THE FOUR PYRAMIDS.
MAGNETISM A GROWTH.
MAGNETISM APPLIED.
FOREWORD.
THE CULTURE OF COURAGE.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
WHAT THIS BOOK TEACHES
This
book brings to a close that portion of MASTERY OF SELF, which deals
with the art of Success-Magnetism.Acquiring
magnetism is a constructive effort. It is a building process. You
are
rearing a structure. You rise, from the foundation, through
successive stories to the culminating peak. The most pleasing,
notable structures men build from granite and steel and wood, tower
like a Woolworth Building or a Rheims Cathedral—higher and higher,
until they finally reach a gold- tipped crown or spire, high in the
sunlit sky.And
so, in rearing your invisible shrine of personal Success-
magnetism,
we now come to the topmost peak of the structure. This book gives
you
the crowning inspirations, tipped and topped with the final "Golden
Laws of Magnetism in all Applied Life."Master
these lessons in the magnetism of success, and you will go forth
upon
the highways and by-ways of life, endowed with a kingly confidence
in
your ability to win a measure of success achieved by few.But
remember—(should discouragement seek to dog your steps)— every
great structure requires the process of time. "The giant trees
of California were once puny saplings. The slow lapse of time has
drawn nature into their mighty hearts." Just as surely as the
absorption of natural forces built the giant redwoods, just as
surely
can you draw upon nature for GIANT POWERS.The
Fire.In
ancient myth, PrometheusFilched
fire from the altars of the godsTo
warm the world,Incurring
Jove's dread wrathAnd
endless torment.Lo,
mind,—inflamed by the vision:Of
victim and the torturing bird,Of
black vindictiveness and suffering Will,Rived
forever, yet for aye supreme,—Heroizes
the deed and soulAnd
wreaks on canvas and in drama highIts
passionate admiration.Now,
too, in palace and hut confronted,In
battleship and iron steed defying space,In
flaring furnace of the smelted ore,In
haunts of coal and steam below the whirling wheels,Life
laughs and sings and thundersAn
oratorio merging all the powers of harmony,And
hails the high-born Thief,As
giver of ethereal fire.The
atomic thrill waits also the clear callTo
lift dull bodies till the joy of fleshBecomes
a common luxury;—To
vibrate rhythmically swiftThrough
all the responsive cells of thoughtTill
a man might solemnly holdAll
things are possible on the bursting earth;—To
energize the mystic selfWith
consciousness of life deificTill
the whole world, jubilant, should flameWith
its glory, actual, concrete, the one sure TruthOf
a rock-girt globe, or a sun-filled space.—THE
AUTHOR.THE
TWENTY-SEVENTH LESSON—The Four Pyramids.This
equation's writ In
every scene: The
end shall fit— As
extremes to mean— Whatever's
forerunner to it. —THE
AUTHOR.PRINCIPLE—The
best use of self demands that it be understood.Our
ideal specimen of human nature is the whole man at his best.The
etheric life demands (a) the vibrations native to the body in
health—(Physical Magnetism)—(b) the vibrations induced by the
active mind, (c) the vibrations intensified by controlled emotional
states, (d) the regulative vibrations of psychic righteousness or
honor—(Psychic Magnetism). In this scheme nothing is inferior, but
all elements are appointed to be subordinate to the last. These
vibrations should run through the whole etheric activity a binding
thread of force.We
are now to study the four pyramids of the etheric life. The purpose
is four-fold. If you will put yourself into this lesson as you
have,
presumably, put yourself into the preceding twenty-six lessons, you
will discover—Firstly—Magnetic
CONCENTRATION;Secondly—The
RELATION of the DIVISIONS of self to the WHOLE self;Thirdly—A
better UNDERSTANDING of your personality;Fourthly—The
supreme importance of PSYCHIC RIGHTEOUSNESS.It
is altogether probable that the majority of people live almost
wholly
in the physical pyramids of existence.Properly
speaking, the illustration on page 422 is a single pyramid rather
than four pyramids. It is composed of four triangular walls, each
of
which is called a pyramid for convenience and represents a certain
phase of your nature. The great pyramidal I AM is complete only as
all sides of your selfhood are fully built up. You are LOOKING DOWN
from the "I AM."
A
CURIOUS ILLUSTRATION.A
point has neither length, breadth, nor thickness. Move it in
thought
any distance in one direction, and you have the line. Move the line
FROM its direction any distance, you have the surface. Move the
surface OUT of its plane any distance, you have the solid. Thus you
have obtained length, breadth, thickness, line, surface, solid,
motion, space, time, number, structure, body, and, in the
attention,
mind,—and scores of other factors (study out a long list),—by
means of that which has no length, no breadth, no thickness.The
real YOU is that point. YOU move and describe a line of life. This
line, repeated, becomes habit, which moved through time, makes
conduct, and right conduct, projected through life, yields
magnetism.If
you live only on surface I, you are mere animal. If youproject,
that surface through to III, you are a fine moral person.If
you project surface II through to surface IV, you are
magnetic.If
you combine these solids, YOU are the Ideal Pyramid, "I
AMPOWER."Let
us add the following:"Culture
is not measured by the greatness of the field which is covered by
our
knowledge, but by the nicety with which we can perceive relations
in
that field, whether great or small."This
book desires that you become acquainted with the unused portions of
your nature.In
order to this, you are now invited to make a long regime of mining
out the magnetic significance of—
MAGNETISM A GROWTH.
Let
us understand. You cannot reasonably hope to succeed by
merelyDREAMING
about success.You
surely cannot achieve success if you PLUNGE BLINDLY through your
career.You
cannot really succeed without possessing some degree ofPERSONAL
MAGNETISM.When
you began the present study, you certainly possessed a measure of
magnetic capacity, either physical or psychic, otherwise you would
not have purchased this book. If you have energetically observed
its
directions, you have developed both varieties; but, above that, you
have also combined them into one living whole, the magnetic
personality.This
result has required at least a year of persistent effort. If you
have
arrived at this point in less time, you should go back and begin
where haste first retarded your progress.MAGNETISM
IS A NATURAL GROWTH.No
matter how great may be your ability to read and understand books,
that growth, that law, require time as well as intelligent effort.
No
matter how poor may be your ability in such respect, that growth is
absolutely certain if you put reasonable time and genuine effort
into
its acquisition.The
giant trees of California were once puny saplings. The slow lapse
of
time has drawn nature into their mighty hearts. Magnetism can no
more
be acquired by the mere reading of a book, or by hurried practice
of
its directions, than can these giants of the West be produced in
the
hot-house culture of a northern summer.MAGNETIC
GROWTH IS NATURALLY SLOW. Its principles, its methods, and the
results of its study, have to be deeply sunk into and absorbed and
assimilated by the subjective self before the reaction of magnetism
in the objective life can obtain. This book has promised no
miracle.
If you have read it correctly, you have learned that magnetic
growth
cannot be hurried. These statements are placed here because, had
they
appeared at the beginning of our work, the outlook would have
seemed,
perhaps, discouraging, but more especially because they would not
have been understood. You now understand them because you have
toiled, and you can afford to smile at such possible
discouragement.
You have paid an easy price for magnetic power, for the gains
discount the pains.MAGNETISM
AND PRACTICAL LIFE.The
faithful observance of the suggestions of this volume has developed
many surprises during the time occupied. It is possible that the
lessons have unduly cultivated your subjective life. In a work of
this kind, such a danger is unavoidable. The growth of magnetism
involves intense and continuous concentration of thought upon the
psychic field, and it is very likely that you may find it necessary
to guard against that danger. The method of so guarding is briefly
indicated below.The
sole value of magnetism consists in its practical application to
everyday affairs. Success-Magnetism is not an accomplishment
merely;
it is a practical power. When rightly developed and used, it
controls
the subjective self in the concrete work of the objective. The
definition of the goal you have been seeking now appears:SUCCESS-MAGNETISM
IS PERSONAL MAGNETISM INTELLIGENTLY MULTIPLIED INTO ACTUAL
LIFE.The
first duty of man is practical sanity.AVOID
MERE OCCULTISM.It
is possible that you have now discovered in yourself certain occult
talents, such as telepathy, hypnotism, mediumship, clairaudience,
clairvoyance, psychometry, psychic healing, and the like.It
would be evidence of ignorance to call in question these
"faculties"
of the human ego. The author's personal experience forbids.
Nevertheless, it is now freely stated: