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 COPVR!GHT DEPOSIT 
 
Self Mastery 
 
 BY 
 
 FROID DANIELS ^jul^A 
 
 
 The Author's Private Edition for Students 
 of the Occult, and especially for those 
 who seek wisdom, happiness health 
 and success through Self Illu- 
 mination and the Great 
 Occult Way 
 
 Copyrighted 1913 
 
 By J. R. DeMude 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR 
 Cleveland, O. 
 
^B I- /i if 
 
— 
 
 y 
 
 s ^ 
 
 Dedicated to 
 
 ISABEL SHAW 
 
 whom to know has been one of the 
 
 richest joys of my life. 
 
Rather would I discover the cause of one 
 fact than become King of the Persians." 
 
 Democritus 
 
 'What the fool cannot understand he laughs 
 at; thinking that his grin indicates su- 
 periority. Instead however it betrays 
 the presence of weakness, incapacity 
 and a specie of idiocy." 
 
 "That writer does most for humanity who 
 gives the most knowledge, and takes 
 the least time." Col ton 
 
 ©C!.A33245g 
 
SELF MASTERY 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A Voice in the Desert Silence. 
 
 When the dream of gold had lured men to brave the 
 perils of unknown regions in the great American desert a 
 short time before the news of the "Find" at Goldfield had 
 flashed around the world, the luring voice of the desert was 
 heard by a young man in the East who soon found himself 
 far west of the great Rocky Mountain range — beyond the 
 backbone of the continent, headed for the heart of the great 
 American desert. The dream of gold had seized his brain 
 with a relentless grip; the "fever" was running high, and 
 his blood was filled with a spirit of adventure, which had 
 never known any fear of the wild. Accompanied only by a 
 burrow which was "packed" with supplies insufficient for 
 such a perilous journey, he soon found himself venturing 
 to that far distant point in the treacherous desert, where 
 the wandering coyote halts before turning back again 
 toward the north lands. 
 
 Another day found the venturesome prospector cross- 
 ing great barren fields of alkali ; nearing the desert moun- 
 tains of solitude, where the myriad of burning, jagged 
 mountains of rocks seem to pierce the very heavens. This 
 day of awful heat passed slowly and was now far spent. 
 Shafts of steel blue, paralleled with orange and a soft red 
 which blended to lavender were marking the sky, while the 
 golden sun was still poised just above the hills. Night was 
 drawing nigh. Great shadows of the towering needle peaks 
 were falling gently upon the sand dunes and barren rocks, 
 
6 SELF MASTERY 
 
 until at last the desert was wrapped in a mantle of complete 
 darkness which found a tired and lonely man with his meek 
 companion comfortably resting under the mantle of a desert 
 night, which once beheld can never be forgotten. 
 
 The morning of another day found the seeker of for- 
 tune pushing onward; farther south through the burning 
 sand and trackless waste, often having difficulty in cross- 
 ing deep gulches with their perpendicular walls. Now a 
 valley of black and white alkali had to be crossed ; the shore 
 dotted with clay hills, rocks; occasionally a scrub cactus, 
 a clump of grease wood, or a bit of sage to break the same- 
 ness of the landscape. No longer is there any sign of life. 
 
 No longer could the coyote be heard with distance mak- 
 ing the awful silence more terrifying and hideous by his 
 wailing notes; not even the sight or sound of the small 
 mournful desert owl, which is one of the last evidences of 
 bird or animal life seen or heard as one penetrates the 
 desert. 
 
 It is now noon-day, and the awful heat turned his 
 thoughts to his fast diminishing supply of water, but not a 
 sign of water, other than that which spelled death to man 
 or beast who drank of it. Scattered bones and skeletons of 
 animals near it, told of its death dealing contents. The 
 meager supply which he had left was now becoming scarce. 
 His burning thirst pictured the precious drops of water as 
 of more value than the gold which he had sought, and of 
 which he had found so little. Only when his thirst became 
 unbearable would he take a sip from his scanty store. 
 
 The close of another day found him near the very 
 heart of that elusive, far off south range; the very center 
 of the desert, in whose mirages men often witness weird 
 pictures of ships sailing the high seas ; or of life in a city, 
 and no city nearer than five hundred miles as the crow flies. 
 
SELF MASTERY 7 
 
 On the east side, and at the foot of a towering crag 
 which now cast its shadow several miles in the east, he 
 found a welcome spot which offered a sort of shelter for 
 himself, and also some scraggly sage bushes which would 
 furnish a most welcome repast for his only companion. 
 After "unpacking" and feeding the burrow his small reward 
 for faithful service, the prospector hobbled him safely and 
 turned him loose for the night to find a more sumptuous 
 meal among the sage brush after which he apportioned 
 to himself his own meager meal. 
 
 The sky, which now for some moments had been a deep 
 azure, slowly assumed a dull gray. The row of jagged peaks 
 which lined the horizon a short distance to the southeast, 
 formed what was once the shore line of a great inland lake. 
 Its precipitous crags shot high in the heavens ; rocks which 
 were a mile wide at the base, pushed straight up out of the 
 earth thousands of feet. Their natural coloring was a dull 
 red; some gray, some a yellowish white, while here and 
 there spots of nameless combinations dotted its walls. 
 
 As the great orb of day began to sink below the crest 
 of the far away Sierra Nevadas, this weary youth beheld a 
 picture the like of which few mortals have ever been privi- 
 leged to see. Once beheld, its glories will never fade from 
 the memory; never become less vivid. In no other place 
 than the heart of the desert does God paint such scenes. 
 
 The painting of this picture divine began with a dull 
 grey mantle slowly spreading itself over the entire heavens. 
 With this color hanging over the landscape as far as the 
 eye could reach, there came a mantle of cool air from the 
 sky which descended gently over the basin from the Rockies 
 to the Sierras; a mantle, as if let down by angel hands to 
 cheer and refresh any wanderer who might have yielded to 
 the luring call of the desert. The sudden change of tern- 
 
8 SELF MASTERY 
 
 perature brings a welcome chill to man and beast, and 
 caused the tired prospector to pull his Navajo blanket 
 more closely about him. An hour before, a blanket could not 
 have been endured, but now it was not only welcome, but 
 necessary to keep away the approaching cold of the night. 
 The gray of the sky is now being pierced by thousands of 
 silvery shafts of soft white rays from the far west, which 
 stop where they fall against the colored peaks to the east 
 and south. The outer edges of the broad shafts of moon 
 colored white which pierce the depths beyond the tops of 
 the lower crags are turning to purple hue. Soft threads 
 of gold parallel the white from the western horizon, becom- 
 ing more pronounced and beautiful as they approach, and 
 culminating in a glorious splendor as the nameless harmony 
 of colors fall and mingle pleasingly upon the dull red spires. 
 The whole of the mountains to the east seem now to be the 
 central point where small lakes of pale orange color are 
 penetrated by the soft white ray. The white is now seen 
 to gradually merge into a rose pink; and the picture be- 
 comes more beautiful than before. Floating clouds of 
 golden red with pillows of brightest gold, shift slowly from 
 peak to peak, the many color combinations of orange, pink 
 and lavender fall in glorious harmony wherever they touch 
 the towering sentinel. The entire sky becomes more 
 beautiful until the scene becomes awe-inspiring, and beyond 
 the power of man to describe. It lasted in its full glory 
 only a few moments, when great clouds of darkness began 
 to fill the old lake bed from below, as if actually rising up 
 out of the ancient lake; gradually filling up higher and 
 higher against the heavenly picture, until the last of its 
 shafts of orange and purple faded away with the light 
 of the rising moon. The last shaft of the lingering sun 
 who had long since covered his face beyond the great Pacific 
 
SELF MASTERY 9 
 
 had faded from the sky and the awful stillness of the desert 
 night was supreme ruler. 
 
 The tired prospector was sitting where he would later 
 sleep for the night, with the twinkling desert sky for a roof, 
 snugly wrapped in the folds of the warm blanket. So unbe- 
 lievably quiet is the silence of the desert, either day or night 
 when there is no wind, that one may hear the blood surging 
 against the drums of Tiis ears. The heart seems to beat 
 aloud as if to break the awful solitude. 
 
 The beautiful picture had now faded from the heavens. 
 The silent moon had become hazy, and the huge clouds arose 
 slowly from the south which quickly hid the solemn face of 
 the queen of night ; and as the darkness stole over her face, 
 the thoughts of the tired prospector turned backward and 
 took flight to the east country and he dreamed of friends far 
 away across the Rockies. 
 
 Soon a sense of terrible loneliness stole over him; the 
 feeling of the certain failure of his trip in the desert; of 
 the fast disappearing provisions and the thought of another 
 failure added to those of his list of others. He dreamed of 
 opportunities gone; of trials, sorrows and disappointments 
 which time had only embittered. He thought of his honest 
 struggles; of his worthy motives; that somehow Fate had 
 conspired against him; of hopes and ambitions crushed, 
 shattered and trampled under foot. While thus absorbed 
 in thought of his own disappointments, with emotions of 
 remorse and revenge, his thoughts suddenly were changed 
 by faint sounds as of that soft, low harmony of a great 
 pipe-organ; the low enchanting music borne from a great 
 distance. His thoughts now turned to the old Sanctuary 
 where men and women lift their voice and soul to what 
 seemed to him the "unknown God." The music divine 
 
10 SELF MASTERY 
 
 floated so softly in that gentle stillness that it seemed as 
 if it were intensified by the presence of Angels, which 
 caused his soul instinctively to seek communication with the 
 Great Unseen. 
 
 While his soul and heart were lifted in silent prayer, 
 his attention was suddenly attracted by some dancing thing 
 in the basin of the ancient lake bed, which he could see but 
 dimly through the increasing darkness. Instantly he found 
 himself staring toward that basin which millions of years 
 ago had held a great land-locked lake. There he beheld great 
 soft clouds of light accumulating — gradually covering ap- 
 parently a hundred feet. It quickly spread to an immense 
 diameter. In another instant our intruder of the desert had 
 sprung to his feet, defiantly poised to challenge, or to learn, 
 but his attitude of challenge quickly softened. His eyes met 
 a scene never to be forgotten. The soft, white, phosphor- 
 escent blanket of light began slowly to lift from the great 
 floor and reveal the forms of thousands of human beings 
 where only a moment before there was a strange, vast, 
 uneasy mass of mysterious clouds. As the clouds lifted, the 
 bewildered human forms began to move about in slow, weird 
 confusion ; as if in fear and remorseful dread. As the cloud 
 rose higher and higher their confusion gradually ceased, 
 and soon all of them assumed attitudes of stillness. A deep 
 and still more awful silence now seemed to pervade the 
 whole of the desert and the apparition of human forms now 
 stood still; watching, waiting, as if in silent expectation. 
 Every ear seemed attentive ; every eye gazed in the direction 
 of the only human being who beheld the vision. Disappoint- 
 ment, sorrow and suffering had left their unmistakable foot- 
 prints marked deeply in the countenance of each weary 
 individual. Failure was written on many a brow, while 
 suffering marked many another. Other heart-breaking evi- 
 
SELF MASTERY 11 
 
 dences were plainly visible everywhere; and each seemed 
 to bear a sorrow all his own. 
 
 Suddenly the awful silence was broken by a voice which 
 seemed far above. No form or light was visible in that 
 direction. The voice spoke in soft, low, full tones as though 
 addressing this strange assembly. It spoke in a pitying 
 manner — words which were indelibly recorded in the eager 
 brain of the lonely prospector. It spoke in part as follows : 
 
 "Why hither stand ye gazing 
 When duty's plain and clear, 
 Why sorrows so amazing 
 When help is always near? 
 
 "Your hearts seem filled with sadness; 
 Your bodies racked with pain ; 
 Yet, life is filled with gladness 
 If truth you'll seek and gain. 
 
 "Lend ear to truth ; proclaim the cause. 
 Unfold thy soul, and learn its laws. 
 You're told by him that you are God's ; 
 Right here and now; not when we're clods. 
 
 "If Godly powers be in your reach 
 To gratify your heart, then teach 
 This lesson to yourselves, this part, 
 God does not mock the human heart." 
 
 The voice of one in this sorrowful multitude now broke 
 the short silence. 
 
 "Why hither do we gaze? Our sorrows are more than 
 we can bear. Why does a just God heap misery and pain 
 
12 SELF MASTERY 
 
 upon the faithful? Have we not kept the faith and lived 
 according to all the laws of the church ? Still our lives are 
 blighted; our hearts filled with grief; our bodies marked 
 with disease and pain. We have sought in vain. We have 
 followed the teachings, kept the laws, and revered the com- 
 mandments ; but behold our plight ! Joy and happiness are 
 still afar off." 
 
 Following another interval of silence the first voice 
 spoke again: 
 
 "Then bury your man-made laws of God ! 
 For they blind the soul to light. 
 Cover them deep beneath the sod, 
 Thy powers no longer they'll blight. 
 
 "Mankind has ceased to hearken 
 To the voice that dwells within ; 
 Therefore his life is darkened, 
 Though innocent may seem his sin. 
 
 "Behold the powers within you! 
 Lend ear to the soul, and its cries ; 
 The Soul will guide and teach you, 
 Until truth you will realize." 
 
 Following this scene were revealed many things of pro- 
 found importance to the race; and then the blackness of 
 the lake-bed slowly engulfed the field of forms which soon 
 faded away into a pale soft white, until no form could 
 longer be seen. The old lake-bed was left once more hidden 
 in its mantle of darkness, and the mountain walls were 
 again standing out clearly in the soft light of the moon. 
 
SELF MASTERY 13 
 
 All that occurred or was revealed on that wonderful 
 night, hundreds of miles from civilization, cannot be given 
 here. It was revealed, however, that the weary prospector 
 was to leave the desert at once; the way to go was clearly 
 pointed out ; and that he was one chosen to lead many to a 
 true realization of their own divine powers. 
 
 "For centuries," said the voice, "mankind has been 
 blindly groping for the secret of power, of health, of happi- 
 ness and success — groping blindly in the dark; refusing to 
 see by the aid of the great Light Eternal which ever shines 
 within the soul itself. 
 
 "They have sought," continued the voice, "but have not 
 found; knocked, but no answer came, for they knocked at 
 the wrong door." 
 
 It was made known to the seeker of gold that there 
 were greater treasures to seek than the gold of the desert. 
 The voice which had lured him to the center of that far-off 
 solitude would reveal treasures without price; treasures 
 of love; of life eternal. It was revealed that after he had 
 gained years of experience, supplemented by education and 
 unfoldment, that he would be prepared to do a vast good 
 for humanity ; that his message should go to the individual. 
 
 Some of the great truths that were revealed on that 
 memorable night, appear condensed and in a practical and 
 understandable form, in the following pages. Enough 
 truth to make every individual in the world happy — barring 
 none — if these truths were applied practically to the lives 
 of individuals. 
 
14 SELF MASTERY 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Through Ages of Darkness, Shines 
 the Light Eternal. 
 
 Self Mastery, expressed in other terms, or at least its 
 philosophy, is at once the most ancient as well as the most 
 modern philosophy. King Solomon is accredited with say- 
 ing that, "There is nothing new under the sun." Whether 
 he was or was not the first to express that thought, it, never- 
 theless is true. All things which exist today, always existed 
 potentially. 
 
 The great truths presented in the Philosophy of Self 
 Mastery are as old as time itself; but as little known to 
 the most of humanity as the nature of life at the bottom of 
 the sea. Yet the great truths of the creative forces of the 
 soul are so well known by a chosen few, whose lives have 
 become "heaven on earth," as a result of the knowing and 
 living in harmony with the secret forces of nature that, 
 some of them are found living in paradise, in every city, 
 though in humble homes on which fall the shadows of great 
 marble palaces; palaces which too often are but gorgeous 
 tombs, or prisons of sorrow and remorse; where discord, 
 discontent and sadness reign supreme — Palaces of Sorrow. 
 
 The potent message which Self Mastery offers, finds a 
 wondrous response today in the hearts of thousands. The 
 world is hungering and thirsting for the message it brings 
 and especially those who have felt that fate was unkind; 
 those whose lives have been filled with bad luck, misfortune ; 
 who have struggled all through life and have met obstacles 
 
SELF MASTERY 15 
 
 at every turn, which blocked their progress and dashed their 
 fondest hopes into the dust. 
 
 The philosophy of Self Mastery opens a new world to 
 all who have been thus unfortunate. It shows the reason 
 for the apparent curse which rests upon them and places 
 the powers of Fate in their hands, so that they may shape 
 their lives and destinies according to design. 
 
 From that other large class of people who, for some 
 reason, real or imaginary, have pulled down the curtain of 
 indiif erence, so that they are blinded to the divinely illum- 
 inating splendors of the Nazarene's philosophy, the Mastery 
 of Self lifts that curtain and literally bares the soul to one's 
 own gaze, and they rejoice in singing a new song, and all 
 life has a new meaning. 
 
 The philosophy of Self Mastery breaks the shackles 
 which bind one in darkness, and arouse one from that stupor 
 of indifference ; reveals his own inherent powers and divine 
 attributes; and forever removes the blindfold from self- 
 deceived eyes. It brings out in bold relief that transfig- 
 uring power of things Divine so beautifully that one is im- 
 pelled to halt in the mad rush and whirl of the twentieth 
 century grind, and behold himself as an immortal soul ; look 
 upon himself as God looked upon man "In the beginning." 
 
 The philosophy of Self Mastery when thus seen, 
 prompts the soul triumphantly to cry out against the awful 
 injustice which we ignorantly heap upon ourselves ; cry out 
 against the misery, wretchedness, sorrow and failures we 
 bring ourselves, and unerringly points out to us the way 
 which is right. 
 
 It would be unfair and unjust to the subject, however, 
 to suppose or expect that a full comprehension of the great 
 underlying laws involved in Self Mastery could be given in 
 
16 SELF MASTERY 
 
 one discourse, for the "Realizing" requires "growth", and 
 that requires "time." 
 
 For more than a thousand years ministers have been 
 preaching about, and all around the most beautiful and fas- 
 cinating things of life, but have sorrowfully failed to reveal 
 the real kernel of truth and life. If they had succeeded 
 in revealing the true philosophy, there would be but one 
 great religious philosophy instead of several hundred. 
 
 The simpler rudiments of this beautiful philosophy to 
 an extent, is now being seen and felt in some of the 
 churches, but owing to the fossil nature of the church gen- 
 erally, the divine philosophy of Self Mastery has had to 
 force the clergy to feed the flock something more than 
 "stones" when the hearts of men and women are crying 
 for "bread." 
 
 The universal religious unrest, as seen through the 
 world, in all the various movements such as Christian 
 Science, Divine Science, Telepathic Influences, Magnetic 
 Healing, Spirit Healing, Theosophical Movements and the 
 revelations of reincarnation, the revival of Buddhism, and a 
 host of other worthy movements, is a "fore-runner" — "The 
 voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way," for the 
 unbelieveably wonderful light, power and happiness which 
 is about to dawn upon the world through the evolution of 
 "divine law" ; through the universal realization of the indi- 
 vidual; of the great God. The voice of the soul is heard 
 crying out against power lying dormant in every soul, its 
 divine powers being used to mar and destroy the temple 
 and wreck human happiness as a matter of choice. Liter- 
 ally to bare these forces to the senses of man is the message 
 which Self Mastery brings to all who earnestly seek light as 
 to the Mystery of Self, in a spirit of truth. 
 
SELF MASTERY 17 
 
 The Problem of all Ages. 
 
 During all the past ages, of which we have any record, 
 the one great problem which has occupied the most serious 
 attention of the brightest minds, and mightiest intellects, 
 has been that of the soul and its powers. Not only is this 
 true of the centuries which have been swept into the misty 
 past, but likewise true of today. As the roll of the centuries 
 brings us face to face with the problems which great minds 
 are struggling to solve in 1913, we see eminent scholars, 
 throughout the world, co-operating harmoniously in the in- 
 vestigation of the soul and its powers. Nor are their efforts 
 in vain. The mysterious secrets of the soul are fascinating 
 the greatest minds of Europe and America. Marvelous 
 things are being done; and things still more marvelous in 
 this domain, will yet be done. The surface is only touched ; 
 the mystery of God's alphabet is just solved, and we are be- 
 ginning to work in the light. 
 
 In order that the mind may be rid of anything which 
 will prevent us from grasping a new truth, let us lay aside 
 any thought of religion or holy books, and look at all sacred 
 books as you do your history, or a novel, and bid time turn 
 backward a little over 2000 years. Listen to the Sages! 
 Hearken to the wise men of old ; lend ear to the prophet as 
 he sings, "A Merry heart doeth good like a Medicine; but 
 a broken spirit drieth up the bones. ,, "A Merry heart 
 maketh a cheerful countenance; but sorrow breaketh the 
 spirit" — A million sermons are bound up in those lines. 
 Truths of the soul's sorrows ; its wonderful creative power ; 
 its power for good or evil alike on the human body; (on 
 other bodies than its own) a message announcing the fact 
 that the secret powers of the soul were startlingly potent, 
 and known ages ago, long since forgotten, and recently dis- 
 
18 SELF MASTERY 
 
 covered again by men who dared question, wonder, and in- 
 ' vestigate. 
 
 Wise old Solomon! Renowned in those days through- 
 out the known world for his wisdom, he recognized the mil- 
 lions of good sermons which those two sentences contained. 
 It matters not what you think of Solomon's character. 
 Most of you know that he couldn't get a job as a dog catcher, 
 or driving a garbage wagon if he were living today, if he 
 lived as he did then. But wisdom is not knowledge, nor 
 have all wise men been good. He was no better nor much 
 worse than eminent contemporaries, and lived according to 
 the customs of that age. Yet his mind quickly grasped the 
 magnitude of such a proverb. Only a moment's reflection 
 is here required to see that, in his estimation, so important 
 and valuable were these laws of the mind and soul consid- 
 ered, either for producing good or evil results, that Solomon 
 wanted to make certain that posterity might take advan- 
 tage of their wondrous possibilities, and his private scribe 
 was commanded to write it in the proverbs. That passage 
 is in itself a gold mine to those seeking light; and worthy 
 of being carved in marble — in the world's Hall of Wisdom. 
 Too many of us have long chanted the songs of the prophets 
 and the words of the Nazarene in a spirit of dutiful mean- 
 ingless indifference. They mean no more than the "tink- 
 ling cymbal, or sounding brass." Many of us contentedly 
 boast that the teachings of the Man Jesus are only for old 
 men and enfeebled women; fables intended to make their 
 declining days more endurable. Never did man make a 
 more fatal error. Jesus was not an impractical dreamer, 
 /but a wonderful Seer, who announced secret laws which 
 
 / were then generally unknown; laws which are the most 
 practical, sure, certain and scientifically correct that the 
 
 1 world has yet discovered. 
 
A 
 
 SELF MASTERY 19 
 
 Let us consider some of the simple laws expounded by 
 the one prophet whom all skeptics, all unbelievers, and all 
 atheists everywhere alike admit was the sweetest character, 
 the grandest brother, the noblest man, and about the only 
 real friend of humanity of which the known world has any 
 record. Divesting the same principle above quoted from 
 Proverbs, of all its emotional language, Jesus expressed the 
 same immutable law of mind, so simply, that a child, if let 
 alone, can grasp it. "As a man thinketh in his own heart, 
 so is he." A whole volume pressed into one sentence. As 
 he continues to think, so shall he remain. Worth a thou- / 
 sand sermons if you can see it ; sermons which are directly 
 applicable to the daily life of every business man, profes- 
 sional or laborer alike. Men have blundered over this mine 
 of occult gems for ages, and many will blunder, stumble 
 and fall for centuries to come. 
 
 The renowned Plato in his life long search for the 
 soul's secret, discovered so much about the creative power 
 and its magic effects upon the body, that he was forced to 
 the conclusion that man by nature was Divine, born of God, 
 and that the devil wasn't on the job; that the real man, the 
 soul itself ivhich inhabited the body, was an immortal 
 entity; indestructible, eternal! That man, during the ages 
 past, had been able to use those divine potvers at will; 
 powers, which we have attributed to angels and gods only; 
 that, through wrong living, and by habitually breaking the 
 laws of his own divine nature, man's divine gifts at last be- 
 came so perverted, by his own choice that his divine attri- 
 butes, which he formerly could use at will, ivere gradually 
 taken away; eliminated by a well knotvn natural law that, 
 as a result of such a life, all the horrors of hell were nat- 
 urally draivn down on the heads of those who chose so 
 wilfully and untvisely. 
 
20 SELF MASTERY 
 
 This same law, in all animal life eliminates that which 
 is not rightly exercised or wisely used. Thus it was that 
 Plato taught of the manner in which man sacrificed his di- 
 vine rights. His investigations led him to believe that it 
 was possible for posterity again to attain this former estate. 
 
 It is a well known fact that this natural law of elimina- 
 tion is seen most strikingly illustrated in a physical man- 
 ner in fish, which are found living in the several great caves 
 of the world. They now have no eyes; but upon close ex- 
 amination the skull reveals the fact that once that particular 
 fish family had eyes; and when the brain is examined, there 
 is the remnant of a perfect optic nerve. When the fish were 
 first imprisoned in their underground cave, they had eyes; 
 but living in total darkness there was no use for the eyes; 
 there was no sun light to furnish the active stimulant; the 
 exercisor; and not being used at all, the function of sight 
 soon became dead. 
 
 Thus it is with any other function of mind, body, or 
 soul — God eliminates that which we do not wisely use. 
 
 While there are many historical figures, great and 
 small, who taught these same laws, yet for the purpose of 
 this book only two or three will be mentioned. 
 
 Shakespeare said, "If you would attain a virtue, as- 
 sume it" ! ! That is another whole volume on metaphysical 
 power, boiled down to one sentence. He knew what he 
 was talking about. It is generally conceded that his knowl- 
 edge of humanity, and its frailties ; of the effects of emo- 
 tions upon the mind, brain and body was not exceeded be- 
 fore nor has it ever been exceeded since. 
 
 Emerson, Whitman, and others taught the same law. 
 There are a thousand teaching likewise today. The initial 
 truths then, underlying the greater laws of Self Mastery, 
 are by no means new. 
 
SELF MASTERY 21 
 
 During the long years of unfaltering effort ; of untiring 
 struggles of man to enslave the elements, harness the light- 
 ning and subdue the Earth in order to add comfort and hap- 
 piness, the secrets of the miracle working power of nature 
 were laid bare, time and again, until we now have added to 
 our comforts, thousands of wonderful inventions which 
 one hundred years ago existed only in the minds of some of 
 our wildest dreamers, or only potentially. Today we have 
 conquered many of the physical laws of nature, and exclaim, 
 "Behold, what wonders God hath wrought." 
 
 And now the mighty cry goes up, from all over the 
 world, "how about harnessing the most mysterious of all 
 forces — the subtle powers of the mind?" Or, "those strange^ 
 and mysterious forces of nature which, under certain cir- 
 cumstances not yet definitely known, seem to obey the will 
 of man, and through which the most astounding facts, reve- 
 lations, and phenomena are produced. How about harness- 
 ing those powers ? Powers which the chemist by the aid of 
 his test tubes has proven that its powers are not beyond 
 human comprehension. What will science yet do with these 
 miracle working agencies?" 
 
 The wisest and best men proclaimed these powers ages 
 ago. Men and women have been guillotined and burned at 
 the stake for daring to reiterate this truth ; and behold now 
 our chemist announces that he proves the claims of the 
 ancients by chemical analysis. 
 
 Never in the recorded history of mankind was there 
 such a universal awakening to the possibilities of thought 
 power — soul power, as there is today. The wonderful po- 
 tential possibilities of right thinking, and its blessing to the 
 world ; and wrong thinking with its attendant curse is now 
 stirring the entire civilized world. The thinking world is 
 awakening to the fact that the beautiful teachings of the 
 
22 SELF MASTERY 
 
 old prophets; teachings which have long been buried under 
 theological trash, are wonderfully alive! The stupid ef- 
 forts which succeeded in covering the divine truth as re- 
 corded for centuries, are now acting as a boomerang, show- 
 ing as never before what an awful price is paid by posterity, 
 in misery, sickness, sorrow, death and wholesale murder, 
 as a result of the evil designs of ancient political intrigue, 
 and deliberate perversion of truth. What an everlasting 
 impression is made on minds which think, when we contem- 
 plate the heritage which befell humanity as a result of the 
 wicked ways of our fathers. The horrors of life's tragedies 
 which blight the world as a result of false teaching can 
 never be computed. The wondrous miracle of truth is 
 shown by the fact that in defiance of all this accumulated 
 and compounded villainy, to pervert and conceal truth, up 
 through the deep layers of theological rubbish is coming to 
 the surface, glimpses of immortal truth, seeking the light 
 as it were, like the plant kept in the cellar, reaching up 
 toward God's sunlight. So successfully had the evil de- 
 signers concealed the truth that mankind has been groping 
 blindly in the dark for centuries — seeking the light. Usually 
 when he did find it, or suspect its whereabouts, it meant 
 death to him because it is difficult for one to conceal Self- 
 Illumination. 
 
 The Unseen Chemist 
 
 Today there is a new spirit dawning over the world, 
 the spirit of toleration ; a light — "that light which lighteth 
 every man that cometh into the world." There is at present 
 a great occult wave sweeping over the nation; a wave of 
 unsuppressable magnitude and enthusiasm. People of all 
 classes are showing an interest as never before witnessed 
 
SELF MASTERY 23 
 
 in the world, marvelling at the great possibilities of mind 
 building ; of character building ; success building. A living 
 interest is aroused in a power which destiny decrees shall 
 bring untold happiness to generations yet to come. 
 
 The wisdom of our immediate ancestors, in making the 
 priceless sacrifices for us which they did, is vindicated. They 
 planned wisely that we might be free and privileged to pry 
 into God's mysteries without fearing prison or persecution ; 
 free to herald our discoveries to the hungering world, — vin- 
 dicated a thousand times in the discovery which they made 
 possible; and stupendously important laws which reveal to 
 view the miraculously creative force of the human mind and 
 soul ; powers now known to exist and manifest for equally 
 good or evil results, during each and every state of mind 
 or emotion, according to the kind of emotion ; whether mild, 
 violent, depressed or whether of love, faith or confidence. 
 
 Within each of us, within our inner selves, we carry an 
 unseen Chemist, with magic powers which are more in- 
 tensely real than the most fascinating fiction. This unseen 
 Chemist carries love, health, happiness, misery, sickness, 
 sorrow and often death. Without any voluntary thought or 
 intention on our part, it creates life or brings death; sick- 
 ness or sorrow ; saves life or destroys it ; makes of us demons 
 or angels; 'and the secret of this Unseen Chemist which 
 bears happiness or death, the secret of its favorable or un- 
 favorable, kind or unkind acts is hidden in the simplest 
 and at once the most complicated occult statement that the 
 great Nazarene Prophet ever made. It is found in "As a 
 man thinketh in his own heart so is he." 
 
 So simple that it sounds childish, but it contains a 
 potent truth which is about to revolutionize the world. It 
 has long proved the fatal stumbling block for clergymen, 
 professional, and laymen alike; but at last it has yielded 
 
24 SELF MASTERY 
 
 up the key to its mystery. Its secret is so simple that the 
 wisest could not see it, yet the most humble need not go 
 astray. Its powers for good can never be fully estimated, 
 and a fuller knowledge of it will prove it to be the prime 
 factor in finally redeeming the human race. 
 
 Creative and Destructive Forces. 
 
 For a long time eminent physiologists, physicians, and 
 psychologists have agreed that the mind's power had a won- 
 derful chemical influence upon the body; an influence for 
 good or bad — all depending upon the nature of the thought. 
 
 It was noticed that sudden fear often causes death; that 
 agonizing, unbearable grief turns the hair white in a single 
 night. It happens so often that it is common knowledge and 
 it seems unnecessary to point to particular cases. However, 
 as Marie Antoinette is a well known historical personage, 
 reference to her may prove of more value than a reference 
 to others less known. 
 
 Poor, unfortunate Marie Antoinette! That pitiable, 
 misguided figure of French history, whose hair was as black 
 as night ; her figure stately and erect. On the morning fol- 
 lowing her husband's execution, she came from her boudoir, 
 her shoulders drooping, and all the color departed from her 
 cheeks; it had gone forever. Where nature had painted 
 roses were now seen the deep and unmistakable traces of 
 agony. Deep furrows were plowed in her colorless face ; the 
 pupils of her eyes were only dark spots in staring discs of 
 scarlet. The world beheld in her a pitiable object lesson as 
 to the wages of sin against self. Her withered features 
 were a haggard monument erected in honor of the quick 
 and awful work of that Unseen Chemist, when directed 
 unwisely. 
 
SELF MASTERY 25 
 
 Sorrow plows deep furrows in the countenance. It 
 creates a chemical, a poison, which lowers the powers of 
 one's vital resistance; reduces the weight of the body; de- 
 stroys the appetite, and paralyzes the power of digestion, 
 thereby so weakens the body, that it becomes the victim 
 of any deadly germ. 
 
 Violent fits of anger, rage or jealousy each creates a 
 different kind of deadly poison, and is usually followed by 
 a high fever ; then chills ; then a sick spell in bed. 
 
 Prolonged grief is slow but certain suicide. It pro- 
 duces a poison in the blood which gradually closes and 
 destroys certain groups of cells in the vital organs. 
 
 Anger, rage, jealousy, revenge, grief, each one after 
 its own kind, creates a powerful poison in the blood, al- 
 mpst instantly after the mental condition or emotion asserts 
 itself. 
 
 Each one of these emotions creates a separate, distinct 
 kind of poison. Each poison affects the entire body and 
 brain, but more particularly some special organ of the body 
 such as the lungs, heart, liver, stomach, kidneys, etc. The 
 organ most affected will be determined by the kind of men- 
 tal storm raging. 
 
 Certain emotions instantly change the odor of the 
 breath. In fact so quick, sensitive and wonderful is this 
 force that it actually inoculates the saliva with a virus cor- 
 responding to the kind of emotion present. Under certain 
 conditions a special kind of saliva inoculation is noted in 
 kissing. No idle dream is this, but a cold demonstrable fact 
 proven chemically and otherwise. 
 
 Who has not noted the disagreeable odor of the breath 
 of one who is in great grief? What man or woman so un- 
 fortunate as not to have noted the divine perfume with 
 
26 SELF MASTERY 
 
 which God scents the breath of the wife or sweetheart when 
 tenderly held in the arms of the husband or lover ; or when 
 the emotion of love is present? 
 
 The change of the nauseating odor of the breath dur- 
 ing grief to that of the sweetest, purest odor, is almost in- 
 stantly wrought, if the thought which has produced the 
 grief is suddenly removed by discovering the thing be- 
 lieved is untrue, and the reverse emotion is set up. To il- 
 lustrate : a grief may be present over a love affair, and the 
 lover suddenly appears upon the scene and disabuses the 
 mind of the thought which produces the grief. When the 
 error is discovered, the trouble settled ; and when later this 
 is followed by the emotion of love, the change is like magic. 
 This is a simple illustration but will serve to fix the thought 
 as to the effects produced by suddenly reversing deep emo- 
 tions. 
 
 The sublime beauty of this great Unseen Chemist is 
 that its wonderful miracle working agency can be con- 
 trolled — directed; that its power for good naturally far 
 out-strips its power for evil. Were this not true, the race 
 would be extinct. 
 
 A few cases showing the fatal effect of perverted men- 
 tal creations may be cited, showing the undisputed facts 
 in such a graphic manner that the lesson will not be for- 
 gotten. 
 
 A case is reported in the Landon Lancet, which illus- 
 trates the destructive power of mind or of the Unseen 
 Chemist which does the mind's bidding: A boy, nine years 
 old was badly bitten on the hand by another boy while 
 fighting. Notwithstanding the fact that every effort was 
 made to save the boy's life, forty-eight days later he died 
 of hydrophobia. 
 
SELF MASTERY 27 
 
 Another case will illustrate the same law : The eminent 
 Dr. Van Swieton, well known both in Europe and America 
 for his knowledge, skill and achievements, reports a case 
 of a young man who, while in a street brawl, fighting, 
 while terribly enraged, tried to bite his adversary, but ac- 
 cidentally bit his own finger very badly before he realized 
 what he was doing. That young man died while in terrible 
 agony, three weeks later, of hydrophobia, or a disease so 
 closely resembling it, that it could not be distinguished from 
 hydrophobia. 
 
 Three of the most eminent authorities on children's 
 diseases have informed us that hundreds of innocent babies 
 are poisoned and die every year as a result of nursing the 
 breast following moments of anger and rage on the part of 
 the Mother. In such cases, the physicians are compelled to 
 issue a death certificate, which is a lie on its face. These 
 deaths are attributed to other causes, while the truth is, the 
 milk was poisoned; inoculated with the poison which rage 
 caused the Unseen Chemist to create, and the murder of an 
 innocent is the result, the price paid for such indulgence. 
 
 The mother of a well known London physician was acci- 
 dentally bitten by an enraged epileptic. Result? She died 
 of the bite a few weeks later. 
 
 Notice, if you please, how quickly the state of rage or 
 hate inoculated the saliva with a deadly poison, which is 
 certain to claim the life of the victim. 
 
 Creative Power of Love versus Hate. 
 
 Love creates several distinct elements which instantly 
 enter the blood and which are similar to a virus in their 
 action; the principle of which promotes joy, brings roses to 
 the cheeks, brilliancy and smiles to the eye and intellect; 
 
28 SELF MASTERY 
 
 health to the body, and a splendid success in any chosen 
 field of operation. 
 
 Rage in man or beast inoculates the saliva with a deadly 
 poison, so that the bite of a man enraged is as poisonous as 
 a reptile. 
 
 Haven't some of you seen a teased rattle snake, viper 
 or copperhead become so enraged that it sank its poison 
 fangs into its own body and in a few minutes turned on its 
 back, stiffened, and quivered contortively and died in awful 
 cataleptic condition a few minutes later? It is a common 
 sight where poison reptiles are found. This is akin and 
 analogous to what occurred in the mind, blood and body of 
 the young man referred to above who bit himself and died 
 of his own venom. 
 
 There is no passion to which the human mind is sub- 
 ject but which instantly saturates the whole body with a 
 sort of virus after its own kind. Either that of love, hate, 
 joy, sorrow, success or failure — each producing a result 
 peculiar to itself. 
 
 What has seemed to be a law of God, that often works 
 great injustice to the innocent as well as the guilty, is found 
 in the fact that a man can't prevent his own deadly poison- 
 ous thought waves from escaping into space, and eventually 
 injuring others, but his own eventual punishment with a 
 vengeance is as sure and certain to be meted out to him as 
 it is that the sun will rise tomorrow. 
 
 The influence of this mighty force does not cease or 
 halt in the brain or body where it was created. Its power 
 sets up immense, radiating, etheric, occult waves, similar to 
 those generated at the spark gap in wireless telegrapTiy, 
 and sends them flashing through space — hundreds of miles 
 — yes, thousands of miles away. 
 
SELF MASTERY 29 
 
 Crashing with the speed of light, out into the world, 
 where other brains intercept them; pick them up, and 
 sooner or later in another brain, they, set up emotions, 
 passions, ambitions, or depressions and plunge the victim 
 who was sensitive to them into a similar condition ; and soon 
 there follows a tragedy. 
 
 Allow yourself, if you will, to contemplate the great, 
 horrifying psychological crimes committed throughout the 
 world, the responsibility for which no scheme of law yet 
 devised by humans can fix or cope with. Nor will, or can it 
 ever be done by any code of laws now written in any library 
 of civil or criminal procedure in any country on this planet. 
 
 Have you never felt a sudden mental or spiritual ela- 
 tion, or a sudden depression without being able to assign 
 any cause, and you could not shake the spell off? Beware 
 of such feelings. They are caused by irresponsible tramp 
 thought creations, turned loose upon the world. Arouse 
 yourself therefore, to the meaning of their presence and pos- 
 sibility when such feelings pervade you. Realize the neces- 
 sity of throwing such depressions off. Nothing will succeed 
 so quickly as forcing yourself to think thoughts of love, and 
 good cheer for all mankind and of yourself, last. 
 
 Wise was the prophet who sang, "Thoughts are things V 
 * * * * endowed with wings." Be careful therefore/ 
 what you think. Wise was the one who first sang, "Cast 
 thy bread upon the water; it will return to thee in many 
 days." Be careful of the quality of bread. Wise was the 
 best friend this world ever knew — Jesus, the son of the car- 
 penter ; the Son of Man, — when he said, "As ye sow, so shall 
 ye reap." "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." "With 
 what measure ye mete," etc. "A new commandment give I 
 unto you — that ye love your enemies, — bless them that curse 
 you." "Do good to them that hate you, — pray for them that 
 
( 
 
 30 SELF MASTERY 
 
 persecute you." This quoted from about the only real friend 
 the world ever knew. 
 
 The gems of divine wisdom given to the world by the 
 Christ, reflect laws which are so beautiful that, when most 
 of us come near enough to the Light Eternal to get a glimpse 
 of things divine, the purity of that light blinds us. Seeing 
 through the physical eye, and not through the great Inner 
 Orb of the soul, the contrast is so great that often we be- 
 come totally blind to some of the simplest, plainest, clearest 
 and easiest to see, of all God's wondrous gifts to men. Many 
 of us deliberately close our eyes and then exclaim, "Give me 
 light," or "I can't see," when with the eyes open, a glance 
 about us will reveal divinity everywhere. 
 
