Speaker 1: Establishing a menative center. We now approach that part of
this work in which each individual student is called upon
to decide for himself whether or not he wishes to
take his place in the world as alive, active center
of mentative energy, or whether he wishes to remain a negative, passive,
half alive center. No matter which plan you may choose,
you cannot avoid being a center of some kind. The
question for you to decide is what kind of a
center do I wish to become? Each individual a center.
I have explained in my work on mental Magic, and
again in the first chapter of the present work, that
each individual is a center of life, energy, and force
in the great ocean of universal mentative energy. Each individual
is a center around which revolves his own world. Be
that world great or small. The principle is the same
in all cases, and each man's world is largely what
he makes it, what he attracts to himself. From the
time that the child begins to assert the eye in him,
he begins to create for himself his world. He draws
this person and thing and repels that person or thing
in accordance with his mental nature, and he is constantly
changing his little world according to the growth of his
nature mental world building. In view of this law of life,
does it not become of importance to us to begin
to build our mental world with care and with the
best possible material. Should we not begin to make ourselves
active centers of energy that we may have the necessary
power to build strongly and well. Should we not develop
within us our powers of attraction, that we may draw
to us the things, persons, and circumstances that are conducive
to our well being and content. Should we not develop
the will power within us in order to exert that
force which is necessary to push our way through the
tangled underbrush of life and make a wide path for ourselves.
Answer these questions as you will. I have answered them
for myself, and you must do the same for yourselves.
The important decision, and so I shall proceed with this
work with the understanding that you have answered my questions
in the affirmative and have decided to create an active
mentative ciner for yourself. If you have decided in the negative,
you might as well close this book, for from now
on the instruction will be along the lines above indicated
the dual force. Let us pause for a moment and
see what forces are combined in this active mentative ciner.
In the first place, we see that the dual aspect
of the mental energy manifests itself always That which we
have called the desire force and that which we have
called called the will power appear as the two mentative polls.
You know this well, for you have studied my main
work on mental magic, wherein this point is brought out
and illustrated. But here is an aspect of the matter
that I did not take the time to bring out
at great length in the said book. I allude to
the resemblance of the two phases of mentative energy, i e.
Desire force and will power to the physical phenomena of
magnetism and electricity, respectively physical laws in the mental world.
Desire force like magnetism, manifests in a drawing, pulling, attracting power,
while will power like electricity manifest in a pushing, compelling,
driving power. Desire force like magnetism tends to draw things
inward and to itself, while will power electricity tends to
drive things outward and away from itself. This dual manifestation
of energy is seen all through nature, in all of
its manifold forms and conditions. There is ever the drawing
in to a center, and there is ever the pushing
outward from the center. And this law manifests upon the
mental plane as well as upon the physical plane mental electromagnetism.
We have heard much of people being magnetic, that is,
having the power to attract persons to them, but that
is merely one phase of the operation of mentative energy.
We do not hear so much about people being electric,
and yet the term is just as proper and applicable
as the term magnetic. Electric People are the people in
whom will power is strongly developed and manifest. These people
get after others and make them do things. They are
the act energetic, forceful men and women who get behind
things and push them along. All great leaders possess this
phase of energy to a marked degree. The mere mention
of the matter to you will cause you to think
of instances of people who possess menative electricity. There are
men who are able to make the crowd around them
do their bidding. They are able to work their will
upon the mass of people. These men are seen to
possess a strange power, but very few understand it. It
is entirely different from the fascinating, alluring, charming, attractive personality
of the magnetic man, for it forces and compels by
sheer forces of character and will instead of drawing and attracting.
You will see why I have spoken of these two
phases of masculine and feminine respectively when you consider their
different manner of manifestation the electromagnetic individual. But while both
of these forms of power, the magnetic and the electric,
have their strong points and advantages, I hold that the
highly developed individual must have both of these phases developed highly.
In short, instead of being merely a very magnetic individual
on the one hand, or a very electric individual on
the other hand, the ideal man must be an electro
magnetic individual. In other words, he must have both sides
of his mentative energy highly developed and in full operation.
In this way, he is able to manifest a combined
influence which will make him a very giant of mentative energy.
From theory to practice. Now I have said enough about
the theory of the thing. I shall ask you to
read over what I have said above several times, in fact,
reread it until you thoroughly understand it. And then I
shall take you on to the practical work and exercises
calculated to develop in you the qualities mentioned. Taking it
for granted that you have carefully considered what I have
just said, I shall ask you to perform the following exercises,
et cetera. First exercise for realizing the center Exercise one.
In order to realize the reality of the statement that
you are a center of mentative power, you must first
enter into a realization of the existence of a great
ocean of mentative energy itself. Do not pass over this lightly,
for it is most important. You must begin to create
a mental picture of the universe as a great ocean
of living energy, vibrating with life and force and power.
Endeavor to make this mental picture so clear that you
can see it with your mind's eye, and until it
becomes a reality to you. Picture yourself as alone in
the universe, and surround it on all sides with a vibrating,
pulsating sea of energy or power. See that all power
is locked up in that ocean, and that the ocean
exists everywhere. Cut out from your mental field all other persons, things,
or conditions. Imagine yourself as alone in the great ocean
of power. You must practice frequently upon this mental picture
until you are able to visualize it distinctly. This does
not mean that you have to actually see it, just
as you do this printed page, but that you should
be able to actually feel. You will begin to understand
just what I mean after you have practiced this a little.
This great ocean of universal power must become real to you,
and you must practice until it does. So. Become the
importance of the exercise. The importance of the above exercise
may be understood when I tell you that it will
be impossible for you to manifest more than a moderate
degree of power until you are able to realize yourself
as a real center. And it will be impossible for
you to realize yourself as such a center until you
realize the existence of the ocean of power itself. For
how can you think of yourself as a center of
power in an ocean of power until you realize the
existence of the ocean itself. The universal ocean of mentative
energy contains within itself all the power, force, and energy
that there is. It is the source from which all
forms of energy arise. It is filled with an infinite
number of tiny centers of energy, of which you are one,
and in the degree that you draw upon it for strength.
So will you receive strength by all means. Endeavor to
clearly visualize the great mentative ocean, for it is the
source of all the force with which you are filled
and which you hope to acquire. Enter into this great realization, friends,
for it is the first step to power. Second exercise
for realizing the center exercise two. The second exercise which
will tend to increase your vibration as a center of force,
is as follows. Picture yourself clearly as a center of
force and the mentativotion. While seeing the ocean on all
sides of you, you must see yourself as the center
of it. Do not be frightened at this idea, for
it is based on the truth. The highest occult teaching
informs us that the great mentat devotion has its center
everywhere and its circumference nowhere. That is that, being infinite
in space, there is no finite spot that is really
its center. And yet on the other hand, every point
of activity may be called its center, extended in every
direction infinitely, its circumference is non existence. Therefore, you are
entitled and justified in considering yourself as a center of
the ocean of power. Each individual is such a center,
and each has his world circling and revolving around him.
Some have a small world, and some have mighty ones.
There are centers so mighty and exalted that the human
mind cannot grasp their importance. But even the tiniest point
of activity is his center in itself. So hesitate not,
but begin to form a mental picture of yourself as
a center of power, a focal point of force. Practice
this exercise until you can clearly feel yourself as a
center of power. You must learn to think of yourself
as a focal point of force in the great mentative ocean.
Just as the great body of electricity manifests itself in
tiny points of activity, so does the menative energy so
express itself in you, who are a point of activity
within itself. In urging you to perfect yourself in this realization,
I would impress upon you the fact known to all
advanced occultists, that in the measure of your realization of
this real nature of the ego will be the measure
of the power possessed by you. All of the strong
men of our times and of all ages had this
realization intuitively or instinctively, that is, although they did not
know the philosophy or science of the matter, they still
felt and feel this sense of the power of the
ego in themselves, which gives them the confidence to do
things and the will power and desire force to carry
out their undertakings. It is this feeling of inherent strength
that makes men strong and success and positive. And this
feeling and realization may be developed and unfolded within any one,
providing he wants it sufficiently hard By the exercise of
your desire and will, you may build up this realization
of power, and in the building up there will come
to you a constantly increasing stream of desire and will.
In the measure of your expression will be the measure
of your impression from the source of all positive impression.
Third exercise for realizing the center Exercise three. The third
exercise consists in the realization of the nature of the force.
This force, energy or power with which you are being
filled and which you are now attracting toward your center,
consists of the electrical manifestation of will power and the
magnetic manifestation of desire force. These two constitute the dual
phases of the one force, and therefore you must begin
to realize that these qualities are within you. In order
that you may be able to express the same and
thus gain the addition and increased force that comes to
those who express the same, you must begin to realize
that you have a will which is capable of impressing
itself on the things, persons, and circumstances of your world.
And you must begin to realize that you have a
desire which attracts to you the things, people, and circumstances
of your world, and which in fact draws to you
the very material form which your world is made. When
you realize this dual force within you, it will begin
to express itself automatically. The act of realization causes the
mental machinery to begin to work smoothly and effectively. Therefore,
picture to yourself this dual force within you. See yourself
as influencing and acting upon the world around you. See
yourself as a power in the land, and also see
yourself as an attracting force drawing to you that which
you need and want and require. Consciously and unconsciously, picture
yourself as an electromagnetic individual. You are an individual because
you are a center of power. You are electromagnetic because
you possess the electric will and the magnetic desire a
strong statement. Carry with you this thought constantly and repeat
it often to yourself, and you will find it a
source of strength. You will find the strength pouring into
you when you say or think it. When you feel weak,
or when you feel the need of additional strength. Use
this statement of strength. I am a living electromagnet. And
when you say it or think it, you must picture
to yourself just what you mean by the statement. Hence
the importance of knowing just what is meant. Do not
pass over this statement of strength as unimportant, but try
it in actual practice, and you will soon see what
a battery of strength it will be for you and
those around you will soon become aware of a new
sense of power within you. Don't lean on others, don't
let others lean on you. Keep this statement to yourself.
Do not invite the ridicule of those around you by
telling them the source of your strength. Do not bother
about them. If they are individuals themselves, they will understand
without being told. And if they are not, why all
the telling in the world would not make it clear
to them. Hoe your own row and mind your own business,
and let them do the same. No one can build
up his individuality except from within, and each must work
out his own salvation and climb the ladder of attainment
for himself. And the sooner that people learn this, the
better will it be for all. Don't be a leaner
or a leaning post. Don't lean on any one else,
and don't let anyone lean on you. Live your own
life and let others live theirs. There's been too much
of this fool business about living other people's lives for
them or letting other people live your life for you.
Each man or woman must grow into an individual by
his or her own work and life. There is no
such thing as vicarious individuality. Don't be afraid to assert
the eye to claim your rightful heritage and birthright to
be an individual and not a parasite. And don't be
afraid to shake off and trim off the parasitic persons
that have encumbered your own unfoldment toward individuality. Let the
parasites take root in the earth just as you have done.
Let them fasten their roots in the great body of
strength and power instead of in the mental body of
some one else. Let them stop their second hand nourishment
and learn to draw from the first source. This is
the only way, and the lack of the knowledge of
it is filling the world with weaklings instead of with individuals. Therefore,
think of these things, hold them well in mind when
you make your statement of strength. I am a living
electro magnet.