Letter of Transmittal
If you get a thorough understanding of the thought contained in Week Ten, you will have learned that nothing happens with out a definite cause. You will be enabled to formulate your plans in accordance with exact knowledge. You will know how to control any situation by bringing adequate causes into play. When you win, as you will, you will know exactly why.
The ordinary man, who has no definite knowledge of cause and effect, is governed by his feeling or emotions. He thinks chiefly to justify his action. If he fails as a business man, he says that luck is against him. If he dislikes music, he says that music is an expensive luxury. If he is a poor office man, he says that he could succeed better at some outdoor work. If he lacks friends, he says his individuality is too fine to be appreciated.
He never thinks his problem through to the end. In short, he does not know that every effect is the result of a certain definite cause, but he seeks to console himself with explanations and excuses. He thinks only in self-defense.
On the contrary, the man who understands that there is no effect without an adequate cause thinks impersonally. He gets down to bed rock facts regardless of consequences. He is free to follow the trail of truth wherever it may lead. He sees the issue clear to the end and he meets the requirements fully and fairly, and the result is that the world gives him all that it has to give in friendship, honor, love, and approval.
Week Ten: A Certain Definite Cause
- Abundance is a natural law of the Universe. The evidence of this law is conclusive; we see it on every hand. Everywhere Nature is lavish, wasteful, extravagant. Nowhere is economy observed in any created thing. Profusion is manifested in everything. The millions and millions of trees and flowers and plants and animals and the vast scheme of reproduction where the process of creating and recreating is forever going on, all indicates the lavishness with which Nature has made provision for man. That there is an abundance for everyone is evident, but that many fail to participate in this abundance is also evident; they have not yet come into a realization of the Universality of all substance, and that mind is the active principle whereby we are related to the things we desire.
- All wealth is the offspring of power; possessions are of value only as they confer power; events are significant only as they affect power; all things represent certain forms and degrees of power.
- Knowledge of cause and effect as shown by the laws governing electricity, chemical affinity, and gravitation, enables man to plan courageously and execute fearlessly. These laws are called Natural Laws because they govern in the physical world, but all power is not physical power; there is also mental power, and there is moral and spiritual power.
- Spiritual power is superior because it exists on a higher plane. It has enabled man to discover the law by which these wonderful forces of Nature could be harnessed and made to do the work of hundreds and thousands of men. It has enabled man to discover laws whereby time and space have been annihilated and now apparently the law of gravitation is to be overcome. The operation of this law is dependent upon spiritual contact, as Henry Drummond well says:
- “In the physical world as we know it, there exists the organic and the inorganic. The inorganic or the mineral world is absolutely cut off from the plant or animal world; the passage is hermetically sealed. These barriers have never yet been crossed. No change of substance, no modification of environment, no chemistry, no electricity, no form of energy, no evolution of any kind can ever endow a single atom of the mineral world with the attribute of Life.
- “Only by the bending down into this dead world of some living form can those dead atoms be gifted with the properties of vitality; without this contact with life they remain fixed in the inorganic sphere forever. Huxley says that the doctrine of Biogenesis or life only from life is victorious all along the line, and Tyndall is compelled to say: ‘I affirm that no shred of trustworthy evidence exists to prove that life in our day has ever appeared independent of antecedent life.’
- “Physical laws may explain the inorganic, Biology may explain and account for the development of the organic, but of the point of contact Science is silent. A similar passage exists between the Natural world and the Spiritual world; this passage is hermetically sealed on the natural side. The door is closed; no man can open it, no organic change, no mental energy, no moral effort, no progress of any kind can enable any human being to enter the spiritual world.”
- But as the plant reaches down into the mineral world and touches it with the mystery of Life, so the Universal Mind reaches down into the human mind and endows it with new, strange, wonderful, and even marvelous qualities. All men or women who have ever accomplished anything in the world of industry, commerce, or art have accomplished because of this process.
- Thought is the connecting link between the Infinite and the finite, between the Universal and the individual. We have seen that there is an impassable barrier between the organic and the inorganic, and that the only way that matter can unfold is to be impregnated with life; as a seed reaches down into the mineral world and begins to unfold and reach out, the dead matter begins to live, a thousand invisible fingers begin to weave a suitable environment for the new arrival, and as the law of growth begins to take effect, we see the process continue until the Lily finally appears, and even “Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
- Even so, a thought is dropped into the invisible substance of the Universal Mind, that substance from which all things are created, and as it takes root, the law of growth begins to take effect and we find that conditions and environment are but the objective form of our thought.
- The law is that Thought is an active vital form of dynamic energy which has the power to correlate with its object and bring it out of the invisible substance from which all things are created into the visible or objective world. This is the law by which and through which all things come into manifestation; it is the Master Key by which you are admitted into the Secret Place of the Most High and are “given dominion over all things.” With an understanding of this law you may “decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee.”
- It could not be otherwise. If the soul of the Universe as we know it is the Universal Spirit, then the Universe is simply the condition which the Universal Spirit has made for itself. We are simply individualized spirit and are creating the conditions for our growth in exactly the same way.
- This creative power depends upon our recognition of the potential power of spirit or mind and must not be confused with Evolution. Creation is the calling into existence of that which does not exist in the objective world. Evolution is simply the unfolding of potentialities involved in things which already exist.
