心灵瑜珈课 (24)
心灵瑜珈课(24)——一切皆在你心中
一切皆在你心中
通过实践与学习而得的这种自我激发和创造的思考能力，可以伴随你度过愉快而成功的一生。这种无处不在的思维法则让你获得自我醒悟与提升，它会带领你脱离物质的匮乏与自我意识的局限，带你走出消极、悲伤、恐惧和忧郁的生活。它不会因你曾经的个性与信仰而歧视你，更不会因你对此道理省悟得早晚而对你有所偏见。无论怎样，它对你都会采取这样一种态度：随时随地、无条件地接纳你。
- 不要再怀疑
当“太阳是宇宙的中心”、“地球围绕太阳运转”这样的科学发现首次被公之于众时，人们感到非常震惊，甚至是怀疑，并且一度认为这些都是荒谬邪恶的学说。但经过长时间的验证，事实最终击穿了无端的怀疑，现在人们已经完全接纳了它。
- 积极的思想导致成功
当思想之中的精神世界平和如镜，快乐如光，生命中的诸多相关事物也会随之显现出和谐、欣欣向荣的景象。当我们思想中充盈着积极、健康、自信的观念时，我们就可以得到健康、财富与现实中的成功。
- 改变“原因”，才能得到你希望得到的“结果”
也许你长久以来被生活中的各种苦痛挤压得困苦不堪，但当你了解到所有的疾病、痛苦和局限性皆源于你自身内在的“因”的错误时，你就理解了为何会产生这样的“果”。绝对真理可以改变我们的思想进而改变我们的生活。一切犹豫、恐惧、不信任都是我们自己内心的逃避，你应当知道这些都仅仅是虚幻的存在而非真实的困境。当你轻视它们，我们就不会再被牢禁，就可以将它们抛至九霄云外。
- 对这个真理要深信不疑
你现在所需要去做的，就是对这个真理完全地深信不疑。当你真正做到，你就可以准确无误地运用你的思维的创造能力，真理也将飘然而至，与你的生活融这一体。
- 健康、快乐、富有、成功从来都在你的身边
对这种精神力量的领悟者们，不断地应用这些方法去帮助自己和他人。他们借此开展对自己的思想的提升，他们用自己的行动与努力把思想中的愿景变为美好的现实。对于你来说，你只要掌握了这个法则，你会发现一切健康、快乐、富有、成功都一直围绕在你的周围，它们从来没有远离过你，你之所以还在为困境所折磨，仅仅是因为你还没有参悟到这个真理而已。
- 重塑我们的思想
无论疾病或是困苦，都源发自我们本身的精神状态。只要我们把头脑中的错误思想清除干净，重新塑造它，取而代之以绝对真理，普遍的自然法则，那么所有不利于我们的情形都会自然地被清扫一空。
- 在“静寂”中获得灵感
那么，我们如何帮助自己领悟真理、消灭思想中的谬误呢？最有效的方式即是让自己沉浸到“静寂”中去，你可以一人独往，以可以同进帮助他人。在“静寂”中你的思维的灵感将会爆发。你将会自如地在头脑中勾画出你想要的理想图景，然后你就会拿到通往幸福之路的金钥匙。生活的一切美妙都将在瞬间迎面扑来。如果我们仍无法自我完成，那么说明我们内心仍然存有疑惑，我们就应该反复、恳切地与自己的心灵交谈，使它接纳这个真理，并帮助你去开启幸福的大门。
- 战胜自己
请永远铭记，无论遇到怎样的困境，你一生真正需要战胜与征服的仅仅是你自己。因为一切困难与恐惧皆产生于你的心中，外界的困难、坎坷仅仅是浮光掠影，都不应该将你压倒，你只要从内心里不断自我调整，不断描绘你希望实现的美好愿景，你希望中的完满结果就必定会一一实现。
- 在思想层面上与他人产生共鸣
那么我们又如何通过这种力量去帮助他人呢？当你希望一个人战胜局限与错谬，从困难中解脱出来，你只需思想层面上做出努力，从意识上去帮助他，在意识上与他产生共鸣，你内心中对软弱、匮乏、局限、怯懦等消极想法相对抗的积极想法也会同时传递给他，从而帮助他得到解脱。
- 不要困顿于眼前的困境
当然，思想本身的活跃性和它无穷尽的创造性会使你偶尔专注于眼前境遇的不和谐。但不必担心，只要你坚信自然之法则，相信一切困难都只是暂时的表象而非事实本质时，你就可以战胜一时的困难，得到永不衰减的精神力量。
- 真理终将取代谬误
- 要领悟真理
你对真理的理解和领悟程度完全决定了你可能获得的客观境遇，它也预示了你个人智慧的潜力，当你试图不断更新自己的思想、超越自我的时候，你的生命就在不断进步、前行，不断地取得辉煌。
- 让“自我”与宇宙精神合而为一
“自我”属于精神的范畴，它的本源是尽善尽美的。它本身本不应该存在着任何恐惧或忧虑。最初的它应如一个初生的婴儿般完美、纯净。当我们感受到灵感的闪现，我们不要将其误解为随机偶然的结果，其实那是“自我”被激发的产物。“自我”与宇宙精神合而为一，这种精神性是稳定而久存的。灵感如人类生命中的指明灯可以改变自身，将为这个世界创造出无限的希望。
- 有悟性
真理必借助于对我们的意识的不断开发才能获得。它不会因长期的训练而闪现，简而言之，真理不是重复地学习就可以得到，掌握真理所依靠的是一种坚定的信念所带来的悟性。我们生存的世界、我们的生活、社会的变革都取决于我们对真理的领悟程度。还要注意，真理不是简单恪守的信条，要想真正地应用真理，就要将思想融入行为。
- 性格与真理
一个性格也决定着他能否得到真理的垂青。如果一个人一味地抱怨时运不佳，那么真理会自然地离他远去；但如果他坚定执著而又肯于付出努力，那么真理就会时刻伴随在他的左右。抱怨的实质是在曲解真理，因为时运的好坏完全决定于他自身。
- 消极的思想会影响我们的心智
人的生命是一个从不间断的连续体。一切现在的境遇，都是由此之前的原因决定的；而我们现在的思想，又会决定着我们将来的际遇。当我们的生活现遭逢失失败与困境，那是因为在这些困境出现之前，这种场景或意识就已经存在于我们的潜意识之中了。这种消极的潜意识会在我们不知不觉中把与它相类似的思想和事物吸引过来，结果造就今天的局面。所以，当我们知道了这个道理我们就应该反省自己，反思自己的内心，找到究竟什么负面的消极的因素影响了我们的心智。
- 对真理的领悟导致真正的自由
只有真理能够使你获得真正的自由，掌握了自然法则，就会如鱼得水，庖丁解牛，无所不能，如果你能有意识地去领悟真理、认识真理、运用真理，你就能够战胜一切困难。
- 拥有一个完美的愿景
你在外部世界中遭遇到的一切的境况，全部都是你内在世界境况的反映。因此，一定要让你的心灵拥有完美无憾的愿景，这样，你才能够在外在环境中遇见理想的机遇和条件——这一点是经得起科学验证的。
- 有一双善于发现美的眼睛
如果你总是看到环境中的缺憾、不满、限制等等负面的因素，那么这些境况就会愈发在你的生命中出现。然而，如果你训练自己的心灵，专注于那个精神的自我，使自己看到的全部是完美、和谐，那么，你就能够拥有对你的身心健康都有益的外部环境。
- 谬误必然会让位于真理
毫无疑问，思想是极富有创造性的，而真理是最完备、最高境界的思想。因此，正确的思考能够带来正确的创造。当真理到来，谬误必然退避、消失，这一点是不言而喻的。
- 宇宙精神
宇宙精神是一切精神的汇聚。精神就是智慧，精神即心智。精神、智慧和心智是同义词。
- 永恒的精神
精神是一种永恒存在的事物，遍及宇宙之中的所有空间，构成了这个世界上最美妙、最有活力、最有生命力的一种力量。它和宇宙融为一体，共生共存。
- 宇宙精神存在于我们的体内
我们用上帝来解释超自然的力量相录于认同力量的源头是来自于外部世界，而宇宙精神不仅存在于外部世界，也深深地植根于我们的内心世界之中，构成了我们最强大的潜能。其实“上帝”每时每刻都存在于我们的体内，因为即是我们精神的灵魂。
- 要去创造
思维的精髓在于创造，精神的本质也在于创造。我们运用思维和精神进行创造的同时，我们自身也就具有了超凡的力量。我们在为自己也为别人不断地思索中增长了创造的能力。
- 找开玄妙之门
当我们真正理解了这个精神法则，真正体会到了宇宙精神的玄妙，我们的手中就会有一把通往幸福宫殿的金钥匙，借由它我们可以找开人生最为瑰丽的宝库之门。此时的你已经完全成为了上天的宠儿，具备领悟一切真理所需的才智与心力，具备常人无可匹敌的广阔心胸，更具备不可磨灭与消减的坚定意志，一切成功之路将为你敞开。勿需等待，行动起来吧！
本课重点
１、人的精神世界中存在着一个什么样的真理？
——在人的精神领域中存在着一个真正的“自我”，并且它纯净真实，如无瑕的美玉。
２、我们如何才能将思想中的谬误击跨和消灭？
——要用真理去消灭谬误的思想，时刻与真理、与自然法则保持一致。
３、我们是否可以帮助他人学习到“宇宙精神”的真理？
——宇宙精神是一个密不可分的整体，它无处不在，你与他人都在其中，帮助他人就如同帮助自己。
４、宇宙精神是什么？
——它是最普遍的自然法则，是最真的真理，是所有的精神世界的总和。
５、宇宙精神存在于哪里？
——它无所不在，存在于我们的身体，存在于我们的内心，大至最宏大的宏观世界，小至最微小的基本粒子。宇宙精神是我的精神之源，是宇宙的灵魂，是我们生命灵魂的依托之所。
６、我们如何能够与宇宙精神相互联接？
——通过我们的思考。依靠思考我们就可以将宇宙精神表达出来，同进也可以为自己、为他人展现出宇宙精神的巨大力量。
７、思考能带来什么？
——思考能给我们带来更加坚定、冷静、审慎、清晰的思想状态，使我们领悟宇宙的精神，获取无空无心的潜能。
８、当我们思考并无限接近宇宙精神会得到什么样的结果？
——无论构梦想什么、希望得到什么，都有一股潜在的神奇力量在你的体内作为动力支持着你。宇宙精神实实在在地存在于你的身体里，如果你善待他，它就会为你的思想提供最强大的动力，为你建造精神的与现实的家园，并帮助你创造最为和谐、最为完美的人生。
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PART TWENTY-FOUR
Enclosed you will find Part Twenty-four, your final lesson of this course.
If you have practiced each of the exercises a few minutes every day, as suggested, you will have found that you can get out of life exactly what you wish by first putting into life that which you wish, and you will probably agree with the student who said: "The thought is almost overwhelming, so vast, so available, so definite, so reasonable and so usable."
The fruit of this knowledge is, as it were, a gift of the Gods; it is the "truth" that makes men free, not only free from every lack and limitation, but free from sorrow, worry and care, and, is it not wonderful to realize that this law is no respecter of persons, that it makes no difference what your habit of thought may be, the way has been prepared.
If you are inclined to be religious, the greatest religious teacher the world has ever known made the way so plain that all may follow. If your mental bias is toward physical science, the law will operate with mathematical certainty. If you are inclined to be philosophical, Plato or Emerson may be your teacher, but in either case, you may reach degrees of power to which it is impossible to assign any limit.
An understanding of this principle, I believe, is the secret for which the ancient Alchemists vainly sought, because it explains how gold in the mind may be transmuted into gold in the heart and in the hand.
Part Twenty-Four
1. When the scientists first put the Sun in the center of the Solar System and sent the earth spinning around it, there was immense surprise and consternation. The whole idea was self-evidently false; nothing was more certain than the movement of the Sun across the sky, and anyone could see it descend behind the western hills and sink into the sea; scholars raged and scientists rejected the idea as absurd, yet the evidence has finally carried conviction in the minds of all.
2. We speak of a bell as a "sounding body," yet we know that all the bell can do is to produce vibrations in the air. When these vibrations come at the rate of sixteen per second, they cause a sound to be heard in the mind. It is also possible for the mind to hear vibrations up to the rate of 38,000 vibrations per second. When the number increases beyond this, all is silence again; so that we know that the sound is not in the bell, it is in our own mind.
3. We speak and even think of the Sun as "giving light." Yet we know it is simply giving forth energy which produces vibrations in the ether at the rate of four hundred trillion a second, causing what are termed light waves, so that we know that we call light is simply a form of energy and that the only light there is, is the sensation caused in the mind by the motion of the waves. When the number increases, the light changes in color, each change in color being caused by shorter and more rapid vibrations; so that although we speak of the rose as being red, the grass as being green, or the sky as being blue, we know that the colors exist only in our minds, and are the sensations experienced by us as the result of the vibrations of light waves. When the vibrations are reduced below four hundred trillion a second, they no longer affect us as light, but we experience the sensation of heat. It is evident, therefore, that we cannot depend upon the evidence of the senses for our information concerning the realities of things; if we did we should believe that the sun moved, that the world was flat instead of round, that the stars were bits of light instead of vast suns.
4. The whole range then of the theory and practice of any system of metaphysics consists in knowing the Truth concerning yourself and the world in which you live; in knowing that in order to express harmony, you must think harmony; in order to express health you must think health; and in order to express abundance you must think abundance; to do this you must reverse the evidence of the senses.
5. When you come to know that every form of disease, sickness, lack and limitation are simply the result of wrong thinking, you will have come to know "the Truth which shall make you free." You will see how mountains may be removed. If these mountains consist only of doubt, fear, distrust or other forms of discouragement, they are none the less real, and they need not only to be removed but to be "cast into the sea."
6. Your real work consists in convincing yourself of the truth of these statements. When you have succeeded in doing this you will have no difficulty in thinking the truth, and as has been shown, the truth contains a vital principle and will manifest itself.
7. Those who heal diseases by mental methods have come to know this truth, they demonstrate it in their lives and the lives of others daily. They know that life, health and abundance are Omnipresent, filling all space, and they know that those who allow disease or lack of any kind to manifest, have as yet not come into an understanding of this great law.
8. As all conditions are thought creations and therefore entirely mental, disease and lack are simply mental conditions in which the person fails to perceive the truth; as soon as the error is removed, the condition is removed.
9. The method for removing this error is to go into the Silence and know the Truth; as all mind is one mind, you can do this for yourself or anyone else. If you have learned to form mental images of the conditions desired, this will be the easiest and quickest way to secure results; if not, results can be accomplished by argument, by the process of convincing yourself absolutely of the truth of your statement.
10. Remember, and this is one of the most difficult as well as most wonderful statements to grasp.... remember that no matter what the difficulty is, no matter where it is, no matter who is affected, you have no patient but yourself; you have nothing to do but to convince yourself of the truth which you desire to see manifested.
11. This is an exact scientific statement in accordance with every system of Metaphysics in existence, and no permanent results are ever secured in any other way.
12. Every form of concentration, forming Mental Images, Argument, and Autosuggestion are all simply methods by which you are enabled to realize the Truth.
13. If you desire to help someone, to destroy some form of lack, limitation or error, the correct method is not to think of the person whom you wish to help; the intention to help them is entirely sufficient, as this puts you in mental touch with the person. Then drive out of your own mind any belief of lack, limitation, disease, danger, difficulty or whatever the trouble might be. As soon as you have succeeded is doing this the result will have been accomplished, and the person will be free.
14. But remember that thought is creative and consequently every time you allow your thought to rest on any inharmonious condition, you must realize that such conditions are apparent only, they have no reality, that spirit is the only reality and it can never be less than perfect.
15. All thought is a form of energy, a rate of vibration, but a thought of the Truth is the highest rate of vibration known and consequently destroys every form of error in exactly the same way that light destroys darkness; no form of error can exist when the "Truth" appears, so that your entire mental work consists in coming into an understanding of the Truth. This will enable you to overcome every form of lack, limitation or disease of any kind.
16. We can get no understanding of the truth from the world without; the world without is relative only; Truth is absolute. We must therefore find it in the "world within."
17. To train the mind to see Truth only is to express true conditions only, our ability to do this will be an indication as to the progress we are making.
18. The absolute truth is that the "I" is perfect and complete; the real "I" is spiritual and can therefore never be less than perfect; it can never have any lack, limitation, or disease. The flash of genius does not have origin in the molecular motion of the brain; it is inspired by the ego, the spiritual "I" which is one with the Universal Mind, and it is our ability to recognize this Unity which is the cause of all inspiration, all genius. These results are far reaching and have effect upon generations yet to come; they are the pillars of fire which mark the path that millions follow.
