As a Man Thinketh: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
ALL that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the
direct result of his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe,
where loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual
responsibility must be absolute. A man's weakness and strength,
purity and impurity, are his own, and not another man's; they are
brought about by himself, and not by another; and they can only be
altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own,
and not another man's. His suffering and his happiness are evolved
from within. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he
remains.
A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is _willing_ to
be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself;
he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires
in another. None but himself can alter his condition.
It has been usual for men to think and to say, "Many men are slaves
because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor." Now,
however, there is amongst an increasing few a tendency to reverse
this judgment, and to say, "One man is an oppressor because many are
slaves; let us despise the slaves."
The truth is that oppressor and slave are co-operators in ignorance,
and, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality afflicting
themselves. A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in the
weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor;
a perfect Love, seeing the suffering, which both states entail,
condemns neither; a perfect Compassion embraces both oppressor and
oppressed.
He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish
thoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free.
A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his
thoughts. He can only remain weak, and abject, and miserable by
refusing to lift up his thoughts.
Before a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things, he must
lift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence. He may not, in
order to succeed, give up all animality and selfishness, by any
means; but a portion of it must, at least, be sacrificed. A man
whose first thought is bestial indulgence could neither think
clearly nor plan methodically; he could not find and develop his
latent resources, and would fail in any undertaking. Not having
commenced to manfully control his thoughts, he is not in a position
to control affairs and to adopt serious responsibilities. He is not
fit to act independently and stand alone. But he is limited only by
the thoughts, which he chooses.
There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice, and a
man's worldly success will be in the measure that he sacrifices his
confused animal thoughts, and fixes his mind on the development of
his plans, and the strengthening of his resolution and
self-reliance. And the higher he lifts his thoughts, the more manly,
upright, and righteous he becomes, the greater will be his success,
the more blessed and enduring will be his achievements.
The universe does not favour the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious,
although on the mere surface it may sometimes appear to do so; it
helps the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous. All the great
Teachers of the ages have declared this in varying forms, and to
prove and know it a man has but to persist in making himself more
and more virtuous by lifting up his thoughts.
Intellectual achievements are the result of thought consecrated to
the search for knowledge, or for the beautiful and true in life and
nature. Such achievements may be sometimes connected with vanity and
ambition, but they are not the outcome of those characteristics;
they are the natural outgrowth of long and arduous effort, and of
pure and unselfish thoughts.
Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He
who lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts,
who dwells upon all that is pure and unselfish, will, as surely as
the sun reaches its zenith and the moon its full, become wise and
noble in character, and rise into a position of influence and
blessedness.
Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort, the diadem of
thought. By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity,
righteousness, and well-directed thought a man ascends; by the aid
of animality, indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion of
thought a man descends.
A man may rise to high success in the world, and even to lofty
altitudes in the spiritual realm, and again descend into weakness
and wretchedness by allowing arrogant, selfish, and corrupt thoughts
to take possession of him.
Victories attained by right thought can only be maintained by
watchfulness. Many give way when success is assured, and rapidly
fall back into failure.
All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or
spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought, are
governed by the same law and are of the same method; the only
difference lies in _the object of attainment._
He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would
achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must
sacrifice greatly.
As a Man Thinketh: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
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