We invite to ourselves these thought vibrations by maintaining and entertaining thoughts along certain lines. If we cultivate a habit of thinking along the lines of Cheerfulness, Brightness and Optimism, we attract to ourselves similar thought vibrations of others and we will find that before long we will find all sorts of cheerful thoughts pouring into our minds from all directions. And, likewise, if we harbor thoughts of Gloom, Despair, Pessimism, we lay ourselves open to the influx of similar thoughts which have emanated from the minds of others. Thoughts of Anger, Hate, or Jealousy attract similar thoughts which serve to feed the flame and keep alive the fire of these low emotions. Thoughts of Love tend to draw to ourselves the loving thoughts of others which tend to fill us with a glow of loving emotion.
And not only are we affected in this way by the thoughts of others, but what is known as "Suggestion" also plays an important part in this matter of sub-conscious influence. We find that the mind has a tendency to reproduce the emotions, moods, shades of thought, and feelings of other persons, as evidenced by their attitude, appearance, facial expression, or words. If we associate with persons of a gloomy temperament, we run the risk of "catching" their mental trouble by the law of suggestion, unless we understand this law and counteract it. In the same way we find that cheerfulness is contagious, and if we keep in the company of cheerful people we are very apt to take on their mental quality. The same rule applies to frequenting the company of unsuccessful or successful people, as the case may be. If we allow ourselves to take up the suggestions constantly emanating from them, we will find that our minds will begin to reproduce the tones, attitudes, characteristics, dispositions and traits of the other persons, and before long we will be living on the same mental plane. As we have repeatedly said, these things are true only when we allow ourselves to "take on" the impressions, but unless one has mastered the law of suggestion, and understands its principles and operations he is more or less apt to be affected by it. All of you readily recall the effect of certain persons upon others with whom they come in contact. One has a faculty of inspiring with vigor and energy those in whose company he happens to be. Another depresses those around him, and is avoided as a "human wet-blanket." Another will cause a feeling of uneasiness in those around him, by reason of his prevailing attitude of distrust, suspicion, and low cunning. Some carry an atmosphere of health around them, while others seem to be surrounded with a sickly aura of disease, even when their physical condition does not seem to indicate the lack of health. Mental states have a subtle way of impressing themselves upon us, and the student who will take the trouble to closely observe those with whom he comes in contact will receive a liberal education along these lines.
There is of course a great difference in the degree of suggestibility among different persons. There are those who are almost immune, while at the other end of the line are to be found others who are so constantly and strongly impressed by the suggestions of others, conscious or unconscious, that they may be said to scarcely have any independent thought or will of their own. But nearly all persons are suggestible to a greater or lesser degree.
It must not be supposed from what we have said that all suggestions are "bad," harmful, or undesirable. Many suggestions are very good for us, and coming at the right time have aided us much. But, nevertheless, it is well to always let your own mind pass upon these suggestions, before allowing them to manifest in your sub-conscious mind. Let the final decision be your own—and not the will of another—although you may have considered outside suggestions in connection with the matter.
Remember always that YOU are an Individual, having a mind and Will of your own. Rest firmly upon the base of your "I" consciousness, and you will find yourself able to manifest a wonderful strength against the adverse suggestions of others. Be your own Suggestor—train and influence your sub-conscious mind Yourself, and do not allow it to be tampered with by the suggestions of others. Grow the sense of Individuality.
There has been much written of recent years in the Western world regarding the effect of the Mental Attitude upon Success and attainment upon the material plane. While much of this is nothing but the wildest imagining, still there remains a very firm and solid substratum of truth underlying it all.
It is undoubtedly true that one's prevailing mental attitude is constantly manifesting and objectifying itself in his life. Things, circumstances, people, plans, all seem to fit into the general ideal of the strong mental attitude of a man. And this from the operation of mental law along a number of lines of action.
In the first place, the mind when directed toward a certain set of objects becomes very alert to discover things concerning those objects—to seize upon things, opportunities, persons, ideas, and facts tending to promote the objects thought of. The man who is looking for facts to prove certain theories, invariably finds them, and is also quite likely to overlook facts tending to disprove his theory. The Optimist and the Pessimist passing along the same streets, each sees thousands of examples tending to fit in with his idea. As Kay says: "When one is engaged in seeking for a thing, if he keep the image of it clearly before the mind, he will be very likely to find it, and that too, probably, where it would otherwise have escaped his notice. So when one is engaged in thinking on a subject, thoughts of things resembling it, or bearing upon it, and tending to illustrate it, come up on every side. Truly, we may well say of the mind, as has been said of the eye, that 'it perceives only what it brings within the power of perceiving.'" John Burroughs has well said regarding this that "No one ever found the walking fern who did not have the walking fern in his mind. A person whose eye is full of Indian relics picks them up in every field he walks through. They are quickly recognized because the eye has been commissioned to find them."
When the mind is kept firmly fixed upon some ideal or aim, its whole and varied powers are bent toward the realization and manifestation of that ideal. In thousands of ways the mind will operate to objectify the subjective mental attitude, a great proportion of the mental effort being accomplished along sub-conscious lines. It is of the greatest importance to one who wishes to succeed in any undertaking, to keep before his mind's eye a clear mental image of that which he desires. He should picture the thing desired, and himself as securing it, until it becomes almost real. In this way he calls to his aid his entire mental force and power, along the sub-conscious lines, and, as it were, makes a clear path over which he may walk to accomplishment. Bain says regarding this: "By aiming at a new construction, we must clearly conceive what is aimed at. Where we have a very distinct and intelligible model before us, we are in a fair way to succeed; in proportion as the ideal is dim and wavering, we stagger or miscarry." Maudsley says: "We cannot do an act voluntarily unless we know what we are going to do, and we cannot know exactly what we are going to do until we have taught ourselves to do it." Carpenter says: "The continued concentration of attention upon a certain idea gives it a dominant power, not only over the mind, but over the body." Muller says: "The idea of our own strength gives strength to our movements. A person who is confident of effecting anything by muscular efforts will do it more easily than one not so confident of his own power." Tanner says: "To believe firmly is almost tantamount in the end to accomplishment. Extraordinary instances are related showing the influence of the will over even the involuntary muscles."
Along the same lines, many Western writers have added their testimony to the Yogi principle of the manifestation of thought into action. Kay has written: "A clear and accurate idea of what we wish to do, and how it is to be effected, is of the utmost value and importance in all the affairs of life. A man's conduct naturally shapes itself according to the ideas in his mind, and nothing contributes more to success in life than having a high ideal and keeping it constantly in view. Where such is the case one can hardly fail in attaining it. Numerous unexpected circumstances will be found to conspire to bring it about, and even what seemed at first to be hostile may be converted into means for its furtherance; while by having it constantly before the mind he will be ever ready to take advantage of any favoring circumstances that may present themselves." Along the same lines, Foster has written these remarkable words: "It is wonderful how even the casualties of life seem to bow to a spirit that will not bow to them, and yield to subserve a design which they may, in their first apparent tendency, threaten to frustrate. When a firm, decisive spirit is recognized, it is curious to see how the space clears around a man and leaves him room and freedom." Simpson has said: "A passionate desire and an unwearied will can perform impossibilities, or what seem to be such to the cold and feeble." And Maudsley gives to aspiring youth a great truth, when he says: "Thus it is that aspirations are often prophecies, the harbingers of what a man shall be in a condition to perform." And we may conclude the paragraph by quoting Lytton: "Dream, O youth, dream manfully and nobly, and thy dreams shall be prophets."
This principle of the power of the Mental Image is strongly impressed upon the mind of the chela, or student, by the Yogi teachers. The student is taught that just as the house is erected in accordance with the plan of the architect, so is one's life built in accordance with the prevailing Mental Image. The mind sub-consciously moulds itself around the prevailing mental image or attitude, and then proceeds to draw upon the outer world for material with which to build in accordance with the plan. Not only is one's character built in this way, but the circumstances and incidents of his life follow the same rule. The Yogi student is instructed into the mysteries of the power of the mind in this direction, not that he may make use of it to build up material success, or to realize his personal desires—for he is taught to avoid these things—but he is fully instructed, nevertheless, that he may understand the workings of the law around him. And it is a fact well known to close students of the occult, that the few who have attained extraordinarily high degrees of development, make use of this power in order to help the race. Many a world movement has been directed by the mind, or minds, of some of these advanced souls who were able to see the ideal of evolution ahead of the race, and by visualizing the same, and concentrating upon it in meditation, actually hastened the progress of the evolutionary wave, and caused to actually manifest that which they saw, and upon which they had meditated.
