WHY WE SHOULD BE WATCHFUL OF OUR THINKING?

Purpose: To show the importance of right thinking.

We lay great stress on right thinking, because from thinking comes results in our lives, words and deeds.
If thought is right, we shall speak truly and do our best. Character arises from habit of thought. A man of strong, positive thought will be a man of strong character. Habit of thought is an indication of character. We cannot think loving thoughts and be unkind. Health depends upon our thinking. Environment is also affected by our thinking. If our environment is not such as belongs to one who thinks right thoughts, let us change our thinking.

To change environment or outer conditions we do not have to work directly with them but with our own thinking about them.

If we think rightly, we shall change either our mental attitude toward environment, or environment itself--which ever needs changing. Our accomplishment in every direction, all that we do in the world, in business and in domestic life, is affected by our mental attitude. Hence it is worthwhile to cultivate right habits of thinking.
Every thought writes something. The true thought is recorded faithfully and the untrue thought, with equal certainty.

Every thought, whether spoken or not, brings about a result.

We once believed that it mattered but little how often we grew angry within, if this anger was not expressed, and that we could think ill of one provided that we did not voice the sentiment. Now we know that thought is always recorded outwardly; if not in speech, in other ways. I have often wondered what the effect would be if thought appeared in visible form before us--the good thought as a form, good to see, and the ill thought as an ill-fashioned form. Do you not think that we would then be more careful of our thinking?

All inharmony is the result of letting ourselves think that which is opposite to truth.

Every object has come forth from Mind Universal. Even the house we live in, the clothes we wear, the paintings we admire, were all thought out, then wrought out; the Intelligence that thought these out is Divine, God thinking through man; the Power that wrought these out is God-Power working through man. The world about us is a constant evidence of God’s living thought for us.

Everything rests first in Mind. To know and to grasp this is to lay hold of a wonderful principle.

Thought is based upon perception. To a limited view life is narrow. To a broad full perception, life is deep and rich. Perfect thinking depends upon perfect knowledge. The process by which we learn to think aright is that by which we go below the surface of things and view the situation from this standpoint. He who goes below the surface has insight. Insight reveals the truth of things, and from this the world takes on a new hue. Things that we once resisted, we now feel kindly towards. Instead of struggling to attain, we gain insight into the principle of attainment. We believe the primary truths of Being, and thought born of such understanding expresses the best without struggle.

The first step toward knowing the truth of things is to seek the truth earnestly.

No matter what we have believed, we must be willing to reverse it, if truth reveals a newer version. Truth is ever going to unfold to us more and more, if we hold ourselves receptive. Never stand still and say that there is nothing more. Truth is ever revealing to us that receptivity is the open door through which we shall realize more and more fully the powers of the Universal Life. When we say, “I can go no farther,” we shut ourselves off from that unfoldment. After the perception of fundamental principles what are we to do? We must certainly do more than accept. After perception and acceptance, thought is to be trained in the Truth every day.
We have not seen life truly; hence we have believed in two powers, two substances. The study of Truth teaches us better. This is perception. We lay hold of its meaning, and then think. First, perception comes; then thought-training follows until consciousness becomes clear. After this no more thought training, for right thinking is spontaneous. It comes because we are conscious of Truth, and we enter heaven. We are conscious of our divinity, and we live out this Divinity.

Systematic right thinking solves every problem in our daily lives.

Right thinking leads to the realization that the successful life is the life that meets the purpose for which it is here, and that this purpose is attainment, unfoldment, the development of the individual--the making of a Man. Every experience, condition, and circumstance, that comes to us is for the purpose of our development, and will be helpful according to the spirit in which we meet it, and the wisdom with which we handle it.

Growth is attained through Self-expression.

Self-expression is induced by every demand made upon one, by every hardship, by every so-called obstacle that he meets. The strong man has always had what is called a hard life; how else could he become conscious of strength? How else could he prove his strength?

True thinking shows us the meaning of what we are calling difficulties; they are opportunities for the development of the individual, not hindrances.

“The strong man rejoices to run the race.” If we are to measure the success of life, we must read the soul aright. Here and here alone is the true, and indelible, and infallible witness of all achievements. Here we find the only result worth looking for.

Source: Nona L Brooks

WHY ARE WE HERE?

Purpose: To show man's part in his own salvation.

