THE objects of this course are: (1) To alter your mental attitude, and (2) To direct your thoughts into those channels which lead to success, achievement, health, happiness and perfect good; (3) The arousing of the inward POWER, and (4) The overcoming of bad habits; (5) The building up of character, and (6) The discovery and development of the creative faculty. How these are accomplished will be explained to you in their proper place and at the proper time, but first of all I want you to consider, thoughtfully, what is before you. It is not exactly an easy road which you have chosen. No path that leads upward Therefore, stop now and think carefully over the path that lies before you; estimate its difficulties, do not think lightly of them, be prepared for difficulty, and make up your mind, here and now, to conquer. You may have failed in the past, but this time you must, you will, and you shall overcome Success and Character Building
PART I
Now close your eyes, and mentally picture yourself, radiant, strong, successful, happy, full of the joy and zest of life. See yourself treading a path that leads ever upwards. Behind you the air is murky and gloomy, but in front is increasing brightness and loveliness. See yourself progressing, climbing, winning. See yourself trampling old habits and weaknesses under your feet. See yourself meeting difficulties in your path, and see yourself, sustained by a mighty inward power, brushing all obstructions aside, and never faltering in your upward climb.
Concentrate with all your powers upon
WHATEVER YOU CREATE, IN THIS MANNER, IN YOUR MENTAL WORLD, WILL LATER BE MANIFESTED IN YOUR OUTWARD LIFE. In other words, by mental imagery you are creating your future self. You will gradually grow into the likeness of the image that you are now creating. Therefore create the right image. Let your ambition be a high one; do not picture yourself as a common man, satisfied with vulgar pleasures, instead, create a perfect man, the most perfect of which you can conceive. In the same way when you throw your mind forward and foresee the task before I want you to realize that this journey of yours is not a walk over, I want you to understand that it is a fight all the way, but at the same time to realize that it is a winning fight all the time; for although difficulties are real, yet you have within you the Powers which make difficulties and obstacles melt away. Great and omnipotent is the Power within you. Nothing can stay your upward climb, there is nobody who can prevent you succeeding except yourself; there is nothing that can stop your progress but your own doubt and fear. All things are possible if you believe that they are possible. Unbounded confidence, the keynote of Success. YOU cannot fail, YOU, yourself, are Success. Every successful man is a man of "faith," every successful man is a man who cultivates "hope." A successful man is always hopeful, is never a pessimist and he brings that which he hopes for, into being and reality, by the strength of his faith. Therefore I want you first of all to cultivate Hope and Faith for without those qualities no one, no matter how gifted or clever, can ever succeed. That you have these two qualities is proved by the fact that you are reading this course. You have had the hope of winning your way to a life of Success, and Power, When a man realizes his own interior powers and understands the vastness and wonder of his subliminal forces, and determines to make use of them, and thus become a king among men instead of a slave, then such a disturbance takes place that unless he possesses Hope and Faith he will be tempted to turn his back on the new life and to sink back again into the old sluggish drifting existence, which leads to disappointment and despair. Those people variously known as Christian First of all memorize these words. Keep repeating them over until they sink deeply into your memory, and their meaning finds a place in your consciousness. If you can get a few moments to yourself during the day, practice making the affirmations. The right way is as follows: Go into a quiet place, whether you sit, stand, or lie down is immaterial. Now close your eyes and say the words over very earnestly. Strive to realize all that they mean and address the words to your inner mind. It is your submerged mind that you are influencing, so address the affirmation very earnestly to it. Do this for several minutes, and finish by making the affirmation into space. Hurl it out as a message to the Universe and by so doing you will come into harmony with innumerable invisible forces, who will help and strengthen you. When you have finished making the affirmation, again close your eyes and make a mental picture of yourself in the manner already taught. Endeavor to see yourself a radiant being, with the old life and its murkiness and imperfections left far behind you. Picture yourself pressing forward to higher and better things, meeting difficulties, it is true, but overcoming them, trampling old habits, weaknesses and imperfections under your feet. Try and realize that you have the power to raise yourself above the ordinary things of life, that sublime moments. This will not be easy. It requires concentration and perseverance. You will find it difficult to see yourself as you wish to see yourself, or you will find it not easy to see yourself clearly at all, also you will find it difficult to keep your mind concentrated upon the making of the image. There is only one thing to do and that is to keep on trying. Thus in the first lesson do you come face to face with a battle royal. With most students this visualizing is a great difficulty, but no matter how difficult it may be, it has to be overcome. If you fail to overcome this difficulty then you fail in this course of lessons; if you fail to overcome now, you will fail in the larger things of life. The best way to overcome a difficulty is by getting interested in it. When you have developed interest, enthusiasm is aroused, and after that concentration becomes comparatively achievement have had this power greatly developed, therefore if you wish to be great and successful you must first develop this same faculty. There has never been a great act or achievement in the world's history that was not first visualized in this manner. Everything is first created in the unseen before it is manifested in the seen. When you, by dint of practice, can visualize clearly and distinctly, you will have developed creative power, not figuratively, but literally so. Whatever you create in your mental world by means of visualizing will in time be manifested in the outer physical world. The outer world of matter is subservient to the inner world of mind. This is a great occult truth which has been withheld from ordinary people and has been until recently the closely guarded secret of certain secret orders. It is now given into your hands, you are put upon your honor not to reveal it to others. When they have reached a To be used every day and twice a day if possible, between the hours of 6 and 9 a.m. and 9 and 11:30 p.m. Other times are suitable, but those mentioned will be found especially valuable to students, as between these hours their teacher is meditating upon the same thoughts, and the vibrations from his mind will be helpful to all who are "tuned to receive them." Try and arrange to spend half an hour in meditation before retiring for the night. Sit in a quiet place, relax your body and concentrate upon these words: Within me are infinite powers seeking expression. In the past, because I did not know of their existence, they have been stifled and suppressed. Now I "will" that they shall be called into activity, and find perfect and full expression in my body in the form of perfect health, in my life in the When meditating upon the above, take each thought separately in turn and concentrate all your thoughts upon it. Not only grasp its meaning, but try and picture what it means. For instance: "My life is transformed." When you think upon these words, try and see your life being transformed, see your weaknesses falling away from you like an old garment, and instead, strength, success and noble qualities being born in their place. Practice and concentrate and FEEL the power of this meditation. This ends the metaphysical part of this week's lesson, the following are some brief hints of great value to the student beginning the study of Scientific Thought: (1) Everything works according to Law, we each of us have what we deserve. (2) Covet no man's goods, possessions or happiness; transcendent Joy. It is a life of peace and blessing to your fellows. Look up. Keep looking up. Keep on affirming. Keep on visualizing. Keep on meditating. Keep on believing. Keep on hoping. What you hope for, and believe, and affirm, and visualize, is yours. Remember also that you grow into the likeness of that which you meditate upon. It will be helpful for you to think of your subliminal Mind as another person, one who is always listening, listening, listening. He hears all that you say, and ACTS UPON all the thoughts that you let pass the threshold of the inner mind. "Hush! he is listening," should be the watch-word of your life. Let no thought of evil, of impurity, of weakness, of ill-health, of failure, of hate, of anger, of fear, enter your Subliminal Mind, for he will receive them as orders which he will obey, and being all-powerful, great and terrible will be the results. Therefore let only thoughts of good, purity, strength, health, success, love, self-control, courage and determination enter this greater mind of vast intelligence and power. Do this, and your Subliminal Mind will take these thoughts as orders, and will shape your life and health accordingly. Thus in a general way your Subliminal