Mental Chemistry by Charles Haanel - HTML preview

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CHAPTER FOUR - ATTRACTION

Mental chemistry is a power which is sweeping through eternity, a living stream of relative action in which the basic principle is ever active; it embraces the past and carries it forward into the ever widening future; a movement where relative action, cause, and effect go hand in hand; where law dovetails into law and where all laws are the ever willing handmaids of this great creative force.

This power stretches beyond the utmost planets, beyond a beginning, beyond an ending, and on into a beginningless and endless eternity; it causes the things we see to take form and shape. It brings the fruit from the blossom and the sweetness to the honey; it measures the sweep of the countless orbs; it lurks in the sparkle in the diamond, and in the amethyst and in the grape; it works in the seen and in the unseen, and it permeates the all.

It is the source of perfect justice, perfect unity, perfect harmony, and perfect truth; while its constant activity brings perfect balance, perfect growth, and perfect understanding.

Perfect justice, because it renders equal retribution.

Perfect unity, because it has oneness of purpose.

Perfect harmony, because in it all laws blend.

Perfect truth, because it is the one great truth of all existence.

Perfect balance, because it measures unerringly.

Perfect growth, because it is a natural growth.

Perfect understanding, because it solves every problem of life.

The reality of this law lies in its activity, for only through action, and constant change, can this law come to be; and only through inaction can it cease to be; but as there is no inaction, there can be no cessation.

The one purpose of this law is unchangeable; in the silence of darkness, in the glory of light, in the turmoil of action and the pain of reaction, it moves ever forward toward the fulfillment of its one great purpose--perfect harmony.

We see and feel its urge in the myriads and myriads of plant forms on hill and in dale, as they push forth from the same darkness into one light; and though bathed by the same waters and breathed upon by same air, yet all varieties maintain their own individuality--that is, the rose is always a rose and differs from the violet, which is always a violet; the acorn gives to the world the oak and never a willow or any other variety of tree; and though all send out roots into the same soil, and blossom in the same sunshine, yet some are frail, some are strong, some are bitter, and some are sweet; while others are repulsive, some are beautiful; thus all varieties draw to themselves through their own roots and from the same elements, that which differ entiates them from each other; and this great law of life, this constant urge, this hidden force in the plant causing it to manifest, to grow, and to attain, is this Law of Attraction bearing forward in silent majesty, bring all fruition; dictating nothing, yet making each unit of growth true to its own individual nature.

In the Mineral world it is the cohesion in the rock, sand, and clay; it is the strength in the granite, the beauty in the marble, the sparkle in the sapphire, and the blood in the ruby.

Thus do we find it working in the things we see; but its unseen power, as it works in the mind of man, is greater.

This Law of Attraction is neither good nor evil, neither moral nor immoral; it is a neutral law that always flows in conjunction with the desires of the individual; we each choose our own line of growth, and there are as many lines of growth as there are individuals; and although no two of us are exactly alike, yet many of us move along similar lines.

These lines of growth are made up of past, present, and future desires, manifesting in the ever forming present, where they establish the central line of our being along which we advance; the nature of these desires has no power to check the action of this, for its function is to bring to maturity the bitter as well as the sweet.

An illustration of the neutrality and action of this law is found in the grafting of an apple tree bud into an osage orange tree, where we find in due time eatable and uneatable fruits growing together on the same tree; that is, wholesome and unwholesome fruits nourished and brought to maturity by the same sap.

In applying this illustration to ourselves, we find that the apples and oranges represent our different desires, while the sap represents this Law of Growth; and just the sap brings to maturity the different kinds of fruit, just so will this Law bring to fruitfulness our different kinds of desires; and whether they be wholesome or unwholesome, it matters not to the law, for its place in life is to bring to our minds a conscious realization of the results that follow all desires we hold, as well as of their nature, their effect and their purpose.

In man’s division of the Law, we come into contact with a larger activity, one that is utterly unknown to the primitive mind, which leads us to a conscious awakening of a newer power in a larger field of action--in other words, a larger truth, a greater understanding, and a deeper insight.

We are touching a greater reality, for let us understand that reality lies in activity and not outside of it; to exist is to be alive to the action of the laws about us; the hidden urge in the plant is its reality, and not the outer form we see.

True knowledge comes to us through our own activities, borrowed knowledge through the activities of others; both together evolves our intellects. And slowly we are forming an unique self, an individualizing unit.

As we move out into the power of our growing intellects, into an ever moving consciousness we are learning to seek for the wherefore and why of things, and in this search we think and imagine that we are original, when in fact we are only students of established beliefs, notions, and facts, gathered throughout generations of tribal and national life.

We live in a state of fear and uncertainty, until we find, and make use of, the unvarying uniformity running though all laws; this is a central truth that we must know and use before we can become masters of self, or masters of conditions. The Law of Growth ripens collectively, for its one function is: “to act upon that which we give it to act upon.”

