of Sex,” and “Fear and Hatred of Sex.”

When the Sex Principle of Nature is seen to be that which it really is, namely clean, pure, normal, righteous, then the mind and soul cease to abuse and lower it by excesses, wrong uses, abuses and dissipation of Its energies; and, at the same time, all fear of its evil power, or the perverted and abnormal hatred of its principle, perish. The recognition, realization and manifestation of the principles of Regeneration open a new world of spiritual life and living, just as they have unfolded a new world of mental and physical life and living.

With the realization that Sex is no devil, no tempting demon, no monster of evil, but is instead a clean, pure, righteous natural principle, then does the world seem to brighten and the clouds of distrust melt away. Then perishes the harmful conception of a world which is half-right and half-wrong; and there dawns a vision of a world of Righteousness, in which Evil is but the shadow of Good—the results of Good misunderstood and misapplied, wrongfully, misused instead of righteously used. Then, perhaps, more of us may feel that we can say with a clear consciousness of Truth that “God is in His Heaven, and all’s right with the World!”

We trust that in this book we have given you a new insight into this highly important, though greatly misunderstood, subject of Regenerative Power and Regeneration. The subject has been so misrepresented both by its opponents and also its over-zealous and fanatical friends that it seems to be time that a sane, rational, conservative presentation of the Golden Mean of its teachings, its principles, and its methods, should be made.

We realize that we have but “scratched the surface” of this great and rich field of thought and practice, but we trust that we have at least directed to that field the earnest attention and careful thought of many who, otherwise, would have remained in ignorance of its existence, or who, perhaps, would have avoided it by reason of previously acquired misconceptions concerning it.

In conclusion, let us remind you of that axiom of Regeneration which states that: “‘That which brought you into being, will continue you in being; that which created you, will re-create you; that which generated you, will regenerate you; that which breathed Life into you, will continue to breathe Life into you if you will but set its power into activity.”

The Master Formula

In the application of the principles, and in the practice of the methods upon which this instruction is based, you will be greatly helped by the careful study and the faithful observance of the spirit of the Master Formula of Attainment which is frequently referred to in the series of books of which the present volume is one.

The Master Formula of Attainment is as follows: “(1) Definite Ideals; (2) Insistent Desire; (3) Confident Expectation; (4) Persistent Determination (5) Balanced Compensation.” Reduced to popular terms, it is as follows: “You may have anything you want, provided that you (1) know exactly what you want, (2) want it hard enough, (3) confidently expect to obtain it, (4) persistently determine to obtain it, and (5) are willing to pay the price of its attainment.”

Regenerative Power

THE END

Personal Power

William Walker Atkinson and Edward Beals

Table of Contents

Personal Power: Your Master Self

Foreword

Your Master Self

Your “I Am I”

Conscious Egohood

Cosmic Power

The Twin-Manifestation

The Three Formulas

Realizing Your Ideals

“The Master Formula”

Creative Power: Your Constructive Forces

Imagination

The Imaging Faculties

Constructive Imagination

The Builder and the Plan

The Mental Laboratory

The Laws Of Invention

Creative Composition

The Art Of Creation

Dynamic Idealization

Desire Power: Your Energizing Forces

Emotive Power

Desire and Actions

The Evolution Of Desire

The Evolution of Desire (Continued)

The Evolution of Desire (Concluded)

Attraction of Desire Power

Knowing What You Want

Wanting It Hard Enough

Paying the Price

Unconscious Desire

Faith Power: Your Inspirational Forces

The Power of Faith

The Psychology of Faith

Expectant Attention

The Secret of “Faith-Cures”

Faith and the Subconscious

Faith and Enthusiasm

Faith and Mental Power

The Attractive Power of Faith

Faith in Yourself

Faith in the Infinite

Will Power: Your Dynamic Forces

Will Power

The Nature of Will

Conative Will

Deliberative Will

Determinative Will

Active Will

Will-Training

Will Consciousness

Will-Atmosphere

Subconscious Power: Your Secret Forces

Your Secret Forces

Subconscious Mentation

Subconscious Vital Processes

Subconscious Habitual Action

Subconscious Emotion And Memory

Subconscious Psycho-Analysis

Subconscious Thought

The Superconscious Planes

Spiritual Power: The Infinite Fount

The Quest for Truth

Material Substance

Actuating Energy

Immanent Spirit

Spirit: Essential Life

Spirit: Essential Power

Creator and Creation

Unison with Infinity

Thought Power: Radio-Mentalism

The Power of Thought

Radioactive Thought

Thought-Atmospheres

Thought-Contagion

Thought-Attraction

Thought-Waves and Forms