The Creative Use Of Imagination - CHAPTER 13 YOUR PERSONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY

CHAPTER 13 YOUR PERSONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY

CHAPTER 13 YOUR PERSONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

The Bible, the most wonderful book in the world and the most misunderstood, is your personal autobiography. It is not the recording of historical events as your teachers teach, and its writings were never intended to be interpreted as such. The persons recorded there never existed, and the events never happened on earth. The Bible is speaking of the heaven within and the earth without. 

Its story begins: "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Then the Spirit of God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light." The light spoken of here comes from heaven which is within you. The light which shines upon your earth is the light of your consciousness and shines from within you. 

The outer man (called the earth) is dark while the inner man (called heaven) is the being who was in the beginning with God and was God but is sound asleep. As your autobiography, the Bible tells how you are lifted up from your present level of being into a higher one. 

In the Old Testament, we find the Pentateuch (the first five Books, as the law of Moses). These books were written in 500 B.C., while the earliest date known for the New Testament is 170 A. D. The first known New Testament did not include the Epistles to the Hebrews or the Books of Peter and James. (It is James who speaks of the double- minded man, declaring that he can receive nothing from the Lord.) Then we had the Apocrypha which consisted of early Christian writings that were excluded from the Jewish and Protestant Old Testament. These writings give four biographical sketches of a principle, rather than a man. It took nine hundred years for the Bible to come into its present form. So when you read it, always bear in mind that it is speaking of the kingdom of heaven within you. It is telling of a revelation of an eternal principle called Christ, who is your hope of glory. All of the characters recorded in scripture are aspects of your mind which you will discover as you fulfill your destiny, which is to fulfill scripture within yourself. 

No man named Moses ever wrote any commandments on stones, rather the word "stone" means "literal truth." The literal minded man comes first and is given certain laws to live by, thus blocking psychological truth. As long as you see things on the outside as facts, your mind is blocked and you are unable to grasp their psychological meanings. But when you become thirsty for the truth and begin to apply the law, the spirit of God will move upon this psychological sea of understanding and your life will take that truth (water) and turn it into wine. In the state of Moses, God's true name is revealed to you. Take his name (your I AM) as your rod of understanding and hit the stone of literal truth with it, and psychological water will come forth. Drink it by putting my words into practice and you will convert the psychological water of truth I have given you into the wine of the spirit. 

Now, the clothing spoken of in scripture is that of the mind and not of the body. John the Baptist is described in the 3rd Chapter of Matthew as one called Elijah in 2nd Kings. It is said he wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather girdle around his waist. Hair and skin are the most external things a man possesses; therefore, John the Baptist represents the outer man who has not yet clothed himself internally. Jesus is the inner man. He wears the seamless g8rment woven from above, and those who wear his garment are always found in the king's house. 

The New Testament teaches a complete and radical transformation of self and calls it rebirth, but John the Baptist calls it repentance and urges us to change our thinking of the kingdom of heaven. It is said that he lived in the wilderness with the wild animals. Well, you are John, living in the wilderness when you have no direction of your own and allow your animal emotions to run wild. But when you begin to tame your animal instincts and call them into discipleship, strength will come to you from within and you will be baptized in the water of truth. 

Speaking in a parable, Matthew likens the kingdom of heaven to a sower who sows his seeds on different types of soil. The sower spoken of here is not a being external to yourself, for you are the sower and the seed. Your own wonderful human imagination is God, the sower who said, "Let us make man in our image," then fell asleep and annexed the brain of the outer man as the seed for his redemption. As Adam (or the red earth), man is thepsychological earth upon which the kingdom of heaven is planted. In the parable, we are told that when one hears the word but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away that which is sown in his heart. But he who hears with understanding, bears fruit and yields a hundredfold. 

Another parable is told comparing the kingdom of heaven to a man who, having sowed good seeds in his field, fell asleep and his enemy came and sowed weeds there. These weeds are false teachings, planted in the mind, false beliefs and concepts that can be bound and burned when you turn within to discover the truth and the kingdom of heaven to be yourself. 

In the 11th Chapter of Genesis, the story is told of how the tower of Babel is built with stone (literal truth) and bricks (manmade concepts). Before the building was erected, there was only one language and few words, but during the building, confusion reigned, and soon no one understood the language of the other. This tower exits today as the little mystical, occult groups of the world. You have no enemies save those of your own household. Making truth of false teachings, you believe that your security depends upon the money you have in the bank; or your health depends upon the pills you take; or your happiness depends upon another. In so doing, you build your own tower of Babel. But I say to you, your consciousness of being is the only reality of the state you are in, and all of the enemies of that state are within you. In his Beatitudes, Matthew tells you that your attitude of being is blessed when it is clothed in soft raiment, for when you wear the seamless garment of imagination, you are free to rise higher and higher into the garden of Eden within you. You are the gardener of your mind where you plant the seeds of your own selection. As the Man of Imagination, become conscious of being that which you have planted, and your harvest will be an hundredfold, for you always become what you behold. 

