|
II.
Effect
of
Thought
on
Circumstances
A
man's
mind
may
be
likened
to
a
garden,
which
may
be
intelligently
cultivated
or
allowed
to
run
wild;
but
whether
cultivated
or
neglected,
it
must,
and
will,
bring
forth.
If
no
useful
seeds
are
put
into
it,
then
an
abundance
of
useless
weed
seeds
will
fall
therein,
and
will
continue
to
produce
their
kind.
Just
as
a
gardener
cultivates
his
plot,
keeping
it
free
from
weeds,
and
growing
the
flowers
and
fruits
which
he
requires,
so
may
a
man
tend
the
garden
of
his
mind,
weeding
out
all
the
wrong,
useless,
and
impure
thoughts,
and
cultivating
toward
perfection
the
flowers
and
fruits
of
right,
useful,
and
pure
thoughts,
By
pursuing
this
process,
a
man
sooner
or
later
discovers
that
he
is
the
master
gardener
of
his
soul,
the
director
of
his
life.
He
also
reveals,
within
himself,
the
laws
of
thought,
and
understands
with
ever-increasing
accuracy,
how
the
thought
forces
and
mind
elements
operate
in
the
shaping
of
his
character,
circumstances,
and
destiny.
Thought
and
character
are
one,
and
as
character
can
only
manifest
and
discover
itself
through
environment
and
circumstance,
the
outer
conditions
of
a
person's
life
will
always
be
found
to
be
harmoniously
related
to
his
inner
state.
This
does
not
mean
that
a
man's
circumstances
at
any
given
time
are
an
indication
of
his
entire
character,
but
that
those
circumstances
are
so
intimately
connected
with
some
vital
thought
element
within
himself
that,
for
the
time
being,
they
are
indispensable
to
his
development.
Every
man
is
where
he
is
by
the
law
of
his
being.
The
thoughts
which
he
has
built
into
his
character
have
brought
him
there,
and
in
the
arrangement
of
his
life
there
is
no
element
of
chance,
but
all
is
the
result
of
a
law
which
cannot
err.
This
is
just
as
true
of
those
who
feel
"out
of
harmony"
with
their
surroundings
as
of
those
who
are
contented
with
them.
As
the
progressive
and
evolving
being,
man
is
where
he
is
that
he
may
learn
that
he
may
grow;
and
as
he
learns
the
spiritual
lesson
which
any
circumstance
contains
for
him,
it
passes
away
and
gives
place
to
other
circumstances.
Man
is
buffeted
by
circumstances
so
long
as
he
believes
himself
to
be
the
creature
of
outside
conditions.
But
when
he
realizes
that
he
may
command
the
hidden
soil
and
seeds
of
his
being
out
of
which
circumstances
grow,
he
then
becomes
the
rightful
master
of
himself.
That
circumstances
grow
out
of
thought
every
man
knows
who
has
for
any
length
of
time
practiced
self-control
and
self-purification,
for
he
will
have
noticed
that
the
alteration
in
his
circumstances
has
been
in
exact
ratio
with
his
altered
mental
condition.
So
true
is
this
that
when
a
man
earnestly
applies
himself
to
remedy
the
defects
in
his
character,
and
makes
swift
and
marked
progress,
he
passes
rapidly
through
a
succession
of
vicissitudes.
The
soul
attracts
that
which
it
secretly
harbors;
that
which
it
loves,
and
also
that
which
it
fears.
It
reaches
the
height
of
its
cherished
aspirations.
It
falls
to
the
level
of
its
unchastened
desires
-
and
circumstances
are
the
means
by
which
the
soul
receives
its
own.
Every
thought
seed
sown
or
allowed
to
fall
into
the
mind,
and
to
take
root
there,
produces
its
own,
blossoming
sooner
or
later
into
act,
and
bearing
its
own
fruitage
of
opportunity
and
circumstance.
Good
thoughts
bear
good
fruit,
bad
thoughts
bad
fruit.
