Book Description
1924. How to free yourself from the grip of a race habit millions of years old; Develop a new master center and thus cure disease; Dealing with disease and inharmony; A three word key thought that will focus your thought upon a mighty truth and raise you to a new level of master consciousness; Providing an inlet and outlet for energy; Creative energy; How to heal your body and pocketbook; Warning signals of coming inharmony; Rooting out ideals which cause disease; Self-healing; How to get inside your subconscious mind; A consciousness that radiates joy and serenity.

MOST of those students who turn to New Thought or to any of its allied philosophies or systems of living, do so with one or more of three basic motives urging them forward.

First in numbers comes those who desire physical healing.

Second are those who desire financial betterment.

The third class is composed of those who are being forced out of the old routine by a vague but very real and insistent unrest — a desire for a new vision of life, of its meaning and its possibilities.

This primal motive is apt to be lost from view early in the student's progress; but it is important to note, at this time, that it is always one of unrest, of dissatisfaction with present conditions of living. Something more, something different, is desired.

What is really needed, first of all, whether or not the need is recognized, is a broad outlook upon the whole problem of personal unfoldment or personal evolution. In the successful execution of every worthwhile purpose, there exist certain divisions which may be called "dynamic elements," or fundamentals. The supreme importance of this law of fundamentals is that unless each of these dynamic elements is understood and is properly co-ordinated with all the others, distortion of effort and meagerness of results must follow.

It is the purpose of the present course of lessons to bring into the focus of the student's attention those dynamic elements or fundamentals which must be understood and properly utilized to achieve harmonious living. Some of these fundamentals are generally agreed upon, and the methods of applying them to everyday living are at least partially understood. Others of them are practically unknown by most men and women. The unrecognized effort to make part of the functions of complete living perform the work not only of themselves but of other faculties which are allowed to remain latent causes much of the misery which we see about us and sometimes within us.

With this principle in mind, let us consider the various factors which must be co-ordinated in organizing a life program fitted to bring real success and happiness. The primary factor to be considered is that mainspring of all actions and all desire, Consciousness. Consciousness is an evolutionary product. After having reached the human level, it may manifest itself in one of three forms:

First, personal consciousness, which is that of the average human being of today. Personal consciousness is limited to the range of thoughts and sensations of the individual himself.

Second, Cosmic Consciousness. This is an extension of personal consciousness, which at times or perhaps almost continuously becomes fused with the mind of nature, or the big creative consciousness directing the universe. Many great and successful men have attained a measure of this Cosmic Consciousness without being aware of the nature of the gift which lifted them above the heads of their fellows.

Third, Absolute Consciousness, or Spiritual Consciousness. This is intention of consciousness, rather than extension; it is a fusion of the life of the individual with Spirit, eternal and primal Being,

The evolutionary spiral here indicated is that which all life at the human level is following, blindly or consciously, swiftly or falteringly. Happiness results from going forward with mastery along the path. Unhappiness results from progress arrested while the ego strives to burrow under or tunnel through obstructions.

Progress evidently results from understanding the nature of the work to be done and of the tools, equipment, and methods to be used in doing it. The nature of the work set before each individual has been indicated in these three steps through which consciousness must pass. Here are the means of attainment, or the dynamic elements or fundamentals, which must be utilized.

Development or intensification of the personal powers of mind and body comes first. This intensification falls under the heads of physical and intellectual education.

Unification is the next step. The isolated faculties of mind and body must be grouped around a master-center, or dominant faculty. Organization of this kind takes place in the world of business in a partial degree when the successful business man succeeds in bringing all his thoughts and feelings under the domination of his " business sense." He will not play golf or go to the opera or make an investment unless this action has been censored by the dominant center, and passed upon as either favorable to the master motive or at any rate as not unfavorable to it. Complete unification is like that magnetizing of the iron bar which sets the attractive power of each molecule within the bar to working with all the rest, instead of in an opposite direction or at right angles. The effectiveness of the individual is increased a thousand-fold when this unifying process is even partially accomplished — but in the world of common affairs there is no master motive sufficiently powerful to dominate and co-ordinate all the others. We will return to this subject in a subsequent lesson.

Intensification of the individual faculties, unification — and then comes extension, which enables the individual to work with the Soul of Things — to become consciously one with the universe. This third step is often referred to as the attainment of Cosmic Consciousness. Spiritual Consciousness lies beyond, and is reached by making the fourth turn of the spiral journey.

The use of unfamiliar terms, or of terms which through past association have come to connote nebulous and impractical concepts, is apt to awaken distrust within the minds of practical men and women. For this reason let us pause to consider just how far we are willing to go, in this journey we are planning to take together, in formulating philosophies and in putting them to the test of experience. The only satisfactory criterion is an absolute and undeviating determination to test anything which can be put to the test of experience and which offers a probability of "working," but to carry forward on the journey of life no useless baggage.

A theory has got to WORK or it should be discarded, no matter how "beautiful" or attractive it may be. I shall ask my readers to make this test their own in the journey that lies before us.

It may be well at this time also to consider briefly the order in which the various divisions of our subject shall be taken up. Two options exist — we may choose the logical order, which considers each division and sub-division with reference to its relations with other divisions; or we may follow the psychological order, which takes up each topic solely with reference to the student's needs. Successful teaching and learning is based on following this psychological order; and as we have made results rather than form our standard of measurement, we will take up each branch of our studies into human unfoldment and its methods in the order in which we can best put these theories and methods to work. Eventually it will be possible to go back over our journey and to organize into a logical and symmetrical system these apparently isolated steps.

In connection with each lesson, an assignment will be given. The use made of these assignments is of great importance, for it is not under-standing a thing which helps, but rather putting it to work. I may know that a fire in my kitchen stove will cook my dinner, but if I do not, kindle the fire and keep it going, my knowledge will be but a dead possession. I am afraid that a few students along metaphysical or spiritual lines have been trying to warm their hands or cook their meals by the heat of a fire which they have neglected to light. They have stopped with a theoretical grasp of their philosophy, rather than make the effort to put it to work.

The assignments connected with each lesson, therefore, will have two characteristics: they will take advantage of the psychological order of presentation; and they will be useful only if applied. I have no mental magic to offer those who are too lazy to carry out the latter condition.

As the assignment for this lesson, I am going to ask you to read and re-read, until it is impressed indelibly upon your memory, a truth statement which you may have heard many times without really considering:


In making this statement your own, realize that what you have in mind in voicing this aspiration is complete consciousness — that consciousness of ever-present and eternal Good which is symbolized in the word "God." You desire that full awakening of your being which shall make you conscious here and now, of harmony, of health and power, of abundance. And that consciousness of wholeness is what you desire before all else.

The law is that an ideal, whether presented by desire or by fear, tends by an orderly but unseen process to work out channels of expression through which eventually it shall become manifest. If you fear a thing long enough, it will come upon you — through this law. If you desire a thing long enough, it, too, will come. This law never fails. The trouble is that because you do not see the roots of your ideal working their way down through the earth of your own or of the universal sub-consciousness, you do not think anything is "happening." And because of this lack of vision, you sometimes forget to fear a thing before it comes upon you, thus accidentally shutting off the cause and so the result; and often you cease desiring a thing, or expressing your desire for it, before it can reach you.

This law of the attractive power of fear and desire is a basic and eternal one, however, and before we go deeper into this philosophy of masterful living, before we take up those methods and concepts which go beyond the range of everyday experience, I am going to ask you to set this big ideal to work. For it will work, if you meditate upon it with even a partial understanding of its wonderful meaning. Don't be afraid of it — it will not change you into a dreamer or a mystic — or even into a "good" man, in the usual sense of the word good. But it will set into motion in your life forces of which you have little comprehension — mighty forces and practical ones.

Repeat the truth statement again and again, trying at the same time to feel that this desire of your soul symbolized in the word " God " is really consciousness:

FULL CONSCIOUSNESS, the consciousness of glorious and all-fulfil-ling life.



FOR THE sake of reminding the student just what we are endeavoring to accomplish, it may be well to review briefly the preceding lesson.