In his 16th Chapter, Matthew tells the story of the Pharisees and Sadducees who, unbelieving, ask for a sign from the heaven. Then we are told to take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Now, these are not men, but attitudes of mind. If you believe that you must live in the "right" neighborhood; that you must know the "right" people that your skin must be the "right" color; or that you must be in the "right" place at the "right" time, your attitude is one scripture calls a Pharisee. Beware of that kind of thinking, for the road to a higher level of self is always internal and never external. 

Mark tells us that the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant of fine pearls who finds a pearl of great price, sells all that he has, and buys it. As long as you hold onto one thought of something external to your own mind, you do not have enough money to buy the pearl of great price. You must be willing to sell all belief in anything outside of self. The road to the kingdom leads upwards and is always in an internal direction. You cannot travel this road wearing clothes made of skin and hair. You must be clothed in your wedding garment which is always woven from within. 

Again, we are told that the kingdom of heaven is like a net which is cast into the sea and gathers fish of every kind, be they good or bad. When it is brought ashore, the good are placed into vessels and the bad thrown away. Become discriminating. Select your thoughts carefully and throw away any unlovely and negative ones. Allow only that which is of good report to fill your mind and you will be the good fisherman. In this same 13th Chapter of Matthew, the question is asked, "Have you understood this?" It is my prayer that everyone of you will answer, as they did to him, and say, "Yes." 

Now it is said, "Do not put new wine into old wineskins, for the skins will burst and the wine be spilled, and the skins destroyed; but put new wine into fresh wineskins so both are preserved." Old thoughts, the traditions of men, the belief in power outside of self are the old wineskins which must be burst and allow the beliefs to be spilled and destroyed. New wine, gained by the fulfillment of God's promise within, must be put into your consciousness (fresh wineskins) so that both are preserved. 

Man does not evolve on the outside. There is only one presence; only one essence in man, called Christ and defined as God's power and your hope of glory. This power can be awakened if you, God's word, are not tarnished by the belief in a power outside of self. Awake! Give up all false beliefs and clothe yourself in the soft raiment of an internal attitude which implies the fulfillment of your dream. The Bible, from beginning to end, is the psychological story of your soul and tells you that the first thing you must do is change your thinking. I bring to you a new idea relative to the cause of the phenomena of life, telling you that you are not what you believe yourself to be, but possess possibilities of infinite inner growth. 

Your destination is always reached by an internal direction, which is the Be-attitudes. Be your attitude good, bad or indifferent, when you clothe yourself in an attitude, its fulfillment is not dependent upon anything external to you. But when you depend upon external laws to determine your attitude, you are on the level of Elijah and John the Baptist. Their teaching was wonderful, but it was stone, and the state was a violent one. John the Baptist cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. You must overcome his state by consciously turning within and disciplining your internal attitudes. This is your destiny. You are destined to awaken within yourself as you climb Jacob's ladder of states to higher and higher levels of your own being. The state of awareness you desire to express must be bought by selling all of your beliefs in any external power to help you. Once free from their encumbrance, you will move in faith into your desired state. 

In the Book of John, Jesus, as a teacher, makes this statement: "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God; believe also in me." Then he adds this thought: "It is expedient that I go, lest the comforter will not come." Here we see a teaching that is seemingly taught from without, but it is necessary for your belief in any external teacher to disappear for only then can the comforter within you be found. As your belief in yourself grows, your heart will find peace. 

There is only one cause, only one I AM. I, the trinity, in unthinkable origin, AM God the Father, and in creative expression AM the son, for imagination is born of consciousness. I, in universal interpretation; in infinite imminence; in eternal procession AM God, the Holy Spirit. The real definition of imminence is "sooner than now and nearer than here." I AM, therefore, the comforter. What could comfort you more than the knowledge that you don't have to wait for your dreams to come true? They are nearer than here and sooner than now. Let this knowledge be your comforter. If there was a limit to that which is contained in an infinite state, it would not be infinite. In the 23rd Chapter of Exodus, this statement is made: "You shall not steep a kid in its mother's milk." I tell you, you are doing this very thing when you keep your mind on a negative state. Turn your attention from want and lack (all negative states) and place it on fulfillment and abundance (positive states) and you will no longer simmer your desire in its mother's milk. 

The Creative Use Of Imagination - CHAPTER 12 YOUR DESTINY

CHAPTER 12 YOUR DESTINY

CHAPTER 12 YOUR DESTINY 

Love is the only true power, and your power is in proportion to your love. When scripture speaks of the violent taking the kingdom by storm, it is not referring to violent characters, but the power of love which gives the force necessary to rise to a higher level of awareness. 

There is no ultimate destiny for, understood psychologically, life is everlasting. It is the appeasement of a hunger whose main force is desire. Man rises on the springs of his desire, with every level of the vertical line of the cross within him so organized that it will lift him, through desire, to higher and higher levels of himself. 

I, like all true teachers, teach the art of overcoming the violence that characterizes mankind's present level of being. In many ways, we have advanced beyond our forefathers, but we have remained just as violent as they. It is my wish for you that you break your violent, negative nature. For if you will, you will rise in consciousness and find your destiny waiting for you. Every moment in time you are offered the chance to prove your ability to overcome violence. How? By assuming that consciousness is the only reality and that nothing has reality save the consciousness you have of it. In that assumption, you will find the sole cause of the phenomena of life. 

