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Dynamics for Living
Thinking
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[Dynamics for Living]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
TO MAN is given the highest power in the universe, the
conscious power of thought. There is a universal, creative
force that urges man forward to the recognition of the
creative power of his individual thought. This thought is
elemental, and all its attributes come under the dominion
of man. When he cooperates with Principle, man sits on the
throne of his authority and the elemental force is subject
to him.
Thinking is the formulating process of mind. The thinking
faculty is the inlet and the outlet of all your ideas. It
is active, zealous,
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impulsive, but not always wise. Its nature is to think, and
think it will. The thinking faculty in you makes you a free
agent, because it is your creative center. In and through
this one power you establish your consciousness--you build
your world.
Thought
Thought is a product of thinking. It is a mental vibration
or impulse. Each thought is an identity that has a central
ego around which all its elements revolve. Thoughts are
capable of expressing themselves. Every thought clothes
itself in a life form according to the character given it
by the thinker. The form is simply the conclusion of the
thought. The mind of man marshals its faculties and
literally makes into living entities the thoughts that it
entertains.
Energies (thought vibrations) are sent out by the force and
power of thought. Thought power is the moving force within
an idea that gives it expression. All structures are built
by thought power. This power is transmitted from mind to
mind and from mind to body in all living forms. The
omnipresent, invisible substance (thought-stuff) is ever
ready to take form in accordance with one's mental pattern.
The thought-stuff of the universe is more sensitive than a
phonograph record. It transcribes not
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only all sounds, but even the slightest vibration of
thought.
Thought Aggregation
Like attracts like. A thought will take up its abode in our
consciousness with thoughts of like character. This law of
attraction continues until combined thoughts make a colony.
This colony of thoughts expresses itself in the cells of
the body--for good or ill. This collection or aggregation
of ideas in the mind is a thought center. They build organs
through which they manifest. The surrounding mental climate
or thought atmosphere is created by each person in
accordance with the character of his thinking. Thoughts of
negation build a discordant atmosphere. Thoughts of love,
prosperity, health, and faith create a harmonious mental
atmosphere.
Thought Control
Thought is controlled by the right use of affirmation and
denial--by the power of the mind to accept and reject. This
power of the mind is the I AM, and it is through the avenue
of I AM expression that thought control, dominion, and
mastery are obtained. Thoughts are controlled by the mind
through its power to say "yes" or "no." To "hold a thought"
is to affirm or deny
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a certain proposition both mentally and audibly until the
logic of the mind is satisfied and spiritual realization is
attained.
Denial
Human consciousness is made up of a multitude of false
personal and race beliefs. Denial is the mental process of
erasing from consciousness the false beliefs. It clears
away belief in evil as reality and thus makes room for the
establishing of Truth. Through it we get rid of the
shadows. We cleanse the mind. A denial is a relinquishment
and should not be made with vehemence. Make denials as
though you were gently sweeping away cobwebs.
Affirmation
When we poise ourselves in Divine Mind our denials and
affirmations will be made in right relation. We will know
just when to let go of a thought and when to lay hold of
another.
The purpose of affirmation is to establish in consciousness
a broad understanding of the divine principles on which all
life and existence depend. By affirming Truth we are lifted
out of false thinking into the consciousness of Spirit. An
affirmation is a positive statement of Truth. By the use of
it one claims and appropriates that which is his in Truth.
It is the mental movement
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that asserts confidently and persistently the Truth of
Being in the face of all appearances to the contrary. The
sum total of thought in all its positive aspects composes
the affirmations that bring ideas into form. They do not
have to be made in set terms, words, or statements.
Affirmations of words of Truth realized in consciousness
bring the mind into just the right attitude to receive
light, power, and guidance from Spirit. Words are the
vehicles through which ideas make themselves manifest.
Words that have in them the realization of perfect,
everywhere-present, always-present divine life, and our
oneness with this life, are dominant in the restoration of
life and health. When spiritual words abide in man's
consciousness, the word or thought formed in the human mind
must give way to the higher principles of Being.
The Decree
To decree is to command or to ordain. To decree with
assurance is to establish and to fix an ideal in substance.
The force behind the decree is invisible. It binds with
invisible power the one who makes it. We have only a slight
conception of the strength of the intangible. Affirmations
are far stronger than the strongest visible thing in the
world. Words charged with power and intelligence increase
with use.
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Thought and Word
Man cannot know how the thought or word work except through
his own consciousness. He must understand, control, and put
in order his own thought and word. Our most important study
is our own consciousness. By a right understanding, and by
using right thoughts and words, man will experience the
kingdom within him.
Thoughts are capable of expressing themselves. They think.
Man thinks. He thinks into his thoughts all that he is.
There is a difference between the original thinking and the
secondary thought. One has its animating center in Spirit;
the other, in thought. One is Son of God; the other is son
of man. If man conformed to the divine creative law, his
word would make things instantly.
