Excerpts from
12 Lessons in Concentration and Will Power by F.W. Sears Order in Adobe PDF eBook or printed form for $7.95 (+ printing charge) or click here to order from Amazon.com for $24.95 Book Description
1919. Topics covered in the 12 lessons include: Concentration Rightly and Wrongly Used; Character of Thoughts We Think; Thought Habits; Inharmonious Thought Habits; Consciousness and Thought Habits; I'll Try Thought Habit; Overcoming Self-Consciousness; Law of Harmony; Law of Force; Oneness of All Life; Individuality; and Will Power. PREFACE We should never be afraid to spend our money
for
anything which will benefit us. There is plenty of money in the world and
there is no
reason why we should not relate with whatever amount we may want. When we do not it is because we have used our
concentration
and will power wrongly and not because there is any lack in the supply
of
money. When we try to get the best of anyone in any
deal we
are only beating ourself by using our concentration and will power wrongly. When we do anything with the consciousness
of
"economizing" we are simply shutting ourself away from the universal
abundance of the supply of everything through the wrong use of
our
concentration and will power. When we attempt to control others and make
them buy
our goods whether or not they want them, we are using our concentration
and
will power wrongly and no matter how much profit we may make
today as
the result, the day will come when we will lose it all and everything
else we
may have. All this is the result of the Universal Law
which
works out the effects of causes we set in motion through the wrong use
of our
concentration and will power. We may say "I don't believe such rot," but
that doesn't in any way affect its truth. The time was, and not so very long ago
either, when
the most intellectual men in the world did not believe such "rot" as
that the world was round, and they proved conclusively (to their own
satisfaction) that it couldn't be round or else the water would all
fall off of
it. The best educated men of that day, as well as
the
Christian religion, taught also that the sun revolved around the earth
and
ostracized and excommunicated those who did not profess similar
beliefs, but
that did not make the earth square neither did it make the sun revolve
around
the earth. "Ignorance of the law excuses no one," so
say our civil and criminal courts," and this is in full accord with the
Universal Laws; our " beliefs," no matter what they may be, do not in
any way excuse our ignorance. It is evident that you wanted to learn
something you
did not know otherwise you would not have purchased these lessons. The first thing for a real student to
do is to
become receptive to his teacher. This does not mean that he has to become
acceptive
and swallow everything whole at one gulp without regard to whether or
not it
appeals to his reason, logic and common-sense, but it does mean that he
should
become receptive, and that when he finds something which does
not agree
with his preconceived ideas he should not reject it at once as being
untrue but
he should go to work to see how well he can prove its truth to himself. There is nothing in these lessons but what
the Author
knows is true because he has proven them for himself and has taught
thousands of his students how to prove them during the past few years. There are two ways in which to learn any
lesson: One
way is to memorize the words. This is the method usually adopted by
most
students. The other way is to learn by absorption. That
is, read
the lesson over quietly, carefully, calmly, while in a relaxed
condition and so
absorb it rather than attempt to memorize it. When we memorize a lesson we only get the
form, the
words; we get little or nothing of either their consciousness or
vibration. Memorizing a thing gives us an intellectual
knowledge
of it, its theory, but gives us little or nothing of its wisdom or
understanding. When we absorb a lesson we may not at first
be able to
express our conception of it as intellectually as it is written but we
at least
get the soul of it, the wisdom and understanding of it, because we
feel it and live it in our consciousness. This is the true method of obtaining wisdom
and understanding,
and it is the method the Author would most earnestly recommend in the
study of
these lessons. My best wishes are always with you. THE
AUTHOR. FIRST LESSON The power of concentration when rightly
used is
man's greatest asset, but when wrongly used becomes his
greatest
liability. In order to understand just what is meant by
the words
"rightly" and " wrongly " as used in the "Sears
Philosophy" let me say that "rightly" means harmoniously or
under the Law of Harmony, and that "wrongly" means inharmoniously or
under the Law of Force. Heretofore man has always been taught by
those who
discussed this subject, whether as a writer or teacher, that all it was
necessary for him to do was to acquire a strong power of concentration
and the
world and everything in it he wanted would be his. That with such a
power of
concentration he could make anything come to him he wanted. The result of such teaching has been that
man's entire
work was devoted to acquiring the power to concentrate first and then
directing
that power towards some one thing for as long a period as he might
desire. Numerous methods for acquiring this
power of
concentration have been given, the idea seeming to be with each
teacher that
it was the method which was the important thing. No attention whatever has been given to the
principles underlying man's use of the power of concentration nor
to the
consciousness with which it was used, and the will power which
manipulated
it. It is in this fact there is found the first
difference
between the "Sears Philosophy" and all other teachings. Methods are
unimportant as they are purely accessories, and any method a student
finds
helpful to his particular state of consciousness is good for him no
matter how
bad it may be for others. When a student adopts a method which is
destructive
and inharmonious in his life the day comes when he realizes this truth
and so
learns that "the cure of a thing is in the thing itself." His
experience then becomes "good" to him. Man's consciousness is created by his
thought
habits, and these in turn are the result of the thoughts he thinks,
not for
a day or two, but for years. There are only two kinds of consciousness;
harmonious and inharmonious. The former is the effect of man's use of the
Law of
Harmonious Attraction in his life and results in increasing, upbuilding
and
developing him along constructive lines. The latter is the result of his use of the
Law of
Force (mental as well as physical) and disintegrates and destroys while
seeming to upbuild. The action of both of these Laws is so
subtle, and the
relationship between cause and effect so difficult to see objectively
in many
cases that unless man has developed a good perception and is a close
analyst he
fails to see and understand. Every thought man thinks is either
constructive or destructtive
and adds to one while taking from the other of these two kinds of
consciousness,
harmonious or inharmonious. Through man's will power he is able to