Your reactions to life define you, and as long as they remain as they are, your life will stay the same. Your world is but a projection of your state of awareness. Consciousness is the only substance and the only cause of the phenomena of life; therefore, it is impossible for change to occur until there is a change in consciousness. 

All that you consent to, be it good, bad or indifferent, is projected into your world through your "I" of awareness. If security is your aim, you must establish an awareness of security so strong that you can feel it and say within yourself, "I am secure." You are free to consent to violence and grievances or security and peace of mind. Whatever you consent to by becoming aware of will be yours. Your aim is always just above the state where you now stand. Throughout the day, ask yourself if you are conscious of your aim, and you will discover how near or how far you are from it. If you are not conscious of being secure at the moment, claim that you are. Persist, and maybe tomorrow as you observe your day, you will find the awareness growing stronger and stronger. 

Learn to stand alone by claiming, "I am what I am because I am conscious of being it." Stop looking at others and start observing your reactions to their behavior. Turn within and change your violent nature to one of love. Do that and you will ascend the ladder of life and reach your destiny. It is impossible to embody a new level of thought through the efforts of another. The rock upon which you must stand is consciousness. All other ground is sinking sand. 

It is the height of folly to expect the incarnation of a new concept to come out of the evolutionary process. The thing you are seeking must be incarnated before it can be made visible. There is a wide difference between knowing something mentally and knowing it spiritually. I can teach you the law of identical harvest. You can read how to apply the law through my books and mentally know the steps necessary to have wealth, but you will never know wealth, spiritually, until you consciously say within yourself, "I am wealthy." A man is sick because he is conscious of being so. Let the sick man say, "I am well," the hungry man say, "I am full" and the troubled man say, "I am at peace," and their right consciousness will produce that which they are conscious of being. If you want to know what love is, you must become loving, for you cannot know a thing until you are it. 

I am teaching the art of Being; the art of spiritually knowing a state. In the Book of Joel, we are told, "Let the weak man say, 'I am strong.'" This applies, not only to the physical body but to every facet of your being. Seek to know your desire spiritually, for only when the spirit feels the naturalness of the desire will it project itself in your outer world. Always remember, you will never experience what you refuse to affirm as true of yourself! 

Awake! Become ever more aware of what is taking place within you. Lift up your cross and, without turning to the left or the right to ask another, turn within and consciously claim your aim, then watch it harden into fact. 

If you do not apply my words, you remain right where you are, for you must be a doer in order to be blessed with your deeds. Desire is hidden identity, as you already are what you want to be. "Never would you have sought me had you not already found me." The level of being you seek can be found by changing your reactions to life to conform to the level you wish to express. It is not necessary to use pressure, pull strings or ask anyone to aid you. 

All you need do is change your attitude. After clearly defining your aim, sincerely observe your inner conversations and your reactions with regard to it. When your thoughts and reactions are disciplined, your "I" will lift you to your higher level and fulfill your aim. 

Your fellow man is not to be condemned, but awakened. This is done by awakening yourself. As you rise in consciousness, you take all men with you. Think of your wonderful human imagination as the vertical line of the cross, limitless, with time as the cross-section. You are free to ascend (or lift up) the cross, but you cannot rise until you deny your limitations. Christianity is a way of life. With your mental eyes wide open, adopt Christianity by becoming aware of what it is. 

If you do not like what you are encountering in life, rearrange your thoughts by changing your consciousness. Form the state you desire and occupy it in your mind. This is how you transform self. As you yield to the state desired, watch your world. It will transform itself into the ideal held in consciousness. 

Where you stand, the ground is holy, for you are the temple of the living God. Clear your mind of the trees of traditional thinking. Become pure in heart and you will see that consciousness is all and all is consciousness. You will discover that the state you are conscious of being is the state made manifest. No matter how reasoning justifies acts of violence, don't accept them. If you do, you contribute to the state and it is a state you do not want to experience. 

The story is told of Jesus entering the temple and ridding it of the money lenders saying, "My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves." This is not a material temple. You are the temple of the living God and the Bible is your biography. Thieves have taken over your house of prayer by placing false values there. Rid your mind of all beliefs of outside causes and reinstate the only true value of consciousness, the only true power of love. 

The Creative Use Of Imagination - CHAPTER 11 SELF-REMEMBERING

The Creative Use Of Imagination - CHAPTER 11 SELF-REMEMBERING

CHAPTER 11 SELF-REMEMBERING 

Do you have a goal in life? An aim for yourself? If you do, start now to lift yourself to its level by the act of self-remembering. Do not try to be a better man or woman, but transcend your present level of being by being better AT something. Your goal should be so important that you cannot forget it and your hunger for its externalization so intense that you cannot and will not let the thought go until it is embodied in flesh. 

Scripture tells us, "Many are called, but few are chosen." The word "chosen" means to separate; to choose; to decide." Every day, you are offered the opportunity to choose a new idea; to enter a new state from which to think and feel. Unnumbered emotions and thoughts are yours to call forth but, because of the aim with which you desire to be identified, only a few emotions and thoughts are chosen. Begin to rise within yourself by letting go of your former beliefs and restrictions. Choose the thoughts and emotions you desire to express and enter your desire through the act of feeling. 

