Class „"B^tl^. Book J2> Gopightlf COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. STUDIES IN SPIRITUAL HARMONY BY IONE G^La&x~ \ \i tUFwr^,. Denver, Colorado The Reed Publishing Company 1901 THE UGRARY OF OGNGSESS, Two Curies Received DEC. 30 1901 Copyright entry CLASS G/ XXo. No. copy a. Copyrighted, 1901 by GRACE M. BROWN ■ the Reed Publishing €o, DENVER • z • GREETING /") UR STUDIES have received such a gracious welcome that we have found it one of the happy duties of our work to put them in book form. So we offer to our dear friends and read- ers the First Series of our lessons. While we realize thoroughly the higher Individuality, we also recognize the oneness of all men and that we are dependent upon each other for all things. And we rejoice in the thought that the success which attends our work is due largely to the constructive force of our devoted Circle of Truth Students, to whom we dedicate this little volume in sincere love. &t^ &t. THE LORD'S PRAYER. Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. The bread of life give unto us this day, and from all obligations free us, as we have freed those under obligations to us. "Lead us through temptation into light." And deliver us from indolence. For Thine is the kingdom, the force, and the radiance throughout all existence forever. All praise, all glory and adoration unto thee, oh, Eternal One! Let all men do Him reverence. — N. F. W. H. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Practical Metaphysics 9 Vibration 25 Concentration 49 Breathing 67 Mind 85 Self Reliance 99 .Ethical Dietetics 115 Ah ! Blessed Lord ! Oh, High Deliverer ! Forgive this feeble script, which doth Thee wrong Measuring with little wit thy lofty Love. Ah ! Lover ! Brother ! Guide ! Lamp of the Law! I take my refuge in Thy name and Thee! I take my refuge in Thy Law of Good ! I take my refuge in Thy Order! OM! The dew is on the lotus ! — rise, Great Sun ! And lift my leaf and mix me with the wave. Om mani padme hum, the Sunrise comes ! The Dewdrop slips into the shining Sea ! — Light of Asia. STUDIES IN SPIRITUAL HARMONY PRACTICAL METAPHYSICS © PRACTICAL METAPHYSICS O you know this dear old planet is fairly quivering with a great wave of light that is sweeping over it? Call it what you like, words are nothing, but the fact is ap- parent to every man who has eyes to see and a heart to under- stand that the light of truth is at last breaking over a weary world. Dear, dear friends, no more sickness, no more sorrow, no more poverty — and do you realize that this wonderful truth is for you if only you will receive it. and will place no barrier be- tween you and its fulfillment. You are to be master. You are to overcome your conditions and your conditions shall not over- come you. Xow let us think about it — and will you be surprised when I tell you that many people are too lazy to think? It is so easy to let things go just as they are, and it certainly requires some effort of the mind to enable a man to grasp the principles that exist as causes in human life. Beware of a rut; anything but that. Any instrument will wear out if you play on the same string all the time, and the most wonderful instrument ever conceived of — the human body — is no exception to the rule. io Studies in Spiritual Harmony. Possibly you do not realize that your entire body is one grand instrument for thought. The brain of the objective mind is not the only brain you have. Do you know where the solar plexus is, the central sun of the organism? Of course you do. Well, there is the brain or instrument of the subjective mind just as much as the brain of the head is the instrument of the objective mind. Oh, do you wonder when we speak of what a serious thing it is to oppress the most vital part of your being, when it means sacrificing your soul development to a false idea of beauty? Beauty is important ; it is something we should all strive to cultivate; but Beauty is freedom, Beauty is truth and harmony, and any departure from harmony is not beauty. All of the body must be free — must at times be entirely ex- posed to the air and the sunshine. Nature loves freedom. The forest tree must have air enough to breathe and room for its widening roots before it can come into its perfection of life. How much more important that the body shall have breathing room, and yet how we do torture and compress it. One brave man is fighting for freedom for the feet. Dear Father Kneipp, he knows we must breathe through our feet sometimes, if we do keep them in prison most of the time. Metaphysics ; what different meanings the word has to dif- ferent minds! How much depends upon our viewpoint! Let Practical Metaphysics. n us take the broad view and realize that it relates to the measuring of all philosophy, and understand that the study of metaphysics relates to the art of harmonizing the physical as well as the spiritual man. To be sure, here we are in the midst of all kinds of theories, and osophies, isms and creeds — schools which claim to represent the new thought, and yet which feel that they have a corner on the truth and a reserved seat in the front row. Now we are go- ing to look at this new thought — which, by the way, isn't new at all — from the standpoint of a thinking individual. We know that if a thing is true, it must conform and harmonize with every- thing else that is true, because only that which is truth is ever- lasting, and all else must fade away. Discrimination is the first round on the ladder, so we will adjust ourselves in this thought of life and light that is so beauti- ful to the eyes that are open, and soon we shall know for our- selves the way, the truth and the life. We each have our own individual place in the universe, and our own way of traveling. "Owls do not know the eagles' path to the sun," but the same fundamental laws of life prevail in each and every one of us, and we can inspire and help each other, there- by helping ourselves, all along the way. Let us be practical, and in being practical we will com- mence by simplifying things somewhat, and coming into an un- 12 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. derstanding of the realities of life. To begin with, life is mean- ingless unless we realize that we are a part of that which is. But with that recognition, not only of our own being, but of the law of Universal Unity as well, what a grand meaning all things instantly possess, and what possibilities of use open before us. There is the great point use. That is the principle which determines all things — every force that is constructive is useful — anything that is not useful will disintegrate because the force of construction is not there — and every thought, word and deed carries with it either a destructive or constructive vibration. Now in our contemplation of use and every day practical metaphysics, let us take a glimpse of the physical man. We have had so much theory — let us affirm that the aristocracy of the twentieth century shall be distinguished by Health and Beauty of body, intelligence and harmony of mind and conditions, and then we will prove it — not only think about it — but solidify that thought into action. It is no longer interesting to be an invalid. The day when people enjoyed poor health and were interesting objects of sym- pathy is past ; and by the way, do stop condoling with those who are manifesting physical inharmony — and don't go to the other extreme and tell a man he is not suffering when he knows he is. Teach people how to overcome — remove the obstacle — show your patient the way — and do treat him like a reasonable human Practical Metaphysics. 13 being. Remember that each man is different, each mind requires a different chord, for it is attuned to a different key. The man who responds to the chord of G will never be moved if you strike the chord of D in dealing with him; so you see you must first reach your patient, become attuned to his vibrations, and when you are in harmony with him inspire him to overcome his inhar- monious condition and be master of himself. No case is hopeless until the soul has left its abiding place for all time. Health, full, free, vigorous is the demand, and what we demand knowing it is ours by every law of nature we shall certainly have. The day we are passing on this planet is but one of many days. Man never steps outside of universal life, but while he is on this planet he is using for the vehicle of his soul expression an instrument, the superb mechanism of which should be com- prehended and used instead of abused, as is too often the case. Now right here is the study of the law of use ; we find a mode of thought whereby we are enabled to grasp the principles that exist as causes and effects in human life and apply them practically in our individual lives. Some people seem to imagine that they can break every law of the Creator and then by their suggestion avoid all the conse- quences, or inharmonious result of their vain attempt, for of course no one can break a law ; he only attempts to do so. You 14 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. might just exactly as well throw yourself in front of a moving car, and use your suggestion to stop the car or keep your body from being hurt if the car strikes you. It is what the old-fash- ioned churchman would call tempting Providence, and sometimes these students of the new thought forget to use their common sense in their enthusiasm. How really useful it would be if we students of meta- physics would always use that much neglected quality of com- mon sense in our researches. Not long ago one of our leading and prominent teachers had an article in her journal on diet. In it the writer gave this thought, that a man can eat anything he pleases — flesh of all kinds, boiled pork and cabbage — in fact, any- thing, and then treat himself and it will not affect him. Some- thing like the confessional. Kill your man if you want to, only get to the confessional as soon as possible afterwards, and you are perfectly safe. What I would like to know is, what is the use of filling your body with destructive vibrations and then spending your valuable time in overcoming them. Why not think, live and act constructively all the time and use your force in a better way ? Of course if a man wishes to make a charnel house of his stomach, poison his system with the vibrations of fear which infill the stricken creatures whose bodies are his food, that is his privi- lege. But do not be surprised if disease on all planes attacks Practical Metaphysics. 15 him while he is taking into his system those forces that attract disease. Don't think the study of diet has nothing to do with the study of metaphysics,, for it really is of vital consequence. Every force you take into your body, every breath you draw, partakes of one of two qualities, construction or destruction, love or fear. Everything you eat and drink, every thought,, every action, builds you or disintegrates you. Do you not see that your food then is to be carefully chosen, that the chemistry of food corresponds closely to the spiritual alchemy, and that in knowing yourself and the laws of your being you find the perfect way? These teachers and students of truth who declare they are going to remain in their present bodies forever, must remember one law, and that is that like attracts like, and what belongs to them is all they can have. They can remain in the body just as long as they build it with vibrations which construct, but every vibration of fear which enters the organism in anv way carries its disintegrating force. The law of the Lord is perfect, and only in perfect life and perfect strength can we overcome the last enemy, which is Death. At one of our recent meetings the question of flesh eating came- up. and one student said that she did not understand why man should not have dominion over everything: that she was in the habit of eating three square meals a day and eating every- 1 6 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. thing but the dishes. Another student remarked that she would rather eat the dishes than most of the stuff that was put before her. Now you see it is all lack of understanding. We have spent several years in the study of the chemistry of foods, and before many weeks will give you a book on the subject full of recipes and ideas about food. For some housekeepers it is hard to realize that we can pre- pare three meals a day for three hundred and sixty-five days in the year with a different bill of fare each meal, and never use any animal food, but it is true, and we will give you the book which will teach you to do the same just as soon as it is ready, which we hope will be this coming winter. We will show you how to make mince pies without meat, and plum puddings without suet. We believe in three square meals a day ourselves, but we believe in the constructive foods, and that the preparing of food is one of the most important acts in the world and the one that is the least understood. Ah ! how we hunger for the fruit which is afar on the .hills, and how indifferent we seem to that which is within our reach. Perhaps we are too indolent to grasp it. It is so easy to neglect the common daily duties of life and feel they are beneath our notice, when in their accomplishment lies the great secret — that to do the best we know how, the work of to-day, leads us toward that work which we love and which is ours. No man is more Practical Metaphysics. iy blessed than he who has found his life's expression in the work that he loves. Indolence, physical and mental, is one of the great barriers to our becoming whole. It is a good deal of trouble to take proper care of the body, to take a breathing exercise and a little physical exercise after it. It is quite an effort to control the mind, and through that control become master of yourself and your conditions, but it's the sure way. Of course it is easier to declare you are well anyway. Theories are always easier than practical facts, but to-day we are talking about practical meta- physics — things that will prove by the result, the truth in them. Let me give you an exercise that will interest you by prov- ing to you how it will strengthen and build you physically and spiritually if you care to practice it. After you have taken your morning bath, and absorbed from the water the life essence in it, lie down on your back on the floor with hands and arms stretched downward. Then slowly raise the arms straight up in the air without bending the elbows until you touch the floor over your head. Take a deep breath each time you do it and place your mind upon your desire for Health and understanding or whatever may be the desire of your heart. It is a strengthening process to repeat the Lord's prayer as you inbreathe and raise the arms, and that prayer properly said and rightly understood contains the essence of one's heart's desire — 1 8 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. "Lead us through temptation into light" — isn't it beautiful? That is the correct version, and what a consciousness of strength comes over us as we realize our prayers are answered and we see this light. Take this exercise three times every day — morning, noon, and just before retiring. You will soon find for yourself an inspiration that you knew not of. In taking any physical culture exercise remember that through the thought you inbreathe while taking it will come its results. It may give you love and understanding or it may give you mere brute force. We hear a great deal about physical cul- ture these days, and a fine thing it is too, but I have noticed that some of these magnificent giants who have acquired such marvel- ous muscle are too small around the waist, the solar plexus is not developed. Too small around the head, the brain of the objective mind is not developed; and also that they have no en- durance. Surely endurance is a proof of harmony. You must develop on all planes equally. The highly developed muscular system must have the strong mind and powerfully developed soul forces or it is not enduring. Do let us be reasonable. To be sure people who are weak on any plane are not reasonable. You can't talk philosophy to a man who is starving, or reason with him that his pain is delusion if he has a jumping toothache. Help him to overcome the con- dition of poverty and the delusion of pain, and then teach him to Practical Metaphysics. 19 be reasonable so he won't get into such scrapes any more. One trouble is that people read too much and turn the thought within too seldom. They eat too much and do not exer- cise sufficiently, thus creating dyspepsia, both mental and physi- cal. One very useful cure for such people is to inspire them to do something for somebody else; try to make them realize that therein lies the greatest happiness of life, and happiness is a con- structive force. The great enemies of mankind are Fear and Medicine. Some one said, "Medicine, Knives and Hatred," and possibly that is better expressed, and isn't it a cruel thing when we think of it — the awful devastation caused by Hate? We know it is all ignorance. All inharmony is the result of ignoring the law, but the time is near at hand when the reign of ignorance is past. Soon we will all come into realization of the law, and we will so vibrate in the law of love that we will love our fellow man, into understanding. When we eliminate the qualities of hate and fear from our consciousness, medicine and knives will soon be memories, and you can rest assured of one thing — the man who knows himself will appreciate and take care of his body. It is so strange the idea people have of Infinite Intelligence. A letter came to-day from a student in New York. In it he said : "I have been an invalid from birth. Have I any right to de- mand health ? Perhaps it is the will of God that I should be ill." 20 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. Oh, my dear brother, when the will of God is the law itself, and the law is all harmony and love. To be sure all effect is from some cause, but all can be cured, and every condition that is not harmony can be brought into harmony. While we know that life on this planet is but a small part of the whole, we also know that the opportunity of to-day does not return. The only thing a man can lose is his opportunity, so he must live in that consciousness of present use. The greatest diffi- culty is in fastening the interest on the unseen. So many people live in the thought of wonderful pleasures and happiness of some future condition. We are in eternity now. To-day is all ; there is no past and there is no future in reality. So we must make the highest and best use of the present moment, and the future "pres- ent moment" will be all right. The coming religion is one of optimism and love, success and health. One of the microbes which attracts the success mi- crobe is cheerfulness. Do smile about things. If they don't please you, smile anyway, and your displeasure will be lessened. The one person I want to avoid is the man or woman who never laughs. He suggests to me all kinds of dreadfulness. Laughter is a disinfectant ; it casts out fear, and when fear is cast out dis- ease and inharmony soon follow. Nothing is more uplifting or more contagious than a sweet, happy smile. Practical Metaphysics. 21 The word contagious has so long been applied to disease that we forget good things can be contagious also. There is a reason why we prefer to associate with healthy, happy, successful peo- ple. Their harmony is infectious, just as surely as the inharmony of disease or fear is infectious, because it is the fear not the dis- ease that is contagious. I wonder if you ever heard how la grippe became an epidemic. It is an interesting proof that it was the microbe of fear and not influenza that caused it. A telegram came from Russia telling about an acute form of influenza that had attacked the royal family, or as it was expressed, had a grip on them. Within twenty-four hours there were a hundred cases of la grippe in New York alone. It soon became an epidemic, and until quite recently la grippe was quite the fashionable way of disintegration. It is a bad habit to think you must have every disease you hear about. Change the vibration "of that habit and attract all the good things instead. You are master of yourself if you only realize it, and no intruders can enter your castle unless you per- mit them ; and you know it's much easier to keep bad tenants out than it is to evict them after they have once taken possession. Just be sure of yourself. You know the law. Be positive about it. You feel the power within; cultivate it, and you will soon cast out all fear. 22 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. Let me tell you another secret. Be calm. The greatest growth is in the silence. The still, quiet strength is the enduring quality. It is possible to use so much force of will that you de- stroy instead of construct. The sun rays are our life, and yet sometimes they come with such powerful force that it means destruction. Spiritual light and knowledge, to be practically applied, should be sought for in a calm, dignified manner, and tempered with common sense and reason at the same time, you don't want to seize just one thread and grip it with such force that every other thread is rendered useless. No ; you want to polarize your- self and be temperate in all things. Sometimes a man becomes such an extremist in his search for truth that he becomes a gourmand in his aesthetic taste, and quite forgets that other people have rights — that means obscur- ing the very light he is seeking. You know we have to consider everyone who crosses our path and be considerate as well as force- ful. We find the greatest clarifier of the spiritual atmosphere is unselfishness. Knowledge of the finer forces of nature, or the occult philosophy, as it is commonly called, gives to man unlimited power, providing of course he uses it unselfishly and according to the law, otherwise he soon loses his knowledge. Power of over- coming pain; power of overcoming conditions. Practical Metaphysics. 23 What is pain, anyway ? It is the result of defective advance, uneven development, and monstrous growths. The body suffers when it develops monstrosities of any kind, and its suffering is the warning cry. You do not want to stop the pain until that which causes the pain is arrested in its development. Pain is friendly; it only remains long enough to warn you that some- thing needs attention, and that there is inharmony within, and as soon as you right the condition and equalize once more, the pain leaves. All that is real and eternal is God, and that which emanates from God, and God is all harmony and all truth. The real you exists as a part of that harmony. You have your being in the Supreme Being and that part of you which is eternal and real can express no discord. All that seems discordant does not be- long to you and must be cast out. Your physical body is just as much spirit as any part of you. It only differs in its rate of vibration which corresponds with earth's vibration to enable you to manifest upon the planet earth. The body is yours, a part of you, and expresses God as much as any part of you, consequently the body must be Infinite Life, sub- stance and Intelligence. Emanuel Swedenborg, who gave to the Occidental world its first lessons in practical metaphysics, and who revealed to the modern school of thought the philosophy of vibration, teaches us 24 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. the law of influx. He places these teachings on a scientific basis that will stand the test of time. According- to his teaching, and according to the teachings of our own inner consciousness as well, the human organism is built up on true mathematical principles, as all truth must be, and every part of this organic structure corresponds with and is an expression of interior principles. Now there is the keynote of practical healing through the power of thought. What a comfort it is that Truth is Infinite; that we are a part of it and one with it. No matter how we may distort it in our ignoring of the law — it is always there. No matter how we may limit our capacity, it rests with each individual man to lay aside all barriers and come into the full, free, glorious light of the Truth. VIBRATION VIBRATION fS HERE COMES A TIME in the evolution of every hu- a)l man being,, when he longs for an insight into those things which seem to him mysterious, and when he feels that the one thing desirable is knowledge ; not the knowledge that is found upon the bookshelves, but that understanding that can only be found in the warm corner of the heart. Soon he realizes that it is a sweet, plain, easy lesson, this lesson of truth, not at all mysteri- ous, and when one comes into its understanding with the soul consciousness, rather than the thought of the mind, all this world becomes better and happier, for when you elevate yourself you raise all men with you. There has never been a time when the desire for truth was so pronounced as it is at present, and there are few subjects in the entire study of the higher law. of greater importance than this subject of vibration, because the philosophy of vibration explains the manifestations of spirit, and most truth students realize that matter is an expression of spirit caused by vibration. Vibration is the fundamental principle of all form. Through vibration this great one substance is differentiated. Vibration is motion, forms of motion and numbers of mo- tion. This stone at my feet has one rate and form of vibration. 26 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. and this tree before me has another rate and form of vibration. The atoms of my body have one rate and form of vibration, and the atoms of my thought, which is my mind's action, have another form and rate of vibration, all based on exact mathematical law, adjusted to an exact nicety, and most perfectly poised according to mathematical law. All things in their basic principles resemble all other things. As it is on one plane, so it is on another plane, and you are per- fectly safe in judging the unknown by the known, the invisible by the visible. As the anatomist can picture the whole animal by a bone, so can the student of truth picture the whole universe by a knowledge of a part, if the part that he has is founded on fact. Not long ago a gentleman, in criticising my work, said that I do not teach spiritual things. Now, let's see what are spiritual things. Where is the dividing line between material and spiritual things ? Is it not within yourself ? We are coming daily into a clearer understanding of the fact that there is no difference be- tween what we call material, and what we call spiritual substance. It is all the same. The dividing line is in our ability to perceive. If our vibration is slow and dense, naturally we can only perceive the slow and dense vibrations; as we raise our own vibrations we come into a clearer perception of the higher vibrations of the forces of nature. Vibration. 27 Did you ever think in your study of nature and her laws, how many questions come into the mind in regard to this differ- entiation of spirit? If all is spirit, and all is the one substance, why is that lively, bustling fly such a different kind of spirit from this pencil in my hand, and why is this glass so different from the water within it, and if thoughts are things also and conse- quently spirit, why is my thought a different substances from the brain, which is the instrument for the mind to act upon ? Yes — there is no limit to the question — and all so easily answered and so easily comprehended from the standpoint of vibration, so let us see if in a very few words we cannot give the fundamental principle of the law of vibration, and explain some of the methods of the action of the law. This philosophy of vibration which I am giving you belongs to no special school, because it is the foundation of most of the schools of metaphysics. The trouble with the disciples of the so- called new thought is that their individual thought is so very new, they seem afraid to recognize how old their philosophy is — and having grasped one idea of truth, it seems such a marvelous thing that they not only want to patent it, but fail to analyze it, and see how beautifully it harmonizes with everything else that is true. The Universe is composed of atoms, and as we have seen all these atoms are spirit, one substance, one intelligence, one 28 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. life, one universal mind. This great mind moves, and its motion produces an energy, a vibration by which, according to its form and rate, all spirit, all substance, all life is objectified and differ- entiated into form. This vibration then is the thought or the mind action of an Infinite Intelligence; so from the tiniest blade of grass to the thought of the individual mind of man, which corresponds to and in reality is one with the Infinite mind, all manifestation of spirit is the result of vibration. You see it is not difficult to comprehend; there is no mys- tery in it whatever ; all you have to do is to think about it. Vibra- tion is just what the literal meaning of the word implies, motion. Now we are taught by one of the greatest disciples of truth the world has ever received its messages from, that there are four modes of motion necessary for the manifestation of spirit into objective life in our solar system, and we are not speculating be- yond our own realm. Well do we know that if we understand ourselves and the planet on which we are having our present ex- periences, we have the foundation for that knowledge which is necessary for our work and development in other realms and spheres of life. This great disciple of Truth tells us there are four modes, although myraids of rates of vibration, necessary for the mani- festation of spirit. The rates are lesser or greater, lower or Vibration. 29 higher, according to the Divine energy which is embodied in the form. Thus, in expressions of life which we call evil, the energy is so slow, so lacking, that the vibration is low, and what we call evil — all kinds of disease and inharmony result. The first form of motion is said to be straight, the second is circular, the third is spiral, and the fourth is called vortexian, which is the motion of the planets and a combination of all the others. The spiral motion is a combination of the circular and straight, and the circular is really only the continued straight, because a continued straight line would always return to its starting point. So little is known in the Occidental world about these differ- ent forms of vibration, and so few of the students of Truth con- sider its importance, that it is difficult to go into many details concerning it. As in so many questions where we are taking somebody's else teachings all kinds of theories come in, and some students say that the straight motion is the vibration of the min- erals and rocks, — that the spiral form, the motion of the cycles, is the vibration of the vegetable world, — and the vortexian motion is the vibration of the planets and what corresponds to the plane- tary motion in man. I rather think we shall have to progress much farther in our study of esoteric geometry before we know the forms of vibra- tion as applied to different manifestations of spirit, but our 30 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. reasoning power shows us that all manifested form is the result of Divine Energy expressed in the law of vibration. The important part for us to realize is, that we as individuals are manifesting spirit according to our own rate of vibration, and we as individuals must stand responsible for our position in the Universe. Each atom which composes this body is an atom of spirit, and as we harmonize all these atoms of the body and raise their vibrations by attracting to them Divine energy, we express the perfect harmony of the whole. As the Universal mind's action results in manifested form, or what is called creation, and is the thought of God, so the mind's action of the individual manifests, creates or produces a powerful substance composed of atoms which we call thought, and which is the most subtle and powerful of any substance with which we have to deal; so you see the mind of a human being is creative, and under proper constructive training becomes a vast power for good. Action of all kind is only solidified thought ; it is the direct result of thought force or mind's action. The vibration of a human being is determined by the con- structive force with which he is infilled, and which is a part of himself. As long as there is even a small ray of constructive force in a man he is a part of the Infinite Spirit and must in a degree vibrate with it — and isn't it a beautiful thought that it is the most difficult thing in the world for a man to eliminate the Vibration. 31 Divine spark and thereby destroy himself? Swedenborg tells us that as long as there is one atom of love, which is the great constructive principle, in a soul that it will be fanned into life by the angels; which means, of course, that it will attract its own, more of the love element from the Universe. God is love. Love is the constructive force, and every mani- festation of spirit is the result of that cohesive power of the constructive force of love, and vibration is the action, the motive power which produces that result. In itself it is nothing, but it is the method employed, the means to the end. Mere philosophy will never reveal the higher vibrations of life. The finer essences of nature are those that elude all philos- ophy and all language. The Intellect alone will never compre- hend the Supreme Intelligence. If it could, human beings would never dispute over their conceptions of God. The dear, ignorant creatures would know that a man who quarrels, no matter how highly educated he is, is shutting himself away from God, trying to separate himself from that which he imagines he is defending, and knows so much about. A man who really believes in God is one with God, a part of Him, infilled with Him, and God is love. Saying you believe in God does not make it so. Words are so cheap and meaning- less sometimes. A man who believes in God takes Him so into his life that he becomes Love itself. He realizes that all men 32 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. are a part of himself, and criticism and condemnation of his fellow man is impossible. The only remedy for error and superstition is knowledge. Error is a low vibration of light and totally unfits the soul for truth. All so called sin is ignorance — ignoring the truth. How foolish to condemn a poor, ignorant man for the crime he com- mits, when maybe you yourself are responsible for his actions. Ah ! that is not a comforting thought, is it ? But let us put our light of common sense on it and see if it isn't true. In the first place, we are all one, some of us manifestly in a lower vibration of light than others, but all one in the Divine Intelligence. You may be polished, and encrusted with your intellectual pride, and may consider yourself incapable of any action but that of the highest virtue, and you probably are, ac- cording to your own understanding. But maybe you forget that your thought is a substance, and you may not hold it in the high vibration which your surroundings would imply. Possibly you consider yourself a little better than your fellow man, and per- haps you are condemning your brother or despising your sister because their standard of morality does not agree with yours. You might even have thoughts of envy and of how much better you could manage your neighbor's millions or your friend's tal- ent than they can. Ah! my dear, what becomes of those Vibration, 33 thoughts ? Surely they are not lost. Suppose some deluded soul who is too ignorant to protect himself, who is negative in his nature, is just in the mental attitude to receive those projected thought vibrations of yours. What happens? He puts into action the hate generated by your thought. His action is your thought solidified. Your greater enlightenment teaches you re- pression of action. Your knowledge is not yet equal to control of the thought, but you can control the action. He is not yet wise enough to control the action. Do you see your responsi- bility ? We are all one. It is the law. Be ye perfect, is the new commandment, the new religion. Aim high ; you cannot aim too high, and every round you make in climbing the ladder of understanding leads you to a higher standard of perfection. Perfection according to your under- standing now, and perfection according to your greater under- standing as you grow into the greater light. There are no limita- tions to the doctrine of perfect love. "Perfect love casteth out fear," and fear is the one and only enemy of mankind. The world is divided into two great classes, those who love and those who fear. Fear is such utter darkness, and yet there are those who know no light but what to you is darkness. "The highest vibration of light is darkness and the lowest vibration of light is darkness." Now how can I make this clear to you? We will turn on our searchlight of reason and we shall soon see. 34 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. I am giving you a lesson this afternoon which is quite clear to you. I can tell by the way you receive it that it is light to your mental vision. Do you suppose that dear young girl over there with her pretty fluffy head full of her beauty and her rib- bons and her good times would comprehend this lesson which is light to you and me? No; to her it is darkness, and where she stands we have passed long ago. The light that surrounds her is darkness to you and me. When you are accustomed to a dark room the light of the sun is painful to the physical eye, and when you are in the low vibration, the darkness of error, the truth is painful to the mental vision and is darkness until you become accustomed to it. To-day many things are perfectly clear and light to you, that even one short year ago were dark. You have come into the higher vibration of light and the darkness of that higher vi- bration is now light to you. There are two ways of working; one is from within and the other is from without. The old idea was to work from without in, but the Esoteric law teaches to work from within out. When you work from within you work from love. The age of ruling men by fear has vanished and the time of rule by love has come, but the old ways and customs cling most tenaciously. If you would only realize how much easier things would come to you if you didn't try so painfully hard to get them! / Vibration. 35 Try the plan of relaxing — give up — let go. Realize that you are not the most important thing in the world. If you should lay down your body to-day and go on to other spheres, the sun would rise just the same to-morrow morning, and the birds would sing just as sweetly. Your world is within you, and your entire concern is with yourself. Be ye perfect. Your responsi- bility ceases there. Do you know you cannot even conceive of a quality that you do not possess in some degree within yourself, and it rests with you whether you attract to yourself happiness or trouble, ease or disease. Many people go out of their way to look for trouble, and if that is the vibration of light to which they adjust them- selves they can have all they want of it, for it is very easy to find. As that blessed old character, Eben Holden, says, "Ye can go to meetin' or ye can go fishin'." It all depends on the "I am" within you. Yes, my dear, as I said before, the only true way of acquir- ing knowledge and of developing the soul is to work from within out. You cannot reform people by using hatchets on them, and you cannot terrorize them into knowledge. If you will only raise your own vibrations you will do more to help humanity than in any other way. If you raise yourself, you raise all men to you. A truth that is truth in the year one is true in the year nineteen hundred and one. 36 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. There is one person who must not be deluded, and that is yourself, and the strangest thing to me is the way people love to delude themselves. Be true to yourself and you will be true to your fellow man. You are an individual. No other person's experience can be the same as yours. In this great oneness is an infinite variety of experience and an infinite variety of individuals, and each indi- vidual attracts the experience necessary for his evolution by exact mathematical law of vibration. You and you alone are respon- sible for your experience, and you alone attract your conditions and surroundings. I know it seems severe, but did I not tell you that truth de- mands a high price? It is the most useless thing in the world to think you are the victim of fate or circumstance. Take your conditions as you find them and master them if they are not in harmony with yourself. If you haven't sufficient strength, pray for it, breathe for it, as I told you in our last lesson. Don't let anything master you. Are you, the microcosm of the universe, not greater than any other thing in the universe? What do you suppose is the greatest barrier to the develop- ment of the soul ? A barrier which is so subtle that it sometimes blinds and blunts the senses. It is selfishness. We want to be free but we hold those we love in such bondage that we bind ourselves and limit ourselves beyond all understanding. Do you Vibration. 37 remember a sentence once spoken by the greatest teacher the world has yet known — "He who loses his life gains it." I will not try to say one word in explanation of it, but ask you to con- centrate upon it in the light of reason and see what it reveals. See if it does not show you that selfishness is the greatest hindrance in the world to attaining the desire of your soul. I know, my dear, you do try most earnestly to be good; but what does it mean to "be good" anyway? All morality is merely a matter of opinion. You tell a child to "be good," and it is a meaningless phrase to him until you teach him what your version of goodness is, and then he only knows from your stand- point. A baby thinks to stop crying is to be good; and when it comes to great big babies, what do they think? That it's a great virtue and a glorious thing to go to war and murder their fellow men, but a most heinous crime for a hungry man to help himself to the millionaire's dollar without permission, if he is smart enough to get hold of it. Oh, yes; we are very sensible, especially on the questions of morality and virtue! What lines we do draw — and every man judges his fellow man and quite forgets whether he is liv- ing up to the real standard, providing he is living up to the standard of his particular section of the country. He who has the courage to think for himself and the heart to understand, knows that the old falsities are passing away, and 38 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. that the higher truth, the truth of the Spirit, is gradually and steadily pervading all grades of humanity. Nature is revealing her secrets to man as never before, because he is seeking in the light of the spirit; and oh, my friends, from the seed planted in the human heart to the seed planted in the ground, nature reveals herself to him who wills to know. So many people think because they haven't had what the world calls an education they cannot comprehend the Esoteric Teachings. Dear me, what a mistake. Do you know, I am ac- quainted with people who have been through all the colleges they could find an excuse for entering, and then taken post-graduate courses in literature and the fine arts, who cannot comprehend the higher forces of nature sufficiently to keep from condemning their fellow man and telling fibs whenever it is convenient, thus attracting to themselves all kinds of inharmonious vibrations. Now, what is the use of masses of information about the past iniquities of mankind or the dead languages, or ancient Greek art, if you are going through life sick, and poor, and unhappy, because you do not comprehend nature's laws sufficiently to polar- ize yourself according to them and vibrate in the law of Love ? To be sure, "To know is to have eternal life," but you must commence by knowing yourself; you must work from within out, and you must think and live in Freedom. Only free men can live Vibration. 39 the Truth, and as much freedom as you shut out, so much falsity do you let in. Esoteric Philosophy is simply the philosophy of real things. It does away with delusion, shows the correspondence between the seen and the unseen, and the connection between so called theories and the practical use of those theories. In the esotric teachings use determines all things, and when you come into a recognition of that truth you will save much time and not waste so many opportunities. Unless I can be of use to you, or you can be of use to me, what object is there in our association ? Did you ever hear of a lot of women meeting together to play cards for the purpose of killing time? Killing Time! Are they losing their senses, when every moment of time killed reacts in disintegrating forces? No one recognizes more than I the right of every human being to think as he pleases, live as he pleases, and waste his blessed opportunities if he wishes to, but it is "too bad" to kill the most precious thing in the world. If you will only think, you will soon see the use in every- thing and turn your association into the higher vibration of use, instead of the lower one of idleness and waste. If you want to keep young and "healthy and wealthy and wise," you must build, and utilize your forces, not scatter them. 40 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. There never was a time when this dear old world was so plentifully supplied with cranks. God bless them. They bob up serenely in all manner of places and they are so full of their special hobby and so desirous that you should see things just as they do — and how interesting they are. I met one the other day who peacefully informed me that he was the greatest man in the world; could cure any disease or misfortune in the world, and was growing younger every minute. He put me on his list for daily treatment because I am a crank like himself and he loves me. He sends vibrations daily to people who pay him twenty-five dollars, and to those whom he loves, and as he makes a specialty of loving even-body in the Universe and recognizing the oneness of things, I suppose you all get treated just the same as though you paid your twenty-five dollars. It's all right, though ; we need these cranks. Conservatism has to be destroyed some way. When people begin to think, they begin to squirm. When you put a seed into the ground and it begins to recognize the life force within itself it immediately proceeds to turn around and burst. It is individualizing itself. The growing tree will shatter the rock, and the growing thought will shatter conserva- tism. There is one thing that we must have, no matter what it costs, and that is Truth. Everything has its price, and we must Vibration. 41 for everything we have, but for truth we pay the dearest be- cause it is the only thing in the world that is everlasting. You can't print anything else on your soul "for keeps." All pain is ieluiiir. I: lies r_:: :el:r.r :: ;:.; :v '.:~z~ thin :r.t r.t:ti- sary time for its note of warning. This high price that we must pay for Truth is the renuncia- tion of self and personality. It is living the life of reality and tearing* down the barriers which we have raised by selfishi nation of our brother. : one person or organization of persons has a corner on Truth. In this world to which we come for our studies of re- ality, Truth is as free as the love which enfolds ns. as free as the atmosphere sur r oun ding the Earth- In the world of delusion. ..:--: .-. : .-. :- : . ~ - _- .;:.;; t .-. = chat some people get an idea that :'iev irt ::\t ::./ ires ::: ire : :.r. r.z'rz. :.r.i :'-i: :r.ly :y zz':~z their way can the goal be reached. What goal are they trj to reach, any ■ ilaybe they think because they can 1 reserved seat in church they can buy a reserved seat in Heaven. .-:-- : : .■.:.: :."':: zalied Heaven, which lets in a man who rejoices that he is inside in comfort while h:_ ; ::::/.-: is o-ut- irs-cair? - : : t ■ . . ; ■ [f all these dear, conventional people who are so much better than their fellow men are going to Heaven 42 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. wouldn't you rather be where the really interesting people are, those who dare to think, wherever that place may be? It seems a difficult truth for some people to realize that money will not buy understanding and that a man can have nothing that does not belong to him. If you refuse to see beyond your own dooryard, is no sign that the world does not lie beyond, and if you refuse to perceive the marvelous realities of the uni- verse, it is no proof that they are not there for him who has the ability to see. However, it is just as well to commence at the place where we are standing and evolve into the higher. It is just as well to use your common sense and walk, until you have the strength to fly. Common sense teaches you to eat when you are hungry, and rest when you are weary. Become as a little child, and when you are strong enough so that you do not need food and drink and care for your body, then do without, but the chances are when that time comes you will do without your body. Were you ever present when a great truth was suddenly made manifest to a concourse of people ? How well I remember during the World's Fair in Chicago, at the Parliament of Re- ligions, when the thought of the oneness of all things was re- vealed to my intelligence. A teacher from the Orient stood be- fore us, with his serene dignity, his quiet, calm voice, his per- fect poise making him such a fitting instrument for the simple yet wonderful teachings of the philosophy of daily living which Vibration. 43 he was giving us. As he closed his lecture he used these words, "We are one." Like a flash of glorious sunshine came into the depths of my being the realization of the unity of all things — and over all that great audience came a hush — a stillness so great that it seemed the highest vibration of a great sound wave echo- ing again and again those marvelous words, "We are one" — not only all men, but all the atoms of this mighty Universe, all one, only differing in their rate of vibration. All one! Does it not open wondrous realms of thought? Does it not reveal to us our responsibility not only for each other, but for everything which is created? All one. There is the keynote. We are individual and we are one. We stand alone and we stand with all men. Our personality is now mani- fested in the higher vibration of individuality, and our relation to the eternal principle of life everlasting is oneness with it. Let us build on the rock of unity. It is such a big, strong rock. No wave of delusion can possibly wash it away. Unity is a universal harmonious law. Humanity is all one; nature is all one, differentiated by vibratory law. As the man is the micro- cosm of the Universe, so is the atom the microcosm of the man. Individual intelligence constitutes the atom and individual intelli- gence moves the Universe. Now, how can we condemn each other and how can we despise each other, when our relation is so close that we are one 44 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. with each other? Just look at that in the light of reason and common sense, please. You see, when you think about things they begin to change and the real side, the true side, begins to show. The fact is man is the embodiment of the creative principle, and his creations are the manifestations of his thought. Now just think of this, every vibration sent out by the action of the mind means life or death to something, that is, it is either con- structive or destructive in its effect, and the effect is frequently on the atoms of the body of the one who sends the thought. Every thought sent out embodies either love or fear. Love is construction and fear is destruction, and all thought acts by reflex law on the sender. You see you are the arbiter of your own destiny, the ruler of your own life, and in very truth the creator of yourself. A human being is the greatest magnet in existence, attracting just what he gives, and receiving vibrations from the Universe ac- cording to the quality of life impressed upon the soul, and radi- ated from within. Let me tell you one very useful thing to do. You know we receive so much during the hours when the objective senses are in repose. Sleep is the result of over active life force. It is not weariness from low action, but weariness and sleepiness are the Vibration. 45 warning that the action of the life force is too high in its vibra- tion for the instrument to assimilate; so the objective senses are locked in repose while the subjective mind readjusts and harmon- izes conditions. Don't you know after intense excitement, either mental or physical, the body always demands sleep? and unless its demands are acceeded to the result is most inharmonious. In order to receive the best results from sleep it is well to suggest to your higher self just what impression you wish made upon the soul. Calm yourself and raise the vibration of the mind's action by deep breathing and repeating some beautiful mantrim or some song of praise to Jehovah. The whole circula- tion will change and every breath you draw during the time your objective senses are locked in slumber will be life giving and strengthening. The soul life is the great consideration, the entire object of our sojourn on this planet is to develop and educate the soul that its vibrations may be constantly raised and constructed accord- ing to Divine law. As the mind moves or vibrates, going out in the universe in search of knowledge and experience, only those experiences are retained which are imprinted upon the soul, and we reflect into objectivity those impressions, because the soul's vibrations are radiated through the physical expression, and if the body, the mind and the soul vibrate in harmony the effect is construction and life. 46 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. Do you know that all vibrations of a spiritual nature travel on waves of magnetic force, and that by cultivating the spiritual thought you strengthen your magnetic force? You think it is such a valuable quality, this magnetic force, and so it is, and the sure way to increase your own magnetic power by attracting this force from the Universe, is to live the higher life and vibrate in the law of love. Magnetism increases the life force, and there cannot be an enduring physical or mental power unless the magnetism is strong. If you wish to increase your power, purify your quality of life, and cultivate your magnetic power, you must think con- structively and spiritually and so raise your vibrations. Love is the highest vibration of a strong life force. In its higher vibration it is construction and in its lowest vibration it is destruction. Just as cold is the absence of heat, so is hate the absence of love. Many of these qualities which we think are so dreadful are only the lower vibration of a force that in its higher vibration is beautiful. To illustrate : Suppose your child pre- varicates. Instead of condemning him for falsifying, suppose you help him raise his vibrations, and realize that it is only a perverted imagination ; then purify by love that little imagination until it becomes ideality, the beautiful thing it is intended to be. If we would only be a little more charitable and send a few vibra- Vibration. 47 tions of love to these people who are vibrating on the lower plane we might have geniuses instead of criminals. Again, unless there is a vibration in ourselves, correspond- ing to the trait we condemn, it would be impossible for us to per- ceive the so-called evil. It is an old but true saying that "It takes a thief to catch a thief." We cannot comprehend a vibration that is not in our own being ; and we are all very much alike. We vi- brate differently, that is all ; so let us teach people a few of nature's laws and soon the low vibration of selfishness, which is disinte- grating humanity, will be raised to the higher vibration of selfless- ness ; and we realize that we are in truth all one. There is only one way that earthly life can be worth living ; and that is when you introduce the thought of an eternal life, and eternal progression ; and the only way you can reasonably conceive of an eternal life is in the light of the law of vibration. Life is transcendently worth living, when we perceive the truth of vi- bratory force. When we learn that law. and through it vibrate in the higher law of love, the spiritual consciousness then becomes the normal life ; and the spiritual and inner light reveal to us the truth. In order to produce a spiritual growth in the soul, a human being must be in harmony with himself; he must understand himself, and he must be true to himself to really understand him- self. He must also love himself in the just and perfect way. in order to be true to himself. 48 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. Above all, never condemn yourself or have any regrets for past misdirected efforts and apparent failures. Don't be afraid to love yourself and everybody else. The more love you give, the more you receive, and the more you have to radiate. Nothing so vivifies the conditions, nothing so elevates the surroundings and the personality, as vibrating in the law of love. The teacher in the east never argues. He simply says : "This or that is a fact. I give you this principle of Truth ; go to nature for the proof. Here are the keys of knowledge. Open the doors of your own soul and look for yourself." The teacher in the west illustrates, argues and tries to prove his teachings. The eastern sage is wise. Well does he know that no man can teach another. He can inspire him. He can lead him to the fountain of truth ; but each human being must perceive for himself, must carve out his own pathway. It is the Divine light within, which must illuminate the way. So, when a new thought comes before us, let us become as little children who haven't grown too wise to love one another. Let us not condemn ; but let us look at it and think about it. We may find therein life everlasting. Let us remember that to-day we are one day in advance of yesterday. The whole world has grown one day, and its vibrations have changed. A truth may find a resting place here to-day, that yesterday could not have been perceived. O Charity ! Truly the greatest of all is charity ! CONCENTRATION 9 CONCENTRATION O you remember the story in that most beautiful of live books., "Mother Goose,'' about the old woman who tried to lift herself over the fence in her tub? Dear me! how vividly comes back my childish wonder as I saw her ample pro- portions filling up the tub. and imagined her utterly futile at- tempt to move it. It would be so easy if she would only get out and put the tub over and then climb over after it, but the dear, fat old woman knew better — she would stay in the tub and get over in her own way. Bless her heart ! she is only like most other folks. How seldom do they put the motive power where it be- longs. And, why don't they, you ask? I will tell you in very few words. Because they don't think properly. They don't con- trol the mind and compel it to think right, and until they do they cannot put the motive power where it belongs. They must stay in the tub until somebody else puts them over. Oh, the pity of it ! How few of these wonderful minds are used right. How few individuals there are in this world. What a refreshing and inspiring thing it is to meet an individual; a man who thinks, and who uses his mind to make use of all the wonderful knowledge which is his by divine right, instead of 50 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. scattering his life force through sheer inability to think in a straight line. Let me tell you something. A man is incapable of asking a question that he cannot answer for himself. He could not form it in his mind if he had not the power of answering it. The question is the beginning of the thought the answer is simply the completed thought. But he must be capable of concentrating his thought and holding it steadily according to his will. Do you know the first stumbling block every one encounters in his study of "real things" is, that he cannot concentrate ! The one cry is, "Teach me to concentrate." so that is our first and strong point. Indeed, it has to come first because nothing could follow without it. What is concentration, anyway ? It is this : To centralize and utilize, in the highest sense, every force within ; and through the within control every force without. Round out and equal- ize on all planes, and do it by controlling the thought. Thoughtlessness is wasted time, and wasted time is wasted opportunity. To be thoughtless is to be unreasonable, and true virtue consists in being reasonable. In our class work we have a way of calling our Philosophy "The Philosophy of common sense." We believe in permeating everything with common sense. While we are a group of pe- culiar and individual cranks, we are so tempered with common Concentration. 51 sense and real reasonableness that we love everybody and are tolerant of every one's opinion; we come together in harmony and study truth for truth's sake. While we do not always agree about everything, one thing we do agree about perfectly, and that is that we want to know things. We are positively voracious in our desire for knowl- edge, and we know the law well enough to know that the surest step toward acquiring knowledge is to desire it, and after having the true desire, all is ours. How clearly a face comes before me, one of our dear mem- bers, who said to me the very first time she came to our class : "Do you mean to tell me that I have a right to and ought to have everything I want?" Why not, dearie, if your motive is pure; you only want what belongs to you, and doesn't everything you need for the happiness and health of your body, mind, and soul, belong to you? I fail to see why a man should be poor on any plane, financially, physically, mentally, or spiritually. The Uni- verse is so big and so full, and you are simply its reflection ; why shouldn't you have your own share out of it, and your own share is just as much as you can hold. Poverty on any one plane disturbs the harmony of every other plane. No matter how highly cultured you are, no matter how buoyant is your physical life, if you have not sufficient money for your needs, it spoils the whole combination. And 52 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. again, no matter how much money a man has, if he is sick or blind or has any physical ill, where is his harmony and strength ? Now, we believe that the cure all is to know things. Not only that knowledge which is of the intellect, but knowledge of the Soul; knowledge combined with understanding, that indeed is Eternal life. How are we going to gain this knowledge ? We are going to study ourselves, and help every one we can to study himself. We are going to know how to breathe, what to eat, and how to absorb in every way the life forces of the universe, and we are going to train our minds to think as we desire. The time is past when men can refuse to listen to the warn- ing voice. We have now come to a place in our Evolution when the vibration of Earth is too high for many of its children, and they must think, or do you know what will happen? They will be unable to stay here and finish their experiences. In very truth the man who will not raise his vibrations will have to "get off the earth." because the physical body is attuned to its counter- part of the Universe, Mother Earth, and when the man is not in harmony with it. it very quickly disintegrates. Of course you will say. Cannot the mind control the body? To be sure, that is exactly the point. You must control the mind, lest in its action it is destructive instead of constructive. The mind is the instrument of the Soul, and must be kept at- Concentration'. 53 tuned and in perfect harmony. The Objective Mind must be one with the Subjective; in fact the whole man must be harmon- ized, and he must be taught Concentration, for it's the sure way. It is our duty to remain in this Physical body as long as we have need of Earth's experiences. As is explained in the following lesson, we want to be wide awake and thoroughly alive when we get ready to leave our bodies and go on for further experiences. We want to use our opportunities so we can go into the next life in the full strength of our individuality. Concentrate! Of course you can concentrate. You must think that you can ; if you knew the barrier it creates you would never admit that anything is impossible or even difficult — the thought accentuates the condition. Practice and try not one time but many times, and when you have learned to control the thought you will soon control the conditions. How many people do you suppose really think, really con- centrate their thought, and if they do think, how many have the power of directing the thought as the will desires? Think of the possibilities of a human being and the harum- scarum condition of the minds of most of them. And really it is not surprising when you consider the gorging the mind is sometimes forced to endure. I have seen people, supposedly sensible, sit down to breakfast with a newspaper as well as their breakfast before them, and while they were loading the poor, 54 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. abused stomach with all kinds of indigestibles, they were loading the much abused mind with equally indigestible stuff. Murder, horrors of all kinds mixed in with politics and abuse of their fellow man, and all seasoned with accounts of the opera and the latest new books. Dear me ! such a chaotic mixture that it is no wonder the man has mental dyspepsia and wonders why he is unfortunate and is the victim of fate when he always tries to do exactly right. Nature is always kind; but when outraged, her laws com- pletely violated, she must rebel. It is not according to nature's laws to do three or four things at a time, and you must concen- trate on the one thing you are doing if you expect to make a success of life. When you eat, you must eat consciously, so you can absorb the life forces from your food as well as the material part of it. You must concentrate on everything you do, even such an ap- parently simple thing as taking your bath in the morning; take it consciously and absorb all the vital life there is in the water. It is such a common complaint, "I cannot concentrate." There is no such word in the vocabulary of a sensible man as cannot. You can do anything any other human being can do; and maybe a little more than any one has yet done, for does not each day bring added opportunities, and are you not greater than any circumstance or condition that may come to you? Concentration. 55 If you imagine you are unable to concentrate you can cer- tainly learn how, and if you intend to be successful on any plane of life you must learn. There is a way. You may not be able to do it in a moment, or even in a month ; but practice, practice and never give up until you have mastered. What are we on this planet for anyway? Use determines all things, and if it were not for some use, some purpose in the Divine plan we would not be here. It seems reasonable to sup- pose that our first duty while here is to conform to the funda- mental principle of use and so train ourselves to that end. As the soul is that part of the man capable of life everlasting, it must be the highest use to devote our energies to the Soul. Soul development then is our way to develop to its highest expression that part of the microcosm which is eternal life. Now the instrument which the soul uses is the mind, and the instru- ment of the mind is the physical body. The principle which is used by this wonderful human being is the will, an attribute of the Supreme principle of Love, and this mind must be trained; then, to perform its highest use by the direction of the will. There is a way to accomplish all things ; and if you cannot think as you desire to, cannot control your mind, there is a way of training your mind through the effort of the will to do as that will directs. 56 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. Of course it is easier to drift, but who wants to drift? That is disintegration ; we want life, vital life, and we want to master our conditions and conquer on all planes of existence, and what's more, we're going to do it. That is our Divine right, and when we follow the direction of the will, illumined by understanding, we always fulfill the law, for the understanding is the light — it is knowledge absorbed by the Soul. We have seen in our previous lessons that thought is the mind's action, the vibration of the mind. The mind in its action goes out into the Universe seeking experience, which according to its strength it imprints upon the soul. How important that it should gain experiences which are of use — that the thought should be concentrated to gain the greatest strength for its work. Mental dyspepsia is demoralizing to the mind and weaken- ing to the soul. Don't waste force. Don't be in a hurry. You have all the time there is, and moving slowly and concentrating the thought upon what you are doing is the surest economy in the world. Hold your thought on what you are doing, and it means strength on whatever plane you are working. Work never made any one weary. It is inharmony and scattering the forces that is disintegration. Weariness is simply a sign of destruction; the cells are rebelling and warning you that they will strike if you impose on their rights much longer. When you are tired, go off alone, fill your body with life by Concentration. 57 breathing love into it, and concentrate on some high and noble thought for a few moments. You will change your vibration of destruction into one of construction at once. Yes, you say, but it is so hard to concentrate. Is it ? Well, almost everything worth knowing is difficult, but I'm going to give you some real easy exercises and soon you will say, "It is just beautiful to concentrate. How did I ever succeed in any- thing before I learned how to use my mind?" Of course we must recognize that we are living in peculiar and exciting times. Never before has the vibration of earth been so high. Never have conditions seemed so complex, and never has the opportunity for soul development been so great. So much more reason why we should concentrate, why we should control the mind and so overcome ourselves and our surround- ing conditions. It can be done; the keynote for all overcoming and for all knowledge is concentration. It is impossible to breathe correctly until you know how to concentrate. Some of you may imagine that because you in- voluntarily move the lungs that you are breathing the breath of life; no indeed, until you understandingly absorb the essence of life in the atmosphere you do not breathe as you should. To be sure some people concentrate more naturally than others; If you love anything you are very apt to concentrate upon it. Some children are said to be smart, others stupid. The 58 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. difference is that one child unconsciously concentrates, and the other child scatters its forces. Froebel knew the secret. He was an occult student and knew this law, so by teaching the child concentration, he has done more for humanity than is possible to estimate. One dear little kindergarten wee wee said to me, looking at an orange, "I see a pretty light coming out of that orange." Dear child; she had learned to concentrate and she saw the orange as it was, even the surrounding aura, for every object radiates an aura and is surrounded by it, and the trained eye will see it. All children do not grasp so thoroughly, but they per- ceive in a way that children who have not the kindergarten ad- vantages, do not so easily. So many teachers and healers talk about affirming and de- nying; that is all right, but do they tell you the whys of things? You make the affirmation "I am life." Of course you are life, but why, how, and what are your responsibilities in regard to this life that you are? Let us concentrate about that. Again they say "All is good." "There is no evil." Surely that is true, but why isn't there evil, when the agonies of disintegration are everywhere? What law is it that proves that evil is simply the lower vibration of good? What is the use of saying something if your mind isn't on it, and you do not perceive with your very soul senses what you are saying? Concentrate about this; put Concentration. 59 your mind on the affirmation you are making, and don't imagine that you are life until you perceive what life is, and impress it upon your soul. In the study of the higher law, concentration is the first les- son. It cannot be impressed too strongly. You must discrimi- nate and absorb with every physical sense, and you will raise the vibration of the seven physical senses; you must concentrate them all in one, and separate them when you will ; you must be able to turn the mind within into its innermost depths and see yourself as you are — In short, you, your individual self, shall by concentration be centered and controlled. No man ever made a success of business if he could not concentrate. No woman ever was a good housekeeper if she could not place her mind upon her home. No musician ever mastered his instrument unless he trained his mind and his whole body to that end and concentrated upon it. Let me tell you again and again, it is the keynote. You must learn to con- centrate to succeed in anything. In commencing the study and practice of concentration, it has been found more satisfactory to center the mind upon some external object. Madam Blavatsky was a deep student of con- centration, and in her teaching makes a special point of it. One day, in speaking on the subject, she pointed to a matchbox lying 60 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. on the table and said, "I can so center my mind on that match- box that I can believe myself alone in the universe with only that object before me." That is concentration, to place the mind upon an object or any subject to the exclusion of everything else in existence. In taking any exercise in concentration, as in doing every- thing else in life, you must use your common sense; when the eyes grow weary, stop — that is your warning. One class of students might have better results from a candle, and another group might do better with a crystal or a glass of water. In our classes we have tried many methods, but the most satis- factory results have been obtained with a lighted candle. Some- times we have taken flowers, and it is wonderful and really piti- ful to see their delicate life fade with the withering force of the strong thought centered upon them; where the concentration is co-operative we have had a rose wither in five minutes. Possibly you will think that the thought sent out was a disintegrating thought. No ; it might have been a thought of love, but centered with such force upon the rose that the vibra- tion was too high for its enduring power. You know some- times the sun rays become so powerful they destroy instead of construct, and you can readily see how important it is to control the mind and do your work understanding^, or the thought forces may master you instead of you mastering them. Concentration. 61 Let me give you a little exercise in concentration with a Place it lighted upon a table near the center of the room. If it is a group of several students, form a circle around the table. If you are trying it alone, seat yourself before the table with your back to the outside light Place your feet firmly on the floor with the hands on the knees, head erect, and the whole body in the positive attitude. w fix your vision on the flame and with a physical effort exhale all the air in the lungs; and with a mental effort throw all thought out of the mind. v reverse the effort and take a deep breath — breathe in widths, breathe deeply and regular'.". Now center the mind, through the eyes, upon the flame of that candle and hold it there as long as you can without dis- comfort. You may be able to do so for two minutes the first time, but if you can hold the mind on the flame for thirty seconds to the exclusion of all else, you have done well. Then close the eyes and you will see the light for an instant with the closed eyes. Hold them closed until the vision of the candle has disappeared, then open them and try again. In class work it is a good plan to have the candle removed during the concentration exercise, while the students are looking at it, and it frequently happens that the image of the candle on 62 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. the table remains before the eyes several moments after the ma- terial candle has been removed. The same exercise can be taken with a glass of water, and when the concentration is co-operative, the water in the glass will move, showing that thought is not only a substance, but a tremendous reality, a mighty force, the most powerful force in the universe because the most subtle, and capable of penetrating the heights and the depths of its immensity. After a few days' practice with concentration you will notice how very much longer you can hold the gaze upon the candle, and how much longer its flame remains in your vision when the eyes are closed. Soon you will see the aura of the candle, and you will be surprised at the different view you will take of everything before your eyes. Life itself will become more real, for you are commencing to open your senses to reality. All these exercises are only practice, the means to an end, but practice is necessary. You practice your scales on the piano to be able to materialize grand harmonies of sound, so you practice control of the thought to enable you to use the mind to instill into the soul life grand harmonies of universal love. When you have trained your mind so that it will obey your will even in a slight degree, turn your attention to a higher vi- bration of practice and take some word to concentrate upon. Concentration. 63 Suppose now that you had often desired to know the real inner meaning- of the word "Faith," — beautiful word, carrying with it a Heavenly vibration of Love and Hope; what does it mean? Place your mind upon the word and think. If you cannot hold it steadily, keep saying it out loud ; if that won't do, write it in big letters and pin it on the wall before you. Insist, demand, and keep on until you can succeed in making the necessary im- pression upon your mind. When you can hold that word in your mind and throw out every other thought for the time being, you will be surprised at the wonderful meaning it will have for you; and as you absorb its vibrations, making them yours, you will realize the wonderful truth of the teachings of the Master, "Ask and it shall be yours." Oh. Life ! Beautiful life, incomprehensible only because we will not comprehend; Valueless because we will not take pos- session of its countless treasures. He who will but study him- self, learn to concentrate, shall find all its unspeakable joys, all ; acred mysteries revealed to his enraptured gaze. Through the avenue of concentration will he come into that Divine En- lightenment which is his own. There is no reason why a man should be ignorant, no reason why his capacity is limited except for lack of power to concentrate, and that is possible to overcome. There is no reason why a man should be poor or sick except because of his ignor- 64 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. ance; he ignores the laws of his being because he has not con- centrated upon them sufficiently to know them, but it is never too late to commence ; control the mind, and when once you have control of the mind you will control your own life conditions. To desire anything with a pure motive is to deserve it. He who desires Occult Knowledge, whose motive is unselfish, is as- sured of the fulfillment of his desire; but oh, ye Students of Truth ! After having once taken the step of becoming a disciple of Truth in its higher vibration, there is no turning back. When a man makes the decision, either consciously or unconsciously, to find himself, when he consecrates himself to unite his Ob- jective and Subjective mind, he finds his mentality and will power increasing, and every step he takes means progression; it is always onward, upward, a never ending growth. Too long we have thought that 'There is nothing great in the Universe but man and there is nothing great in man but mind." That is a most material view of this marvelous micro- cosm. There is something far greater in man than mind, some- thing which is vaster, something which is sublimer, something which as he catches a glimpse of it seems to the man like a ray of light that has come down into his mind from something that is above, and yet he recognizes that it is a radiation of and is really a part of himself; his higher self, as it were, struggling for recognition. Concentration. 65 Now what you must do is to become acquainted with your- self. You will be surprised how interesting you are. Analyze \our feelings, your emotions, and see what your motives are; think, look within and study yourself. It takes time to grow. and do you know another thing, growth is painful; you must pay the price for everything you gain in life, and those who know tell us that all things have their price, but for truth we pay the dearest — but it is well worth any price; its value is un- speakable. The mission of the Soul is to individualize the Spirit, and the instrument of the soul is the mind. There is no time to lose ; unless the mind is controlled how are you going to impress the experiences of life upon the soul, how are you going to use your opportunity and make your individuality a real and ever- lasting truth? The control of the mind, concentration of thought , not only gives power to overcome conditions of earth, but far greater power, power of becoming one with the Father, of having and being a Divine expression of life. Life is a grand reality. We are only in our embryotic state on this planet. The greater life commences when we are born on the next plane, but how important it is that we shall be born alive, awake, and ready to fulfill the law, instead of a poor weakling who has to be breathed into life by stronger souls. To be born conscious, that is the great responsibility, and if the op- 66 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. portunities which are ours are utilized, we shall certainly find that knowledge which means consciousness on higher planes. The Persian poet wrote: "There is no Heaven nor Hell but that which man creates for himself." He might have added with equal truth that man creates himself, builds himself around the life which is his. He does it by his thought, just as he creates his conditions by his thought. So again let me impress upon you the importance of concentration; according to your thought are you created, for you are recreated, reincarnated daily. You change every hour, and the change is the result of the thought. So think thoughts of life, thoughts of reality, thoughts of vital love, and attract that understanding whi; life everlasting. BREATHING BREATHING ST WANT to take you with me to-day into a beautiful country HI where all is harmony and peace, where all the senses are blended into one supreme sense; where you see, hear, smell and taste the life forces around you in every part of your body, and then I want you to listen to me while I tell you of the most wonderful thing in the world ; the life that is you, and that you attract into your being every time you breathe in the air around you. Now, isn't this a delightful world? How happy we are that we are -privileged to live, move and have our being on such a planet ; and not only to have the opportunity of expressing our lives here, but the opportunity of inbreathing from the whole universe every quality of life within it. Ah; yes! It is a great privilege to be created a human being ; to be made in the image of the Divine. Just think about it once, this perfect thing that you are intended to be, and then don't waste any more time about raising your vibrations to become one with your Creator, and fulfill the Divine plan. That is what we have come into this illumined country for to-day, we want to talk about raising our vibrations; and you want to be in harmony with yourself and me while I tell 68 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. you about this breath of life, and while I show you just a little wee, wee bit how to accomplish this end, and how to control this vital force. In the first place, while you are listening to me, do sit erect; head, neck and spinal column in a straight line. It really is a dreadful thing to sit crooked. You see, the spinal cord is in- side the vertebral column and not attached to it. When you sit or stand crooked you disturb the spinal cord, and whenever you breathe with the spinal cord crooked you inharmonize every nerve in you and do yourself an injury. Isn't is too bad how we abuse our beautiful bodies? The only wonder is that they serve us as well as they do. Now, I want you to breathe regularly for two reasons ; first, I wish you to be poised and thoroughly harmonious, because I have some very interesting things to tell you; and second, 1 want you to inbreathe what I tell you and absorb it into yourself with the inner breath. Don't you know how in our class work we usually take a deep breathing exercise at its close, in order that we may absorb into every center of the body the vibrations of the lesson? And most effectual it is, too. Now, to-day you are to breathe consciously all the time, because in this country we perceive things and you must be ready. What is known as breathing is a mighty poor apology for it, I assure you. But before I say another word let's take this Breathing. 69 exercise. Now try with me ; exhale all the air in the lungs, and gently inhale a conscious breath. We will count four for the inbreath, and four for the outbreath. Breathe in and out in a measured, regular way. Now again, rythmically, evenly. Isn't that refreshing? Are not your tired nerves calmer and a rest coming over your wearied senses ? When you think of the nerve center that controls the respiratory organs, and its influence over the nerves, you can easily perceive the importance of regular breathing, that all the atoms of the body will have a tendency to move in the same direction ; they will know exactly what is required of them, and move rythmically and in harmony. And oh, my dear sisters, do cast aside if only for a brief exercise, those horrid creations of conventionality — known as the corset. Just think how you are interfering with the laws of harmony when you suppress one of the most important centers of the body, and prevent the life force from permeating it. Don't you know that when all the centers of the body act with one motive, that the body becomes a tremendous power, a mighty magnet, a gigantic battery of life force? and here you suppress one of these wonderful centers, the solar plexus. Why do you do it? It certainly isn't for beauty, and it certainly isn't for comfort — must be because other people do. it. Won't it be nice when we do things because we want to, and not because some- jo Studies in Spiritual Harmony. body else does it. When you have a few more ideas about breathing maybe you will think as you are inspired to think, and become an individual. Now, let's breathe, and live, and inspire into every inch of our bodies, and every atom of our souls this vital force. We don't want to get old, do we? We don't care how long we stay here. This is a dear, happy home, we like to stay, but we don't want wrinkles and aches, and all sorts of signs of dissolution. No, we want to control these muscles and breathe the vital life into them, so that they get stronger all the time, and when we have been here eighty years we will be more beautiful and more buoyantly full of life than when we were eighteen, be- cause at eighty we know so much more, and should be just that much stronger. Do you know millions of people live, no, I mean exist on this planet for years, and really believe that they have to be sick, and have all kinds of troubles, that it is a kind of a visitation of Providence! Now, isn't that odd? I'd rather Providence didn't visit me if that was his way. They don't know that everything that happens to them belongs to them because they attract it, and that just as soon as they learn to control the muscles and by that knowledge learn to breathe, to control the body, they will soon understand breathing to control the conditions. Breathing. Ji Oh, dear, dear ! How we do suffer by ignoring the law ; and just think how surprised some of us will be when we wake up in another sphere of life, and realize the way we didn't improve our opportunities. Strange, isn't it, that the commonest thing in the world is the greatest mystery of life. Really the simplicity of things is most wonderful. The Breath is the life. Marvelous thought! Every breath you inhale is that vibration of spirit which is life. The lungs move involuntarily. You can't help it. If it required any effort or any thought, many of you would stop breathing at once, and as the lungs move, you unconsciously take in enough of the atmosphere to sustain the physical life. The breath is not producing the motion; the motion is producing the breath. Now, supposing you realize that within this breath is an inner breath, the spiritual life force of the external breath; I rather think you will place your conscious thought upon it, and control the muscles of your body so that you can receive the greatest benefit from your breathing and inhale the spiritual es- sence of life as well as the physical. Let me see. Have I commenced in the wrong place, told the last thing first ? Xever mind, when you are teaching from the plane of love, it doesn't matter very much where you begin, because it all works out in harmonv anyway, and we want to 72 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. know things from the plane of love, don't we ? When you really know things you love them and see the beautiful in them. It is the man who does not know the Supreme Intelligence, who is lacking in love. He who does not know nature, is he who cannot perceive her beauties. To know things, then, is to love them, and to love them is to know them, for we breathe in and absorb that which we love. Suppose, now, we go back a little ways. Possibly many of you think you can control your body. Please try to move the ears. How many of you can write equally well with both hands!* No, you cannot control your body very well. You are not even conscious of many of the muscles in it. Yet you should be able to so manipulate those muscles so that you could draw the breath to any part of your body, clear to your toes, and feel the breath as it vibrates through the limbs and into every atom of your being. No, my dear; don't tell me that is impossible. You cer- tainly remember a teacher who gave us the Hatha Yoga lessons a few years ago, who demonstrated to us perfectly that he could breathe when his nostrils and mouth were closed, and that every muscle in his body was individually under his control. I re- member particularly when he showed us how to breathe through the eyes, and told us how dreadful it is for people to lose their Breathing. 73 sight or have defective vision just because they did not know how to exercise the muscles of the eye and breathe to them. Isn't it queer, when you think of it, how people do object to being taught, most people, I mean? They certainly know that knowledge is power on all planes, and yet they do not want to learn the more real knowledge. When you say to a man, "You can live without food and even without water for a time, but you can't live without breathing for five minutes," he will admit you are right, but when you tell him his spiritual life depends upon his breath as well as his physical life, he immediately thinks you are deluded. The truth is that when your physical body gets through breathing the atmosphere, that your spiritual body will keep on breathing its life essence just the same. While the spiritual body is clothed in the physical envelope, the spiritual breath is clothed in its envelope, the physical breath. Nothing exists on this planet without a cause in the spiritual world. What a beautiful thought it is that we are so permeated with the Divine Inspiration. Oh, yes, I did promise you some breathing drills. Well, wait a minute. I don't want to give them to you until you know what you are doing. Incalculable injury has been done by people practicing the deep breathing before they really knew what they were doing. Don't be in a hurry, you have all the time there is, 74 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. and after years of ignoring the law, you can't jump into the middle of things in a moment. Be serene. The calm, quiet work is the most effectual. All growth is in the silence. I intend to give you several exercises, because of course you must practice. You have to learn for yourself. How many times have I told you that I cannot teach you anything. Maybe I can inspire you a little bit, although in reality the inspiration you re- ceive is what you inbreathe from the universal spirit, it is the in- spiring of the spirit breath. Every thought that comes to you is an inspiration, although not necessarily a good one. You have perceived that everything in the universe is spirit in different rates of vibration, so you see your inspiration need not necessarily be of a high vibration. A man might be inspired to commit a murder as well as to endow a hospital. One is the inbreathing of a low vibration of spirit, and the other a high one; both, however, are inspirations. Un- less you are expressing the high vibration you will scarcely in- breathe it. We only inspire and inbreathe that which corresponds to our thought. We attract what we are within, and the thought, which is the result of the mind's action, determines the quality of the life force which we attract with the breath. Now I want to give you a breathing exercise. I could go on talking all this beautiful day about the whys of things, when Breathing. 75 I really wish to demonstrate a little. Of course it will not be very much, but it may give you a passing glimpse of the possi- bilities of what you may do with some understanding of these higher forces. The drill which il am now going to give you will assist you in concentrating the thought upon the inner spiritual breath. It is a concentration breath exercise. Maybe you think because the machinery of the body moves, and unconsciously you inhale enough of the atmosphere to sustain the physical body, and exhale enough of the poison to protect you, that you are breathing. Believe me, it is only an imitation of breathing unless you inhale enough of the vital life force to sustain your soul life also. This breath means life on all planes, and it always seemed so interesting to me in the Bible where Jehovah breathed into the man the breath of life. The thought seems dominant that the man existed before that, but his soul life commenced with that great breath of Spiritual life. Whenever you take any breathing drill, be sure that the air surrounding you is pure and fresh, and also that the thought vibrations near you are of the kind you are willing to absorb, be- cause unless you thoroughly understand protecting yourself, you are liable to breathe in the thought which surrounds you. j6 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. Remember that you are master of your own being. It is well to say the words "I am master of myself, and will be su- preme in my own domain." Now take your seat in a straight back chair facing the east. Take the positive position, with the hands on the knees, the feet on the floor, head and back erect. In- hale and exhale deeply and regularly from seven to ten minutes, and always breathe through the nostrils, keeping the mouth closed. Cross the right foot over the left, and the right hand over the left on the abdomen. Close the eyes and do not move. Ban- ish every thought from the mind and sit in this way as long as you can, twenty minutes or even half an hour if possible, unless you get sleepy, then stop at once. You always want to have your surplus stock of common sense conveniently near when you are taking breathing exer- cises. Some people come into this training with such enthusiasm that they constantly overdo, and have to be as constantly held back. Others must be inspired to go on — as dear old mammy used to say, "There's a heap o' diffunce in folks." Isn't it nice to think, aye, to know, that you can breathe into your being from out the universe any force you may wish to attract? And it is also such a comfort to know that you can radiate the force which you attract. Health and happiness are quite as contagious as sickness and misery, and I assure you Breathing. JJ that if you properly use your breath, sickness is impossible, not only to yourself but to people around you. Of course there is one of the mightiest words in the world right in the way. Wouldn't it be lovely if there were no ifs? No j I don't believe it would. How do you expect to climb if there are no rocks to climb on? If there is nothing to over- come you can't develop your strength; and after all, when we have conquered the world, there is nothing to remain here for. That is what these ifs are for. You are going to overcome and develop the soul strength by overcoming every obstacle in your path. The quality you need for overcoming is strength. Now let's see how you are going to cultivate this force ; we will try breath- ing for it, and I will tell you how. Every morning as soon as possible you should go out into the open air and take a breathing exercise, if it is only to exhale all the air in your body, and breathe in the glorious freshness of the morning sun. You have never thoroughly appreciated the sun unless you have inbreathed its life essences in the early morning. Don't be afraid of taking cold. It is an old and exploded idea that people take colds, and you can absorb nothing but forces of life, when you are taking any kind of a breathing exercise in the open air. Xow the force you desire is strength ; place your mind upon the word strength with all its grand depths of meaning, and take 78 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. a deep breath. Don't be too intense about it; did I not tell you that your greatest strength is in the stillness? Breathe deeply and regularly with the thought of strength, and absorb its vibra- tions into the depth of your being. Strength is such a big, glorious word,, it means so much that some day I want to give you a whole lesson on that word alone. We will come here into this beautiful country where we perceive things, and I will tell you how you need strength, and how you can attain it. You must be strong financially before you can be generous. You must be strong physically before you can be virtuous. You must be strong mentally before you can acquire knowledge. In fact you must have it, and the surest way to get it is to breathe it out of this mighty universe. There is one exercise I should like to give you to-day that always especially appeals to me. It has such a grand symbolism and such a comprehensive correspondence. In order to use this exercise, however, you must be familiar with the zodiac, which is the symbol of the universe. Those of you who have been stu- dents of the esoteric law for any length of time are all familiar with the signs of the Zodiac, and realize something of their deep meaning; and those of you who are just entering these portals must study these symbols which encompass in their mystic circle untold treasures of knowledge and understanding. Breathing. 79 Place in your mind the symbol of the Zodiac. Hold it there till it seems to you a living thing. If you cannot concentrate upon ii with sufficient strength to retain it, practice until you can. You surely know that truth students object to the words can not, because they know a human being can do anything he wants to. There is always a way when you really desire to do anything. It always seems to me rather a waste of force to make a lot of excuses for some remiss action, when the only excuse is, "I want to" or'T don't want to." Realize that this symbol corresponds to the Macrocosm, the universe. Also that it corresponds to the Microcosm, the human being. Now with the circle in your mind place the mental vision upon Pisces, which corresponds to the feet; con- centrate upon the feet of the Universal Grand Man, and then breathe clear to your own feet. You can feel the course of the vibrating breath as it permeates and vitalizes the atoms of your being. Xow take the next sign, Aquarius, and in the same way draw in the breath to the part of your body which corresponds to Aquarius. Then take Capricorn, which represents the knees, and concentrate upon that part of the Macrocosm, breathing at the same time to your knees. Keep on in that way until you have completed the circle and thoroughly vitalized every part of your body and harmonized your entire being. 8o Studies in Spiritual Harmony. It is well to take about two minutes to each sign of the Zodiac; however, it always depends upon conditions and cir- cumstances. One minute to each sign is effectual, thus taking twelve minutes for the exercise, and I have known students who take five minutes for each sign. I always let my inspiration guide me. If I want to concentrate longer on Leo than on Virgo I do so, or any other sign. It is more according to my taste to do as I please and forget about the watch. This is really a most useful drill for producing harmony and polarizing the spiritual strength, and even for physical ills ii is excellent. In cases of insomnia I have never known it to fail; many times when it is practiced for insomnia the person is asleep long before the circle is completed. However, you are not working to cure physical inharmony, but for knowledge, and you are not supposed to go to sleep while practicing that drill or any other. While the chief object in our work is the acquiring of knowledge so that we can overcome on all planes, we realize that the physical overcoming is of the utmost importance, and that it always follows the spiritual advancement. On no plane are the results of the breathing study shown more than on the physi- cal. It is really wonderful what you can do with even a little understanding of the control of the breath. Breathing. 81 Most assuredly, my dear, the knowledge of the breath which gives such power is a most dangerous thing if it happens to fall in the wrong hands. But don't you know that accidents don't happen in such matters, and such power would not remain in the possession of a man who is capable of desecrating it very long? The Divine Intelligence is never manifested with greater strength than in this truth, that great truths are only given to those who are worthy. The instant the desire comes to a man to know truth for truth's sake, the way is open. When he needs a teacher, that need will be filled; and when he has exhausted the earth's teachers, he will find those from higher spheres. You can rest assured that those who are ready and worthy will find the truth no matter if their abiding place be in the wilds of a trackless desert. There never was a miracle in this world or any other. As people commonly understand miracles they are a violation of the law. Do you imagine the law can be broken? Oh, no; when you make an attempt at breaking it, it is you who get broken, not the law. A miracle is simply the fulfillment of the law by the action of a higher vibration, producing harmony in a short time, that would take longer with the action of the lower vibra- tion, which takes longer time. 82 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. If you are ill and my coming- into your presence, or sending you a vibration, cures you, I have simply raised your vibration by the contact of my vital life force, which is stronger than yours. You would probably get well anyway, only you haven't suf- ficient strength to attract the energy that radiates from me, and you inbreathe it as I send it to you. Isn't it wonderful, this study of the action of Nature's forces? The very soul essence of the Universe becoming manifest to us through the mighty power of the law. Truly "the law of the Lord is perfect." Sometimes I am asked : "What proof have you of these things, vast theories of Mind, Spirit, Vibration, etc? How do you know it?" Ah, my friends, in this country where we per- ceive truth, we don't need proof. It would be farcical to even attempt to give it. If you had to have external proof for what you know, you wouldn't know very much. I would not even know there is a country called China, be- cause I've never been there to my conscious recollection. I may have been there many times, for I've had some strange and won- derful journeys; but I can't prove China's existence even to myself, and yet I firmly believe there is such a place. I don't need to dissect a rat to believe that he has a won- derful internal structure inside his pretty gray fur coat, but I certainly believe it. This talk of proving things by the physi- cal senses is all nonsense. You can't do it. The higher vibration Breathing. 83 of the senses, and the combination of them all, perception, is the only proof of anything. That is why I love this country of reality, where we have come to-day ; I love to bring you here, leaving the world of delu- sion behind us, when I have a great and beautiful truth to tell you, and want you to perceive its beauties from the standpoint of reality. I want you to look within and only believe those things that your inner sense tells you are true. So come with us ; be one with us, and we will all come into this pure sweet country of reality, where the light of truth per- meates and radiates, and where we know things, and knowing love them. MIND M MIND ADE IN HIS IMAGE, molded in the form of the In- finite perfection, the microcosm of this glorious macro- cosm, a human being with the potentialities of the Di- vine Being — that is man. Just think of it, and marvel at your greatness. Contemplate your responsibility, for you are this wonderful creature, this em- bodiment of every law in the universe which you represent. The fundamental principle of all spiritual philosophy is that the human being is the microcosm of the universe and from that standpoint must we study the mind as well as the soul and body, not only of the man but of the universe. Now, let us reason together and see what part of our struc- ture the mind is, and what is the relation of the Universal Mind to the human mind. Yes, indeed, there are many points to con- sider, many sides to view, for the mind has unlimited capacity, and when turned within upon itself sees marvelous things. Oh, the weakness of language when one attempts to con- vey the ideas of reality! Oh, for words with which to clothe the immortal truth, and present it to humanity in such form that it will help us all to raise the thought of the mind into the con- sciousness of the soul. 86 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. One beautiful Truth student said to me, "I do not recognize anything but mind; to me it is all in all and there is nothing else." Then, dear, you do not recognize the mind, for it is but the manifestation of the soul, the instrument of the soul, as it were. And as the mind of man is the instrument of the individual divine soul of man, so is the mind of the universe the instrument of the great soul of the universe, for therein is the law, "As it is above, so it is below." It, therefore, follows that to recognize ourselves as one with the Universal Intelligence and in harmony with the forces of the Universe, we must attune the Objective Mind to the Sub- jective Mind and realize that in the great Universal Mind is all Knowledge and all power, and that by becoming one with it we become or, rather, we are, all power and all knowledge. The physical body is the instrument of the human mind, as the physical earth is the instrument and projected manifestation of the universal mind. In the work of life the mind and the body perpetually respond to each other, and it is useful to understand the mechanism of the body to comprehend the structure of the mind, for Mother Nature is most harmonious when we allow her to so manifest herself, and the body, the mind and the soul are mutually dependent upon each other. All contain the same eternal principles, all working together with the same grand purpose of impressing the soul with everlasting knowledge, Mind. 87 which is Eternal life, thereby individualizing the Universal spirit. Now, throw aside the idea of growth, the mind does not grow, it manifests itself, develops its own strength as it goes out into infinite space and gathers facts. These facts are impressed upon the soul, and remember this, only Truth is everlasting. Thoughts which are delusive, fade away as a vanishing mist that cannot endure the light of the sun ; for instance, pain is delusion no matter how apparent to the physical man — in the light of Truth all inharmony must disappear. Now, please do not mis- understand me. The effect of pain is eternal in whatever way we allow it to affect the soul senses — if the pain were not delusion it would be with us always — but it is only an experience — one of the many lessons which the mind encounters in its work of man- ifestation — while the effect of all these experiences is according to our realization and consequent soul impression. How beautifully in the light of Truth does everything con- form! When you become conscious of yourself, how real it all is — and when you are conscious of yourself, really recognize yourself, you have access to the Universal Mind, thus coming in touch with the fullness of all life. Recognition and Realization are necessary to the higher unfoldment. When you know your- self you are on intimate terms with all humanity on all planes of 88 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. life. You know without objective study more than you could absorb in a lifetime of intellectual development alone. Throw aside these delusions of inharmony and selfishness. Recognize the unlimited power within. Let the light of Truth shine into your mind and realize your greatness. As Emerson expresses it, "The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn/' The upliftment of a thousand worlds may be in one mind. Let no man feel proud of his mental power. It belongs to all men for he is nothing but what he draws from the Universal Source, and yet he is all because of his capacity of drawing all. It is when you realize this oneness of all things, that the thought of the mind becomes the consciousness of the soul. Now. the question is. what are you to do in order to become conscious, to awaken your mind to its true relation with and to the Universal subjective mind? Indeed, it is a question because the power of the mind is so great that under proper training it becomes fairly illuminous, no subject but what comes under its comprehension, and then I hear you say, What do you mean by training ; what kind of training are you speaking of ; are we not always under training? Yes, there are many kinds of training, many methods of development, but there is only one way of un- folding the Spiritual nature and really illumining the mind, and that is by concentration united with consecration. Mind. 89 Concentration alone is not sufficient. There are many in- tellectual geniuses who are spiritual idiots, who have gained much objective information by concentration of the mind, but the truth that I wish to impress in this very brief glimpse of the mind is, that in order to become the open sesame to the real and Eternal Knowledge, concentration must be united to its higher self-con- secration. Do you realize in this training of the mind what a valuable quality the Imagination is? and notice how it is suppressed. A child comes to its mother with a startling tale of something he has just seen or done, and she is horrified ; scolds him for imagin- ing something, worries because he prevaricates. The next time his beautiful vision comes he refuses to see; Mama says he mustn't. Dear, sweet Mama, do let your baby imagine all he wants to; go into his world with him and help him idealize all his fancies and then try for yourself. Concentrate upon your highest ideal — if it be a personality, draw his image before you ; if it is the ideal of Truth, so much the better. Concentrate upon it. Hold the image in your mind and breathe deeply the inspira- tion of life you desire to attract; see what beautiful light will come to you. As the mind unfolds in this way the image making faculty constantly increases, grows so strong that sometimes the images take material or, shall we say, ethereal form, and who that has had this experience will say, these images of the concentrated 90 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. thought are not real ! Believe me. in the culture of the soul, as well as of the mind, the imagination plays a most important part, and the gift of imagination is one to be desired and appreciated. Just contemplate the wonderful power and scope of the hu- man mind when it comes in touch with the Universal Mind; it knows not the limitations of time and space. Into the depths of the earth and into the immensity of the Heavens it can go in an instant of time. Back, mingling with past ages — onward, penetrating future mysteries, can it go, with marvelous rapidity. Is it surprising that we find it difficult to control this wonderful thing or even to comprehend it? There are people who ask — What is the use of all this an- alyzing the man? Does this have anything to do with our soul culture ? YVe will see : Is not knowledge on all planes of great use ? Certainly, to know the physical body is most import- ant in its care and in its training ; why not even more so, to under- stand the mind and its relation to the body and to the soul ? To be sure you may say. no one understands these things. You cannot see them. Oh, my friends ; it is in the consciousness of the soul that one really knows himself. The thought of the mind alone will never give you eternal knowledge ; it must be raised into the higher recognition of itself until with the soul senses you perceive these things not with the mental or physical senses. And how this question of terms does intrude itself when Mind. 91 we want to convey an idea, doesn't it ? Somebody says, "Noth- ing is created, all is manifested." Then, when we come to reason together we find this thought of manifestation and another of creation are one and the same. Again, we have this thought of growth — we realize there is no growth — it is all manifestation, evolution, we say, for convenience ; the tree grows when it is only bringing forth the life within, but we constantly use the word to express the idea of manifestation. The tree can only bring forth and attract from the soul of the universe what is within itself; it must manifest from within out — as is the case with all life. For convenience, again we will use the word creation. Man creates himself, or call it evolution, if you like — the word is noth- ing, and the instrument he uses in creating himself is the mind, for the mind's action, which is thought, is the dominant force of his life — and he creates himself and his conditions by the quality of his thought. Seemingly, in a degree, we are creatures of circumstances, but in reality we create our own lives, for there are no circum- stances that cannot be overcome by conforming to the law in thought, word and deed, and using common sense and reason in so doing. When I speak of the law, I always mean the law of harmony and love — the law that expresses the Christ principle and is nature's law. The word is greater than the deed, and the 92 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. thought is greater than the word, because the thought must come before, and must control the word and the deed. There is no phase of charity so great as thinking charity, because, if you think kindly and lovingly of every one the word and the deed must follow. What a wonderful realization it is and what a consciousness of the oneness of all humanity it gives us, to know that the mind of each human being has an influence upon every other human being, and what a responsibility it is when we see that the influence is in proportion to the connection one has with the Universal Mind. When the objective Mind has no connection with the Subjective mind, as in the case of an idiot ; or very slightly con- nected, as in the case of an insane person, that mind makes no impression on the surrounding minds. But look at the man whose life has been one of conscious concentration, and who has conse- quently strengthened not only his magnetic force, but his con- nection with the Universal Mind; that man's mind will sway audiences as his spoken words never could. If he is a writer, his readers will feel the vibrations of his thought force as he im- presses through his pen his great power upon their minds. It is through the subjective mind that we really meet each other, not only our friends on this planet, but those in other Mind. 93 realms and spheres. Every normal human being is connected with the subjective mind in a degree or his objective mind would be unable to comprehend the meaning of anything the physical senses report to it, and it is to unite still more closely with the subjective mind that all this mental training is necessary. There- fore teach your truth-student to concentrate and you will do more for him than anything else you can do. One person is not any brighter than another; it is only that one has greater con- centration developed than another. Have you not seen people who were seemingly what the world calls stupid, and who suddenly developed a certain genius and brilliancy that was remarkable ? Those people simply became conscious of themselves. The key-note of their being is touched and they recognize themselves. Again, you see people who as children give promise of such wonderful things and who are quite commonplace as they grow older. They have raised a barrier be- tween themselves and the universal source of all knowledge, it may be by selfishness, or it may be by intellectual pride, or pride of wealth, but the light of true understanding has been obscured for a time. Thus we see that all men are equal, and each one has just the opportunity he needs for his unfoldment if he will only make use of it. Some people, however, consider their stepping stones as very great misfortunes. They resist instead of overcoming 94 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. and mastering conditions, and after a lifetime of resistance and misunderstanding wonder why "life is a failure." A mind that is free from fear soon becomes one with the Universal and manifests its all powerful qualities. Fear is the embodiment of every other evil, or so-called evil, under the sun. Fear is the greatest hindrance to spiritual unfoldment that there is ; not only that, but it is the barrier between ourselves and suc- cess on all planes. In fact, fear is the one and only evil, the cause of all sick- ness and all sorrow. Free the mind from fear and the gates of Heaven will open to you. Sum it all up in these words : Fear is the one thing to be afraid of and must be cast out of the mind. Countless Universes exist, and these are arranged mechani- cally like the human body, the mind of all minds being the con- trolling power as the mind of man is the controlling power in his body. Each atom of the Universe is dependent on every other atom, being at the same time an individual atom; and so with man, each individual must, while seeking his own good at all times, in all places, in all situations, seek the good of the as- sociated whole. That is your responsibility, and there is where you gain your life, by merging yourself into the whole, thus Mind. 95 strengthening your own individuality while helping all the world — nay. all the Universe. Behold, how clearly is revealed the meaning of the words, "Man, know thyself/' in this study of the mind! The study of the subjective mind is an introspective study of self, unveiling the higher self, for in the subjective world everything is con- tained ; and in degree that we allow the higher self to manifest is every power in the being manifested. So that in reality only by recognizing and thus comprehending and manifesting his per- fection, his oneness with the Universal Harmony, can the man become master. Mind, as commonly understood, applies to the activities of the brain ; in Sanscrit it is called Manas, the thinking principle of man. In the occult conception it is a vibration of spirit which manifests itself on the different planes of being by virtue of the unseen stratum of the Universe. It is one and a part of all, and we get as much and no more of this force as we are capable of using, consequently the more we cultivate the powers within and develop the individuality the more of this force becomes ours. The Universal Intelligence traveling along the Universal thought currents is the one Universal law, and "The law of the Lord is perfect." With that thought in the consciousness there will be no question of "breaking the law." You will realize that g6 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. such a thing is impossible, and that any attempt at it breaks the man and not the law. How many times do we say Knowledge is power — Knowl- edge is strength — aye, Knowledge is eternal life, not intellectual information, but that Knowledge which is understanding that is Eternal life, and how beautiful it is to feel the pulsations of this life as the awakening is coming to humanity, and all men are seeing this light of truth. Even the daily papers and maga- zines are permeated by what is called the "new thought." Of course it is not the new thought, because Truth always has been, is, and ever shall be, but the old barriers are being destroyed, and men are recognizing themselves as never before. A human being is the greatest magnet in the Universe, and from the brain radiates a force which you can send where you please, as soon as you really understand you have such a force at your command. By generating this thought force in love, and realizing that in every other man is this same power, this same love principle, you establish a magnetic chain between you, thus giving him what you have for him and receiving in like manner. You have within yourself, then, magnetism sufficient to draw to yourself all that you need from out the Universe — all that you desire, and all that you demand, but there must be no unbelief; simply have perfect faith that your requirements will be fulfilled. Mind. 97 What a glori- Truth is infinite and can never be exhausted ous realization it is that we are coming into the Consciousness of our oneness not only with each other but with Universal Truth. SELF RELIANCE SELF RELIANCE XCE THERE WAS a dear baby girl; you would say pos- sibly that she was spoiled, but I doubt if you can spoil a child unless you suppress it or abuse it, and this child was certainly neither suppressed nor abused. One day her clear-eyed mother perceived that the I of the child was becoming too pro- nounced, so she said to the important tot : "Dear Heart ! does it ever occur to you that every other child in the world is of just as great importance as you are ; that in her world your little play- mate is the center just as you are the center in yours? Every soul is the center of its Universe, and from that center must its life proceed." Sweet, astonished blue eyes ! How wide they opened, and how the dimpled chin trembled as the child heart responded to the great truth, and slowly and surely did the mind comprehend what the soul perceived, and the self became polar- ized in that new light. Blessed was that child who learned her lesson then, and blessed indeed is the human being who recognizes his position in the Universe and poralizes himself accordingly, for in polar- ization is the only strength. Oh, Man ! what is the self, this mighty power within which is so little understood and yet which must become the Divine LofC, ico Studies in Spiritual Harmony. individual ? We are taught by the Masters "Thou shouldst strive to raise the self by the self; self is the friend of self, and self in like manner is the enemy of self." Such a world of inspiration in those few words ! Think deeply. Concentrate upon them and see what light will come to you in understanding this mighty self and in realizing the sense of being — of being one with all life. Oh, my friends, the true growth is from within outward. The inner man is the self, and to the inner man we look for this expression of life which raises the vibration of selfishness to the higher vibration of selflessness. So much has been written in the so-called "new thought" journals on the subject of Being and affirming, etc., seemingly such a useless jargon of words that one wants to dip his pen in fire and impress in words of flame this Knowledge which is in very truth Everlasting life. The real life principle within is the true Ego, and the differ- ence in its vibration makes the difference between the i" and the you. You must manifest this life principle; you must understand it because you create yourself by its action. On you and you alone rests the responsibility of your evolution. Xo background or prop of organization will help you. Alone you must under- stand — one with all men, and yet alone. You think it is hard? No, it is glorious. Cast off the scales from the eyes., throw out the delusions of personality. You never Self Reliance. 101 will know the ecstacy of love until you recognize that one human soul is no more to you than another, until you perceive the Di- vine Individual in all men; feeling the strength of the "I am" within — knowing that "I am the way the truth and the life." Glorious truth! Radiant revelation to the soul! What are we on this planet for, anyway, but to realize the self, to obtain a conscious knowledge of the self and to make subjective thought objective deed ? What is the use of knowledge or of anything else if you cannot make it practical? It is all very well to tell people about these realities of life, but unless you can make them plain and prove the truth of them you might just as well stop talking about it. Xow, right here let me tell you something. Never accept anything because somebody says so, or because it is in some book. If you find a statement in the Bible itself that is not reasonable to you, do not accept it until it proves itself to be true. Depend on your own consciousness to guide you, not somebody's else understanding. There are the two ends of the pole, repulsion and attraction, and you and you alone can find the right polari- zation. As for the Bible, it is such a wonderful, such a magic book that only the man shorn of his delusions can comprehend it. It is not written for the man who thinks he knows, but for the man who knows or who desires to know. 102 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. Remember this : Xature always works intelligently, and there is an interior life element in all men and in all systems. The Subjective mind never makes mistakes and never fails. It is all there. The universal life principle is in all things ; all strength is ours if we will only recognize our own. Strength — what a grand word it is ! "What a vibration of power it embodies. I love to say it aloud, to draw it into the innermost depths of my being and say "I am strength." It helps me to become this strength that I love. Weakness is the cause of all inharmony; strength is harmony itself. All virtue has strength for its foundation. Did you ever see a generous man who had not strength of pocket-book to be generous with? Of course all financially strong men are not generous. All strong people do not recognize their responsibility, but the greatest force to be desired in the world is strength — physical, financial, mental and spiritual strength. Instead of anxiously desiring wealth, success, fame, etc.. wouldn't it be a good idea to go to work to cultivate the strength that will enable you to have anything, and everything you re- quire? Anxiety is never strong; emotion is always weak. The silent power is the great power. When you realize what the self is, its power and its possi- bilities, you see that by cultivating the strength of the self, that quality which we know as self reliance, we do more for our- Self Reliance. 103 selves than in any other way. Just think how some teachers tell us we must kill out the self ! What for, I'd like to know ? Are we not distinctly taught in the commandment of the Most High, "Thou shalt not kill"? and even if we had no higher teaching on that subject, does not our common sense and reason teach us that the self is to be cultivated and strengthened, and above all comprehended? Ah! there is the key-note, Understanding. Surely we do not destroy what we know, for what we truly know we love, do we not ? We see beyond the crusts of the outer self into the depths of the inner self, and then we love the beautiful soul we perceive within. No, we must not destroy anything. Overcome ? Yes. Raise the -vibrations? Certainly, but destroy, never. You will destroy the body as well as the self if you attempt to kill out that which is within. Suppose you have a violent temper. Don't imagine for one minute that it should be killed or destroyed. Dear me, a temper is one of the most valuable forces in the world if rightly directed. Raise the vibrations of that temper until it becomes the power behind the throne — a strong, sure life force within. What would your engine be without the steam in its body? But if the steam is misdirected, not controlled, the engine is apt to be disintegrated and the steam to become a wasted force. It is so with any quality. It is yours to make the highest use of and not to scatter and waste. 104 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. Some one of the modern writers has said that it is a good thing to take a day off and get acquainted with yourself, and it is excellent advice. Look within, and what do you see ? Do you find a loving soul that knows its own strength and realizes its possibilities, or do you find something that fears, thus attracting weakness on all planes? Are you living so that you cultivate this fear, thereby disintegrating your body and enervating your condition of life, or are you cultivating self reliance, courage and strength ? Beloved Sisters ! who is master, you or Fashion ? Are you free to wear what is harmonious to you, to live your own life according to the requirements of your experience, or must you pause for fear — they might say something. A sweet woman said to me not long ago that she couldn't live in a certain neighborhood because she had to do her own housework, and the people in that neighborhood would look down on her. Dear, dear Sister, your home is your glory. Blessed is that woman who is privileged to do her own housework and keep her home sacred. Oh, the pity of it ! that such conditions can be wherein we cannot live our own lives for the fear of what some one might say. To be sure it requires strength in a degree to overlook the opinion of the world, but that is what we are talking about — self-reliance. As soon as you commence to live your own life, and to depend upon yourself instead of what the world says, you Self Reliance. 105 will have many occasions to forgive and overlook the apparent cruelty of the world. Be true to yourself and the highest ideals of your soul, and when your strength is proved, and you go on in self-reliance and perfect poise, the first thing you know this blundering old world will change its attitude and follow you. It took the world several years to appreciate Columbus, but he knew, and the opinion of the world was nothing to him. Strength will accomplish anything. The survival of the fittest is and ever has been the law ; all nature and all life prove it. It rests with us to see that the fittest is the Spiritual part of ourselves and that we attract strength to the higher self, thus overcoming and raising the self to the high vibration of self- lessness. Let us train this self to be the thing we desire, and then we shall have no difficulty in attracting our own. Students have said to me, "My own shall come to me," as though it were a future reward that would swoop like some great bird down on their heads. Bless you, dear heart, "your own" is here right now, and if you don't like it, change it. It all rests with you. Let me tell you something. You've got to become a thing before you can have it. You will attract to yourself what you really are, and if you are cultivating the lower vibrations of your being, becom- ing selfish, cruel, stingy, what do you expect? No matter what 106 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. you expect you will get just what you are, and the destructive and disintegrating forces will be yours. On the other hand, if you vibrate in the law of love and become life, you will attract and radiate that which you are. Can you imagine a disintegrating force entering into that being which is life itself ? Can you conceive of harm coming to a man who is love ? Suppose the world does turn and rend him. Is he not deathless from the strength of his love? Do you know we lose half the delights of our sojourn here by always depending on something or somebody? How many of us, in these days of automatic conveyances, street cars and carriages, enjoy the good long walk? It is so easy to jump on a car — saves time, too ; queer, isn't it, how we have to save time when there is no end or beginning to time? We have to be hurried off this planet after a sojourn of fifty or sixty years upon it just because other people have done so, when we can stay as long as we please if we only think so. How much closer one comes to nature if he lays aside his watch and all the contrivances for making his life artificial and lives close to Mother Earth for a time. Depend upon yourself; surprise your limbs by giving them a little exercise for a change. Surprise your memory by depending on it instead of carrying a pencil and tablet in your pocket to remind you when it is time to keep your engagements. Wouldn't it be rather nice not to Self Reliance. 107 have any engagements and be free for a time? But dear me! such ignoring of modern conventionality is hardly to be contem- plated. We rise by the clock, we eat by the clock, we live, move and have our being by the clock ; we even take our drugs by the clock. No wonder the self loses its strength and becomes weak and afraid. Show me the man who depends on himself, who knows himself truly and relies on that knowledge, and I will show you the master mind. For in knowledge of self is life eternal. In the higher life there is no such thing as ambition for self. The object of every student of truth is to obtain knowledge in order to be of greater use to his fellow man. No matter what ambition he may have had to start with, when the student recog- nizes himself he polarizes himself on the plane of common sense and goes to work. That is the way. Do something for some- body else, and forget the personal / for a time. In becoming self reliant you don't want to depend on the false self — that means, what you call conceit. You must depend on the real self ; then you make no mistakes. It is unnecessary for a man to go off into the wilderness to find his work on Spiritual lines. Just as fast as you are ready your work will appear. Neither is it necessary to go one step out of the way to find it. If your work happens to be washing 108 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. dishes, do it the very best you know how; make it a beautiful thing, and something more congenial may soon be brought to you. I know a woman who left her home and baby, in order to fill an "equal sphere with her husband." I never yet saw a man who was equal to harmonizing a baby and a home. Realize the importance of your work, and don't imagine it is commonplace just because that is the world's present opinion. Work is the most beautiful thing in the world. We are all servants, or ought to be, for there is nothing so deplorable in the world as having nothing definite to do. The greatest glory in the world is to be privileged to serve others. Pity that poor, ignorant soul who regards her "servants" as different flesh from her own, and who feels that work is beneath her. Her chief work in life is to delude herself, and she misses the cream of life itself in her struggle for delusions. The greatest joy of life is serving. Give of your love ; give of your strength. No man is poor while he has the power within himself to be anything he desires. Rely upon yourself and the inner voice, and you will soon know the way. Isn't it beautiful to know that every step we take onward helps everybody else — to know that every time you help yourself you are helping all the world, and embodying the grand teaching of Jesus, "If I be lifted up, I lift all men with me" ? Self Reliance. 109 Remember that affirmations amount to nothing unless you, in truth, embody the affirmation. Imagine a man claiming "I am God" when he is living in the thought of how he can accumu- late more money than he has any use for. It is noticeable that most of such people seem to have a fear that the Lord's store- house will give out, and they feather their nests most luxuriously, and demand millions at a time. Seems to me if I had faith that the supply was equal to the demand and that all was mine for the asking I wouldn't want such a lot all at once, nor make people pay such enormous and rigid prices for a Truth which is free. I would rather trust in the truth of my teachings, knowing that when I need it the money or the supply must come. Imagine a man insisting "I am life" when he ate for his dinner the body of a creature that was filled with conscious pul- sations of a life that is one with his own. Was not that creature permeated with fear when the life was rudely torn from it, and is not the man absorbing those vibrations of fear by taking them into his organism? I know it doesn't sound pretty. Truth frequently is not pleasant ; in fact, it never is unless you are one with it ; but even if you don't like it, be strong and self reliant enough to think about it and know for yourself whether it is truth or not. The truth is that the only thing you can claim as your own is what no Studies in Spiritual Harmony. you become, not what you delude yourself into thinking is your own, but you yourself. I do not mean to ignore the use of affirmations. In a degree they assist in the cultivation of self, in the strengthening process. We all know how we can polarize the mind when we are dis- turbed by the spoken affirmation, but again we can most woefully delude ourselves by affirmations which are not true. I can deny a physical inharmony by declaring "I am perfect health" until it separates the body from me and I die, as they say. I can also de- clare I am ill until I am completely inharmonized whether there was any foundation for it or not. There is a great deal more to the science of healing than declaring, or denying or affirming. They certainly help to strengthen, that is all. The greater the strength, the greater the power of the self, the more you can overcome. You can over- come yourself in regard to the heat, for instance. It requires but little strength to place yourself in the attitude where you do not suffer from the ordinary heat of summer; but it requires great strength to overcome yourself so that you do not suffer if you place your hand on a red hot iron. The great Truth to be impressed is this : Know the self first, then strengthen and rely on the self, and finally become the Di- vine Self. Self Reliance. in Right here we must consider the question of the influence of others upon us. Be strong in your discrimination of the truth. Let no other mind dominate your thought. Be grand enough to recognize your delusions when once they are revealed to you, but know things for yourself and not because somebody says so. You can absorb something from everyone, but do not accept anything because I say so or some great teacher or writer has expressed it, but because you perceive it to be true. The law of the Lord is perfect, and when you conform to that law there is no danger of your scattering your forces. Really it is most restful, and how anxiety disappears in the face of such a consciousness. You need have no care for the morrow if you cultivate the very highest of all things within yourself and rely upon yourself. The Lord is mindful of his own — that is, the law protects those who are one with it. "The lily of the field" looks up in loving faith and all its wants are intelligently supplied. Truly it "rests in the Lord" — relies upon the law of its own being. Ah! yes, the most difficult thing for struggling humanity to learn is the simplest thing in the world. Let go. Stop being anxiety and be peace and strength for a while instead. As we go on concentrating on self and self-reliance, do we not see how disastrous it would be to "kill out" the self, when upon the self and the strength of self depends all that we are? ii2 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. It is you yourself, and you must become the spirit and the life by knowing and raising the vibration of self. You do not believe anything unless you live it. There is the knowledge of the in- tellect and the knowledge of the soul, and it is the soul knowledge that is meant when the Master says that "To know is to have eternal life." Be true to the self and all men will be true to you. The only person whose respect it is absolutely necessary for you to have is your own. What other people think of you is of but slight import compared with what you think of yourself. Culti- vate the soil of your own inner garden and see that its plants do not die for want of care. The seed that is sown in your inner consciousness will determine the fruit of your life's expression. If man would but look to the inner Temple of his soul for light and understanding rather than to the delusions of the out- side world, how different it all would be. He would soon learn to depend on himself, would soon become that which the Master Truth requires. True growth is from the inside out. The tem- porary props of churches and organizations are useful just as is the mother's guiding hand to the child until the little feet are strong enough to stand alone, but the time comes when the baby is gone, the man stands alone in the world ; yes, alone, yet strong in the consciousness of his own strength. Self Reliance. 113 How majestic in its solemn import is the life when the awakening of the spirit has come. How strong and serene in its sense of security is that soul which recognizes and knows the law of its own divine being. Then, indeed, is he ready for the awakening in other spheres. The diver in the ocean's mysteries only remains there until he has found his treasure. He is sus- tained in his research by the air he receives from above. How he rejoices to return to that atmosphere which is his life! Do you not think when the man has found his treasure that he also will rejoice to return to that atmosphere of love which is his life? Watch and Pray. Student of Truth, you must watch your thoughts diligently, always striving to raise the vibrations and create purer atmospheres of love and tenderness for all things. The Kingdom within yields to prayer and concentration. It is said that to labor is to pray, to ask is to receive and to knock is to have opened, but not without the effort and action of the seeker. Your treasure is within yourself. When the recognition of self comes to the soul the Divine Spirit enlightens and in- structs, illuminating and revealing the treasure within. ETHICAL DIETETICS ETHICAL DIETETICS IF there is anything in this world I do love to do, it is to cook. Possibly you may think I don't know anything about cook- ing, and that is the reason I think it is such beautiful work ; and again you may have an idea that the art of cooking has nothing to do with spiritual philosophy. Indeed, I have heard that some people think the work of preparing food is beneath them and not ethical. Just think of that ! as though there is any- thing great or anything small in the Divine harmony. Don't you know that "He that worketh in love is one" ? It is all a matter of opinion as to which work is the greatest, and I would like to know any work that requires more ability and tact than cooking (good cooking, I mean), or that is more useful. Now I have tried all kinds of work, from playing the organ in church to making bread, and from taking care of babies to teaching esoteric philosophy, and I believe that making bread requires more real love vibrations than anything else I have mentioned. Ah! there is the secret, my friend; if you want to succeed with your cooking you must put the constructive force of love into it, and you people who "hate" to cook — if you have any regard for the health of the people you are cooking for, leave the n6 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. high and holy profession of cooking to some one who loves the work, and you go and be an opera singer, write a book or saw wood, but don't cook. Every vibration that you take into your body, whether it is in the air you breathe, the water you drink or the food that you eat, carries with it either a constructive or a destructive force, and every atom that you take into your stomach has an influence of some kind on the atoms of your body. Let us think seriously about this, and then see whether it is important, or a matter to be lightly considered what kind of food you eat, and what kind of vibrations have been put into that food. All you students of suggestive Therapeutics understand per- fectly that you can take a glass of water and suggest to that water that it carry in its atoms harmony and love — relaxing quality if that is required, or any other force your patient needs, and it will act quite as effectively as medicine. Surely you have thought that the atoms which you take into your system in food must come under the same law. Every atom in the body is intelligent; the brain is not the only part of man that thinks, and when these atoms are ill at ease they will rebel, and when there is mutiny in the stomach the entire body is conscious of it. Most dyspepsia, in fact I believe almost all physical inharmony, is the result of the destructive vibrations which are in the food we eat. All destructive vibra- Ethical Dietetics. 117 tions mean disintegration, and what the world calls old age and final dissolution or death. Of course it is better to do without food than to take de- structive forces into the body, and if the stomach has been abused, by all means let it rest. When it is ready for food it will notify you, and inform you exactly what kind of nourishment is best for it. Any craving you have is simply the call of nature. The body knows what it requires for recuperation, and if you will build your body constructively by eating the proper foods, there will be no dis-eased conditions and no abnormal cravings. It is not necessary to discuss the different opinions of the world in regard to this question of diet, because there is no sub- ject on which people are more opinionated than this. What we want to do is simply to consider our problem from a common sense standpoint. Science that is not based upon common sense and reason is not worthy the name of science, and cooking and the preparation of food is a science, nay more, it is an art. Some writer has said that Science is from man and Art is from God. It seems to me that art is only a higher vibration of science. You reason about science, you perceive art, and perception is only such rapid reasoning that you are not conscious of the process. Are you not glad that you do not belong to the school of new thought students who believe in eating their food raw ? And are n8 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. you not glad that you do not belong to the school of people who eat as nearly nothing as possible? If you do, you need read no further, because I am going to tell you about ever so many nice things to eat. and not about eating one meal a week and that composed of unsalted whole wheat crackers, warranted to keep forty years, and a raw tomato. No, I suppose it is very lovely to have reached such a high vibration where one can live on fruit and air or maybe air alone, but few of us have reached that plane. Do you really think the denial of appetites that are normal is healthy, or that it is useful to deny the reasonable demands of the body? Each atom of the intelligent man surely knows what it requires, and I believe that hunger on any plane is nature's way of informing you of the condition. The law always seeks to express harmony, and whenever there is resistance of any kind pain results simply as a warning. If you remove the cause of resistance and conform to the law the pain leaves. Xow hunger is pain; when the stomach is hungry it demands food, and is warning you of its necessity. Well does the stomach understand its responsibility in running the machine of the human organism, and when you supply the demand the warning ceases, and all is harmony once more. In order to have a healthy mind you must have a healthy body. What you should do, is to harmonize the whole man, Ethical Dietetics. 119 body, mind and soul, and nourish each and every part with the life force it can best assimilate. It seems too bad that I must say a few words about the carnivorous habit. I wish that it need not be mentioned, because it is so difficult to speak about meat eating without indirectly condemning the habit, for it is only a habit. Meat is entirely superfluous as a food, and no human stomach can long endure the strain of digesting it even once a day, to say nothing of three times a day. It is not necessary to go into statistics to prove that over one-half of the earth's population are vegetarians, although it can easily be proved, and much the stronger and more temper- ate half, too, and when one sees on every side the disastrous re- sults of this carnivorous habit it is almost impossible to avoid condemning it. Let us look at it from the standpoint of vibration, and lay aside all question of right or wrong in the matter. As we have seen, what we think is right and what is wrong is entirely a mat- ter of human opinion, but the law of vibration is perfect and never fails in its results. Can you imagine an animal with its intelligent and psychic mind — for all animals are psychic — all alive to the fact that it is going to be murdered ? Can you imagine that animal dying full of fear and horror and not permeate every atom of its flesh with that horror? And yet you, sensitive and refined, want to take 120 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. those vibrations of fear into your delicate organism by eating the corpse of that fellow creature. Horrible, isn't it? But don't delude yourselves, my fellow students. If you are a student of nature's laws, you must think, and you are to consider without any glamour of delusion every point that comes into view. If it was of the slightest use it might be condoned, this sacrificing of intelligent life, but it is not. The earth yields an abundance of everything necessary for her children, and the ani- mal increase would soon adjust itself to normal conditions. You who think that meat is such a necessary part of your daily food, and that spices are to be abjured, may be surprised to know that there is more nourishment and sustaining power in two grains of cayenne pepper than in a pound of beef, and with a world full of beautiful, sun-kissed foods, so teeming with constructive force, what is the use of all this horror — brutalizing our men by making them murderers and filling our bodies with destruction and consequent disintegration? Is it surprising that anarchy and hate run rampant when not only the air we breathe but the food we eat is permeated with fear, the most destructive force in the world? You may think me rather stupid on some points, but I cannot quite understand just how people with the carnivorous habit discriminate. What is the reason they do not find a nice, clean kitten appetizing, and yet have no scruples Ethical Dietetics. 121 about a pig? They could not endure the thought of eating a nice fried mouse, but consider a frog quite a delicacy. And as for chicken, supposed to be the food for invalids, did you ever observe how chickens constitute themselves into a scavenger brigade. Dear me! let's talk about something pleasant; this train of thought is too dreadful. Let me tell you a story about how easy it is to prepare a meal when you work only with con- structive forces. Once I was invited by a most lovely lady to give a talk at her home one afternoon on Dietetics. She invited me to come to luncheon at 12 o'clock and meet about ten of her friends before the guests of the afternoon arrived. So I told her that I should like very much to come and prepare the luncheon for her guests and give them an illustration at the same time. At first she couldn't think of such a thing. It was too preposterous — why, I might spoil my dress, and I might be weary for the afternoon, etc. Finally I convinced her that nothing makes me weary except things I don't want to do, and that my cooking is not the sizzling, splashing kind that seems to necessitate disorderly gowns, so she consented to turn her kitchen over to me for half an hour before luncheon and, although I am convinced it was with many doubts and fears, to trust me with its preparation. Let me say before I get lost in the preparation of the luncheon that our charming hostess changed her mind, if she had any doubts, and 122 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. has depended on me for menus and recipes many times in giving such little affairs. Now I will tell you just what we had and how it was served, and if you really care to know, how the dishes were prepared. Of course we all want to know the best and easiest way of doing things. We are realizing more fully each day that one of our responsibilities is to make the very highest use of our time and strength. In the first place. I believe in simplicity. A table loaded with about fourteen different kinds of dishes, each of them in- harmonizing its neighbor, is not elegant according to my way of thinking, and as for courses, well, that again is something that is entirely a matter of taste and opinion. We all believe in immacu- late cleanliness and a beautiful table, but our ideas of beauty may differ and my idea of beauty is perhaps not so elaborate as yours. Think of the work necessary to prepare the meals in some house- holds, when meat, pie and cake or doughnuts are considered es- sential for each meal, but we are wandering away from our luncheon and I want to tell you about that before going into any more by-ways. Had I been all alone, with the table to set and all the details to attend to, I should have taken an hour and commenced at n o'clock, but as all that was done for me. half an hour was an abundance of time to cook the luncheon. My lady rather stared Ethical D iater 123 when I appeared in a white silk gown, and insisted on enveloping me in a huge apron, which is always useful at such times, and then the guests all wanted to help, which they did. by making a happy, interested audience. Our menu consisted of an Indian curry served with rice, a vegetable side dish, a salad, olives, jelly, bread and butter, watermelon and lots of fun. It doesn't sound like a very complete luncheon, does it? You think we ought to have had a little consomme, a few oysters, maybe. Do you know what oysters are and what their mission is? They are the scavengers of the ocean, and keep it clean by absorbing all the vileness in it. Goodness ! don't let's get back to any such phase of this question or we will spoil our luncheon entirely. Most people think they know how to do such a simple thing as to boil rice, but unless each grain comes out separate and white the chances are that they know nothing about it. Rice is one of the most nourishing and delicate foods we have. It is full of 5 v. s : fining life force and very sensitive to vibrations, but it does not want to be disturbed while cooking and must never be stirred. You can use nee in more wavs than an\~thinof else I know of and it will harmonize with almost every kind of food and nourish almost every kind of animal. You know many kinds of food that agree perfectly with one organism will disagree with another, and that is one of the 124 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. uses of our sense of taste. If your condition is normal and you like a certain food it will agree with you, and if you are ill and crave something you probably need it. If we would only trust to our intuition and to nature's demands, instead of somebody's else opinions how much better we would all be. Now, if I should eat oatmeal or postum imitation of coffee I should be ill for a week, and yet I am never conscious of my digestive organs un- less I abuse them by eating something which is inharmonious. I have a friend to whom milk is poison, but she can drink beer and it is nourishing to her. Now beer is perfectly horrid to me, but I really need milk and cream. So you see each man must find what belongs to him on the plane of diet as on every other, and if he trusts to his own taste and not to the opinions of other people, he will soon have his stomach in normal condition. How we do wander away from our lunch party, and you are waiting to know how I made that Indian curry, so I will try and tell you without digressing again. First you put a big piece of butter in a skillet or a deep frying pan. There now ! We may have different ideas about bigness when it comes to measuring butter. I never do measure anything; I always know just how much to put in, and some way it always comes out right, so I'll let you guess about the butter; but let me tell you this, a little too much is better than not quite enough. Then take six big Ethical Dietetics. 125 green peppers, take all the seeds out and slice them in the skillet ; then four good sized tomatoes and two nice, firm onions; slice them all into the skillet, pour over it a cup of boiling water, let it cook for about ten minutes. Oh ! I forgot the salt and pepper ; don't you forget it when you make the curry or you may think it is not good. Then take a tablespoon heaping full of curry powder and dissolve it in a teacup full of hot water and pour it over the boiling mixture. When it has cooked until the peppers are tender grate into it half a pound of cheese, stir it all up thor- oughly and let it cook about five minutes longer and serve with boiled rice. The way we served it was this : We put the rice in the center of a platter like a little snowy pyramid and sur- rounded it with the curry. It looks so pretty that way. Our other vegetable dish was made of canned vegetables, and really I think some of our canned and bottled goods are fine. I like the imported mushrooms better than the fresh ones, and one feels so safe in using them, too. For this dish, which is very simple, you take a can of corn, a can of stringless beans and a can of mushrooms. Put them all together in a stew pan with plenty of salt pepper and butter; then take a tablespoonful of curry powder, dissolve it in boiling water and put that in. About ten minutes boiling is quite sufficient. The curry powder is not necessary but we liked it and I th ink curry is a great assimilator 126 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. and most nourishing, so we use it a great deal. We served that in separate dishes and alone, although it is very nice with rice. And now for our salad. I only wish I had space to give you a dozen different salads. It is an art to prepare salads, and how delightfully refreshing they are when made and served as they should be! The one we had was prepared on individual plates. You first put a lettuce leaf on the plate, and then a tomato with the center partly taken out on the lettuce leaf. Then take an egg and press the yellow through one of these vegetable squeezers and put that inside of the tomato, and then take the white and press that through the squeezer, or whatever you call it, I'm sure I don't know, and put that around the tomato and on the lettuce leaf. Mercy ! I almost omitted to tell you that the egg must be boiled hard first. Wouldn't it be a comical salad if you had used it raw ? It will look so pretty you want to admire it for a min- ute before you put your dressing over it. And now just a word about salad dressings. There are many ways of making them, but you never want to use vinegar if you can avoid it. Lemon juice is very much better and many ethical cooks prefer lime juice to anything else. We took for the dressing for one salad one tablespoonful of olive oil and one tablespoonful of lemon juice, with a pinch of salt and a dash of cayenne pepper for each person, whipped it all up thoroughly and poured it over our pretty salad. Ethical Dietetics. 12 At 12 o'clock we sat down to luncheon. It took just half an hour to prepare and cook it, although as I said before much of the detail work was done. Our hostess evidently had her doubts about my culinary skill, because she had several kinds of cake and preserves, besides a watermelon, on the sideboard. We did eat some watermelon, but I had the pleasure of reminding her that her cake was not touched. Our luncheon carried such a high vi- bration, or in other words was so good, that we did not want such commonplace stuff as cake. Cake is all right, and quite useful for people who live on such unsatisfactory diet as meat and potatoes and all kinds of things cooked in lard. I have noticed, however, that when people come into the understanding of dietetics and eat the sun-ripened foods. Fruit, Spices. Nuts and Grains, that cakes, pies, puddings and all such things become superfluous and soon are things of the past. You see if you have all the sweet you require in fruit and plenty of oil in nuts, you do not need it or desire it all plastered together with flour and eggs and chocolate and things. In the afternoon we had our lecture on diet, and it is such a satisfaction to talk to reasonable people on that subject. They grasp the principle of it at once, and if you only lay the founda- tion for reasonable thinking it is unnecessary to have ever so many set rules about how many eggs and how much butter and 128 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. how much salt and how long to cook. You just know. Your reasoning has evolved into perceptions. Wouldn't it be monotonous to cook the same things and the same way all the time? Really, the most interesting part is the experimenting part. To be sure you make mistakes occasion- ally. I remember once trying to make a curry with cabbage for its foundation. My, but wasn't it a mess ! I don't think I ever mentioned it before. Cauliflower is so harmonious and so ready to assimilate with most things that I supposed cabbage, being of the same family, would be equally obliging, but I soon found that, like human families, vegetable families disagree. Cabbage is very conservative and will seldom mix. You even have to eat it carefully or it behaves badly, and the best treatment I have found for it is to let it alone. It takes but little thought to show us that spiritual alchemy is useful in understanding the vegetable nature as well as human and animal nature, for you will find that everything that grows and everything that lives has a certain spiritual character of its own. You see the character of our thought depends so much upon our diet. A proper and reasonable diet overcomes all morbid taste for alcohol or any other stimulant that is artificial. Then when the taste is natural, and the thought and desire natural, harmony must result. The foods ripened in the direct sun rays, Ethical Dietetics. 129 in all their beautiful variety, so satisfy every craving of the body that it demands nothing injurious or unnatural. So many people think that in order to live on a vegetable diet they must have unseasoned and tasteless foods. On the contrary, you use herbs, spices, oils, peppers, fruits, nuts, cereals, grains, vegetables, sugar, eggs, milk, butter and cheese. Don't you think you can find plenty of variety in those things ? Variety of diet is most useful ; the more varied the diet, the more varied the range of thought, and people who use their minds actively, business and professional people, should have a varied and nu- tritious diet. Cooking, preparing food and serving meals should be a labor of love. Really, food should be prepared and eaten in a spirit of devotion. Not that devotion that is too solemn to be mentioned on week days or before folks, but that devotion that is love with- out ceasing, that is bright, genial and courteous and always in our hearts. Now don't let us hurry about eating our meals, and don't let us eat because we have to, but because we want to ; and don't let us eat when we are in a bad humor. There are many more don'ts we might mention, but the affirmative thought is so much more constructive we will use that form of expression. Eat slowly and with a full realization that your food con- tains the life-giving essence. 130 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. Make the best use of your food, assimilate it calmly and slowly, conscious that its proper assimilation means strength and enduring power to the entire system. Do you not agree with me that too many dishes at one meal is waste of time and unnecessary ? Most people who can afford it live so elaborately and artificially that it amounts to intem- perance. A little more attention to quality and less to quantity and some study about the chemistry of food would do more toward raising the vibration than many things we are working at so strenuously. When it comes to serving meals, that is partially a matter of taste and partially a matter of strength of purse, although the most elaborate vegetable diet is less expensive than a very plain meat diet. How many sides there are to this question anyway. It would take a whole volume for me to tell you what I would like to, and to give you the recipes that come crowding into my mind. Many people would not think they had dined unless they commenced their dinner with soup and finished with a cup of coffee. For those people we can give you quite as elaborate a menu as though you used fish and meat, and before I forget it let me give you a recipe for soup. Ethical Dietetics. 131 Take two onions, four carrots, four oyster plants and chop them all up fine; then take a bouquet of parsley, mint, sage and one head of celery, chop them up fine and mix all together ; place in a stew pan in two quarts of water, then add half a cup of rice with salt and pepper to taste. Let it boil three hours, then add one-third of a pint of cream and serve with Parmason cheese and dry toast. This soup can be served clear if you prefer. You can make a nice soup stock by taking four onions, four carrots and four tomatoes, chop them up fine and cover them with three quarts of water; then add a cup of barley that has been soaked over night. Let it all cook about four hours, then strain it through a fine colander and you can make any quantity of varieties of soup by diluting it and adding different vegetables as you wish. I would like to write a chapter on soup, but this is not supposed to be a study on recipes, although it is beginning to look like it. I must say a few words about coffee and tea, and I do want to give you such a lovely way of currying eggs. I guess I will give you the recipe about the eggs now. Take three medium sized onions and one head of celery and chop them or slice them together and fry them in butter until they are well browned ; then add a bouquet each of chopped parsley, mint, marjaram and thyme, with a cup of water in which has been dissolved a tea- spoonful of curry powder ; then add half a pint of cream and mix 132 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. it all together in a large frying pan. Let it cook until the mixture becomes a deep brown, then drop six fresh eggs over it, taking care not to break the yolks, cover it up and let it cook over a slow fire for two hours and serve with rice. Really the above is one of the most delicious combinations you ever tasted, and it has one merit, it's not common. You will find yourself the first among your friends to prepare it, unless they happen to get hold of this study before you do. Now about coffee. I never could understand why coffee should be condemned. Like everything else, it can be abused instead of used properly, and a good quality coffee, properly made and served fresh, is not only nourishing, but it gives tone and strength to the nerves. Coffee carries a very high vibration, and that is the reason it must be used more moderately than some other things. You can let any appetite master you if you wish. Many people are slaves to the carnivorous habit, and it always amuses me to see people who are too nervous to drink coffee and tea and have to drink such stuff as crushed mixtures like postum coffee, and yet they can eat beefsteak and calves' brains with impunity. What wise and consistent creatures we mortals are, anyway. Tea is equally useful in moderation. Any nice black tea is a cheerful, strengthening drink, always providing it is properly made, and carries a bright, harmonious vibration. Ethical Dietetics. 133 I'm not going to say very much about desserts, although we have occasionally to prepare them because there are many de- licious and dainty preparations in any cook book that you may take up that do not necessitate using lard or anything ob- jectionable. Then there are olives and jellies, and by the way, don't you love jelly? Yes. I really mean love it. It is so beautiful, and when properly made, I mean made in love, carries with it such a high vibration. Do you know I have seen people worry and fret and get cross over making jelly, and then wonder why it won't jell and look pretty. Of course it won't do either unless you love to make it. As I heard a dear old colored woman say once, "Jelly is mighty perspicuous; 'pears like it knows." How many times I have watched her stand over her jelly when she was making it, talking to it, as it were : "taking keer of it," she said. But dear old Mammy's jelly always radiates a constructive force and is better than any tonic as a cheering influence. Yes, indeed, the way to many a man's heart is through his stomach, but it is by putting the right vibration in the food and not by catering to an abnormal appetite. In cooking even more than in many other kinds of work you must use your common sense and reason. If you know yourself you know what to eat. After all, it is only realization on a little 134 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. different plane, isn't it? Do let us be practical and bring our study of truth and harmony right into the detail of our every-day lives, and remember, as I told you in the beginning of this lesson, that "There is nothing great and nothing small in the Divine harmony. He that worketh in love is One." • DEC 30 1901 1 COPY DEL. TO CAT. D1V. D£C. 31 1301