The Dore Lectures by Thomas Troward, Chapter One

The Dore Lectures by Thomas Troward, Chapter One

ENTERING INTO THE SPIRIT OF IT.

We all know the meaning of this phrase in our everyday life. The Spirit is that which gives life and movement to anything, in fact it is that which causes it to exist at all. The thought of the author, the impression of the painter, the feeling of the musician, is that without which their works could never have come into being, and so it is only as we enter into the IDEA which gives rise to the work, that we can derive all the enjoyment and benefit from it which it is able to bestow. If we cannot enter into the Spirit of it, the book, the picture, the music, are meaningless to us: to appreciate them we must share the mental attitude of their creator. This is a universal principle; if we do not enter into the Spirit of a thing, it is dead so far as we are concerned; but if we do enter into it we reproduce in ourselves the same quality of life which called that thing into existence.

Now if this is a general principle, why can we not carry it to a higher range of things? Why not to the highest point of all? May we not enter into the originating Spirit of Life itself, and so reproduce it in ourselves as a perennial spring of livingness? This, surely, is a question worthy of our careful consideration.

The spirit of a thing is that which is the source of its inherent movement, and therefore the question before us is, what is the nature of the primal moving power, which is at the back of the endless array of life which we see around us, our own life included? Science gives us ample ground for saying that it is not material, for science has now, at least theoretically, reduced all material things to a primary ether, universally distributed, whose innumerable particles are in absolute equilibrium; whence it follows on mathematical grounds alone that the initial movement which began to concentrate the world and all material substances out of the particles of the dispersed ether, could not have originated in the particles themselves. Thus by a necessary deduction from the conclusions of physical science, we are compelled to realize the presence of some immaterial power capable of separating off certain specific areas for the display of cosmic activity, and then building up a material universe with all its inhabitants by an orderly sequence of evolution, in which each stage lays the foundation for the development of the stage, which is to follow—in a word we find ourselves brought face to face with a power which exhibits on a stupendous scale, the faculties of selection and adaptation of means to ends, and thus distributes energy and life in accordance with a recognizable scheme of cosmic progression. It is therefore not only Life, but also Intelligence, and Life guided by Intelligence becomes Volition. It is this primary originating power which we mean when we speak of "The Spirit," and it is into this Spirit of the whole universe that we must enter if we would reproduce it as a spring of Original Life in ourselves.

Now in the case of the productions of artistic genius we know that we must enter into the movement of the creative mind of the artist, before we can realize the principle which gives rise to his work. We must learn to partake of the feeling, to find expression for which is the motive of his creative activity. May we not apply the same principle to the Greater Creative Mind with which we are seeking to deal? There is something in the work of the artist which is akin to that of original creation. His work, literary, musical, or graphic is original creation on a miniature scale, and in this it differs from that of the engineer, which is constructive, or that of the scientist which is analytical; for the artist in a sense creates something out of nothing, and therefore starts from the stand-point of simple feeling, and not from that of a pre-existing necessity. This, by the hypothesis of the case, is true also of the Parent Mind, for at the stage where the initial movement of creation takes place, there are no existing conditions to compel action in one direction more than another. Consequently the direction taken by the creative impulse is not dictated by outward circumstances, and the primary movement must therefore be entirely due to the action of the Original Mind upon itself; it is the reaching out of this Mind for realization of all that it feels itself to be.

The creative process thus in the first instance is purely a matter of feeling—exactly what we speak of as "motif" in a work of art.

Now it is this original feeling that we need to enter into, because it is the fons et origo of the whole chain of causation which subsequently follows. What then can this original feeling of the Spirit be? Since the Spirit is Life-in-itself, its feeling can only be for the fuller expression of Life—any other sort of feeling would be self-destructive and is therefore inconceivable. Then the full expression of Life implies Happiness, and Happiness implies Harmony, and Harmony implies Order, and Order implies Proportion, and Proportion implies Beauty; so that in recognizing the inherent tendency of the Spirit towards the production of Life, we can recognize a similar inherent tendency to the production of these other qualities also; and since the desire to bestow the greater fulness of joyous life can only be described as Love, we can sum up the whole of the feeling which is the original moving impulse in the Spirit as Love and Beauty—the Spirit finding expression through forms of beauty in centres of life, in harmonious reciprocal relation to itself. This is a generalized statement of the broad principle by which Spirit expands from the innermost to the outermost, in accordance with a Law of tendency inherent in itself.

It sees itself, as it were, reflected in various centres of life and energy, each with its appropriate form; but in the first instance these reflections can have no existence except within the originating Mind. They have their first beginning as mental images, so that in addition to the powers of Intelligence and Selection, we must also realize that of Imagination as belonging to the Divine Mind; and we must picture these powers as working from the initial motive of Love and Beauty.

Now this is the Spirit that we need to enter into, and the method of doing so is a perfectly logical one. It is the same method by which all scientific advance is made. It consists in first observing how a certain law works under the conditions spontaneously provided by nature, next in carefully considering what principle this spontaneous working indicates, and lastly deducing from this how the same principle would act under specially selected conditions, not spontaneously provided by nature.

The progress of shipbuilding affords a good example of what I mean. Formerly wood was employed instead of iron, because wood floats in water and iron sinks; yet now the navies of the world are built of iron; careful thought showed the law of floatation to be that anything could float which, bulk for bulk, is lighter than the mass of liquid displaced by it; and so we now make iron float by the very same law by which it sinks, because by the introduction of the PERSONAL factor, we provide conditions which do not occur spontaneously—according to the esoteric maxim that "Nature unaided fails." Now we want to apply the same process of specializing a generic Law to the first of all Laws, that of the generic life-giving tendency of Spirit itself. Without the element of INDIVIDUAL PERSONALITY the Spirit can only work cosmically by a GENERIC Law; but this law admits of far higher specialization, and this specialization can only be attained through the introduction of the personal factor. But to introduce this factor the individual must be fully aware of the PRINCIPLE which underlies the spontaneous or cosmic action of the law. Where, then, will he find this principle of Life? Certainly not by contemplating Death. In order to get a principle to work in the way we require it to, we must observe its action when it is working spontaneously in this particular direction. We must ask why it goes in the right direction as far as it does—and having learnt this we shall then be able to make it go further. The law of floatation was not discovered by contemplating the sinking of things, but by contemplating the floating of things which floated naturally, and then intelligently asking why they did so.