An axiom of all experience is that Consciousness is cause. That means that your environment today, including physical health and financial condition, is a reflection of your condition of unfoldment. If there are in your circumstances factors which you do not like, it is because somewhere within that unseen empire which is your "consciousness " exist dynamic elements which are not in harmony with your desires. These dynamic elements may be negative — may be occluded faculties; or they may be positive, as in the case of active faculties turned to the wrong uses.

Consciousness is cause — the one final and ultimate cause; and consciousness can function on all of three planes: the personal, the cosmic and the absolute or Spiritual. Animal man is limited to that range included within the limits of what he calls "I," or "myself." He is unaware of being part of an unbroken circuit of life, and of course does not know that it is possible for him to extend his consciousness far beyond its present bounds.

Cosmic consciousness is simply personal consciousness extended so as to take in a large part of the cosmos, or physical creation.

Spiritual consciousness, on the other hand, is a journey inward. It is intention rather than extension of personal consciousness.

This understanding of the nature of consciousness and of the three directions in which it may function leads up to a consideration of the steps which complete personal unfoldment. Unfoldment, or awakening, is what those who seek for the details of health and prosperity are really hungering for without knowing it; and unfoldment results from

(1) developing the faculties of the personal man;

(2) unifying these around a master center;

(3) extending them and making them part of the great World Soul, or cosmic consciousness; and

(4) finally turning them within until the center of all Being is reached, in the awakening of Spiritual Consciousness.

Development of these faculties is partially a matter of inner urge or impetus to development, which comes from the cosmic center; and partially a matter of individual effort. The cosmic impetus is evident in what may be called the "phases" or "cycles" or development of an average human being, from babyhood to maturity. The first decade is one largely of animal activity — the youngster is learning to manipulate his own body. The second decade is mental — he is becoming acquainted with his mind. The third decade is social — usually he gets married and goes to work in the world of grown-ups, and both of these experiences bring to bear upon him socializing influences of the highest importance. Finally, between thirty and forty, he begins to feel the stirrings of spiritual unrest; the desire to awaken to ranges of possibility beyond the physical, the mental, or the social.

During each of these four decades, the cosmic urge is the determining factor in starting and maintaining development. This is recognized in modern pedagogy under the doctrine of "delayed instincts." There was a time when the teacher sought to pound desirable qualities into his pupils by a vigorous use of book and rod, regardless of the particular fitness of the recipient for instruction. Now wise educators worry very little about the apparent moral turpitude of youngsters who are disorderly and inclined to mix truth with vivid imaginings. These teachers know that disorderliness is typical of the child who is retracing the early stages of race history and development, and that order and a real understanding of the nature of "truth" are delayed instincts, because they developed at a comparatively late period in the history of the race.

The application to personal unfoldment of this principle of the cosmic urge is direct and important: the student who is striving to attain full consciousness is working with the order of Nature, but there are times and seasons appointed for the emergence of these faculties of the complete man. "Pushing on the lines" will not do any good. There are the two elements to be considered: the cosmic, which both makes unfoldment possible and which makes it an orderly process, taking place in a definite way; and the personal, which makes personal desire and activity necessary. If the student does his or her part, without anxiety or tension, final success is certain — because it is part of the order of Nature. An understanding of this principle will help relieve the seeker of personal anxiety, because he will realize that by attending to his part in the best way he can, and then by letting the Greater Wisdom do its part — give its increase — results are certain. Temporary failure comes from overlooking certain parts of the complex process of unfoldment.

One of the things most frequently overlooked is the necessity of a harmonious and complete development of all of the faculties and powers which go to make up the personal man. These faculties can be divided roughly into three groups: the physical, the mental and the psychical. If any one of these groups is left out of the plan of unfoldment, distortion will result. It is like trying to walk on the hands, or to see with the ears. Each faculty or group of faculties has its part to contribute, and ignoring any of these, causes an arrest of development until the mistake is discovered and corrected.

The two ends which most New Thought students have in mind, are: first, physical healing or betterment; and, second, financial healing. Some are seeking one, some the other, while many are seeking both. Probably few of these seekers realize that both health and prosperity are simply manifestations of a common cause: wisely directed power.