The
outer
world
of
circumstance
shapes
itself
to
the
inner
world
of
thought,
and
both
pleasant
and
unpleasant
external
conditions
are
factors
which
make
for
the
ultimate
good
of
the
individual.
As
the
reaper
of
his
own
harvest,
man
learns
both
by
suffering
and
bliss.
A
man
does
not
come
to
the
almshouse
or
the
jail
by
the
tyranny
of
fate
of
circumstance,
but
by
the
pathway
of
groveling
thoughts
and
base
desires.
Nor
does
a
pure-minded
man
fall
suddenly
into
crime
by
stress
of
any
mere
external
force;
the
criminal
thought
had
long
been
secretly
fostered
in
the
heart,
and
the
hour
of
opportunity
revealed
its
gathered
power.
Circumstance
does
not
make
the
man;
it
reveals
him
to
himself.
No
such
conditions
can
exist
as
descending
into
vice
and
its
attendant
sufferings
apart
from
vicious
inclinations,
or
ascending
into
virtue
and
its
pure
happiness
without
the
continued
cultivation
of
virtuous
aspirations.
And
man,
therefore,
as
the
Lord
and
master
of
thought,
is
the
maker
of
himself,
the
shaper
and
author
of
environment.
Even
at
birth
the
soul
comes
to
its
own,
and
through
every
step
of
its
earthly
pilgrimage
it
attracts
those
combinations
of
conditions
which
reveal
itself,
which
are
the
reflections
of
its
own
purity
and
impurity,
its
strength
and
weakness.
Men
do
not
attract
that
which
they
want,
but
that
which
they
are.
Their
whims,
fancies,
and
ambitions
are
thwarted
at
every
step,
but
their
inmost
thoughts
and
desires
are
fed
with
their
own
food,
be
it
foul
or
clean.
The
"divinity
that
shapes
our
ends"
is
in
ourselves;
it
is
our
very
self.
Man
is
manacled
only
by
himself.
Thought
and
action
are
the
jailers
of
Fate
-
they
imprison,
being
base.
They
are
also
the
angels
of
Freedom
-
they
liberate,
being
noble.
Not
what
he
wishes
and
prays
for
does
a
man
get,
but
what
he
justly
earns.
His
wishes
and
prayers
are
only
gratified
and
answered
when
they
harmonize
with
his
thoughts
and
actions.
In
the
light
of
this
truth,
what,
then,
is
the
meaning
of
"fighting
against
circumstances"?
It
means
that
a
man
is
continually
revolting
against
an
effect
without,
while
all
the
time
he
is
nourishing
and
preserving
its
cause
in
his
heart.
That
cause
may
take
the
form
of
a
conscious
vice
or
an
unconscious
weakness;
but
whatever
it
is,
it
stubbornly
retards
the
efforts
of
its
possessor,
and
thus
calls
aloud
for
remedy.
Men
are
anxious
to
improve
their
circumstances,
but
are
unwilling
to
improve
themselves.
They
therefore
remain
bound.
The
man
who
does
not
shrink
from
self-crucifixion
can
never
fail
to
accomplish
the
object
upon
which
his
heart
is
set.
This
is
as
true
of
earthly
as
of
heavenly
things.
Even
the
man
whose
sole
object
is
to
acquire
wealth
must
be
prepared
to
make
great
personal
sacrifices
before
he
can
accomplish
his
object;
and
how
much
more
so
he
who
would
realize
a
strong
and
well-poised
life?
Here
is
a
man
who
is
wretchedly
poor.
He
is
extremely
anxious
that
his
surroundings
and
home
comforts
should
be
improved.
Yet
all
the
time
he
shirks
his
work,
and
considers
he
is
justified
in
trying
to
deceive
his
employer
on
the
ground
of
the
insufficiency
of
his
wages.
Such
a
man
does
not
understand
the
simplest
rudiments
of
those
principles
which
are
the
basis
of
true
prosperity.
