The Hidden Power And Other Papers upon Mental Science. Thomas Troward

is the centre. This is the great truth

      which the ancients set forth under the figure of the Macrocosm and the

      Microcosm, the lesser I AM reproducing the precise image of the greater,

      and of which the Bible tells us when it speaks of man as the image of

      God.

      Now the immense practical importance of this principle is that it

      affords the key to the great law that "as a man thinks so he is." We are

      often asked why this should be, and the answer may be stated as follows:

      We know by personal experience that we realise our own livingness in two

      ways, by our power to act and our susceptibility to feel; and when we

      consider Spirit in the absolute we can only conceive of it as these two

      modes of livingness carried to infinity. This, therefore, means infinite

      susceptibility. There can be no question as to the degree of

      sensitiveness, for Spirit _is_ sensitiveness, and is thus infinitely

      plastic to the slightest touch that is brought to bear upon it; and

      hence every thought we formulate sends its vibrating currents out into

      the infinite of Spirit, producing there currents of like quality but of

      far vaster power.

      But Spirit in the Infinite is the Creative Power of the universe, and

      the impact of our thought upon it thus sets in motion a veritable

      creative force. And if this law holds good of one thought it holds good

      of all, and hence we are continually creating for ourselves a world of

      surroundings which accurately reproduces the complexion of our own

      thoughts. Persistent thoughts will naturally produce a greater external

      effect than casual ones not centred upon any particular object.

      Scattered thoughts which recognise no principle of unity will fail to

      reproduce any principle of unity. The thought that we are weak and have

      no power over circumstances results in inability to control

      circumstances, and the thought of power produces power.

      At every moment we are dealing with an infinitely sensitive medium which

      stirs creative energies that give form to the slightest of our

      thought-vibrations. This power is inherent in us because of our

      spiritual nature, and we cannot divest ourselves of it. It is our truly

      tremendous heritage because it is a power which, if not intelligently

      brought into lines of orderly activity, will spend its uncontrolled

      forces in devastating energy. If it is not used to build up, it will

      destroy. And there is nothing exceptional in this: it is merely the

      reappearance on the plane of the universal and undifferentiated of the

      same principle that pervades all the forces of Nature. Which of these is

      not destructive unless drawn off into some definite direction?

      Accumulated steam, accumulated electricity, accumulated water, will at

      length burst forth, carrying destruction all around; but, drawn off

      through suitable channels, they become sources of constructive power,

      inexhaustible as Nature itself.

      And here let me pause to draw attention to this idea of accumulation.

      The greater the accumulation of energy, the greater the danger if it be

      not directed into a proper order, and the greater the power if it be.

      Fortunately for mankind the physical forces, such as electricity, do not

      usually subsist in a highly concentrated form. Occasionally

      circumstances concur to produce such concentration, but as a rule the

      elements of power are more or less equally dispersed. Similarly, for the

      mass of mankind, this spiritual power has not yet reached a very high

      degree of concentration. Every mind, it is true, must be in some measure

      a centre of concentration, for otherwise it would have no conscious

      individuality; but the power of the individualised mind rapidly rises as

      it recognises its unity with the Infinite life, and its

      thought-currents, whether well or ill directed, then assume a

      proportionately great significance.

      Hence the ill effects of wrongly directed thought are in some degree

      mitigated in the great mass of mankind, and many causes are in operation

      to give a right direction to their thoughts, though the thinkers

      themselves are ignorant of what thought-power is. To give a right

      direction to the thoughts of ignorant thinkers is the purpose of much

      religious teaching, which these uninstructed ones must accept by faith

      in bare authority because they are unable to realise its true import.

      But notwithstanding the aids thus afforded to mankind, the general

      stream of unregulated thought cannot but have an adverse tendency, and

      hence the great object to which the instructed mind directs its power is

      to free itself from the entanglements of disordered thought, and to help

      others to do the same. To escape from this entanglement is to attain

      perfect Liberty, which is perfect Power.

      The entanglement from which we need to escape has its origin in the very

      same principle which gives rise to liberty and power. It is the same

      principle applied under inverted conditions. And here I would draw

      particular attention to the law that any sequence followed out in an

      inverted order must produce an inverted result, for this goes a long way

      to explain many of the problems of life. The physical world affords

      endless examples of the working of "inversion." In the dynamo the

      sequence commences with mechanical force which is ultimately transformed

      into the subtler power of electricity; but invert this order, commence

      by generating electricity, and it becomes converted into mechanical

      force, as in the motor. In the one order the rotation of a wheel

      produces electricity, and in the opposite order electricity produces the

      rotation of a wheel. Or to exhibit the same principle in the simplest

      arithmetical form, if 10÷2=5 then 10÷5=2. "Inversion" is a factor of the

      greatest magnitude and has to be reckoned with; but I must content

      myself here with only indicating the general principle that the same

      power is capable of producing diametrically opposite effects if it be

      applied