Chapter 1

THE RULING PRINCIPLE OF MAN

Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel that there is something in them. To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best. To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile. To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticise others. To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear; and too happy to permit the presence of trouble. To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but in great deeds. To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

The purpose of the following pages will be to work out the subject chosen in the most thorough and practical manner; in brief, to analyse the whole nature of man, find all the forces in his possession, whether they be apparent or hidden, active or dormant, and to present methods through which all those forces can be applied in making the life of each individual richer, greater and better.

To make every phase of this work as useful as possible to the greatest number possible, not a single statement will be made that all cannot understand, and not a single idea will be presented that anyone cannot apply to everyday life. We all want to know what we actually possess both in the physical, the mental and the spiritual, and we want to know how the elements and forces within us can be applied in the most successful manner. It is results in practical life that we want, and we are not true to ourselves or the race until we learn to use the powers within us so effectively, that the greatest results possible within the possibilities of human nature are secured.

When we proceed with a scientific study of the subject, we find that the problem before us is to know what is in us and how to use what is in us. After much study of the powers in man, both conscious and subconscious, we have come to the conclusion that if we only knew how to use these powers, we could accomplish practically anything that we may have in view, and not only realize our wants to the fullest degree, but also reach even our highest goal. Though this may seem to be a strong statement, nevertheless when we examine the whole nature of man, we are compelled to admit that it is true even in its fullest sense, and that therefore, not a single individual can fail to realize his wants and reach his goal, after he has learned how to use the powers that are in him.

This is not mere speculation, nor is it simply a beautiful dream. The more we study the lives of people who have achieved, and the more we study our own experience every day, the more convinced we become that there is no reason whatever why any individual should not realize all his ambitions and much more.

The basis of this study will naturally be found in the understanding of the whole nature of man, as we must know what we are, before we can know and use what we in inherently possess. In analysing human nature a number of methods have been employed, but there are only three in particular that are of actual value for our present purpose. The first of these declares that man is composed of ego, consciousness and form, and though this analysis is the most complete, yet it is also the most abstract, and is therefore not easily understood. The second analysis, which is simpler, and which is employed almost exclusively by the majority, declares that man is body, mind and soul; but as much as this idea is thought of and spoken of there are very few who actually understand it. In fact, the usual conception of man as body, mind and soul will have to be completely reversed in order to become absolutely true. The third analysis, which is the simplest and the most serviceable, declares that man is composed of individuality and personality, and it is this conception of human nature that will constitute the phases of our study in this work.

Before we pass to the more practical side of the subject, we shall find it profitable to examine briefly these various ideas concerning the nature of man; in fact, every part of our human analysis that refers to the ego, simply must be understood if we are to learn how to use the forces we possess, and the reason for this is found in the fact that the ego is the "I Am," the ruling principle in man, the centre and source of individuality, the originator of everything that takes place in man, and that primary something to which all other things in human nature are secondary.

When the average person employs the term "ego," he thinks that he is dealing with something that is hidden so deeply in the abstract that it can make but little difference whether we understand it or not. This, however, does not happen to be true, because it is the ego that must act before any action can take place anywhere in the humansystem, and it is the ego that must originate the new before any step in advance can be taken. And in addition, it is extremely important to realize that the power of will to control the forces we possess, depends directly upon how fully conscious we are of the ego as the ruling principle within us.

We understand therefore, that it is absolutely necessary to associate all thought, all, feeling and all actions of mind or personality with the ego, or what we shall hereafter speak of as the “I Am.” The first step to be taken in this connection, is to recognize the “I Am” in everything you do, and to think always of the “I Am,” as being you -- the supreme you. Whenever you think, realize that it is the “I Am” that originated the thought. Whenever you act, realize that it is the “I Am” that gives initiative to that action, and whenever you think of yourself or try to be conscious of yourself, realize that the “I Am” occupies the throne of your entire field of consciousness.

Another important essential is to affirm silently in your own mind that you are the “I AM,” and as you affirm this statement or as you simply declare positively, “I Am” think of the “I Am” as being the ruling principle in your whole world, as being distinct and above and superior to all else in your being, and as being you, yourself, in the highest, largest, and most comprehensive sense. You thus lift yourself up, so to speak, to the mountain top of masterful individuality; you enthrone yourself; you become true to yourself; you place yourself where you belong. Through this practice you not only discover yourself to be the master of your whole life, but you elevate all your conscious actions to that lofty state in your consciousness that we may describe as the throne of your being, or as that centre of action within which the ruling “I Am “ lives and moves and has its being.

If you wish to control and direct the forces you possess, you must act from the throne of your being, so to speak or in other words, from that conscious point in your mental world wherein all power of control, direction and initiative proceeds; and this point of action is the centre of the “I Am.” You must act, not as a body, not as a personality, not as a, mind, but as the “I Am,” and the more fully you recognize the lofty position of the “I Am,” the greater becomes your power to control and direct all other things that you may possess. In brief, whenever you think or act, you should feel that you stand with the “I Am,” at the apex of mentality on the very heights of your existence, and you should at the same time, realize that this “I Am” is you -- the supreme you. The more you practice these methods, the more you lift yourself up above the limitations of mind and body, into the realization of your own true position as a masterful individuality; in fact, you place yourself where you belong, over and above everything in your organised existence.

When we examine the mind of the average person, we find that they usually identify themselves with mind or body. They either think that they are body or that they are mind, and therefore they can control neither mind nor body. The “I Am” in their nature is submerged in a bundle of ideas, some of which are true and some of which are not, and their thought is usually controlled by those ideas without receiving any direction whatever from that principle within them that alone was intended to give direction. Such a one lives in the lower story of human existence but as we can control life only when we give directions from the upper story, we discover just why the average person neither understands their forces nor has the power to use them.

They must first elevate themselves to the upper story of the human structure, and the first and most important step to be taken in this direction is to recognize the “I AM” as the ruling principle and that the “I Am” is you. Another method that will be found highly important in this connection is to take a few moments every day and try to feel that you -- the “I Am” -- are not only above mind and body, but in a certain sense, distinct from mind and body; in fact, try to isolate the “I Am” for a few moments every day from the rest of your organised being. This practice will give you what may be termed a perfect consciousness of your own individual “I Am,” and as you gain that consciousness you will always think of the supreme “I Am” whenever you think of yourself. Accordingly, all your mental actions will, from that time on, come directly from the “I Am”; and if you will continue to stand above all such actions at all times, you will be able to control them and direct them completely.

To examine consciousness and form in this connection is hardly necessary, except to define briefly their general nature, so that we may have a clear idea of what we are dealing with in the conscious field as well as in the field of expression. The “I Am” is fundamentally conscious: that is, the “I Am” knows what exists in the human field or in the human sphere and what is taking place in the human sphere; and that constitutes consciousness. In brief, you are conscious when you know that you exist and have some definite idea as to what is taking place in your sphere of existence.

What we speak of as form, is everything in the organised personality that has shape and that serves in any manner to give expression to the forces within us. In the exercise of consciousness, we find that the "I Am" employs three fundamental actions. When the “I Am” looks out upon life we have simple consciousness. When the “I Am” looks upon its own position in life we have self consciousness, and when the “I Am” looks up into the vastness of real life we have cosmic consciousness.

In simple consciousness, you are only aware of those things that exist externally to yourself, but when you begin to become conscious of yourself as a distinct entity, you begin to develop self consciousness. When you begin to turn your attention to the great within and begin to look up into the real source of all things, you become conscious of that world that seemingly exists within all worlds, and when you enter upon this experience, you are on the borderland of cosmic consciousness, the most fascinating subject that has ever been known.

When we come to define body, mind and soul, we must, as previously stated, reverse the usual definition. In the past, we have constantly used the expression, "I have a soul," which naturally implies the belief that “I am a body”; and so deeply has this idea become fixed in the average mind that nearly everybody thinks of the body whenever the term “me” or “myself “ is employed. But in this attitude of mind the individual is not above the physical states of thought and feeling; in fact, he is more or less submerged in what may be called a bundle of physical facts and ideas, of which he has very little control. You cannot control anything in your life, however, until you are above it. You cannot control what is in your body until you realize that you are above your body. You cannot control what is in your mind until you realize that you are above your mind, and therefore no one can use the forces within them to any extent so long as they think of themselves as being the body, or as being localised exclusively in the body.

When we examine the whole nature of man, we find that the soul is the man himself, and that the ego is the central principle of the soul; or to use another expression, the soul, including the "I Am," constitutes the individuality, and that visible something through which individuality finds expression, constitutes the personality. If you wish to understand your forces, and gain that masterful attitude necessary to the control of your forces, train yourself to think that you are a soul, but do not think of the soul as something vague or mysterious. Think of the soul as being the individual you and all that that expression can possibly imply. Train yourself to think that you are master of mind and body, because you are above mind and body, and possess the power to use everything that is in mind and body.