He
is
not
only
totally
unfitted
to
rise
out
of
his
wretchedness,
but
is
actually
attracting
to
himself
a
still
deeper
wretchedness
by
dwelling
in,
and
acting
out,
indolent,
deceptive,
and
unmanly
thoughts.
Here
is
a
rich
man
who
is
the
victim
of
a
painful
and
persistent
disease
as
the
result
of
gluttony.
He
is
willing
to
give
large
sums
of
money
to
get
rid
of
it,
but
he
will
not
sacrifice
his
gluttonous
desires.
He
wants
to
gratify
his
taste
for
rich
and
unnatural
foods
and
have
his
health
as
well.
Such
a
man
is
totally
unfit
to
have
health,
because
he
has
not
yet
learned
the
first
principles
of
a
healthy
life.
Here
is
an
employer
of
labor
who
adopts
crooked
measures
to
avoid
paying
the
regulation
wage,
and,
in
the
hope
of
making
larger
profits,
reduces
the
wages
of
his
workpeople.
Such
a
man
is
altogether
unfitted
for
prosperity.
And
when
he
finds
himself
bankrupt,
both
as
regards
reputation
and
riches,
he
blames
circumstances,
not
knowing
that
he
is
the
sole
author
of
his
condition.
I
have
introduced
these
three
cases
merely
as
illustrative
of
the
truth
that
man
is
the
cause
(though
nearly
always
unconsciously)
of
his
circumstances.
That,
while
aiming
at
the
good
end,
he
is
continually
frustrating
its
accomplishment
by
encouraging
thoughts
and
desires
which
cannot
possibly
harmonize
with
that
end.
Such
cases
could
be
multiplied
and
varied
almost
indefinitely,
but
this
is
not
necessary.
The
reader
can,
if
he
so
resolves,
trace
the
action
of
the
laws
of
thought
in
his
own
mind
and
life,
and
until
this
is
done,
mere
external
facts
cannot
serve
as
a
ground
of
reasoning.
Circumstances,
however,
are
so
complicated,
thought
is
so
deeply
rooted,
and
the
conditions
of
happiness
vary
so
vastly
with
individuals,
that
a
man's
entire
soul
condition
(although
it
may
be
known
to
himself)
cannot
be
judged
by
another
from
the
external
aspect
of
his
life
alone.
A
man
may
be
honest
in
certain
directions,
yet
suffer
privations.
A
man
may
be
dishonest
in
certain
directions,
yet
acquire
wealth.
But
the
conclusion
usually
formed
that
the
one
man
fails
because
of
his
particular
honesty,
and
that
the
other
prospers
because
of
his
particular
dishonesty,
is
the
result
of
a
superficial
judgment,
which
assumes
that
the
dishonest
man
is
almost
totally
corrupt,
and
honest
man
almost
entirely
virtuous.
In
the
light
of
a
deeper
knowledge
and
wider
experience,
such
judgment
is
found
to
be
erroneous.
The
dishonest
man
may
have
some
admirable
virtues
which
the
other
does
not
possess;
and
the
honest
man
obnoxious
vices
which
are
absent
in
the
other.
The
honest
man
reaps
the
good
results
of
his
honest
thoughts
and
acts;
he
also
brings
upon
himself
the
sufferings
which
his
vices
produce.
The
dishonest
man
likewise
garners
his
own
suffering
and
happiness.
It
is
pleasing
to
human
vanity
to
believe
that
one
suffers
because
of
one's
virtue.
But
not
until
a
man
has
extirpated
every
sickly,
bitter,
and
impure
thought
from
his
mind,
and
washed
every
sinful
stain
from
his
soul,
can
he
be
in
a
position
to
know
and
declare
that
his
sufferings
are
the
result
of
his
good,
and
not
of
his
bad
qualities.
And
on
the
way
to
that
supreme
perfection,
he
will
have
found
working
in
his
mind
and
life,
the
Great
Law
which
is
absolutely
just,
and
which
cannot
give
good
for
evil,
evil
for
good.
Possessed
of
such
knowledge,
he
will
then
know,
looking
back
upon
his
past
ignorance
and
blindness,
that
his
life
is,
and
always
was,
justly
ordered,
and
that
all
his
past
experiences,
good
and
bad,
were
the
equitable
outworking
of
his
evolving,
yet
unevolved
self.
Good
thoughts
and
actions
can
never
produce
bad
results.
Bad
thoughts
and
actions
can
never
produce
good
results.
This
is
but
saying
that
nothing
can
come
from
corn
but
corn,
nothing
from
nettles
but
nettles.
Men
understand
this
law
in
the
natural
world,
and
work
with
it.
But
few
understand
it
in
the
mental
and
moral
world
(though
its
operation
there
is
just
as
simple
and
undeviating),
and
they,
therefore,
do
not
cooperate
with
it.
Suffering
is
always
the
effect
of
wrong
thought
in
some
direction.
It
is
an
indication
that
the
individual
is
out
of
harmony
with
himself,
with
the
Law
of
his
being.
The
sole
and
supreme
use
of
suffering
is
to
purify,
to
burn
out
all
that
is
useless
and
impure.
Suffering
ceases
for
him
who
is
pure.
There
could
be
not
object
in
burning
gold
after
the
dross
had
been
removed,
and
perfectly
pure
and
enlightened
being
could
not
suffer.
The
circumstances
which
a
man
encounters
with
suffering
are
the
result
of
his
own
mental
inharmony.
The
circumstances
which
a
man
encounters
with
blessedness,
not
material
possessions,
is
the
measure
of
right
thought.
Wretchedness,
not
lack
of
material
possessions,
is
the
measure
of
wrong
thought.
A
man
may
be
cursed
and
rich;
he
may
be
blessed
and
poor.
blessedness
and
riches
are
only
joined
together
when
the
riches
are
rightly
and
wisely
used.
And
the
poor
man
only
descends
into
wretchedness
when
he
regards
his
lot
as
a
burden
unjustly
imposed.
Indigence
and
indulgence
are
the
two
extremes
of
wretchedness.
They
are
both
equally
unnatural
and
the
result
of
mental
disorder.
A
man
is
not
rightly
conditioned
until
he
is
a
happy,
healthy,
and
prosperous
being.
And
happiness,
health,
and
prosperity
are
the
result
of
a
harmonious
adjustment
of
the
inner
with
the
outer,
of
the
man
with
his
surroundings.
A
man
only
begins
to
be
a
man
when
he
ceases
to
whine
and
revile,
and
commences
to
search
for
the
hidden
justice
which
regulates
his
life.
And
as
he
adapts
his
mind
to
that
regulating
factor,
he
ceases
to
accuse
others
as
the
cause
of
his
condition,
and
builds
himself
up
in
strong
and
noble
thoughts.
He
ceases
to
kick
against
circumstances,
but
begins
to
use
them
as
aids
to
his
more
rapid
progress,
and
as
a
means
of
discovering
the
hidden
powers
and
possibilities
within
himself.
Law,
not
confusion,
is
the
dominating
principle
in
the
universe.
Justice,
not
injustice,
is
the
soul
and
substance
of
life.
And
righteousness,
not
corruption,
is
the
molding
and
moving
force
in
the
spiritual
government
of
the
world.
This
being
so,
man
has
but
to
right
himself
to
find
that
the
universe
is
right;
and
during
the
process
of
putting
himself
right,
he
will
find
that
as
he
alters
his
thoughts
toward
things
and
other
people,
things
and
other
people
will
alter
toward
him.
The
proof
of
this
truth
is
in
every
person,
and
it
therefore
admits
of
easy
investigation
by
systematic
introspection
and
self-analysis.
Let
a
man
radically
alter
his
thoughts,
and
he
will
be
astonished
at
the
rapid
transformation
it
will
effect
in
the
material
conditions
of
his
life.
men
imagine
that
thought
can
be
kept
secret,
but
it
cannot.
It
rapidly
crystallizes
into
habit,
and
habit
solidifies
into
habits
of
drunkenness
and
sensuality,
which
solidify
into
circumstances
of
destitution
and
disease.
