The aphorism, "As you thinketh in your heart so are you," not only embraces the whole of your being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of your life. You are literally what you think, your character being the complete sum of all your thoughts. As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of yours springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts called "spontaneous" and "unpremeditated" as to those which are deliberately executed. Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are it's fruits; thus you will garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of your own husbandry. You are a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things. A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long cherished association with Godlike thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harboring of groveling thoughts. You are made or unmade by yourself; in the armory of thought you forge the weapons by which you destroy yourself; you also fashion the tools with which you build for yourself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, you ascend to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, you descend below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and you are their maker and master. Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this - that you are the master of thought, the molder of character, and maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny. As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the Lord of your own thoughts, you hold the key to every situation, and contain within yourself that transforming and regenerative agency by which you may make yourself what you will. You are always the master, even in your weakest and most abandoned state; but in your weakness and degradation you are the foolish master who misgoverns your household. When you begin to reflect upon your condition, and to search diligently for the Law upon which your being is established, you then become the wise master, directing your energies with intelligence, and fashioning your thoughts to fruitful issues. Such is the conscious master, and you can only thus become by discovering within yourself the laws of thought; which discovery is totally a matter of application, self-analysis, and experience. Only by much searching and mining are gold and diamonds obtained, and you can find every truth connected with your being if you will dig deep into the mine of your soul; and that you are the maker of your character, the molder of your life, and the builder of your destiny, you may unerringly prove, if you will watch, control, and alter your thoughts, tracing their effects upon yourself, upon others, and upon your life and circumstances, linking cause and effect by patient practice and investigation, and utilizing your every experience, even to the most trivial, everyday occurrence, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of yourself which is Understanding, Wisdom, Power. In this direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that "They who seeketh findeth; and to them that knocketh it shall be opened"; for only by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity can you enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge. |
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