8. Our desires will not become good until we correct our habits of thought. Habits of thought determine desires. And habits of thought are formed by communing with the results of the wisdom of the best men of the worid.
Seneca.
9. That which is at rest may be kept at rest. That which has not yet appeared may be easily prevented. That which is yet weak may be easily broken. That which is yet little may be easily scattered.
The big Iree started as a small twig. The nine-storied tower commenced with the laying of single bricks. Journeys of thousands of miles commence with the first step. Take care of your thoughts—they are the origin of acts. Lao-Tse.
10. Our thoughts, good or evil, send us to paradise or to hell—not in the heavens or under ground, but right here in this life. Lucy Mallory.
11. Some say that reason can not be the guide of our life, but they are people whose reason is so corrupt that they can not trust it.
12. Even as the life and the fate of an individual are determined by that to which he pays less heed than to his acts, namely by his thoughts, so the life of communities and nations is not determined by the events occurring among them, but by the thoughts which unite the majority of the ре<ф1е in these communities and nations.
13. Do not think that to be wise is the prerogative of some special people only. Wisdom is needful to all men, and therefore all men can be wise. Wisdom is to know wherein is the business of hfe and how to perform it. And in order to know this only one thing is needfuclass="underline" remember that thought is a great thing, and therefore think.
14. A thought entered my mind and then I forgot ft. Well, never mind, it was only a thought. If it had been money I should have turned everything upside down until I found it. But a mere thought! Yet gigantic oaks grow from acorns. Thought determines tiv\5 от 'Лач. ■ьк.ч. Л -«v
individual and of millions of men, and yet we dare to think that mere thought is a trifle.
III.
The Chief Source of Human Ills it Not in Men's Acts But in Their ThoughU
1. When misfortunes befall you know that they are not due to what you have done, but to what you have thought.
2. If we cannot restrain ourselves from committing a deed which we know is evil, it is due to the fact only that we first permitted ourselves to think of this evil act and failed to restrain our thoughts.
3. Strive not to think of the things which you believe to be evil.
4. More injurious than evil acts are those thoughts which lead to evil acts. An evil act need not be repeated and it can be repented. But evil thoughts give birth to evil deeds. An evil act points the path to other evil acta. Evil thoughts drag you along upon the path to evil deeds.
5. Fruit is born of a seed. Even so deeds are bom of thoughts.
Even as evil fruit is bom of evil seed, so evil acts are born of evil thoughts. As a farmer separates good and true seed from the seed of weeds, and selects from among the good seed the choicest and guards and sorts it; even so a prudent man treats his thoughts: he repels vain and foolish thoughts, and preserves the good thoughts, cherishing and assorting them. If you do not repel evil thoughts, nor cherish good thoughts, you can not avoid evil acts. Good deeds come from good thoughts only. Cherish good thoughts, searching for them in the books of wisdom, in sensible conversations and above all in your inner self.
6. So that a lamp may ^ve steady light it must be placed where it is protected from the wind. But if a lamp be in a windy place, the light will flicker and cast strange and dark shadows. Even so uncontrolled, foolish and ill assorted thoughts cast strange and dark shadows upon the soul of man. Brahminic wisdom.
IV.
Man Has Power Over His Thoughts
1. Our life is good or evil depending on our thoughts. But we can direct our thoughts. Therefore in order to live a good life man must labor over his thoughts, nor yield to evil thoughts.
2. Take care to purify your thoughts. If you have no evil thoughts you will commit no evil deeds.
Confucius.
3. Guard your thoughts, guard your words, guard У your actions from evil. Observe these three paths in purity,
and you will enter the path designed by the All-Wise one. Buddhist wisdom.
4. All things are in the power of Heaven exceptii^ our desire to serve God or self. We can not hinder the birds from flying over our head, but we can prevent them from building a nest on our head. Even so we can not stc^ evil thoughts from flashing through our mind, but it is within our power to prevent them from nesting therein and raising a brood of evil acts. Luther.
5. We can not repel an evil thought «ice h enters our mind, but we can recognize the thought as evil. And if we know that it is evil, we can refuse to yield to it. The thought comes to us that this or that man is bad. I could not pre-
vent this thought, but if I realize that it is evil, I can remember that it is wrong to judge people and that I am bad myself, and remembering all this I can restrain myself from judging even in thought.
6. If you would have benefit from your thou^ts try to think entirely independently of your feelings and your condition, without twisting your thoughts into justifying the feelings which you experience or the acts which you commit.
V.
Live the Life of the Spirit in Order to Have Strength
to Rule Your Thoughts
1, We frequently think that physical strength is the most important thing. We think so because our body willy-nilly always appreciates physical strength. But spiritual strength, the power of thought, appears so insignificant that we refuse to acknowledge it as strength. And yet true power capable of changing our life and the life of all men is in the strength of the spirit alone.
2, The spiritual directs the physical, not the physical the spiritual. Therefore, in order to change his condition, man must labor on himself in the domain of the spiritual— in the domain of thought,
3, Our life improves or deteriorates in accordance with our consciousness of ourselves as spiritual or material creatures. If we are conscious of being a material creature we weaken our true life, we strengthen and arouse passions, greed, conflicts, hatred and fear of de^th. If we are conscious of being spiritual beings we stimulate and elevate life, deliver it from passions, conflicts and hatred, we release love. And the passage from the consciousness of being a material creature into that of a-spiritual being is effected by an effort of thought.
4. This is what Seneca wrote to a friend:
"You do well, friend Lucinius, to endeavor with all your strength to maintain yourself in a good and kindly spirit. Every man can at all times attain the same disposition. In order to attain it, it is not necessary to lift up your hands to heaven and to beg the temple watchman to let you come closer to God, so that He may hear you better: God is always close to you. He is within your own self. The Holy Spirit dwells in us, witness and guardian of what is good and what is evil. He acts towards us as we act towards him. If we guard him—he guards us also."
5. When you are in doubt, when you do not know which is good and which is evil, you must withdraw from the world; only worry about the judgment of the world prevents you from seeing what is good and what is evil. Withdraw frwn the world, in other words, enter within yourself, and all doubt will vanish.
VI.
The Oiqwrtunity of Communing in Thought with the
Living and the Dead is One of the Choicest
Blesungs of Man
1. Young people frequently say: "I do not wish to live as others think—I must think out thii^ for myself." This is quite right. Your own thoughts are more valuable to you than anybody else's. But why give thought to that which has already been thought out? Take that which is ready and go further. In being able to benefit by the thoughts of others lies the strength of the human race.