In the 11th Chapter of Mark, two disciples were told to "Go into the village where you will find a colt tied at the crossroad upon which no one has sat. Loose him and bring him to me. If anyone says, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord has need of him.' Then he mounted the unbridled ass and rode into the city of Jerusalem." 

Now, the animal found at every crossroad is not a colt or ass but the individual's permanent, predominant emotion. Desiring to express a new emotion, you may find it difficult to ride. But you will always find your emotions tied at the crossroads of life. If you have never felt secure before, you may not be able to ride the animal emotion of security for more than a few seconds at a time. But the important thing is to try, for controlled imagination can ride any emotion into the city of Peace; the embodiment of the ideal state. 

An emotion is right or wrong relative to a desire. If you feel uneasy as you commit yourself to your desire, you are walking in the wrong direction and will never reach it. But if the feeling is natural (right) , and you persist in your assumption, it will become a fact. At times, even when your aim feels natural, you may allow doubts to creep in and move away from your goal. When this happens, don't condemn yourself, simply get back on that emotion and ride it again, for the beast is unbridled and must be ridden until you and it become one. Acknowledge the feeling of importance, of security, or of being dignified, within yourself, for your consciousness is reality. What you are conscious of being right now, you are. If you desire to be other than what you are remember, the state desired is just as real as the one you are conscious of now. Enter the new state by becoming conscious of being it. Persist! Find the feeling of the new state and ride it into Jerusalem. 

Scripture calls upon man to remember himself by associating himself with his aim and walking in its direction. Only as you discipline yourself can you embody your aim. In his 11th Chapter Mark makes this statement, "Whatever you desire, believe that you have received it and you will. And whenever you stand praying, forgive." How do you fulfill a desire and forgive another? By finding the quality you thought to be in another and removing it from yourself. Then place the feeling you desire to express in its place. When this has been done, you have risen right into the state of your answered prayer. 

Now, prayer is conditioned upon the belief that it is already answered. Desire is your springboard. Standing upon your desired state, you may discover that the board wobbles or the ground sways beneath your feet. But if you persist in being conscious of having attained your desire, even though your reason and outer senses deny it, what you are conscious of will become your reality. 

Tonight, form a lovely aim for yourself and feel its fulfillment. Associate yourself with that feeling by becoming conscious of it. Do that and you will bless and be blessed by God who is your very self. Say to yourself, "I and my Father are one." Your inner being is he who men call God. He is never so far off as even to be near, for He is your own wonderful human consciousness. 

All things, when admitted into your consciousness, are made manifest by its light, but something must be admitted first. If you are conscious of being beaten, the thought will manifest itself and you will be. Do you feel insecure? If you do, and persist in that mood you will sink into its slums, for everything manifested, is consciousness externalized. 

What thought dominates your mind right now? Regardless of what it is, you have consented to it, but you need not perpetuate it. The thought which enters the mind does not defile you. You may consent to any thought, be it one that defiles or blesses you when it goes forth. But every thought will be made manifest. The state where you presently reside was only a thought before you entered it, just as is the state you now desire, and it can just as easily be realized. Take the challenge. Formulate your aim and rise, in consciousness to its fulfillment. Think it is real and it is, for everything is possible to a thought. 

Self- remembering is remembering your aim so, in the course of a day you should ask yourself where you are psychologically. Your reality lives in a psychological country where you can walk in the mire, the valley, or the mountain tops. Choose this day the state you desire to enter. Feel its mood and acknowledge its fulfillment. Walk faithful to that assumption and, although your reason and your senses deny it, your persistence will cause it to become a fact. 

You, all imagination, are the sum total of your reactions to life. This is the only cause and explanation of the events you encounter. If you do not like your world, change your reaction to it. Life will become easier when you are brutally frank with yourself and acknowledge your reactions to that which was created by you and is being reflected to you. Resolve to react only in a positive manner. Positive thoughts produce positive effects. As you see your world differently, your consciousness changes, thereby changing future events. 

Your desire is always ready for incarnation. But as a desire alone it is incapable of birth. It must have human parentage. You are the human imagination scripture calls "Mary," as you are capable of conceiving an idea and giving it birth without the aid of any man. "Man" is called "the mold of God." Your I AMness is God the Father, and you, as Mary, conceive a desire of God. Locking your secret within yourself, walk faithful to your concept and you will bring forth its fruit. 

Everyone is the Mary of the Bible. Her names means "water; the psychological truths of the mysteries." Washing all literal concepts of the Bible from your mind, you are baptized and are born of water. Then, as you live faithful to your desire, you are the blessed Virgin, bearing that which is conceived by the Holy Ghost the holy desire. 

The Creative Use Of Imagination - CHAPTER 10 THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE

The Creative Use Of Imagination - CHAPTER 10 THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE

CHAPTER 10 THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE 

When you possess the mind of Christ, you are in possession of the p an of great price! That pearl is imminent. It is nearer than near and sooner than now, for the pearl of great price is your own wonderful human imagination. You have always possessed this mind but, like every possession, unless you know it is yours and are willing to use it, it is non-existent to you. Believe me, everything in your world was first conceived in your imagination. The house you live in, the car you drive, the clothes you wear, as well as your friends, your loved ones, your enemies and the strangers on the street were imagined before externalized. Now it is time to control your human imagination and govern it by love. I urge you to awaken to the discovery that everything you seek in time is contained within you. 

There is only one mind with unnumbered levels of awareness. Your level determines where you are and what you are, for what you think, you are. This mind is not something detached from you but your own lovely imagination, the body of the Father and the only redemptive power in the universe. It can save you from your present state or bind you to it. 

Christ is defined in scripture as the power of God and the wisdom of n you as your hope of glory. All things are made by this power without it is not anything made that is made, for Christ, who is your own wonderful human imagination, is yourself! Looking with the human eye, you see a world outside and seemingly independent of your perception. But when you view the world through the "I" of imagination, you understand its meaning. Turn within and test yourself and you will discover that you are your own savior. Then you will begin to assert the supremacy of your human imagination. You will cease to bow before the dictates of the world without and start to put your dreams into effect. 

A tamed man is one who is self-disciplined. Tame yourself by observing yourself. Are you wasting your strength in negative emotions? If so, then discipline yourself out of the muck and mire you have been living in and rise, with your disciples, into a state of joy and the body of love. Do this, and you will have found the pearl of great price. 

In this world, you appear to be a man (or woman) of flesh and blood. Your father, mother, sisters and brothers are known. But I tell you, you are far greater than the greatest man on earth, for you are Jesus Christ. 

Imaginative love is sleeping in your body of flesh. Awaken the love that you are by claiming that your mind is Christ. Claim your pearl of great price, for it is the key that will unlock the treasure house of heaven. With your mind as Christ, you will discover that you are no longer capable of thinking unlovely, negative thoughts and will have no desire to retaliate. 

The Bible is your biography, for you are Jesus, the great Jehovah of the Old Testament who finds fulfillment in the New. Using the mind of man, you are asleep. It is time to awaken, to cast off the mind of man who says, "I can," "I was," or "I will be," and assert your divine inheritance which is the mind of God who says, "I AM." Nothing is impossible to God, and nothing is impossible to you when you claim to be the mind of God. 

This world is like a machine where its actions and reactions are automatic. Separate yourself from this machine-like mind and use your wonderful human imagination to rise to higher and higher levels of your own being. If you do not like the events of your life, change them by controlling your imagination. When you know what you want, ask yourself where you would sleep if you had it. What would your world look like? Would a friend be happy for you? With the answers to your questions filling your mind, fall asleep in your desired place. View the world from that vantage point and hear your friend rejoice now that your desire is a physical fact. Then believe in Christ — the power to put all things under your subjection- and it will be done unto you. 

Remember, there is no such thing as a powerful fate to which you must bow, nor do you have to accept life on the basis of the world without. Turn to self. Claim your pearl of great price and remember: 

"What seems to be, is to those to whom It seems to be, and is productive of the most dreadful Consequences to those to whom it seems to be; Even of Torments, Despair and Eternal Death."

 for William Blake, in his poem Jerusalem, makes this promise: 

"...but Divine Mercy 

Steps beyond and redeems Man in the Body of Jesus." 

The Creative Use Of Imagination - CHAPTER 9 BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD

The Creative Use Of Imagination - CHAPTER 9 BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD

CHAPTER 9 BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD 

In the Book of Hebrews Paul tells us to "Rest in the Lord." Why? Because the man who rests in the Lord is transformed into the image in which he rests. If my aim is to be a good teacher and I rest in that feeling, I will be transformed into that image. 

Unfortunately, most of the states in which men rest are negative. Feeling insecure, you will rest in the conviction that the world owes you a living. Feeling hurt, it is easy to rest in that grievance until your mood becomes natural. You may condemn the state and believe others to be its cause but, through your feelings of being hurt, you will be transformed into the very image of the state you condemn. And if someone seems to cause you displeasure, remember, there is no other. The state in which you rest is causing you to listen to silent and invisible conversations. Although the words are heard by you and you alone, they act as magnets and draw to you the circumstances of your life. 

"Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." Every meeting I share with you the knowledge I have gained through personal experience, but I cannot make you put this knowledge into practice. As a teacher, I demand results. As a student, I urge you to test this truth, for if it is true it will prove itself in the testing. 

In the 25th Chapter of the Book of Matthew the parable is told of the servants who were given talents by their master. One was given five talents which he increased to ten. Another, two talents were given which were increased to four. And when the third received his one talent he buried it, thereby never allowing it to increase. When the master returned, he rejoiced at the increase he was shown by the first two. But he took from the one who had placed his talent in hiding and gave it to the one who had ten, saying, "To everyone who has, more will be given and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even that which he has will be taken away." 

This teaching is like the talents. Practiced daily, your power of awareness will grow. If you are a hearer only, your knowledge, not used, will soon wither away and atrophy. Test yourself every day. Leave the other fellow alone and turn to self, for the promise is, "According to your work will it be done unto " 

The man who overcomes himself, rises to a higher level of being. Uncritically observe your reactions to life, then work on yourself by practicing this psychologically. Only by working on self can you rise to a higher level. But you cannot do it with a negative emotion; it must be a positive one. We are told to "Lift up your eyes unto the hills from whence cometh your help." Negative thoughts cause downward emotions, while positive thoughts elevate. If you listen to your thoughts, stop their negative flow and change them so that you are hearing what you want to hear, you will feel a positive emotion of relief which is followed by a stillness that brings with it the knowledge that your prayer has been answered. 