It is true that some occultists have used similar plans to further their own selfish personal ends—often without fully realizing just what power they were employing—but this merely illustrates the old fact that the forces of Nature may be used rightly and wrongly. And it is all the more reason why those who are desirous of advancing the race—of assisting in the evolution of the world—should make use of this mighty power in their work. Success is not reprehensible, notwithstanding the fact that many have interpreted and applied the word in such a matter as to make it appear as if it had no other meaning or application other than the crude, material selfish one generally attributed to it, by reason of its misuse. The Western world is playing its part in the evolution of the race, and its keynote is "Accomplishment." Those who have advanced so high that they are able to view the world of men, as one sees a valley from a mountain peak, recognize what this strenuous Western life means. They see mighty forces in operation—mighty principles being worked out by those who little dream of the ultimate significance of that which they are doing. Mighty things are before the Western world to-day—wonderful changes are going on—great things are in the womb of time, and the hour of birth draws near. The men and women in the Western world feel within them the mighty urge to "accomplish" something—to take an active part in the great drama of life. And they are right in giving full expression to this urge, and are doing well in using every legitimate means in the line of expression. And this idea of the Mental Attitude, or the Mental Image, is one of the greatest factors in this striving for Success.
In this lesson we do not purpose giving "Success Talks" for our students. These lessons are intended to fill another field, and there are many other channels of information along the lines named. What we wish to do is to point out to our students the meaning of all this strenuous striving of the age, in the Western world, and the leading principle employed therein. The great achievements of the material world are being accomplished by means of the Power of the Mind. Men are beginning to understand that "Thought manifests itself in Action," and that Thought attracts to itself the things, persons and circumstances in harmony with itself. The Power of Mind is becoming manifest in hundreds of ways. The power of Desire, backed by Faith and Will, is beginning to be recognized as one of the greatest of known dynamic forces. The life of the race is entering into a new and strange stage of development and evolution, and in the years to come MIND will be seen, more clearly and still more clearly, to be the great principle underlying the world of material things and happenings. That "All is Mind" is more than a dreamy, metaphysical utterance, is being recognized by the leaders in the world's thought.
As we have said, great changes are before the world and the race, and every year brings us nearer to the beginning of them. In fact, the beginning is already upon us. Let any thinker stop and reflect over the wonderful changes of the past six years—since the dawning of the Twentieth Century, and he will be dull indeed if he sees not the trend of affairs. We are entering into a new Great Cycle of the race, and the old is being prepared for being dropped off like an old worn out husk. Old conventions, ideals, customs, laws, ethics, and things sociological, economical, theological, philosophical, and metaphysical have been outgrown, and are about to be "shed" by the race. The great cauldron of human thought is bubbling away fiercely, and many things are rising to its surface. Like all great changes, the good will come only with much pain—all birth is with pain. The race feels the pain and perpetual unrest, but knows not what is the disease nor the remedy. Many false cases of diagnosis and prescription are even now noticeable, and will become still more in evidence as the years roll by. Many self-styled saviours of the race—prescribers for the pain of the soul and mind—will arise and fall. But out of it all will come that for which the race now waits.
The changes that are before us are as great as the changes in thought and life described in the late novel by H. G. Wells, entitled "In the Days of the Comet." In fact, Mr. Wells has indicated in that story some of the very changes that the advanced souls of the race have informed their students are before the race—the prophetic insight of the writer named seems marvelous, until one realizes that even that writer is being used as a part of the mental machinery of The Change itself. But the change will not come about by reason of the new gas caused by the brushing of the earth's surface by a passing comet. It will come from the unfolding of the race mind, the process being now under way. Are not the signs of mental unrest and discomfort becoming more and more apparent as the days go by? The pain is growing greater, and the race is beginning to fret and chafe, and moan. It knows not what it wants, but it knows that it feels pain and wants something to relieve that pain. The old things are beginning to totter and fall, and ideas rendered sacred by years of observance are being brushed aside with a startling display of irreverence. Under the surface of our civilization we may hear the straining and groaning of the ideas and principles that are striving to force their way out on to the plane of manifestation.
