Letter of Transmittal
Your life is governed by law — by actual, immutable principles that never vary. Law is in operation at all times in all places. Fixed laws underlie all human actions. For this reason, men who control giant industries are enabled to determine with absolute precision just what percentage of every hundred thousand people will respond to any given set of conditions.
It is well, however, to remember that while every effect is the result of a cause, the effect in turn becomes a cause, which creates other effects, which in turn create still other causes; so that when you put the law of attraction into operation you must remember that you are starting a train of causation for good or otherwise which may have endless possibilities.
We frequently hear it said, “A very distressing situation came into my life, which could not have been the result of my thought, as I certainly never entertained any thought which could have such a result.” We fail to remember that like attracts like in the mental world, and that the thought which we entertain brings to us certain friendships — companionships of a particular kind — and these in turn bring about conditions and environment, which in turn are responsible for the conditions of which we complain.
Week Eleven: Inductive Reasoning and the Objective Mind
- Inductive reasoning is the process of the objective mind by which we compare a number of separate instances with one another until we see the common factor that gives rise to them all.
- Induction proceeds by comparison of facts. It is this method of studying nature which has resulted in the discovery of a reign of law which has marked an epoch in human progress.
- It is the dividing line between superstition and intelligence. It has eliminated the elements of uncertainty and caprice from men’s lives and substituted law, reason, and certitude.
- It is the “Watchman at the Gate” mentioned in a former lesson.
- When, by virtue of this principle, the world to which the senses were accustomed had been revolutionized; when the sun had been arrested in his course, the apparently flat earth had been shaped into a ball and set whirling around him; when the inert matter had been resolved into active elements and the universe presented itself wherever we directed the telescope and microscope full of force, motion, and life; we are constrained to ask by what possible means the delicate forms of organization in the midst of it are kept in order and repair?
- Like poles and like forces repel themselves or remain impenetrable to each other, and this cause seems in general sufficient to assign a proper place and distance to stars, men, and forces. As men of different virtues enter into partnership, so do opposite poles attract each other, elements that have no property in common like acids and gases cling to each other in preference and a general exchange is kept up between the surplus and the demand.
- As the eye seeks and receives satisfaction from colors complementary to those which are given, so does need, want, and desire in the largest sense induce, guide, and determine action.
- It is our privilege to become conscious of the principle and act in accordance with it. Cuvier sees a tooth belonging to an extinct race of animals. This tooth wants a body for the performance of its function and it defines the peculiar body it stands in need of with such precision that Cuvier is able to reconstruct the frame of this animal.
- Perturbations are observed in the motions of Uranus. Leverrier needs another star at a certain place to keep the solar system in order and Neptune appears in the place and hour appointed.
- The instinctive wants of the animal and the intellectual wants of Cuvier, the wants of nature and of the mind of Leverrier were alike, and thus the results; here the thoughts of an existence, there an existence. A well-defined lawful want, therefore, furnishes the reason for the more complex operations of nature.
- Having recorded correctly the answers furnished by nature and stretched our senses with the growing science over her surface; having joined hands with the levers that move the earth; we become conscious of such a close, varied, and deep contact with the world without that our wants and purposes become no less identified with the harmonious operations of this vast organization than the life, liberty, and happiness of the citizen is identified with the existence of his government.
- As the interests of the individual are protected by the arms of the country, added to his own; and his needs may depend upon certain supply in the degree that they are felt more universally and steadily; in the same manner does conscious citizenship in the Republic of nature secure us from the annoyances of subordinate agents by alliance with superior powers; and by appeal to the fundamental laws of resistance or inducement offered to mechanical or chemical agents, distribute the labor to be performed between them and man to the best advantage of the inventor.
- If Plato could have witnessed the pictures executed by the sun with the assistance of the photographer, or a hundred similar illustrations of what man does by induction, he would perhaps have been reminded of the intellectual midwifery of his master and, in his own mind, might have arisen the vision of a land where all manual, mechanical labor and repetition is assigned to the power of nature, where our wants are satisfied by purely mental operations set in motion by the will and where the supply is created by the demand.
- However distant that land may appear, induction has taught men to make strides toward it and has surrounded him with benefits which are, at the same time, rewards for past fidelity and incentives for more assiduous devotion.
- It is also an aid in concentrating and strengthening our faculties for the remaining part, giving unerring solution for individual as well as universal problems by the mere operations of mind in the purest form.
- Here we find a method, the spirit of which is to believe that what is sought has been accomplished in order to accomplish it: a method bequeathed upon us by the same Plato who, outside of this sphere, could never find how the ideas became realities.
- This conception is also elaborated by Swedenborg in his doctrine of correspondences; and a still greater teacher has said, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark XI, 24 R. V.) The difference of the tenses in this passage is remarkable.
- We are first to believe that our desire has already been fulfilled, its accomplishment will then follow. This is a concise direction for making use of the creative power of thought by impressing on the Universal subjective mind the particular thing which we desire as an already existing fact.
- We are thus thinking on the plane of the absolute and eliminating all consideration of conditions or limitation and are planting a seed which, if left undisturbed, will finally germinate into existing fact.