Individual life is for the purpose of unfoldment; progress is the watchword. In the highest conception it is self-expression. There are two stages in individual development. Of one, Paul speaks: “The heir, so long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all.” While the individual is thinking of himself as a slave to everything, and carrying out this belief by existing in a condition of bondage or limitation, he is, all of the time, “lord of all,” but he does not know it. He is developing toward the realization.
There is the childhood and the manhood of the individual. When he is a child in understanding, he has no knowledge of his true nature or of his power. He is ignorant and innocent; but the power of Love is caring for the individual, and he is compelled to develop. In the childhood of the individual, there is always the seeking of happiness, of what the child calls good. Though he may make many errors, this desire is really his prayer, and it is answered by infinite Love in the way that is best for his unfoldment. The Spirit of Wisdom and Love knows better than the one who desires and prays ignorantly. This childhood is a stage of trouble. It takes life as a burden, because of its ignorance.

Manhood comes when the individual knows the Truth of his being or of his eternal and changeless state. When he knows his power, he enters his kingdom and realizes that he is lord of all.

We are now in the transition period, dropping things of childhood, and realizing some of the things of manhood. Childhood is subject to limitation; it separates itself from God and man. Manhood begins to unite, to recognize Universal Presence and Power. Man is touching the hem of the garment of Truth. There is much more to know and greater power to realize. We find the development into manhood, a freeing process; life, instead of slavery, gives mastery. Many are living in the period of childhood; others are passing into manhood. The undeveloped condition breeds poverty, sickness, and death. Happiness therein depends upon the outer, therefore men work hard to bring to themselves money, friends, things--whatever they consider desirable. We shall never get anything from the outer but what we take of it. The thing we meet on every hand is first found within our mentality. Always striving for outer benefits, we are still unhappy, until we find the kingdom within.
Man must redeem his own life. By his mistakes has his conception of life become distorted. By rectifying these mistakes shall his distorted views of life be changed, and his redemption accomplished. Simple living is to be desired above all else.

There is nothing grander than genuine simplicity; nothing that will so cause us to stand out as strong man and woman. The first step toward living simply is directness.

This means that the individual must make his own connection with God, the universal Life. Man must gain spiritual knowledge for himself. “Religion is the life of God in the soul of man.”

Direct living establishes our connection with God.

The realization of this close communion is the purpose of every silence, the outcome of every treatment. When it is attained we can say, “I and my Father are one.” Imagine the power in understanding life from this conscious unity with the Perfect Life.

Man must act directly from the Center of Life within.

This enables one to live what may be called the spontaneous life. Consciousness of life thus gained must go forth expressing as directly as it has received. Such consciousness is not borne in upon by what people are saying; it is not bound by old conventions, but is living from its own center, is thinking and speaking freely and fully, and is beginning to make us lifters rather than leaners.
Our Science stands for law and order. Not to be limited by conventionality does not mean to be lawless. “To thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night (follows) the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”

The direct life does not live on the surface, but goes to the root of things. It connects with the great Central Energy of the Universe, and there is no waste of power or energy in its work.

This directness gives consciousness of power; it ensures a life of peace; it takes away fear. A life of freedom is the fruit of the simple life that comes forth spontaneously as a result of living directly from our inmost Center. Jesus' life was the simplest we can think of. We cannot imagine that he could ever have done anything for the sake of show, or that he refrained from anything for fear of what people would say. Show impresses children; they of fuller understanding appreciate simplicity. Great men are not afraid to act naturally; that is, according to their nature. This does not mean to act unkindly or selfishly, if we feel so. When living in and from that Center within, we shall not hold such feeling; sensitiveness falls away.

Until the true Center of action is found and our consciousness is made alive to our union with that Center within, we act according to conventionalities, and are bound by unnatural laws to man-made limitations.
Thought training will help us to abide in our center. If I feel angry, let me stop and think; let me not speak that feeling, but the opposite. Love spoken will soon destroy every feeling of anger. “A soft answer turneth away wrath.”

Live from within, if you would have power and peace.

Manhood is the goal. We do not ask a child learning to walk to carry a chair across a room. We learn to place each one where he belongs. Keep in thought the ideal man, the perfection of man.

In knowledge of perfection we go forth not to resist or to conquer, but by co-operation, to express.

WHERE IS GOD?

Purpose: To make God's universality and His immediacy still more vivid to the student, and to show that Truth, wherever found, is One.

