想人之所不敢想，成人之所不能成
通过前２０课的学习，我们已经基本了解了作为自然法则的潜能的特性。从本课开始的后四节当中，你将会在此基础之上更上一层楼，学到如何在现实生活中通过积极思考去获得灵感，以期获得大智大慧，成就你最大的理想。
事实上一切曾在我们的意识中出现过的想法，都会在我们的潜意识中留下印迹，这种印迹被长期地贮存于我们的大脑中并逐渐形成其固有的运行模式，也正是借助于这种“运行模式”，我们可以创造性地解决生活中的一切问题。
- 紧随宇宙精神的本质
当我们意识到宇宙精神能给我们带来巨大的力量时，我们唯一要做的就是让自己与宇宙精神保持和谐统一。让你的潜意识紧随宇宙精神的实质，就一定会使自己从局限、禁锢中解脱出来，并获得可望可及的自由。
- 从潜意识中获取力量
- 宇宙精神与我们同在
- 汲取宇宙精神的精华
- 从对宇宙精神的领悟中得到重生
成功者并非不会遇到困难，只不过，与普通人不同，在遇到困难时，他们能够依靠自己强大的精神力量，从困境中获得重生。一个人精神力量的大小则取决于他对宇宙力量法则的认知与感悟。所以，当我们学会将自身的思想与宇宙精神高度一致协调起来时，我们就会从中获得最强有力的能量去改造内心与外部的世界。
- 宏大的理念会摧毁渺小
如何在学习运用精神力量的路途中把握正确方向，以保证自己不被不良倾向所引诱？在精神的领域中有这样一种法则，即宏大的理念可以瓦解、抵消，甚至摧毁渺小的理念。这个法则可以帮助我们清除前进路途中的种种怯懦的想法，得以进入更加开阔的思想领域之中。广阔的思想就象是大海中的灯塔，会指引我们看到比以往更高更远的人生目标。
- 对任何事物精神力量都可以应对自如
精神世界具有最强大的创造性，这使我们可以获得内心向往的任何胜利与成功。一旦发掘了自身的潜能，就会拥有无以伦比的智慧与强大的能力，眼界更为开阔，胸怀更为宽广。精神的能量也变得更加深不可测，无论你面对的敌人有多么强悍，精神的力量都能够应对自如。
- 潜意识中的能量
我们必须意识到并且发掘潜意识中的能量，否则我们就会置手边的一座金山不顾，却向别人乞讨。
- 要有正确的思维方式
必须拥有正确而又科学的思维方式，才能够确保我们在现实中得到正确的结果。
- 精神决定生活
当思考的结果印记并留存于我们的头脑之中，它就会引发我们的性格、能力、兴趣等内部心理过程，以及行为、创造、努力等外部行为过程，最终这些内部心理过程与外部行为过程都会指向同一个目标，那就是我们的人生、生活。所以说精神决定生活，生活决定于精神。
- 引力法则
我们有什么样的心态，就有可能招引什么样的外部境遇，这就是“引力法则”，它对于我们的思想与生活的影响远远超出我们的想象。
- 改变自己的性格
如果我们希望将自己的人生加以改变，那么最简单可行的方法是将我们内心的思想加以改变。我们这种方法称为“改变性格”。别忘了我们已经掌握的那条自然真理“思想决定存在”，来源于我们头脑中的思想，在其发生改变以后，自然会改变我们身边的的所有人、事物与环境。
- 不懈的努力
然而改变自身性格之路并非轻而易举，只有通过不懈的努力才有可能得以实现。当我们受到阻力时，就需要运用冥想的艺术来援助自己，即用积极的、令自己兴奋的愿景取代那些消极的、让自己感到沮丧的愿望，然后潜意识就会被激发，我们又重新充满力量。
- 贮存精神的能量
在冥想内心的愿望的同时，请不要忘记把要实现这些愿景时所必须具备的决心、才华、勇气、智慧、力量等精神要素一并贮存，把它们一并放在你的内心深处，因为这些图像所必不可少的因素会更加容易地将你的精神与理性完全融合和对接，赋予头脑中的精神图像以勃勃生机。
- 拥有足够的自信
只要想到世界之真理已经在我们的手中，宇宙之能量就在我们的潜意识当中，就没有任何理由再让犹豫、迟疑、焦虑等等消极的观念逗留在我们的思想当中。当我们追求自己的目标时，请相信自己完全可以达到理想中的最高境界，因为此时你已经被赋予了最强大的力量的支持，完全有能力应付眼前的一切。当你坚定不移地向着最高目标而努力，精神的能量就一定会把最高理想的新娘迎娶到你的家中。同时，如果我们努力避免坏习惯，也会使我们自然地从中解脱。虽然努力实践的过程并非总是一帆风顺，但是“付出必然有所得”，这个坚定的法则会带领我们走每一个困境。
- 大胆地去实践
既然已经掌握了最真的真理，那么，就不必再犹豫，为这条真理欢欣鼓舞，然后放心大胆地去实践它！一切皆有可能，即使是最顽劣的儿童也可以被重新塑造，即使是最不可能实现的理想，也会成为现实。
- 坚定的信念
人的生命历程并非坦途，有些人会被客观世界所轻易地影响和改变，如若不依靠坚定的信念，思想本身就会受到众多阻难。为此，我们必须要让积极的、有建设性的思想同消极、负面的想法不断斗争，直至创造性的力量压倒那些浅薄、目光短浅的负面想法时，那时你就会获得最执着的信念、最无与伦比的勇气和最大的力量。
- 成功的先驱者
与那些消极应对生活的人不同的是，锲而不舍的科学家、企业家和政治家们不会只关注以往的经验而不去开拓自身的力量与潜能。
- 创造者与循规蹈矩者
在追求更高生命意义的道路上，人们只有一个选择：逆水行舟，不进则退。生活最终将以严格的评判标准将人类区分为两种：运用创造性思维奋力拼搏的追求者，与循规蹈矩、从不改变自我的保守者。对于变化万千的世界，不努力进取，就只能够是原地踏步，甚至是后退。只有这两种选择，非此则彼。
- 改变自己
每一天、每一分钟世界都在发生着改变。那些面对平庸的生活的人们，他们的苦闷、压抑感越来越高，一种企图改变、重塑自己的生活状态的愿望正如星星之火，以燎原之势在他们的内心汹涌而来。
- 守旧者们
那些仍固守于旧秩序、旧世界的卫道士们正在新时代的黎明前，一方面互相安慰，大肆谈论固有生活的安定与完美，另一方面却焦躁不安，生怕即将到来的新世界会打碎他们的固有生活。他们将已经展现于眼前的未来趋势掩耳盗铃地置于脑后，对于新思维、新体制的恐惧使他们畏缩不前。
- 诸多社会问题将得到改善
人类智慧的不断发展将带来对宇宙本性认识的发展与更新。随着人们的智慧的增加，并将它应用于人类的生存体制之中，诸多社会问题皆会因炎得到解决和改善。社会将会变得越来越尊重个体的创造与发明，而极少数人对整个社会的控制或特权将会一去不复返。
- 拥有最大限度的自由
因为与宇宙精神的一致，在本质上，人的创造力或行动力都拥有最大程度的自由，这种自由神圣而不可侵犯，也绝不允许旧有秩序的卫道士们打着各种幌子继续其罪恶。
- 公正、强大的宇宙精神
当人们真正体悟到宇宙精神，并能够将自己与其保持高度一致，就必将会得到它偏爱与眷顾，人类所向往的最高理想也都会变为现实。但宇宙精神有其自身的禀性，它是公正的、强大的、可信赖的。
本课重点
１、力量从何而来？
——来源于宇宙精神，万物由此产生。
２、这种力量通过什么方式得以显现？
——人类个体是它彰显自身的支流。
３、怎样才能使自己与这种“全能力量”和谐统一？
——通过思考我们就可以领悟、掌握宇宙精神的法则，通过我们的行动可以在现实世界中彰显宇宙精神的强大力量。
４、这一发现意味着什么？
——意味着一个伟大的奇迹，它向我们们展开了前所未有、无穷无尽的机遇。
５、我们怎样使不良的境遇得到改善？
——通过自我的内在精神与宇宙精神力量的高度统一。
６、伟大的先知先觉的创造者们与大多数人所异于何？
——他们总是思考大的理念，借此将内心中渺小而卑微的观念消除、摧毁。
７、为什么要改变自己的性格？
——如果我们希望将自己的人生加以改变，那么最简单可行的方法就将我们内心的思想加以改变。我们这种方法称为“改变性格”。
８、创造者与循规蹈矩者的不同是什么？
——前者会努力进取，实现心中的愿景，后者会原地踏步，甚至是后退。
９、新旧体制之间有哪些区别？
——区别在于对宇宙本质的理解与认识。旧体制借助“神的选择”控制众生，新体制强调人类神性的一面，确认人的自由与民主。
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Part Twenty-One
It is my privilege to enclose Part Twenty-One. In paragraph 7 you will find that one of the secrets of success, one of the methods of organizing victory, one of the accomplishments of the Master Mind is to think big thoughts.
In paragraph 8 you will find that everything which we hold in our consciousness for any length of time becomes impressed upon our subconsciousness and so becomes a pattern which the creative energy will wave into our life and environment. This is the secret of the wonderful power of prayer.
We know that the universe is governed by law; that for every effect there must be a cause, and that the same cause, under the same conditions, will invariably produce the same effect.
Consequently, if prayer has ever been answered, it will always be answered, if the proper conditions are complied with. This must necessarily be true; otherwise the universe would be a chaos instead of a cosmos. The answer to prayer is therefore subject to law, and this law is definite, exact and scientific, just as are the laws governing gravitation and electricity. An understanding of this law takes the foundation of Christianity out of the realm of superstition and credulity and places it upon the firm rock of scientific understanding.
But, unfortunately, there are comparatively few persons who know how to pray.
They understand that there are laws governing electricity, mathematics, and chemistry, but, for some inexplicable reason, it never seems to occur to them that there are also spiritual laws, and that these laws are also definite, scientific, exact, and operate with immutable precision.
PART TWENTY-ONE
1. The real secret of power is consciousness of power. The Universal Mind is unconditional; therefore, the more conscious we become of our unity with this mind, the less conscious we shall become of conditions and limitations, and as we become emancipated or freed from conditions we come into a realization of the unconditional. We have become free!
2. As soon as we become conscious of the inexhaustible power in the world within, we begin to draw on this power and apply and develop the greater possibilities which this discernment has realized, because whatever we become conscious of, is invariably manifested in the objective world, is brought forth into tangible expression.
3. This is because the Infinite Mind, which is the source from which all things proceed, is one and indivisible, and each individual is a channel whereby this Eternal Energy is being manifested. Our ability to think is our ability to act upon this Universal Substance, and what we think is what is created or produced in the objective world.
4. The result of this discovery is nothing less than marvelous, and means that mind is extraordinary in quality, limitless in quantity, and contains possibilities without number. To become conscious of this power is to become a "live wire"; it has the same effect as placing an ordinary wire in contact with a wire that is charged. The Universal is the live wire. It carries power sufficient to meet every situation which may arise in the life of every individual. When the individual mind touches the Universal Mind it receives all the power it requires. This is the world within. All science recognizes the reality of this world, and all power is contingent upon our recognition of this world.
5. The ability to eliminate imperfect conditions depends upon mental action, and mental action depends upon consciousness of power; therefore, the more conscious we become of our unity with the source of all power, the greater will be our power to control and master every condition.
6. Large ideas have a tendency to eliminate all smaller ideas so that it is well to hold ideas large enough to counteract and destroy all small or undesirable tendencies. This will remove innumerable petty and annoying obstacles from your path. You also become conscious of a larger world of thought, thereby increasing your mental capacity as well as placing yourself in position to accomplish something of value.
7. This is one of the secrets of success, one of the methods of organizing victory, one of the accomplishments of the Master-Mind. He thinks big thoughts. The creative energies of mind find no more difficulty in handling large situations, than small ones. Mind is just as much present in the Infinitely large as in the Infinitely small.
8. When we realize these facts concerning mind we understand how we may bring ourselves any condition by creating the corresponding conditions in our consciousness, because everything which is held for any length of time in the consciousness, eventually becomes impressed upon the subconscious and thus becomes a pattern which the creative energy will wave into the life and environment of the individual.
9. In this way conditions are produced and we find that our lives are simply the reflection of our predominant thoughts, our mental attitude; we see then that the science of correct thinking is the one science, that it includes all other sciences.
10. From this science we learn that every thought creates an impression on the brain, that these impressions create mental tendencies, and these tendencies create character, ability and purpose, and that the combined action of character, ability and purpose determines the experiences with which we shall meet in life.
11. These experiences come to us through the Law of Attraction; through the action of this law we meet in the world without the experiences which correspond to our world within.
12. The predominant thought or the mental attitude is the magnet, and the law is that "like attracts like", consequently the mental attitude will invariably attract such conditions as correspond to its nature.
13. This mental attitude is our personality and is composed of the thoughts which we have been creating in our own mind; therefore, if we wish a change in conditions all that is necessary is to change our thought; this will in turn change our mental attitude, which will in turn change our personality, which will in turn change the persons, things and conditions, or, the experiences with which we meet in life.
14. It is, however, no easy matter to change the mental attitude, but by persistent effort it may be accomplished; the mental attitude is patterned after the mental pictures which have been photographed on the brain; if you do not like the pictures, destroy the negatives and create new pictures; this is the art of visualization.
15. As soon as you have done this you will begin to attract new things, and the new things will correspond to the new pictures. To do this: impress on the mind a perfect picture of the desire which you wish to have objectified and continue to hold the picture in mind until results are obtained.
16. If the desire is one which requires determination, ability, talent, courage, power or any other spiritual power, these are necessary essentials for your picture; build them in; they are the vital part of the picture; they are the feeling which combines with thought and creates the irresistible magnetic power which draws the things you require to you. They give your picture life, and life means growth, and as soon as it beings to grow, the result is practically assured.
17. Do not hesitate to aspire to the highest possible attainments in anything you may undertake, for the mind forces are ever ready to lend themselves to a purposeful will in the effort to crystallize its highest aspirations into acts, accomplishments, and events.
18. An illustration of how these mind forces operate is suggested by the method in which all our habits are formed. We do a thing, then do it again, and again, and again, until it becomes easy and perhaps almost automatic; and the same rule applies in breaking any and all bad habits; we stop doing a thing, and then avoid it again, and again until we are entirely free from it; and if we do fail now and then, we should by no means lose hope, for the law is absolute and invincible and gives us credit for every effort and every success, even though our efforts and successes are perhaps intermittent.
19. There is no limit to what this law can do for you; dare to believe in your own idea; remember that Nature is plastic to the ideal; think of the ideal as an already accomplished fact.
20. The real battle of life is one of ideas; it is being fought out by the few against the many; on the one side is the constructive and creative thought, on the other side the destructive and negative thought; the creative thought is dominated by an ideal, the passive thought is dominated by appearances. On both sides are men of science, men of letters, and men of affairs.
21. On the creative side are men who spend their time in laboratories, or over microscopes and telescopes, side by side with the men who dominate the commercial, political, and scientific world; on the negative side or men who spend their time investigating law and precedent, men who mistake theology for religion, statesmen who mistake might for right, and all the millions who seem to prefer precedent to progress, who are eternally looking backward instead of forward, who see only the world without, but know nothing of the world within.
22. In the last analysis there are but these two classes; all men will have to take their place on one side or the other; they will have to go forward, or go back; there is no standing still in a world where all is motion; it is this attempt to stand still that gives sanction and force to arbitrary and unequal codes of law.
23. That we are in a period of transition is evidenced by the unrest which is everywhere apparent. The complaint of humanity is as a roll of heaven's artillery, commencing with low and threatening notes and increasing until the sound is sent from cloud to cloud, and the lightning splits the air and earth.
24. The sentries who patrol the most advanced outposts of the Industrial, Political, and Religious world are calling anxiously to each other. What of the night? The danger and insecurity of the position they occupy and attempt to hold is becoming more apparent every hour. The dawn of a new era necessarily declares that the existing order of things cannot much longer be.
25. The issue between the old regime and the new, the crux of the social problem, is entirely a question of conviction in the minds of the people as to the nature of the Universe. When they realize that the transcendent force of spirit or mind of the Cosmos is within each individual, it will be possible to frame laws that shall consider the liberties and rights of the many instead of the privileges of the few.
26. As long as the people regard the Cosmic power as a power non-human and alien to humanity, so long will it be comparatively easy for a supposed privileged class to rule by Divine right in spite of every protest of social sentiment. The real interest of democracy is therefore to exalt, emancipate and recognize the divinity of the human spirit. To recognize that all power is from within. That no human being has any more power than any other human being, except such as may willingly be delegated to him. The old regime would have us believe that the law was superior to the law-makers; herein is the gist of the social crime of every form of privilege and personal inequality, the institutionalizing of the fatalistic doctrine of Divine election.