- To review: Inductive reasoning is the process of the objective mind by which we compare a number of separate instances with one another until we see the common factor that gives rise to them all. We see people in every civilized country on the globe securing results by some process which they do not seem to understand themselves, and to which they usually attach more or less mystery. Our reason is given to us for the purpose of ascertaining the law by which these results are accomplished.
- The operation of this thought process is seen in those fortunate natures that possess everything that others must acquire by toil, who never have a struggle with conscience because they always act correctly and can never comport themselves otherwise than with tact, learn everything easily, complete everything they begin with a happy knack, live in eternal harmony with themselves, without ever reflecting much what they do or ever experiencing difficulty or toil.
- The fruit of this thought is, as it were, a gift of the gods, but a gift which few as yet realize, appreciate, or understand. The recognition of the marvelous power which is possessed by the mind under proper conditions and the fact that this power can be utilized, directed, and made available for the solution of every human problem is of transcendental importance.
- All truth is the same, whether stated in modern scientific terms or in the language of apostolic times. There are timid souls who fail to realize that the very completeness of truth requires various statement — that no one human formula will show every side of it.
- Changing, emphasis, new language, novel interpretations, unfamiliar perspectives, are not, as some suppose, signs of departure from truth but on the contrary, they are evidence that the truth is being apprehended in new relations to human needs and is becoming more generally understood.
- The truth must be told to each generation and to every people in new and different terms, so that when the Great Teacher said, “Believe that ye receive and ye shall receive,” or when Paul said, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” or when modern science says, “The law of attraction is that law by which thought correlates with its object.” Each statement when subjected to analysis is found to contain exactly the same truth. The only difference being in the form of presentation.
- We are standing on the threshold of a new era. The time has arrived when man has learned the secrets of mastery and the way is being prepared for a new social order, more wonderful than anything ever heretofore dreamed of. The conflict of modern science with theology, the study of comparative religions, the tremendous power of new social movements, all of these are but clearing the way for the new order. They may have destroyed traditional forms which have become antiquated and impotent, but nothing of value has been lost.
- A new faith has been born, a faith which demands a new form of expression, and this faith is taking form in a deep consciousness of power which is being manifested in the present spiritual activity found on every hand.
- The spirit which sleeps in the mineral, breathes in the vegetable, moves in the animal, and reaches its highest development in man is the Universal Mind, and it behooves us to span the gulf between being and doing — theory and practice — by demonstrating our understanding of the dominion which we have been given.
- By far the greatest discovery of all the centuries is the power of thought. The importance of this discovery has been a little slow in reaching the general consciousness, but it has arrived, and already in every field of research the importance of this greatest of all great discoveries is being demonstrated.
- You ask in what does the creative power of thought consist? It consists in creating ideas, and these in turn objectify themselves by appropriating, inventing, observing, discerning, discovering, analyzing, ruling, governing, combining, and applying matter and force. It can do this because it is an intelligent creative power.
- Thought reaches its loftiest activity when plunged into its own mysterious depth; when it breaks through the narrow compass of self and passes from truth to truth to the region of eternal light, where all which is, was, or ever will be, melt into one grand harmony.
- From this process of self contemplation comes inspiration which is creative intelligence, and which is undeniably superior to every element, force, or law of nature, because it can understand, modify, govern, and apply them to its own ends and purposes and therefore possess them.
- Wisdom begins with the dawn of reason, and reason is but an understanding of the knowledge and principles whereby we may know the true meaning of things. Wisdom, then, is illuminated reason, and this wisdom leads to humility, for humility is a large part of Wisdom.
- We all know many who have achieved the seemingly impossible, who have realized lifelong dreams, who have changed everything including themselves. We have sometimes marveled at the demonstration of an apparently irresistible power, which seemed to be ever available just when it was most needed, but it is all clear now. All that is required is an understanding of certain definite fundamental principles and their proper application.
- For your exercise this week, concentrate on the quotation taken from the Bible, “Whatsoever things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them.” Notice that there is no limitation. “Whatsoever things” is very definite and implies that the only limitation which is placed upon us is in our ability to think, to be equal to the occasion, to rise to the emergency, to remember that Faith is not a shadow, but a substance, “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Death is but the natural process whereby all material forms are thrown into the crucible for reproduction in fresh diversity.
Questions & Answers for Week Eleven
What is inductive reasoning?
It is the process of the objective mind by which we compare a number of separate instances with each other until we see the common factor which gives rise to them all.
What has this method of studying accomplished?
It has resulted in the discovery of a reign of law which has marked an epoch in human progress.
What is it that guides and determines action?
It is need, want, and desire which in the largest sense induce, guide, and determine action.
What is the formula for the unerring solution of every individual problem?
We are to believe that our desire has already been fulfilled; its accomplishment will then follow.
What great Teachers advocated it?
Jesus, Plato, Swedenborg.
What is the result of the operation of this thought process?
We are thinking on the plane of the absolute and planting a seed, which if left undisturbed will germinate into fruition.
Why is it scientifically exact?
Because it is Natural Law.
What is Faith?
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”
What is the Law of Attraction?
The Law by which Faith is brought into manifestation.
What importance do you attach to an understanding of this law?
It has eliminated the elements of uncertainty and caprice from mens’ lives and substituted law, reason, and certitude.