William Atkinson - The Essential Works of William Walker Atkinson - 50+ Books in One Edition

It recognizes the existence of The Universal Presence—it becomes aware of God and his nearness. It realizes for the first time the reality of that which it had so glibly spoken of before, but never with understanding—the Omnipresence, Omnipotence, and Omniscience of God. And seeing and knowing these things—it is content. And it sees its Oneness with All. It knows that progress for one means progress for all— that no one part of the Whole is separate from the Whole, or from any part of the Whole. It sees these things, and is amazed. Seeing these things the feelings of the old life—Hate, Fear, Envy, Jealousy, Malice—drop from it. It cannot Despise or Condemn. It sees Ignorance instead of Evil. It sees Separateness and Selfishness, where before it saw sin. It finds itself possessed of but one feeling toward Mankind and the whole world—Love. Aye, Love for the lowest creature that exists—for the vilest man—the most degraded woman—for it knows that even these cannot be left out of the grand scheme of Life, and that even these cannot escape their good, eventually. And it feels its relationship and connection with all Life—knows them to be inseparably connected—and knows that what is good for the one is for the good of all, and that what hurts the one, hurts all.

It sees that God’s love extends to all, no matter how far back on the path they may be. It sees that God’s Love—like God’s sunshine—is bestowed upon all alike—Saint and Sinner partaking of both. It sees that there is no living creature so humble, or so sunk in the mire of ignorance, but that God still remembers it, and is ready and anxious to lend a helping hand, and that sooner or later the helping hand will be grasped by the unfortunate, and he will be raised up. It realizes for the first time what means the parable of “The Lost Sheep”, and it sighs to think how little it had grasped of its meaning, in the old life.

It sees Death and Life as one. It sees Death as Birth. It loses all its fear of Death, knowing it as it is. It sees behind the hideous mask of Death, the beautiful face of the radiant creature—Life.

These and other experiences come to the Soul when it awakens. And it does not stop seeing, for new visions come to it continually, and its eyes become clearer from time to time. Life takes on a new meaning when one reaches the borders of Spiritual Consciousness, and takes a few steps beyond the borders. Words cannot convey the idea—it must be experienced to be comprehended. You are perhaps at the foot of the hill— at the beginning of the narrow path. You can see but the first step—take it, take it. Never mind the steps beyond—they will be seen by you when you are ready for them. Step boldly forth upon the Path, and look not backward. The Path is narrow and winding, but it has been trodden by the Elect of all the ages, and many are ready for it now. You may find it necessary to cast aside many worthless things which you are now carrying— much that is really a burden to you, but to which you have been clinging as if it were most precious. Prejudices—narrowness— hates—dislikes—enviousness—feelings of superiority to your brethren—lack of charity for others—condemnation— bigotry—worn-out husks of sheaths which have reached the period of discarding—forms—musty and mouldy ideas, heirlooms from the past—self-righteousness—these and other useless things will impede your progress, and will be cast aside one by one as you proceed up The Path. Things which you have been carrying around and upon which you have prided yourself very much, will be seen as worse than worthless, and will be thrown aside with relief, although at first with pain. Much finery with which you have bedecked yourself, will be torn from you by the stones and thorns of the road, or will be discarded as too heavy for the shoulders to carry. Yes, and after you have reached the higher stages of the journey, you will be glad to discard all of the clothing with which you have tried to cover the spirit, and finally the Soul will stand forth naked and beautiful and not ashamed.

See! the light is stealing over the hills, and the rays of the rising sun have penetrated your chamber and are shining full upon your face. You are shaking off the weight of the heavy sleep—you feel the drowsiness of the half-waking state. Open your eyes—great things are before you today—rise from your couch, and go to your window, and let the bright health-giving rays of the sun fall upon you. All seems beautiful to you—Life is worth the living—the hideous visions of the night have flown— you are at last wide awake and smiling. You hear the voice of the Soul singing “Joy! Joy! Joy!” It is the hour of the Soul’s Awakening.

Table of Content

Part I. Reality.

Chapter I. The Quest For Truth.

Chapter II. Basic Principles of Reality.

Chapter III. Axioms of Reality.

Chapter IV. Axioms of Reality—Continued.

Chapter V. Axioms of Reality—Continued.

Chapter VI. Axioms of Reality—Continued.

Part II. Spirit.

Chapter VII. Reality is Spirit.

Chapter VIII. The Substance of Spirit.

Chapter IX. The Energy, Life, and Law of Spirit.

Chapter X. The Mind of Spirit.

Chapter XI. The Mind of Spirit—Continued.

Chapter XII. The Mind of Spirit—Continued.

Chapter XIII. The Mind of Spirit—Continued.

Part III. Manifestation.

Chapter XIV. The Eternal Manifestation.

Chapter XV. The Phenomenal Universe.

Chapter XVI. The Nature of Creation.

Chapter XVII. Practical Idealism.

Chapter XVIII. The Creation of Nature.

Chapter XIX. Law and Change.

Chapter XX. Immanent Spirit.

Chapter XXI. Creative Power of Thought.

Chapter XXII. Identity with Spirit.

Table of Content

Table of Content

THERE IS an ancient Oriental fable which runs as follows: There was once a fabulously rich potentate, who died bequeathing all his property to Yusef, his favorite slave, with the one reservation that each of his sons was to be allowed to select some one thing of value, which should be set aside from the residue of the estate for the son to have and to hold forever, with all appertaining thereto. The sons each selected some one valuable piece of property. The eldest selected the royal palace; the second, the famed hanging gardens; the third, the jeweled peacock throne bestudded with precious stones of great value, and so on. Each son made his choice, and yet each bewailed the fact that the great bulk of the potentate’s possessions must pass into the hands of Yusef the slave.

Awaiting his turn sat the youngest son, a mere stripling. When his elder brothers had each made his choice, and the time of the youngest had come, he turned to the executors, saying: " I choose Yusef the slave! " A cry of wonder and admiration went up from the assembled judges, courtiers, and soldiery, for the stripling youth had displayed the greatest mental keenness and cunning. He had chosen as his one piece of property the favorite slave to whom the potentate had bequeathed the bulk of his estate. As the will provided that with each piece of property chosen by the sons should also go "all appertaining thereto," the owner of the slave thus became owner of the enormous possessions forming the residuary bulk of the estate. Under the law the slave's possessions became the property of the owner of the slave. By owning the slave the lad became the owner of all except the comparatively trifling things that the brothers had chosen. He had chosen the only possible thing which, when owned, made him the owner of all the rest of real and permanent value.