 As we further consider the tremendous part which emo- 
 tional chemistry plays in the affairs of men, we find that 
 anxiety and worry are twins; that prolonged worry pro- 
 duces a chemical; a virus in the blood which destroys the 
 nerve filaments throughout the body, and works irrepara- 
 ble harm to the entire nervous system. 
 
 It also creates an occult element which is certain to 
 bring defeat in the very thing about which we manifest the 
 anxiety. Jealousy creates a virus which produces tumorous 
 growths which often make death seem preferable to life. 
 Often it produces cancer of the breast or lips. 
 
 Joy produces a quality which brings life, strength, hope, 
 courage and ambition to both body and mind. Under its 
 magic stimulus, we walk with our heads in the air; our 
 shoulders erect; with a smile on our countenance and a 
 word of good cheer for all. 
 
 Pleasurable emotions cause the lungs to do far better 
 work, and thereby enrich the blood, make the body glow, 
 and make us look, feel, and act like real men and women. 
 
 Let us look at the havoc wrought by gloom, — depres- 
 
SELF MASTERY 31 
 
 sion, remorse, regret. In these qualities is concealed the 
 cold, cruel, relentless hand of self inflicted tortures. Often 
 its death grasp is indicated on the cheek of the despondent 
 maiden, whose heart has been broken; — disappointed in 
 love ; plainly indicated by the awful chemical shock through 
 which that disappointment forces the body! 
 
 The demoralizing effect which this long continued emo- 
 tional grief has upon the mind, body, and soul is clear be- 
 yond any possible doubt. Such despondency as disappointed 
 love creates a virus which closes the cells of the lungs ; first 
 one portion or group of cells closes, then another. Its 
 sphere of action becomes larger, and more extended, until 
 at last most of the internal surface of the lungs is closed ; 
 the blood becomes overloaded with poison which would nor- 
 mally be eliminated; but now the lungs no longer can per- 
 form their function properly, and the fatal message is 
 plainly written. It becomes more and more unmistakable 
 as the surface of cell closure increases. It finally becomes 
 a perfect hot bed for the deadly tuberculosis germ — a pitia- 
 ble picture of the last struggles of the unfortunate victim 
 who was once so cheerful, so full of life and hope. It is now 
 easily seen that what was once the home, the "Temple" of 
 a happy immortal soul, which was working out while here 
 on earth the plan of the Great Divine Will, soon ceases to be 
 a fit place for the soul's habitation ; and it is impelled soon 
 to release its hold, renounce its claim, leave its Temple, and 
 depart for that great Unknown Country. 
 
 The Unseen Chemist and Love Enthroned. 
 
 "He that controlleth himself is greater than he that 
 controlleth an army." 
 
32 SELF MASTERY 
 
 Conforming to the plan of the writer, the negative, or 
 destructive creations have been presented first, that you 
 may more firmly grasp the divinely optimistic view. To see 
 but one side and know nothing of the other, would work an 
 injustice equally to you and the subject alike. It is there- 
 fore desired most emphatically to convey the great truth 
 that the mind's creative power for good results far out- 
 weighs that for evil when understood intelligently; when 
 properly guided and wisely directed. One of the first and 
 last ambitions in presenting these potent facts is that, those 
 who comprehend may attain happiness, health and success. 
 This message is sent to the individual. 
 
 The philosophy of self mastery enables us to attain hap- 
 piness, joy, success and health; enables us to gratify life's 
 sweetest ambitions and its secret hopes. It enables us to at- 
 tain those normal desires which never cease to throb in the 
 heart of the average human being, unless confidence, the 
 will, and hope are dead. 
 
 The first great principle in the practical application of 
 the philosophy of Self Mastery is found in the self evident 
 truth that God (nature, if you prefer) does not inspire the 
 human heart with hopes and longings without also placing 
 within reach, a power by which those hopes may be grati- 
 fied; for God is not a mocker of men. God's laws are na- 
 ture's laws and man cannot break them without paying the 
 penalty. In as much as we cannot avoid them, it is wise to 
 live in harmony with them. It follows therefore, as the 
 night the day, that if you have secret hopes and ambitions 
 to attain, for which you have struggled in vain, it is certain 
 there is not only a good and sufficient reason for your fail- 
 ure, but also a normal, natural way by which your hopes 
 may be attained. I care not whether it be regarding your 
 business, the attainment of some fondly cherished hope, a 
 
SELF MASTERY 33 
 
 matter of friendship, or a deep abiding love. If it con- 
 stantly begs for expression, admission, realization, there is 
 no doubt that such longing is in harmony with the plan of 
 your life as intended by the Great Divine Architect; and 
 there is a way by which the attainment is sure and certain. 
 Furthermore, whether it be attained during your present 
 life, during this incarnation, it is certain that some day, 
 somewhere, somehow, in another life perhaps, it must be 
 satisfied and attained in order to fulfill the plan of your 
 soul's existence. Its needless postponement, however, on 
 your part, will only delay the fulfillment of God's Divine 
 plan for you ; entailing needless disappointment and sorrow 
 and will only add more karma for you to work out. 
 
 Each human being is a perfect prototype of the uni- 
 verse, a perfect law unto himself ; a king, a God. Every law 
 in this universe is found within the individual. Man is a 
 miniature Solar system within himself — as much a perfect 
 part of this great psychic world system, as our Solar system 
 is a perfect part of the thousands of similar systems of 
 worlds in space. Our world, the earth, is always in the right 
 place, right on time, to be relied upon, which fact should be 
 copied as the first principle for our own life. 
 
 If the laws enunciated by the prophet of Nazareth are 
 proven to be Nature's Laws and therefore, the only sane 
 course for any man to follow, no argument or sophistry can 
 ever hope to conceal this simple fact very long from prying 
 minds of men. If "God" is divine, so is man. If man is a 
 practical creature, so is God. If God is just, man must 
 be and is, at least to himself. He cannot be otherwise. He 
 pays himself what he earns. If unjust, apparently, to self, 
 he in reality is unjust to everybody else. If true to himself, 
 he is false to none. The law is inexorable. 
 
34 SELF MASTERY 
 
 The man Jesus proclaimed a practical God; one who 
 mingles with you and me in every minute. You may call 
 Him "the great law," or "the divine substance," or "love," 
 in which creative principle, we ever "live, move, and have 
 our being." Called by any other name, God responds the 
 same. The God of nature is good. He is kind. He helps 
 me to smile, and to enjoy. I can see him in the stars; hear 
 his voice in the trees ; talk to him in the flowers, and behold 
 him in the face of my enemies. 
 
 Another of the vital tenets, or self evident truths in the 
 philosophy of the Mastery, of Self, is that every human be- 
 ing is created in the Image of God ; is a child of God as much 
 as you are a child of your mother. By nature you are di- 
 vine, whether you believe it, like it, or not. There is no 
 such thing as your possible annihilation. You may have 
 your choice ; reflect your divine nature, your true birthright, 
 or you can choose the other path. Every soul is created 
 free to choose his own fate. 
 
 Fate shows that every soul is free, 
 To choose his life, just what he'll be. 
 For wide the realm, God's freedom given, 
 But he will force no one to heaven. 
 
 He'll call, persuade, direct aright, 
 Crown you with wisdom, love and light ; 
 Ten thousand ways He's good and kind, 
 Though He'll never force the human mind. 
 
 The Divine Creator leaves us free to choose and act. He 
 also adds a little responsibility clause to this charter of 
 freedom and privilege; you must shoulder the responsibil- 
 ities for your own acts. This you cannot hope to avoid. 
 
SELF MASTERY 35 
 
 Divine freedom carries with it, within you, the penalty in- 
 flicting power for every wrong you do, which is automatic 
 in administration of punishment. It never fails to do its 
 duty. It is the court, judge, jury and jailer. It may seem 
 often to be tardy in administering proper or suitable pun- 
 ishment, but it is sure and certain and we can never escape 
 it, for it is ever right with us. 
 
 It has been said that "The highway between 'heaven' 
 and 'hell' is a straight line." Of the path between success 
 and failure, the same. Between happiness and unhappiness, 
 likewise. These roads are dotted with unfailing guide posts, 
 but most of us either refuse to read them, or shy; get be- 
 wildered, frightened, and run away into the wilderness of 
 confusion. This, however, does not lessen our responsibility 
 or help us to escape. Many of us are not afraid of anything 
 and boastingly try to prove this to ourselves and try to con- 
 vince our acquaintances that reading the guide posts which 
 line both sides of the path of life is only foolishness and 
 forms no part of the creed of a real man. How well we 
 are paid for such a course of procedure! What a harvest 
 we reap which we have sown, tho we are prone to complain 
 that we have not earned such a deal from the hand of fate. 
 
 You need no teacher to point this out, nor do you need 
 any sacred book to prove it to you. If you will but open 
 your eyes, and look about you daily you can behold di- 
 vinity everywhere. You, my brother, or my sister, were de- 
 signed by that great, kind Father, to reflect your divinity; 
 to smile, to laugh, to work and to play; to let your light 
 shine out brightly that it may warm and cheer the world. 
 It is your privilege and your duty to be successful; to enjoy 
 life; to love nature, and build a bodily temple which bears 
 the stamp of God. 
 
36 SELF MASTERY 
 
 Success, happiness and an abundance cannot come to a 
 mind that is pinched, shriveled, skeptical and pessimistic. 
 Nor can the mind that doubts and fears, ever hope for much 
 success — never until doubt, fear and pessimism are rooted 
 out of your garden of mental creations and kept out. If 
 one would become in harmony with the law of opulence, the 
 law of plenty and of success, he must put himself in har- 
 mony with the laws which govern his own being. When you 
 finally conclude that you are born of God and not of the devil ; 
 that you were created by a divine principle ; that you there- 
 fore must possess divinely creative forces within your being ; 
 that God is not a mocker of man's hopes, ambitions or of his 
 miseries, and that you are therefore entitled to happiness, 
 health and success as a natural heritage, then the bright and 
 shining goal which you seek to attain will be in plain sight. 
 You will have reclaimed your birthright. When you have 
 made up your mind to desert bad luck, misfortune and pov- 
 erty forever ; that you are going to substitute in their places, 
 happiness, and success, your battle to find heaven on earth 
 is almost won. The very act of turning your back to the 
 bleak and barren coast of poverty and unhappiness, when 
 done in a spirit of profound sincerity, conviction and deter- 
 mination, will arouse within you a power to do, which you 
 never suspected possible. Things will begin to move as you 
 wish, making way for you; things which were impossible 
 for you before will now seem easy and natural. Where be- 
 fore grew a thistle will now be seen a rose. Where before 
 you saw obstacles and monsters glaring at you defiantly, you 
 will now see an opportunity. Where before you met a re- 
 buff, you now find an inviting hand extended. Do your high- 
 est and noblest duty to yourself and allow no one to block 
 your progress because of any conventional feelings or no- 
 
SELF MASTERY 37 
 
 tions of friendship and its too often meaningless and empty 
 obligations. 
 
 While it is true that this creative principle within is 
 inseparably linked by a golden cord of sympathy to that 
 Great Universal Source of love and energy, it is equally true 
 that no mind or intellect is great enough to attract that 
 greater and lasting success, if that mind is snarling, back- 
 biting and groveling in the mire of pessimism and doubt; 
 or who habitually howls that the whole world is wrong. 
 By so doing one creates an adverse occult energy which re- 
 tards, blockades and actually dams up the great occult source 
 through which the stream bearing your success must of 
 necessity pass before it can possibly bring the results you 
 seek. Nor can such one possibly know real happiness while 
 steeped in the poisonous elements of envy or sarcasm. 
 
 Never forget the poison which such emotions or states 
 of mind create. Hate, Revenge and Jealousy act upon the 
 body and mind like a dynamite bomb upon a building, when 
 exploded within its walls. Such emotions shatter the men- 
 tal and psychic structure into chaotic ruin. 
 
 Self Mastery and its Magic Key. 
 
 The master key to the vaults of happiness and success 
 is found in the law of Love, Hope, Confidence, Good Cheer ; 
 and a joyous smile is its gentle handmaid. These will lead 
 you to within a step of a practical knowledge of your own 
 psychic power. Having succeeded in this, the subtle laws 
 of occultism will soon unfurl before you in all their glorious 
 usefulness, and your life will never again be the same. 
 
 Love is the master key to all perfect ideals of life. It 
 is that something which struggles in the tiny flower seed to 
 create the "flower in bloom." It is that which impels the 
 
38 SELF MASTERY 
 
 bee to carry the fertile pollen from the male to the female 
 flower. It impells the mother, human or animal, gladly to 
 sacrifice life in order that the offspring may live; it is the 
 law of worlds — the power which impels the earth through 
 space — that law which is surging through the soul when 
 husband loves the wife, the mother the child, the lover the 
 sweetheart, or that of friend for friend. It is eternally 
 creative unless perverted by a perverted will. Even then 
 it creates, but its creations are of evil. "Love is the ful- 
 filling of the law." When living in harmony with the law 
 of the creative thought, love, which is nature's highest 
 manifestation, fills our lives with complete attainment of 
 every desire, hope, and ambition which is worthy of being 
 so named. 
 
 The secret of creating and drawing to us all that is 
 good has been proclaimed from the mountain and the valley 
 for ages, and always has found some fertile soil. Usually, 
 however, it has fallen on deaf ears. The Nazarene prophet 
 announced it in "A new commandment give I unto you that 
 ye love one another as I have loved you," for "love is the 
 fulfilling of the law." The world's master minds and writ- 
 ers have proclaimed the same law as the only force capable 
 of solving the human problem for at least ten thousand 
 years. And few there be, comparatively, who have solved 
 the problem for self. 
 
 Love is a vital law and not an emotion. The greatest 
 of all the Apostles, in his Immortal 13th Chapter of First 
 Corinthians, proclaims it : "Though I speak with the tongue 
 of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become like 
 a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have 
 the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and 
 have not love, I am nothing. And though I give all my 
 goods to feed the poor, or my body to be burned, and have 
 
SELF MASTERY 39 
 
 not love, it profiteth me nothing. Love suffereth long, and 
 is kind; it envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not 
 puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her 
 own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoices not 
 in iniquity, but rejoices in truth, beareth all things and 
 hopeth all things. Love never faileth. * * * And now 
 abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of 
 these is love." 
 
 When we think of Love as an emotion, either pleasant, 
 harmful, good, bad, or otherwise, and that it ends there, we 
 deceive ourselves as badly as the Roman Churchmen de- 
 ceived themselves when they announced that Gallileo was 
 a fraud and sent him to jail. After due deliberation they 
 had proven (?) the claims of the great Gallileo all to be 
 false; that what he taught about the world plunging at 
 terrific speed around the sun; and that earth revolved on 
 its axis; that the sun did likewise; that he saw several 
 moons around Jupiter ; that Jupiter was many times larger 
 than this earth ; that Saturn had strangely fascinating rings 
 around it in the form of discs which were several hundred 
 thousand miles in diameter; that he saw mountains on the 
 moon through the telescope which he invented; all these 
 claims, they said, were "Contrary to common sense, con- 
 trary to the Bible and to the teachings of the church, op- 
 posed to true religion, and contrary to all the laws of God," 
 and therefore they saw to it that such an heinous fiend as 
 Gallileo was placed safely in a dungeon prison. The horri- 
 fying facts are too well known to be presented here. Every 
 school boy today knows that the great Gallileo was right; 
 that the church as usual was wrong ; that the wisest clergy- 
 men which the great church could produce shamefully de- 
 ceived themselves ; deceived the world, and plunged human- 
 ity into a deeper gloom than already had engulfed it, as the 
 
40 SELF MASTERY 
 
 price of closing their eyes to glimpses of the Light Eternal 
 when brought face to face with it. A greater calamity than 
 befell them, befalls the individual who deceives himself by 
 tossing aside the thought of Love as being any less than 
 as universal, as eternal and as necessary as the law of 
 Gravity. 
 
 Deceiving one's self as to the law of love is fatal to 
 one's highest and best interest. The effects of the Law of 
 Love, when wisely directed, are as certain as any other 
 fixed law of nature, or of God, if you choose. When love is 
 thrown into a frenzy or a panic, caused by jealousy, rage, 
 or envy, the results are as uncertain in their destructive 
 creations as the uncertainty of the panic-struck magnetic 
 needle when carried into an excited field. 
 
 The Law of Love operates under the joint* control of 
 the Will, Faith, Hope, and Belief. It operates as unfail- 
 ingly as the law of negative and positive magnetism. It is 
 as certain as the result of fire when brought into contact 
 with inflammable materials. 
 
 It is "the greatest thing in the world"; the greatest 
 law in this universe. Its powers may wisely be used to 
 produce the most wonderful happiness, health, and pros- 
 perity, or this same law may easily be perverted. When 
 thus directed, its powers produce confusion, adversity, fail- 
 ure, poverty, sickness, sorrow, dire distress, and death. The 
 recent scientific proof that what the Ancients claimed for 
 "love," and said of it was true, is the greatest discovery 
 science ever made, and will yet be the means of bringing 
 more happiness, more comfort, more pleasure, more joy, 
 and be promotive of more real advancement to the human 
 race than any other of the many wonderful discoveries yet 
 revealed to man. 
 
SELF MASTERY 41 
 
 Every one has some fondly cherished hope, some ideal 
 which he has strived to attain. Many have strived in vain ; 
 others have attained their ideal to a degree; still others 
 perhaps have strived more nobly; fought more gallantly, 
 yet failure has been the only apparent reward. Some, per- 
 haps, have a lingering hope still knocking at the door of 
 their hearts, when the means by which that hope might 
 have been realized has long since vanished; the hope itself 
 crushed — shattered — almost gone, years ago. Still out of 
 the past the voice of hope whispers to you. Many a worthy 
 battle has been lost when attainment of some fondly cher- 
 ished ideal was right at the very threshold ; almost attained. 
 
 An honorable defeat, however, is no evidence of failure, 
 for whenever a steadfast hope is found to linger for years, 
 you may be certain that there is a way to gratify it; that 
 according to the great divine plan, it is right and just that 
 it should be gratified; as to when, or just how, it is not 
 always easy to know. 
 
 The puzzling question is certain to present itself to 
 those beginning to see the light, "How can we reclaim, re- 
 gain ourselves, or establish a conscious, intelligent associ- 
 ation with the creative energies of our own soul, in that 
 manner and degree which will aid our psychic creations in 
 the building, or in accomplishing the object which seems 
 the most desirable and necessary for our happiness or suc- 
 cess ? The lesson in itself is not difficult, but it is confusing 
 for most of us, and requires time for absorption and assimi- 
 lation. It is well to remember that you did not comprehend 
 and absorb your arithmetic, your grammar, algebra, analy- 
 tics, or physics in a week, or a month, but that it required 
 a long time. After you had mastered them, it seemed per- 
 fectly simple, only natural, self evident, and as if you had 
 always known them. Comprehending psychic forces is 
 
42 SELF MASTERY 
 
 much more simple, but few grasp a clear meaning instantly, 
 because the mind has for so long a time been falsely edu- 
 cated, which fact bars one's progress. So clearly and 
 brightly does the light of the great good and kind Father 
 illuminate the pathway of life, that few people ever gaze at 
 its splendor long enough to get used to its beautiful 
 radiance. Most of us need a gentle helping hand to assist 
 us over the rough places in starting out anew. 
 
 In beginning our search for the Occult Way, we must 
 remember that "heaven is not gained by a single bound, but 
 we build the ladder round by round." 
 
 If you would attain happiness through the Life and 
 Light Eternal, lay aside all preconceived ideas which do not 
 proclaim for you your own divinity; for whether you are 
 good or bad (which means good going the wrong way; on 
 the wrong track) , you are still, nevertheless, immortal, in- 
 destructible. 
 
 In seeking that which doth not corrupt or perish, one 
 must never lose sight of that heavenly birthright. 
 
 After having gotten this far, let us begin to rid our- 
 selves of all such rubbish as envy, doubt, fear and pessim- 
 ism. Do not be so weak or cowardly as to say, "I can't," 
 but assert "I can," and do it. That attitude does not cost 
 you as much effort as the "can't" attitude and besides it will 
 not only succeed in ridding you of the curse, but leave you 
 with a strength you never had before. Discard layer after 
 layer of the poisonous crusts of rubbish which you have 
 accumulated until the last of the old shell is gone. Then 
 you will behold yourself as God beheld man when first He 
 created him and "made man in His own image, and saw 
 that he was good to look upon." You will then behold your- 
 self an immortal soul, in all its transcendent beauty ; ready 
 again to start on life's journey; down the great shining 
 
SELF MASTERY 43 
 
 Occult Way — ready to be guided by that still, sweet voice 
 within ; the light of your own immortal soul ; ready to claim 
 your own; lovingly to demand that which you desire, "and 
 it shall be given," given by the creation of the occult forces 
 of your own soul with which you were endowed at the be- 
 ginning. 
 
 When freed from the curse of a weak, whimsical, per- 
 verted and uncertain will ; when one has fully comprehended 
 the meaning of the soul's creative powers, all that the heart 
 craves, or the body needs is within easy reach. 
 
 Many will ask "how about the application of the occult 
 forces to business? Can the creative psychic powers of 
 man be so directed and controlled that a definite object, 
 aim or course of procedure in business affairs may be 
 shaped? And if so, to any valuable degree? 
 
 Is it practical when applied to every day business? to 
 the affairs of every day life ? The answer from all who have 
 tried it is, that it works miracles. That answer should be 
 sufficient. 
 
 Let us consider one of the simplest of all occult evi- 
 dence which may be comprehended by those interested, even 
 though they possess no knowledge of the occult at all. Every 
 worthy attainment which man has achieved had its begin- 
 ning in longing, in hoping, in dreaming, in the building of 
 air castles, if you choose. It matters not whether it was a 
 mechanical invention, a deep friendship, health, happiness, 
 or the building of a battleship; it was first given birth in 
 the psychic centers of the brain ; there cherished, nourished, 
 and fed on hope and encouragement, day after day. There 
 was present a constant longing in the same mental direc- 
 tion — ever dreaming with an intense constancy, always in 
 the one line of hope, during which time the combined action 
 of occult, psychic, and creative energies, contributes to the 
 
44 SELF MASTERY 
 
 perfection of the dream, adding power and material each 
 day, creating always in the positive direction, until at last 
 every psychic condition within the mind of the "dreamer," 
 within the aura of his activity became perfect; ready for 
 the physical creation. The creative waves had lodged in 
 many another mind, in which an unconscious, harmonious 
 co-operation with that of the dreamer's forces had been 
 building the resources of success sought, and which at last 
 brought the "dreamer" an unseen assistance from many 
 unexpected sources, until finally, all who looked could have 
 seen the "dream" being actually materialized into a physical 
 reality ; and soon that which was originally "only a dream," 
 stands out clearly to all— created. 
 
 You will notice that emphasis is placed on creating "in 
 one direction only" in connection with the exercise of these 
 subtle forces. An illustration may bring the law out more 
 clearly : If a frog is in a well thirty feet deep, with a little 
 muddy water at the bottom, and the frog climbs up three 
 feet one day, and falls back; climbs up five feet the next 
 day, looks back at the tempting muddy water, and jumps 
 back ; then the next day climbs up ten feet, but looking back 
 down yields to the temptation and decides to go back once 
 more to the muddy water; then the next day has another 
 longing to climb out of the well, and succeeds in climbing 
 up only two feet, and finds it harder climbing now than 
 before, and goes back; finally, if the frog continued this 
 climbing and falling back and can't resist the temptation 
 offered by the sensation of indulging in the muddy plunge, 
 how long will it take the frog to climb out of the well ? 
 
 Most of us are like the frog. One day we succeed in 
 attaining wonderful heights, and almost rid ourselves of 
 those deadly parasites, fear and poisonous emotions, such as 
 envy, hate, revenge, and jealousy, and we invite hope, love, 
 
SELF MASTERY 45 
 
 confidence, optimism, zeal, and enthusiasm to abide with 
 us. When we do, how quickly the voice of the soul expresses 
 its approval, in our face, our feelings, and in spiritual 
 exultation. Then one is likely to say, "Surely I am on the 
 right road now." But are you standing on a sure footing? 
 Are you sure you will not slip and fall back like the frog? 
 What if some incident occurred which would ordinarily 
 drive you to rage, would you Rage? Would you slip back 
 to the bottom of the well into the muddy water? This 
 temptation is humanity's "Waterloo." 
 
 The thousands of tests conducted in occult and psy- 
 chological laboratories have proven conclusively that, when 
 under the direction of the will, the mind constantly creates 
 one of two kinds of forces : one which aids us in pushing on- 
 ward toward attaining our cherished ideal, while the other 
 aids or pushes us backwards. It creates an occult substance 
 out of which your success is possible, probable and easily at- 
 tained when psychic laws are conformed to, while the other 
 substance created actually defeats us in our purpose. When 
 responding to the wishes of a perverted will it creates 
 energies, or poisonous forces within us which plow deep 
 paths of sorrow, from which we cannot extricate ourselves ; 
 ruts of trouble which we boldly and deliberately chose. In 
 contrast to this, when under a wiser direction of the Will, 
 it creates a substance which opens to us through the tele- 
 scopic vision of the soul, a view of the heavens ; or creates 
 with equal ease a force which sinks us into the deep sor- 
 rowful pits of hell, or the dark abyssmal pits of remorse. 
 The hand of God cannot prevent you. You may choose 
 freely but you must pay the price; receive your well earned 
 reward afterward. 
 
46 SELF MASTERY 
 
 An Uncrowned King Discovered. 
 
 In choosing the wiser and happier Way, one of the 
 first steps reveals the necessity of renouncing the old, or 
 the new becomes elusive. The moment you have renounced 
 misfortune, failure and sorrow as having no normal, natural 
 place in your life, and you have vowed to turn your back 
 on these grewsome things forever that you are going to 
 claim the riches to which every normal soul on Earth is 
 entitled, then never turn back! Don't even look back if 
 possible! Every time you look back or turn back, you just 
 jump back into the well, and will have to pass through the 
 same struggle in your tortuous climb again. 
 
 Many of those who have achieved such wonderful suc- 
 cess in unfolding and utilizing their psychic forces, are 
 those who have endured great sorrows, heartbreaking dis- 
 appointments, and those who have met with depressing fail- 
 ures. Those having passed through great misfortune seem 
 more appreciative of their birthright when they rediscover 
 themselves, and for this reason are more successful when 
 they do, because they have learned the lesson at the ex- 
 pense of breaking health or heart ; learned the terrible price 
 one must pay for the luxury of wrong thinking; learned 
 the true value of wisely loving ones self, which attitude re- 
 sults in a nobler love of God. 
 
 In seeking to follow the light which ever shines from 
 your own soul, follow the example left us by the immortal 
 Columbus. In looking over the record of his voyage, we 
 read: "Today, we sailed west — which was our course." 
 Turning the record page for the next day's sailing you will 
 find : "Today we sailed west, which was our course." Turn- 
 ing page after page of the record of that wonderful voyage, 
 
SELF MASTERY 47 
 
 with all its terrible hardships, you will read: "Today, we 
 sailed west, which was our course." 
 
 In your journey down the beautiful Occult Way of life 
 let your lights be burning; your motto ever be, "Today, I 
 lived, acted, thought, and evolved in the right direction, for 
 this is my course" 
 
 In following the new light, it will be necessary that you 
 be on the alert ever constantly to exercise divine purpose; 
 ever in the same direction; and the moment you begin to 
 realize your own divine attributes, your nearness to the 
 powers which create every good thing we have, love, or 
 enjoy, then the world will take on another hue, and look 
 more beautiful than it ever did before. 
 
 The moment you look upon yourself rightly; love self 
 as you should with a divine appreciation of your own soul, 
 then you will begin to honor your body as your temple ; the 
 temporary abiding place of an immortal soul. You will 
 respect yourself as never before, and the world will pay 
 you an equal tribute of additional respect. 
 
 "Be noble and the nobleness which lies in other men, 
 but sleeping, will rise to meet thine own." 
 
 Confidence in the nobleness of the Majestic Self, and a 
 confidence in others is one of the grandest assets one can 
 possess. Without confidence, no one accomplishes anything 
 great or worthy. If you have no confidence in Self, the 
 world will have no confidence in you. People will place the 
 same value on you at which you value yourself. Take away 
 a man's confidence, courage, hope, and enthusiasm, and 
 you haven't much left. It is estimated by persons com- 
 petent to judge that there are thirty thousand persons in 
 New York City whose confidence in self is completely de- 
 stroyed ; persons who are past being helped in this incarna- 
 tion, because the will has been broken, destroyed ; hope has 
 
48 SELF MASTERY 
 
 been annihilated, and therefore they can be of no use to 
 humanity, and only a misery to themselves. None of this 
 vast number can be trusted to be sent a block on an errand. 
 Not that they are inherently dishonest, but because circum- 
 stances have conspired to crush, and kill all confidence in 
 self. It has broken down the will, in which condition all 
 sense of obligation, trust, and honor become dead. Verily 
 "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance; but a 
 broken spirit drieth up the bones." 
 
 That person therefore, who robs you of your confidence 
 in self, destroys your belief in your own ability to attain 
 some cherished hope or ideal, and thereby deals a death blow 
 to your courage, count that person your enemy. Think 
 kindly of him. Forgive him; but turn your back to him, 
 and be more cautious as to where you place your pearls. 
 
 The miracle of self confidence and enthusiasm has 
 brought a crowning success a million times, out of the 
 world's scrap heaps and discarded wrecks, when chrystal- 
 ized opinion declared that only additional disaster and loss 
 could come of further efforts in that direction. Confidence 
 and enthusiasm grow the rose where stood the poisonous 
 nettle. It produces fields of golden grain in the impassible 
 deserts, when all, "the wise ones" said that the enthusiast 
 was a fool. 
 
 Self confidence, supplemented by a smiling enthusi- 
 asm, puts armies over the Alps, discovers new countries, 
 crosses unknown seas, wins happiness and success where 
 the pessimists say "Impossible." Faith and self confidence 
 enable one to behold himself as God beholds him; a soul 
 with creative immortal attributes. It gives him back his 
 divine birthright. 
 
 Every thought we think not only affects our own body 
 and brain structure, but also that of others. Those subtle 
 
SELF MASTERY 49 
 
 thought-waves are carried out into space like the waves 
 of the wireless telegraph, where they are picked up, and 
 acted upon by other persons who may be hundreds of miles 
 away. Who can estimate the awful tragedies enacted by 
 misguided souls, whose initial incentive to commit crime 
 was born in the brain of some one else — perhaps hundreds 
 of miles away? Who can estimate it! Thoughts which the 
 original thinker flattered himself that no one knew but 
 himself; and yet those supposedly secret thoughts took 
 wings, and ended their journey by falling into some fertile 
 soil ; the brain of a misguided brother. In a moment of blind 
 rage, an awful tragedy was committed! How well there- 
 fore, should we guard our "mental creations." How won- 
 derfully true, that to an appalling degree, "We are our 
 brother's keeper." 
 
 What the world needs today more than any other one 
 thing is genuine kindness ; that kindness which is born of a 
 wise love of self, and a true love for all humanity. The 
 world is hungering for smiles, for kindness, for love. It 
 is craving to view more of the flowers beautiful in the gar- 
 den of our thoughts and mental creations. It needs the 
 gentle hand extended to help and to encourage the brother 
 who, perhaps has failed in any one of the score of ways 
 where a false step means a temporary defeat, or a crush- 
 ing failure. To encourage and help such an one gives you 
 a courage and a power with which to meet the new prob- 
 lems of your own life which you did not have before; and a 
 strength which you can not get otherwise. 
 
 Kindness to the stranger, to the friend, or to the foe 
 pays one a handsome dividend. Dollars can never estimate 
 it. 
 
 True encouragement and a wise sympathy smooths 
 down the rough and rocky bumps of life. It takes the sting 
 
50 SELF MASTERY 
 
 out of failure; adds courage and confidence to the heart 
 which needs them, and reveals the true meaning of, "more 
 blessed to give than to receive." 
 
 In as much as Nature has implanted in the soul a 
 longing to attain ; to have and to possess health, happiness 
 and plenty, a desire naturally manifests itself for more 
 specific direction as to definite procedure in evolving these 
 rightful riches. To which question the answer is that, no 
 definite rule covering the needs of every one can be given 
 because the same definite rule will not work for everyone 
 alike. The reason for this is found in the fact that ages 
 of false training prevents us from being able (any group 
 of persons) to reason alike, even with the same facts be- 
 fore them. Hardly two persons can be found who reason 
 alike. A generally specific rule however, is applicable to 
 every one who feels the call to higher and better things. 
 If you are brooding over failure of any kind, stop it at 
 once. It serves only as a millstone around your neck, and 
 will drag you down deeper into the pitiable mire of help- 
 lessness. Toss it aside forever. Bury the memory of it 
 if possible, and look the world in the face squarely, and 
 yourself likewise. Congratulate yourself that it wasn't 
 worse; that you are wiser in that you know what not to 
 do again, and try to put yourself for the time being, in tune 
 with the song of the birds. Start all over again with a 
 clean slate. Determine to close your eyes to the past, and 
 open your soul wide to the eternal present and the brighter 
 future, and you will start out realizing that you are either 
 a new creature, or you have laid hold upon some new power ; 
 that some new life giving power has laid hold of you. One 
 may not be able to do this in a moment, or an hour, al- 
 though many do; but a great reward will crown honest 
 effort and a determination. Perseverance will win for you. 
 
SELF MASTERY 51 
 
 If that accursed demon of envy has barricaded itself 
 within your sanctuary, then with one mighty, determination, 
 root it out. Every time you see it coming near you, give 
 it a stony stare, and turn your back. 
 
 If you hate ; if you hold revenge ; if you are harboring 
 some green-eyed monster, turn such a demon out without 
 any ceremony. Desert them; and without your encourag- 
 ing hand to feed them they will soon die of themselves. 
 Such curses are the distress and remorse producers of the 
 world. They are fiery, treacherous, life-consuming devils; 
 so paralyzing and deadly that they endanger life. Often 
 the losing of one's life is the price one pays for reveling in 
 their gore. It is an expensive luxury,. 
 
 If one's life has been such that false thinking has filled 
 his brain, mind and soul with noxious thoughts and venom- 
 ous weeds and he is unable to see the Light Eternal when 
 face to face with it ; and if one finds that he can't rid him- 
 self of the oppressive rubbish under which his soul seems 
 weighted, the trouble may be that he is trying to create a 
 vacuum by trying desperately to put the demons all out, 
 and leaving nothing in the space occupied by them. A 
 vacuum has never been created, and never can be. You 
 can not remove anything from its position without leaving 
 something in its place; and until you begin to learn to 
 crowd these demons out by gently bringing some other 
 more welcome guests in, you will not succeed. 
 
 The secret is a process of substitution. One must 
 force out the evil creations and disease producing thoughts, 
 by a combination of starvation, by neglect, and by enlarging 
 the group of noble ideals, and refusing to see, think of, or 
 entertain the old, destructive, depressive thoughts. The 
 new, and the good soon grow to occupy such a large space 
 in your soul that there is almost no room left for the false, 
 
52 SELF MASTERY 
 
 or evil. The demon thought creations which have long 
 held dominion are now squeezed into a space so small that 
 they quickly die of themselves. 
 
 Encourage the growth of the good within, at the ex- 
 pense of evil. Never looking at the evil will cause it to 
 wither away; dwarf itself into insignificance, until finally 
 it occupies an infinitesimal space in the mind; "good" will 
 have "overcome evil," while Divine Law — The Light Eternal 
 is left in control Supreme. This is a most vital law, and 
 applies to all occult attainment, it matters not in what 
 field of endeavor the effort may be. 
 
 Numerous books which have received recognition, are 
 filled with false and inexplicit teaching on many of the 
 most vital points. Several lectures of prominence are like- 
 wise doing much harm in the same manner. 
 
 While attempting to create success in health, business, 
 development, or the many other worthy aims, negative 
 creations are formed by hundreds of persons, who honestly 
 strive to attain. The reason for their failure is found in 
 their "creating energy," which begins to evolve in both 
 directions unconsciously as a result of holding to, thinking 
 of, and constantly reverting to the thought or condition 
 which is the opposite of that for which they really long. 
 This difficulty of tearing down as fast as one builds up 
 must be overcome, by the masterful determination of 
 "Thinking in the one direction, and holding the divine love 
 ideal of self and humanity ever uppermost." 
 
 Worry and fear are two of the most senseless world 
 wide curses. Worry never benefitted any one, but brings 
 trouble, sorrow, sickness, and disaster to thousands. If 
 you are a victim of worry, and you wish to progress with 
 the higher forces, you positively will have to eliminate it. 
 It is another expensive accursed luxury and none can afford 
 
SELF MASTERY 53 
 
 to pay the toll it demands. Many say it is impossible to 
 stop worrying. It is not impossible. Not being able to 
 stop worrying is based upon the same law which enables 
 others to stop the accursed habit. If you will just let go of 
 yourself; let your muscles all relax and indulge in that 
 sweet luxury of dreaming of the birds, the woods, the 
 streams, God's beautiful flowers ; a trip through the clouds, 
 through space, you will come back to yourself much re- 
 freshed. If you doubt it, try it, and you will find that the 
 thing over which you worried is no worse when you "re- 
 turn" but you will be the better. Your worrying will never 
 stop the world from spinning along in its orbit nor will it 
 stop anything for your benefit, or because you worry. If 
 you doubt this also, worry it out for a while and when you 
 do stop, the world will still be spinning along just the same. 
 
 Enough cannot be said of the greater love of self. 
 "Love thy neighbor as thy self," can never be understood 
 rightly in that arrangement of words only by one who is 
 familiar with the ancient Greek or comprehends early 
 Hebrew expression. "As thou lovest thy dearest friend, 
 love thou thyself also," is more nearly a correct translation 
 of the original thought. 
 
 How can one love God who loves not himself? If one 
 cannot love that which he sees, how can he ever love that 
 which he has not seen? Learn as never before to love and 
 respect Self; respect your body, the temple in which the 
 real You dwells. Your Temple should be held in sacred 
 esteem. Do you esteem it such? One should love self with 
 a pride divine, but with no false or foolish pride. Begin 
 to look upon Self as an incarnate soul ; a God, if you choose. 
 "Know ye not that ye are Gods?" If you regard holy writ, 
 that quotation alone should settle the question. It casts 
 a new ray of light on the philosophy of early Christianity. 
 
54 SELF MASTERY 
 
 In the lifting of our lives to that plain of divine real- 
 ization, we should ever keep before our vision that ever 
 present law of divine compensation which shows us with 
 an absolute certainty that, as fast as one begins to elimin- 
 ate doubt, fear, revenge and envy from his heart, and sub- 
 stitutes love, hope, faith, confidence, cheerfulness, and 
 smiles real smiles from the heart itself; as fast as one be- 
 comes able wisely to appreciate and lovingly to appropriate 
 the gifts of the Soul; as fast as one seeks in the spirit of 
 truth, to appropriate his divine birthright, just that fast 
 and no faster, all things whatsoever one desires will be 
 "added unto you," be it success in business, in music, in 
 the home life, in love, or in the thousand avenues or de- 
 partments of life in which one's hopes may lead. Never lose 
 sight of the value of "Sailing west, which was our course" 
 — sailing onward in the one positive, unalterable direction. 
 Looking backward or down, is dangerous and should be 
 religiously avoided. 
 
 If you seek to add to self the richer joys of life; if you 
 seek the world's blessing, or to obtain that which the world 
 in general may say comes to those who are selfish enough, 
 one must become wisely and whole heartedly unselfish; 
 wishing from the depths of his heart, every possible suc- 
 cess in every way, to all people everywhere, and out of the 
 abundance of such unselfish love waves which you launch 
 into space is created all that one's heart could seek; that 
 which you have cast out into the great ocean of Creative 
 Supply in waves of loving thoughts will return to you, 
 laden with riches. The measure will be full and running 
 over. 
 
 Remember, however, one all important law ! Every 
 time you try to get even with some one for some real or 
 imagined wrong, you will be the one most injured at the 
 
SELF MASTERY 55 
 
 finish. Two wrongs never made a right; they never can, 
 never did, and never will. It is a thing which carries a 
 bitter and terrible boomerang with it, which will sooner 
 or later hit the sender harder than was originally intended 
 for the victim. 
 
 If you will but reflect a moment on your own life, or 
 on the life of others whom you have known, you will see 
 how the life of the "Revenge seeker" has been dwarfed, 
 bruised, punished, and cursed by his own Venomous stings. 
 The law can't fail. Many who hear this have paid an awful 
 price for blindly indulging in revenge. The very thought 
 creation, and act itself, carries within it an unfailing reflex 
 action, which shoots your own arrows back at you with an 
 accurate aim, and the arrows carry a more deadly venom 
 than you sent. Nor can you escape its blow. It is impossi- 
 ble to avoid it, because it is justice meted out to you in that 
 you must "reap what you sow." It is impossible to harbor 
 revenge in your heart, and not suffer a frightful loss. 
 
 Another important metaphysical secret is that subtle 
 something which comes to one who has learned and mas- 
 tered the meaning of "loving your enemies; doing good to 
 those who despise you; and praying for those who hate 
 you." Some day, some where, some time, you will have to 
 learn it. 
 
 A Glimpse of the Light Eternal. 
 
 That the reader may be the better armed to win in 
 the battle for Mastery over Self, it is desirable here to ex- 
 press certain thought vibrations which will set in motion 
 certain specific forces which may find a quick response in 
 the heart of the reader ; thoughts which eventually come to 
 brighten the life of every one who delves deeply into the 
 
56 SELF MASTERY 
 
 mystic side of things, and to all who have eagerly, earnestly 
 sought light on the great questions of life ; sought glimpses 
 of that Light Eternal, from whence the Soul came, and 
 whither it goeth. All who have listened wisely, long and 
 faithfully to the voice of the Master, and have hearkened 
 to the wisdom which always comes to them from out of 
 the depths of the Soul, if it is earnestly sought there soon 
 is revealed that beautiful truth that there is but one 
 road; one way to genuine happiness; one way to love and 
 contentment and that way is Nature's way; that Nature's 
 way is God's way; and that God's way is the only way. 
 All other roads are full of lions, and lead to the abyss of 
 remorse. These conclusions are self evident and are ar- 
 rived at by all who patiently and faithfully seek out the 
 mysteries of the Soul, and the meaning of life, the will of 
 nature, and the pleasure of God. 
 
 Within your Temple, your body, or somewhere within 
 the Soul that dwells within, there resides a power, a light 
 which, if man were not hampered and perverted by false 
 teachings, would so brightly illumine the path of life, that 
 he who hearkened, need have no fear of falling into the 
 treacherous "abysses" during his journey of unfoldment 
 here on Earth. Were we not perverted by false religious 
 doctrines, "That still small voice within" would unfailingly 
 give warning of the "lions," and whisper to us the great 
 truths of our divinity. It would ever remind us that we 
 are endowed with Godly attributes; that we can choose our 
 lives, and just what we will be, although we may need 
 some wiser and perhaps kindlier hand than our own to help 
 us get started rightly, just at the right time. This "willing 
 hand" will always be found when we honestly seek the 
 light, for those who have "found it" are only glad to lend 
 aid to the "worthy" or "distressed brother" or sister who 
 
SELF MASTERY 57 
 
 is trying to qualify to "seek more light." Have no fear, 
 for then your own will come to you. When we approach 
 near the deeper shadows cast by that light divine which 
 lighteth every man that cometh into the world, we discover 
 that man is free to choose evil, or to follow good ; that when 
 we choose evil we must sooner or later pay whatever it 
 demands; pay here, now, on Earth, and not necessarily in 
 some misty future life. We learn that the Maker and 
 Giver of every good gift denies no man the power to do 
 wrong ; but when he does elect to do wrong, sins against the 
 laws of his own soul; against the unalterable laws of God, 
 that one carries right within him, a power which auto- 
 matically administers a just punishment. This adminis- 
 trator of punishment is right within his own being; and 
 to escape its decrees is impossible. We learn that God him- 
 self will not prevent us from doing wrong — nor does He 
 save us from administering our self-merited punishment. 
 The penalty is unavoidable. 
 
 There is a much more beautiful thought however about 
 this unescapable Master who seems cruelly just, and justly 
 cruel, which at once commends itself even to those who try 
 hardest to avoid paying its toll. It is that beautiful truth 
 that somewhere reposing within the secret chambers of 
 the soul of each one of us, awaits a potent power which, 
 some day, some time, somewhere, somehow, will at last 
 purify us, and work our final redemption. It may perhaps, 
 be today; tomorrow; next week; next month; next year. 
 It may be ten years; it may be fifty years; a hundred years. 
 If you persist in evil ways it may be five hundred years, in 
 another life; or in another life,* or yes, in yet another life; 
 it may be a thousand years or ten thousand years. 
 
 One stupendous unalterable truth the eternal Light 
 reveals to those who have sought it is that, somewhere, 
 
58 SELF MASTERY 
 
 somehow, sometime, that eternal redemptive power within 
 the soul itself will finally win out; will corner you. You 
 will finally corner yourself, will meet yourself face to face, 
 and there decide your fate. You will some day decide that 
 there is no use longer to resist God's ways; you will auto- 
 matically whip yourself with the result of evil, until at 
 last you will have run your course. You will have decided 
 that breaking the laws of Nature, — the laws of God — is but 
 another name for slowly and wilfully administering the 
 most cruel self torture. You will then see that "as you 
 sow, you must reap." It will have a new meaning. At 
 last you will see that there is but one way and that is 
 Nature's way ; the soul's way ; God's way, and in that dark- 
 est hour of your soul's existence, when you will have 
 reached the lowest point of your choice, you will open your 
 eyes and there will still be shining for you the "light eter- 
 nal," offering as it has for thousands of years, to point the 
 way, and that day you will find "your Father's house" open ; 
 his beautiful joys awaiting you and with these things 
 spread before you, that "redemptive power within" will 
 begin anew. You will decide to live in harmony with your 
 own laws, and thus you will finally redeem yourself; will 
 have mastered Self, and will enter into the fullness of the 
 blessings which, as the Prophet of old hath said are "pre- 
 pared for you from the foundation of the world." In that 
 day all life ; all people ; all creatures everywhere will reveal 
 to you a new meaning of God ; His smiles will be seen even 
 in the face of your enemies, and perhaps for the first time 
 in years, or even centuries, you will have tasted happiness. 
 Finally as this redemptive power within unfurls, there 
 will arrive a period in your evolution at which you will 
 have shaken off layer after layer; crust after crust; one 
 false shell after another until you will have shaken off the 
 
SELF MASTERY 59 
 
 last vestige of impurity which retards and blinds the soul, 
 and then you will be revealed unto yourself, a living God; 
 a creature divine, with life eternal; life everlasting; pre- 
 pared to enter that existence in which life, love, and happi- 
 ness in all its beautiful conceptions are without end. In 
 that period will be heard many to say, "Behold, evil hath 
 driven me to redeem myself." 
 
60 SELF MASTERY 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Success and its Price. 
 
 What success mean to one, would in no manner mean 
 success to another. That for which one person may strive 
 unceasingly as the only thing which will make his life 
 happy, may in no way, appeal to another. A definition for 
 the word Success is not necessarily a matter of accumulat- 
 ing dollars. This is proven by the facts printed in the pub- 
 lic press every day. 
 
 Recently a man who had accumulated two millions of 
 dollars remarked that he was just beginning to realize that 
 he was a poor man — poor in that for which his soul had 
 longed, and which he believed the accumulation of gold 
 would bring. He awoke to the delusion, and found that his 
 millions left a terrible emptiness, a hungering and a longing 
 in his heart, which money failed to alleviate. To others the 
 meaning of success is the attaining of happiness, and with 
 them, the element of money has little place, for the reason 
 that their home lives are simple and void of all pomp or 
 false pride. Viewing their lives from the money stand- 
 point, they are satisfied with the few dollars which they 
 earn honestly each month. The success which they crave 
 may be the attainment of some ideal in study, in art or 
 the companionship of one who will understand them; one 
 who can sympathize with their aims, their hopes, plans or 
 ideals. 
 
 Success in any one chosen thing can never be attained 
 except by paying an honest price, but not necessarily a 
 
SELF MASTERY 61 
 
 price in dollars. There is a law of compensation pervading 
 the whole universe which tells us it is impossible to get 
 something for nothing, from the labor of another without 
 injuring both parties. Things must be paid for with an 
 honest price. 
 
 To expect something for nothing is as bad as to have 
 to work and never receive any pay for your time and effort. 
 Both lead to poverty. When we receive something for noth- 
 ing the law of compensation is broken and detrimental re- 
 sults follow as surely as the night follows the day. 
 
 A religion which costs you nothing is worth nothing. 
 A philosophy which you get for nothing, is worth just that. 
 If you obtain something of value and pay nothing for it, 
 you can be certain that sooner or later you will pay the 
 price or pay a greater price as a result of having violated 
 this universal, omnipotent law. The law of compensation 
 assures us that we get out of life just what we put into it, 
 that we are the result of what we have thought. It en- 
 courages us with its promise, that the more truth you place 
 in the hands of others, the more will the law of compensa- 
 tion give you in return for your efforts. In no other law 
 is the reward of compensation more apparent. 
 
 Success or failure in any field of endeavor, follows a 
 law which is as fixed and unfailing as the law of mathe- 
 matics. Failure to succeed is caused by an internal oppo- 
 sition ; an opposition within yourself. It may never be sus- 
 pected or known by you, but its fruit you will reap just the 
 same. Success never can come until this internal resistance 
 is overcome. If such resistance within is retarding our 
 progress, attainment or success, it becomes our highest duty 
 to make our inner selves the object of an untiring search 
 for the obstacle, or the resistance, and then remove it, no 
 matter what the cost in effort. 
 
62 SELF MASTERY 
 
 There is a law running all through nature which tells 
 us that like always produces like ; or that like attracts like. 
 It is as true from the harvest we reap, from the kind of 
 thought we plant in our mental or psychic garden as it is 
 elsewhere in nature. There is no escape from natural law 
 and its results. The kind of harvest we reap, measured 
 by success, health or happiness, is determined by this un- 
 changing law. The quality and the kind of seed we have 
 sown, and the kind of care we have taken of the growing 
 crops, will determine the final reaping. 
 
 The entire philosophy of occult Science is based upon 
 the same laws of common sense which determine finalities 
 elsewhere in the natural world. 
 
 In the animal and vegetable world, men would never 
 think of violating the well known laws and expect anything 
 other than a violated, mixed, unsatisfactory result. We 
 would not think of planting corn and expecting to reap a 
 harvest of grapes. Instead of that we follow fixed, wejl 
 known and certain laws which, for thousands of years, have 
 proved that "Like produces like." This law is absolutely 
 true in either the mental, animal, vegetable or psychic 
 world. 
 
 In the kingdom of flowers and vegetables, if we wisn 
 beautiful plants, splendid specimens, we do not grow them 
 too closely together. We remove every weed, spear of grass, 
 and unwelcome intruder. The soil is kept perfectly clean. 
 As soon as an unwelcome weed is discovered, no matter 
 how small it may be, it is removed at once for we know 
 that it robs the soil of strength, and saps the flower of 
 vitality, thereby reducing its strength, dwarfing its growth, 
 and marring its beauty. If the weeds are not kept out, 
 they will soon destroy the whole garden. 
 
SELF MASTERY 63 
 
 If you had a garden of choice flowers started and you 
 discovered a poisonous weed among them which was rob- 
 bing them of strength and threatened to destroy them, your 
 only thought would be to destroy the weed; to tear it out 
 root and branch, at once. 
 
 The lesson is practical. Take it to heart; apply it to 
 your own life. Let us have fewer seeds planted in our 
 mental garden, and let us cultivate them carefully. Let 
 us bar out or overcome all the stray or undesirable tramp 
 thoughts, and keep our eyes ever open, and ourselves pre- 
 pared to root out the unproductive, undesirable weeds as 
 fast as they are discovered creeping in. This law is abso- 
 lutely true in the mental and psychic world as it is in the 
 animal and vegetable kingdom. 
 
 In the mental kingdom, common sense is seldom in- 
 voked. Procedure in this realm has been so haphazard for 
 ages, that we deliberately sow thistles and expect to reap 
 oranges. We sow envy, hate, jealousy and all sorts of 
 whimsical seeds and expect to reap success and a crop of 
 happiness. Because the seeds do not grow, we become dis- 
 gusted and hurl invective at random because the crop is 
 not of love, beauty, and riches, thus making our plight only 
 the worse because of the shackling vampire mental creations 
 which we thereby set loose into space to prey on ourselves 
 or others, later. We fly into a rage, tear the mental garden 
 up, and plant something else. Consequently our mental 
 and spiritual gardens are always in the plowing and plant- 
 ing stage. Neither task is ever half done. If the haphazard 
 seeds are left to grow, we find lemons awaiting us when 
 perhaps we had all along taken it for granted that a rose 
 ought to be given us; but we reaped just what we sowed. 
 We got what our efforts earned. King Compensation por- 
 tioned us our share; our just deserts, in kind and quality. 
 
64 SELF MASTERY 
 
 Honesty,, cheerfulness, optimism, confidence, enthusi- 
 asm, sincerity, justice, a respectful knowledge of this law 
 of compensation, and a noble love of self, are the funda- 
 mental ingredients which are necessary to produce a well 
 balanced success. 
 
 The pessimist who carries gloom and depressing clouds 
 about with him, is as dangerous as the black damp. Avoid 
 him. The pessimist cannot see like the optimist for he 
 has cataracts on his eyes and things do not look right. He 
 "sees things" but in the wrong light, for he is color blind, 
 and this only adds to his danger. He does not see life as 
 it is, or facts as they are. He is about as welcome as the 
 ague. He brings as much happiness as a shaking chill. 
 However, Compensation does not overlook him. It never 
 overlooks anything or anybody, not even the greatest or 
 the smallest ; the best or the worst ; the highest or the low- 
 est of any of the creatures of this planet. It is the great 
 law of balance ; the law which evens things up. It keeps an 
 eternal vigil. Nothing escapes its eye. We may break any 
 of the man made laws and never be punished, but as for 
 the laws of balance, or the laws of justice, of right or 
 wrong ; as for the laws of nature ; the laws of self ; the laws 
 of the divinity; the laws of God; for breaking these there 
 is no escape. 
 
 Wise old Compensation never sleeps. Compensation 
 has a wonderful memory. It never forgets the most trivial 
 events, either good or bad. It would seem that some people 
 are successful in direct violation of this law, and escape for 
 a long time, but it gets them at last, and it always brings 
 a suitable reward. 
 
 We sometimes envy the "Harrimans," the "Morgans," 
 and "Astors," and their millions, but this wise old law 
 whispers in our ears words of good cheer, and bids us notice 
 
SELF MASTERY 65 
 
 that the drawn face of the "Harrimans" have no smiles, 
 and that they know little of real happiness. 
 
 The law of Compensation is a law of the soul. It is 
 the law of all souls, whether good or bad. We carry a law 
 of compensation within us which records every thought 
 and act, and sees to it that we are rewarded handsomely, or 
 at least rewarded justly. It deals us back just what we have 
 earned. It shows us that it pays to be a real man or a 
 real woman; that shams do not go far. It points out that 
 shams may apparently run smoothly for awhile, but the 
 sham gets his trouble from the start. Look at him or her 
 a few years hence, and see how the Soul's law of Compen- 
 sation has kept track; kept good account, and finally set- 
 tled up things evenly. Hundred of cases may be cited 
 where the sham has apparently evaded old King Compensa- 
 tion for years; but at last they are dragged out into the 
 limelight of shame and disgrace. Hundreds during the past 
 year have taken their own lives to avoid the awful pangs 
 of remorse. 
 
 In seeking success therefore, there is a road which is 
 sure, safe and certain ; and that road is beautifully lighted 
 by man's inner conscience. It is an easy way, and the only 
 road by which the goal may ever be safely reached. This 
 road parallels the highway of Compensation. Its many 
 lights teach us that poverty is a disease, an abnormal con- 
 dition, an unnatural state; that the sons of God by nature 
 cannot possibly reflect the distress of poverty, unless such 
 distress comes as a result of having used the "talent" un- 
 wisely. 
 
 Compensation tells us that fear, worry, envy, hate, 
 jealousy, shame, embarrassment, regret and the brooding 
 over failure, are damning curses, awful vices, murderous 
 luxuries which stand immovable, mountain barriers in the 
 
66 SELF MASTERY 
 
 way. They are impassible, perpendicular walls which can 
 be removed by one method only. Never can you attain the 
 goal you seek and still harbor these curses. You cannot 
 serve God and Mammon, and before you can behold and 
 enjoy, the glorious light of the occult way, to attain the 
 hopes on which your heart may be set, these barriers, these 
 vampire Demons which so many of us dread to part with, 
 must be overcome, mastered, slain; must be forsaken for- 
 ever and left to die. This they will quickly do of themselves 
 if you refuse to support them. 
 
 How terribly impossible to reflect that Image Divine, 
 or be a real man or a real woman while under the yoke of 
 failure thought. How difficult to look the world squarely 
 in the face and smile with that open sincerity as a child 
 of this beautiful world system, when the curse of fear, the 
 curse of the race, has clutched you in its poisonous, paralyz- 
 ing tentacles. The poverty thought and the demon of fear 
 crush one to earth under the weight of embarrassment and 
 fear; shame ascends our psychic throne, and self respect 
 almost disappear. There are a few rare heroic exceptions 
 to this state of affairs, but it nevertheless remains true that 
 poverty thought has made mental or moral cowards of most 
 of us, if not psychic cowards. 
 
 It places blinders over our eyes and makes it impossi- 
 ble for us to see our inseparable connection with that great 
 ocean of creative supply, which contains enough to clothe, 
 feed and keep comfortable, a thousand times the present 
 population of this world as royally as that of the happiest 
 and healthiest person to be found on this planet; and then 
 there would be an immense reserve supply. 
 
 In striving to attain success we must at once abandon 
 all vicious, bitter, revengeful, fear thoughts. They wring 
 a sad tale from the hearts of men. Look at the careworn 
 
SELF MASTERY 67 
 
 faces of little children who have been cursed by the hounds 
 of fear since their birth. It stamps their little faces with 
 age and care; weakens their hearts, and ruins their whole 
 career. Fear robs children of all their real "childhood," 
 so that they never know the pleasures of youth. The men- 
 tal and physical creations of fear and poverty have dogged 
 most of us since long before we were born. Unless we rid 
 ourselves of them they will gnaw at our heels until death. 
 True success and genuine happiness never can possibly 
 come until we have overthrown these tyrants forever. 
 
 Of all the useless, degrading views of a misguided race, 
 fear is the worst. It blasts promising lives, ruins careers, 
 wrecks reputations, destroys health, makes happiness im- 
 possible, and what is more, ninety-eight per cent of all 
 the things which you have worried about, for fear it 
 might happen, never did happen. The worries which rent 
 your nerves, weakened the heart, and produced so many 
 other heart sickening conditions, were all for nothing. 
 
 Refuse to tolerate a trend of thought or an emotion at 
 any time unless it is to your happiness or success. 
 
 What excuse can one have for reveling in sorrowful, 
 depressing tales when to do so is to invite a growth of the 
 same? Refuse to listen to any tale of depression unless 
 some person is at that moment in distress, physical pain, 
 or imminent danger, and needs assistance. Force yourself 
 deliberately to cultivate just such habits of thought as you 
 would wisely choose, and then practice it regularly until 
 the mental habit is formed. It will then become "second 
 nature," while at first it may seem drudgery. 
 
 It is impossible for us to think one thing and be an- 
 other. The tramp thinks "tramp thoughts." The happy, 
 contented man thought of happiness. The successful busi- 
 ness man, business thoughts. We cannot harbor depressing 
 
68 SELF MASTERY 
 
 thoughts of fear and failure, five hours a day and of success 
 another five hours a day, and ever advance or succeed 
 except in the wrong direction. Thinking of failure, sor- 
 row or of the sorrows of someone else, is to throw down 
 your guards, and extend an open invitation to those forces 
 to start a growth of these same destructive creations within 
 yourselves. 
 
 Can a Christian, or a godly man, think constantly of 
 lewd, low, mean, cruel, vulgar things day after day, and 
 still be holy, pure, and good? How quickly can the least 
 informed answer that question correctly. How quickly 
 anyone can detect those thoughts when they begin to mani- 
 fest in the physical form, in the expression of the face, in 
 the eye, in the manner, by words, actions, deeds. One 
 "rotten apple" will pollute a whole barrel of apples. Can 
 one ever hope for success if he goes around with a long 
 face, dreading failure, looking failure, feeling that he can- 
 not afford this or do that, because of the dread of coming 
 to want or meeting with bad luck? Can one behold the 
 beauties of the rising sun by looking west, or with your 
 eyes closed? It is as impossible to find success while disre- 
 garding these mental laws as it is natural and certain for 
 one to succeed when he begins to think and act in the right 
 manner, governing his thought creations to conform to the 
 law of success. Your hopeful, bouyant, optimistic, en- 
 thusiastic, confidential attitude turns loose and sets in mo- 
 tion, powerful occult forces which constantly assist in 
 building the very thing you seek. Here again we see the 
 great immutable, unfailing law, Compensation, at work. 
 
 Picture, if you will, a man in business who carries the 
 picture of failure always stamped in his face ; the merchant 
 who dresses as a failure, assumes the air of a man who is 
 a failure. How long will it require for him to reach the 
 
SELF MASTERY 69 
 
 goal of Success ? Would you feel like making a second pur- 
 chase of him if this were his attitude while waiting upon 
 his customers? Most anyone can see how quickly this 
 would affect his patrons ; and also see the effect of this sort 
 of logic ; but many of us fail to grasp its wondrous reversing 
 possibilities. How well one likes to purchase where every 
 one looks prosperous and assumes an air of prosperity, and 
 acts like normal beings. 
 
 Personal appearance is a most important factor. 
 "Dress and manners'' have far more to do with our success 
 or failure than at first would be suspected. Determine once 
 and forever therefore, to remove the last trace of anything 
 from your personality which suggests failure. Avoid it in 
 your manner, your clothes, your actions, your voice, words 
 and appearances in your home. Assume a manner which 
 suggests everything so contrary to the idea of failure, that 
 for another person to have a thought of failure from your 
 appearance or actions would be impossible. Turn your 
 back upon the failure atmosphere forever. Throw off your 
 old outer shell with a mighty effort. Away with the old! 
 Put on the new ! Never slide back. The very act of turn- 
 ing away from depression and failure in your mental and 
 physical attitude, being determined never to return, will 
 in itself, turn loose a power which will cut a way for you 
 where the sign has always read "No road." 
 
 "If you would attain a virtue, assume it." How well 
 Shakespeare knew the law. Most actors know this same 
 law in a limited sense — the power which personal appear- 
 ance wields over an audience, when the actor is made up to 
 act the part of a certain character. "Make up," is a won- 
 derful factor in life. Its vibration has a wonderful effect, 
 not only upon the audience, but upon the actor as well. If an 
 actor's make-up is poor, it is almost impossible for him to 
 
70 SELF MASTERY 
 
 play his part with what is known as a "magnetic effect." If 
 he looks in a mirror while realizing that his make-up is 
 bad, the effect upon himself is much more fatal. 
 
 The power of color vibration in its effects as seen on 
 animal life, vegetable life, or as it influences the mental 
 or spiritual attitude and condition of health, have long been 
 known by scientists. The government of United States and 
 that of England conducted experiments which proved this 
 law beyond all doubt. These experiments show that grape 
 vines under the color vibration of the blue or purple ray 
 produce twice as much fruit as under the ordinary sun- 
 light, the fruit being almost as large again as the grape 
 grown without the presence of the color ray. The experi- 
 ment was conducted with two male calves, there being but 
 a day's difference in their ages and both calves being large, 
 and healthy. Both were fed alike, the same quality and 
 quantity of food at the same time. They occupied pens 
 side by side. One calf was sheltered under a roof which 
 was made of pieces of violet colored glass. The sun was 
 allowed to shine through this freely at all times ; while the 
 other pen was arranged so that there was no shelter except 
 during the rain or from intense heat. The experiment 
 lasted for three months. At the end of the three months, the 
 calf which was kept in the open was simply a normal, natu- 
 ral, healthy, three months old calf. No larger or smaller 
 than would be expected; while the calf kept under the in- 
 fluence of the purple ray, was more than twice the size of 
 the other calf, and manifested all the desires of a maturer 
 bullock a year old. Hundreds of similar experiments were 
 conducted with similar results. The same experiments 
 have been tried with human beings, with almost unbelieve- 
 able results. Certain colors of wall paper prove fatal to 
 the patients who have certain diseases, and are confined in 
 
SELF MASTERY 71 
 
 such rooms. However, this leads us into another vast field 
 of investigation, which cannot be entered here. 
 
 The savage, in all parts of the world, when getting 
 ready for war, paints himself with certain combinations of 
 red, blue, ochre, and black, as a necessary preliminary. 
 When they face each other with these hideous "war paint," 
 combinations, it arouses a spirit of bravery, even in the 
 most cowardly, which so blinds them with rage, they will 
 walk into the very jaws of death. Hideous "war paint," 
 and still more hideous "dress" have been mighty factors 
 mentioned by all our old Indian fighters. 
 
 Could our own little boys play "Indian" successfully 
 without their Indian war togs on, their feathers "painted" 
 and "colored," and a suit to match? Watch them play their 
 childish war game and see the effect upon them of "make 
 up." 
 
 This same law of color vibration in the clothes we wear 
 affects not only ourselves, our bodies, and our thought 
 creative forces, but it affects all with whom we come in 
 contact. We must never lose sight of the effect and value 
 of being well dressed. It is our "war paint." We feel dif- 
 ferent when dressed up. Every one will admit this. When 
 you are well dressed and you know you look pleasing, your 
 clothes affect your mental forces; you raise up your head, 
 push out your chest, brace back the shoulders. You do not 
 look or feel like the same person. 
 
 When you are well dressed, others instinctively feel 
 your changed magnetic force at once. Then you have con- 
 fidence in self and instantly that confidence is felt by others 
 and men begin to have a confidence in you they did not 
 have before. 
 
 In no philosophy is the law of drill or repetition so 
 necessary as in studying the laws of the soul; and it will 
 
72 SELF MASTERY 
 
 here bear repeating again that people will never place a 
 value on you, any greater than that which you place upon 
 yourself. If you do not hold your head high, others will 
 hold theirs above you. If your ambitions are no higher than 
 the dust in the street, you can be sure that you will be con- 
 stantly walked over by the crowd and never noticed. 
 
 All the above illustrations and comparisons have been 
 submitted with the hope that the student of the Occult Way 
 may study the requirements of his own body, his own 
 temple, in color vibration, most compatible and in harmony 
 with that of his own soul. 
 
 While it is true that "clothes do not make a man," it 
 has so much to do with what the man is and does, that it 
 cannot be overlooked. Some of us are color blind, others 
 color ignorant, for which condition few of us are to blame ; 
 yet this is no excuse for our not striving to ascertain what 
 colors our bodies and minds require. 
 
 In seeking success never lose sight of this factor. If 
 you feel that you are poor, cannot afford to dress well, you 
 must dress as well as you possibly can, and your new hope- 
 ful vibrations will immediately begin to help you. The 
 vibration of your clothes and of your home surroundings 
 are bound to tell upon you. There is no escape from it. 
 Wear the best clothes you can afford. Expend your money 
 freely but judiciously and give it careful, optimistic con- 
 sideration, and the investment will return you a handsome 
 profit. Remember that no one can do his best or even well, 
 who lives in a hovel, dresses meanly, starves his body, or 
 lets his soul go hungry. 
 
 There is a spiritual dress, a "Soul's Suit" about the 
 body which is seen and felt by others, and he who culti- 
 vates it to a pleasing degree, has something in his suit 
 which no tailor can give. Its mysterious something is 
 
SELF MASTERY 73 
 
 seen when the back is turned. Its charming vibrations are 
 felt throughout your whole being when you shake hands 
 with such a one. 
 
 Look not lightly upon the power of pleasure. It is 
 worthy of your most serious attention. If you make a mil- 
 lion in a year, and wreck your health so that you cannot 
 enjoy what you have made, what have you gained? 
 
 To deny self of all pleasures, to let your soul live in a 
 half starved body, and deny yourself every luxury, and 
 get along in the cheapest and poorest sort of things, is to 
 cripple and dwarf your very soul. If one has sacrificed 
 every pleasure in the mad rush for wealth, and after attain- 
 ing wealth, finds that life holds no charms for him, that his 
 horded gold cannot bring back the power to laugh, to smile, 
 to enjoy; when one finds that his health is gone, what then 
 has his wealth availed him? 
 
 To deprive yourself of all amusements because you 
 "cannot afford it," and never to know recreation and joyous 
 exhiliration which it brings to mind and body, all in order 
 that you may lay up a few dollars, is surely because of no 
 love you bear for self. This is a love of gold, but not of 
 God. 
 
 Never deprive yourself of the gratification of your 
 finer tastes. To do so is to bemean and brutalize and stifle 
 the expression of all the best things within you. God 
 shows his ideas of dress in the beautiful flowers, in the 
 splendor with which he has pictured the starry heavens; 
 of beauty as disclosed in the rose and the indescribable lily. 
 To further teach us the lesson of God's idea of His children 
 beautifying themselves, He paints millions of other beauti- 
 ful flowers in colors of pleasing nameless hues, and still 
 other beautiful scenes of nature with robes which bring joy 
 
74 SELF MASTERY 
 
 to the eye. The very breath of the flower brings sudden 
 outbursts of inspiring pleasure to the soul. 
 
 Take this lesson into your own life. You, too, are one 
 of God's creations; one of God's children. He has taken 
 more thought for you than for the lily of the field. God 
 wants you to encourage all the finer tastes of your nature, 
 never be afraid to show your finer feelings, and a proper 
 love of self. Keep your heart, mind, soul and body as sweet, 
 well cared for and as pure as possible, and you will reap 
 God's smiles and a happiness and success in life which you 
 have not even dreamed of before. 
 
 Cheapness is a mania which comes from the thought 
 currents of fear, and of failure. Avoid cheap things, cheap 
 and common ideas. Cheapness will bring you cheapness 
 as like draws or creates like. Cheap things have been made 
 by poorly paid, weak, half starved, ill treated persons, often 
 enslaved children, and the vibrations of this curse will fol- 
 low the product. Leave cheap articles alone. Do not en- 
 courage or assist in making possible the continuation of a 
 curse which keeps half starved human beings at work un- 
 der conditions equal to the worst slavery, by your patroniz- 
 ing cheap places, or looking for cheap articles. 
 
 Cheap articles, cheap places, cheap, unworthy ideas 
 carry with them an inescapable venom which exacts from us 
 its price. 
 
 If you live in a hovel you are carrying the hovel thought 
 vibrations in your psychic aura, which will work a con- 
 scious or an unconscious depression on those whom you 
 meet, and it will rebound back again to self. 
 
 Being stingy with self, depriving self of the pleasant 
 things of life will quickly show itself. 
 
 Live first class. If you cannot possibly live first class 
 live as neatly, tidily, and with as many little luxuries as 
 
SELF MASTERY 75 
 
 you can arrange. Treat yourself as a royal guest — not 
 one day, but each day. Be a prince, a king, a queen. If 
 you have been drawn into these destructive currents of 
 thought which drag their victims down into the stream 
 of failure, and you feel that it is impossible for you to af- 
 ford to dress well, then dress as cleanly as you can. "Clean- 
 liness is next to Godliness/' and "a cake of soap is a stepping 
 stone toward heaven." Ever hold that vision before you in 
 which you see yourself dressed in spotless clothes of the 
 latest and best quality. It is impossible to go some place 
 without starting, without a beginning of the journey. Make 
 a start. Start right. Get off on the right foot. Make 
 an honest, sincere effort. Do the best you can. Your ef- 
 fort, though it may seem poor, weak and ineffective to you 
 in the beginning, yet it will begin to have a telling effect 
 from the very start. Silently demand in a prayerful con- 
 sciousness, of the great Infinite God, as your natural herit- 
 age. "All that my father hath is mine," because you and 
 I are children of the father, and like the father; of the 
 same creative attributes as the father, and directly re- 
 lated to and connected with the greatest creative source 
 of supply in the universe. Do not forget that while God 
 sends the sunshine and the rain on the just and the unjust 
 that, there are many other blessings which he witholds 
 from all except those who do His will. He is just like 
 our fathers and mothers in that the children who are dis- 
 obedient do not share the confidence and gifts of those who 
 are obedient, dutiful, considerate and true. 
 
 With this optimistic, loving, kindly determined mental 
 and spiritual attitude, with fear conquered, with worry and 
 doubt eliminated and with a reasonable amount of zealous, 
 honest, worthy effort on your part, wade in! and the world 
 is yours. You will be wondrously rewarded. 
 
76 SELF MASTERY 
 
 The quicker we adjust ourselves to the Occult Way — 
 God's way, the more quickly will we succeed. This is not 
 a world of haphazard chance. Happiness, riches, love, 
 honor are evolved from mental and psychic conditions or 
 attitude, which are as never failing as the law which causes 
 the water to flow from the mountain to the sea. Thought 
 currents are as real as currents of electricity, and if you 
 comply with the harmonious requirements of this infinite 
 law of your own being, all that you seek shall be yours. 
 Failure to comply with this law spells failure for you and 
 for your aims in life. The quicker we learn, the better for 
 us, that we are divinely related to, and forever inseparable 
 from, the infinite creative supply of the universe. 
 
 The moment you feel that you are not in touch with 
 the rightful supply station, that moment you become 
 obsessed with a fear; with a consciousness of your own 
 weakness; a sort of childish helplessness. You are a law 
 unto yourself; a world, a universe. The lever which con- 
 trols it is to be found right within. It is all within our own 
 control; by realizing our own infinite attributes, and by 
 cheerfully, optimistically, enthusiastically, positively claim- 
 ing and demanding your own, as your divine and lawful 
 rights, in the right mental attitude ; and then optimistically 
 getting busy to do all you can by honest genuine effort, 
 towards bringing it to pass. No power in this world can 
 resist, retard, or keep down a man or woman who is moved 
 to do by such a combined force as this. 
 
 Be cheerful under all circumstances, no matter what 
 happens. Being otherwise cannot help you or the situation 
 and will only make both worse. Fear, anger and pessimism 
 strangle the forces which will give you what you seek, pro- 
 viding you keep the channels cleared of these life destroy- 
 ing demons. 
 
SELF MASTERY 77 
 
 The Nazarene prophet was the most practical man 
 the world has ever known. He was not a dreamer. If we 
 could only drop all the foolishness which has been en- 
 grafted into our souls about Him and listen to His own 
 words of wisdom, with half that degree of attention which 
 we gladly give to a "Rockefeller," or a "Morgan," in the 
 business world, the world's problem of sadness, disease, 
 struggles and strife, would have been solved centuries ago 
 and disease would long since have vanished. "Overcome evil 
 with good." How simple, and yet how direct that com- 
 mand. That apparently simple injunction contains the 
 only solution by which evil will ever be overcome. All at- 
 tempts to apply any other rule or principle results in the 
 creation of more evil, and only complicates the existing 
 trouble. 
 
 What would you think or say of a man who owned a 
 great farm which was subject to overflow from a nearby 
 river, which destroyed his buildings and crops, and who 
 would go to the head-gates of a dam nearby, and turn more 
 rushing torrents of water into the farm, with the idea that 
 he would thereby drive away the river water with the water 
 from the great dam. There is no doubt as to what your 
 opinion would be. Have you never thought of how this 
 same principle works in the thought world? Fear never 
 can be overcome by fright. Hate, spite, revenge or the 
 death dealing forces of rage can never be overcome by re- 
 taliation, or by applying the same destructive forces. 
 
 Never lose sight of the all important fact that success 
 and prosperity and abundance are products created by your 
 own mental forces; by the soul itself. Thought force is a 
 substance which is as real as the oxygen of the air. The 
 greatest forces in this universe are those which cannot be 
 seen. No one has seen electricity, magnetism or gravity. 
 
78 SELF MASTERY 
 
 We see the proofs of their existence. Psychic power is a 
 force which is just as real as magnetism or gravity, but 
 difficult for many to quickly comprehend. 
 
 There are many who are born with the right mental 
 attitude toward life; and who succeed in everything they 
 undertake with apparently no effort. They are optimistic 
 and therefore creative by nature. There are others who 
 are born with a wrong mental attitude. It is difficult for 
 them to comprehend when shown. They are naturally pessi- 
 mistic or filled with fear. Such persons are in for a 
 struggle in life. They require the helping hand of some 
 responsive soul who recognizes their plight to get them 
 started in the correct path of life and happiness. 
 
 The more we contemplate the divinity of man, the 
 more certainly and beautifully does the divine plan for 
 humanity unfold to our view. It is certain that the time is 
 not far distant when every man will be a crowned king as 
 planned by the great Architect of the ages. 
 
 Success grows largely out of the energies which are set 
 in motion by our self confidence. Do not have any foolish 
 fears of letting people know that you are self confident. 
 Genuine self confidence forms that mysterious link which 
 unites us with exactly the Divine Creative forces which we 
 wish to attract, or utilize. 
 
 Lack of self confidence begets indecision; indecision 
 begets worry, and worry is that hungry, insatiable monster 
 which dogs our footsteps from youth to old age, unless we 
 slay the beast, once for all. No mind is great enough to 
 comprehend the awful ruin, wreck, misery and sorrow 
 wrought by this curse. 
 
 The mental attitude of hope, of love, of faith, enthusi- 
 asm, will soon overcome any monster that ever attacked the 
 human mind. The cure for the disease lies within the dis- 
 
SELF MASTERY 79 
 
 ease itself. Apply the opposite mental state, and the cure 
 is sure, quick, and certain; but we cannot keep returning, 
 getting back into the same rut, and expect the cure to re- 
 main, whether the cure has been psychic, or of a physical 
 nature. 
 
 Brooding over past misfortunes, or allowing ourselves 
 to bathe in the muddy pool of remorse, creates a poison 
 which sickens the heart, kills ambition, destroys our ability, 
 defeats our aims, and literally "dries up the bones." This 
 mental attitude will kill anybody or anything except that 
 which is evil and undesirable. Lift up the soul in prayer- 
 fulness, and hold only to that in the mental plane which 
 you want. 
 
 Cultivate self possession, repose, and self control, but 
 do not mistake a sphinx-like stare for self possession. 
 
 Emerson says, "The virtue you would love to have, 
 assume as already yours, and appropriate. ,, Map out a 
 grand program for yourself. Make it large and beautiful. 
 Picture yourself as the hero. Put on your optimistic "war 
 paint." Play the part like a royal king. Assume success as 
 already yours, and act it well always. 
 
 In entering upon this royal program, prepare yourself 
 by ridding your mind of all the unpleasant things of the 
 past. Start with a new calendar — a new page in life. Keep 
 careful watch of the eternal present, and a glowing vision 
 of the beautiful future. Never allow yourself to revert to 
 an unpleasant past. Dreaming of a sorrowful, disappointed 
 past instantly shocks the heart, and sets in motion forces 
 which have killed many of the world's best people. It has 
 killed more than war. It will do the same for you if you 
 indulge in it freely. 
 
 It is well to take inventory occasionally. Examine 
 the supply of mental impressions which may have crept 
 
80 SELF MASTERY 
 
 into your garden of psychic flowers, and which may have 
 taken root during the busy hours. Rid your mind regularly 
 of any thought creations which you find undesirable. The 
 very act of uprooting such undesirable intruders enriches 
 the fertility of the brain and brings a strength to the 
 flowering thoughts of our own choice. 
 
 This practice will soon become a most pleasant and 
 profitable habit. 
 
 It has been said by Professor Elmer Gates, one of the 
 foremost experimenters in chemical psychology, that "Any 
 one may go into the business of building his own mind. 
 Let him summon feelings of benevolence and unselfishness, 
 making this a regular exercise like swinging dumb bells. 
 Let him gradually increase the time devoted to these psy- 
 chical gymnastics until it reaches an hour or an hour and 
 a half each day. At the end of a month he will find the 
 change in himself surprising." 
 
 Discard any or all thoughts or things which are un- 
 desirable or which do not become your ambitions. Holding 
 fast to that which rightfully belongs to another, either in 
 thought or otherwise, will always bring discord or sorrow. 
 It is impossible for it to terminate otherwise. 
 
 There is a wonderful power attracted and absorbed by 
 us from our associations, the magnitude of which is far 
 reaching, and its effect you cannot afford to ignore. 
 
 If you associate with the frivolous, the aimless, the 
 grumbling, the despondent, or with those who have no faith 
 in these psychic laws, you will absorb inferior thought 
 forces, which will shackle you, weigh you down, cripple 
 your powers and injure your health. It matters not how 
 much zeal and power you have, if you associate with those 
 of the opposite, you will surely be held back. 
 
SELF MASTERY 81 
 
 Be cautious therefore, of your associations. Make it 
 your business to know whether they sympathize with your 
 ambitions. If not, then seek those who do. Base associ- 
 ation will carry you quickly down into the treacherous 
 under-currents, just as the log is carried down with the 
 swirling current of the river. Such currents make you lose 
 confidence in yourself, in your ability, and make you a 
 coward in many respects. They saturate your entire nature 
 with unaccountable periods of depression, gloom, and 
 peevishness. 
 
 We consciously or unconsciously create a mental at- 
 mosphere around us. We build a thought power which is 
 ever with, and around us, as literally as we can build a 
 house. 
 
 Association with the healthy, happy and successful, aids 
 one to keep in an uninterrupted communication with the 
 higher Powers ; with powerful currents of elevated thought 
 forces on which, when you are once fairly launched, you 
 will be carried onward to an ever increasing happiness and 
 success. Proper association will aid you to guard against 
 the accursed habit of weakening indecisions, which habit 
 makes cowards of us, and reduces us to pygmies when com- 
 pared to men. 
 
 Holding yourself in the proper thought vibration and 
 the right mental attitude, supplemented by proper associ- 
 ations, seems to place the magic key in one's hand which 
 unlocks the vaults to happiness, success and fame. One 
 stands amazed at the unexpected means and agencies that 
 will open up for attaining one's ambitions. 
 
 Where you previously encountered difficulty, you will 
 now find favor. Once you have gotten nicely started, never 
 recede from the new position you have assumed. If you 
 do, forces which you then spend to aid you, will now be 
 
82 SELF MASTERY 
 
 wasted. As you increase in patience, exactness, decision, 
 method, and self control, these same qualities flow out to 
 others and rebound back to you, ever bringing you more 
 power and a greater success. Thus, the more you give, the 
 more you have to give, when given in that way — the way 
 referred to by the Nazarene. 
 
 Beware of giving too much of your sympathy to those 
 afflicted, crippled or in great sorrow. There may occa- 
 sionally be a rare exception to the wisdom of this rule. 
 This may seem heartless and cruel, but it is not. Justice 
 to one's self is the first duty we owe God. The old physician 
 has learned by priceless experience, and he warns the young 
 physician on this point of "sympathy" on account of his 
 own health — that he may live a long, useful and active life. 
 Too much sympathy on the part of the physician results 
 in his early death. The Magnetic Healer, unacquainted 
 with this law of sympathy, frequently takes on himself the 
 most violent kinds of chronic diseases, which are not all con- 
 tagious. It is proven beyond a doubt that too much sym- 
 pathy for the unfortunate, those in poverty on account of 
 failure, etc., reacts upon the one who gives the sympathy. 
 Too often sympathy proves to be a curse to the one sym- 
 pathized with. This means much more than the beginner 
 might at first suspect. It is far reaching in its effects on 
 the recipient, on the body and also on the psychic forces, 
 which are likewise subject to possible disaster. 
 
 If we give sympathy and aid, moral or material, to 
 others as they call for it, and without reservation or judg- 
 ment, they will take all we have to give, and come open 
 mouthed for more, and will continue to do so until we are 
 exhausted. No outsider will ever put a limit on your 
 giving. You must do that. Generosity and kindness are 
 often only other terms for extravagance and injustice to 
 
SELF MASTERY 83 
 
 somebody — perhaps to the giver. Giving thus becomes a 
 fixed habit. Reckless sympathy often gives ten times more 
 than the recipient can appreciate. 
 
 Gifts conferred by the Supreme Power are the only 
 perfect and lasting gifts, and when thus received, they 
 benefit not only the recipient, but many others. 
 
 In your efforts to make life more beautiful, do not work 
 until you lose the ability to rest and recuperate. If you do, 
 your end is not far off. Work is noble, but it has its limits. 
 You can sin against the Temple and its occupants by over- 
 working as in any other sin, no matter how necessary such 
 self enforced slavery may seem to you. The man who toils 
 many hours a day longer than he should, or the mother 
 who toils throughout the day, and far into the late hours of 
 the night for her children, must suffer sooner or later, and 
 pay the price for the sin against the body. God is no 
 respecter of persons, conditions or circumstances. 
 
 The law of our physical limitation must not be violated 
 by the rich or poor — the good or the bad. As surely as we 
 do, just that surely will we suffer for the sin against the 
 Temple, right here, and now. 
 
 When we shall have succeeded in launching ourselves 
 fairly well, out on the beautiful Occult Way, accept its 
 cheer, joys, and responsibilities with humility. Let us 
 criticise less and encourage more than ever before. Let 
 us work hard but play harder, and more often. Be quick to 
 praise, and slow to blame. Be square with our friends, 
 and our enemies will be few. Discard no old friend reck- 
 lessly, and seek out a new. Pick the mote out of our own 
 eye and we will see more virtues in the eyes of our friends. 
 
 It is well for us to remember that the defects we often 
 see in others are only responses or reflections from foul 
 things hidden in ourselves. Let us be slow in our judgment 
 
84 SELF MASTERY 
 
 of others, but rather pass wise judgment on ourselves, and 
 strive to do better and be better to ourselves and those 
 around us. 
 
 The rubber ball hurled against the wall conies bound- 
 ing right back. Remember that the evil we say or do to 
 others comes back and hurts us; that the fellow who 
 "knocks," sooner or later gets hit with the force of his own 
 blow. The world has no place for the jealous knocker. It 
 is well to remember that the best of us are none too good, 
 and that the worst of us are better than many of us are 
 prepared to believe; that charm-, kindness and mercy are 
 the marks which indicate love, honor and virtue; that he 
 who growls loudest against the wrongs in others is doing 
 so only to detract attention from the crookedness, dormant 
 or active, within himself. 
 
SELF MASTERY 85 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Practical Steps for Entering the Silence. 
 
 All the world's great prophets have come from the 
 desert — the abode of Silence ; the home of Solitude. 
 
 Shut a man up with books; let him study awhile 
 alone ; out in the mountains or alone in the desert, with no 
 companions but his books, the bird life, animal life, and the 
 voice of nature, the song of the stars. Let him go "away 
 from the world of people," and the power of Silence soon 
 works a glorious transformation; an unfoldment of the 
 intellect and the understanding; a spiritual discernment in 
 his life, which seems almost like a miracle. 
 
 The Silence has forever been the miracle worker. Its 
 wonder-working is not confined to the producing of prophets, 
 for its great transforming law works in many directions. 
 The Silence will ever continue to be the fertile source from 
 which love, greatness and genius will spring. Men seeking 
 the solution of great problems of invention are observed 
 stealing away to the Silence, often refusing to be disturbed 
 for days at a time ; and while there, all alone sometimes for 
 weeks, communing with their own Soul, at last the solution 
 of the trying problem rises up before them, like some kindly 
 beacon light in the night. The vision of its solution is 
 painted vividly and permanently so that its details may be 
 summoned to view at will. 
 
 Some of the great composers have written master pro- 
 ductions which have thrilled thousands of people with di- 
 vine harmony, yet they could get such strains only after 
 
86 SELF MASTERY 
 
 long remaining in a mental and physical attitude of Silence 
 for days and often weeks at a time. When that act of en- 
 tering the Silence had invoked the required conditions, the 
 Soul began to hear distinctly, strains of heavenly music 
 which became indelibly impressed upon the brain. The 
 Soul began then to see the wonderful music written — pic- 
 tured in plain view as if done by some unseen hand. So 
 clear and vivid became the miracle production that the 
 entire masterpiece remained as perfectly in view as all the 
 details are of any beautiful picture of nature at the moment 
 one gazes upon it. 
 
 In the golden Silence — the inspiring solitude is to be 
 found the antidote for most of all the ills and sorrows of 
 the race. This assertion is not an idle dream nor is it 
 something new. It has been known for thousands of gen- 
 erations. This truth has been known by few of the great, 
 as far back through the ages as there is any written history 
 of humanity. Far back of that, access is still had to a more 
 reliable record, by some of the fortunate ones who "have 
 eyes to see, and ears to hear." ' 
 
 Have you ever considered the thought as to why the 
 world's great "Saviors," or prophets, usually "went away 
 to pray alone"? Why they so often went alone — out into 
 the stillness of the night, away from everyone else, to some 
 lonely spot? 
 
 There is a most vital relationship between the thought 
 of the Silence of Solitude and prayer. What is the relation 
 of the Soul and its seeking out Solitude to that crying out 
 for some avenue of escape from sorrow and unhappiness? 
 
 There is also a profound relationship between desire 
 and prayer which is as closely akin as that of electricity to 
 magnetism. In the progress of the mind and soul we have 
 desire, which acts as the ever present stimulus toward that 
 
SELF MASTERY 87 
 
 high goal of attainment. If that desire is sufficiently rooted 
 in our nature ; if it affects our honor or our happiness, and 
 that desire is not soon gratified, we are at last overwhelmed 
 with an impulse to kneel down and pray. With this emo- 
 tion comes another desire — to be alone; in the quiet Soli- 
 tude where, for some reason, usually unknown to us in our 
 present comprehension, it just seems sweet and best to be 
 alone for awhile. Have your most earnest prayers ever 
 been lifted toward "Heaven" while you were in the presence 
 of others? Never! 
 
 We feel ourselves responding to that impulse in times 
 of grief and sorrow — find ourselves stealing quietly away 
 toward some secluded spot, as nearly our idea of Solitude 
 as is within our reach; and there the Soul seeks com- 
 munion in prayer. Perhaps you may not have prayed for 
 years, but that makes little difference, for the Soul knows 
 how. Nature is ever kind and furnishes us with a court 
 of last resort. Grief drives us into that "Nature's corner," 
 where an appeal in prayer is resorted to — and what a re- 
 lief follows ! 
 
 It is therefore impossible to think deeply and soberly 
 of that great Abode of Silence and what it brings ; the rich 
 and joyous returns which Silence bestows upon those who 
 commune with the higher Self, without solemn and sober 
 thought of prayer. 
 
 No doubt some will read these lines who have been 
 unfortunate; some to whom the thought of prayer or re- 
 ligion brings up many unpleasant recollections. The mo- 
 ment some of us see the word "Prayer," it suggests a great 
 confused cluster of notions, due to bad example, or false 
 education by misguided but well meaning parents. 
 
 There are many to whom the word "Prayer" suggests 
 some form of bigotry; to others, nothing but superstition. 
 
88 SELF MASTERY 
 
 But this attitude results from the habit of sjirjace obser- 
 vation, which is one of the most deadly habit parasites. 
 
 Indifferent thought of prayer, and the tossing of that 
 subject away into the scrap heap of other disgusting off- 
 casts results from too hasty conclusions without due con- 
 sideration of facts. Such a step in any line of reasoning 
 often leads to many a sad calamity. 
 
 Header, did you ever examine the philosophy of Prayer 
 and any or all of its phenomena, with half the earnestness 
 with which you would examine some problem, a new dress, 
 some new brand of cigars, or some fancy kind of wine? 
 
 Did your judgment of "Prayer and its phenomena" 
 result in your casting it aside as of little value, or impor- 
 tance? 
 
 Let us digress and see what a curse surface judgment 
 has heaped upon humanity. 
 
 By way of comparison and illustration, it may be well 
 to introduce certain undeniable historical facts to elucidate 
 the subject, and show up the awful dangers to nation or 
 individual, as a result of "Surface Judgment." It is well 
 illustrated in the awful world tragedies which, during the 
 seventeenth, sixteenth, fifteenth and fourteenth centuries, 
 claimed the lives of more than one hundred and thirty 
 thousand souls — all sacrificed because of surface judgment 
 on the question of "Witch-craft" and "Heretics." Thousands 
 of saintly men and women were burned at the stake — all in 
 the name of God. 
 
 Think of our own similar tragedies here in the United 
 States, at Salem, Mass., less than two hundred years ago! 
 There this same surface judgment mania caused nine per- 
 sons to be hanged at one time, following a long sermon and 
 supposedly suitable prayers by one of the leading preachers 
 of America! The authorities of all New England seemed 
 
SELF MASTERY 89 
 
 ready for the asylum. If the authority of government and 
 justice had been vested in a mad house, and administered 
 by lunatics, it could have been no worse. 
 
 Think of the tragedy and the awful loss to humanity 
 when that great and good man and saint Cazella was 
 burned in the streets of Spain. In a moment of sanity, 
 after that awful crime, one of the priests who assisted in 
 burning him remarked, "I am satisfied that he is now in 
 heaven, for I saw his soul leave his body." 
 
 Think of the world's greatest of all tragedies which 
 still causes two of the most powerful nations of Europe to 
 bow their heads in shame because of the tortuous death of 
 that virgin, Joan of Arc. No other such tragedy is recorded 
 in the annals of man's history; and it was because of sur- 
 face judgment. 
 
 The same was true of Jesus and Socrates. 
 
 Tragedies are constantly happening to each of us or 
 in any case most of us, because of surface judgment. 
 
 In seeking to better your life, therefore, do not over- 
 look the one great question of "Prayer, Silence and their 
 phenomena." The Seeking of help through the Silence 
 (through prayer, if you like,) is found in some form in all 
 ages, in all places, among all peoples everywhere, civilized 
 or uncivilized, throughout the world, The great psycholog- 
 ists have all agreed that the underlying principle of all 
 desire is a sort of unconscious prayer, that prayer itself is 
 a manifestation of desire. The fact that this manifestation, 
 this desiring, and that impulse to "go away to some lonely 
 spot," for the purpose of praying, is found in all ages past, 
 and among every known people of high or low degree, 
 favors the theory and the principle that desiring to pray 
 is a phenomena which points out a higher law. It does 
 
90 SELF MASTERY 
 
 more than that — it actually reveals that higher power, that 
 everpresent, everhelpful force, hidden deeply in nature. 
 
 It is noted universally that even the most ungodly fall 
 upon their knees and offer prayer to the unknown God 
 when such catastrophes occur, as the sinking of the "Ti- 
 tanic," the "Martiniques" and the "Frisco" horrors. 
 
 When great sorrow overtakes us, and our burden of 
 grief bears us down so heavily that we feel we no longer 
 can bear up under the strain, that desire to be freed from 
 it, to be relieved of the unbearable agony, forces us to seek 
 the helping hand of that mystic power which Nature has 
 placed within our reach, and to which power we have ac- 
 cess and recourse as a last resort. And it is as it should 
 be — not to be used to its fullest limit, only during special 
 occasions, but always to be used constantly and wisely. 
 
 God, (Nature) , has implanted within the Soul, or 
 placed within its easy reach, a power, or agency, which is 
 capable of overcoming most of the great sorrows and 
 tragedies which bow us down. Man's higher nature is so 
 adjusted that it is possible to call into action this divine 
 force at the moment when this force compels man to seek 
 that which is highest. Through the avenue of prayer, man 
 arouses the subtle, latent powers of the Soul, which power 
 seems never called into action or aroused in any other 
 manner. It would seem that in no other way can the 
 miracle working forces be brought into action. 
 
 Intense longing, sorrow or great grief whips us into a 
 corner, and at last we seek relief or help in the attitude 
 and utterance of emotional prayer. 
 
 The Soul's energies or powers to do are always present, 
 held in reserve; but that kind of intense prayer which, in 
 a moment often works a transforming miracle, is only pos- 
 sible during periods of intense distress of mind. It can be 
 
SELF MASTERY 91 
 
 brought into action only in the presence of mental, physical 
 and spiritual attitude of prayer. This law is wise and 
 rights for there is another law which teaches us that 
 constant, intense, emotional prayer leads to fanaticism, in 
 the same manner in which too much exercise of any func- 
 tion of the body or brain, continued constantly, and for 
 long periods of time, will produce an unbalanced, abnormal 
 condition, from which it is only a step to loss of health. 
 
 There is a normal, natural, daily prayer attitude which 
 ever leads onward and upward to illumination of the Soul, 
 the acquiring wisdom, growth of perfect health, a greater 
 love, and a grander light on all questions of life. Lofty 
 aspirations, a firm, loving, gentle desire, constantly exercised 
 in the right direction, a wise persistent demand — prayer 
 offered in gentle, loving, trusting simplicity — all offered in 
 the highest and purest sense, will lift the body above 
 worldly ills, the Soul above worldly troubles, and bless us 
 with all the heavenly gifts and worldly help necessary for 
 our comfort and happiness. Such prayer, offered daily 
 while in the Silent place, will constantly evolve for us 
 something higher, nobler and better. It will push us ever 
 onward toward a greater success. It will gradually attune 
 our bodily, mental and psychic powers to that pitch of di- 
 vine harmony with the great eternal force of Nature so 
 perfectly that to be other than healthy, happy, successful 
 and contented would be impossible. This must be obtained 
 through knowledge of the Silence. 
 
 That strange, shuddering sensation which comes to so 
 many from the thought of the Silence; that shrinking fear 
 of loneliness on the part of many is pitiable. They are 
 afraid of Self. There are people who would not have any 
 fear of wild animals ; who would unhesitatingly slay a lion 
 or face devils, but who "fear" if left alone. They are afraid 
 
92 SELF MASTERY 
 
 lest they discover themselves, meet themselves face to face 
 in the lonely spot where escape is impossible. 
 
 There are others who long to get by themselves, but 
 who know not the art. Many of us never know the bless- 
 ings which come in that sweet hour when one is all alone 
 with one's self. 
 
 Much has been written about "Entering the Silence," 
 and while there are comparatively few who know its secret 
 path, yet it is very easy and one of the most useful and 
 valuable of all accomplishments. 
 
 Many a bitter hour and foolish deed would we avoid if 
 we learned to enjoy the blessings which are offered to us 
 out of the depths of the illuminating Silence. Once we 
 have mastered the art, life will instantly hold a thousand 
 new charms for us ; and death will soon lose all of its fears. 
 
 Man is afraid of that which he does not understand, 
 and he understands less of himself than he does of all other 
 things which he knows. When he finds himself in Solitude, 
 he sees nothing there but the Solitude and himself. Not 
 being well acquainted with himself, he becomes panic 
 stricken, and wants to run away. 
 
 Self is the one thing most of us do not study, examine, 
 or try out; and the trying of ourselves out, all alone, by 
 ourselves, in the Silence, is the only means of discovering 
 ourselves. When left to ourselves, many of us become 
 bored, miserable and desperate. Men left in solitary con- 
 finement go mad. 
 
 Many of us are afraid of an empty house, and if left 
 alone to sleep in it, we are visited with strange, weird, un- 
 accountable horrors. We would sleep in the open prairie 
 with its tarantulas and poison reptiles, or camp on the 
 open mountain top, and hear the cry of its prowling ani- 
 
SELF MASTERY 93 
 
 mals in search of prey, and endure the weird noises of the 
 birds of night, than endure a night in a lonely cabin. 
 
 What a glorious transformation occurs when we begin 
 to realize our divinity, and discover the realities of the 
 golden Silence. It is full of beautiful things for every one. 
 Be not afraid of it. Walk right up to the imaginary ogres ; 
 look them square in the face, and they vanish, and you will 
 soon taste of the golden realities which are here in abund- 
 ance. 
 
 Every one needs some time, every day, when he can be 
 absolutely alone. He ought, then, to look into his own mind, 
 heart and soul, take inventory, get acquainted with him- 
 self, and become familiar with what he finds within. The 
 moment we do this we find ourselves good company. 
 
 It is at first impossible for one to grasp the idea of 
 the vast benefits which an hour of utter Silence will bring 
 him, who deliberately seeks, and honestly endeavors to find 
 what it offers. When first attempting it, we are prone 
 to feel almost overwhelmed with doubts and questions as 
 to the mysteries which loom up before us. The first time 
 one is in the desert, the stillness and solitude become ap- 
 palling; but it is well known to all who have sojourned 
 there for a while, that the lure of the Silent desert with 
 its dreams, enchantments and illusions is one which never 
 ceases to draw one back again. 
 
 Likewise, when we first "enter the Silence,' , we are 
 tempted to forsake its stillness and its fascination and seek 
 the companionship of friends. But like the "stay in the 
 desert," if we persist, and just let our hearts fill up and 
 run over with the strange mixture of thoughts, until these 
 incongruous mixtures have stilled themselves, and out of it 
 will come a "beautiful quiet," a serene calmness, a self pos- 
 session, such a joyous illuminating contentment as can come 
 
94 SELF MASTERY 
 
 to the troubled hearts of men and women in no other way. 
 The Silence solves many a mystery. 
 
 After you have won the first great battle with Self, 
 while in the abode of Silence, you have won your way to 
 the shrine at which you will learn the sweetest, grandest 
 and most practical kind of wisdom. You will return from 
 your first victory with a deeper insight into life, and its 
 mysteries than you ever had before. You will be far in 
 advance of that person who is ever busy with the surface 
 things. 
 
 During all the great crises of the world, humanity has 
 been compelled to turn to the lonely thinker — the man of 
 Silence, the Master who came out of the Solitude. The 
 world's great Saviors have all come from the deserts. The 
 great poets from Silent Musings. The Gallileos, with their 
 messages of wisdom, emerge from the Solitude. Every 
 great man or woman who has blessed humanity, who has 
 made the world better, happier, and wiser, has come from 
 the Solitude — a child of Silence. 
 
 Buddha, Jesus and Paul remained away in the Solitude 
 for long periods before returning to the world of people 
 with messages of wisdom. 
 
 The best, truest and most useful information we ever 
 get about men, life, ourselves, and the world; the beautiful 
 truths of the stars, the flowers, of little children; of the 
 sweetness of love, and the great wisdom of God all comes 
 to us from "Entering the Silence," of "Being Still," and 
 there communing with ourselves. 
 
 That we should use moderation in all things, is a truism 
 of which we should never lose sight. Like every other good 
 thing in life, the silence can be abused. One can brood 
 over things while alone, until he becomes a crank, deranged 
 
SELF MASTERY 95 
 
 or a fanatic. This is anything but the right sort of Silence, 
 and must be carefully guarded against. 
 
 One of the curses of the times is our being everlastingly 
 too busy — always hurrying. Modern life is a busy whirl. 
 We work and we play and we rushingly chatter away stolen 
 moments as if it were our last moment — our last chance. 
 And when we do have an hour of leisure, many of us devour 
 cheap books, or trashy magazines, which not only rob us of 
 that hour, but absolutely weaken and poison our minds, 
 with highly colored and sensational brain storming absurd- 
 ities, which fire the emotions and leave you exhausted men- 
 tally, and still hungering for that something the Soul has 
 failed to receive. The modern rush and grind make us 
 irritable and helpless if we drift with the din. Many of us 
 do not dare to just sit down and think; we must do some- 
 thing, go somewhere, read something — no longer do we 
 have that "hour for rest and reflection." No hour to 
 dream of the child at play, the song of the birds, or the 
 wonders of Nature. 
 
 How different is the life, the contentment and genuine 
 happiness of that one who still clings to that half -hour for 
 Silent Musings during which he simply lets his thoughts 
 run, who enjoys watching them, and who sees the great, 
 deep, creative pictures of life grow before him. 
 
 The best thoughts we ever get are not those which we 
 are taught, or of which we read, but those which come to 
 us out of the depths of the Silence, as if let down to us out 
 of the great ocean of space ; and as they come nearer, they 
 shine out before us like the star of the East, as it poised in 
 the heavens before the wise men. 
 
96 SELF MASTERY 
 
 Worries and Troublesome Questions. 
 
 If you are deeply worried, try a simple remedy instead 
 of seeking advice from a host of acquaintances; just go 
 away where you can be all alone, all by yourself where it is 
 quiet, where you will not be disturbed. Quietly meditate. 
 Sit quietly for half an hour. Let your thoughts wander for 
 awhile. Do not try to control them or think logically. You 
 may have chosen the place of Solitude in your own private 
 room, out by the stream in the park, by the side of a lake, 
 on the mountain or in the forest. In those first few mo- 
 ments of Silence, you may seem to grow restless. If so, 
 just be quiet; take a new hold on yourself, and begin to 
 study how you may get in touch with, in communion with 
 the great secret power which dwells in the Silence. Begin 
 by thinking and investigating the thought of Solitude itself, 
 and just see what thoughts will come to you in return. 
 
 After you have permitted your wound up thoughts to 
 chase each the other around and around aimlessly, while 
 they are darting here and there, bringing this, and that 
 picture, like some wild thing in the night, just let them go, 
 and very soon you will begin to realize a calm stealing 
 over you. You will begin to catch its meaning, catch a 
 glimpse of things real, the broadness of life, the narrowness 
 of your own views, the greatness of others, the goodness 
 of Self, the sublimity of your Surrounding Solitude. If 
 by the lake, its wondrous beauty will impress you as never 
 before. The trees will soon begin to speak to you, the flowers 
 will whisper a new message, and all life will smile a smile 
 you never beheld before. Even the song of the birds and 
 the hum of the insects will bring a new meaning to you 
 and broaden your view of existence. Just here, let your- 
 
SELF MASTERY 97 
 
 self relax more completely ; let loose your tightened muscles 
 and just "be still, and know that I am God." 
 
 Very rapidly the things over which you worried will 
 grow smaller, while the beauties of life grow larger. It all 
 has a new meaning, a new song to our ear. Slowly and 
 surely the message of the Infinite begins to dawn upon you ; 
 the sweetness of the Silence has eased your tired brain; 
 gradually but certainly, the great light Eternal steals over 
 you, and your soul can see what you could not see before. 
 You will find yourself "at one" with, at peace with your- 
 self and Nature's way. Gradually the thought of your 
 divinity will steal over your brain and you will say that 
 you always were and you always will be ; that to worry and 
 hurry only leads one into that whirlpool of darkness and 
 gloom from which when you later emerge you find yourself 
 much worsted for the experience, your time wasted, and 
 
 Let your Soul recall what it has oft heard before — per- 
 haps in ages past — "Your Soul shall live forever." 
 
 This beautiful thought obligates you to a grander out- 
 look at once. It enables you to view all eternity ahead of 
 you. It shows you that it is folly to stick to the "low vaulted 
 past," but it is wisdom to begin to build a mansion of 
 beauty, a life of joy, a future of power and happiness. 
 Why not, when you have all eternity in which to build? 
 
 But the more you build now, the more wisely and 
 beautifully today, the grander will that mansion be to- 
 morrow. Neglecting joys today cheats you of sweeter 
 pleasures tomorrow. 
 
 And just here, while still relaxed, while yet communing 
 with your higher Self in the Silence, begin turning the 
 troublesome questions over which have vexed and worried 
 you. Decide them in one way and try now vividly to im- 
 agine the results which would follow. Now decide another 
 
98 SELF MASTERY 
 
 way. Gently turn the question over several times, so that 
 you may get used to it at every angle. Then just let loose 
 again, relax yourself more fully and ask yourself — your 
 Soul, for the final answer; and the answer — the right 
 answer, the wisest answer, the only answer will come and 
 quiet your troubled heart. 
 
 You may say "0, I just simply can not do it that way 
 now/' possibly because of social position, or a thousand 
 other reasons may be advanced by as many persons, but 
 you may be certain that the following of any other course 
 than that solution which was offered in that new light will 
 only bring greater trouble later on. 
 
 One hour of serious, honest Solitude and "perfect Sil- 
 ence" will do more to rid us of moral contamination, of 
 tramp thoughts, of mental garbage, than a whole month of 
 any other kind of effort. 
 
 While Communing in the Silence, when your eyes be- 
 hold the beautiful grandeurs spread before you, and your 
 ears hear for the first time that new song of nature, let 
 your thoughts dwell for some moments on the thought that 
 you are something more than a body, something more than a 
 bundle of wants and woes ; that within your mental frame 
 there is the real you, the /. A living, thinking entity which 
 the laws of material growth, death or decay can never affect ; 
 that for this divine something within, death is not a long 
 period of darkness at the bottom of life's ladder, but only the 
 change, an awakening as we step out into a new life; that 
 death is but the turning of a new page of life, where the 
 dawn breaks into morning and the dark shadows flee away. 
 
 Glorious, illuminating, ever helpful Silence ! When we 
 have it properly cultivated it reveals to us new worlds and 
 transforms meaningless things into sources of everlasting 
 pleasures. Out of the Silence we learn some of the most 
 
SELF MASTERY 99 
 
 beautiful, pleasing, as well as startling facts, not only about 
 ourselves and our own lives, but things which are going 
 on around us, just under the surface; get glimpses of that 
 which is behind the scenes of the twentieth century civili- 
 zation. 
 
 However, one thing is certain: it is impossible to tell 
 you in this book just exactly what to do or exactly what 
 facts you are going to have revealed to you while you are 
 absorbing from the Solitude. If this were possible or wise, 
 there would be no need of your going to all the trouble to 
 learn it. No other Soul but your own can learn or experi- 
 ence something which Nature decrees you must experience 
 or learn while dwelling in your bodily temple, this time. 
 You only, must learn for yourself. You have the word of 
 all who have tried it that it is glorious, and pays hand- 
 somely for every effort you make in this domain. All who 
 have honestly tested it, tell of its wonderfully illuminating 
 and inspiring emotions and revelations which really satisfy 
 the heart as nothing else can. It enables you soon to see, 
 your fondest hopes becoming materialized into splendid 
 realities. 
 
 Think of the richness of the vision which came out of 
 the Silence to that remarkable person, Helen Kellar, when 
 she was yet a child. She was born deaf and blind. When 
 her education had been carried to that point at which she 
 could communicate her thoughts to others, the great Phillip 
 Brooks began to tell her of God. After he had impressed 
 her with several thoughts which he believed were all new 
 to her, she replied to his questions, "Yes, I knew all this 
 before, but I did not know his name was God." The whole 
 world knows her work since. 
 
 How did she know? There is an intuition which 
 throbs eternally in the heart of all people which says that 
 
100 SELF MASTERY 
 
 we are immortal, that there is a great power divine of 
 which we are a part, which will make us glad and happy if 
 we only get in tune with the divine way — man's natural 
 way, Nature's way; that Nature's way is the wisest way, 
 truest, holiest, and best way ; that if we look up with lofty 
 aspiration and seek wise guidance from the silence, the 
 great Eternal Presence of that which connects us with the 
 source divine and inexhaustible, there will come to us the 
 perfect light and direction. 
 
 Out of this gentle Silence, while the Soul instinctively 
 looks out and away toward that heaven whence it came, cry- 
 ing out against the apparent injustice of fate, seeking solace 
 for the wounded soul, something whispers back from out 
 the depths of the mysteries of Life, that in the Silence is 
 to be found the reality of God's smile, which many never 
 find until fate drives them into the corner of sorrow, in 
 which place most people hear His voice easily. It tells us 
 that in this Silence is that place in which, if man seeks, he 
 shall surely find — find the solution, the remedy, the only 
 remedy which heals the broken heart and brings health, 
 happiness and success. It teaches us that preserving that 
 hour of prayer in which one "goes away by himself" en- 
 ables one to grasp that everpresent, unseen, divine, helping 
 hand which awaits all who seek. God is not afar off nor 
 hard to find. 
 
 All phenomena of Nature and life teach us the lesson 
 of system and regularity. We should have some special 
 time for communion with self in Silence. When you work, 
 work. When you play, play, but when you seek the Silence, 
 remember to "go away to the place of Silence," alone, and 
 "Let not thy right hand know what thy left hand doeth." 
 
 The Silence and Solitude do not encourage us to be 
 hermits. "There is a time for everything." There is a 
 
SELF MASTERY 101 
 
 time to devote to yourself — privately, away from friends, 
 and concealed from the eyes of the world. Many a splendid 
 friendship has been wrecked because this principle has been 
 violated. The soul needs room — must have it — in which to 
 turn around at times. 
 
 Try the Silence in harmony with the truths contained 
 in the earlier chapters of this book — try it for a week, at 
 regular hours each day, and see what a transformation it 
 will work in you. You will find' that you have taken on a 
 new supply of spiritual, psychic and physical energy. After 
 an hour of such psychic revery, you will be refreshed bodily 
 and have a clear mental atmosphere. It will be a pleasure 
 to contemplate, a new source of hope, strength and light. 
 
 That great and gentle Wordsworth knew the meaning 
 of Silence. He had bathed in its transforming glories. 
 Note in his verse: 
 
 "0, gentle reader, had you in mind 
 
 Such treasures as silent thought can bring. 
 'Tis there, my reader, that you will find 
 
 A tale in everything. 
 Just one impulse from the vernal wood 
 
 May teach you more of man, 
 Of morals, of evil and of good 
 
 Than all the sages can." 
 
 The normal human being craves companionship, family 
 life, fellowship and friendship. This is as it should be — 
 the plan of the great Kingdom of Love. 
 
 As against this natural craving, there is warning of 
 "an overdose" — carrying of association too far. 
 
 The secret of many of the most sorrowful experiences 
 in human life is the outgrowth of too much friendship, too 
 much constant association. 
 
102 SELF MASTERY 
 
 Constant mingling with vivacious and dashing society 
 develops that keen alertness, that quickness of repartee, but 
 it literally robs the Soul of those stronger, nobler, more 
 substantial qualities of character which, once taken from 
 us, we are never the same again. Such splendid qualities 
 for which the better people of the whole world long are 
 growing only in the Shadow of Silence and Solitude. The 
 glare of the city lights, night after night, with its dashing 
 crowd, with its never ceasing stimulus of alert companion- 
 ship, seems to offer many pleasing and fascinating charms 
 for the moment, and especially for the fair sex, but it 
 literally robs life of its sweetest things and after all, leaves 
 the heart and soul hungry and sad. Empty of all save re- 
 grets and despondency. But alas, this is usually discovered 
 too late. If any doubt this, ask those who have had experi- 
 ence, who have roamed the world and mingled with all the 
 world had to offer. The stronger and more substantial 
 traits of manhood and womanhood which are required to 
 meet the great crises and tragedies of life have no chance 
 to unfold within the soul who is denied time for being alone 
 — in the Solitude. It prepares us to meet our own indi- 
 vidual fate with a smile, strong in the presence of reverses 
 and sorrow, brave in the hour of misfortune. In a word, it 
 helps us as nothing else to be triumphant, to master Self, 
 and he who is master of Self will be master of many others. 
 It fortifies one with a serene calmness, courage and a poise 
 which qualities can never rise to the Soul's surface if that 
 one ever drifts with the chattering, the witty, butterfly 
 crowd. Such a life crushes out the last spark of possible 
 unfoldment while in this incarnation. If you doubt this, 
 look about you and your doubt will quickly flee. 
 
 Get acquainted with the Divine Inner Self. You will 
 have to face every great crisis of life alone. You were born 
 
SELF MASTERY 103 
 
 alone. You are left to face trouble alone. Why not get 
 acquainted with yourself? There is but one way, the Silent 
 Hour. When you really know yourself, great sorrows and 
 life's tragedies lose nearly all their terrors. It enables us 
 to unfold higher qualities of character and discover wis- 
 dom of Self and of others about life and about God, which 
 gives a peace, a knowledge, a poise, grace, and power for 
 which the whole world is hungering. You will be envied 
 by few, but loved by all. 
 
 The Special Hour. 
 
 In seeking to unfold the highest within us, and in un- 
 folding for the special purpose of attaining a certain de- 
 sired result, whether in happiness for self, some special 
 change in the life of a friend, or whether it be pertaining 
 to a greater degree of financial success, in health, in love; 
 success in developing the noblest qualities in character, 
 psychic talents, clairvoyance, or the powers of mental crea- 
 tions or astral projections, one of the most valuable prac- 
 tices and indispensable requisites is to have a regular time 
 each day during which we seek absolute silence and relax- 
 ation. Often becoming perfectly quiet with the entire body 
 relaxed, let the soul contemplate its own divinity and really 
 try to feel more appreciation for the great beauties of life. 
 Endeavor to hold this mental and spiritual attitude for ten 
 minutes and then lovingly and wisely demand of the great 
 Unseen Creative Source and Supply that which you seek. 
 Any sort of demanding or kind of prayer which is minus 
 this divine attitude will never do. Any kind of mental 
 gymnastics without this religious attitude, this attitude of 
 realizing your own relation to the Great Divinity Itself, 
 plus a sort of joyous elevated, divine exhilaration, will 
 never enable any one to gain that which he seeks. 
 
104 SELF MASTERY 
 
 A GENERAL PROGRAMME. 
 
 (1) Monday. Seek the abode of Silence as described 
 above, and as far as possible, hold this attitude of realizing 
 your own divinity for a few moments, and then follow this 
 with a few moments of asking (demanding) that which 
 you long for, to make yourself or another happy. 
 
 (2) Tuesday. Seek the Silence in that beautiful, 
 sacred hour of rest in the same absorbing manner as on 
 Monday. Contemplate realization, and the psychic attitude 
 of realizing your closeness to the ever present power of the 
 Infinite, then gently contemplate wisdom, and you will soon 
 be surprised at the result. Then devote the remaining few 
 moments you have to gently, lovingly but firmly asking 
 (demanding) that which you desire. 
 
 (3) Wednesday. After entering the Silence, contem- 
 plate Patience. Enter that spiritual ecstacy of realizing 
 your own divine nature as mentioned above. 
 
 (4) Invite a feeling of joyous smile which will ex- 
 press on your features that consciousness of Divine Pres- 
 ence — a consciousness that you are an immortal soul. Then 
 ask for a greater unfoldment and expansion of your own 
 soul's power to express itself in the body (its Temple), and 
 for greater fields of activity in producing good for Self and 
 Humanity. Then gently demand the fulfillment of those 
 special objects for which you may be striving. Believe and 
 know that you are inseparable from God's great source of 
 supply, 
 
 (5) Thursday. Enter the hour of Silence as before, 
 and after completely relaxing the body and attaining the 
 proper spiritual consciousness of self divinity, gently de- 
 mand that your soul express itself in a body beautiful ; that 
 
SELF MASTERY 105 
 
 the Soul by divine nature is perfect, and it must therefore 
 by Nature, if permitted, unfold for itself a perfectly healthy 
 body in which to dwell. Seek an understanding of the 
 power of repose and ask for bodily expression of a more 
 pleasing, magnetic personality. Follow this with a gentle 
 demand of the great Everpresent, Inexhaustible Supply, for 
 those special gifts or realizations for which your heart is 
 seeking. 
 
 (6) Friday. Seek the knowledge which gives a greater 
 love of Self, and a nobler love for friends. "As thou lovest 
 thy dearest friend, love thou thyself also," and then you 
 will the more wisely love God. This, however, does not 
 mean that you should indiscriminately give out your sym- 
 pathy to those who are victims of apparent misfortune. If 
 you do, you will do great injury to them and equally injure 
 yourself. Unwise sympathy is as dangerous as hate and 
 revenge to the one who indulges. It is an emotion which 
 will cause you much trouble unless carefully guarded 
 against. Follow with special concentration that which you 
 personally wish to attain. 
 
 (7) Saturday. After having entered the "Silent Rev- 
 ery," seek to extend your thought creations out over the 
 whole world, ladened with good wishes and glad tidings. 
 Hold the prayer attitude of wishing a higher and better 
 understanding of the great Light Eternal ; that every indi- 
 vidual, everywhere throughout the earth, may behold that 
 inner Light. Hold the thought (prayer) that all may at- 
 tract bountifully of love, of success, health, happiness, and 
 that the day may be hastened when every Soul will have 
 shaken the last outer shell from itself, and entered a con- 
 dition of perfect understanding at which time strife, dis- 
 ease and sorrow shall have been overcome. 
 
106 SELF MASTERY 
 
 (8) Sunday. Devote a large portion of your hour of 
 Silence to seeking a higher understanding, and to sending 
 out thought creations to assist all those "Who are banded 
 together in Silence and in secret, striving for divine under- 
 standing, and to attain those blessings of life to which each 
 one found worthy is entitled." The four Gospels are rich 
 with occult philosophy, and to those who read and study 
 Self Mastery, the life of the Nazarene prophet will reveal 
 many a beautiful truth which has previously remained 
 hidden or buried by false translations, or confusing context. 
 
SELF MASTERY 107 
 
 Take a few hours a week and get acquainted with 
 yourself, and you will find yourself fairer than the 
 rose, and worthy of a thousandfold better considera- 
 tion than you have bestowed upon yourself. 
 
 The Normal Soul seeks needed sympathy as the 
 growing bulb craves sunlight. Both are necessary to 
 the fulfillment of the great plan of life. When that 
 craving for true sympathy is not met with a generous 
 response, that Soul is dwarfed, and one cannot smile 
 as one whose life plan is properly fed. 
 
 Even Jesus craved sympathy. During the darkest 
 hour of his life, just preceding the tragedy of Geth- 
 semane, he said to those of whom he rightfully could 
 claim sympathy, "Could you not remain and watch 
 with me, one hour?" 
 
 To sacrifice a true and tried friend for any per- 
 sonal advantage or position, is eventually to rob your- 
 self instead of your friend. 
 
 To seek out that which is good and noble in man, 
 is to search for God himself. 
 
 Man's first great duty shines out like the brightest 
 star. His first observations teach him that love 
 soothes and heals the ugly wounds; that tender con- 
 siderations are as beautifying to the one on whom 
 bestowed, as lillies beautify the spot which they adorn. 
 
108 SELF MASTERY 
 
 If you have no love for God's creatures, how can 
 you expect much of God's love shown you? If you 
 despise any of God's children, how can you hope 
 truly to love God? 
 
 The great divine guide-post for the next thousand 
 years will read, "As a man thinketh"; "the starry 
 heavens above"; "the great moral law within." 
 
 The soul feeds on faithfulness, admiration, hope, 
 love. If one's love is dwarfed and withered, it mars 
 and shrinks the whole life. To have a bosom friend 
 whom we can trust, and to whom we can pour out 
 our griefs, be they great or small, to whom we can 
 safely confide our hopes, doubts and fears, this will 
 take all the bitterness from the battles of life. 
 
 Sympathy increases gladness, diminishes sorrow, 
 and makes stronger and nobler him whom gives of 
 wise sympathy. 
 
 There is a sort of sympathy which is dangerous, 
 and to be avoided as one would any other well-known 
 danger. There is little danger from this source to 
 those in whose heart the message of this little book 
 finds a gentle response. 
 
 The only thing in life which is offered to us free, 
 is God, love, and knowledge of your own soul. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
FEB 10 1913 
 
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 Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
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