Impure
thoughts
of
every
kind
crystallize
into
enervating
and
confusing
habits,
which
solidify
into
distracting
and
adverse
circumstances.
Thoughts
of
fear,
doubt,
and
indecision
crystallize
into
weak,
unmanly,
and
irresolute
habits,
which
solidify
into
circumstances
of
failure,
indigence,
and
slavish
dependence.
Lazy
thoughts
crystallize
into
habits
of
uncleanliness
and
dishonesty,
which
solidify
into
circumstances
of
foulness
and
beggary.
Hateful
and
condemnatory
thoughts
crystallize
into
habits
of
accusation
and
violence,
which
solidify
into
circumstances
of
injury
and
persecution.
Selfish
thoughts
of
all
kinds
crystallize
into
habits
of
self-seeking,
which
solidify
into
circumstances
more
of
less
distressing.
On
the
other
hand,
beautiful
thoughts
of
all
crystallize
into
habits
of
grace
and
kindliness,
which
solidify
into
genial
and
sunny
circumstances.
Pure
thoughts
crystallize
into
habits
of
temperance
and
self-control,
which
solidify
into
circumstances
of
repose
and
peace.
Thoughts
of
courage,
self-reliance,
and
decision
crystallize
into
manly
habits,
which
solidify
into
circumstances
of
success,
plenty,
and
freedom.
Energetic
thoughts
crystallize
into
habits
of
cleanliness
and
industry,
which
solidify
into
circumstances
of
pleasantness.
Gentle
and
forgiving
thoughts
crystallize
into
habits
of
gentleness,
which
solidify
into
protective
and
preservative
circumstances.
Loving
and
unselfish
thoughts
crystallize
into
habits
of
self-forgetfulness
for
others,
which
solidify
into
circumstances
of
sure
and
abiding
prosperity
and
true
riches.
A
particular
train
of
thought
persisted
in,
be
it
good
or
bad,
cannot
fail
to
produce
its
results
on
the
character
and
circumstances.
A
man
cannot
directly
choose
his
circumstances,
but
he
can
choose
his
thoughts,
and
so
indirectly,
yet
surely,
shape
his
circumstances.
Nature
helps
every
man
to
the
gratification
of
the
thoughts
which
he
most
encourages,
and
opportunities
are
presented
which
will
most
speedily
bring
to
the
surface
both
the
good
and
evil
thoughts.
Let
a
man
cease
from
his
sinful
thoughts,
and
all
the
world
will
soften
toward
him,
and
be
ready
to
help
him.
Let
him
put
away
his
weakly
and
sickly
thoughts,
and
lo!
opportunities
will
spring
up
on
every
hand
to
aid
his
strong
resolves.
Let
him
encourage
good
thoughts,
and
no
hard
fate
shall
bind
him
down
to
wretchedness
and
shame.
The
world
is
your
kaleidoscope,
and
the
varying
combinations
of
colors
which
at
every
succeeding
moment
it
presents
to
you
are
the
exquisitely
adjusted
pictures
of
your
evermoving
thoughts.
You
will
be
what
you
will
to
be;
Let
failure
find
its
false
content
In
that
poor
word,
"environment,"
But
spirit
scorns
it,
and
is
free.
It
masters
time,
it
conquers
space;
It
cows
that
boastful
trickster,
Chance,
And
bids
the
tyrant
Circumstance
Uncrown,
and
fill
a
servant's
place.
The
human
Will,
that
force
unseen,
The
offspring
of
a
deathless
Soul,
Can
hew
a
way
to
any
goal,
Though
walls
of
granite
intervene.
Be
not
impatient
in
delay,
But
wait
as
one
who
understands;
When
spirit
rises
and
commands,
The
gods
are
ready
to
obey.
On
to
Chapter
III:
Effect
of
Thought
on
Health
and
the
Body...
For
more
on
James
Allen
and
to
download
the
free
ebook,
visit
http://www.asamanthinketh.net
|