Now, as the title of this lesson implies, we are urged to be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves. In the Book of James, a hearer is defined as like a man who observes his natural face in the mirror, then turns and forgets what he looks like; whereas the doer is one who looks into the perfect law of liberty, perseveres, and is blessed in all that he does. 

How do you go about looking into the mirror of the mind and being pleased with what you see? By looking into the face of your wife, husband, parent or friend. Close your eyes, relax and think of a friend who would rejoice in your good fortune. Tell him your good news and watch the expression of joy appear on his imagined face. His expression will liberate you, as his knowing has set you free to express your desire. Having looked into the perfect law of liberty, persevere and you will be blessed in the doing. 

In the Book of Matthew the law is stated thus: "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them, for this is the law of the prophets." Here we discover that the Bible is speaking of a man's psychology and not his physical form. The Bible records what you do within yourself, telling you that the conversations carried on internally are the breeding grounds of your future actions. Forever carrying on mental conversations with imaginary beings, become aware of your thoughts. Be selective and make your inner conversations positive, for the mechanical imagination is asleep and negative, while the awakened imagination is positive and noble. 

Tonight, single out someone you love and rearrange your opinion of him. Carry on mental conversations with him based upon this new premise and you are a doer of the word. If you don't, you are a hearer only, deceiving yourself. 

This teaching is to awaken you to the active, dynamic being that you really are. Asleep, your thoughts are negative and passive and cannot change until you uncritically observe your reactions to life If you are honest with yourself, you will find an internal being you are not proud of, a monster that needs taming. Tame that monster by filling your mind with positive thoughts of joy and fulfillment, and you will turn that monster into a being of love. 

Get into the habit of observing your reactions to life. Give yourself your daily bread by giving yourself the ability to no longer react negatively. Become a doer by recognizing a negative thought, then breaking it and going immediately to a positive one. All of your grievances, your hurts, self- pity and belief that others are the cause of your sorrow are animals which need to be sacrificed on the altar of consciousness. Letting all negative feelings go, select the mansion (state) you desire to enter and go in. 

The law which brings poverty into being also brings wealth. Let the weak man say, "I am strong," and the poor man say, "I am rich," for only that which you affirm within yourself can be outpictured. Feel yourself into the state of poverty, and poverty is outpictured. Feel yourself into the state of security by saying, "I am secure," and security will result. But if you do not feel yourself into the state desired, you will be forever free of its results, as that which requires a state of consciousness to produce its effect will never be effected without such change in consciousness. You must feel yourself right into the situation of your answered prayer, then live and act in that conviction. If you don't, you will never know the results of that state. 

Your fortune or misfortune was brought into being by your state of consciousness. There is no other cause. Have the courage to accept this and then become a doer and, in so doing be blessed in your every deed. Start now to become conscious of what you hear yourself say to yourself and stop receiving those impressions mechanically and unconsciously. What you hear must be filtered through what you are. And what you are is what you hear. Kind thoughts stem from kind ideas created by a kind person; therefore, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other. 

Now, an assumption is called the crown of the mysteries and every assumption is made by you alone. The world you see depends, not so much on what is there, as on the assumption you make when you look at it. The talent entrusted to you is your power of conscious assumption. Don't bury it! Asleep to this knowledge, your reactions to the day are mechanical, negating everything you see and hear. Awake! Become conscious of what you are doing and saying to yourself, and rise in consciousness by controlling your thoughts and making them positive, kind, loving and fulfilling ones! 

The Creative Use Of Imagination - CHAPTER 8 THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD

The Creative Use Of Imagination - CHAPTER 8 THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD

CHAPTER 8 THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD 

Understood psychologically, humanity is an infinite series of levels of awareness, and the individual is what he is according to where he is in the series. In the Book of Romans Paul urges us to: "Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is good and acceptable, the perfect will of God." In other words, do not look at the external world and call it reality, but break its spell by transforming your thinking. But you can't change your thinking until you change your ideas, for it is from ideas that you think. Remember, your level of awareness attracts life and is the sole cause of the phenomena you observe. 

To be aware is to do the will of God whose name is I AM. Always being aware, what you are aware of is what you are. "I AM (aware of) that (which) I AM." Think of an infinite scale of values as I AM, with your desired state just above where you now stand. God speaks to you through the language of desire. When you wish to ascend, it is because God is speaking, calling upon you to surrender yourself to the feeling of already being what you want to be. Let go of fear, limitation and doubt and subject yourself to the will of God. A mere assumption will lift you up to the level upon which your ideal is identified, and you will begin to see your world differently. This is where self-observation comes in. You do not observe the outer world, but your reactions to it. 

When another displeases or offends you, look within to the "I" who heard with displeasure and is expressing it. It is difficult to believe, I know, but you alone are the cause of your displeasure. A lady I know thought her employer was a monster and impossible to please. She had formed an opinion of him and that invisible and inaudible opinion spoke to her all day long, causing her boss to do what he did and say the words to cause her displeasure. Being a gracious lady and willing to change her feeling of "I", she heard her boss praise her and she thanked him for his praise. The moment she found herself returning to the old role of criticizing him, she stopped the thought and put on the new record of praise, thanks and congratulations. Within 24 hours, the new record externalized itself and, when she resigned a year later, her boss begged her to stay and told her that if she ever wanted to return, the door was always open to her. 

Your inward conversations are the breeding ground of all your future action. Morning, noon and night you are carrying on internal arguments. When you catch yourself, break the habit by consciously creating new thoughts; thereby making a new record to externalize itself in your future. 

God's will is I AM. His will is always being done, for it is the power which resurrects and makes alive. There is no transforming power in time, only transformation of the moment. If you are having difficulty with another, look into self, for it is the "I" called you who is speaking to you as a thought. Listen carefully to what you are saying to yourself and you will discover where the difficulty lies. 

Let me now define "self' or "soul." It is that which you believe, feel, think and consent to. You may consent to the belief that you have been mistreated; that you are dumb, or they, in their cruelty, are causing your displeasure. If you do, your consent forms your level of being and attracts your life, be it good, bad or indifferent. Your soul cannot be changed by joining churches, synagogues or groups. You must turn to self, the inner "I" you know so well, as it is he who attracts those who mistreat you and determines every little detail of your outer experience. 

If you have a secret affection for your conflicts, you cannot be helped. But, when you consent to be otherwise, then you can change. Subject yourself to the will of God by first knowing your ideal, then yielding to it by doing in your imagination what you would do physically if your desire were realized. Once this is clearly defined, repeat the act over and over again until you feel affected by it and its fulfillment possesses your mind. When the idea is so firmly entrenched and your thoughts flow freely from it watch, for you will have a change in your external world. 

Become pure in heart by purging your mind from the belief in powers outside of yourself. Then, believing that consciousness is the only reality, weave yourself into a new state of awareness. For your world is your house, your state of consciousness externalized. Clean house by observing your thoughts. When you first begin to do this, you will discover most of your thoughts are unlovely. But, as you learn to passively think of people you dislike, your thoughts will lose their unloveliness and, with a mind filled with joy and thanksgiving you will ascend Jacob's ladder of self into the kingdom of love. 

When you have carefully defined your desire, completely and utterly yield to it. Then try to remain faithful to the new idea you have entered. In the beginning you may not succeed, but don't condemn yourself. Simply return as many times as necessary until the feeling becomes so strong, your thoughts habitually flow from the new state. 

This teaching is not for the weak. It is not for those who seek escape from life or want to point their finger of blame at another. To find the Christ in you who is your hope of glory, you must be willing to test yourself. I tell you, he is your "I" who calls all men and manifestations to you. Life is easier when you can blame another but I urge you to pray, not for an easy life but to become a stronger man. The one who is bearing witness to your thoughts is the cause of your misfortune, not the other fellow. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind and you will prove the good and acceptable word of God. 

Would it be acceptable to you to be lifted on high? That is the will of God which will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of your mind. You are doing God's will when you identify yourself with your desire. And, if you believe your claim, you are righteous and your world will outpicture your righteousness. But if you do not believe you will miss your mark and die in your sins. 

The only escape from the life you now lead is by a radical psychological transformation of self. This is done by defining your "I" with your desire, then changing your thoughts until their effect possesses your mind and your "I" resides comfortably in the new state. Remember, your level of being attracts life, and unless the level changes your history remains the same. Let your present level die by subjecting your entire being to a level beyond it. Try it. It really is not difficult to do. 

Remove the hold that past wrong emotional reactions have upon you by reviewing the experiences and changing them. This is done by rewriting the experience in your mind and saying what you should have said and doing what you should have done at the time. Let this corrected picture slip back into the subconscious as you resolve not to make the same mistake again. By repetition of this technique, you will rid yourself of all feelings of hate, resentment and other emotional disturbances which cling to your memory. And, to the degree that you release yourself from these destructive feelings, you will free yourself from their power to attract ill health and wrong results for you. 

Relaxation of the body plus passivity of the mind and fixation of attention on the objective desire, equals fulfillment of the objective. Anxiety has no creative power. In this school of educative darkness, consciousness (whose origin is in eternity) provides the power for your experiences in time. So test yourself, for in this teaching there is no room for failure. 

The Creative Use Of Imagination - CHAPTER 7 RIGHTEOUSNESS

The Creative Use Of Imagination - CHAPTER 7 RIGHTEOUSNESS

CHAPTER 7 RIGHTEOUSNESS 

If you have an objective and fail to achieve it you have sinned, for you have fallen short of your desire. But if you have no desire, you are incapable of sinning. The righteous man, however, being conscious of already having fulfilled his objective, cannot sin. 

In the Book of Daniel we are told to "Break off your sin by righteousness." This has nothing to do with any church or ritual, for righteousness is right thinking. In the Book of Genesis the story is told of Jacob's desire to increase his wealth. Lifting his eyes in a dream he beheld the spotted lambs, the ring-striped goats and cattle. Then he said, "I will hold onto my righteousness and not let it go. So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come." 

