Helps To Right Living E-Book

Katharine Newcomb

• Herausgeber: Andura Publishing
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Experience the life-changing power of Katharine Newcomb with this unforgettable book.

Leseprobe

Helps To Right Living

Katharine Newcomb

PREFACE

I make no apology for this book. It has written itself. The articles were the foundation thoughts of the Wednesday Class. We called this class “Helps to Right Living.” So the book has named itself.

If the reader will take one lesson at a time, try to get the spirit of it, and live it for a week, he will perhaps derive more benefit than by any other method.

The lessons contain the same truth in different dresses, so that it may appeal to many minds. I have felt every word that I have written. Every sentence expresses what is a truth to me, and I know such truths cannot fail to reach all those to whose need they are related.

KATHARINE H. NEWCOMB.

Boston, Mass.

SPIRITUAL FORCE

Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than material force, that thoughts rule the world.— Emerson.

If we begin with uncivilized man, we will observe that all that he gains for himself comes through physical or material force. He works entirely in the external, fighting and struggling for all that he gets.

If we follow him further in his evolution, we will still observe that he works in the external, although he does not fight or struggle in quite the same way. But he feels that he must make an effort to get what is his; that, if he does not, someone will take from him or prevent his getting his own. If he is insulted or injured by another, he must fight it out. If he is misunderstood, he must at least explain matters and set things straight, all effort being made to have everything right in the outer world. Even to-day the majority of men believe in physical or material force, to the exclusion of the spiritual, or inner, force.

In the past, we sent our messages by horsemen. To-day one man can send messages over the entire world in the shortest possible time simply by using a small instrument: that is a result of spiritual force, thought. For the instrument is externalized thought. The time is coming, has already come to some, when no instrument will be necessary. Each will realize that he is his own battery, and needs no wire for his messages to travel upon. The great man is he who not only believes, but who has come to a realization that all power is within himself, that all growth comes through thought first, and, as a result of thought, realization.

So, in reality, “thoughts rule the world.” When we become conscious of this, we know we can become all that we desire to be, absolutely. No one can say to me, “Thus far can you go”; for I realize that I am a law unto myself.

It is as easy to be great as to be small.— Emerson.

Do we believe this? Let us see if it is true. We are all living as if it were easier to be small. All my patients tell me that it is so hard for them to give up thinking about themselves and all that is uncomfortable in their bodies and surroundings; in other words, that it is easier for them to be small than great. They tell me that they desire to be happy and well. They think they do, but they do not. They want first of all to indulge themselves in selfishness,— maybe only to a small extent; and, after that, they wish to be happy and well. We can use electricity to kill or to cure. All our difficulties are the result of a misdirected force. We can use this force to bring disease or health, happiness or unhappiness. We regulate this force by our thought. If I will turn my thought wholly on the positive side, leaving out doubts and fears; if I will say to myself: “My body is the least part of me. I, a Soul, govern and control,”—if I will persistently and cheerfully think in this way, I shall become aware that these thoughts are becoming a reality to me. The doubts and fears are growing less. They are becoming less and less real: they are fading away. I have changed my mental attitude from the negative to the positive. Where I was once blind to this wonderful force, I now see the results of it. I am at last coming into the consciousness that it is as “easy to be great as small.” And from this time on there is no excuse whatever for my yielding or returning to the negative or small side of my nature. I know the truth; and, when we know the truth, we will live it.

SENSE OF SEPARATENESS

Before the eyes can see, they must be incapable of tears. Before the ear can hear, it must have lost its sensitiveness. Before the voice can speak in the presence of the masters, it must have lost the power to wound.— Light on the Path.

This quotation interpreted means this: Before the eyes can see,— that is, before we see spiritually,— we must be incapable of tears. To be incapable of tears is to have reached through spiritual awakenment a place or rather an attitude of mind where we are unselfish, absolutely. Tears indicate a thought of pity for self. “Before the ear can hear.” Here, again, we cannot hear or perceive spiritually until we have lost all sensitiveness; for sensitiveness is always selfishness. “Before the voice can speak.” So we cannot speak spiritually, which is truthfully, if we can wound. We must have lost entirely all desire to criticize or to find fault with another. It seems that we must forget self absolutely and live in the universal before we reach this stage in development. People think they are spiritually awakened, and yet they are capable of tears. They are sensitive, and they still have the power to wound. Truth never wounds: it is the way we speak it that offends. Then, if we can offend, have we the voice of truth? It is feeling that we are a little in advance of some and a long way in advance of others that offends. For if we do not say it in words, we breathe it forth unconsciously, and it is felt.

Kill out all sense of separateness.— Light on the Path.

This is the most difficult thing to do when we first enter upon this new line of thought.

But it must be done before we can progress spiritually. Society makes grades of respectability. The highest grade in a certain city embraces only four hundred. Think of the multitude of poor wretches outside. But are we outside? Does not each one of us have the divinity within? Does not that alone make us all equal? We all have the privilege of recognizing this divinity or not, as we choose. But it is there just the same, and we must realize it and acknowledge it some time. Appeal to the divine in any individual, and he will always respond. I have never known it to fail. Now we not only feel this “separateness” in regard to people, but also in regard to what we call God, or law. This is really the cause of all our difficulties. God is something outside, and we feel at times far away. When we begin to realize that God, or law, is within as well as without, we feel nearer to it. As we become more conscious of this, the sense of “separateness” grows less and less, not only from God, but from people as well. We also realize the unity of this universe, and know that there is no duality. That we are all one with God, or law. That there is no “separateness.” This is the gospel of love.

It brings health, happiness, and prosperity.

This is the result of living,—”love thy neighbor as thyself.” We are not told to love him even better, but as well. “Love is the fulfilling [carrying out] of the law.”

DEMAND AND SUPPLY

“The greater the demand, the greater the spiritual supply awaiting you. In the divine economy the two are always in equilibrium.”

The one thought in mind for these Wednesday talks is to get a larger understanding of ourselves, and therefore a larger understanding of God or law. Emerson tells us that the “counting, planting man ” is not the real man. We are not trying to discover more about the external man, but are trying to understand the real man,— the divine in us. But someone says, “There are some things we cannot understand.” There is no doubt about that; but suppose we teach and live the things we do know? Shall we then not be in a position to learn some things that we do not yet know?

We should think a person very foolish who, desiring to take sun-baths, would sit in a room with closed shutters. We should consider a man very poor if he had a large bank account, and did not know how to draw his check. Yet we are living in this cramped and ignorant way, even the best of us, wishing for the sun to shine upon us, wishing to externalize our opulence, and yet not realizing that we possess these things.

We are told that in the divine economy demand and supply are always equal. I think we have all of us proved this to be true. We make a small demand, and hope for a large supply; but we never get it. The supply is small if the demand has been small. We make a small demand for health, strength, sight, happiness, usefulness. Our checks have been drawn for small amounts: they are cashed accordingly. We open our blinds a trifle, and hope to be flooded with sunshine. We get a ray or two, according to our demand,— no more, no less.

“With constant ills, the dilatory strive.”

Here is the secret. We are half-hearted, we are dilatory. We think we must “creep before we can walk.” We must grow, and growth to some is a matter of indefinite postponement; and that is not growth, it is indolence. We dislike to get out of a warm bed on a cold wintry morning. It requires an effort to make the first plunge from under the bedclothes. Here is where we stand. Some have not even made the effort; and some are shivering and wishing they had not made it, while others are partly sorry and partly glad. Let us shake ourselves, and get to work in earnest. Let us make large demands upon the divine, knowing that the supply will be fully equal. Let us teach and live the truth we already know, and not spend our time in speculations about that which we do not know. All things that we can conceive we can know. When does not matter. We are to live the Now: the future will take care of itself. It is not ours, and never will be.

The Now is always ours.

Let us declare that our demands shall be large, never fearing that they may be too large. Let us not add to the number of dilatory minds. Then shall we be rid of “constant ills.”

Again I will say, Let us teach and live that which we already know; and our supply will show us what our demand has been.

PRESENT FREEDOM

I am not bound by any past. I am not limited by any future. I am now and forever eternally free.— K. H. N.

We can repeat this affirmation very glibly, and then keep right on living in a thought of limitation. Let us go back mentally to the time we think of as the starting-point, for it is so abstract and unthinkable when we say that we have always existed. We believe it; but let us start with the thinkable atom, which must have form. That is our first idea of form. We can imagine this individual atom drawing to itself through vibration that which it needs to develop into the next form. This atom draws at first unconsciously, simply obeying a law that it does not yet understand. But, as we say, “Nature travels in the line of the least resistance.” So does this atom draw to itself, through this very law, form after form. Every form expressed is in advance of the previous form. This is evolution. Now imagine as best we can the ages upon ages that we have been in evolving from the first form to our present one.

