The Power of Oneself. Charles Fillmore

is transcribed and carried into action.

      13. Every part of the body is connected with the great solar-plexus central station, which is very obedient in carrying out instructions received from the presiding intelligence in the head. There are several great subcenters and innumerable minor centers in the organism. These centers of thought are the formed ideas of mind that have an affinity for one another, based upon the attractive power of love, the binding factor of the organism. Physical science calls this binding energy centripetal force, but all forces of whatever character are fundamentally spiritual, and they must be reduced to ideas, thoughts, and words, in order to be understood.

      14. All ideas pertaining to life expression have their center of action in that part of the body called the generative system; whatever thought we think or express in words about life is immediately sent to this generative ganglion and registered there. Not only are these thoughts registered, but man has, by repeated thinking, built up an ego, or identity, at that center. The dominant thought of this identity is life action in its various phases. The life center is divine, and should be thought about and used in the purest, highest way. This will lead to the perfect manifestation of life in the whole body. All thoughts about the loss of life, or the weakness of life, or the impurity of life, should be persistently denied out of mind, and we should make the strongest kind of affirmations of what life is in God. In this way we connect the life center with its spiritual source, and it is restored to divine harmony.

      15. A majority of the ills that afflict the body have their origin in erroneous thoughts about life and in misuse of the generative life function. In Genesis the life center is compared to a tree--its roots are in the ground and its branches reach up to the heavens. All the pleasant sensations in the organism are produced by the forces emanating from this center. Along the nerves, or branches, the life center sends its currents of life to the very extremities of the body, and even beyond, into the finer ethers of the soul. The life center is spiritual, but its vibrations are so subtle (serpentlike) that man is tempted to eat its fruits, to consume in its pleasant sensations the reserve forces of his organism. His indulgence unfrocks him--takes away his robe of power and mastery and dominion over the physical forces that environ him. Instead of abiding at the center of his body and consciously ruling it and the world of nature without him, he is cast out "from the garden of Eden."

      16. By a right understanding, and by using right thoughts and words, man will regain the kingdom within him and will be reinstated in the Garden of Eden. This process of man's taking up power and dominion again is now being carried out in all those who are seeking the righteousness of the Christ consciousness. In this higher-thought realm, all ideas pertaining to the life of man are in harmonious relation, and when we ask in silent thought for this knowledge, our mind is flooded with its light. We apprehend only according to the receptivity, steadfastness, understanding, and persistent faith of our mind. But we grow in faith and understanding, and no matter how slowly we seem to be progressing we should never be discouraged or give up. Everyone is heir to this higher-thought consciousness, and all must eventually attain it. When the beauty of this spiritual realm is spread before us we should express gratitude--give thanks to the great Soul of the universe. When the astronomer Kepler realized the grandeur of the laws that were revealed to him, he exclaimed: "O God, I am thinking Thy thoughts after Thee."

      AFFIRMATIONS FOR RIGHT THINKING

       (To be used in connection with Lesson Four)

      1. "As he thinketh within himself, so is he."

      2. My heart is righteous toward God.

      3. Where my thoughts are gathered together in my Christ name, there I am in the midst of them.

      4. I will think no evil, for Thou art always with me.

      5. The thoughts of God are His angels: "He shall give his angels charge concerning thee."

      6. "The thought of foolishness is sin."

      7. "The thoughts of the righteous are just."

      8. "Commit thy works unto Jehovah, and thy purposes shall be established."

      9. "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith Jehovah, thoughts of peace, and not of evil."

      10. "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!"

      11. "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts."

      12. "Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."

      13. "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

      Lesson Five

      How To Control Thought

       Table of Contents

      1. Each thought of mind is an identity that has a central ego. By this we mean that every thought has a center around which all its elements revolve and to which it is obedient when no higher power is in evidence. Thoughts are capable of expressing themselves--they think. Man thinks, and he thinks into his thoughts all that he is; hence man's thoughts must be endowed with a secondary power of thought.

      2. There is, however, a difference between the original thinking and the secondary thought. One has its animating center in Spirit; the other, in thought. One is Son of God; the other is son of man.

      3. The one essential fact to understand is that there can be no manifestation without intelligence as a fundamental factor or constituent part. Every form in the universe, every function, all action, all substance--all these have a thinking part that is receptive to and controllable by man. Material science has observed that every molecule has three things: intelligence, substance, and action. It knows where it wants to go, it has form, and it moves.

      4. This intelligent principle in all things is the key to the metaphysician's work. He does not concern himself with the action and reaction of the chemistry of matter, nor does he need to know all the intricate laws of electricity and magnetism in order to get the very highest use of them. They are susceptible to thought through the knowing factor in their construction, and to this susceptibility he appeals. It is through this all-pervading intelligence that man exercises his highest dominion. The scriptural statement of man's power and dominion over all things is true only when his power and dominion are estimated mentally and spiritually.

      5. It is the testimony of all philosophers that everything is in a state of construction or destruction. These two states are all-pervading, and they are apparently essential in building the universe. The metaphysician discerns the cause of these two movements to be the "yes" and the "no" of mind. These dual attributes of mind are in evidence everywhere, but they are not understood by those who observe only form instead of Spirit. The positive and negative poles of the magnet are states of mental affirmation and denial. In acid and alkali, in sour and sweet, chemistry is proclaiming "yes" and "no." Day and night, heat and cold, sunshine and shadow, intelligence and ignorance, good and evil, saint and sinner, all are the reflections of mental affirmations and denials. The constructive or destructive factor in all manifestation is "yes" or "no."

      6. It is found that, by the use of these mind forces, man can dissolve things by denying their existence, and that he can build them up by affirming their presence. This is a simple statement, but when it is applied in all the intricate thought forms of the universe it becomes complex. The law of mental denial and affirmation will prove its truth to all those who persistently make use of it.

      7. The power of the mind to build or destroy is exemplified most strikingly in the human body. Whatever we affirm as true of us manifests itself in due season somewhere in the organism. Whatever we deny is taken away, when the law has had time to work itself out.

      8.