control the
kind of thoughts he thinks and therefore determine whether he will make
his consciousness
and thought habits more harmonious or more inharmonious. No one can control this for him. He must do
the work
for himself. When anyone else does control his thoughts it is because
he has
given his power of self control to some one or some thing outside of
himself. Few persons lack the power to concentrate. Most persons use this power ignorantly and
therefore
destructively the larger portion of the time. What is Concentration? It is the ability to fix the human mind on
some one
thought, idea, image, vision, thing, to the exclusion of all else. The length of time one concentrates on
anything is a
factor of the will power, not of concentration itself. There are many different kinds of
concentration and many
different methods of using this power. One of the most common methods taught, and
which many
mistake as being the only real method, is that which is called
"going
into the Silence." Under this method the student is taught, in a
general
way, to fix his mind on some one thought or thing and hold it there for
a
period of time; then let go, take his mind off of everything so that he
may
become receptive to that for which he has concentrated, and remain in
this
receptive condition for a period of time. This method is taken from the Eastern
philosophies
which are taught by the Hindus and other occultists. In its finality this method is one of the
most
destructive possible to imagine, no matter how "high" and
"unselfish" the thought may be on which one has concentrated nor how
"holy" the object of the concentration may be before "going into
the Silence." The giving up of the control of the human
mind to any
mind or consciousness manifesting through some other form, even though
it may
be to what the world calls God himself, or to any of the lesser
"Masters," no matter how "good" the object of such control
may be, weakens the power of the human mind to exercise its own will in
just
the degree that one gives up such control, and when this is continued
and
persisted in for any length of time there is only one result and that
is
astralization, obsession, or both. In all my experience and observation as a
teacher I
have never found anyone who practiced "going into the Silence" for
any length of time but who became abnormal, weak-willed, and more or
less unreliable
as the result of it. To become astralized is to have fastened upon
one a
disembodied entity; i.e., a soul which has laid down its physical body
at
death and is on the astral plane, which is the plane where we all go to
at
death. The astral plane is made of material very
much finer
than is that of the physical plane. It lies all around and within the
physical,
the two planes interpenetrating each other. Any condition of astralization devitalizes
the
physical body through the sapping of its life energy much the same as a
bloodsucker or leech does. The effect is that of an invisible vampire. To be obsessed is to have an astral entity
control the
human mind. This control may be either in part or in whole;
periodically or
continuously. In the latter event the person would be insane. All nervous diseases of every kind and nature
are the
effect of astralization or obsession. This is why the medical practitioners find it
so
difficult to "cure" nervous diseases. The patient, while under the influence of the
astralizing or obsessing entity, cannot control his own mind and his
power of
concentration is used destructively by the controlling entity. Everyone, even though he may be insane—unless
he is an
imbecile—concentrates on something with his human mind during his
waking hours. There is never a moment when one's human mind
is
absolutely a blank. The human mind only becomes what we call a
"blank"
when we cease to exercise our human will power in controlling what
shall fill it. Man's trouble is not that he lacks
the power to
concentrate but rather that he uses this power so ignorantly,
unconsciously and
destructively that he sets causes in motion which weaken his will power
and so
makes it exceedingly difficult for him to concentrate on what he wants. We have no difficulty in concentrating
indefinitely
either on what interests us or that which worries and annoys us. Our trouble begins when we attempt to make
ourselves concentrate along lines which are out of our beaten tracks
and which
require a change in our habits of thought to accomplish. All this is the result of our having used the
Law of
Force in developing our power of concentration and so weakened our will
power
that it will not respond to our continued attempt to force or make
it
follow our instructions. Our brain goes to sleep as did that of the
disciples
of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Our own troubles are of vital importance to
us and so
we unconsciously revive and revitalize them and the causes which
produced them
by our continually thinking of and concentrating upon them. By referring to Matthew, Chapter 26, verses
36 to 45,
we may read the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and from it
learn how
he concentrated on sorrow. It says that he "began to be sorrowful and
very
heavy." He said to the disciples who were with him, "My soul is
exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death." It says also that he prayed, saying, "O my
Father
if it be possible let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will
but as
thou." He prayed a second time saying: "O my Father
if
this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be
done." Also that he prayed a third time, saying the
same
words. From this history we can see how he not only
concentrated upon his troubles but also that he gave up the control of
his will
power to some personality outside of himself which the world has called
"God." The religionist has considered this a highly
laudable
thing to do. Whether or not you believe this to be so, the fact still
remains
that to do so weakens one's will power and makes him subservient to
some power
exercised by some personality other than his own. Having taught the law and its universal
application,
our business is not to attempt to force the student to comply with it,
but to
permit him to use as much or as little of it as each one may desire. The student may well ask as to why one who
knew the
power of concentration as well as the man Jesus must have known it
would have
used it so destructively as he did in Gethsemane. It is a truth that no one ever lives up to
his highest
ideals all of the time. To do so would be to cease to grow.
Stagnation and
then death is always the result when the growth of anything ceases. The man Jesus was no exception to the rule,
as one can
readily understand who reads the history of him in the New Testament, As fast as we master one ideal through the
constructive use of our power of concentration a still greater one
comes into
our vision, no matter whether these ideals are of money, health, love,
strength, courage, power, harmony, or anything else. Order complete book in Adobe PDF eBook or printed form for $7.95 (+ printing charge) or click here to order in printed form from Amazon.com for $24.95 |