19. Truth is not the result of logical training or of experimentation, or even of observation; it is the product of a developed consciousness. Truth within a Caesar, manifests in a Caesar's deportment, in his life and his action; his influence upon social forms and progress. Your life and your actions and your influence in the world will depend upon the degree of truth which you are enabled to perceive, for truth will not manifest in creeds, but in conduct.
20. Truth manifests in character, and the character of a man, should be the interpretation of his religion, or what to him is truth, and this will in turn be evidenced in the character of his possession. If a man complains of the drift of his fortune he is just as unjust to himself as if he should deny rational truth, though it stand patent and irrefutable.
21. Our environment and the innumerable circumstances and accidents of our lives already exist in the subconscious personality which attracts to itself the mental and physical material which is congenial to its nature. Thus our future being determined from our present, and if there should be apparent injustice in any feature or phase of our personal life, we must look within for the cause, try to discover the mental fact which is responsible for the outward manifestation.
22. It is this truth which makes you "free" and it is the conscious knowledge of this truth which will enable you to overcome every difficulty.
23. The conditions with which you meet in the world without are invariably the result of the conditions obtaining in the world within, therefore it follows with scientific accuracy that by holding the perfect ideal in mind you can bring about ideal conditions in your environment.
24. If you see only the incomplete, the imperfect, the relative, the limited, these conditions will manifest in your life; but if you train your mind to see and realize the spiritual ego, the "I" which is forever perfect and complete, harmonious; wholesome, and healthful conditions only will be manifested.
25. As thought is creative, and the truth is the highest and most perfect thought which anyone can think, it is self-evident that to think the truth is to create that which is true and it is again evident that when truth comes into being that which is false must cease to be.
26. The Universal Mind is the totality of all mind which is in existence. Spirit is Mind, because spirit is intelligent. The words are, therefore, synonymous.
27. The difficulty with which you have to contend is to realize that mind is not individual. It is omnipresent. It exists everywhere. In other words, there is no place where it is not. It is, therefore, Universal.
28. Men have, heretofore, generally used the word "God" to indicate this Universal, creative principle; but the word "God" does not convey the right meaning. Most people understand this word to mean something outside of themselves; while exactly the contrary is the fact. It is our very life. Without it we would be dead. We would cease to exist. The minute the spirit leaves the body, we are as nothing. Therefore, spirit is really, all there is of us.
29. Now, the only activity which the spirit possesses is the power to think. Therefore, thought must be creative, because spirit is creative. This creative power is impersonal and your ability to think is your ability to control it and make use of it for the benefit of yourself and others.
30. When the truth of this statement is realized, understood, and appreciated, you will have come into possession of the Master-Key, but remember that only those who are wise enough to understand, broad enough to weigh the evidence, firm enough to follow their own judgment, and strong enough to make the sacrifice exacted, may enter and partake.
31. This week, try to realize that this is truly a wonderful world in which we live, that you are a wonderful being that many are awakening to a knowledge of the Truth, and as fast as they awake and come into a knowledge of the "things which have been prepared for them" they, too, realize that "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man," the splendors which exist for those who find themselves in the Promised Land. They have crossed the river of judgment and have arrived at the point of discrimination between the true and the false, and have found that all they ever willed or dreamed, was but a faint concept of the dazzling reality.
Though an inheritance of acres may be bequeathed, an inheritance of knowledge and wisdom cannot. The wealthy man may pay others for doing his work for him, but it is impossible to get his thinking done for him by another or to purchase any kind of self-culture.
S. Smiles
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Study Questions with Answers
231. Upon what principle does the theory and practice of every system of Metaphysics in existence depend?
Upon a knowledge of the "Truth" concerning yourself and the world in which you life.
232. What is the "Truth" concerning yourself?
The real "I" or ego is spiritual and can therefore never be less than perfect.
233. What is the method of destroying any form of error?
To absolutely convince yourself of the "Truth" concerning the condition which you wish to see manifested.
234. Can we do this for others?
The Universal Mind in which "we live and move and have our being" is one and indivisible, it is therefore just as possible to help others as to help ourselves.
235. What is the Universal Mind?
The totality of all mind in existence.
236. Where is the Universal Mind?
The Universal Mind is omnipresent, it exists everywhere. There is no place where it is not. It is therefore within us. It is "The World within." It is our spirit, our life.
237. What is the nature of the Universal Mind?
It is spiritual and consequently creative. It seeks to express itself in form.
238. How may we act on the Universal Mind?
Our ability to think is our ability to act on the Universal Mind and bring it into manifestation for the benefit of ourselves or others.
239. What is meant by thinking?
Clear, decisive, calm, deliberate, sustained thought with a definite end in view.
240. What will be the result?
You will also be able to say, "It is not I that doeth the works, but the ‘Father’ that dwelleth within me, He doeth the works." You will come to know that the "Father" is the Universal Mind and that He does really and truly dwell within you, in other words, you will come to know that the wonderful promises made in the Bible are fact, not fiction, and can be demonstrated by anyone having sufficient understanding.
Temples have their sacred images, and we see what influence they have always had over a great part of mankind; but, in truth, the ideas and images in men's minds are the invisible powers that constantly govern them; and to these they all pay universally a ready submission.
Jonathan Edwards
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PART TWENTY-FOUR
Enclosed you will find Part Twenty-four, your final lesson of this course.
If you have practiced each of the exercises a few minutes every day, as suggested, you will have found that you can get out of life exactly what you wish by first putting into life that which you wish, and you will probably agree with the student who said: "The thought is almost overwhelming, so vast, so available, so definite, so reasonable and so usable."
The fruit of this knowledge is, as it were, a gift of the Gods; it is the "truth" that makes men free, not only free from every lack and limitation, but free from sorrow, worry and care, and, is it not wonderful to realize that this law is no respecter of persons, that it makes no difference what your habit of thought may be, the way has been prepared.
If you are inclined to be religious, the greatest religious teacher the world has ever known made the way so plain that all may follow. If your mental bias is toward physical science, the law will operate with mathematical certainty. If you are inclined to be philosophical, Plato or Emerson may be your teacher, but in either case, you may reach degrees of power to which it is impossible to assign any limit.
An understanding of this principle, I believe, is the secret for which the ancient Alchemists vainly sought, because it explains how gold in the mind may be transmuted into gold in the heart and in the hand.
Part Twenty-Four
1. When the scientists first put the Sun in the center of the Solar System and sent the earth spinning around it, there was immense surprise and consternation. The whole idea was self-evidently false; nothing was more certain than the movement of the Sun across the sky, and anyone could see it descend behind the western hills and sink into the sea; scholars raged and scientists rejected the idea as absurd, yet the evidence has finally carried conviction in the minds of all.
2. We speak of a bell as a "sounding body," yet we know that all the bell can do is to produce vibrations in the air. When these vibrations come at the rate of sixteen per second, they cause a sound to be heard in the mind. It is also possible for the mind to hear vibrations up to the rate of 38,000 vibrations per second. When the number increases beyond this, all is silence again; so that we know that the sound is not in the bell, it is in our own mind.
3. We speak and even think of the Sun as "giving light." Yet we know it is simply giving forth energy which produces vibrations in the ether at the rate of four hundred trillion a second, causing what are termed light waves, so that we know that we call light is simply a form of energy and that the only light there is, is the sensation caused in the mind by the motion of the waves. When the number increases, the light changes in color, each change in color being caused by shorter and more rapid vibrations; so that although we speak of the rose as being red, the grass as being green, or the sky as being blue, we know that the colors exist only in our minds, and are the sensations experienced by us as the result of the vibrations of light waves. When the vibrations are reduced below four hundred trillion a second, they no longer affect us as light, but we experience the sensation of heat. It is evident, therefore, that we cannot depend upon the evidence of the senses for our information concerning the realities of things; if we did we should believe that the sun moved, that the world was flat instead of round, that the stars were bits of light instead of vast suns.
4. The whole range then of the theory and practice of any system of metaphysics consists in knowing the Truth concerning yourself and the world in which you live; in knowing that in order to express harmony, you must think harmony; in order to express health you must think health; and in order to express abundance you must think abundance; to do this you must reverse the evidence of the senses.