Men are running hither and thither crying for a leader and a savior. They are trying this thing, and that thing, but they find not that which they seek. They cry for Satisfaction, but it eludes them. And yet all this search and disappointment is part of the Great Change, and is preparing the race for That-which-must-Come. And yet the relief will not come from any Thing or Things. It will come from Within. Just as when, in Well's story, things righted themselves when the vapor of the comet had cleared men's minds, so will Things take their new places when the mind of the race becomes cleared by the new unfoldment that is even now under way. Men are beginning to feel each other's pains—they find themselves unsatisfied by the old rule of "every man for himself, and the devil take the hindmost"—it used to content the successful, but now it doesn't seem to be so satisfying. The man on top is becoming lonesome, and dissatisfied, and discontented—his success seems to appall him, in some mysterious manner. And the man underneath feels stirring within himself strange longings and desires, and dissatisfaction. And new frictions are arising, and new and startling ideas are being suddenly advanced, supported and opposed.
And the relations between people seem to be unsatisfactory. The old rules, laws, and bonds are proving irksome. New, strange, and wild thoughts are coming into the minds of people, which they dare not utter to their friends—and yet these same friends are finding similar ideas within themselves. And somehow, underneath it all is to be found a certain Honesty—yes, there is where the trouble seems to come, the world is tiring of hypocrisy and dishonesty in all human relations, and is crying aloud to be led back, someway, to Truth and Honesty in Thought and Action. But it does not see the way out! And it will not see the way out, until the race-mind unfolds still further. And the pain of the new unfoldment is stirring the race to its depths. From the deep recesses of the race-mind are rising to the surface old passions, relics from the cave-dweller days, and all sorts of ugly mental relics of the past. And they will continue to rise and show themselves until at last the bubbling pot will begin to quiet down, and then will come a new peace, and the best will come to the surface—the essence of all the experiences of the race.
To our students, we would say: During the struggle ahead of the race, play well your part, doing the best you can, living each day by itself, meeting each new phase of life with confidence and courage. Be not deluded by appearances, nor follow after strange prophets. Let the evolutionary processes work themselves out, and do you fall in with the wave without struggling, and without overmuch striving. The Law is working itself out well—of that be assured. Those who have entered into even a partial understanding and recognition of the One Life underlying, will find that they will be as the chosen people during the changes that are coming to the race. They have attained that which the race is reaching toward in pain and travail. And the force behind the Law will carry them along, for they will be the leaven that is to lighten the great mass of the race in the new dispensation. Not by deed, or by action, but by Thought, will these people leaven the mass. The Thought is even now at work, and all who read these words are playing a part in the work, although they may know it not. If the race could realize this truth of the One Life underlying, to-day, the Change would occur in a moment, but it will not come in that way. When this understanding gradually dawns upon the race—this new consciousness—then will Things take their proper places, and the Lion and the Lamb lie down together in peace.
We have thought it well to say these things in this the last lesson of this course. They are needed words—they will serve to point out the way to those who are able to read. "Watch and wait for the Silence that will follow the Storm."
In this series of lessons we have endeavored to give you a plain, practical presentation of some of the more important features of "Raja Yoga." But this phase of the subject, as important and interesting as it is, is not the highest phase of the great Yoga teachings. It is merely the preparation of the soil of the mind for what comes afterward. The phase called "Gnani Yoga"—the Yoga of Wisdom—is the highest of all the various phases of Yoga, although each of the lower steps is important in itself. We find ourselves approaching the phase of our work for which we have long wished. Those who have advised and directed this work have counseled us to deal with the less advanced and simpler phases, in order to prepare the minds of those who might be interested, so that they would be ready for the higher teachings. At times we have felt an impatience for the coming of the day when we would be able to teach the highest that has come to us. And now the time seems to have come. Following this course, we will begin a series of lessons in "GNANI YOGA"—the Yoga of Wisdom—in which we will pass on to our students the highest teachings regarding the Reality and its Manifestations—the One and the Many. The teachings that "All is Mind" will be explained in such a manner as to be understood by all who have followed us so far. We will be able to impart to you the higher truths about Spiritual Evolution, sometimes called "Reincarnation," as well as Spiritual Cause and Effect, often called "Karma." The highest truths about these important subjects are often obscured by popular misconceptions occasioned by partial teaching. We trust that you—our students—will wish to follow us still higher—higher than we have ventured so far, and we assure you that there is a Truth to be seen and known that is as much higher than the other phases upon which we have touched, as those phases have been higher than the current beliefs of the masses of the race. We trust that the Powers of Knowledge may guide and direct us that we may be able to convey our message so that it may be accepted and understood. We thank our students who have traveled thus far with us, and we assure them that their loving sympathy has ever been a help and an inspiration to us.
Peace be with you.