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Burry REPRINTED FROM FRED BURRY'S JOURNAL i' Toronto, Canada: F. W. BURRY, Publisher 1899 ;,.Er;.u. OLITAN iORu'H'iO n:;;iTRAL LgARY Social ^lenses 4. <^ ^ > * V CONTENTS PAGE I. Idealism ---"'" - 7 II. The Heart of the Universe 12 III. A New World - - - - ■ - 17 IV. The Birth of Consciousness - 23 V. The Crystal Soul - - - - - 28 VI. The Determined Will - 33 VII. Our Immortal Future - 38 VIII. The Temple of Delights 43 IX. The Great Conquest - - 48 X. Beauty, The Image of Harmony 53 XI. The Maturation of Thought - - 58 XII. The Centre 63 7 ^ f, > INTRODUCTION ■" IN many respects this may be said to be an age of aggres- sion. Humanity is entering upon a new plane of activity — a new ideal of life is born. Old institutions, which have served their time, are being thrown aside. The spirit of iconoclasm is in the air — we feel the need of dis- placing the old with the new. In the near future there will be many more sweeping changes than the world has yet undergone. We have so far only been experimenting. We must now be more direct and thorough in our work. The advanced thinkers of the age are breaking away from the limitations of churches, schools and similar binding institutions. More and more is the dignity of the Indi- vidual being recognized. Towering aloft is the banner of independence. Freedom of thought and action for every man is the demand of to-day. The dignity of the individual ! We can only understand what this means, as we allow those divine inspirations of a new consciousness to be born within us. Then we realize that concealed within each human heart there lies the source of every creation, the origin of every manifestation, and the goal of life itself. Man himself is infinite, and he exists in order that he may show forth his real nature. Locked in the marvellous recesses of his mind are celestial treasures of incalculable value. His thoughts are tremendous forces of sufficient ^i * K •> 6 INTRODUCTION power to overcome the many obstacles in his path, and rightly directed will glorify his character and make and keep him whole and strong. The following twelve essays appeared in my Journal. They are distinct separate articles, each bearing on some special phases of new thought. They offer suggestions which to many may seem startling and extreme. They present the nature of man in a higher light than the commonly accepted standard. All the loftiest ideals are brought down to earth — in these writings man is exalted above all nature as the composite personality of both creator and creature, the individuality of the eternal life principle popularly spoken of as God. Man is h'^'-e shown to be himself the object of life, to contain every attribute which he has applied to an external deity. Man is shown to possess those longed-for powers of reju- venation — power to prevent and cure sickness, old age, poverty, and at last to conquer death in the body. I send out these thoughts knowing that they will be of value as suggestions of a r>ew ideal of life — as messages which may help others to become stronger and nobler individualities. "I ! > T ' ^/ ^ IDBALlSn t T DEALISM, or Mertal Science, is the philosophy that teaches all is mind. Everything in the objective universe is a formulated thought. Life is exactly as we have made it, and our environment is the outcome of our own ideals. Nat- ure progresses ever upwards in the order of evolution ; but the " evolution " of the new science is one of mental forceS; and not of dead matter. There is no dead matter. Every little atom thinks and is so much embodied intelligence. There is only a difference of degree between the clod of earth and the brain of an Emerson. The latter evolved out of the former, and the clod possesses in latency the powers of the philosopher's brain. Our existence is made up of a multitude of experiences. This forms our character, which is our personality. The difference between the lowest form of life and a Jesus Christ is simply the difference of experience. Life has been called a school, and this is certainly what it is. Experience is our teacher \ and we learn in many ways. Even our sorrows, our sins, and our failures, all have their lessons if we but recognize them. All is mind. This statement will appear strange to a person who looks at the subject superficially. Man's body, the clothes that he wears, the earth on which he lives, and the suns and stars in the heavens, are all so much Mind. What is mind ? It is that which thinks ; that which recog- nizes something. Mind is not merely a few cubic inches 1 11; ^. « 7 » 8 IDEALISM of matter lying in the skull of a man. Look at a man's body, and a careful survey will bring you to the conclusion that every atom of it thinks. For instance, a musician is able to let his fingers fly over the keyboard, and uncon- sciously play melodies. How is this ? It is because his fingers are so to speak so much brain force, and think for him. Man's body is a vast brain structure, having its throne in the head, but by no means confined there. Man, then, first and last, is a thinker. To think is to recognize. But there are different grades of recognition, and this makes the distinction between one form of life and another. Everything in the Universe is what it recognizes itself to be. / am that I am. I will be •what I will to be. The Will of Man is supreme. In the lower creation the will, which is the same power as the human will, is not self-conscious — the animals have no consciousness of the power within them. Recognition of the fact that the Will is all-powerful makes roan the master of the Universe. This is Idealism. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. But we can never will that which we do not desire. Therefore desire is the mainspring of action. Social life to-day is the outcome of past ideals of the race . It is what we have desired it to be. It is exactly suited to the present ; and we have no right to shirk the responsibilities it offers us, and complain of Fate being against us. Our so-called troubles are the best things that could happen. To overcome them is to enlarge our character and make our personality stronger. Unhappy is the man who has few obstacles in his path. To one fully conscious of the value of overcoming, there is a distinct pleasure in surmounting difficulties. \ mm I [ IDEALISM 9 All is good \ and there is no evil. To many this may seem a startling announcement, but it is true nevertheless. This is another way of affirming the omnipresence of God, for "God" in Mental Science is not a person, but a principle ** ' * — the Principle of Being. It is another word for Life. "^ God is the Eternal Energy or Force of the Universe. Be- hind every atom of matter — in every sentient creature, lies Deity. In the heart cf each man sits enthroned the King of Heaven ; and the body is the Holy Temple of the Divine Spirit. God is Infinite, and the infinite is indivisible. * It would therefore be incorrect to say that each man ex- presses or enshrines a portion of God, but rather that every person is the manifestation— the image of God. Man is dual in his nature. Subjectively the "I" is God divine, for there is but one Power, one universal Will ; but objective- ••-f > ly Man is the Expression of Deity, the Image of God ; in other words, he embodies as much of Life or God as he recognizes. There are many metaphysicians who dislike the term " God." This is because that word has been used to express a false idea of Life — an idea that represented the Creative Principle as outside of man, centred in a personal divinity, whereas the higher conception of Mental Science shows God to be a Force or Energy within man. Jesus taught this. He said : ** The Father within me doeth the works." This is Mental Science. The Father, the Eternal Energy, the great I AM, doeth the works. Religion has for two thousand years obscured the teachings of one of the m >3t profound metaphysicians that ever existed. Instead of following out the principles of Jesus, Christians have exalted the personality of that man, and spent their time in emotional adoration. Jesus did not * (I » m IDEALISM want this. He always denied possessing any personal authority, or special goodness, and taught his followers that it was through the Principle of Life, or the " Father " within him, that he was able to do these mighty works. He also told the people that greater things than even he accom- plished were within the province of man's power. And the Holy Spirit, he said, would guide us into all truth. This is exactly the position of Mental Scientists. We do not run to any authority outside of ourselves, but we recognize that each man is a Temple of the Holy (whole) Spirit, who guides us into all truth. This divine Spirit is the " I " of every man. There is only one force in the Universe ; it is the I AM ; and it finds its highest expression in man. Jesus was divine — but all men are potentially what he was actually. No man doeth anything of himself — the race moves together ; but there are some " I's " who boldly come forward, proclaiming man's divinity, daring to formu- late more lofty ideals of life, and these men make up the vanguard of the human race, these are the heroes of history. Jesus was one of them, perhaps the greatest one that has lived so far ; but he whose power was so tremendous said, greater works than these may we do. There is no absolute perfection in life. We do not want it. It seems to me that perfection is synonymous with putrefaction. It implies that there can be no further pro- gress. This is not my ideal. My ideal is to climb higher, ever higher up the golden ladder of existence. I shall make mistakes in my ascent, but these errors are the very things that teach me. The race is evolving a more noble ideal. The past was good, but we have grown beyond it. We, the " dreamers " of this age, believe that our highest ideals may be realized on this earth. W^e not only believe, ' T i IDEALISM li but know that man has power over sickness, poverty and death. And the power resides in the Mind. The Mind is the store-house of Energy. It is the Kingdom of Heaven, which as Jesus said was " within." The King sits on his throne there. His name is I AM. There is nothing sacri- legious in thus asserting the Human and Divine Will to be one. To recognize ourselves as one with God gives us the power of overcoming environment. Our ideals have been low and we have reaped exactly what we sowed. Thought is the sower, our ideals are the seeds, and the fruits we gather are our experiences. If you are not satisfied with your present life, it is a sign that you are ready for Mental Science. If you are contented, these words are not for you. Live your life in your own way. If you wish to be a mere animal, be one. There is nothing evil in such an existence, it is simply a low ideal. A good animal nature is something to be cultivated. There are many individuals who live a happy, contented existence, living to a good old age-ah ! but they die— an(^ how much have they profited ? But they knew of nothing higher. They neither desired nor sought a better life. Truth only comes to the seeker. Seek and ye shall find. fl < v > THE HEART OF THE UNIVERSE All is mind. If a man believes a thing to be so, it is so to him for the time being, and no one in heaven or earth could make it different until his mind was changed. Every object must have a subject. For instance, if there was no subjective cause to stand and as it were look out on an objective universe, there would be no objective universe. Our imaginations make up our lives. Whether we know it or not, we all live in an ideal world ; we are all creatures of our imaginations. The same object will present two entire- ly different aspects to two people. Let us then cultivate our Imagination. Those who understand the potency of correct thinking dwell consciously in a heavenly state all the time. They live in the world of Imagination, which can be made a heavenly abode if we so desire it. Every man has it within his power, by continual practice, to concentrate his thoughts, so that only thoughts of har- mony shall find lodgment with him. The man so self- centred, can go out into a world which to the average per- son is filled with misery, and to him the poor abused earth becomes a beautiful workshop working out its own salvation ; and he knows that it is a potential heaven. Every man admits that if we could always think happy thoughts we would be happy, but the objection is continually made that it is impossible to thus concentrate