All flesh shall come to worship before me, saith the Lord. --Isaiah 66:23.
And they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. --Hebrews 8:11.
Schiller says, “There are three words that I would write in tracings of eternal light upon the hearts of men.” And these three words are faith, hope, and love; the same that Paul chose for his wonderful discourse.
There is one word that I would write upon the hearts of men--Omnipresence.
Omnipresence! Repeat it to yourself; say it often; get the fullness of its meaning. It can never grow old; it will never become threadbare; it can never wear out. I prefer it to faith, hope, and love, because it is greater than these. Omnipresence is beyond hope; it is fulfilment. It is greater than either faith or love, because it includes these, and more within itself. Omnipresence, the All-Presence, the Presence that is always present!
This Presence is around us right now, and It is in us; It is around, through, and in all; It fills heaven and earth.
The Presence dwells everywhere even to the uttermost parts of the Universe, now and forever.
What is our name for Omnipresence? “The Presence that filleth all.” We love to speak of it as God, the Father, Infinite Mind, Source and Cause, Principle. It, in fact, makes but little difference what name we use; the vital matter is that we understand this Presence, and live in the consciousness of It.
The realization of Omnipresence! Please go back of the word every time it is used; go in thought to Omnipresence Itself.
The realization of the Presence will bring to us wonderful consciousness not only of our oneness with God but of our unity with all mankind.
This is the foundation of all the good that we may do our fellow men, of all the help we can give them. We can not go into the slums of our large cities with the manner of superior beings sent from a different sphere to a peculiar people, and lead them away from the vice and filth to their own true selves. On the other hand, we, who through consciousness of Omnipresence, come into a true understanding of brotherhood, can extend our hands to these needy ones as man to man, brother to brother, and lead them out of every condition into the understanding of God as a loving Father, and of men as one with Him and one with each other. Herein lies the salvation of the world, and the only salvation there is, for this is Truth, the Christ-Principle.
Omnipresence teaches us that in the depths of each man's heart, no matter how frivolous he may be, or how material and degraded he may seem, there is a consciousness of God.
Feeble, perhaps, in some; but it is there. This consciousness longs to spread itself, to grow until it takes entire possession of the individual. You and I knowing this, may speak to this great consciousness, not always with the lips, but with the heart, always. Let us recognize its presence, and encourage its progress by this steadfast recognition, until we find ourselves in heart to heart comradeship with those we touch in the day's work. In this way alone can we stand side by side with them, and help them to realize their ideal of the purer, truer life; for the ideal is there within each one and it may be realized.
The noblest, the most sacred, the happiest mission in life is to help our fellow men to a higher realization. The privilege of helping is ours. Realization of Omnipresence brings us into closer relation with our fellow men; it introduces into our daily lives that element of love whose warmth and brightness is much needed here.
It brings us into relationship with all that men have believed the world over, for as we take a greater interest in mankind, we desire to know men better, and we are interested in their views on vital subjects. Our desire is to know how much of Truth has been revealed to men, and how much of Omnipresence they have realized. This desire leads us to pay attention to the different faiths presented to the world; and we are glad to find, as we always shall, if we investigate, that there is not so much difference in the teachings of the various religions as we had imagined. For if we are willing to go back of the form of worship, back of the word to the heart of each, no matter how material it may seem at first, we shall find Omnipresence declaring Itself even there.
The following quotations from Ebers give, he says, a brief summary of what have been found to be some of the secret teachings of the Egyptian priesthood, kept secret because they thought that they could disclose these to the favored few only, who on account of special virtue or wisdom, were ready to comprehend them.
“We know that the Godhead is one; we name it ‘The All,' ‘The Veil of the All,' or simply Ra; but under the name, Ra, we understand something different from that which is known to the common herd; for to us the universe is God and, in each of its parts, we recognize a manifestation of that highest Being without whom nothing is, in the heights above or in the depths below.
“Whether we view the sun, the harvest, or the Nile, whether we contemplate with admiration the harmony or unity of the visible or the invisible world, still it is always with the only, the all-embracing One that we have to do, to whom we also ourselves belong as those of His manifestations in which he places His self-consciousness.”
Again we read, “All that He--the One--has created is penetrated with His own essence and bears witness to His goodness. He who knows how to find Him, sees Him everywhere, and lives at every instant in the enjoyment of His glory.”
Our oneness with God, with our fellow men and with the Truth as it is found in all religions is a result of a realization of Omnipresence.
There is still something more that Omnipresence reveals to us--our oneness with the entire creation. When we understand this, it is very precious to us; for man is restored to his rightful position of unity with, instead of subjection to, the visible. When we look upon the mountains, the plains, the flowers, the trees, and the animal world, let us say within ourselves, “The same Power that formed my body formed them; the same Presence that dwells in me, is in them.” We are one, for are we not the same in origin, in substance, and in life? Then, indeed, shall we find “sermons in stones, books in running brooks, and good in everything.” With this understanding comes the realization of our true dominion, and of our perfect freedom from so-called physical law.
Our realization of Omnipresence does not make it true, but because it is true we may realize it; and this realization will broaden our individuality to the length, breadth, height, and depths of the Universe. There is but one thing that Omnipresence does not include and that is-- What shall I call it? Ignorance, false beliefs, darkness, sin. Call it what you will.
That which is opposed to God--of an opposite nature--has no place in Omnipresence for, broad as it is, there is room for but one, and that one is God.”
“I am God, and there is none else.” --Isa. 45:22.