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

But, you say, these are but figurative examples; these creations are not real ; they do not actually live and move and have their being in material form. True; but give to the artist Infinity of Being, Absolute Power, and Infinite Substance of Mind, what would result? And remember that even finite man may work out his mental creations in matter by the use of his hands. Cannot Infinite Spirit so work it out without the necessity of hands , particularly if we stop to consider that the Substance of Universal Mind is the Ultimate Substance, the Substance of Substance? Could not such a Mind crystallize or congeal its thoughts into objective form if it so desired?

IDENTITY AND TOTALITY.

There is, however, one more point not as yet brought out in the illustration—the fact that the Totality of Spirit is in the smallest detail of the Manifestation. Going back to the illustration for a moment more, we may see that Mind cannot be divided ; it is a Whole. Therefore the Whole Mind is back of and immanent in the smallest thought. Not all of its power , perhaps, but all of its being . It was not a part of Shakespeare's mind that created Othello and was immanent in it; not a part of the mind of Dickens that created and lived through Uriah Heep; not a part of the mind of the unknown artist that created and lived in and through the Venus de Milo; not a part of the mind of Leonardo da Vinci that created and smiles through the countenance of the Mona Lisa. Mind, being immaterial, does not occupy space. It cannot be divided into parts. It is a Unity— Indivisible. Wherever Unity is at all, there must all of it be. It must always be regarded as a Whole. Here, too, we find the illustration sustains us.

But apart from the aptness and fitness of any finite illustration, the reason reports that all Creation must be in Spirit; that Spirit must be in all Creation; that the Totality of Spirit is back of, behind, and in every detail of Creation. For All-that-is is in Spirit. Spirit cannot be other than Itself and is always Itself. Spirit remains the same in its essence, nature, substance, and very being, notwithstanding the differences apparent in the forms, shapes, states, and conditions of its Creation—the phenomenal aspects in which it occurs, appears, and presents itself. And, finally, Spirit being Immutable and Indivisible cannot change itself into anything; not divide itself into anything. It thus follows that whatever is dwells and abides in the Totality of Spirit, and the Totality of Spirit is immanent in it and, at the last, is identical with it .

Here, then, have we arrived at the end of this stage of the Journey. Here we have attained the end of our Inquiry. We have found Ultimate reality for which we sought. We have found it at the very center of our own Being. Later we may learn how to Manifest it in our own lives; but first we must pause to fully assimilate the knowledge we have gained.

Table of Content

WE HAVE seen that man is the expression of Spirit. Spirit is immanent in him in its totality. Man may express as much of the Creative Power of Spirit as he is capable of focusing and manifesting in conscious realization. The power of Thought is recognized by all students of psychology, mysticism, and occultism; but very few of the many theories advanced to account for the same are true. The majority endeavor to account for Thought-Power by means of physical analogies, such as thought-waves, thought-vibrations, etc. But the whole secret lies in the fact that man is a miniature edition of Spirit. He is the microcosm to the macrocosm of Spirit. The Law of Spirit is also the law of man's mentality. What Spirit does on the Infinite scale man may do on the finite scale.

The activities of Spirit are purely Creative. Spirit is forever and forever creating. Even the destructive activities of Spirit are really creative, for it is but a rearrangement of old materials in new forms. The old perishes to give birth to the new. The Law of Change is but an expression of the Creative Law which lies at the heart of the Will and Ideation of Spirit. Spirit is ever willing and desirous of expressing itself in creative activity. It loses no opportunity for so doing, and apparently welcomes any creative invitation on the part of man.

HOW MAN MAY CREATE.

Man, when he understands his Spiritual nature and possibilities, may direct the inner activities of Spirit along his own lines. He may do this through and by reason of the Ideative Powers of his Mind. Building up ideals and mental forms in his mind, and allowing the Will to flow in and through these, man is able to materialize his ideals and mental pictures in objective and material form. He thus becomes a miniature world builder, for every man's world is his individual universe. When man understands this, he is no longer the slave of circumstances, but becomes a Creative Master of Circumstance. From being the passive chessman on the board of life, he takes a hand in the game and makes moves on his own account.

We have given but a hint here of the "why" and "how" of the employment of the Creative Power of Thought by man. But in this hint is contained the secret of the entire field of the activities of Creative Thought which has attracted so much attention of recent years from the followers of the "New Thought" and allied movements. The hundreds of books written on the subject, with their often startling and bizarre theories, really seek to teach this one fact. One may study for years without finding the Master Key to the science of Creative Thought. But here it is given in a few lines: Manifest by Ideation and Volition— by Mental Images and Will—the Creative Spiritual Power which is immanent in you by reason of your Identity with SPIRIT.

RECOGNITION AND MANIFESTATION.

But man can manifest only in the degree that he really recognizes and realizes the Truth. More than a mere intellectual acceptance is required. Man must feel in his very heart and soul that Spirit is in him and he in Spirit; that, at the last, Spirit and he are identical in the totality of essence, nature, substance, and principle. This realization is often a matter of slow and gradual development. Man has been so hypnotized with the belief in his own separateness and inferiority that he fails to realize inwardly the Truth, even when he recognizes it intellectually. It is only when the Spirit in him wakes up to the fact that it is Itself in verity, truth, and fact in man; it is only then that man is able to exercise his Creative Power. But every step in that direction brings its reward and success. Every step on the Path of Attainment gives a better, higher, and clearer view of the surrounding mental country and man strengthens his Spiritual limbs by the exercise on The Path.

Man is like a young Spiritual giant,—he has not as yet learned his own strength. As he awakens to the facts of his being, then he discovers his latent powers, possibilities, and capabilities. Often this recognition comes to him only when he hears the call of another who has discovered his Inner Strength.

THE AWAKENED LION.

The Orientals have a fable which illustrates this: A lion cub strayed away from its mother and the rest of the brood, and, becoming lost, was adopted by a sheep which had lost her own lamb. The lion grew up with the sheep of the flock and never dreamed that he was other than a sheep. But finally one day on the crest of a neighboring hill appeared another lion, grown up, magnificent of build, and with great tawny mane. With sonorous voice, roaring proud defiance to the world, the visiting lion stood, vibrating the air with the strength of his call. The lion who had thought himself a sheep listened like one in a trance. Something within him was touched; something stirred within his inner being. A moment he paused, and then, sending forth an answering roar, which shook the very hills around him, leaped off to join his brother on the hills. He had discovered that he was a lion! Something like this happens at times to men and women, when they hear the note of some one who has discovered the Mastery of Being within himself, and who sends forward the Message of Spirit to his brothers and sisters on the plains among the sheep.