But until this day which is dawning is fully come, is it possible for the seeker after truth to live in the world but not be of it, in so far as it is following after strange gods? Indeed it is. You can live your own life, wherever you may be, and no power of the carnal world can touch you. The invisible but all-potent mantle of the Spirit will surround you, and you will not need to raise a hand to protect your "rights." It is your duty, indeed, to live in the world and to conquer the obstacles to spiritual living, both within and without. This does not mean that you are to do away with all desire, but that you are to learn the true meaning of unselfishness. Many things which the world calls "good" really are so, but they must not be made first, must not be sought at the cost of suffering to others or of a loss of self-respect to ourselves.

In concluding this chapter, which perhaps has seemed to dwell upon theory rather than practice, I want to leave with you four very practical things. Two of these have to do with tendencies against which you will need to be on your guard; one is a formula for attaining self-realization; the fourth is a word, the Magic Word, which unlocks the treasure house of the Infinite.

The first tendency is that toward strained and anxious effort. Spiritual growth is growth. And this means that it is not instantaneous, and that it cannot be forced. Don't try to "push on the lines," and don't dig yourself up to see whether roots are forming. Remember that your Father created you for growth, that all the requirements are provided for, and that your part is simply to live from day to day as it is given you to live. The time has come for you to open out into the full self-consciousness of the regeneration, or you would not desire it; but this will come about by an orderly and entirely natural process. You don't need to go to India, or to study under a "master." All that you need lies within, and God will teach you to unlock these resources as fast as you can use them. Be serene.

The second tendency is an entirely different one. It may even seem to contradict the first, but in reality it does not. Perhaps I can state it best in the form of a warning.

The formula for attaining self-realization is one of the most valuable things in the world. In my life, in fact, it has proved without exception the most valuable. It is an universal formula, applicable to anything from a prosperity demonstration to the rebuilding of a pair of faulty eyes.

Below and above and around this superficial or surface self lies the great "I," which is one with the Father. This at-one-ment is not theoretical; and as long as you allow it to remain so, it will be no value to you. But the moment you make up your mind to demonstrate, you have it in your power to do so.

How? As Christ did. By contemplating, by recognizing and accepting and claiming, interiorly and serenely, this reality. And the formula, which is a very old one, is this: "I am in the Father, and the Father in me!"

As you repeat this statement, silently and with that serene inner attention which makes it vibrate in the farthest recesses of your consciousness and subsconciousness, you are not claiming any specific good, but all good. You are accepting your full heritage as the child of God. And you will not have to direct your Father's attention to any of the details.

"I and my Father are one!" The same idea in slightly different words.

"It is not I, but the Father in me that doeth the work!"

And now for the Magic Word. It is comprehended in the formula we have just been considering, and is, in fact, a condensed statement of it. But, lest you miss it, I will state it directly. The magical word is — love! Love that is without guile, or fear, or any consideration of self. Love that giveth freely of all its treasures; that smiles with gentle pity at the so-called "prudence" and "common sense" of the world. Common sense never saved any man who really needed saving, whether his need was physical or financial or moral. And Love — that impersonal and all-perfecting Love of the Spirit— has at its command sense that is not common but exalted; the white light of spiritual comprehension.

Love — you will not get very far along the path without that. And the more fully you open yourself to its perfect inflowing and regeneration, the more swiftly will you advance. Such love as this is the most practical thing in the world. It is the compass of the Spirit, which will enable you to reach your port without danger of running upon the reefs. There are always two ways of doing a thing: the way of the lower self, and the way of love. But love alone is practical. And so I am going to ask you to begin to study and to practice love; to study and practise it just as you would music or French or painting. For love is an art, and no matter how proficient you may be in it naturally, you can continue to grow more proficient. Sometimes the development of this practical faculty, which indeed is the key to all other development and acquirement, has to be undertaken in a very prosaic and mechanical way. Sometimes the love-faculty has become buried under so much dross and rubbish that it must almost literally be "dug out." It may be necessary for you to take counsel with yourself seriously to discover just where you are not making the most of your opportunities to express love. But remember that suppressed love lies at the bottom of many an apparently incurable disease and that, conversely, that broad and fearless love which goes forth without stint to every living creature is one of the surest safeguards against sickness, and accident, and every misfortune.

PRAYER is a natural force, and is subject to definite laws and conditions, just as are all other natural forces. If you shove a book off your desk, gravity does not take time to think the matter over and decide whether there are unusual circumstances in the case which may make it advisable for it to work at right angles or in an opposite direction to its usual course, or perhaps not to work at all. Certain conditions have been fulfilled, and gravity automatically does its part. So it is with prayer. If the conditions of prevailing prayer are fulfilled, it will do its part unfailingly, seven times out of seven. The "vilest sinner" has at times chanced to satisfy these conditions under which prayer works, and at these times he has worked "miracles" — has brought into action direct spiritual energy — just as certainly as any "saint" could have done. On the other hand, very good people often fail most miserably to find the secret of prevailing prayer, in which case they usually decide that a personal God has looked into the matter and decided to turn down their requests.

I would not willingly make prayer any less sacred or any less of a refuge to any living creature. If you prefer to look upon your prayers as personal appeals from a child to its Father, you are perfectly right, and you also have a right to decide that the matter is too sacred to be farther discussed. On the other hand, you may agree with me that prevailing prayer is too mighty and too holy a thing to be used merely as a balm to wounded feelings, or as a last resort in cases where everything else has failed.

Most of the facts of physical science have been discovered by men who have assumed that certain ideas were true, and have reduced these ideas to formulas or direct statements which they and like-minded explorers tested in a multitude of ways. I have tried to do something of this kind with prayer-force. Long ago, it seemed to me merely a something which probably existed, but which was too vague and uncertain in its results to be of use in everyday life. Then trouble came — it always comes, when we need it — and this prayer-force was the only thing which did not put up a "no-thoroughfare" sign. I prayed, as the Nazarene prayed, with an agony of supplication; and gradually light formed itself in the darkness, and something delivered me from the seemingly all-potent evil that had closed down.

I am going to state some of my conclusions in regard to prevailing prayer, not because I think that I have solved the problem and have learned all that there is to be known about it, nor because I think that all I have to say is settled beyond possible correction or change; but because, following this science of prayer which has been revealed to me, I have come into possession of a feeling of mastery and serenity which I never had before, and because one other than myself has done all that I have done. Together we have been through the dark valley, and our prayer has routed death itself.

This first step is easy of accomplishment, but that which follows is probably one of the most difficult things which you will ever have to learn to do. You have heard of the wonderful things accomplished by "going into the silence." Well, the silence is the second room which you must enter in receptive prayer. You have made your body comfortable and have turned your attention inward; you have called to the Father within to quicken you with that tide of spiritual energy which you need. Now, you must remain silent and passive, and you must neither suggest nor affirm to the energy which fills you, nor must you let your attention wander outward to the things of the material world. You are just to rest, to be conscious and awake, but passive and receptive. Don't even "try to feel" the energy which is working within you, for your imagination has nothing to do with the process; this is not auto-suggestion, nor is it always a process which makes an impression upon your feelings. You may feel nothing, or you may be so shaken that you will be terrified. You are in the hands of the Great One who formed you out of His own spiritual substance, and who best knows how to perfect you in body, consciousness, and estate.

There is no certain time which you must remain in the silence. At first it will perhaps be an unsatisfactory experience; but if you are faithful, you will come to recognize these periods when you are conscious but without formulated thought, and when every cell and fiber of your physical body is being cleansed and re-created, as times of wonderful blessing. At the right time, each withdrawal into the silence will terminate itself. Body and mind will awake with an unmistakable demand to be allowed to go to work. You may then shake yourself, physically and mentally, and pass from the chapel of prayer by way of the third room, that of realization. Do not hurry away to your regular employment, but pause a few minutes and silently examine the thoughts that come to you. Perhaps the wisdom which you particularly need will be revealed to you at this time. If not, you may pass on, knowing that you are going forth regenerated.

It is essential in securing results through formative prayer that you form a definite picture of that which you want and that you hold it serenely; and you will not be able to do this unless you realize that you are not calling upon luck or magic to aid you, but that you are using faculties which were created for the very purpose you are turning them to. If you are not able to visualize the thing you want as it will appear, if you can't form a picture, you may stamp your ideal or pattern into the world of causes in another way: choose words which express to you all that you desire. These may be in the form of a statement or sentence; instead of picturing money, you may state, "I am wealth; the spirit of Infinite Wisdom and Power and Love flows into me and through me, and at all times I bring forth those physical things which I need to fulfil my highest desires." Or you may form a list of unconnected words, which, as you slowly and silently consider them, will fill your consciousness with thoughts of that which you desire. Again, as in the case of receptive prayer, you are to bring yourself into harmony of vibration with the unseen, but this time it is that you may send forth vibrations of wealth or health or love or peace; you are not receptive now, but formative, synthetic, creative. Your silent thought is to be concentrated and focused upon the inner plane of patterns and ideals until it stamps that which you desire to be brought forth upon the receptive psychical substance, the world of causes and patterns.