- In taking advantage of the wonderful possibilities opened up to us through the operation of this law, we must remember that we ourselves contribute nothing to its efficacy. As the Great Teacher said: “It is not I that doeth the works, but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the work.” We must take exactly the same position; we can do nothing to assist in the manifestation, we simply comply with the law, and the All-originating Mind will bring about the result.
- The great error of the present day is the idea that Man has to originate the intelligence whereby the Infinite can proceed to bring about a specific purpose or result. Nothing of this kind is necessary. The Universal Mind can be depended upon to find the ways and means for bringing about any necessary manifestation. We must, however, create the ideal and this ideal should be perfect.
- We know that the laws governing Electricity have been formulated in such a way that this invisible power can be controlled and used for our benefit and comfort in thousands of ways. We know that messages are carried around the world, that ponderous machinery does its bidding, that it now illuminates practically the whole world, but we know too that if we consciously or ignorantly violate its law by touching a live wire when it is not properly insulated, the result will be unpleasant and possibly disastrous. A lack of understanding of the laws governing in the invisible world has the same result and many are suffering the consequences all the time.
- It has been explained that the law of causation depends upon polarity — a circuit must be formed. This circuit cannot be formed unless we operate in harmony with the law. How shall we operate in harmony with the law unless we know what the law is? How shall we know what the Law is? By study and observation.
- We see the law in operation everywhere; all nature testifies to the operation of the law by silently, constantly expressing itself in the law of growth. Where there is growth, there must be life; where there is life there must be harmony, so that everything that has life is constantly attracting to itself the conditions and the supply which is necessary for its most complete expression.
- If your thought is in harmony with the creative Principle of nature and it is in tune with the Infinite Mind, then it will form the circuit and it will not return to you void; but it is possible for you to think thoughts that are not in tune with the Infinite and there is no polarity and the circuit is not formed. What, then, is the result? What is the result when a dynamo is generating electricity and the circuit is cut off and there is no outlet? The dynamo stops.
- It will be exactly the same with you. If you entertain thoughts which are not in accordance with the Infinite and cannot therefore be polarized, there is no circuit. You are isolated, the thoughts cling to you, harass you, worry you, and finally bring about disease and possibly death; the physician may not diagnose the case exactly in this way, he may give it some fancy name which has been manufactured for the various ills which are the result of wrong thinking, but the cause is the same nevertheless.
- Constructive thought must necessarily be creative, but creative thought must be harmonious, and this eliminates all destructive or competitive thought.
- Wisdom, strength, courage, and all harmonious conditions are the result of power and we have seen that all power is from within; likewise, every lack, limitation, or adverse circumstance is the result of weakness, and weakness is simply absence of power; it comes from nowhere, it is nothing — the remedy then is simply to develop power, and this is accomplished in exactly the same manner that all power is developed: By exercise.
- This exercise consists in making an application of your knowledge. Knowledge will not apply itself. You must make the application. Abundance will not come to you out of the sky, neither will it drop into your lap, but a conscious realization of the law of attraction and the intention to bring it into operation for a certain, definite, and specific purpose and the will to carry out this purpose will bring about the materialization of your desire by a natural law of transference. If you are in business, it will increase and develop along regular channels. Possibly new or unusual channels of distribution will be opened and when the law becomes fully operative you will find that the things you seek are seeking you.
- This week select a blank space on the wall, or any other convenient spot, from where you usually sit. Mentally draw a black horizontal line about six inches long, try to see the line as plainly as though it were painted on the wall. Now mentally draw two vertical lines connecting with this horizontal line at either end. Now draw another horizontal line connecting with the two vertical lines. Now you have a square. Try to see the square perfectly. When you can do so, draw a circle within the square. Now place a point in the center of the circle. Now draw the point toward you about 10 inches. Now you have a cone on a square base. You will remember that your work was all in black. Change it to white, to red, to yellow.
- If you can do this, you are making excellent progress and will soon be enabled to concentrate on any problem you may have in mind.
When any object or purpose is clearly held in thought, its precipitation, in tangible and visible form, is merely a question of time. The vision always precedes; and itself determines the realization. — Lilian Whiting
Questions & Answers for Week Ten
What is Wealth?
Wealth is the offspring of power.
Of what value are possessions?
Possessions are of value only as they confer power.
Of what value is a knowledge of cause and effect?
It enables men to plan courageously and execute fearlessly.
How does life originate in the inorganic world?
Only by the introduction of some living form. There is no other way.
What is the connecting link between the finite and the Infinite?
Thought is the connecting link.
Why is that so?
Because the Universal can manifest only through the individual.
Upon what does causation depend?
Upon polarity; a circuit must be formed; the Universal is the positive side of the battery of life, the individual is the negative, and thought forms the circuit.
Why do many fail to secure harmonious conditions?
They do not understand the law; there is no polarity; they have not formed the circuit.
What is the remedy?
A conscious recognition of the law of attraction with the intention of bringing it into existence for a definite purpose.
What will be the result?
Thought will correlate with its object and bring it into manifestation, because thought is a product of the spiritual man, and spirit is the creative Principle of the Universe.
A vivid thought brings the power to paint it; and in proportion to the depth of its source is the force of its projection. — Emerson