Every word has its effect, though unseen and unrecognized.
What we think, we usually express in words. Our words bring
about in our life and affairs whatever we put into them. A
weak thought is followed by words of weakness. Through the
law of expression and form, words of weakness change to
weakness the character of everything that receives them.
Talk about nervousness and weakness produces corresponding
conditions. Sending forth the word of strength and
affirming poise will
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bring about the desired strength and poise. Every time we
speak we cause the atoms of the body to tremble and change
their places. Not only do we cause the atoms of our own
body to change their position, but we raise or lower the
rate of vibration and otherwise affect the bodies of others
with whom we come in contact. Thus, every word brings forth
after its kind.
Directive Word Power
The spoken word carries vibrations through the universe and
moves the intelligence inherent in every form, animate or
inanimate. Man, the highest emanation of Divine Mind, has
great directive power and is really cooperator with God in
forming the universe. We should be speaking words of Truth
to everything. There are no secrets and no concealments.
The power of the word is given man to use. The better he
understands the character of God and his own relation to
humanity, the more unselfishly will he exercise this power.
Some are using this power in selfish ways. This should not
deter others who have a better understanding of the law
from using it in right ways. When we need things necessary
to our happiness, it is not sacrilegious to set in action
this higher law in attaining them. The word of one in
authority carries weight and produces far-reaching effects.
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If your word is selfish, that which will come to you
through its use will be unsatisfactory. Learn to speak
right words only. It is your duty as expresser of the
divine law to speak forth the Logos, the very Word of God,
to manifest for you and in you its innate perfection.
Thought and Act
Every act of man has its origin in thought, which is
expressed into the phenomenal world from a mental center
that is but a point of radiation for an energy that lies
back of it. That point of radiation is the conscious I,
which in its correct relation is one with Cause, and has at
its command all the power potential in Cause.
The conscious I can look in two directions--to the outer
world where the thoughts that rise within it give sensation
and feeling, which ultimate in a moving panorama of
visibility; or to the world within, whence all its life,
power, and intelligence are derived. When the I looks
wholly within, it loses all sense of the external. When it
looks wholly without, upon sensation and feeling, it loses
its bearings in the maze of its own thought creations. Then
it builds up a belief of separateness from, and
independence of, a causing power. Man sees only form and
makes his God a personal being located in a city of
dimensions. This belief of separateness
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leads to ignorance. When the soul thinks itself something
alone, it cuts itself off in consciousness from the fount
of inspiration. Believing himself separate from his source,
man loses sight of the divine harmony. The only walls of
separation are those built by consciousness of separation.
Thought Forms
Many factors enter into the process of thinking. The
capacity of the thinker to form thoughts, to give them
substance and force, is the great factor. The understanding
of right and wrong, truth and error, substance and shadow,
is important. Many significant conditions enter into that
mental process loosely termed thinking.
Every mental process is generative. From thinking is
evolved what is called living. Thinking is formative.
Thought clothes itself in a life form according to the
character given it by the thinker. Every thought produces a
living organism. Thought is creative and covers every phase
of life. Every life expression originated in some thought.
All of the detestable thoughts that mankind harbors,
produce living organisms after their kind.
Error Thoughts
Error thoughts represent belief in thoughts and
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beliefs not of God. They are untrue. They have no
foundation in Truth. Error thought is a product of the
fallen human consciousness. It is negation or evil. Evil is
a parasite. It has no permanent life of itself. Its whole
existence depends on the life it borrows from its parent.
When its connection with the parent is severed, nothing
remains. In Divine Mind there are no evil conditions. Such
conditions have no basis of reality. They are conjurations
of a false consciousness. Apparent evil is the result of
ignorance. When Truth is presented, the error disappears.
Man has the privilege and freedom of using God-power as he
will. When he misuses it he brings about inharmonious
conditions. These are called evil. Evil appears in the
world because man is not in spiritual understanding. He can
do away with evil by learning rightly to use the one Power.
If there were a power of evil, it could not be changed.
Experimentation
Man is a free agent. He can open his mind to divine wisdom
and know creative law, or he can work out his unfoldment
through experimentation. Our human race is in the
experimental stage. In our ignorance we transgress the law
to the very limit, and then a great reaction sets
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in, a general condition that is negative to the point of
dissolution. Then that in us which always looks obediently
to God in an extremity is awakened, and we seek divine
guidance. The human race has formed laws of physical birth
and death, laws of sickness and inability, laws that
recognize no other source of existence except the physical.
The sum total of these laws forms a race consciousness
separate from and independent of creative Mind. When
creative Mind seeks to help men spiritually, the human mind
opposes it and makes every effort to solve its problems in
its own way.
The great need of the human family is mind control. Mastery
is attained through realization of the power of Spirit.
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[Dynamics for Living]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
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