Sickness is primarily a result of lack of energy. When vital pressure is reduced below a certain level, all manner of disintegrative processes begin. When vital pressure is high, the disintegrative action of the various infections is powerless. Germs do not cause disease, any more than the barbarians destroyed the Roman Empire. These disintegrative cycles begin within, and the final dissolution brought about by the Vandals is simply the tearing down of effete and lifeless tissues. Every wise physician knows that if the tide of vitality turns and rises high enough, disease will disappear. It is in the endeavor to cause this turning of the tide that most drugs are used.

Financially, too, disease is caused by lack of well-directed energy. What the world lacks is not the physical means of subsistence on any scale for all its inhabitants, but rather the man-power and the brain-power to create and co-ordinate.

All of which brings us face to face with the three-fold problem of human energy: What is it? Whence comes it? How can it be increased? This problem is of such importance that we will be dealing with it, in one form or another, for some time to come. Just now, however, it will be best to simplify the answer sufficiently to make it applicable at once to the problems of most students, even though later we shall have to go more deeply into the subject.

From this standpoint of simplicity, we may consider that the main stream of power has three tributaries: it may be said to be derived from the physical, the mental, and the cosmic springs within the individual. Little need be said about the first two of these sources of power — just remember that both the physical and the mental or intellectual groups of faculties act as generators of energy, when they are harmoniously used, as well as being consumers of power. Wholesome physical and mental activities contribute more energy than they consume. Use your body and your mind vigorously every day — the higher faculties do not awaken to do away with normal and wholesome activity on the lower plane, but rather to increase its range and power, and to co-ordinate its parts.

These principles are well known to most people nowadays even if they are not always put into practice. Here is a fact connected with the third source of energy, the cosmic inflow, which is not so generally known: There exists a boundless tide of energy which can be specialized through human activity so as to show forth as health of body, power of will and mind, wisdom, etc., and the inflow of which, usually meagre and uncertain, can be immeasurably increased. The process is similar to that by which the trolley car draws energy from the power wire.

You can learn to draw more power from the big power wire, and to do it at will.

You need never remain tired or discouraged, for literally within you — the real you, not your physical body — is a spring of this cosmic energy which merely needs opening to fill you with more strength, physical and mental, than you ever dreamed of. This is only one of the things we are going to take up in this course of lessons, but it is an important one.

Here is the first step in this process of increasing the inflow of cosmic energy:

After dinner this evening, arrange to have a quiet half hour with yourself. Go into a room where you will be undisturbed, if possible, and lie down. If there is no bed or couch in the room, the floor will do. Experiment with your body until you find that position which, for you, is easiest and most nearly self-supporting. You want to be able to forget your body, and you will not be able to do this if part of it must be kept from slipping.

Now breathe deeply but easily a dozen times. Don't imagine there is anything magical in this breathing business — you simply want to relax all surface tensions, and easy, full breathing will help you do it.

As you exhale the twelfth breath — the exact number is of no importance—let your attention sink down to your abdomen. Make yourself acutely conscious of the "feeling" in the muscles, and be particularly sensitive to any muscular tension. Relax it. Take another breath, and as it drifts easily out drop your attention down through your thighs, knees, and on into your feet. Relax all muscular tension.

Continue this process with neck, arms and hands. You probably will have to go over and over this circuit, relaxing tensions again and again. Do not be discouraged about this, as you are now beginning to free yourself from the grip of a race habit millions of years old. It is a survival of the time when men had to be tense as steel springs if they were to keep out of the clutches of their fellow cave men and of the beasts of the swamp and the jungle.

In connection with this work in releasing the physical tensions and inhibitions, continue to use the key thought I gave you last month. And here is a statement you may alternate with it:

THERE IS NO LIMITATION: FOR THOU ART THE SUPREME AND SOLE REALITY OF BEING, AND THOU ART THE GLORIOUS FULFILLMENT OF EVERY DESIRE.

Later I will tell you why I call this a "master affirmation." Just now I want you to put it to work in your life. Simply repeat it, if you can make no sense of it. The wisdom within you will understand.