5. When you come to know that every form of disease, sickness, lack and limitation are simply the result of wrong thinking, you will have come to know "the Truth which shall make you free." You will see how mountains may be removed. If these mountains consist only of doubt, fear, distrust or other forms of discouragement, they are none the less real, and they need not only to be removed but to be "cast into the sea."
6. Your real work consists in convincing yourself of the truth of these statements. When you have succeeded in doing this you will have no difficulty in thinking the truth, and as has been shown, the truth contains a vital principle and will manifest itself.
7. Those who heal diseases by mental methods have come to know this truth, they demonstrate it in their lives and the lives of others daily. They know that life, health and abundance are Omnipresent, filling all space, and they know that those who allow disease or lack of any kind to manifest, have as yet not come into an understanding of this great law.
8. As all conditions are thought creations and therefore entirely mental, disease and lack are simply mental conditions in which the person fails to perceive the truth; as soon as the error is removed, the condition is removed.
9. The method for removing this error is to go into the Silence and know the Truth; as all mind is one mind, you can do this for yourself or anyone else. If you have learned to form mental images of the conditions desired, this will be the easiest and quickest way to secure results; if not, results can be accomplished by argument, by the process of convincing yourself absolutely of the truth of your statement.
10. Remember, and this is one of the most difficult as well as most wonderful statements to grasp.... remember that no matter what the difficulty is, no matter where it is, no matter who is affected, you have no patient but yourself; you have nothing to do but to convince yourself of the truth which you desire to see manifested.
11. This is an exact scientific statement in accordance with every system of Metaphysics in existence, and no permanent results are ever secured in any other way.
12. Every form of concentration, forming Mental Images, Argument, and Autosuggestion are all simply methods by which you are enabled to realize the Truth.
13. If you desire to help someone, to destroy some form of lack, limitation or error, the correct method is not to think of the person whom you wish to help; the intention to help them is entirely sufficient, as this puts you in mental touch with the person. Then drive out of your own mind any belief of lack, limitation, disease, danger, difficulty or whatever the trouble might be. As soon as you have succeeded is doing this the result will have been accomplished, and the person will be free.
14. But remember that thought is creative and consequently every time you allow your thought to rest on any inharmonious condition, you must realize that such conditions are apparent only, they have no reality, that spirit is the only reality and it can never be less than perfect.
15. All thought is a form of energy, a rate of vibration, but a thought of the Truth is the highest rate of vibration known and consequently destroys every form of error in exactly the same way that light destroys darkness; no form of error can exist when the "Truth" appears, so that your entire mental work consists in coming into an understanding of the Truth. This will enable you to overcome every form of lack, limitation or disease of any kind.
16. We can get no understanding of the truth from the world without; the world without is relative only; Truth is absolute. We must therefore find it in the "world within."
17. To train the mind to see Truth only is to express true conditions only, our ability to do this will be an indication as to the progress we are making.
18. The absolute truth is that the "I" is perfect and complete; the real "I" is spiritual and can therefore never be less than perfect; it can never have any lack, limitation, or disease. The flash of genius does not have origin in the molecular motion of the brain; it is inspired by the ego, the spiritual "I" which is one with the Universal Mind, and it is our ability to recognize this Unity which is the cause of all inspiration, all genius. These results are far reaching and have effect upon generations yet to come; they are the pillars of fire which mark the path that millions follow.
19. Truth is not the result of logical training or of experimentation, or even of observation; it is the product of a developed consciousness. Truth within a Caesar, manifests in a Caesar's deportment, in his life and his action; his influence upon social forms and progress. Your life and your actions and your influence in the world will depend upon the degree of truth which you are enabled to perceive, for truth will not manifest in creeds, but in conduct.
20. Truth manifests in character, and the character of a man, should be the interpretation of his religion, or what to him is truth, and this will in turn be evidenced in the character of his possession. If a man complains of the drift of his fortune he is just as unjust to himself as if he should deny rational truth, though it stand patent and irrefutable.
21. Our environment and the innumerable circumstances and accidents of our lives already exist in the subconscious personality which attracts to itself the mental and physical material which is congenial to its nature. Thus our future being determined from our present, and if there should be apparent injustice in any feature or phase of our personal life, we must look within for the cause, try to discover the mental fact which is responsible for the outward manifestation.
22. It is this truth which makes you "free" and it is the conscious knowledge of this truth which will enable you to overcome every difficulty.
23. The conditions with which you meet in the world without are invariably the result of the conditions obtaining in the world within, therefore it follows with scientific accuracy that by holding the perfect ideal in mind you can bring about ideal conditions in your environment.
24. If you see only the incomplete, the imperfect, the relative, the limited, these conditions will manifest in your life; but if you train your mind to see and realize the spiritual ego, the "I" which is forever perfect and complete, harmonious; wholesome, and healthful conditions only will be manifested.
25. As thought is creative, and the truth is the highest and most perfect thought which anyone can think, it is self-evident that to think the truth is to create that which is true and it is again evident that when truth comes into being that which is false must cease to be.
26. The Universal Mind is the totality of all mind which is in existence. Spirit is Mind, because spirit is intelligent. The words are, therefore, synonymous.
27. The difficulty with which you have to contend is to realize that mind is not individual. It is omnipresent. It exists everywhere. In other words, there is no place where it is not. It is, therefore, Universal.
28. Men have, heretofore, generally used the word "God" to indicate this Universal, creative principle; but the word "God" does not convey the right meaning. Most people understand this word to mean something outside of themselves; while exactly the contrary is the fact. It is our very life. Without it we would be dead. We would cease to exist. The minute the spirit leaves the body, we are as nothing. Therefore, spirit is really, all there is of us.
29. Now, the only activity which the spirit possesses is the power to think. Therefore, thought must be creative, because spirit is creative. This creative power is impersonal and your ability to think is your ability to control it and make use of it for the benefit of yourself and others.
30. When the truth of this statement is realized, understood, and appreciated, you will have come into possession of the Master-Key, but remember that only those who are wise enough to understand, broad enough to weigh the evidence, firm enough to follow their own judgment, and strong enough to make the sacrifice exacted, may enter and partake.
31. This week, try to realize that this is truly a wonderful world in which we live, that you are a wonderful being that many are awakening to a knowledge of the Truth, and as fast as they awake and come into a knowledge of the "things which have been prepared for them" they, too, realize that "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man," the splendors which exist for those who find themselves in the Promised Land. They have crossed the river of judgment and have arrived at the point of discrimination between the true and the false, and have found that all they ever willed or dreamed, was but a faint concept of the dazzling reality.
Though an inheritance of acres may be bequeathed, an inheritance of knowledge and wisdom cannot. The wealthy man may pay others for doing his work for him, but it is impossible to get his thinking done for him by another or to purchase any kind of self-culture.
S. Smiles
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Study Questions with Answers
231. Upon what principle does the theory and practice of every system of Metaphysics in existence depend?
Upon a knowledge of the "Truth" concerning yourself and the world in which you life.
232. What is the "Truth" concerning yourself?
The real "I" or ego is spiritual and can therefore never be less than perfect.
233. What is the method of destroying any form of error?
To absolutely convince yourself of the "Truth" concerning the condition which you wish to see manifested.
234. Can we do this for others?
The Universal Mind in which "we live and move and have our being" is one and indivisible, it is therefore just as possible to help others as to help ourselves.
235. What is the Universal Mind?
The totality of all mind in existence.
236. Where is the Universal Mind?
The Universal Mind is omnipresent, it exists everywhere. There is no place where it is not. It is therefore within us. It is "The World within." It is our spirit, our life.
237. What is the nature of the Universal Mind?
It is spiritual and consequently creative. It seeks to express itself in form.
238. How may we act on the Universal Mind?
Our ability to think is our ability to act on the Universal Mind and bring it into manifestation for the benefit of ourselves or others.
239. What is meant by thinking?
Clear, decisive, calm, deliberate, sustained thought with a definite end in view.
240. What will be the result?
You will also be able to say, "It is not I that doeth the works, but the ‘Father’ that dwelleth within me, He doeth the works." You will come to know that the "Father" is the Universal Mind and that He does really and truly dwell within you, in other words, you will come to know that the wonderful promises made in the Bible are fact, not fiction, and can be demonstrated by anyone having sufficient understanding.
Temples have their sacred images, and we see what influence they have always had over a great part of mankind; but, in truth, the ideas and images in men's minds are the invisible powers that constantly govern them; and to these they all pay universally a ready submission.
Jonathan Edwards