How we have changed, little by little,— steadily, surely, no possibility of retrogression, but climbing ever higher and higher, until, as we have said, we reached our present development! We have been free from the first to attract to ourselves. We are not bound by any past any more than a dinner of last week is of importance to us now. It had its place then, but its time has passed. It is necessary no longer. Then, if we are not bound by the past, we certainly cannot be limited by the future. If we are not limited by the future, neither are we limited by the present.

Most people think that they are limited by the present. Yes, even metaphysicians are a little skeptical when one takes a decided stand and lives as if unlimited. We can all talk it. But these same metaphysicians will wonder if it is quite safe to follow out our logical conclusions after stating our premises. If there is danger in living them, we should not state them. But, if we not only believe, but know a thing to be true, then we must live it, or we are not living to our best; and this is what we claim to do. We are now and forever eternally free. We are now and forever absolutely responsible. These are tremendous statements, but they are true.

All things are now ready.— Parable.

You remember the story how “a certain man made a great supper,” and sent out his servants to invite the people to come and partake of the feast. As they were invited, they began to make excuses why they could not accept. One said that he had some new oxen which he must try, and therefore could not come; another, that he had bought a piece of ground (real estate we would call it, I suppose), and must go to look at it; another, that he had just married ; and another, that he must bury his father; and all had an excuse. But “all things” were just as ready as if there had been no excuses. It seems to me that that old Bible time and now are very much alike. “All things are now ready,” but we still make our excuses. Some day in the future we intend to live spiritual truths. Just now we talk them much and live them little. We are afraid of our “conclusions,” they are so vast. We are surprised at our being able to heal, at being able to overcome inharmonious conditions and bring out of them harmonious ones. We look with a somewhat doubting interest on our financial difficulties as they begin to get into a more opulent condition. “O ye of little faith,” do not be afraid to live up to the principles you believe in to the fullest. Make no excuses. We are unlimited in the eternal now, and “all things are now ready” for us to realize and appropriate.

WE CANNOT BE CHEATED

Ideas take root in the soil of man’s mind according to its condition.— Rosy Cross.

The universe is full of ideas. Ideas are falling into the various minds of men. One idea finds a place in my mind, another finds a place in yours. If we become interested in a certain subject, idea will follow idea upon that subject; and all will be received into our minds. Here, for instance, are ideas concerning politics, conditions to relieve humanity, church interests, home, and the development of our consciousness, which leads us to understand ourselves as souls. Now these ideas are all good, all have their places; but some of us are conscious of a very few ideas in one direction, while we are filled to overflowing with ideas on another line.

“In burning a coal pit, after several months had elapsed, plants came up which were unknown to that part of the country. A well was dug over one hundred feet deep, and the pile of clay lay in the sunlight and darkness, in the cold and heat, and the next year produced a crop of weeds that were not to be found in the country anywhere about.”

There is a weed known as “fireweed” that springs up after the soil is killed by burning.

A scientist says that a drop of nitric acid applied to a piece of fresh-broken granite revealed under the microscope numerous living beings similar to animal culae found in stagnant water. It is thus shown that what takes root or grows or comes into visible expression is like unto the soil from which it springs. So ideas take root in the mind “according to its condition.”

Men suffer all their lifelong under the foolish superstition that they can be cheated.— Emerson.

Here is an idea that has taken root. What is worry? What is disappointment? What is anger? What is unhappiness?

Are they not the results of a foolish idea that we are being cheated?

Whoever worried except from the fear of not having what he wanted or felt he ought to have?

And this is certainly a fear of being cheated. Yes, cheated out of happiness, prosperity, out of love, friends, home, and health. We have fooled ourselves.

Emerson goes on to say, “But it is as impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself as for a thing to be and not to be at the same time.”

Is this not true? We cannot be cheated by another, but we do cheat ourselves. Let us get some soil for our minds, soil in which nothing but beautiful flowers can grow,— not a soil that can grow weeds. Then these worry ideas and unhappy ideas and ideas of disease that are floating around will not lodge in our minds; for there will be no attraction in the soil or condition of mind to draw them. Let us determine from this hour not to cheat ourselves.

I fling my past behind me, like a robe

Worn threadbare in the seams, and out of date.

I have outgrown it.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox.