Excerpts from
Mind Power: The Secret of Mental Magic by William Walker Atkinson Order in Adobe PDF eBook or printed form for $11.95 (+ printing charge) or click here to order in printed form from Amazon.com for $24.39 Book Description
"Mind Power: The Secret of Mental Magic" by William Walker Atkinson is a classic work of the new thought movement. Considered by some as his masterpiece, "Mind Power" is an encyclopedic exposition of the philosophies of the new thought movement that Atkinson devoted his literary career to the dissemination of. The power of the mind through positive thinking to alter ones existence is central to the philosophy of the new thought movement and in this work the reader will find an excellent survey of this philosophy. Contents Chapter 1 - The Mental
Dynamo…………………………..………... Chapter 2 -
The
Nature of Wind-Power……………………………... Chapter 3
- Mentative
Induction…………………………………….. Chapter 4
- Mental
Magic in Animal Life…………………………... Chapter 5 -
Mental
Magic in Human Life…………………………... Chapter 6 -
The Mentative
Poles……………………………………. Chapter 7
- Desire
and Will in Fable………………………………... Chapter 8 -
Mind-Power in Action…..……………………………… Chapter 9 -
Personal
Magnetism…………………………………….. Chapter 10 - Dynamic Mentation……………………………………. Chapter 11 - Dynamic
Individuality…………………………………. Chapter 12 - Mental Atmosphere…………………………………….. Chapter 13 - Channels of
Influence………………………………….. Chapter 14 - Instruments of
Expression……………...………….…… Chapter 15 - Using the Mentative
Instruments………………………. Chapter 16 - Mental
Suggestion……………………………………... Chapter 17 - Four Kinds of
Suggestion……………………………… Chapter 18 - How Suggestion is
Used……………………………….. Chapter 19 - Induced Imagination………………….………………... Chapter 20 - Induced Imagination in
India…………………………... Chapter 21 - The Ocean of
Mind-Power……………………………... Chapter 22 - A Glimpse of the Occult
World………………………... Chapter 23 - Self-Protection…………………………………………. Chapter 24 - Indirect
Influence………………………………………. Chapter 25 – Mental Therapeutics…………………………………… Chapter 26 - Mental Healing
Methods……………………………….. Chapter 27 - Mental
Architecture……………………………………. Chapter 28 - Making Over
Oneself…….…………………………….. Chapter 29 - Mind-Building………………………………………….. ORIGINAL PUBLISHER'S
FOREWORD We take the greatest pleasure in presenting
this
latest and best work from the pen of William Walker Atkinson. It
embodies the
essence of years of thought, study, and experiment on the part of its
author
whose original research, discoveries, and writings along these lines
have given
him his worldwide reputation as an authority. It is his Masterpiece. A
portion
of its material was used in two of the author's previous works, viz., "Mental Magic," and
"Mental Fascination," both of which works were published by
ourselves. Both of the said works are now practically out of print, and
will be
withdrawn from sale by us, as they will be superseded by this newer and
more
complete work. This foundation material has been edited; added to;
changed;
improved; and corrected by the author, in accordance with his increased
experience and knowledge of the subject. Obsolete matter has been
replaced by
entirely new material, and the work is now strictly "up-to-date". It
is encyclopedic in extent and character, every phase of the subject
being
considered by the author and expressed in words charged with his
dynamic
vitality. It contains matter that well might have been expanded into
several
volumes. THE PROGRESS COMPANY (1908)
Chapter 1 THE MENTAL DYNAMO I wish to invite you to the consideration of
a great
principle of Nature—a great natural force that manifests its activities
in the
phenomena of Dynamic Mentation—a great Something the energies of which
I have
called "MIND-POWER." THERE EXISTS IN NATURE A DYNAMIC MENTAL
PRINCIPLE—A
MlND-POWER—PERVADING ALL SPACE—IMMANENT IN ALL THINGS MANIFESTING IN AN
INFINITE VARIETY OF FORMS, DEGREES, AND PHASES. I hold that this energy, or force, or dynamic
principle, is no respecter of persons. Its service, like that of the
sun and
rain, and all natural forces, is open to all—just and unjust; good and
bad;
high and low; rich and poor. It responds to the proper efforts, no
matter by
whom exerted, or for what purpose called into effect. But the proper
effort
must be exerted, consciously or unconsciously, else there will be no
operation
of the force. I believe that the activities of this dynamic mental
principle
are intimately correlated to manifestations of the mental operations
known to
us as desire, will, and imagination. We shall learn something of the
laws and
principles and modes of operation of its energies and activities, as we
proceed
with our consideration of it, in this work. It may be difficult for
you to
grasp this conception of Mind-Power at the start—but it will grow upon
your
understanding as its activities are presented to you, one by one, like
a great
panorama. My terms will be explained and illustrated by
examples, as we proceed—so you need not analyze them at this point. It
may be
as well, however, to state that I have used the term "Dynamic" in its
original Greek sense, i.e., "powerful"; "possessing power,"
etc. I have postulated of my conception of
Mind-Power that
it pervades all space—is immanent in all things—and manifests in an
infinite
variety of forms, degrees, and phases. But, it may be urged, this is nothing more
than
science claims for the principle of physical energy—then is Mind-Power
identical with the physical energy of science?—is it nothing more than
a high
form of mechanical or material energy? No, Mind-Power is very far from
being a
blind, mechanical energy—it is a living, mental force, which I hold is
behind
the manifestations of physical energy and mechanical force. It is not
the
physical energy of science, but is something of the nature of a living
will,
which is rather the cause of physical energy, than identical with it.
Let us
take a familiar example. You desire to move your hand—and it moves.
Why? Because
of the manifestation of the wonderful and mysterious force called
"will" which is stored up within you, and which you have released to
move the hand. You send a current of nerve-force which is really a
manifestation of Mind-Power or will-force from your brain, along the
nerves of
the arm, which contracts the muscles of the arm and hand, and your
desire is
gratified. Your desire, or wish, set into motion the Mind-Power which
acted
upon the material substance of your body and caused it to act. What was
it that
flowed along the nerve-wires? Was it electricity, or magnetism? No! it
was that
subtle and mysterious thing that I am calling Mind-Power, and which is
bound up
with the will principle of mind. Mind-Power is an actual living force. It is
the force
that makes plants grow—and animal bodies grow—and which enables all
living
things to move and act. It is the force which enables the growing
mushroom to
raise up the slabs of paving stone—or causes the roots of a tree to
split open
the great boulders, into the crevices of which they have crept.
Mind-Power is
not an abstraction or speculative nothing—it is an existent, living,
mental,
acting force, manifesting sometimes with an appalling power, and
sometimes with
a delicate, subtle touch that is almost imperceptible, but which
accomplishes
its purpose. In order to reach a clear conception of the
universality of Mind-Power, let us consider its manifestations as we
see them,
unquestioned in the universe—on the many planes of life and activity.
Beginning
with the more familiar instances of its operation and manifestation,
let us
then proceed to delve still deeper until we reach instances not so
easily
perceived; and then still further back until we find it in places and
in things
that are generally regarded as lacking in Mind-Power and life. And, here let me say that I hold that life
and
Mind-Power are always found in company with each other—there is some
close
relationship between the two—they are probably twin-phases of the same
thing,
or else twin-manifestations of the same underlying reality. There is no
life
without mind and Mind-Power—and no Mind-Power, or mind, without life.
And,
further, I claim that there is nothing without life in the
universe—nothing
lifeless there, or anywhere. The universe is alive, and has mind and
Mind-Power
in every part and particle of itself. This is not an original idea of
my own,
of course,—the leading scientific thinkers admit it today, and the
Hindu
philosophers have known it for fifty centuries. Do you doubt this? Then
listen
to these authorities who ably express the thought of their scientific
schools. Dr. Saleby, in his important scientific work,
"Evolution:
the Master Key," goes even still further in his claim of a living
universe; and life accompanied by mind. He says, among other things:
"Life
is potential in matter; life-energy is not a thing unique and created
at a
particular time in the past. If evolution be true, living matter has
been
evolved by natural processes from matter which is, apparently, not
alive. But
if life is a potential in matter, it is a thousand times more evident
that mind
is potential in life. The evolutionist is impelled to believe that mind
is
potential in matter. (I adopt that form of words for the moment, but
not
without future criticism.) The microscopic cell, a minute speck of
matter that
is to become man, has in it the promise and germ of mind. May we not
then draw
the inference that the elements of mind are present in those chemical
elements—carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus,
sodium,
potassium, chlorine— that are found in the cell? Not only must we do
so, but we
must go further, since we know that each of these elements, and every
other, is
built up out of one invariable unit, the electron, and we must
therefore assert
that mind is potential in the unit of matter—the electron itself." Flammarion, the eminent French scientist,
says:
"The universe is a dynamism. Life itself, from the most rudimentary
cell
up to the most complicated organism, is a special kind of movement, a
movement
determined and organized by a directing force. Visible matter, which
stands to
us at the present moment for the universe, and which certain classic
doctrines
consider as the origin of all things—movement, life, thought—is only a
word
void of meaning. The universe is a great organism, controlled by a
dynamism of
the psychical order. Mind gleams through its every atom. There is mind
in
everything, not only in human and animal life, but in plants, in
minerals, in
space." Prof. J. A. Fleming, in his work on "Waves,
Air
and Aether," says: "In its ultimate essence energy may be
incomprehensible by us except as an exhibition of the direct operation
of that which
we call mind and will." Let us then follow the hint given by the
scientists—let us proceed to examine the evidences of the immanence of
life and
Mind-Power in all of the things of the universe—things organic; things
inorganic; and things beyond organism, shape and form—back into the
very ether
of space itself. And in the search we shall find these evidences
everywhere—in
all things. Nowhere does life and Mind- Power escape us. Immanent in
all
things—manifesting in an infinite variety of forms, degrees, and
phases, we
find these twin-principles. I invite you to join in one of the most
interesting
and fascinating explorations known to modern science. We do not need any proof to demonstrate the
existence
of life, mind and Mind-Power in man, or in the lower animals. The
activities
resulting from its presence are in constant evidence. And if we examine
the
plant kingdom we will see manifestations of life, mind, and Mind-Power
there
also. Plants not only manifest "appetency," or "the instinctive
tendency on the part of low forms of organic life, to perform certain
acts
necessary for their well-being, particularly in the selection and
absorption of
the material substances necessary for their support and
nutriments";—not
only "instinct" or "involuntary and unreasoning prompting or
impulse, and the response thereto";—but also, in certain cases, there
appears mental action closely akin to conscious choice and will. I
refer you to
the many recent works on mind in plant-life for illustrations and
proofs of
this statement. And biology shows us that there is life, mind, and
Mind-Power
inherent in the cells of which our bodies, blood and the material of
animal and
plant life, is composed. These cells are "little lives," and manifest
mental power and faculty. They perform their particular functions, and
live,
grow, reproduce themselves, and act just as do the tiny forms of animal
life at
the bottom of sea—the latter being but little more than single cells,
or
cell-groups. The possession of memory on the part of the cells of
organic
matter, is an accepted scientific fact. At this point the orthodox and conservative
scientist
usually stops, drawing a line between "organic" and
"inorganic" matter. But the daring minds of advanced scientists of
today have brushed aside the dividing line, and have moved to a
position where
they meet the Hindu philosophers and the occultists, and now admit and
teach
that life, mind and Mind-Power invade the "inorganic" world to its
utmost limits, and that universe is indeed alive and possesses Mind. Some of the lower forms of "organic" life,
so-called, possess no organs, and are but masses of jelly-like matter
without
signs of even rudimentary organs—and yet these life-forms show
evidences of
desire, choice, and will. And Science has admitted the existence of
life and
mind in the crystals, the latter "growing" in a manner showing vital
and selective energy, and even rudimentary sex. More than this, the
metals and
minerals, under scientific tests, have shown "responses" that are
similar to the same action in organic life—showing life and rudimentary
sensation, the latter of course being a manifestation of mind. Some of
the cold,
careful scientific records read like fairy tales to those not familiar
with the
wonderful achievements of recent science. I wish that I had the time
and space
to recount these tests—but I must hasten on. Enough to say that in
mineral and
metallic forms there has been found "response" indicating the
existence of "sensation '' in varying degrees; and that in the
crystallization of minerals and metals there has been evidenced the
action of
the same instinctive mental-life energy which as "appetency or
instinct"
builds up the bodies of living organic forms. If you wonder at
this—think of
the miracle which is performed every second by plants absorbing the
minerals of
the earth, which are then converted into living plant-cells; then we
eat the
plants and convert the plant-cells into animal-cells which serve as the
basis
of our blood, muscles, organs, and even our brains. In fact, every
particle of
organic substance was evolved in this way. Think over this and you will
see
that Nature is One in her essence, and that she is alive and possesses
Mind-Power. But we do not stop even at this advanced
point.
Minerals, and all forms of matter are composed of infinitesimal atoms,
or
particles. The particles combine by reason of some inherent
"attraction" existing between certain of them, known as
"chemical affinity," etc. Chemical affinity is a peculiar thing—it
manifests in likes and dislikes, loves and hates; it is impossible to
study
these manifestations without recognizing an elementary manifestation of
"like
and dislike"—"love and hate." You think that this is far
fetched, do you? Well, listen to these words from some of the leading
scientists about this power to receive sensations, and power to respond
to the
same, and maybe you will change your mind. Haeckel, the great German scientist, holds
that the
atoms of which matter is composed may "receive sensations," and
"respond to sensations." He dwells upon this fact in his latest works
''The Riddle of the Universe," and "The Wonders of Life," and
writes as follows regarding "sensation in the inorganic world":
"I cannot imagine," Haeckel says, "the simplest chemical and
physical process, without attributing the movements of the material
particles
to unconscious sensation." He also says, in another place: "The idea
of chemical affinity consists in the fact that the various chemical
elements
perceive the qualitative differences in other elements—experience
'pleasure' or
'revulsion' at contact with them, and execute specific movements on
this
ground." He adds, later, that the "sensations" and
"responses" in plant and animal life are "connected by a long
series of evolutionary stages with the simpler forms of sensation that
we find
in the inorganic elements and that reveal themselves in chemical
affinity." Nageli, another scientist, says: "If the
molecules possess something that is related, however distantly, to
sensation,
it must be comfortable to be able to follow their attractions and
repulsions;
uncomfortable when they are forced to do otherwise," And so you see
that
Science now is preparing to admit elementary life and Mind-Power in the
atoms
and particles of matter. Resting the consideration for a moment, let
me say
that with mind as reason, intellect, etc., I have nothing to do in this
book,
for this is a consideration of the dynamic phase of mind—the Power
phase—
Mind-Power, or Dynamic Mentation. I am trying to show you that
Mind-Power
exists everywhere, and is manifest in every activity of the universe.
"In
every activity of the universe!" you say; "surely you do not include
physical activity and energy such as natural forces etc.!" Yes, I do
mean
just that! "How can that be?" you ask, "What has Mind-Power to
do with electricity, light, heat, magnetism, gravitation, etc.?" It has
everything to do with them, in my opinion. I will explain it to you in
a few
words, for I cannot go into this subject at length in this book, but
must
hasten on to the other parts of my subject. And, am I not justified in postulating the
existence
of an universal mental dynamic principle? I tell you, friends, that the
future
will show that this dynamic mental principle is the source of
energy—not energy
the source of mind. I know that this is revolutionary, but I believe
that it
will meet the requirements of the future. I have been preaching this
thing for
several years now—and many have been the smiles; the jeers; and the
sneers.
But, from the beginning, I have felt a keen appreciation of the words
of
Galvini, when he said, bitterly: "I am attacked by two very opposite
sects—the Scientists and the Know-Nothings; both laugh at me, calling
me the
Frog's Dancing Master; but I know that I have discovered one of the
greatest
forces in nature." Now, do you understand what I mean by the
Universal
Principle of Dynamic Mind-Power—this Universal Mental-Dynamo! Several years ago I told a friend of this
conception,
and after he had listened to me attentively and with interest, he
reflected a
few moments, and then suddenly asked: ''But where do I come in?'' And
that is
the question that many of you are asking now, no doubt. Well, while
here I
cannot dip into metaphysics or philosophical speculation, or even into
my
favorite occult sources, I will say that each of you is a CENTRE OF
POWER in
that Ocean of Dynamic Mind-Power and each "I" is a master of the
power. You have the Whole Thing back of you—and you are free to draw
upon it
for all that your channel will carry to you. And you are allowed to
enlarge
your channel. That is enough for this time—more will follow as we
proceed. Order
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