27. The Divine Mind is the Universal Mind; it makes no exceptions, it plays no favorites; it does not act through sheer caprice or from anger, jealousy or wrath; neither can it be flattered, cajoled or moved by sympathy or petition to supply man with some need which he thinks necessary for his happiness or even his existence. The Divine Mind makes no exceptions to favor any individual; but when the individual understands and realizes his Unity with the Universal principle he will appear to be favored because he will have found the source of all health, all wealth, and all power.
28. For your exercise this week, concentrate on the Truth. Try to realize that the Truth shall make you free, that is, nothing can permanently stand in the way of your perfect success when you learn to apply the scientifically correct thought methods and principles. Realize that you are externalizing in your environment your inherent soul potencies. Realize that the Silence offers an ever-available and almost unlimited opportunity for awakening the highest conception of Truth. Try to comprehend that Omnipotence itself is absolute silence, all else is change, activity, limitation. Silent thought concentration is therefore the true method of reaching, awakening, and then expressing the wonderful potential power of the world within.
The possibilities of thought training are infinite, its consequence eternal, and yet few take the pains to direct their thinking into channels that will do them good, but instead leave all to chance.
Marden
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Study Questions with Answers
world, is brought forth into tangible expression.
202. What is the source of this power?
The Universal Mind, from which all things proceed, and which is one and indivisible.
203. How is this power being manifested?
Through the individual, each individual is a channel whereby this energy is being differentiated in form.
204. How may we connect with this Omnipotence?
Our ability to think is our ability to act on this Universal Energy, and what we think is what is produced or created in the objective world.
205. What is the result of this discovery?
The result is nothing less than marvelous, it opens unprecedented and limitless opportunity.
206. How, then, may we eliminate imperfect conditions?
By becoming conscious of our Unity with the source of all power.
207. What is one of the distinctive characteristics of the Master Mind?
He thinks big thoughts, he holds ideas large enough to counteract and destroy all petty and annoying obstacles.
208. How do experiences come to us?
Through the law of attraction.
209. How is this law brought into operation?
By our predominant mental attitude.
210. What is the issue between the old regime and the new?
A question of conviction as to the nature of the Universe. The old regime is trying to cling to the fatalistic doctrine of Divine election. The new regime recognizes the divinity of the individual, the democracy of humanity.
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Part Twenty-One
It is my privilege to enclose Part Twenty-One. In paragraph 7 you will find that one of the secrets of success, one of the methods of organizing victory, one of the accomplishments of the Master Mind is to think big thoughts.
In paragraph 8 you will find that everything which we hold in our consciousness for any length of time becomes impressed upon our subconsciousness and so becomes a pattern which the creative energy will wave into our life and environment. This is the secret of the wonderful power of prayer.
We know that the universe is governed by law; that for every effect there must be a cause, and that the same cause, under the same conditions, will invariably produce the same effect.
Consequently, if prayer has ever been answered, it will always be answered, if the proper conditions are complied with. This must necessarily be true; otherwise the universe would be a chaos instead of a cosmos. The answer to prayer is therefore subject to law, and this law is definite, exact and scientific, just as are the laws governing gravitation and electricity. An understanding of this law takes the foundation of Christianity out of the realm of superstition and credulity and places it upon the firm rock of scientific understanding.
But, unfortunately, there are comparatively few persons who know how to pray.
They understand that there are laws governing electricity, mathematics, and chemistry, but, for some inexplicable reason, it never seems to occur to them that there are also spiritual laws, and that these laws are also definite, scientific, exact, and operate with immutable precision.
PART TWENTY-ONE
1. The real secret of power is consciousness of power. The Universal Mind is unconditional; therefore, the more conscious we become of our unity with this mind, the less conscious we shall become of conditions and limitations, and as we become emancipated or freed from conditions we come into a realization of the unconditional. We have become free!
2. As soon as we become conscious of the inexhaustible power in the world within, we begin to draw on this power and apply and develop the greater possibilities which this discernment has realized, because whatever we become conscious of, is invariably manifested in the objective world, is brought forth into tangible expression.
3. This is because the Infinite Mind, which is the source from which all things proceed, is one and indivisible, and each individual is a channel whereby this Eternal Energy is being manifested. Our ability to think is our ability to act upon this Universal Substance, and what we think is what is created or produced in the objective world.
