Chapter 9. How to Use the Will
TO set about. Getting rich. In a scientific way. You do not try. To apply. Your will power. To anything. Outside. Of yourself.
You have no right to do so. Anyway.
It is wrong. To apply your will. To other men. And women. In order. To get them. To do. What you wish done.
It is as flagrantly wrong. To coerce people. By mental power. As it is. To coerce them by physical power. If compelling people. By physical force. To do things. For you. Reduces them to slavery. Compelling them. By mental means. Accomplishes. Exactly the same thing. The only difference. Is in methods. If taking things. From people. By physical force is robbery. Then taking things. By mental force. Is robbery also. There is no difference. In principle.
You have no right. To use your will power. Upon another person. Even "for his own good". For you do not know what is for his good. The science. Of getting rich. Does not require you. To apply power. Or force. To any other person. In any way. Whatsoever. There is not the slightest necessity. For doing so. Indeed. Any attempt. To use your will. Upon others. Will only tend. To defeat. Your purpose.
You do not need. To apply your will. To things. In order. To compel them. To come. To you.
That would simply be. Trying. To coerce God. And would be. Foolish and useless. As well. As irreverent.
You do not have to compel God. To give you good things. Any more. Than you have to use your will power. To make. The sun rise.
You do not have. To use your will power. To conquer. An unfriendly deity. Or to make stubborn. And rebellious forces. Do your bidding.
Substance is friendly. To you. And is more anxious. To give you. What you want. Than you are. To get it.
To get rich. You need only. To use your will power upon yourself.
When you know. What to think and do. Then you must use your will. To compel yourself. To think. And do the right things. That is the legitimate. Use. Of the will. In getting. What you want. To use it. In holding yourself. To the right course. Use your will. To keep yourself thinking. And acting. In the Certain Way.
Do not try. To project your will. Or your thoughts. Or your mind. Out into space. To "act" on things. Or people.
Keep your mind at home. It can accomplish more there. Than elsewhere.
Use your mind. To form. A mental image. Of what you want. Hold that vision with faith and purpose. Use your will. To keep your mind working. In the Right Way.
The more steady. And continuous. Your faith. And purpose. The more rapidly. You will get rich. Because you will make only POSITIVE impressions. Upon Substance. And you. Will not. Neutralize. Or offset them. By negative impressions.
The picture. Of your desires. Held with faith. And purpose. Is taken up. By the Formless. And permeates it. To great distances - throughout the universe. For all I know.
As this impression spreads. All things. Are set moving. Toward its realization. Every living thing. Every inanimate thing. And the things yet uncreated. Are stirred toward bringing into being. That which you want. All force begins.
To be. Exerted. In that direction. All things begin. To move toward you. The minds of people. Everywhere. Are influenced. Toward. Doing. The things. Necessary. To the fulfilling. Of your desires. And they work for you. Unconsciously.
But you can check all this. By starting. A negative impression. In the Formless Substance. Doubt or unbelief. Is as certain. To start a movement. Away from you. As faith. And purpose. Are. To start one toward you. It is by not understanding this. That most people who try to make use of "mental science" in getting rich. Make their failure. Every hour. And moment. You spend. In giving heed. To doubts. And fears. Every hour you spend. In worry.
Every hour. In which. Your soul is possessed by unbelief. Sets a current. Away from you. In the whole domain. Of intelligent Substance. All the promises. Are unto them. That believe. And unto them only. Notice how insistent Jesus was. Upon this point. Of belief. And now you know. The reason why.
Since belief is all important. It behooves you. To guard. Your thoughts. And as your beliefs. Will be shaped. To a very great extent. By the things you observe. And think about. It is important. That you. Should command. Your attention.
And here. The will comes into use. For it is by your will. You determine upon what things. Your attention. Shall be fixed.
If you want. To become rich. You must not make. A study. Of poverty.
Things are not brought into being. By thinking about their opposites. Health is never to be attained. By studying disease. And thinking about disease. Righteousness is not to be promoted. By studying sin. And thinking about sin. And no one ever got rich. By studying poverty. And thinking about poverty.
Medicine. As a science. Of disease. Has increased disease. Religion as a science of sin. Has promoted sin. Economics as a study. Of poverty. Will fill the world. With wretchedness. And want.
Do not talk about poverty. Do not. Investigate it. Or concern yourself with it. Never mind what its causes are. You have nothing. To do with them.
What concerns you is the cure.
Do not spend your time in charitable work. Or charity movements. All charity. Only tends. To perpetuate. The wretchedness. It aims. To eradicate.
I do not say. You should be hard hearted. Or unkind. And refuse. To hear the cry. Of need. But you must not try. To eradicate poverty. In any. Of the conventional ways. Put poverty behind you. Put all that pertains to it. Behind you. And "make good."
Get rich. That is the best way. You can help the poor.
And you cannot hold the mental image. Which is. To make you rich. If you fill your mind. With pictures. Of poverty. Do not read books. Or papers. Which give. Circumstantial accounts. Of the wretchedness. Of the tenement dwellers.
Of the horrors. Of child labor. And so on. Do not read anything. Which fills your mind. With gloomy images. Of want. And suffering.
You cannot help the poor in the least. By knowing about these things. And the wide- spread knowledge. Of them. Does not tend. At all. To do away. With poverty.
What tends. To do away. With poverty. Is not the getting. Of pictures. Of poverty. Into your mind. But getting pictures. Of wealth. Into the minds. Of the poor.
You are not deserting the poor in their misery. When you refuse. To allow your mind. To be filled. With pictures. Of that misery.
Poverty can be done away with. Not by increasing the number. Of well to do people. Who think about poverty. But by increasing.
The number. Of poor people. Who purpose with faith. To get rich.
The poor do not need charity. They need. Inspiration. Charity only sends them. A loaf. Of bread. To keep them alive. In their wretchedness. Or gives them. An entertainment. To make them forget. For an hour or two. But inspiration. Will cause them. To rise out. Of their misery. If you want. To help the poor. Demonstrate. To them. They can become rich. Prove it. By getting rich yourself.
The only way in which poverty. Will ever be banished. From this world. Is by getting a large. Constantly increasing number. Of people. To practice. The teachings. Of this book.
People must be taught. To become rich. By creation. Not by competition.
Every man. Who becomes rich. By competition. Throws down behind him. The ladder. By which. He rises. And keeps others down. But every man. Who gets rich. By creation. Opens a way. For thousands. To follow him. And inspires them. To do so.
You are not showing hardness. Of heart. Or an unfeeling disposition. When you refuse. To pity poverty. See poverty. Read about poverty. Or think. Or talk about it. Or to listen. To those. Who do talk about it. Use your will power. To keep your mind OFF the subject. Of poverty. And to keep it fixed. With faith. And purpose. ON the vision. Of what you want.