As the nature of the cause governs the effect, so does thought precede and predetermine action. Each one must use this Law knowingly, consciously; otherwise we use it blindly--use it we must.

In our growth from primitive man to conscious man, there are three seeming divisions or sections. First, our growth through the savage or unconscious state; second, our growth through the intellectual and conscious growing state; and third, our growth into, and conscious recognition of, our conscious state.

We all know that the bulb must first send out roots before it can send out shoots, and it must send out shoots before it can come to blossom in the sunlight. It is just so with us, like the plant, we must first send out roots (our roots are our thoughts), before we can evolve from our primitive or animal bulb-like state into the intellectual and conscious growing state.

Next we, like the plant, must send forth shoots before we can evolve from a purely intellectual state of conscious growing, into a conscious state of conscious knowing; otherwise we would always remain only creatures of the law and never masters of the law.

Lastly, we, like the plant, must individualize, must come to full blossom; in other words, must give forth the radiating beauty of a perfected life, must stand revealed to ourselves and to others, as a unit of power and a master over those laws that govern and control our growth. Each has a force within itself, and this force is the action of law set into activity by ourselves; it is through this consciousness that we begin to master laws, and to bring results through our conscious knowledge of their operation.

Life is a rigid conformity to laws, where we are the conscious or unconscious chemists of our own life; for when life is truly understood it is found to be made up of chemical action. As we breathe in oxygen, chemical action takes place in our blood; as we consume food and water, chemical action takes place in our digestive organs; in our use of thought chemical action takes place in both mind and body; in the change called death, chemical action takes place and disintegration sets in; so we find that physical existence is chemical action.

Life is made up of laws and as we make use of these laws, so do we get results.

If we think distress we get distress; if we think success, we get success. When we entertain destructive thought we set up a chemical action that checks digestion, which in turn irritates other organs of the body and reacts upon the mind, causing disease and sickness; when we worry, we churn a cesspool of chemical action, causing fearful havoc to both mind and body; on the other hand, if we entertain constructive thoughts, we set up a healthy chemical action.

When we entertain negative thoughts, we put into action a poisonous chemical activity of a disintegrating nature, that stupefies our sensibilities and deadens our nerve actions, causing the mind and body to become negative and therefore subject to many ills; on the other hand, if we are positive, we put into action a healthy chemical activity of a constructive nature, causing the mind and body to be come free from the many ills due to discordant thoughts.

These analyses can be carried through every avenue of life, but enough has been shown to indicate that life is largely chemical action, and that the mind is the chemical laboratory of thought, and that we are the chemists in the workshop of mental action where everything is prepared for our use, and where the product turned out will be in proportion to the material used; in other words, the nature of the thought we use determines the kind of conditions and experiences with which we meet; what we put into life we get out of life--no more, no less.

Life is an orderly advancement, governed by the “Law of Attraction.” our growth is through three seeming sections. In the first we are creatures of law, in the second users of law, and in the third we are masters of law. In the first we are unconscious users of thought power, in the second conscious users of thought power, and in the third we are conscious users of conscious power. So long as we persist in using only the laws of the first section we are held in bondage to them; so long as we remain satisfied with the laws and growth of the second section we shall never become conscious of a greater advancement. In the third section we awaken to our conscious power over laws of the first and second sections, and become fully awake to the laws governing the third.

When rightly understood, life is found not to be a question of chance; not a question of creed; not a question of nationality; not a question of social standing; not a question of wealth; not a question of power, NO--all of these have a place to fill in the growth of the individual, but we must all eventually come to know that Harmony comes only as the result of a compliance with Natural Law.

This rigid exactness and stability in the nature of law is our greatest asset, and when we become conscious of this available power, and use it judiciously, we shall have found the Truth which will make us Free!

Science has of late made such vast discoveries, has revealed such an infinity of resources, have unveiled such enormous possibilities and such unsuspected forces, that scientific men more and more hesitate to affirm certain theories as established and indubitable, or to deny certain other theories as absurd or impossible; and so a new civilization is being born; customs, creeds and cruelty are passing; vision, faith and service are taking their place. The fetters of tradition are being melted off from humanity, and as the dross of militarism and materialism are being consumed, thought is being liberated and truth is rising full orbed before an astonished multitude.

“We have caught only a glimpse of the possibility of the rule of mind which means the rule of spirit. We have just begun to realize in a small degree what this newly discovered power may do for us. That it can bring success in this world’s affairs is beginning to be understood and practiced by thousands.”

“The whole world is on the eve of a new consciousness, a new power and a new realization of resources within the self. The last century saw the most magnificent material progress in history. May the new century produce the greatest progress in mental and spiritual power.”

“Thought is deeper than all speech,

Feeling deeper than all thought,

Soul to soul can never teach

What unto itself is taught.”