Section 1 - Part B:

The Universal Mind 

Did it ever occur to you that a wonderful creative mind fills all space and pulsates through everything? 

Some people find this idea very difficult. They are inclined to look upon the processes of creation, life, growth and reproduction as being the result of the operation of certain "laws of nature", and to think of the directing mind as being at a distance. This second part of Lesson one will be devoted principally to the task of making you understand that not only "laws" are present in these processes, but that the "law-giver- also is in them. The law-giver is the universal Mind. Plato called it the "Over-Soul". 

Whatever name may be applied to the creative mind that fills all space, there is no longer any doubt among those who have taken the pains to study the subject that its existence and "Everywhere-ness" are indisputable facts. 

If you are well grounded in the teachings of the Christian religion, you may here want to remind me of my promise that Practical Psychology does not seek to stand in the place of any religious teachings. For I realise that some people will see in this idea of a universal Mind an attempt to promote the doctrine of pantheism (God is everything, or, rather, everything is God). 

In reply to your possible objection upon the ground stated, I would like to ask you two or three questions. what is your idea of God? Is He a great super-Man residing somewhere out in space? If so, then obviously the Universal Mind is not God. is He an omnipresent Essence, spirit or Power pervading everything? If such is your belief, then you are already a pantheist, and can make no reasonable religious objection to the idea that God and the Universal Mind are one and the same. 

Of course, the real objection to pantheism is that there is evil in the world, and that if God is everywhere, then in certain cases He manifests evil. There is room for discussion as to whether or not there is really any absolute evil in the world. There is no doubt, of course, that certain things, when viewed separately and apart from the general scheme of the universe, are evil. But if these same things were to be viewed in their relation to all the things that have been, that are, and that are yet to be, they might be found to be good, rather than evil. 

Religion diligently teaches that God has three absolute and unchangeable attributes: omniscience (all-knowledge), omnipotence (all-powerfulness), and omni-beneficence (all-goodness). And so far, as we are able to judge the general scheme of creation in its larger aspects, it is a perfect scheme. It is not quite clear, therefore, just why a creator who is an-wise, all-powerful and all-good should evolve a scheme of things in which there is evil; nor is it clear how a perfect whole can be built up of imperfect parts. when we pause to view the matter in this light, we are led to wonder if apparent evils are not merely apparent because of our inability to see them in their relation to everything else. 

Practical Psychology is a Science 

But, as a matter of simple fact, practical psychology does not pretend to say that the Universal Mind is God. Practical psychology is a science aiming to make men and women well, successful and happy, and deals with the facts of nature as it finds them, without indulging in speculations, formulating creeds or propounding dogmas. Among other things, it has found the Universal Mind, has discovered of the laws of its operation and has pointed out its relation to the individual human mind. 

This discussion of the universal Mind is far from being merely an intellectual pastime. It is of the most vital and tremendous importance to the very practical work in which we are engaged. The individual human mind is very definitely joined to the Universal Mind, and, in its subconscious phase, partakes of its creative wisdom and power. our main purpose is to enable you to reach your Subconscious Mind and draw upon it for the attainment of health, success and happiness. when you have intelligently reached your subconscious Mind, you will through that same achievement, be in contact with the wisdom and power of the universal Mind. Therefore, it is necessary to familiarise yourself with the Universal Mind and with its general methods of work. 

There is one outstanding fact concerning the universal Mind that I want to sear upon your memory. It is this: 

It Brings Created Forms into Existence Solely by The Power of its Thought.

 It projects a Mental Image into a Formless Mass,

 And the Formless Mass Then Assumes the Form of the Mental Image. 

The first chapter of Genesis relates that God spoke the world and all its created forms into existence. He said, "Let it be", and it was. A mental picture of the thing to be formed from the formless root- substance must necessarily have existed in the mind of God before the creative word was spoken; otherwise, there would have been universal chaos instead of universal order. If the universal Mind is God, then the Bible story of creation corroborates the finding of practical psychology that it creates by the power of its thought. If the Universal Mind is not God, then the Bible account of creation attributes the power of creative thought to some other intelligence which is also omnipresent and omnipotent, like the universal Mind. practical psychology does not urge upon you any choice between these two conceptions, but leaves you free to choose for yourself. The two things it does urge upon you are the existence of the Universal Mind and its power to create by its thought. 

Did you ever see an oak with acorns on it? of course, you have. who hasn't? How much sense do you think an acorn has? what do you suppose it knows about chemistry, botany and biology? Do you think it knows how to gather carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water from the earth and put them through the various chemical processes necessary to manufacture them first into sugar and then into starch? Honestly, now, do you think an acorn knows how to do it. Certainly, it possesses no such knowledge. Everyone outside of a mental hospital knows that an acorn has no sense. And yet apparently the acorn does in fact do these very things. Not only this, but it proceeds to build the starch into cells, and the cells into roots, trunk, bark, branches and leaves - and into more acorns. 

"Oh,” says someone, "all these things are done by the natural law governing the growth of oak trees. That must indeed be a very remarkable law - a law that knows more about chemistry, botany and biology than any human being, and that can reason and plan. and execute its plans and adapt itself to its environment. Obviously, if there is such a law it has a mind; and if it has a mind, it cannot be a law, since no law can have a mind. 

The word "law", when used in the sense referred to, is a lax kind of term which we use to cover up our ignorance. We should admit the obvious truth that in the growth of an acorn into an oak and more acorns, the mind is seen in operation - a mind whose wisdom and power far surpass our reasoning ability to understand. And yet it would be the height of folly to say that the acorn is possessed of any such mind. 

Proof of the Existence of the Universal Mind 

Suppose we should take three sound acorns from the same tree, send them in three different directions to the outermost parts of the earth and plant them. Barring accidents, each would carry out exactly the same processes carried out by the acorn which produced the tree upon which they grew. Each would produce an oak tree, and each of these trees would, in turn, produce more acorns. Can you solve this riddle? 