4. The result of this discovery is nothing less than marvelous, and means that mind is extraordinary in quality, limitless in quantity, and contains possibilities without number. To become conscious of this power is to become a "live wire"; it has the same effect as placing an ordinary wire in contact with a wire that is charged. The Universal is the live wire. It carries power sufficient to meet every situation which may arise in the life of every individual. When the individual mind touches the Universal Mind it receives all the power it requires. This is the world within. All science recognizes the reality of this world, and all power is contingent upon our recognition of this world.
5. The ability to eliminate imperfect conditions depends upon mental action, and mental action depends upon consciousness of power; therefore, the more conscious we become of our unity with the source of all power, the greater will be our power to control and master every condition.
6. Large ideas have a tendency to eliminate all smaller ideas so that it is well to hold ideas large enough to counteract and destroy all small or undesirable tendencies. This will remove innumerable petty and annoying obstacles from your path. You also become conscious of a larger world of thought, thereby increasing your mental capacity as well as placing yourself in position to accomplish something of value.
7. This is one of the secrets of success, one of the methods of organizing victory, one of the accomplishments of the Master-Mind. He thinks big thoughts. The creative energies of mind find no more difficulty in handling large situations, than small ones. Mind is just as much present in the Infinitely large as in the Infinitely small.
8. When we realize these facts concerning mind we understand how we may bring ourselves any condition by creating the corresponding conditions in our consciousness, because everything which is held for any length of time in the consciousness, eventually becomes impressed upon the subconscious and thus becomes a pattern which the creative energy will wave into the life and environment of the individual.
9. In this way conditions are produced and we find that our lives are simply the reflection of our predominant thoughts, our mental attitude; we see then that the science of correct thinking is the one science, that it includes all other sciences.
10. From this science we learn that every thought creates an impression on the brain, that these impressions create mental tendencies, and these tendencies create character, ability and purpose, and that the combined action of character, ability and purpose determines the experiences with which we shall meet in life.
11. These experiences come to us through the Law of Attraction; through the action of this law we meet in the world without the experiences which correspond to our world within.
12. The predominant thought or the mental attitude is the magnet, and the law is that "like attracts like", consequently the mental attitude will invariably attract such conditions as correspond to its nature.
13. This mental attitude is our personality and is composed of the thoughts which we have been creating in our own mind; therefore, if we wish a change in conditions all that is necessary is to change our thought; this will in turn change our mental attitude, which will in turn change our personality, which will in turn change the persons, things and conditions, or, the experiences with which we meet in life.
14. It is, however, no easy matter to change the mental attitude, but by persistent effort it may be accomplished; the mental attitude is patterned after the mental pictures which have been photographed on the brain; if you do not like the pictures, destroy the negatives and create new pictures; this is the art of visualization.
15. As soon as you have done this you will begin to attract new things, and the new things will correspond to the new pictures. To do this: impress on the mind a perfect picture of the desire which you wish to have objectified and continue to hold the picture in mind until results are obtained.
16. If the desire is one which requires determination, ability, talent, courage, power or any other spiritual power, these are necessary essentials for your picture; build them in; they are the vital part of the picture; they are the feeling which combines with thought and creates the irresistible magnetic power which draws the things you require to you. They give your picture life, and life means growth, and as soon as it beings to grow, the result is practically assured.
17. Do not hesitate to aspire to the highest possible attainments in anything you may undertake, for the mind forces are ever ready to lend themselves to a purposeful will in the effort to crystallize its highest aspirations into acts, accomplishments, and events.
18. An illustration of how these mind forces operate is suggested by the method in which all our habits are formed. We do a thing, then do it again, and again, and again, until it becomes easy and perhaps almost automatic; and the same rule applies in breaking any and all bad habits; we stop doing a thing, and then avoid it again, and again until we are entirely free from it; and if we do fail now and then, we should by no means lose hope, for the law is absolute and invincible and gives us credit for every effort and every success, even though our efforts and successes are perhaps intermittent.
19. There is no limit to what this law can do for you; dare to believe in your own idea; remember that Nature is plastic to the ideal; think of the ideal as an already accomplished fact.
20. The real battle of life is one of ideas; it is being fought out by the few against the many; on the one side is the constructive and creative thought, on the other side the destructive and negative thought; the creative thought is dominated by an ideal, the passive thought is dominated by appearances. On both sides are men of science, men of letters, and men of affairs.
21. On the creative side are men who spend their time in laboratories, or over microscopes and telescopes, side by side with the men who dominate the commercial, political, and scientific world; on the negative side or men who spend their time investigating law and precedent, men who mistake theology for religion, statesmen who mistake might for right, and all the millions who seem to prefer precedent to progress, who are eternally looking backward instead of forward, who see only the world without, but know nothing of the world within.
22. In the last analysis there are but these two classes; all men will have to take their place on one side or the other; they will have to go forward, or go back; there is no standing still in a world where all is motion; it is this attempt to stand still that gives sanction and force to arbitrary and unequal codes of law.
23. That we are in a period of transition is evidenced by the unrest which is everywhere apparent. The complaint of humanity is as a roll of heaven's artillery, commencing with low and threatening notes and increasing until the sound is sent from cloud to cloud, and the lightning splits the air and earth.
24. The sentries who patrol the most advanced outposts of the Industrial, Political, and Religious world are calling anxiously to each other. What of the night? The danger and insecurity of the position they occupy and attempt to hold is becoming more apparent every hour. The dawn of a new era necessarily declares that the existing order of things cannot much longer be.
25. The issue between the old regime and the new, the crux of the social problem, is entirely a question of conviction in the minds of the people as to the nature of the Universe. When they realize that the transcendent force of spirit or mind of the Cosmos is within each individual, it will be possible to frame laws that shall consider the liberties and rights of the many instead of the privileges of the few.
26. As long as the people regard the Cosmic power as a power non-human and alien to humanity, so long will it be comparatively easy for a supposed privileged class to rule by Divine right in spite of every protest of social sentiment. The real interest of democracy is therefore to exalt, emancipate and recognize the divinity of the human spirit. To recognize that all power is from within. That no human being has any more power than any other human being, except such as may willingly be delegated to him. The old regime would have us believe that the law was superior to the law-makers; herein is the gist of the social crime of every form of privilege and personal inequality, the institutionalizing of the fatalistic doctrine of Divine election.
27. The Divine Mind is the Universal Mind; it makes no exceptions, it plays no favorites; it does not act through sheer caprice or from anger, jealousy or wrath; neither can it be flattered, cajoled or moved by sympathy or petition to supply man with some need which he thinks necessary for his happiness or even his existence. The Divine Mind makes no exceptions to favor any individual; but when the individual understands and realizes his Unity with the Universal principle he will appear to be favored because he will have found the source of all health, all wealth, and all power.
28. For your exercise this week, concentrate on the Truth. Try to realize that the Truth shall make you free, that is, nothing can permanently stand in the way of your perfect success when you learn to apply the scientifically correct thought methods and principles. Realize that you are externalizing in your environment your inherent soul potencies. Realize that the Silence offers an ever-available and almost unlimited opportunity for awakening the highest conception of Truth. Try to comprehend that Omnipotence itself is absolute silence, all else is change, activity, limitation. Silent thought concentration is therefore the true method of reaching, awakening, and then expressing the wonderful potential power of the world within.
The possibilities of thought training are infinite, its consequence eternal, and yet few take the pains to direct their thinking into channels that will do them good, but instead leave all to chance.
Marden
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Study Questions with Answers
world, is brought forth into tangible expression.
202. What is the source of this power?
The Universal Mind, from which all things proceed, and which is one and indivisible.
203. How is this power being manifested?
Through the individual, each individual is a channel whereby this energy is being differentiated in form.
204. How may we connect with this Omnipotence?
Our ability to think is our ability to act on this Universal Energy, and what we think is what is produced or created in the objective world.
205. What is the result of this discovery?
The result is nothing less than marvelous, it opens unprecedented and limitless opportunity.
206. How, then, may we eliminate imperfect conditions?
By becoming conscious of our Unity with the source of all power.
207. What is one of the distinctive characteristics of the Master Mind?
He thinks big thoughts, he holds ideas large enough to counteract and destroy all petty and annoying obstacles.
208. How do experiences come to us?
Through the law of attraction.
209. How is this law brought into operation?
By our predominant mental attitude.
210. What is the issue between the old regime and the new?
A question of conviction as to the nature of the Universe. The old regime is trying to cling to the fatalistic doctrine of Divine election. The new regime recognizes the divinity of the individual, the democracy of humanity.