Follow Jacob's example. Lift up your eyes with a controlled imagination and see what you want to see. Believe in your vision and your faith will make it solid and real in your manifested world. While sitting in your chair, you can assume the state of consciousness you desire to possess even though your reason and outer senses deny its reality. Then, as Jacob, you can say, "My righteousness shall answer for me in time to come." Jacob knew that he could not become perverse and turn from the new state but that if he maintained a consciousness of having what reason denied (including the law of genetics), he would achieve his goal. 

God the Father is not a man, but the dominant idea that you serve. The enemies of that idea are those of your own household — your own thinking. Hold a dominant idea in your consciousness and, in a way you do not know your righteousness (right thinking) will cause the desired state to externalize itself in your world. 

A Pharisee is one who conforms to all manmade laws; one who strictly observes the Levitical law of "outer purification." Now we are told, "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. But seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." 

True righteousness is consciousness. We confuse the word and seek righteousness as a thing, but the consciousness of being is the magnet that draws a thing to it. Permeate your consciousness with the feeling of being the man (or woman) you want to be and your righteousness will bring it about. 

You cannot inherit Christianity, rather you adopt it. As you come into its inner conviction, you become cleaner and more noble. Christ taught righteousness in his law of identical harvest saying, "As a man sows, so shall he reap." Taken psychologically, a state of consciousness sown within the mind, will be harvested without as external events. And, in like manner, as long as you remain sowing your present state of consciousness, you will continue to encounter similar events in your life. 

Walk, conscious of the feeling that your wish is fulfilled, and you will never sin by missing the experience of fulfillment. But you cannot turn away and return to your former state. We are all the prodigal son who went astray. But we are told that when he came to his senses he turned around and entered his Father's house, at which time he was given the fatted calf, the robe, and the ring. When you observe who you are in consciousness and come to your senses by turning to your Father (the state desired), it will be given unto you. 

Watch your reactions to life and you will discover where you stand psychologically. If your reactions are unlovely, you are walking in the mud and mire, feeding the swine. But when you turn within to the Father of all life and enter the state you desire by assuming its fulfillment, your actions will be lovely. Persist and you will move out of the mud and mire and enter the kingdom of the wish fulfilled. 

There is no such thing as righteous indignation, for the wrath of man cannot work righteousness. Nothing so unlovely as righteous indignation could be right consciousness! My goal is to be one who expands in consciousness, for I am a teacher and I must ever grow as a teacher. This is my aim and I must remember it morning, noon and night. I must persist in this state as it externalizes itself in my world. 

There is a story told of a little blind girl who had five brothers. The brothers, trusting their senses went out into the world and lost their way, while the little girl, unable to trust her senses wove a thread of gold. Attaching one end to her finger, she tied the other to the sun and never lost her way. You, too, can learn to trust the light of consciousness by holding onto the thread that is your aim and not allowing yourself to become enmeshed in the evidence of your senses. 

Remembering your desire, you will not get lost like the five brothers as you will not be concerned with what others are doing, but simply walk conscious of being the one you want to be. No power can keep you from your goal when you are conscious of already having attained it. 

You are told to, "Seek first the kingdom and its righteousness and all these things will be added unto you." The kingdom of heaven is within you. Turn within and you will find the power to produce what nature and your outer senses deny. Test yourself by controlling your thoughts, by seeing only what you want to see and hearing only that which contributes to the realization that your world is as you want it to be. 

If you will keep controlling your world in your imagination until the one sensation crowds out all other ideas, your right consciousness will answer for you and your dream will become your reality. But, if you don't feel fulfilled, you can easily be diverted and miss your mark. 

The Bible's teaching is one of rising higher and higher in consciousness until rebirth occurs. There is but one purpose in life, and that is to rise higher and higher on the vertical bar of the cross. 

Knowing the state you desire to express, walk as though you are now expressing it. "No man, having put his hand to the plow, looks back." In other words, once you have moved into the new state, do not look back at the old state or you will become as Lot's wife. She looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt which is a preservative. The moment you look back at your former state, you re-enter it, as all states exist, preserved in your imagination and ready for occupancy. 

The kingdom of heaven is a higher state of awareness; a step above where you now stand, and each higher level is reached by a change of attitude for the better. There is not a problem that cannot be resolved by a change of consciousness. And that which requires a state of awareness to produce its effect can never be effected without that state. It is the height of folly to expect security while being conscious of insecurity. On the other hand, you cannot be insecure if you walk conscious of being secure. 

You don't have to "pull strings" to get what you want, all you need do is walk in the consciousness of already having it. For an assumption, though false, if persisted in, will harden into fact. Don't try to be a better man but try to be better at something. Most metaphysical students have no aim, claiming God knows best. But, I ask you, how can this be when you and God, your Father, are one? 

Human nature wants the thing to come first with belief to follow. But I say, you must assume the consciousness of already having (or being) your desire before the sign that you have it can appear. Signs follow; they do not precede. Seek the conscious feeling of having already reached your goal, and the sign that you have achieved it will follow. You don't get things and then become righteous; righteousness is right seeing. Always claim the level above the one you are now on by dying to your present level, for your Father's house has many mansions. Let go of your present mansion and reach for the one you seek!