All that has been said of the acorn is true of the seeds of every other plant and tree, and of the eggs of every insect, bird and reptile that lay eggs. Does a duck-egg know how to think its simple contents into a duck? Does the egg of a butterfly know how to build a caterpillar that will know how to spin a cocoon and convert itself into another butterfly? Your ordinary common sense forbids you to answer “Yes" to any of these questions. 

In the human body we find vastly more complex processes than those wrought out in the growth of a tree. So complex and profound are these bodily processes that, comparatively speaking, we know very little about them. so great is the wisdom manifested in them that it seems to be beyond our power fully to comprehend it. And these bodily processes are exactly the same for any human being - whatever the colour of his or her skin. They manifest the same infinite wisdom in the Australian bushman as in the principal of the college.  

Here is the simple answer to the whole tangled problem. An all-wise and all-powerful mind is everywhere. It has many phases or modes of operation, which may be roughly compared with the different wave lengths of sound that would be produced in the air by a simultaneous striking of all the keys of a piano. The acorn, the eggs of the duck and the butterfly and the human reproductive cell are all just senseless bits of physical matter set in tune with different phases of the Universal Mind. 

If we put into a certain room a piano and a large variety of other articles, and then strike all the piano keys at once, the sound-waves produced in the air by the vibration of one certain string would cause some particular object in the room to vibrate, because the size and weight of that particular object are such that it would be set in vibration by that particular vibratory wave-length in the air. Another object in the room would be similarly affected by the vibratory wave-length-produced in the air by another piano string; and so forth. 

And so, it is with the different phases of the universal Mind and the different things that are in tune with these different phases. The acorn responds to the oak-phase of the universal Mind, and grows into an oak. The duck-egg responds to the duck-phase of the Universal Mind, and grows into a duck. The human reproductive cell responds to the human-phase of the Universal Mind, and grows into human body. The universal Mind, being everywhere and manifesting exactly alike in all places, will act upon the acorns, eggs and cells no matter how widely we may separate them; and since one of a certain kind is attuned to the same phase of the Universal Mind as are all others of that kind, all will, barring accidents, produce the same result. The reproductive cells of certain species of plants, animals and men are in tune with phases of the universal Mind so nearly similar to the phases with which the reproductive cells of other species are in tune, that the male cells of the one species will blend with the female cells of the other, thus uniting two phases of the Universal Mind in a single production, and resulting in a hybrid or cross-breed. 

Once again, I want to impress upon your mind the tremendously important fact that the Universal Mind does its building solely by the power of its thought, and that its creatures take their forms according to its pre-existent mental images of them. Its mental images of the different species are not immutable images, but gradually change from age to age, thereby working changes in the species. These changes are not initiated by the Universal Mind, but by the persistent desires and keenly felt needs of the species, the universal Mind merely changing its mental images so as to meet these desires and needs, and thereby effecting the gradual changes of evolution. 

Let me again remind you that this teaching concerning the Universal Mind is not merely an interesting discussion. It has a very practical value. In the first place, a mastery of it will give you a breadth of view and depth of understanding that will be of inestimable value to you in your work of self-knowledge and self-development. But, apart from this, every fact stated in this lesson will be needed by you in the practical applications that will be prescribed in subsequent lessons. You'll see why later. 

Let us pause here for discussion and reflection. 

First, I want to give you Just a little more practical work to do, not in place of that already prescribed, but in addition to it. For just two or three minutes once or twice each day, in the quiet of your room or as you walk along the street, regulate your breathing so that it is full and rhythmical. As you inhale, mentally say to yourself: "I am breathing in health.' As you exhale, mentally say to yourself: "I am breathing out disease." 

These statements will be literally and physically true, because the habit of deep, regular breathing floods the body with purifying and strength-giving oxygen, and eliminates a lot of waste matter. But in addition to this physical benefit, the attention you give during the practice to the regular rhythm of your breath tends to make your mind concentrate upon the thought that through this practice you will grow better. And singleness of thought is one of the attitudes of mind vital to your success in this work. To state a great psychological truth in a few words, the isolated idea tends to realise itself. In listening to the ticking of your clock your mind gradually let’s go of everything else, and finally isolates the thought, “I’m getting well". The breathing exercise prescribed works in the same way. 

If you feel poorly with some minor complaint, you can very easily heal yourself - although you must, of course, consult a doctor in the case of more serious or prolonged illness. These exercises, in combination with your doctor's treatment, if necessary, will prove to be extremely beneficial. If you are not ill, then you may use the methods described in this and Part A of the first Lesson for other kinds of improvement. 

"Day by Day, in every way …” 

Just think about what you want the most. Then weave the ticking of your clock into a simple and positive thought that this very thing is rapidly coming your way. For instance, frame your first thought like something like this: 

“Day by day, in every way, I am more and more successful” 

 And when you become drowsy from the slow and measured whispering of these words, let the clock say for you, “I am more and more successful”, until you fall asleep. Your purpose should be to go over this assertion so many times on so many different nights, and listen to the clock repeat it so many hundreds of times, that the rhythm will move through your mind without any conscious effort on your part. Never mind about the means by which your success is coming. If you can isolate the idea that is actually coming, the subconscious Mind will find the means. A number of ethical questions probably will arise in your mind at this point. These questions will be cleared up as you proceed. All that you now need to realise concerning this point is that the subconscious is exactingly honest. It brings you the desires of your heart in such a way that you have to pay for them, but it provides means of payment. For the present, leave these matters to it. 

Try generally to act the part you want to play in life. Act as though you were well, prosperous and happy. Make the best possible showing with what you have, whether of health, material things or happiness.