21. As there are many mighty powerhouses for the application of power to ponderous machinery, whereby raw material is collected and converted into the necessities and comforts of life, so the mental powerhouses collect the raw material and cultivate and develop it into a power which is infinitely superior to all the forces of nature, marvelous though they may be.
22. What is this raw material which is being collected in these thousands of mental powerhouses all over the world and developed into a power which is evidently controlling every other power? In its static form it is Mind - in its dynamic form, it is Thought.
23. This power is superior because it exists on a higher plane, because it has enabled man to discover the law by which these wonderful forces of Nature could be harnessed and made to do the work of hundreds and thousands of men. It has enabled man to discover laws whereby time and space have been annihilated, and the law of gravitation overcome.
24. Thought is the vital force or energy which is being developed and which has produced such startling results in the last half century as to bring about a world which would be absolutely inconceivable to a man existing only 50 or 25 years ago. If such results have been secured by organizing these mental powerhouses in 50 years, what may not be expected in another 50 years?
25. The substance from which all things are created is infinite in quantity; we know that light travels at the rate of 186,000 miles per second, and we know that there are stars so remote that it takes light 2,000 years to reach us, and we know that such stars exist in all parts of the heaven; we know, too, that this light comes in waves, so that if the ether on which these waves travel was not continuous the light would fail to reach us; we can then only come to the conclusion that this substance, or ether, or raw material, is universally present.
26. How, then, does it manifest in form? In electrical science a battery is formed by connecting the opposite poles of zinc and copper, which causes a current to flow from one to the other and so provides energy. This same process is repeated in respect to every polarity, and as all form simply depends upon the rate of vibration and consequent relations of atoms to each other, if we wish to change the form of manifestation we must change the polarity. This is the principle of causation.
27. For your exercise this week, concentrate, and when I use the word concentrate, I mean all that the word implies; become so absorbed in the object of your thought that you are conscious of nothing else, and do this a few minutes every day. You take the necessary time to eat in order that the body may be nourished, why not take the time to assimilate your mental food?
28. Let the thought rest on the fact that appearances are deceptive. The earth is not flat, neither is it stationary; the sky is not a dome, the sun does not move, the stars are not small specks of light, and matter which was once supposed to be fixed has been found to be in a state of perpetual flux.
29. Try to realize that the day is fast approaching -- its dawn is now at hand -- when modes of thought and action must be adjusted to rapidly increasing knowledge of the operation of eternal principles.
Silent thought, is, after all, the mightiest agent in human affairs.
Channing
Study Questions with Answers
181. How are extremes placed in contrast?
They are designated by distinctive names, such as inside and outside, top and bottom, light and dark, good and bad.
182. Are these separate entities?
No, they are parts or aspects of one Whole.
183. What is the one creative Principle in the physical, mental and spiritual world?
The Universal Mind, or the Eternal Energy from which all things proceed.
184. How are we related to this creative Principle?
By our ability to think.
185. How does this creative Principle become operative?
Thought is the seed, which results in action and action results in form.
186. Upon what does form depend?
Upon the rate of vibration.
187. How may the rate of vibration be changed?
By mental action.
188. Upon what does mental action depend?
Upon polarity, action and reaction, between the individual and the Universal.
189. Does the creative energy originate in the individual or the Universal?
In the Universal, but the Universal can manifest only through the individual.
190. Why is the individual necessary?
Because the Universal is static, and requires energy to start it in motion. This is furnished by food which is converted into energy, which in turn enables the individual to think. When the individual stops eating he stops thinking; then he no longer acts upon the Universal; there is consequently no longer any action or reaction; the Universal is then only pure mind in static form -- mind at rest.
Part Twenty
For many years there has been an endless discussion as to the origin of evil. Theologians have told us that God is Love, and that God is Omnipresent. If this be true, there is no place where God is not. Where, then, is Evil, Satan and Hell?
Let us see:
God is Spirit.
Spirit is the Creative Principle of the Universe.
Man is made in the image and likeness of God.
Man is therefore a spiritual being.
The only activity which spirit possesses is the power to think.
Thinking is therefore a creative process.
All form is therefore the result of the thinking process.
The destruction of form must also be a result of the thinking process.
Fictitious representations of form are the result of the creative power of thought, as in Hypnotism.
Apparent representation of form are the result of the creative power of thought, as in Spiritualism.
Invention, organization and constructive work of all kinds are the result of the creative power of thought, as in concentration.
When the creative power of thought is manifested for the benefit of humanity, we call the result good.
When the creative power of thought is manifested in a destructive or evil manner, we call the result evil.
