The Mastery of Success. Thorstein Veblen

passive the other man may be at that moment; the better will be the results. A little practice will develop this power, and you will get the impression of the "tube" more clearly, and will form a much clearer mental picture of the other person.

      Some little practice may be required before you can obtain this mental impression of the long tube, although some students seem to be able to produce it fairly well at the first trial. You, of course will have secured the necessary passive condition in yourself. The next step is to produce the mental impression of the tubular connection. This will appear first as a faint, shadowy ring, which by degrees will become more distinct, and will resolve itself into the shape of an open end of a tube. The tube will then lengthen out, and, later on, you will be able to see clear along its enormous length. You may obtain this result in a few experiments, and, on the other hand, may be required to practice it a number of times. It seems to be greatly a matter of obtaining the "knack" of forming the mental picture. You may obtain good results without the production of the tubular effect, but the best results seem to be obtained by those who can produce this effect.

      I may as well tell you at this point, that you should cultivate the "positive mental attitude," as it will enable you to obtain much better results and will prevent your being influenced by the exercise of Volation on the part of others. If you feel an indication of outside influence, you have merely to form the thought recognizing the "I AM" which will impart a feeling of psychical strength to you at once, and render you impervious to the vibrations. By a full appreciation and recognition of the higher self, you will surround yourself with a thought aura, which will protect you, without any voluntary effort of the mind from outside mental influences. Until you fully acquire this recognition you merely have to hold the thought for a moment, assert your real self by the affirmation "I AM," accompanied with the mental conception of the real self. A mental image of yourself surrounded by a protecting thought aura which deflects the vibrations of others, will, of itself, create an aura which deflects the vibrations of others, will, of itself, create an aura of moderate proportions which will last as long as you hold the thought, and will act as a perfect defense against outside vibrations. You should practice the production of these mental pictures, as the results will be of great value to you. If you ever feel that you wish to be alone and able to think without taking the opinions of others into consideration; just sit down and shut out the vibrations as above stated, and you will be surprised at the clearness of thought which will result. I will tell you in my next lesson about the influence of thought vibrations of others, even when not directed at us, move in widening circles, affecting us all more or less. Nature had provided us with instinctive powers of resistance, but nevertheless we are affected more or less by the thought vibrations of others, and what we think are our opinions are often merely the consensus of the opinions of others with whom we are surrounded. The change of residence by a man may result in his changing his views of religion, politics, ethics, etc., to correspond with the general impressions of his new environment, the change being wrought by the effect of the combined thought waves of his new neighbors. A little reflection will remind you of numerous instances of these phenomena: Waves of popular feeling will sweep over a country, arousing nearly every one, and then, will die out as suddenly as they came. A peaceable crowd may be converted into a savage mob, and so on; the emotions and opinions of a man being molded to a greater or lesser degree by the quality of the thought waves reaching him. You will readily see how valuable is the knowledge which will enable you to shut out these outside impressions at will, and allow you to be governed entirely by your own reason, judgment or intuition. Do not pass by this matter lightly, for the time may come when this knowledge will be of incalculable benefit to you. There are times in which clear thinking is of vital importance to every man. A powerful pressure may be brought on you to do a certain thing, and you are undecided just how to act. You need your best thought a this point, and the way to get it is to surround yourself with the protecting thought aura, and whilst secure in your own mental castle, decide what is best to be done. Many of your best decisions will be made in this way. By all means acquire the art.

      I have digressed somewhat, in my desire to instruct you in the means of defense, and we will now resume our discussion of offensive methods. We will suppose that you have followed the instructions regarding the opening up of direct mental connections with your man by means of telepathic volation. When, later on, you come into his presence you will find that he seems to evince more interest in you than formerly; he will act as if he is better acquainted with you and has known you for years, and will consequently cause you to feel more "at home" with him that usual. I do not mean to say that he will, of necessity, do just what you have willed that he should (you have not advanced that far), but he will show a disposition to meet you half way, and matter will progress much more smoothly than might have been expected. Of course, a repetition of the exercise of telepathic volation will tend to "ease up" matters still more. Do not be discouraged at seeming failures, but keep at it and success will come when you least expect it.

      In all interviews maintain a fearless, confident frame of mind, and do not forget to use the power of your eye. The latter often reopens the connection previously established by telepathic volation - reestablishes the rapport conditions - and makes the balance of the interview much more in conformity with your desires. You must be governed by circumstances and must learn to apply the above stated methods to widely differing conditions. The above sample is given you merely as an illustration.Its principles are correct and maybe apply, with appropriate variations, to any case in which you wish to influence another at a distance, preparatory to a personal interview. The principle is the same in all cases.

      The student who has gone over these lessons carefully will discover much that will be missed by the casual reader. He will be able to read between the lines. If you are on the right track, much that has been stated will appear plainer to you with each reading. You will get new ideas every time you take up a lesson and read it, whilst the casual reader will merely skim over it and not enter into its spirit, the result being that such person will miss the esoteric teachings and will only see the outward or esoteric meaning, and will find the explanations and exercise about as "clear as mud." This is just as it is intended. Man findeth that which he seeketh. One man will find coal plainly exposed, whilst another will find the diamond embedded in the earth, but both diamond and coal are composed of the same material. "Ask and ye shall receive;" "seek and ye shall find." In concluding this lesson, let me say that whilst the powers of the mind, as illustrated in the forms set forth in this and preceding lessons, may appear wonderful, the power of thought as exemplified by what is known as the Adductive Power of Thought, far exceeds the phases of which I have told you. I will endeavor to impart to you an idea of this wonderful subject in our next lesson.

      The Adductive Quality of Thought

       Table of Content

      Prentice Mulford's theory - Thoughts are Things - Thought a dynamic force - Mind and matter identical - Miracles of Nature - Professor Gray's experiments with vibrations -Wonderful results - Professor Williams' significant statement - Food for thought -Character of thought vibrations - Murky thought waves and fleecy thought waves - Your thought retains a connection with you and affects you - Thought auras - Like attracts like A wonderful manifestation of psychic phenomena - Results of fear or worry thought -Advantage of confident thinking - Successful men the result of proper thought - Realized their ideal - Requisites for success - "I can and I will" - Others attracted toward you -Anything is yours if you only want it hard enough - Helen Wilman's theory.

      That great writer on the power of the mind - Prentice Mulford, has summed up much of his philosophy in the statement: "Thoughts are Things." In these words he gave expression to a mighty truth, which, if fully apprehended by mankind, would revolutionize the world. Thought is not only a dynamic force, it is a real thing, just as is any other material object. Thought is merely a finer form of matter, or grosser form of spirit - you may call it either with equal correctness. Matter is but a grosser form of mind, mind but a finer form of matter. There is but one substance in nature, but that substance has many forms, ranging from the most material (so-called) forms, to the highest form -Spirit.

      When we think, we send out vibrations of a fine ethereal substance, which is as real as the finer vapors or gasses, the liquids, the solids. We do