The knowledge of a principle is to be gained by the study of its affirmative action; when we understand THAT we are in a position to correct the negative conditions which tend to prevent that action.

Now Death is the absence of Life, and disease is the absence of health, so to enter into the Spirit of Life we require to contemplate it, where it is to be found, and not where it is not- -we are met with the old question, "Why seek ye the living among the dead?" This is why we start our studies by considering the cosmic creation, for it is there that we find the Life Spirit working through untold ages, not merely as deathless energy, but with a perpetual advance into higher degrees of Life. If we could only so enter into the Spirit as to make it personally IN OURSELVES what it evidently is in ITSELF, the magnum opus would be accomplished. This means realizing our life as drawn direct from the Originating Spirit; and if we now understand that the Thought or Imagination of the Spirit is the great reality of Being, and that all material facts are only correspondences, then it logically follows that what we have to do is to maintain our individual place in the Thought of the Parent Mind.

We have seen that the action of the Originating Mind must needs be GENERIC, that is according to types which include multitudes of individuals. This type is the reflection of the Creative Mind at the level of that particular GENIUS; and at the human level it is Man, not as associated with particular circumstances, but as existing in the absolute ideal.

In proportion then as we learn to dissociate our conception of ourselves from particular circumstances, and to rest upon our ABSOLUTE nature, as reflections of the Divine ideal, we, in our turn, reflect back into the Divine Imagination its original conception of itself as expressed in generic or typical Man, and so by a natural law of cause and effect, the individual who realizes this mental attitude enters permanently into the Spirit of Life, and it becomes a perennial fountain of Life springing up spontaneously within him.

He then finds himself to be as the Bible says, "the image and likeness of God." He has reached the level at which he affords a new starting point for the creative process, and the Spirit, finding a personal centre in him, begins its work de nova, having thus solved the great problem of how to enable the Universal to act directly upon the plane of the Particular.

It is in this sense, as affording the requisite centre for a new departure of the creative Spirit, that man is said to be a "microcosm," or universe in miniature; and this is also what is meant by the esoteric doctrine of the Octave, of which I may be able to speak more fully on some other occasion.

If the principles here stated are carefully considered, they will be found to throw light on much that would otherwise be obscure, and they will also afford the key to the succeeding essays.

The reader is therefore asked to think them out carefully for himself, and to note their connection with the subject of the next article.

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Chapter 1 of The Dore Lectures on Mental Science by Judge Thomas Troward is titled "Entering Into the Spirit of It."

In this opening lecture, Troward explores the idea that to truly understand or succeed in any endeavor, one must engage with it wholeheartedly—not just intellectually, but with a deep, intuitive alignment.

He describes “the spirit” as the animating force behind all things—the essence that gives life, movement, and meaning. Whether it’s art, science, or daily life, Troward argues that success and fulfillment come when we immerse ourselves in the spirit of what we’re doing, rather than approaching it mechanically or half-heartedly.

It’s a philosophical and metaphysical take on how our mindset and inner state shape our experience of the world. If you’re into the intersection of thought, intention, and reality, this chapter sets the tone for the rest of the lectures.

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Chapter One of The Dore Lectures by Thomas Troward is titled "Entering Into the Spirit of It", and it lays the philosophical foundation for the rest of the book. Here are the main takeaways:

1. To “enter into the spirit” of anything is to align with its essence: Whether it’s art, music, work, or life itself, Troward says we must engage with it wholeheartedly and with understanding to truly experience its power.
2. Spirit is the creative principle: He emphasizes that spirit is not something vague or mystical—it’s the intelligent, life-giving force behind all creation. When we align with it, we tap into its creative potential.
3. Mental attitude shapes experience: Troward insists that our thoughts and feelings are not passive—they actively shape our reality. A positive, expectant mindset invites greater harmony and success.
4. The divine is within us: He encourages readers to recognize their unity with the divine mind. This isn’t about religious dogma, but about realizing that the same creative intelligence that governs the universe also operates through us.
5. Faith and imagination are tools of creation: By believing in the unseen and imagining the ideal, we participate in the creative process. Troward sees this as a spiritual law, not just a hopeful idea.

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The Dore Lectures by Thomas Troward

The Dore Lectures by Thomas Troward

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FOREWORD.

The addresses contained in this volume were delivered by me at the Dore Gallery, Bond Street, London, on the Sundays of the first three months of the present year, and are now published at the kind request of many of my hearers, hence their title of "The Dore Lectures." A number of separate discourses on a variety of subjects necessarily labours under the disadvantage of want of continuity, and also under that of a liability to the frequent repetition of similar ideas and expressions, and the reader will, I trust, pardon these defects as inherent in the circumstances of the work. At the same time it will be found that, although not specially so designed, there is a certain progressive development of thought through the dozen lectures which compose this volume, the reason for which is that they all aim at expressing the same fundamental idea, namely that, though the laws of the universe can never be broken, they can be made to work under special conditions which will produce results that could not be produced under the conditions spontaneously provided by nature. This is a simple scientific principle and it shows us the place which is occupied by the personal factor, that, namely, of an intelligence which sees beyond the present limited manifestation of the Law into its real essence, and which thus constitutes the instrumentality by which the infinite possibilities of the Law can be evoked into forms of power, usefulness, and beauty.

The more perfect, therefore, the working of the personal factor, the greater will be the results developed from the Universal Law; and hence our lines of study should be two-fold—on the one hand the theoretical study of the action of Universal Law, and on the other the practical fitting of ourselves to make use of it; and if the present volume should assist any reader in this two-fold quest, it will have answered its purpose.

The different subjects have necessarily been treated very briefly, and the addresses can only be considered as suggestions for lines of thought which the reader will be able to work out for himself, and he must therefore not expect that careful elaboration of detail which I would gladly have bestowed had I been writing on one of these subjects exclusively. This little book must be taken only for what it is, the record of somewhat fragmentary talks with a very indulgent audience, to whom I gratefully dedicate the volume.

JUNE 5, 1909.

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The Dore Lectures by Thomas Troward is a collection of philosophical and metaphysical talks delivered in early 20th-century London at the Doré Gallery. These lectures explore mental science, spiritual law, and the creative power of thought, forming a cornerstone of the New Thought movement.

Troward believed that the universe operates according to immutable laws, but that human consciousness—when aligned with these laws—can shape reality. Each lecture builds on this idea, covering topics like:

• The Creative Power of Thought
• The Life of the Spirit
• The Great Affirmative
• Christ—the Fulfilling of the Law

His central message is that by understanding and harmonizing with universal principles, individuals can unlock greater personal power, purpose, and transformation.

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Thomas Troward’s The Dore Lectures is a series of twelve philosophical talks that explore the relationship between the individual mind and the universal creative principle. Here are the key themes that run through the collection:

• The Power of Thought: Troward emphasizes that thought is not just internal—it’s a creative force that shapes reality. By aligning our thinking with universal principles, we can influence outcomes in our lives.
• Individuality and the Universal Spirit: He explores how each person is a unique expression of the universal mind. Recognizing this connection empowers us to live more intentionally and creatively.
• Mental Science and Spiritual Law: The lectures blend metaphysical ideas with a scientific tone, suggesting that spiritual laws are as consistent and reliable as physical ones—and that we can learn to work with them consciously.
• Faith, Imagination, and Affirmation: Troward sees faith and imagination as tools for transformation. By affirming truth and visualizing the ideal, we participate in the divine creative process.
• Progressive Unfoldment: The lectures build on each other, moving from foundational ideas about spirit and individuality to deeper insights about divine law, biblical symbolism, and the fulfillment of spiritual potential.

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How To Get a Demonstration

How To Get a Demonstration

Here is one way of solving a problem by Scientific Prayer, or, as we say in metaphysics, of getting a demonstration.

Get by yourself, and be quiet for a few moments. This is very important. Do not strain to think rightly or to find the right thought, etc., but just be quiet. Remind yourself that the Bible says Be still , and know that 1 am God.

Then begin to think about God. Remind yourself of some of the things that you know about Him— that He is present everywhere, that He has all power, that He knows you and loves you and cares for you, and so forth. Read a few verses of the Bible, or a paragraph from any spiritual book that helps you.

During this stage it is important not to think about your problem, but to give your attention to God. In other words, do not try to solve your problem directly (which would be using will power) but rather become interested in thinking of the Nature of God.

Then claim the thing that you need— a healing, or some particular good which you lack. Claim it quietly and confidently, as you would ask for something to which you are entitled.

Then give thanks for the accomplished fact, as you would if somebody handed you a gift. Jesus said when you pray believe that you receive and you shall receive.

Do not discuss your treatment with anyone.

Try not to be tense or hurried. Tension and hurry delay the demonstration . You know that if you try to unlock a door hurriedly, the key is apt to stick, whereas, if you do it slowly, it seldom does. If the key sticks, the thing is to stop pressing, take your breath, and release it gently. To push hard with will power can only jam the lock completely. So it is with all mental working.

In quietness and confidence shall be your strength .

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Alter Your Life,

Emmet Fox

How to Maintain Peace

How to Maintain Peace

Is it not a wonderful thought that you, perhaps an undistinguished and unknown, everyday person, can sit quietly in your room and do more to save the world from the inconceivable horrors of another war than can all the statesmen and diplomats put together? Yet, such is the case.

Many people are speaking today as though another war were inevitable. Others, on the contrary, declare optimistically that such a thing is impossible. The actual fact is that another war is neither inevitable nor impossible. There can be another war (and if there is, the destructions and horrors entailed will eclipse anything dreamed of up to the present, owing to the extraordinary advance of natural science and engineering in the past two decades), and such an event would almost certainly be the end of Western Civilization as we have known it.

On the other hand, there is not the least necessity for another war. It could happen, but it is not necessary. There is at hand a means by which a comparatively small number of people, if they so desire, can prevent war from breaking out. In this essay I intend to show exactly how that can be done.

To understand intelligently the problem that we have to face, we need to inquire why war ever does break out. Most people suppose that a war occurs as the result of certain definite acts on the part of certain individuals. They think that National leaders in a position of authority decide to make war on a neighbor because they feel that they are strong enough to conquer him; or that they declare war in self-defense with the object of forestalling such an attack upon themselves. Or it may be that they are drawn into a war already in progress between their neighbors, in spite of all efforts to keep out. This is the common view of history; but it is, however, quite wrong. The fact is that the concrete acts of individuals, such as ultimatums, declarations of war, and so forth, are never in themselves causal, but are merely the results of wide and deep currents of thought and feeling already existing in the masses of the peoples concerned. War breaks out between two countries because, for a long time beforehand, the hearts of thousands of people on both sides of the frontier have been filled with hatred and fear, and sometimes also with greed, satanic pride, and the rest of the Seven Deadly Sins. The war itself, and all the horrors that go with it— the shooting and bayoneting, the maiming and gassing, the destruction of property, and so forth are but the aftermath or out-picturing on the physical plane of the evil passions which preceded it.

It is not possible for an act of violence to take place in the outer world of experience unless there is first a thought of violence (fear, hatred, etc.) in the inner world of thought. And it is equally true that it is not possible for thoughts of violence to hold sway in men’s souls without being sooner or later enacted in the outer.

It naturally follows from this that the scientific method for the prevention of war must lie in the changing of the mentality of the people; and there is no other way. But how is this mental change to be brought about? Can it be done by the educational efforts of books and pamphlets, the holding of peace meetings, the convening of international conferences, and so forth? Well, all these things are efforts in the right direction, of course, but it has to be admitted that their practical results are usually very meager and out of proportion to the expense and effort involved. We know that all recent wars were preceded by efforts of this kind, which, nevertheless, completely failed to prevent them. Nay, there is a very definite danger lurking among these good intentions, because many spiritually-minded people are lulled into a false sense of security by trusting in them.

There is, however, a method of preventing war which is both simple in its application and unfailing in its results. It costs absolutely nothing to apply, and it can be put into effect by anyone, anywhere, who is prepared to give a little time to it. That method is Scientific Prayer.