our attention on what we desire to think. Concentration is possible to all who seek its mighty power. A person should spend a short time each day by himself, and in the silence concentrate on some ideal. A daily practice in concentration would very »» ' 9- 1 THE HEART OF THE UNIVERSE 13 shortly yield wonderful results. We live usually on what may be called the circumference of our being. Instead of living at the centre or cause of things, we get away from it as far as we can, content to drift in an unconscious man- ner around the wheel of life. To be con-centrated, is to live at the centre of our being ; not many can live right at the centre yet, but all of us can get nearer, ever nearer, to the divine centre of our being. Man, know yourself, and you will know all things. In the early days of animal consciousness, we know com- paratively nothing of the universe around us, and are not even conscious of our self-hood. In tne order of evolution we gradually attain more and more consciousness, until we reach nearer and nearer to the centre of our very life, and eventualy see God, or the Cause of Life reflected in our personality. Each man is a reflection or image of God. The spirit is in man and reflects his infinite energy in the outer expres- sion of the man. Thus man within is God divine, and man without is the image, expression of the Divinity. I AM is the name of God. Many people are mystified by these words. They will never understand them until they become agnostic or skeptical as to the truth of their old creeds. Don't be afraid to doubt. Tennyson says, there is more faith in honest doubt than in half the creeds. How can we learn the truth as long as we try to fit it into the crude notions of former imperfect beliefs ? Let us be willing to throw aside all for the truth — our gods, our religions, our very lives if necessary in order to get the truth. He that would attain everlasting life must first lose his personal life — lose or loose it, let go of it. Don't pull for the shore, swim out into the Infinite Ocean of Life ; you will not 14 THE HEART OF THE UNIVERSE drown, you will lose your little animal consciousness in a greater divine life. Let us simply believe in the Omnipotence of the Human Will and all power is ours. We talk of being Infinite and then make such little finite demands. We call ourselves gods, but we spell the word with a little " g," imagining thac some person on the outside has exclusive right to the big " G." Let each person boldly say, I AM GOD, with a great big "G," and he will find that the heavens won't topple down on him ; it will perhaps startle him at first, for he has been so accustomed to imagine himself a worm of the dust, and give all honor and adulation to something that is simply a creation of his own mind. Jesus took this bold attitude and was crucified for his audaciousness. For the last two thousand years people have worshipped Jesus as exclusively divine, and yet he said, "What I can do, you can do, and even greater works. If I am the light of the world, so are you the light of the world. If the Spirit dwells in me, so does it dwell in you ; each of you individu- ally enshrines the kingdom of God." God is Love, and Love is God. It is the greatest compliment you can give your heavenly father to call yourself by his name. Be con- sciously filled with God. Look upon every atom composing your body as a point of Divine Energy, make your body a worthy temple for the Divinity which is your real self, your very Being, the I AM that dwells within. O most Sacred Heart of the Universe, what shafts of insults we have pierced you with in our ignorant conceptions of life! We have imagined you to be evil on one side and good on the other, and we have foolishly applied personal attributes to your divine nature. We have imagined you capricious, angry and jealous, and have not even credited I THE HEART OF THE UNIVERSE 16 you with as much lovingness as we know our earthly parents would have. We know, O Sacred Heart, that it is the greatest of insults to ask you to forgive any of our sins, for such an action would imply that you were vengeful and vin- dictive. We know, now, that you are ever pouring forth streams of loving mercy out to all your children, and that you look kindly upon their little mistakes and inflict pain that they may be led into better paths. O Sacred Heart, centre of all things, you are good, all good, and since all else in nature proceeds from you, we are good, all good; there is no evil. Our sins, pains, and troubles are all good in their own degree, and have an educational influence in the evolution of life, ^e learn by our mistakes, but let us not be so foolish as to make the same mistake too often. We now see your divine nature shining in the Infinite Ocean of Life. We now see you as the very centre of our being. We now see that you are in us, and we in you, that the Universe is really one condition of Mind or Conscious- ness, and that every man has it within his power to attain this universal consciousness, when he shall know as he is known, when he shall be conscious of Divinity, and absorbed in the Light of God. O Sacred Heart, let us see your divine radiance reflected in every child of man, and every animal, vegetable, and mineral around us. Let us have the consciousness to know that Nature is the garment of God, which we may, when purified, draw aside to gaze on the celestial beatific vision of Life. Let us know that we may become perfect without, even as our father within is perfect. Let us know that it is within man's power to change this e.irih into para- dise ; that perpetual youth in a body of flesh is possible to every child of man. n\ 16 THE HEART OF THE UNIVERSE We know the dawn of day has come. Love is going to reign. We are already able to cope with disease and the negations that have so long afflicted humanity. Death is the last enemy. We are going to conquer it. Life in the flesh, as well as spirit, is the highest ideal we can conceive — a body of ever-growing sensibility and beauty, a body developing ever new powers and senses, an immortal body which may proceed out of this one without going through the conventional stage of physical death. We need light on this question and it comes to us every day. Let us have more light to lighten our paths, that we may see our way. We do not need to see far — one step, only one step at a time. % A NEW WORLD ».-r?"a )* I A new world ! This is what we have been seeking un- consciously through the ages of the past. A new world, where the daily annoyances of the old earth existence would no longer afflict us, where we may find new sights and scenes, new sounds, new odors, new things that we may touch, new food that we may taste, all things newer and grander and better, to become means of greater and more satisfactory expression for the refined senses of the growing new man. And the new world is discovered, the paradise of delights, the land flowing with richness and bounty, the kingdom of heaven which we have so long desired — where active repose may take the place of our strained activity, where reposeful activity may take the place of our past con- dition of dormant repose . The kingdom of heaven so long looked for from without the soul has been discovered within it. Oh, why did we not listen to the words of Jesus and heed them, instead of foolishly worshipping the personality of that man, a person- ality subject to weaknesses of the flesh, a personality which had to learn the lesson of life through suffering just the same as all men have to, yet withal disclosing a vast amount of innate wisdom, a depth of intuitive knowledge that we may well draw upon and receive ? • To gain any desired knowledge we must be negative or receptive to our own inner promptings. / We will never get any truth by merely looking to Jesus and the bible as guides. The only guide is the Spirit that dwelleth within 18 A NEW WORLD man. At the same it is wise to read bibles, and to study the teachings of individuals like Jesus, for they assist us to think for ourselves, and suggest ideas that we would perhaps never be bold enough to think alone. One of the sayings of Jesus that have come down to us contains the whole philosophy of life. 4^ He tells us to seek first the kingdom of God, and all things shall be added. What could be more explicit ? Health, wealth, and all the blessings of life will be added if we only seek the kingdom of God. Now, what is God, and where shall we find his wonderful kingdom ? So very much — in fact, the whole of our happi- ness consists in a proper understanding of our relations with God . GOD ! What majesty, what power is expressed in that short word. The word itself has almost lost its primal significance, for as can be seen on the surface it is merely a contraction of "good" — but the one idea that now seems most to the front at the mention of God is POWER. In some countries of the east the Power of the Universe has been divided between two Deities, an evil and good one, each person possessing about equal dominion. In the west the Devil or spirit of evil has been given almost as much power as God, the spirit of good. But the new thought teaches that there is no God, and no Devil, viewed as personalities ; but instead of these strange individuals there is an all-pervading Life Principle, absolute in its working, unerring in its manifestations, a principle that shows itself to possess infinite power, and which to the ripened mind discloses itself as good, all good. And yet, because the word " principle " represents to our western matter-of-fact mind a condition of unconsciousness, we find it better to use such words as God, Father, Spirit, *4.f*^ A NEW WORLD 19 MT-f'^ Mind, to make the nature of Life Substance intelligible to us. But to speak of God as being personal is only to limit the workings of God, since personality is associated with limitations, and we know that God is Infinite ; so that God is not a person, but infinitely more than a person. God is the Omnipresent Life of the Universe. There is not an atom of matter that is not permeated and saturated with God, for God is in everything, and He is everything ; God is in all, and He is all ; God is the cause of all life from the worm to the man ; there is only one substance, there is only one being — it is God. God is all, and all is God. There- fore, you are God, and I am God. I am God ! Oh, most mighty thought ! I am God ! The Being whom I have been praying to these many years is here. I have found him. I have sought him in the clouds, and I have found him in my body, which is his house that he has always resided in. Yes, I know now that his residence in it started long before it was properly prepared for its tenant, but he put up with the shanty-like structure and did not vacate it while it was at all habitable, and assisted the builders to put it in fit condition that it might be a worthy temple for his majesty. Oh, my God, I thought that you required me to prepare a mansion to receive you ; I thought that I had to do a great deal to prepare my body for you ; I thought that I was un- worthy to lodge you, and here you have been with me all the time, and I did not know it. Oh, how glad I am that I have found you ! You are my sweetheart, my lover, my heart's delight. You are my father, my mother, my brother, you are indeed all the world to me. How I love you, 1 love you ! When I used to pray to you as a being afar off, I used to mix my devotions with prayers for forgiveness, for I i I: 20 A NEW WORLD thought you were of an angry nature, with all your love, and I even sometimes feared you. Now I have found you, how different you are ! Why, you are not the same being I thought you were, at all. You seem so gentle, your voice is so still, your attitude is so reposeful, you seem more like a little child than the man whom I pictured to myself. I used to sometimes address my supplications to Jesus, and saintly men and women of history, and ask them to inter- cede with you in my behalf; at least, I thought I was speak- ing to them, and you tell me I was making a mistake all the time, and that it was really you that I was addressing, that you heard all my prayers and answered them as soon as I was ready and worthy to receive the response ? Oh, my (Jod, my God, yes my God — for you are mine ; you belong to me, you are my property — 1 understand you now, but I did not before. You have been my master in the past, it is your own desire now to be my helper, my servant. You want me to assume the role of Master and take hold of life myself, and work out my own salvation. You say that you are to be my spouse, that you, my father and my mother, will become my bride, and together we shall go down through the ages and be eternally happy ? Oh, my God, I hardly understand your meaning yet ; I see only the barest outlines of the life you map out before me. But I trust you. You shall be my light to lighten my paths, and you shall show me each step as I go, and I will be content to let the distant future remain in oblivion at pres- ent j for I trust you . But tell me more about yourself. Who are you that addresses me in this manner ? Who are you that is speak- ing to me now ? Who are you whom I hsve been loving, to whom I have been praying? What, yuu tell me that you are ^ ^^i 'Al A NEW WORLD n .../<* myself 1 MYSELF! I am speaking to myself! Yes, I understand. I know now — I know that I am God ! I know that the beings I have been praying to, gods, angels and spirits, are all emanations of my brain. I know that my life has been a gigantic illusion. I know that all the ideal kingdoms, all the ideal personages, all the elysian realms that I have imagined external to me, are all in me. I understand now, Jesus Christ, what you meant, when you said that the kingdom of heaven was within each man ; and when you said that the nature of our lives depended upon the condition of our beliefs Your wonderful teach- ings can now be understood scientifically. The world is now able to do greater things than your power allowed you to do, and science explains your teachings as to the necessity of correct believing or thinking. Your philosophy, which is the same as all great thinkers' philosophies, is summed up in the scientific statement, all is mind. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. All the whole universe, all the gods, spirits, angels, men, animals, vegetables, minerals, and the very immaterial ether is MIND. I am God. God and Man are one. My mind is the kingdom of heaven. My body is but the external part of my mind ; to put it another way, I might say that the mind is the invisible part of my body, for body and mind are interchangeable terms. The God I worship is His Majesty, Myself. The only God I recognize is the I AM, that is Myself. I know that there is no other life but God-life. I have life, and I am a life, therefore I am God. If I was not God, I would be nothing; that is, I would not exist, for God is All, and All is God. The very nature of God's substance is Love. God is Love, and Love is God. Then it is but natural that my emotional M A NEW WORLD or love nature should cry out for something to complement it, to satisfy its longings for completeness. I n the early days of animal intelligence the heart seeks help from without, but in due time the recognition of the Infinite Power residing in man's own being becomes the factor of his redemption, and intelligence evolves into the divine stage, and thus does man see in himself all that he has sought without, for man is the epitome of the universe ; each " I " is forever the centre of creation. Yes, truly, I am God. «^ir 1 THE BIRTH OF CONSCIOUSNESS t We are becoming conscious. The world is awakening out of its long years of slumber, out of its dreams, its fantastic visions of another world, and it is beginning to realize the tremendous truth, that it bears within itself the embryonic foundations of a long looked for paradise. Not only is man rising into greater consciousness, but the whole animal, vegetable, and mineral world with him, for nature is inseparably united. We are all animals yet — our bodies are subject to pain, and always will be until we have learnt to be men. " ^Animal " is derived from a word which means "* life," and " man " is from a word which means '*mind." So the part of our being that is living, that is moving, is the animal or conscious part, and the creative force that produces this vital expression is the thinking part — man. We thus see man to be omnipresent, the creator of the universe — wherever there is intelligence, we find the presence of man, and intelligence is in every atom — so the atom is the seed of man. Man is All, All is Man. The purpose of existence is individualization — conscious personal expression of Being. In the lower planes of existence — the mere animal and human-animal planes, con- sciousness consists simply of an instinctive apprehension of life. The next stage is the sensitive one, when a dim feeling of a supernormal condition comes to the individual, and an ideal subjective realm is created, which, however, is imagined to be external This is the religious stage — a stage of tran- sition — when the ego is between the dormant condition of animal and the conscious condition of man. This period 1 THE BIRTH OF CONSCIOUSNESS is full of fanciful dreams, the ego is in a ritate of perplexity. It is seeking — it knows not what. At times it rises to heights of rapturous ecstasy, and with the heart's deepest devotion pours itself out in sacrificial worship to an outside God. All this time, intelligence is ripening. Where there is the greatest worship there will be found the seeds of a powerful brain — for what is worship but the beginning of wisdom, the fruition of which is self-knowledge? The man who can worship is the man of strong desire, the man of deep affection, the man who is unconsciously seeking the truth. Worship on, oh man, and you will find that which your soul delights to honor. During this religious stage of man's life he is supremely sensitive and emotional. His temperament is intense, he seems to float through life, and he is unconsciously revered by all who come in contact with him. Remember, I am speaking of the truly devout man, not the man who goes to church on Sunday and forgets all about his religion during the week, a hypocritical scion of an inane deity. The truly devout man is entirely different to this. While he puts implicit faith in his religion, his intelligence is advancing, and his very devotion will eventually drive him out of his church, and he will look back upon the days of religion as a period that was necessary to his soul's growth. To see God, to feel at one with God, to live consciou.sly in the presence of God, is the never-ceasing desire of such a soul, and as he seeks the divine vision, a mixture of ecstatic experiences, fears, doubts, emotions of various kinds come in rapid succession, and the devotee's brain seems to be turning. In how many cases is such a period fraught with disaster — are not our asylums filled with men gone mad over religion ? It is a critical time, but the man •^ THE BIRTH OF CONSCIOUSNESS 25 who is honest with himself will come out of it, purged from the erroneous teachings that were stultifying his reason. /^' It is a great blow to the man to have his toy-gods — his idols shattered ; to be told that he must stand alone, that there is no God to help him and save him, that he must save himself. The man whose mind is too shallow to grasp an ideal is rather glad to get rid of God — he is quite satis- fied with the statement that the universe is self-creative, he glories in the idea of man being a victim of circumstances and incompetent to direct his fate. This is a nice lazy way of looking at life, and this is the way of the materialist, who is always too lazy to think. But the man of ideals is lost in a world without a Creator, without a God. When he is told that Man is Creator, that Man is God, he shrinks from such a thought ; he imagines such a statement to be blas- phemous. This is because the man is yet dominated by the animal, the intellect is yet under control of the emotions, intelligence has not sufficiently evolved to acquiesce without resistance to the promptings of truth— in other words, man is not willing to manifest God. But his brain is ripening — nothing can for long keep back the BIRTH OF CONSCIOUSNESS. Oh man, you are becoming alive, your body is to show forth VITALITY. The Universe exists for no other purpose than to be con- scious. The being you have idealized and called God is nothing more nor less than the merest glimpse of your own SELF. Have you ever seen yourself? You have seen certain organs composing your body. Do you know how to run yourself? When you instinctively take food into your mouth do you know how to digest it, and make it assimilate into flesh and blood ? And yet you do accom- plish all this, do you not ? No other being does it for you. ■ ^ 26 THE BIRTH OF CONSCIOUSNESS You have been having too poor an opinion of yourself. You have been imagining that the machinery of your life was run by an outside Power. You are now told that there is no power outside of you. You are now told that there is no outside of you. You are in positive touch with every- thing in the universe. That which you call your body is the manifestation of your soul — it does not encompass the soul. You are everywhere, and I am everywhere, fo^ we are both one being. The birth of consciousness can only take place through matter, there is no perfect condition of consciousness with- out flesh and blood. Intelligence must become incarnate before it can become animated. Oh, what is it to be ani- mated, but to be full of Hfe, full of animation — full of the animal ? Full of the animal ! Why, is not the animal part of our nature to be destroyed ? No, indeed, it is the very root of our being, its future office is as servant for the intelligence, in this capacity its grossness will be eliminated; in fact, the animal will evolve into something higher than we possess just now ; in other words man will grow new senses, new functions suitable for an immortal body. As man becomes Master, all his nature becomes a conscious freed organism, acting more and more in obedience to th(; creative human will, 7vhich is the centre of every atom. Man is actually becoming God incarnate. In this gen- eration there are individuals who are going to live forever, conscious personal entities manifesting the glory of Life in flesh and blood. Are you going to be in the vanguard of the race, in the front of humanity, and lead mankind out of the slough of death into the realms of life immortal, which sooner or later must come to all ? Are you willing to listen to the voice of your own Reason, which is whispering to :, J 1 I. i k THE BIRTH OF CONSCIOUSNESS 27 you of your own stupendous potential greatness, your own infinite capabilities ? You are yourself your own Almighty God. Tear away the false glamour that hides the majesty of your being from yourself— the glamour of superstition that did very well for a past unconscious race. Let the past die — it always was dead, it was never conscious. This earth is now giving birth to the personification of life. You, you are at once parent and child ; out of your own being shall be born-CONSCIOUSNESS. i THE CRYSTAL SOUL In search of the soul ! Ever since man was first born on this earth he has been searching the soul of things. The apparent hopelessness of never finding it has made him erect stately temples to the unknown, and bend in abject devotion to the Ideal Soul, whom he has typified as "God." Always has this Soul, or Centre, this Cause of things been imagined as outside man. We find many objects of nature deified by the less intelligent races, some worshipping certain animals, others glorifying the sun and stars. But in the more developed nations, man in some form or other is represented as God divine. Every nation has its hero, which in time becomes its God. The history of all great men has ever been, that their virtues are inordinately praised after their death — during their lifetime, they were too often made the target *"'ir the malice of the multitude. In addressing ourselves to an -^vipibie creator, we have always found it difficult to focus ovr- attention. To collect our thoughts, and make them c. ' -intrated expressions of ideas, we have had to have soiiiv tangible conception of a form to which we made our remarks. If we say " God," we possibly think of the three letters, G-O-D; if we imagine the being whom we are addressing possesses the form of a man, we have in some way to conjure up an image of a man in our " mind's eye." The majority of religionists have always had some material image, which assisted th-jm to concentrate their thoughts. It is a notable fact that among the more devotional races of people, the Ideal exalted has invariably been a feminine I •i \ yr I i THE CRYSTAL SOUL 29 "4 %■ 1 * one. If the god has not been given the feminine form, yet the nature of the deity has been feminine. But in many countries, the form of the deity has been feminine. And we find that identical expressions of devotion are addressed to nearly all these feminine deities. Such titles as " Mother of God," "Star of the Sea," etc., are commonly found among eastern religions as applied to their feminine deities — exactly the same titles we know to be applied in the west to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. It is also a well-known fact, that Jesus, a type of a feminine man, presents to the student of history a life very much the same as Buddha and many otber eastern founders of religion. It is not any chance co-incidence that makes the events in the life of Jesus almost exactly the same as recorded of other teachers. The miraculous birth, temptation, death and resurrection appear in the lives of more than one prominent leader of thought. It would seem, then, that they were never meant by those who wrote of these events, to be taken in a literal sense, but simply as phases representing stages in the growth of every sou/. It is no wonder that men have sought a Mother to whom they could flee in time of trouble. The Ideal Woman has been the solace of millions. The shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes has been the resting place of countless souls, the healing balm that has restored the dying one into robust life. Shall I, then, ruthlessly stand up and say to these trustful ones that their Mary is a great fraud, having no more existence than they give it ? These children of Mary cry •' Holy Mother, deliver us," and they are delivered from their sickness. This is sufficient proof that Mary saves them — even if she be but an ideal creation. w.We are saved by our ideals. The healing done by mental scientists is often through the subjective faith set 1 i I 30 THE CRYSTAL SOUL up i*^ the mind of the patient. A man's best healer is his cwn self. No one need be sick. No reasonable man can be sick. When a person is sick, he is insane. The soul of things is in man — it is man. The " I " of man is his soul, his centre — and there is no other centre for the individual. Life is the object and purpose of the universe ; when disease or death presents itself, it simply means that the individual life is not positive enough — it ha? not gained sufficient position. The assertion of will restores lost equilibrium — it is man's privilege to remain eternally in harmony, and since death never comes only as the outcome of disease, it is certain that personal immortality is gained through personal control. There is no real consciousness but /^/"^^^wa/ consciousness. We look out, and imagine an omnipresent universal con- sciousness — but if such a thing exists it is less^ not greater, than personal consciousness. When a person dies, I do not believe that he is ushered into a better world. It is always the weaker ones who die first. JMature loves strength — she showers her bounty into the man of might. I do not believe that she gives the weak person who dies, a better world. I believe that the individuality of those that have left us remains intact ; perhaps they are progressing in a spiritual sphere ; perhaps they are re-incarnated, that they may continue the work of their salvation. I do not know. But I know that every time we conquer an obstacle, we be- come a greater master — and the last enemy to conquer is death. Death shall be conquered. I know that Love is the healing power of the nations. I know that Love personified becomes a radiating, life-giving influence to all men. And I know that the man who becomes an incarnation of Love i J f ^ ^ L THE CRYSTAL SOUL 31 shall be mightier than Death. I must manifest my Ideal, and make it part of myself. I must rise off my knees and say, " I shall be my own Mother, my own Mary. I shall be my own Saviour, my own Jesus. I shall be my own Creator, my own God." What a feeling of strength shall come over me, as I realize that I myself shall possess completeness, even though my friends leave me and I stand alone. Why, I shall feel my mightiness. I shall look with loving eyes out into a frantic world, and see the contentions of the populace, and I shall smile at them, for I shall know that they are yet children. Oh, that I may be a shining crystal ; transparent, clear — an expression of sincerity. Why do I cover my being with a sham, a veil of shame, and fail to manifest the divin- ity of my nature ? Why do I seek in others — in outside things and persons, powers that are embedded in ME ? I shall do so no longer. I shall be Love's Messenger to the whole earth. I shall manifest the feminine principle of Love, as well as the masculine principle of Power. These two elements, acting together, shall slash and tear the old rubbish of the earth to pieces in order that this world may be a fit abode for the new god-man. No longer shall I mourn because I cannot find the Soul of things. I have found it. I have found it in myself. Oh, mighty man, anoint yourself the king of the earth ! Look out into the world and see amidst the wonderful inventions around you, the great possibilities before you. If you have done so much when you were hardly conscious, what will you not be able to do in the future as the con- sciousness of your greatness dawns upon you ? Nothing can vie with you in anything. But you are not yet perfect 32 THE CRYSTAL SOUL ^m* You must become more complete. You, masculine individ- ual, must develop more of the crowning grace of the femin- ine ; and you, feminine soul, must become more masculine, more powerful. The highest type of man is the man who reflects the attributes of the opposite sex without losing his own special masculine features, just as the highest type of woman is she who includes in her personality the strong masterful points of the masculine nature, all in addition to her own feminine graces. Thus does the Soul find itself shining forth as the perfect individual incarnation of LOVE AND POWER. THE DETERMINED WILL ( If there is one thought that stands out more prominently than the rest in this philosophy of mental science it is the power of a determined will. /Che mental scientist is always a person of strong determinatior/— ever growing in faith in his own power. The confidence that is thus generated soon finds results in externalized effects. Once have a set pur- pose, once place the will in a position of trusted headship, and outside discords fade away, their spurious individualities are annihilated — the discordant vibrations become tuned to a higher pitch, they are merged into the harmonious tune of the infinite. It does not require any great physical exertion to have a set purpose. Although there are times when it may need a great tension of nerves-^a muscular effort to rid oneself of a feeling of helplessness, yet the greatest power is in the reposeful attitude of the mind. From this high condition of repose — activity becomes more positive. This is a great truth, and discloses the complementary nature of the two forces of life — positive and negative, activity and repose. In the present age of commercialism the one thought that is supreme in men's minds is the desire for money. Money is to-day the symbol of life — without it, it would be impossi- ble to exist. From early morn until late at night the business man is bent on increasing his store of money, and this is the dominant thought in man from his youth to his old age. The inner desire that drives him on in his search for material wealth is the desire for ease — repose is what the man is really seeking, and money will give him the necessary 34 THE DETERMINED WILL means towards gaining his real object. ^Vithout money the mind of man cannot be in repose, since he is constantly in a state of abnormal vibration, subject to fear of poverty — the great bpectre that broods so much trouble. In the business world we find two classes of men. One class determined, persevering, cool, reposeful and successful. The other class we find composed of men who are always at a white heat, they are over active, and in consequence, they are unsuccessful. The mind of a man who constantly generates thoughts of harmony, thoughts of faith in the life principle, becomes a magnet that attracts conditions which shall show him the way to wealth. Before we make com- plaints about hard times, let us ask ourselves if we are doing our very best towards making life easy ; let us ask ourselves if our brains are creating the right substance that shall manifest the repose which is the goal of man. The determined will is born from the womb of Repose. Repose is the divine mother that shall nourish her children, heal them of their woes, satisfy their desires, crown them with a crown of life. The determined will is the concen- trated force of the universe, the one personal creative power of life, the controlling hand that shall guide the line of fate, the powerful motor that shall surely propel us safely over the infinite ocean of existence. How can I fairly describe the potencies of the determined will ? I say plainly that there is no power in the universe greater than the deter- mined human will— ^r it is the personal intelligent essence of life. It is the only individualization of the Creator. Once gaining intellectual recognition of the fact of man's innate divinity, once realizing the infinity of all life, once coming into consciousness of the power of the determined will, and the floodgates of life are thrown open and we are 1 THE DETERMINED WILL 35 immersed in a consciousness of divine life, we are baptized in an ocean of fire. We spread forth our arms to embrace the blessings that our expanding vision sees within our reach, but we find that the fire must purge us first ; until we become purified we are incapable of receiving the spiritual blessings of life. Perhaps we feel discouraged that our time of suffering is not over yet. Have we not had much physical pain? Have not our lives been one round of distress and trouble ? Surely we have suffered enough ! Oh, child of earth, learn what it is to have infinite patience . Your time of delivery is at hand. But how can you expect the blessings of a heavenly life until you have passed through a purgatory of fire — fire that shall cleanse you from the illusions of mortal existence, fire that shall purify you, making you immortal without just as your life within is immortal ? The ideal expands. But before we can attain the great consciousness our heart inherently yearns for — the con- sciousness of divinity, which is the end and aim of our existence, we must be ready to enter the floodgates of a purgatorial flame that shall make us prepared for the new life. The little sparks of desire, that fly from the depths of our being, become the igniting element that shall kindle a warmth suitable for the bathing process we need. The desire of our heart cries out for wholeness, for completeness If we are sick or poor we cry out for deliverance from these negative conditions . Every desire of the heart is a prayer that must be answered — it is the reposeful activity of the determined will. In the depths of our being, Desire is the great God that is creating our lives — the living element of Love which is moulding our fate. 36 THE DETERMINED WILL If the desires of man are for sensuality, yet it is still the same divine law working, only on alow plane of intelligence. V/ith the dawn of greater int( Uigence come more lofty desires — desires that yearn for immortal things, for perpetual consciousness, for a birth of a divine intelligence ; and with the new desires comes the necessary purgatorial fire. For the new life demands that much of the old life be sacrificed. The old bonds, the old pleasures, the old toys of a time when our intelligence was low, must be thrown aside to give place for things that are immortal. We feel loch to part with our old associations — but our intelligc 7ce c;hows us in due time that the parting is only in seeming, it shows that these things we prized so much were temporary symbols of substantial things now becoming our own in reality. Surely it is a greater thing to possess the substance than the shadow. Are we going to cling to our vapory pleasures, . little bubbles that we know burst so soon, when we know that greater things are before us ? No ! The determined will shall be supreme. The will so long dormant shall now awake. Coming into ever-so-little a consciousness of its power, its very positive determination shall break the bonds that chain us to the old beliefs in man's incompetence. Without any great noise, but rather with the still small voice of spiritual recognition, the Will from its altitude of divine repose shall speak the word and the desire of the hean shall find manifestation. In the sick room, the patient shall receive a faint intuitive recognition of the life that is forever encompassing him, and he shall by that very recognition have changed the vibra- tions of his body. His nature will become an harmonious servant to that reposeful Will that is at the centre of his being, moving the organs of his body in due order. He r T/f£ DETERMINED WILL 37 '( will come into greater and ever greater recognition of his oneness with the Will of all things. He will in due time see himself without, as the manifested image of Divine Life. He will come into a full recognition of his own being — the one omnipresent I AM. In business the same great law of attraction works with unerring certainty. Every man has opportunities, perhaps small, which when taken hold of, pave the way by the law of gravitation to greater things. Once let the mind of man become concentrated, and his will becomes a lever that moves circumstances — for he is now at the centre of his being. Life reverberates with the harmonies of the spheres — the spheres of Activity which take as their keynote the fundamental note of Repose. What if our efforts appear to drag — what if results seem so slow in presenting themselves ? Have we not a whole eternity before us ? But rapid growth is the one privilege of the determined Will. The slow lumbering process of the past, was so because the race was experimenting, whereas now intelligence is awakening, showing here and there means of sure success, where experimentation is quite unnecessary. In the stillness of Repose is heard the intuitive direction of Infinite Mind, and our Wills will become sure, deter- mined, concentrated means of accomplishing what we desire, and failure becomes less frequent and success more and more certain. OUR innORTAL FUTURE Immortality in the flesh is the desire of the age. A few years ago this desire first found lodgment in the brains of a few earnest searchers after truth, and it was considered to be the mere wild chimera of untrained minds. To-day the thought of present immortality is in the air, it has seized upon the minds of the most cultured and intellectual men and women, and is fast becoming the one ideal of the race. Scientists of note, men who reason merely from phenom- enal observation are talking of its possibility Longevity clubs and societies are springing up all over, and those who have not conceived the idea of immortality yet talk of the prolongation of life. Immortal life or none at all ! This is my demand. And I desire life on entirely different lines than I have hitherto experienced. I do not want prolongation of decrepitude, nor even of so-called "maturity," but a life of youth per- petual, an existence that is vivacious and active, a condition of consciousness that is positive and masterful. I do not desire the everlasting grind of periodical consciousness and unconsciousness, called sleeping and waking, to go on for- ever. I am satisfied that at my present stage of evolution I need these limited conditions, but they will not last forever. I am not seeking to cramp my being in an everlasting un- changing house of adamantine flesh. I will not be bar- ricaded even now by my present objective conditions. Am I not changing the atoms of my body every moment, cast- ing forth into mother nature dead particles that serve as food for other purposes in creation ? Am I not building i OUR IMMORTAL FUTURE 39 new flesh every day, taking from the earth the same sub- stance that I gave to it, with the element of renewed vitality now added to it ? The growing intelligence of the age demands a finer mode of externalizing life than our present method. We have been living in the roots of our existence. We hardly dare as yet blossom forth, we close ourselves up, shrinking away from the light, of which we have caught glimpses, but which was dazzling to our weak sight. Now and again courageous personalities have exposed themselves to the light for a brief spell, and have given to humanity more or less clear expositions of an immortal existence, but they have apparently failed in the object of their search, they have closed themselves within suffocating walls of dogma, they have ventured but a short space into the Beyond and refused to enter further. Many have been the teachers of spirituality the world has possessed. What has the race done with them ? Made their teachings of no avail, by accepting them in the letter, thus preventing the expansion or growth of truth. Unless a thought can be capable of division and thus be the means of creating newer thoughts, it is a dead one. Away with your old rubbish stored up for ages in libraries and seminaries ! Give me new thoughts every day. The thoughts I had yester- day are old, I have changed them for newer ones to-day. Principles remain for ever, but recognition of principles changes. Change is a necessity of consciousness — and consciousness is the purpose of existence. What is change but the effect of the law of growth ? As we grow our ideals expand. Tell me, can you conceive of a higher ideal than that given by the advanced mental scientist to-day ? I will tell you what that ideal is — at least mmmm 40 OUR IMMORTAL FUTURE what my ideal is. My ideal is a consciousness of existence more grand and beautiful than ever experienced by human beings in the past. I desire vitality in greater abundance than I have yet had. I desire a body of flesh of higher sensibility than the one I now possess — to be impervious to outside elements, each atom a conscious vibrating vortex of the infinite ether. I desire that this body be more beauti- ful, more youthful than the one I now have — and immortal. I desire that I may come into possession of my new body without ever going through the undertaker's hands, without passing through conventional death. Whereas now but few organs of my body are under my control, I desire that every organ shall be conscious — in other words, that my objective consciousness shall permeate every atom. These desires are not extravagant. They point to their fulfilment. Science is disclosirxg to man the infinite possi- bilities of his nature. Man is now learning the mystery of his own creativeness, he is beginning to see himself as the flower of the universe, the blossom of existence. The new thought of mental science is entirely different to the psychological systems that find acceptance among the " schools." \The leaders of the new movement have mostly been people ^ho have learnt their lessons in a school that the literati have not had — the hard school of poverty, sickness and misery. Their lessons have been such experi- ences that called forth new ideas as nothing else can. They either had to think or perish. And how timid were their first thoughts — little ventures into new fields, explorations of only the outskirts of the new domain. But later exped- itions have taken place, new depths have been sounded, and no longer timid, the thinkers of the age are breaking all limitations and widening their ground every day. \ OUR IMMORTAL FUTURE il At first the possibility of exemption from disease was the one thought that thrilled us, then came the idea of mastering poverty, and then even death was to give way to man's com- mand, but now as the consciousness of the divine humanity is being born in us, we feel ourselves becoming intelligent rulers of our destiny, ordering our daily affairs to our own liking. What our future immortal existence will consist of is beyond my present conception, but as I ponder over my ideals, I have intuitive glimpses of the golden age, when this earth shall be peopled by a race of immortals. I see man governing the earth consciously, acting the part of dictator, surrounded by the forces of the universe, all willing to serve him. The world is knit together by ties of love and friendship — the old ties of family and country are broken, these are not needed by men who consciously view humanity as the one brotherhood. The churches have changed their attitude. These vast institutions have merged themselves in a vaster institution without any formal gov- ernment — a church, if it may be called so, without a creed — the Brotherhood of Man. Their beautiful structures are changed into temples of music and oratories where lectures on all subjects are held. Life, in greater abundance than hitherto dreamed of, is manifesting itself in man. Living has become an art. No longer do men spend their time in the roots of their nature — they are now blossoming forth in all the majesty of immortal consciousness. Instead of the old digestive method of alimentation, man takes his food by a more direct process from the elements. His body has become more ethereal, more beautiful — the illuminated vehicle of the one Light. All present discoveries in material science point to the future existence of a race of immortals on this earth. The 42 OUR L'^MORTAL FUTURE physicist has reached his conclusions from phenomenal ob- servation, whiJ* <^'^e philosopher has gone deeper and made a study of .;h^ things. It is true ^^o caijfiot manifest the ideals inherent in our being, all at on re, but it is wise to commence to objectify to-day a better rav. •. to ic what we can to make earth a heaven, instead of dreaming away our time in conjectures of a supernatural order of things. To make the most of our time and present surroundings to-day is to create founda- tions for the future — the golden future which is now at the latter part of this century to break in upon us with the efful- gence of its glory. THE TEflPLE OF DELIGHTS The Universe is one vociferous appeal for consciousness. The Infinite itself is unintelligent, unconscious — intelligence comes through individuality. Individuality is reached by slow evolution under a cyclic law of nature which demands that absolute Being become relative, that infinity descend into the limitations of person- ality. The cycle in due time becomes complete, and the ego finds itself in the arms of the infinite again, with the addition of individuality. In this age there are men and women who are near the summit of the ascending arc, and are about to be clothed in the eternal sunshine of infinite consciousness. The Infinite — popularly spoken of as "God" — is itself nothing. Existence depends upon intelligence, and God is not intelligent. But God seeks intelligence, and finds it in Man . Every man is an intelligent God. It is only in this age that we are beginning to awake to a sense of our divinity. I know that not long ago I would have shuddered at the idea of calling myself "God," but now that I know that I am God, it is my duty to tell a world aching and longing for the beatific vision, that God is here, enthroned in the body of every man. The glorious body of man ! It is the temple of delights, reared among the things we have called "evil." Born and raised in secrecy, clothed with shame, the body of man is insulted by our half educated minds ; and we speak of it as •' the shape of iniquity." 44 THE TEMPLE OF DELIGHTS The body as it stands to-day is the product of ignorant workmanship. In the order of evolution it took ages upon ages for nature to produce the present physical structure. Our past existence has been the product of ignorant law, therefore it was slow, lumbering and filled with blunders. I do not stand with awed countenance and marvel at the wonderful intelligence of the Universe, for I know that the Universe is not actually intelligent, until man is produced. It is only the thoughtless person who would speak of the magnitude of God and the littleness of man, for each man includes in his being all of God. I do not think of my body as an encasement for my being, for I am beyond all limitations, my body is my image, my manifestation, which will change its form as my intelligence grows. Our future growth will be entirely different to our past. The adjunct of intelligence or consciousness, changes the mode of growth. Unconscious growth was necessarily accompanied with the distressing conditions of disease and death. Conscious growth may dispense with these obstacles ; we may overcome them by word of command. Our past existence has been filled with incompleteness, inharmony. Our happiness has depended upon external conditions. The division of personalities into separate male and female entities, has made us half-beings ; we have felt restless, we have desired our other half. There are personalities to-day who are actually developing — body and soul, into whole-beings. It is a fact, though perhaps not well recognized, that the thinkers of the world disclose attributes of the opposite sex in their personalities. Thus the women thinkers are mas- culine, and the men feminine. This is not to say that their own special sex qualities are necessarily lacking. t \: T THE TEMPLE OF DELIGHTS 45 Very often, there are marked features not only in the minds of these unique people, but in their bodies also. Besides possessing the masculine quality of intelligence to an unusual degree, we find the women have more sonorous voices, they are more muscular, they delight in masculine habits and pleasures. The men we find sweet and charm- ing, possessing the feminine quality of love to a degree not as a rule found among men, and even in their body, their carriage, their figure, their speech, they show marks of the feminine. There are extremes where both the man and the woman seem to have lost their own sex nature almost entirely — these are the obnoxious extremes we all have occasionally met. But where the equilibrium of character has not been destroyed, we instinctively feel that these masculine women and feminine men are the embryonic first-fruits of a future race of immortal whole-beings. We are learning to be thinkers. We are beginning to understand ourselves. We find we have got to listen to the promptings of our intelligence and oast aside our old beliefs, or they will drag us down into the grave. There is nothing else that kills us but our paltry conceptions of life. I might well say paltry. A paltry God, a paltry religion, a paltry ideal of everything in general is about all the race has possessed so far. The new era before us is going to change all this. Our future is to be immortal. I have reached that stage of consciousness where I desire nothing higher than a per- sonal immortal existence. The few paltry years of conscious death, called by the absurdly inappropriate title of '* life," won't do for me» Don't talk to me about " growing old gracefully, and how to live a century." I'll admit that a i 46 THE TEMPLE OF DELIGHTS century is better than a miserable three score years and ten — but I want youth, I want perpetual consciousness, and I want these things now, and I believe I am getting them. Immortality depends on recognizing all things as good. We must recognize that all our desires are good. We are wise, however, if we educate our desires. Anything that does not injure the body is useful, and right, and proper. We are foolish if we indulge in things that produce corrup- tion in the body. But some people run to the extreme of asceticism and try to kill out desire — poor, silly creatures, they don't know that Desire is God, and cannot be killed. Desire cannot be repressed, it will have satisfaction in some way. The Catholic Church is a striking example of the manner in which the senses will have expression. Her priests are to a large extent shut away from the pleasures of the world. In consequence, they manufacture new toys in the shape of candles, colors, vestments, bells, incense and sundry other things that please the senses. All consciousness is necessarily sensual in character. But we are developing new and finer senses. The senses of thv^ animal plane are imperfect, and to our growing intelligence appear crude. But it is out of these senses that newer ones are born. The senses of the future man will be the ripened products of the brute plane. It follows, then, that in the present transitional stage of our career, when our existence is on the animal plane, that bodily health must be accom- panied by finer qualities of our present senses. We must learn to see and hear and taste and touch and smell, all in a more complete and exact manner than hitherto. The race's senses are stunted. The cause is not far to seek. The cause of stunted sense quality is in the brain, I 1 ; THE TEMPLE OF DELIGHTS 47 the home of sense. Intelligence is the parent of sense. Intelligence, enthroned as king, will give us more developed physical senses on this our present animal plane of life. Is this not a noble thought — that you individually are the Force of the universe, coming into personal manifestation ? Though you may appear to be alone, yet in reality you are attached to all. You are God — not a part of God merely, for the infinite has nothing to do with division. I am God. You are God. This immaculate conception of life is all that is necessary to keep you whole . In this conception is a new birth, a regeneration, a Christ-child that shall be the Light of the world. I am that Christ, the Light of the World. You are that Christ, the Light of the World. Let the Light shine and transfigure your body, that it may be without, the very expression of your ideal — your Self. Then shall you have a pure, spotless body, the medium of superb and ever-refining senses. It shall become the Sacred Temple of Delights. I * { THE GREAT CONQUEST II We are on the eve of a revolution. The race has reach- ed that period in its history when a sudden change in its affairs is the only thing that can save it from complete dissolution. We are entering an era of peace. The tran- sition from the old order of semi-conscious existence to the divine immortal consciousness that is to be man's portion, is actually now about to be swiftly made. The wildest dreams of our youth never conceived of an immortal life on this earth. Our most extravagant Utopias were simply short golden periods of not more than a century '.1 conscious existence. The idea of abolishing the undertaker's business never struck us as at all possible. And no wonder that our visions of the future were so limited ! Had we not been taught that man must look out- side to God for help, that man was nothing but a piece of animated clay without any power or real volition of his own, a machine to be handled according to the pleasure of a not over-affectionate " Father " ? And yet all great teachers have referred in more or less clear language to the future mastery of man over the enemy — death. What earthly reason can be given for that distasteful period in a man's career, when he shall lie a helpless piece of machinery ? No God ever invented death. Death is not a power in the universe. Its phenomenon is nothing but the result of the ego failing to recognize its own divinity. I believe there are some people who really look forward to death as a boon of nature's economy. These are the t THE GREAT CONQUEST 49 I pessimistic ones who are continually taking about such abstractions as the " universality of the law of fate." Such people are almost dead now, their further existence is of course only a temporary one. I do not pity them. They are happy. Their greatest enjoyment consists in medita- ting over the negatives of existence. They are like the Calvinist who thought that the real bliss of heaven would be to gaze into the other place and " see the folk — grill I ^^ But the majority of people desire life. The average man would give anything for the sure and certain possession of the key to perpetual life. There are some who tell us that the grave is but the door- way into new and bright spiritual realms . I do not deny that in throwing off the "physical," the ego retains its indi- vidual existence as a conscious entity . Though the con- dition of the dead is, to me, shrouded in mystery, I believe that the departed retain their individuality, and am inclined to think that they are sooner or later re-born on this earth. This theory of re-embodiment would seem to suggest that the unconscious law of nature could only manifest itself in this periodical manner, and that it remain- ed for man with his ripe intelligence to augment re-incar- nation with its accompaning crudities by a perpetuation of consciousness in the same personality. We are creators. The "1" is God. The Human Will is the Supreme Power of Nature. This is a large statement. What is that thing that you call your will, that you speak of as "I," that animates you through and through, that guards you day and night ? You know that it is the Spirit of the Universe. You know that the same power that keeps the worlds poised in their position directs you on your way. You know that the blood flowing through your T THE GREAT CONQUEST veins is the Water of Life. You know that you are the child of Nature. Oh, sweetest, dearest soul, will you dis- honor your parentage by disclaiming your relationship? Every atom of you is the substance of God. Stand up, then, and boldly say : " TRULY, I AM GOD." Affirmation most tremendous ! / am God! Interpreted, it means that I stand secure, my own creator, my own master, my own redeemer. And what have I to be redeem- ed from ? What else but the narrow ideals of life that have kept me low and degraded, sick, poverty-stricken and miserable ? What use is it for me to kneel and implore an external divinity to succor me? If he existed I could never be certain of his help. There is always the proviso, " If it be His will." I must have a scientific basis for my actions, for my whole life. Looking within my own being, do I not find that my g^-ds, my redeemers, my ideal person- ages, are subjective creations of my brain ? I am greater than my ideals Surely I, who create thoughts am greater than the mythical spectres of my external distorted con- sciousness. Yes, I am God. No, it is not blasphemous. It is the affirmation of affirmations which unites me consciously to the whole of the universe. This conscious union is the acme of Existence — it is the marriage of Love and Intelligence, and from this divine union is born the new immortal man. Immortality ! Life perpetual ! Eternal Existence ! Sure- ly this is the goal of nature. What does it mean ? Does it mean that man is to live encased in a body of delicate flesh forever? No, it does not. But it does mean that man shall take the lines of destiny within his own hands, and lead himself intelligently over the infinite aeons of existence. It means that man shall retain this present physical structure, I THE GREAT CONQUEST M making the most of his animal capabilities, and glide out of the brute stage by a conscious evolutionary process. It means that he shall live in this body of flesh and blood, and perfect his present senses that they may be the parents of new intelligent senses suited for his future needs. Does this seem wild talk ? Pause and think. Is not the power of the mind over external conditions sufficiently proved to us all ? And is not death but the finale of a long line of negative elements acting in the individuality of a person whose mind had not awakened, who was half dead even during all his earthly existence ? Man lives as long as he harmonizes himself with external conditions. The revolutionary change that is about to take place is the pangs of a new birth, the entrance of a new condition of consciousness on this earth. There is a wide difference between the consciousness of a dog and that of an ordinary man— the new consciousness is equally higher than that possessed by our present race. It is the Divine or Christ consciousness. It is the enthronement of the mind or spirit of man. It is the Manifestation of God in Man. I am looking for the realization on earth of all the bright dreams of sages, seers and prophets, many of whom con- sidered their visions to belong to supermundane realms. I am seeking to interpret the trances of mystics, and the teachings of the schools and churches, together with the plans of reformers, as all phases of truth about to find scien- tific realization here and now. Who wants to put off salvation to another world ? Who wants to be redeemed or saved by some extraneous being, and carried over the ocean of life ? Do we not want to work out our own salvation ? Do we not want to feel proud of the work that we have done in abolishing death ? U I 52 THE GREAT CONQUEST Do we not want to earn our passage to the land of Im- mortal Life ? In short, do we not want to be masters of nature ? Yes, every man inwardly feels his own individual divine spirit, the positive element of his being, striving to manifest itself in his personality, striving to make each atom a positive centre of consciousness, that the man may become the very pivot of nature, the Soul or Sun of Life. We feel that the time has arrived for the new birth of consciousness, for the reign of intelligence, for the manifestation of the Immortal Individual. Yes, the time has arrived for the Great Conquest — the triumph of Affirmation over Negation, the triumph of Life over Death. J^ BEAUTY, THE IMAGE OF HARHONY " What would I not give to be beautiful ! " Do you leally mean it ? Well, if you are satisfied to pay the price, I can show you the way. Beauty ! Sweet charming Image of Harmony. Yes, that is the definition of Beauty — the Image or Expression of Harmony. Your body is the manifestation of your char- acter. According to the degree that your mind generates thoughts of Harmony, will your form and face be beautiful. There are various types of beauty. Do we wish to possess a countenance of clear complexion, features of symmetrical proportions, a " pretty " face ? Do we desire an athletic form with muscles of iron? These things are useful and valuable possessions, but I think there are many who will say, with me, that they are not enough. We want all the magnificent proportions of a highly developed animal organism, but augmented with an intel- lectual and spiritual crown — the body we desire is a glorified body. It has been the error of the past, as soon as our minds became cognizant of a new and higher plane of existence, to condemn lower forms of life as " evil." Such methods of condemnation have had a baneful effect on the person- alities of the race. The mistake of viewing lower forms as *' evil" has been the direct cause of ugliness in " thinkers" — for as a man thinketh in his heart so is he. It is not the mere environment itself that makes us, unless we allow ourselves to be moulded by our shadowy surroundings. In 64 BEAUTY, THE IMAGE OF HARMONY the dark slums of cities and places where our " hygienists " would tell us nothing but wretchedness and ugliness could present themselves, we find beautiful children; and where the individuals have not allowed themselves to be controlled by their surroundings, we find types of glorious character. The beautiful lily rises above its surrounding conditions — it moulds the very putrefacting influences of its birth into rich and wholesome substance ; it takes its mortifying en- vironment, and out of the very death, brings life. The Lily says to each one of us : " Are you embedded in the mire of negative conditions ? Become a blossom. I am the blossom of all these unwholesome surroundings you see. See how symmetrically beautiful I am — how radiant ! I am the very queen of flowers. And I owe my exalted position to these very influences that appear so putrid. I was em- bedded in the very heart of all this corruption, and I rose above it instead of being crushed out of existence. I allow- ed myself to be moulded by the life currents of the atmos- phere which fanned me and purified me day by day. Oh, learn of me, learn of me." Fresh air is the invigorating essence that keeps our blood clear. And clear blood means beauty of countenance. Our life is one continuous round of inhaling and exhaling air. What kind of air do we breathe ? We manufac- ture our own air. The quality of our thoughts conditions the quality of air we breathe — we generate our own atmos- phere. If we have discordant thoughts, we actually exhale streams of partially devitalized breath, thus surrounding ourselves with an oppressive atmosphere. It is astonishing how much of this deadening stuff" our bodies will stand ; but there comes a time when the body can stand no more, and gives way to "disease." The atmosphere of the earth I w BEAUTY, THE IMAGE OF HARMONY 66 is simply filled with such discordant vibrations — but these atmospheric conditions have no influence on the person whose mind has awakened — their consuming nature cannot touch the positive man ; he has become like asbestos in the midst of fire Beauty is the expression of Harmony. To be in harmony is to be in health. Now, there are many who have an intellectual perception of the value and necessity of harmonious thoughts to produce a beautiful countenance, but few possess the active quality of exact systematic mind drill, which is so essential for the ouL-picturing of harmony. Concentration, living at the centre, self-poise, a condition where one thinks only consciously desired thoughts — this is the condition of soul we need, this is the place where we manipulate our features, performing a veritable massage treatment without the use of hands. At the circumference of our being we use our hands to build up our physique — at our centre, by the omnipotent power of thought, we raise a structure of flesh and blood incomparably greater than any mere muscular treatment could produce — a temple more robust, more refined, more beautiful than any house built with hands. I am, however, not despising the use of all external remedies — for instance, soap and water, and friction with a towel are certainly helpful at our present stage of evolution. But there are many questionable washes and powders which produce an artificial appearance of beauty (some will ask where the beauty comes in), and these things, I am sure, would be gladly thrown aside for an elixir of life, a fountain that we could at will draw upon, a lava of sparkling, invigorating essence— and this rich fluid exists, either dormant or aciive, in each individual man and woman. it BEAUTY, THE IMAGE OF HARMONY But, let us get down to business. How are we going to put ourselves in that position where we can so control the atoms of our bodies that they vibrate in harmony, thus pro- ducing health and beauty? We must concentrate. To begin with, we must spend a short time each day (from a quarter of an hour to an hour) by ourselves, in the silence This season of contemplation will be the period of con- scious creativeness — for we come in touch with the king- dom of God. When we retire in this way into the closet ot the mind, closing the doors to distracting surroundings, we enter the soul's laboratory, we come very near to the throne of God — for the centre of each man's being is really and truly the centre of the whole universe. Oh, wonderful man, you don't know how great you are — you think that your being is enclosed within a few inches of matter ! Your body does not encompass you — your body is simply the visible image of your individuality. As we enter this condition of mind and allow the thoughts of the outside world to drop aside, we become calm and self-centred, and can now properly think. What glorious ideals present themselves ! The spirit of our being talks to us, we have hushed the outside clamor and the still, small voice of intuitive suggestion — the veritable voice of the spirit — offers us ideals ; we receive lessons in the mysteries of life. Oh, most august Silence, Womb of the Infinite, what noble treasures do you enfold, seeking only the child of man who will bring up from your depths gems of priceless value to adorn this earth ! In the garden of the Silence we gather some beautiful flowers which we carry with us during the whole day— their aroma sweetens our lives, they act like talismans when the appearance of danger comes our way. And these fragrant \- f t , BEAUTY, THE IMAGE OF HARMONY 57 flowers are "ideals" — they have forms; their forms are " words," wonderfully inspiring words. We feel so uplifted during the hours of retreat — but we sometimes sink again when we enter on our daily activities. We can hardly be surprised at this, for we have got to learn, and we must not be surprised at mistakes, but in time we reach a condition of mind where concentration becomes easy, and we can at will, even in the midst of outward strife, enter an exalted condition of calm and repose. This is how we learn the mysteries of life — this is how we master the art of living, and this is the only road to true beauty. Such a condition of mind develops power in the in- dividual, and beauty is the expression of power. Such a mentality breathes love, and beauty is the expression of love. The realization of the absolute allness of good comes by thus looking at life from a scientific and artistic point of view ; recognizing the value, in their own degree, of negations as well as the positive elements of life — and to fully realize the allness of good is, indeed, to become the very Paragon of Beauty. Are you, then, willing to pay the price ? Within your being lie all the potentialities of beautiful form and features. Raise your ideal, be honest, sincere, a student of Reality, learn what it is to love with universal devotion, and beauty is yours. Tb ^ price is steady perseverance in the search of truth — beauty is the expression of Truth. Be real and you will be beautiful. The motive power to high and rapid achievement is concen- tration. Practice systematic, cool, collected concentration. Concentration is the key of Harmony — and I repeat Beauty is nothing more nor less than the out-picturing of Harmony. t THE HATLRATION OF THOUGHT t Thought is the Blossom of Existence. Energy or pri- mordial Substance becomes active and thus ex-istent through its inherent potency of vibration. Its activity as- cends in the order of evolution and grows to a matured condition — it reaches a period of fruition, it opens out into a foliage of radiating beauty. This foliage is Thought or Consciousness. Energy, energy everywhere ! Force of infinite potentiality, undulating in activity, quivering in desire of polarization! Whirlpools of ether, the outcome of intense motion, swing- ing until in their velocity they become materialized, form- ing atoms — each one a matrix of consciousness ! And now, after long ages of experience in forms of life of many and varied gradations, comes Thought in all its maturity, blooming with a glorious radiance, ensphering each form and creature with a vapor of most vivifying luxuriance. Thought is the sweet perfume that is indeed the Breath of Life. All activity, all vibration, has existed to produce Thought Thought was born many ages ago, but she has been obscured in a condition of infantile limitation— only now is she reaching an age of discretion. This is indeed Thought's age of majority. Ah, man, you have suffered much ! But, learn to be patient. Life is no accident. You are here for a purpose. Your destiny is one of most undreamed-of glory — and you must and shall fulfil your destiny. Only, have patience. f t TIfE MATURATION OF THOUGHT 59 Thought, as she reaches out, endeavoring to unveil her- self amid the earthly surrounding conditions in which she finds herself embedded, is confronted by atmospheric con- ditions which would choke out her vitality but for the indomitable energy which is the very body and essence of her nature. Yet, she has received hard shocks from the obstacles she has had to contend with, and fears innumer- able have confronted her, thus retarding her development. But all this was because Thought had not reached maturity. The Maturation of Thought is the Quintessence of Power. Intelligence annihilates Fear — for Fear is the consciousness of Ignorance. Thought is concrete Energy. Energy in the abstract is omnipresent. It is all Thought is the individualization of this Energy. It is, therefore, the substance of all substances. The various manifestations of energy we have hitherto been acquainted with, such as heat, electricity, etc., fall into insignificance when compared with Thought, the Acme of Energy itself. The time is coming, in fact is now here, when man shall not look abroad and marvel at the superior magnitude of external forces to those within himself, but he shall see himself as the very storehouse of infinite forces, as the very central point of Nature, itself. Seek the kingdom of Heaven — and this realm is within you. The king is yourself. All the forces, all the ideals, all the tremendous possibilities of nature, are all found in their divine potency in You. You are the Light of the World. Light! Light! Why, this is the vision of beatification, This is the illumination which shall shed its radiating influences, making life no longer mysterious and awesome ; t 60 THE MATURATION OF THOUGHT i: but rather, instead, the kingdom of our inheritance, the realm of Bliss, the Heaven where we indeed feel at home . All is mind. The whole of nature is mind in manifest- ation. You are actually in touch with all things. Every object is kept in its place by that law called Gravity. And your Thought is the individualized product, the very crown of this active principle of attraction. Just as every atom afifinitizes itself by the law of polarity with other atoms, so does your thought come in sympathetic touch with thoughts of others on a similar plane. Thus like attract like, thus does the law of gravitation rule throughout the cosmos. Yes, let me plainly state, Thought is but the Con- sciousness of the Atom. Most mighty atom ! It is the vortex of life. The Will is within the atom. The will is indeed the