If even a comparatively small number of people will learn to pray scientifically, and will then devote even a few minutes daily to Scientific Prayer for universal peace there will never be another war. Of course, it goes without saying that there are more than enough men and women of good will in the world ready to do this, and the only problem is to teach them how.

Let me say here that I cannot too strongly emphasize the fact that it must be Scientific Prayer if it is to be of any practical use. Other methods of prayer, while excellent in their own time and place for other purposes, are of little practical use for the prevention of war. They will comfort the individual, purify and develop his soul, and arm him with fortitude to meet his troubles; but they will not prevent war. Only Scientific Prayer will do that and that it will do it is beyond any question. It is only necessary that enough people (and not a very large number numerically) should pray in the right way, and war will not come.

But what is Scientific Prayer? Scientific Prayer may be briefly described as the Practice of the Presence of God. In order to prevent war, you should devote at least five minutes a day to the realization of the Presence of God in all the peoples constituting the half dozen Great Powers. Do not work in this way for the whole of humanity, but only for the peoples of what are called the Great Powers, as it is desirable to concentrate the work where it is needed. War will not come unless some of the Great Powers become involved.

You may begin your prayer by reading a few verses of the Bible, or any spiritual book that appeals to you, or by repeating a favorite hymn or spiritual poem. Then declare that God is everywhere, and that all men, in Absolute Truth, are now spiritual and perfect, expressing only Love, and Wisdom, and Intelligence. That, in Reality there are no separate nations, because all men belong to the One Nation, the Divine Family. That there are no frontiers because God is One, and cannot be separated against Himself. That in Truth the only armaments are the forces of Love and Intelligence.

Then declare that God is fully present in every man, woman, and child in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States, and that they can only know and express Serene Peace, Divine Intelligence, and Divine Love. To do this is to concentrate the work where it is needed and will be effective. You may conclude by giving thanks to God for the glory of His Own Divine Perfection, which never can change. If you wish to go on longer, use one of the last half dozen Psalms, all of which deal with praise and thanksgiving.

Having finished your prayer or treatment, drop the subject out of your mind until next day. It will be seen that this prayer is exclusively concerned with a realization of good. On no account must you allow yourself to dwell upon the horrors of war, the danger of war, or the causes of war, or think about war under any pretext whatever during the treatment. In fact, the whole prayer or treatment in itself is nothing but an effort to get away in thought from the concept of war. To say something like this— “Please God, do not allow another terrible war to happen,” is to think of war, even though it sounds pious and edifying, and to think of a thing is to help to create or perpetuate that thing.

War must come as long as the thoughts that produce war remain in the human heart. A meditation or treatment of the scientific kind will have the effect of clearing that war thought out of the race mind, and then war will not come.

Understand clearly that you are not asked to maintain this uplifted state of mind all day long, but only for the few minutes that you are praying. Of course, you will, in a general way, avoid dwelling upon horrors at any time, for your own sake; but, provided you get right away from them during the period of prayer, you will have done all that is necessary to prevent war.

With regard to the length of time that should be devoted to this work each day, it may be said that mere length of time is unimportant; it is the degree of realization that counts. If you can get away in thought from the sense of limitation and war danger in two minutes, that will do. If it takes you half an hour to do so, you must give that. Do not keep on too long on any one day. Some people will make little progress for several weeks, and then gradually find it coming easy. The one thing that matters is to get away, even for a moment, from the sense of fear and danger. That will definitely and positively change the mentalities of the people in the countries concerned, and will prevent war.

Be faithful to this daily prayer. Unstable people usually start off such a plan by praying too long for several days, and then, having grown tired of it, drop it altogether. One is praying too long when he gets a sense of burden and fatigue. Five minutes a day will do for most people. Remember that the joy of the Lord is your strength. This practice will bring a great blessing into your own life.

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Meditation for Peace

God is the only real presence and the only real power. God is fully present at every point of existence. God works through man, who is part of the Divine Expression. God works through all men indiscriminately, and in His sight there are no distinctions of nationality or party, and no frontiers. Therefore there can be no strife. With One God there can be only one plan, God’s perfect plan, and all men are part of that; so each has his own place in the Divine Scheme, and there can be no competition or strife. God is all in all, and in Him all men live and move and have their being in perfect harmony and Love.

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Alter Your Life,

Emmet Fox

Alter Your Life

Alter Your Life

There is no need to be unhappy. There is no need to be sad. There is no need to be disappointed, or oppressed, or aggrieved. There is no need for illness or failure or discouragement. There is no necessity for anything but success, good health, prosperity, and an abounding interest and joy in life.

That the lives of many people are full of dreary things is unfortunately only too true; but there is no necessity for them to be there. They are there only because their victims suppose them to be inevitable, not because they are so. As long as you accept a negative condition at its own valuation, so long will you remain in bondage to it; but you have only to assert your birthright as a free man or woman and you will be free.

Success and happiness are the natural condition of humankind. It is actually easier for us to demonstrate these things than the reverse. Bad habits of thinking and acting may obscure this fact for a time, just as a wrong way of walking or sitting, or holding a pen or a musical instrument may seem to be easier than the proper way, because we have accustomed ourselves to it; but the proper way is the easier nevertheless.

Unhappiness, frustration, poverty, loneliness are really bad habits that their victims have become accustomed to bear with more or less fortitude, believing that there is no way out, whereas there is a way; and that way is simply to acquire good habits of mind instead of bad ones--habits of working with the Law instead of against it.

You should never "put up" with anything. You should never be willing to accept less than Health, Harmony, and Happiness. These things are your Divine Right as the sons and daughters of God, and it is only a bad habit, unconscious, as a rule, that causes you to be satisfied with less. In the depths of our being people always feel intuitively that there is a way out of our difficulties if only we can find it, and our natural instincts all point in the same direction.

The infant, as yet uncontaminated by the defeatist suggestions of his or her elders, simply refuses to tolerate inharmony [lack of harmony] on any terms, and therefore demonstrates over it. When the infant is hungry he or she tells the world with a confident insistence that commands attention, while many sophisticated adults go without. Does the infant find a pin sticking in some part of his or her anatomy? Not for him or her a sigh of resignation to the supposed "will of God" (it is really blasphemy to say that evil or suffering could ever be the will of God, All Good), or a whine about never having any luck, or a sigh that what cannot be cured must be endured. No, the defeatist view of life has not yet touched the babies; their instincts tell them that life and harmony are inseparable. And sure enough, that pin is located and removed even if everything else has to come to a stop until it is done.

But "shades of the prison-house begin to close about the growing boy," and by the time the child is old enough to think rationally, the Race habit will have trained the child to use reason largely in the inverted way.

Refuse to tolerate anything less than harmony. You can have prosperity no matter what your present circumstances may be. You can have health and physical fitness. You can have a happy and joyous life. You can have a good home of your own. You can have congenial friends and comrades. You can have a full, free, joyous life, independent and untrammeled. You can become your own master or your own mistress. But to do this you must definitely seize the rudder of your own destiny and steer boldly and firmly for the port that you intend to make.

What are you doing about your future? Are you content to let things just drift along as they are, hoping, like Mr. Micawber, for something to "turn up"? If you are, be assured that there is no escape in that way. Nothing ever will turn up unless you exercise your Free Will and go out and turn it up for yourself by becoming acquainted with the Laws of Life, and applying them to your own individual conditions. That is the only way. Otherwise the years will pass all too swiftly, leaving you just where you are now, if not worse off, for there is no limit to the result of thought either for good or evil.

People have dominion over all things when they know the Law of Being, and obey it. The Law gives you power to bring any condition into your life that is not harmful. The Law gives you power to overcome your own weaknesses and faults of character, no matter how often you may have failed in the past or how tenacious they may have seemed to be. The Law gives you power to attain prosperity and position without infringing the rights and opportunities of anyone else in the world. The Law gives you Freedom; freedom of soul, and body, and environment.

The law gives you Independence so that you can build your own life in your own way, in accordance with your own ideas and ideals; and plan out your future along the lines that you yourself desire. If you do not know what you really want to make you happy, then the Law will tell you what you want, and get it for you, too. And the Law rightly understood and applied will save you from the danger of what is called "outlining" with all its risks and limitations.

The Law will endow you with the gift of what is called Originality; Originality is the doing of things in a new way which is a better way, and different from anyone else's way, and different from anyone else's way; and Originality, as distinct from its counterfeits which are eccentricity and mere posing, means success in you work.

The Law will give you authority over the past as well as the future. The Law will make you master of Karma instead of its slave.

"Oh, how I love thy Law"

You need not be shabby and restricted. You need not go on living or working with people you dislike. You need not be ailing or tired or overworked, if you will study the Law and apply it.

Do not 'put off' your study of the Law any longer. Procrastination, we are told is the thief of time; and another proverb says still more emphatically that Hell itself is paved, not with evil intentions, but with good ones.

It is the postponer that the Law says, Thou shalt hear the Never Never whispered by the phantom years, but the path of the Wise (the righteous or Right Thinker) shineth more and more unto the Perfect Day.

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Take stock of your life this very day. Sit down quietly by yourself with a pencil and paper, and write down the three things that you most wish for in life. Be quite frank about this. Wright down the things you really wish for, not things that you think you ought to wish for. Be specific, not vague. Then wright down underneath three things or conditions that you wish to remove from your life. Again, be definite and specific, not vague.

If you do this candidly, you now have an extremely valuable analysis of your own mentality. In course of time this will tell you a great many things about yourself which you do not at present suspect, things far beyond the range of the actual six points themselves and as your knowledge of spiritual Truth increases, you will be able to handle the new knowledge about yourself in a surprising way.

Now having got your six points in front  of you, work on each one separately for a few minutes with all the spiritual and metaphysical knowledge that you possess. Remember, it is not really important how much of this knowledge you have so long as you make use of all that you do have. It is a spiritual law that to use 90 percent of a small amount of knowledge is more practically effective than to use say 50 percent of a large amount. Repeat this treatment every day for a month, without missing a single day, and by the end of that time it will be very unusual if a really striking change for the better has not manifested itself in your conditions.

For those unfamiliar with spiritual treatment, a simple but quite effective method of working is this: Claim gently but definitely that the Great Creative Life Force of the Universe is bringing each of the first three things into your life in Its own way, in Its own time, and in Its own form. 

Then claim that the same Great Power is dissolving each of the latter three, also in Its own way. Do not try to dictate the exact form in which the new conditions shall come about. Do not be tense or vehement. Do not let anyone else know that you are doing this. Do not look impatiently every day for results, but make your treatment, and forget about it until the next day. And in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.

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Alter Your Life,

Emmet Fox

The Strangest Secret Article by: Earl Nightingale

The Strangest Secret Article by: Earl Nightingale

Transcribed from The Strangest Secret audio program by Earl Nightingale

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Some years ago, the late Nobel prize-winning Dr. Albert Schweitzer was asked by a reporter, “Doctor, what’s wrong with men today?” The great doctor was silent a moment, and then he said, “Men simply don’t think!”

It’s about this that I want to talk with you. We live today in a golden age. This is an era that humanity has looked forward to, dreamed of, and worked toward for thousands of years. We live in the richest era that ever existed on the face of the earth … a land of abundant opportunity for everyone.

However, if you take 100 individuals who start even at the age of 25, do you have any idea what will happen to those men and women by the time they’re 65? These 100 people believe they’re going to be successful. They are eager toward life, there is a certain sparkle in their eye, an erectness to their carriage, and life seems like a pretty interesting adventure to them.

But by the time they’re 65, only one will be rich, four will be financially independent, five will still be working, and 54 will be broke and depending on others for life’s necessities.

Only five out of 100 make the grade! Why do so many fail? What has happened to the sparkle that was there when they were 25? What has become of the dreams, the hopes, the plans … and why is there such a large disparity between what these people intended to do and what they actually accomplished?

THE DEFINITION OF SUCCESS

First, we have to define success and here is the best definition I’ve ever been able to find: “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.”

A success is the school teacher who is teaching because that’s what he or she wants to do. A success is the entrepreneur who start his own company because that was his dream and that’s what he wanted to do. A success is the salesperson who wants to become the best salesperson in his or her company and sets forth on the pursuit of that goal.

A success is anyone who is realizing a worthy predetermined ideal, because that’s what he or she decided to do … deliberately. But only one out of 20 does that! The rest are “failures.”

Rollo May, the distinguished psychiatrist, wrote a wonderful book called Man’s Search for Himself, and in this book he says: “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice … it is conformity.” And there you have the reason for so many failures. Conformity and people acting like everyone else, without knowing why or where they are going.

We learn to read by the time we’re seven. We learn to make a living by the time we’re 30. Often by that time we’re not only making a living, we’re supporting a family. And yet by the time we’re 65, we haven’t learned how to become financially independent in the richest land that has ever been known. Why? We conform! Most of us are acting like the wrong percentage group and the 95 who don’t succeed.

GOALS

Have you ever wondered why so many people work so hard and honestly without ever achieving anything in particular, and why others don’t seem to work hard, yet seem to get everything? They seem to have the “magic touch.” You’ve heard people say, “Everything he touches turns to gold.” Have you ever noticed that a person who becomes successful tends to continue to become more successful? And, on the other hand, have you noticed how someone who’s a failure tends to continue to fail?

The difference is goals. People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going. It’s that simple. Failures, on the other hand, believe that their lives are shaped by circumstances … by things that happen to them … by exterior forces.

That’s why it’s so easy to make a living today. It takes no particular brains or talent to make a living and support a family today. We have a plateau of so-called “security.” So, to succeed, all we must do is decide how high above this plateau we want to aim.

Throughout history, the great wise men and teachers, philosophers, and prophets have disagreed with one another on many different things. It is only on this one point that they are in complete and unanimous agreement and the key to success and the key to failure is this:

WE BECOME WHAT WE THINK ABOUT

This is The Strangest Secret! Now, why do I say it’s strange, and why do I call it a secret? Actually, it isn’t a secret at all. It was first promulgated by some of the earliest wise men, and it appears again and again throughout the Bible. But very few people have learned it or understand it. That’s why it’s strange, and why for some equally strange reason it virtually remains a secret.

Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman Emperor, said: “A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it.”

Disraeli said this: “Everything comes if a man will only wait … a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and nothing can resist a will that will stake even existence for its fulfillment.”

William James said: “We need only in cold blood act as if the thing in question were real, and it will become infallibly real by growing into such a connection with our life that it will become real. It will become so knit with habit and emotion that our interests in it will be those which characterize belief.” He continues, ” … only you must, then, really wish these things, and wish them exclusively, and not wish at the same time a hundred other incompatible things just as strongly.”

My old friend Dr. Norman Vincent Peale put it this way: “If you think in negative terms, you will get negative results. If you think in positive terms, you will achieve positive results.” George Bernard Shaw said: “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.”

Well, it’s pretty apparent, isn’t it? We become what we think about. A person who is thinking about a concrete and worthwhile goal is going to reach it, because that’s what he’s thinking about. Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn’t know where he’s going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety, fear, and worry will thereby create a life of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing … he becomes nothing.

AS YE SOW and SO SHALL YE REAP

The problem is that our mind comes as standard equipment at birth. It’s free. And things that are given to us for nothing, we place little value on. Things that we pay money for, we value.

The paradox is that exactly the reverse is true. Everything that’s really worthwhile in life came to us free and our minds, our souls, our bodies, our hopes, our dreams, our ambitions, our intelligence, our love of family and children and friends and country. All these priceless possessions are free.

But the things that cost us money are actually very cheap and can be replaced at any time. A good man can be completely wiped out and make another fortune. He can do that several times. Even if our home burns down, we can rebuild it. But the things we got for nothing, we can never replace.

Our mind can do any kind of job we assign to it, but generally speaking, we use it for little jobs instead of big ones. So decide now. What is it you want? Plant your goal in your mind. It’s the most important decision you’ll ever make in your entire life.

Do you want to excel at your particular job? Do you want to go places in your company … in your community? Do you want to get rich? All you have got to do is plant that seed in your mind, care for it, work steadily toward your goal, and it will become a reality.

It not only will, there’s no way that it cannot. You see, that’s a law and like the laws of Sir Isaac Newton, the laws of gravity. If you get on top of a building and jump off, you’ll always go down and you’ll never go up.

And it’s the same with all the other laws of nature. They always work. They’re inflexible. Think about your goal in a relaxed, positive way. Picture yourself in your mind’s eye as having already achieved this goal. See yourself doing the things you will be doing when you have reached your goal.

Every one of us is the sum total of our own thoughts. We are where we are because that’s exactly where we really want or feel we deserve to be and whether we’ll admit that or not. Each of us must live off the fruit of our thoughts in the future, because what you think today and tomorrow and next month and next year and will mold your life and determine your future. You’re guided by your mind.

Do what the experts since the dawn of recorded history have told us to do: pay the price, by becoming the person you want to become. It’s not nearly as difficult as living unsuccessfully.

The moment you decide on a goal to work toward, you’re immediately a successful person and you are then in that rare group of people who know where they’re going. Out of every hundred people, you belong to the top five. Don’t concern yourself too much with how you are going to achieve your goal and leave that completely to a power greater than yourself. All you have to do is know where you’re going. The answers will come to you of their own accord, and at the right time.

Start today. You have nothing to lose and but you have your whole life to win.

30-DAYACTION IDEAS FOR PUTTING THE STRANGEST SECRET TO WORK FOR YOU

For the next 30-days follow each of these steps every day until you have achieved your goal.

1. Write on a card what it is you want more that anything else. It may be more money. Perhaps you’d like to double your income or make a specific amount of money. It may be a beautiful home. It may be success at your job. It may be a particular position in life. It could be a more harmonious family.

Write down on your card specifically what it is you want. Make sure it’s a single goal and clearly defined. You needn’t show it to anyone, but carry it with you so that you can look at it several times a day. Think about it in a cheerful, relaxed, positive way each morning when you get up, and immediately you have something to work for and something to get out of bed for, something to live for.

Look at it every chance you get during the day and just before going to bed at night. As you look at it, remember that you must become what you think about, and since you’re thinking about your goal, you realize that soon it will be yours. In fact, it’s really yours the moment you write it down and begin to think about it.

2. Stop thinking about what it is you fear. Each time a fearful or negative thought comes into your mind, replace it with a mental picture of your positive and worthwhile goal. And there will come a time when you’ll feel like giving up. It’s easier for a human being to think negatively than positively. That’s why only five percent are successful! You must begin now to place yourself in that group.

“Act as though it were impossible to fail,” as Dorothea Brande said. No matter what your goal and if you’ve kept your goal before you every day and you’ll wonder and marvel at this new life you’ve found.

3. Your success will always be measured by the quality and quantity of service you render. Most people will tell you that they want to make money, without understanding this law. The only people who make money work in a mint. The rest of us must earn money. This is what causes those who keep looking for something for nothing, or a free ride, to fail in life. Success is not the result of making money; earning money is the result of success and and success is in direct proportion to our service.

Most people have this law backwards. It’s like the man who stands in front of the stove and says to it: “Give me heat and then I’ll add the wood.” How many men and women do you know, or do you suppose there are today, who take the same attitude toward life? There are millions.

We’ve got to put the fuel in before we can expect heat. Likewise, we’ve got to be of service first before we can expect money. Don’t concern yourself with the money. Be of service … build … work … dream … create! Do this and you’ll find there is no limit to the prosperity and abundance that will come to you.

Don’t start your test until you’ve made up your mind to stick with it. If you should fail during your first 30 days and by that I mean suddenly find yourself overwhelmed by negative thoughts and simply start over again from that point and go 30 more days. Gradually, your new habit will form, until you find yourself one of that wonderful minority to whom virtually nothing is impossible.

Above all … don’t worry! Worry brings fear, and fear is crippling. The only thing that can cause you to worry during your test is trying to do it all yourself. Know that all you have to do is hold your goal before you; everything else will take care of itself.

Take this 30-day test, then repeat it … then repeat it again. Each time it will become more a part of you until you’ll wonder how you could have ever have lived any other way. Live this new way and the floodgates of abundance will open and pour over you more riches than you may have dreamed existed. Money? Yes, lots of it. But what’s more important, you’ll have peace … you’ll be in that wonderful minority who lead calm, cheerful, successful lives.

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Earl Nightingale

Source

https://www.nightingale.com/articles/the-strangest-secret/

Mind and Speech

Mind and Speech

The whole manifested world goes to show us what use we have made of God’s gift. Receiving a gift does not mean that we are going to use it wisely, but we have the gift. Everyone has the gift; and the world simply reflects the use of that gift.

So you and I have been given a gift. To what use have we put it? In a book written in the First Century, written at the time of our Gospel, — it’s called the Hermetica, and this is a translation by Walter Scott.

It is a wonderful series of four volumes; and in this he says: “There are two gifts that God has given to man alone, and to no other mortal creature, and these two gifts are Mind and Speech. And the gifts of Mind and Speech are essential and identical with Immortality. If they are used rightly, man will not differ in any respect from the immortals; and when he quits the body, these two will be his guides and they will lead him into the troop of the gods and. to the souls that have attained to bliss.”

Now he is not speaking of any outer speech, for you and I have had this experience, — I know I have many times. You have gone to a party, and many people you do not know, you meet them and the usual greetings: “Nice to know you,” “What a joy to know you,” “Pleased to meet you,” and the usual clichés; and then you have drinks and your little hors d’oeuvre, and then the party breaks up and they all separate. And you hear someone say, “What a creep,” “What a bore”; yet they were so pleased to meet them: “What a joy to know you.” The outer words did not conform whatsoever with what they were really thinking on the inside. And God sees, not the outer man; He sees the inner Man.

It’s the inner speech that is frozen in the world round about us. This whole vast world is but “frozen” inner speech. What are we saying on the inside?

If one could only control these inner conversations morning, noon and night, and carry them right into the dream world, he would know what world he is creating. Stop for one moment and ask yourself, what am I thinking now? You are carrying on a little tiny inner speech at every moment of time. You may be in the presence of someone that the world thinks important, but you don’t, and inwardly you are saying, “But only God hears it.” That’s what you are actually saying. Outwardly you are pleased to meet him, and you are flattered with the contact; but inwardly, what are you saying?

This is what I ask everyone to observe. Observe what you are actually doing on the inside, for that is what God sees; and what you are doing on the inside, you are doing in little tiny speech movements, and they are crystallizing in the manifested world round about you. We all would be everything we want to be in this world. But we find it more difficult to do it than to know what to do. So I could tell you from now until the ends of time, but only practice will do it — just practice.

So you read something, and actually inwardly you are repeating the words. Well now, the whole thing is in your imagination. That is all it was in him, only his imagination. That was God’s gift.  It is translated in the Hermetica as “Mind.” “And God has given to man, and to man alone, two gifts, and to no other mortal creature. The gifts are Mind and Speech; and these are like the gifts of Immortality, and by these gifts he does not differ in any respect from the Immortals. If he uses them wisely,” — the whole world is his. Are we not told that: “The world was created by the Word of God;” and “things that are seen were made out of things that are not seen?”

So here, out of the nowhere, we create by inner speech through the use of what? Call it “mind” if you will. I like the word “imagination.” To me, it inflames me. When I imagine a state — any state, if I can only persuade myself of the reality of the state imagined, that’s the important thing; to believe in the reality of the state imagined. But to know what to do is not the same as doing it

Let me now make it quite clear: You have the gift. You can speak. Even if you were dumb, you can still speak — inwardly you speak, and you form these little speech movements within yourself. Make them conform to your wish fulfilled.

Whether you be a Frenchman or an American or any other nationality, you have speech and you have a mind. Instead of accepting what you have already done with that gift, you simply ignore it. You brought it into being. All this is solidified speech — the whole vast manifested world.

I would say to them, “Do you not know what you are doing to yourself?” “Yes, but just give me one little moment because I am so enjoying the feeling of getting even with them.” You “get even” with no one. There is no one else in the world. As you are told: “I am the Lord, and beside Me there is no god.” Read it in the 45th chapter of the Book of Isaiah, “I am the Lord, and beside Me there is no god.” “Now you want the Word?” He said, “The Word is very near unto you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, that you can do it. See, I set before you this day life and good, blessings and curses, death and evil. Choose life, that you and your descendants may live.”

The whole thing is before you. You can choose death if you want it, because the Word is on your tongue, it is in your mouth, it is in your heart. And you can do it now. You don’t have to ask who will go up to Heaven and bring it down for me, or go into the depths and bring it up for me. It is now nearer than you know; in your mouth and in your heart, that you can do it now. Well what would you do now? What sentence would imply that you are now what you would like to be?

You know what to do. And I say, it’s not knowing what to do; it is the doing it. Someone got the most marvelous revelation. I was there the morning that it happened. “Stop spending your thoughts, your time and your money. Everything in life must be an investment,” And I so loved it, I incorporated that thought in the chapter, “The Coin of Heaven,” in my book, “Awakened Imagination.” She would be the first to confess, although it came through her, and it was her revelation from God to her, — shared with me, and I shared it through the written form with those who read it in the book, — but she is the first to confess she never applied it.

So I ask you to really apply it. Don’t think for one second that knowing what to do is going to do anything for you. It’s the doing it that matters. So, if every moment of time you know what to do, then do it. If you find yourself carrying on any negative conversation, break it, even though it gives you pleasure, as it does many people; they find such fun in being critical. They think they are alone and no one sees them; so it doesn’t matter. No one sees you? The only One that matters sees you every moment of time, and that’s your Father. He sees into the very depths of your Being, and He knows exactly what you are doing. And your world is built out of these inner conversations.

So, today if you are not satisfied with the world in which you live, blame no one, but turn within to these two gifts and use them wisely, for here we are told to order our life according to our conversations. Then in Ephesians we are told, — it’s the 4th chapter: “Put off the old nature which belongs to the former conversations, and put on the new nature.” The new nature is sometimes translated “the new man,” and the “old nature” the “old man.” Well, if I equate the “old nature” with the “former conversations,” I must equate the “new man” with the new conversation. He identifies the inner speech with man’s nature. So now, what am I actually doing on the inside of myself? And I am doing it morning, noon and night; I can’t stop it. If I stop for one moment, it isn’t. You can’t stop it. You take it into your dreams, and you are still talking. You are really talking at all moments of time.

So what are you saying at every moment of time? Watch it; be careful what you are saying, because your whole vast world is this inner conversation “pushed out.” And you can change it only by changing the conversation, because the conversation is equated with your nature.

So if you walk the street or you ride the bus, or you sit alone, you are still talking; at every moment of time you are talking. And all you need to do to find out what you have been saying is to look at your world. Your world reflects this inner speech. I have seen it every moment of time.  I am not going to tell you I have not faltered. I would not for one moment tell you that I am always in control of the inner conversations.

So I tell you, you watch carefully what you are saying morning, noon and night. When you go to bed at night, just watch your inner conversations, and see that the sun is not descending upon your anger. Resolve it at that very moment, and make it conform to your wish fulfilled, and make that “wish fulfilled” a. thing of love. What would it be like if it were true? Just what would it be like? Then carry on a conversation from the premise of the wish fulfilled, all clothed in love, for anyone that you think of; and watch how things happen in your world. Your night, — may I tell you — if that is your last thought, it will dominate the dream of the night, You are completely dominated, and your Father is speaking to you constantly through the medium of dreams and through the medium of vision, and you will see the whole thing unfolding within you; and you will know that you are the Lord Jesus Christ.

You don’t go out and scream it from the housetops. You know it, and you walk in the comfort of being the Awakened Man, who is God. Let everyone say exactly what he wants to say about you, and pay no attention to it, because they have to do it. When you come down to the end, they have to do it. The separation must take place. And you don’t justify it. Self-justification is the voice of hell. So you don’t justify anything, and you don’t try to always be right. Another almost incurable disease of man is the necessity of always being right. So you don’t make any effort to prove that you are right. You know what you have experienced, and you can’t deny the experience; so you go your way, telling it just as it comes to you. And it comes to you in the most glorious manner. It’s all in Scripture; so when you come to the end, you aren’t disappointed and you aren’t surprised that those that you sent off alive and free will now take up arms against you and call you insane, call you a devil, and would disrupt their family life. You know exactly what you’ve done. You have only told the truth. And when the Truth comes into the world, it comes not to bring peace but a sword. He is going to separate you from that traditional background that enslaved you in the past, because real progress in this world, — religious progress, — is a gradual transition from a god of tradition to a God of experience. You experience God: and the whole thing reflects it.

“Put off the former conversation, and then be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” If you put it off — it’s equated with the “old man.” Now, as I put it off, I have to replace it with something — a “new conversation”; so you are told in the Book of Joel: “Let the weak say, I am strong.” You read that in the 3rd chapter, the 10th verse. “Let the weak say, I am strong,” for there is no other God. “I am the Lord, and beside Me there is no god.” So, “I set before you,” — and you make the choice. You can choose life or you can choose death. You can choose the good or choose the evil, a blessing or a curse. It’s entirely up to man to choose anything. And look into this manifested world, and you’ll see what we have chosen.

But every morning you see headlines — nothing but disaster, you see what man has chosen. He seems either to want it or he is “fed” it, — one or the other. Look at the editorials. “We need that in order to sell papers,” Or else, we ourselves are demanding it from Him, but you “feed” upon it. Morning, noon and night we feast upon all this unloveliness and carry on these little internal mental conversations with ourselves; but they don’t remain there. They balloon and objectify themselves and become solidified as our manifested world.

So this whole manifested world goes to show us what use or misuse we have made of God’s gift. And God’s gift is your Mind and your Speech; and it’s not your outer speech, for we know how deceptive that is. You see it morning, noon and night. A salesman goes in, and he is trained to deceive the buyer. The advertiser is trained to deceive the buyer. And everything is on the outside. God sees only the inside. Man sees the outer appearance and God sees the Inner Man. So when you watch your inner conversation, you are actually watching the new nature. That is your nature. And if you don’t like it, change it. You “put off the old man,” and then “put on the new man”; and “He will show you the salvation of Gad.” Then the whole thing will unfold within you.

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From an edited lecture by Neville Goddard