motor of the atom. Ah, we live in a substantial Universe. Thought is indeed tangible. This is the hour when, coming out into the light of glorious manifestation, Thought shall disclose herself as the Empress of Being. Who shall withstand your mighty influences, O Daughter of Life ? The Age of Consciousness has come. Thought shall change its tenement, the body of man, into a Temple of Delights. All power is indeed thine, O Thought ! On the wings of the ether you shall travel through space with messages of healing to the sick. This is the hour of your blossom, and your sweet aroma shall purify the atmosphere of the earth. Your face shall shine as the light of the sun; you shall indeed muster together all the energies of nature, that they may act as servitors in your temple and officers in your kingdom. Just think, my friends, what the Maturation of Thought means to you, personally, as well as to all collectively. It t t 1 1 ! t *^ » T^E MATURATION OF THOUGHT 61 means that now your consciousness is awakening you may control your future destiny, coming into juxtaposition with those things you desire. You may now manifest your ideals. Health of body and mind ; wealth in capabilities as well as riches in the world's goods ; youth never ending, but grow- ing in power and beauty — all these things are yours through the Maturation of Thought. Then again, the barriers which have existed during past ages are being broken — we are coming in touch with each other. We are, indeed, actually magnetically joined together by Thought. Physical con- tact, physical vision, must give way to a higher degree of union and sight, for we may communicate by Thought without physical presence — yes, Thought links us together as nothing else can, since it produces a junction of centres. For the world at large I see undreamt-of possibilities, since Thought shall awaken all the energy of nature, unearth the riches of the world, and traverse all elements for their treasures of energy. The earth shall bring forth all her wealth. And what wealth we have, undeveloped ! The visions of light which we have had so far were simply preparatory flashes, not to be compared to the illuminations of our future existence. For as we reach that plane of consciousness where Light of infinite brilliancy shall shine on our path, in other words when Thought finds her maturity in each individual, the outer and inner con- sciousness reaches a sublime condition of self-centration, and the one Light shines without in all its intense Brilliancy. This earth is to be a sun. Light of day-like brilliancy is even now being invented to illumine us at night. As we discover the immense and ever-widening possibilities of our earth and its surrounding ether, we shall indeed learn to transform this earth into heaven — and we will not seek any 62 THE MATURATION OF THOUGHT more celestial region. We have already commenced work on this transformation. Few there are, indeed, who seem willing to work in this vineyard, but their number is gradu- ally increasing. There is much to be done. Work of various nature can be found for each one of us, and the work we are called upon to do is brain-work. This is the age of Thought. The body of man shall no longer be a prison-house of the Soul, but by a complete act of transfiguration shall we modulate the atoms of our temple into more rythmic mea- sure, and release the body's pent-up energies, that it may be the vehicle of a higher consciousness. Thus shall we become the Image of Perfection. As we meditate upon our possibilities, all of which are ours through the Maturation of Thought, we are almost overcome and dazzled with the rays of the new light. Let us grow, let us develop individual courage, let us stand on a positive plane, and thus shall we march into the conscious- ness of our divine inheritance ; thus shall we manifest *'"♦ will of heaven, on earth ; thus will we image forth, h and now, all the dreams of our imagination— ^/i^r all is tnind^ and Thought is the concrete individual essence of Mind. I THE CENTRE i If we analyze our inmost desires, investigate minutely the impelling motives which control our daily activities, we find that the one strong motive which underlies our existence is the desire for consciousness, ever-increasing recognition of life. Life is what we seek — more life. We glance back at the past, and to some extent are able to trace our growth from one condition to another, a growth that has been accompanied with rough, crude experiences, the natural working of an unconscious period. Self-recognition is the crown of Consciousness. Know yourself ; the more complete your knowledge of self, so will your happiness be nearer perfection. The greater the degree of consciousness, the higher the condition of happi- ness. Ignorance is never bliss, and wisdom is never folly. As we grow, we come in touch with our centre. All ordinary existence is circumferential, we live too far away from the real source of our life. Power is gained by self- concentration. The centre of each individual is the pivot of the law. The nearer we are able to live at our centre the more influence we have in helping others, for each per- sonal centre is in relation with all other individuals by the law of sympathy. The centre of the man is his Will. That vast, infinite motor of our individuality, the Will ! We are each like a storehouse of unlimited power, manifesting the merest frac- tion of our forces. And yet there is nothing to complain of. We are only in this age beginning to understand our ^ 64 THE CENTRE nature, and understanding must precede perfect manifesta- tion. We have taken a great step when we have recognized self. To know that there is an unhmited storehouse of force within, is to develop the individual will and evolve and materialize the ideal. Gravitation ! We have rightly been taught that it is by the law of gravitation that all the universe maintains its position ; we hav^ understood iliat all matter is attracted together and held in proper relation by the law of gravita- tion. And yet we have not seen nor comprehended ^he real nature of this law. Scientists in general have retarded knowledge by falsely asserting that man was inherently finite, and could not comprehend any more than the phe- nomenal aspect of laws. The recognition of Mind as the basis of all existence changes at once the standard of man's relation with the law. All the phenomenal universe is for man — man the unit of life, man the personification of life. Any other conception of existence makes man the slave and helpless automaton of an unknowable destiny. Are we going to insult the race by thus limiting its powers ? Yet it will take a long time to make the world In general understand that man is his own master. As a matter of fact, few are even willing to accept the responsibility which such mastership would mean. But for those who seek this exalted position there is a glorious destiny. A master is a world savior. We must be either masters or slaves. If the latter, we are useful tools for those who have taken upon them- selves the mantle of mastership. Thus is seen thedual activity of positive and negative life. You must be either positive or negative. My advice to you is cultivate positiveness. ■M THE CENTRE m Positiveness is assertion. Greater life comes with strong- er assertion, persistent affirmation. Do you not want more health, more beauty, more wealth, more talents, more and more of everything ? All your wishes may be fulfilled by assertion. Say, "I am strength, life, success." Make affirmations again and again, and thus more truly realize that which you intellectually perceive. For know this, that your whole being, body and soul, together with your environments, immediate and distant, are controlled by sympathetic suggestion. And this is the real meaning of gravitation. At the centre of an apparently inert atom lies infinite intelligence locked up. As the cells of life form, and experiences innumerable add to the atomic structure more animation, thus giving birth to higher and higher creatures, until in the order of evolution, man himself is born, intelligence manifests itself and the hidden potencies of the subjective mind become glorious objective entities. Multiplication and separation take place, but at the centre of each form of life there is ever a connection with all other forms, in fact an actual identity of life, a oneness of being. We thus dimly see how our affairs affect each other, according to corresponding vibration, according to the plane of action. We are in sympathy, in actual touch with all things. Life, mental and physical, is under the realm of gravitation. Mind is at once the matrix and crown of matter. To direct our thoughts is to control our destiny. This power of direction will be ours as fast as we learn to be concentrated. Concentration, which seems so difficult to many, is only that ability to be collected, self-poised and cool. The K»r«fc*>t..*^^.A4J, 66 THE CENTRE power to be thus self-centred comes by assiduous practice. Daily systematic thought drill, holding and repeating strong affirmations, will help one towards a condition of concen- tration. And even the most limited ability to concentrate will pave the way to great achievements, and in due course lead, step by step, to a serene position of security, where we stand at our centre and perceive our true relationship with externals. Your growth of character will place you most surely just where you will be capable of progressing to the best advantage. You will prevent undesired conditions from striking you. You will attract those things you desire and appreciate. Your life will be stamped with Success. And growth of character is only accelerated by becoming concentrated. It is easily seen, then, that the law of gravitation is supreme throughout all nature, mental and physical. The law is in itself absolutely perfect, and our presonal perfec- tion is governed by our recognition of the law. It is im- possible to conceive of one's self as being isolated from others. A true conception of existence is that of Humani- ty as one^ the centre of every ego being in sympathetic touch with all other centres by the law of gravitation. In reality, distance is in corresponding ratio to the degree oi friendship or sympathy between two souls. The phenomena of telepathy, mind-healing, success treatments, are governed by the law of gravitation, the law of correspondence. If we make ourselves receptive, we receive gifts of health, vealth, etc., from those with whom, by our receptivity, we have become in sympathetic contact. We make a demand, and our desire vibrates and finds a complement in some place or person, perhaps unknown to t J ^w* I i i T I I f A TIfJS CENTRE W us. A strong demand sent forth will, indeed, meet with supply. And the law of gravitation is the law of Love. All motion is Love's activity. The person who has learnt to love is truly the soul of harmony, and thus has the key to all things. So we see that our whole existence is governed by our mental condition — we must develop the mind. We see that the mind is the maker of the body, each thought being a germ of life. In the past we have built our bodies ignor- antly, working on the negative side of life. We are not satisfied. We desire bodies more beautiful and robust, temples fitted for an ego which recognizes personal immor- tality. We want less corruption. We demand more refine- ment, and to this end desire wealth and plenty to meet our requirements. At first, perhaps, we send forth timorous appeals for " little mercies ;" but, as soon as we perceive ourselves in the true light of self-creators, we beg and pray no more, but reach out and take that which is our true heritage. The race has been so accustomed to set-backs, so used to miseries, that a vision of uninterrupted harmony and personal strength seems too good to be true. But it is true. The visions of peace and plenty are even now beginning to be realized. Yes, they are for your personal realization and the place is here on earth, and the time is now, to-day. Reach out and take that which is your own, open your eyes to the wealth and glory around you — all your own, your own. «&'«...<»' J'^<''M.liMii:^i«:.AY»~« ■ i f red Burros jfournal A Monthly Periodical of Advanced Thought f ' V < h V A paper abreast of the times — in the van- guard of the race. The herald of a new life, a higher and nobler existence for man. Teaches the dignity and unlimited possibili- ties of a free mind. $i.oo a year Sample Free. Address : Fred Burry's Journal, Toronto, Canada. I