As A Man Thinketh By James Allen, Chapter 5

The Thought Factor in Achievement: Allen says all that a person achieves or doesn't is the direct result of his/her own thoughts. Weakness, strength, purity, and impurity, are brought about by one's self and not by another. A rather uncomfortable responsibility, nevertheless, he allows no wiggle room on this. How freeing this is once you understand and digest it.

Transcript

As a Man Thinketh by James Allen Chapter 5 The Thought Factor in Achievement All that a man achieves, And all that he fails to achieve, Is the direct result of his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe, Where loss of equipose would mean total destruction, Individual responsibility must be absolute. A man's weakness and strength, Purity and impurity, Are his own and not another man's. They are brought about by himself and not another. They can only be altered by himself, Never by another. His condition is also his own and not another man's. His sufferings and his happiness are evolved from within. As he thinks, So is he. As he continues to think, So he remains. A strong man cannot help a weaker, Unless that weaker is willing to be helped. And even then, The weak man must become strong of himself. He must, By his own efforts, Develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition. It has been usual for a man to think and to say, Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor. Let us hate the oppressor. But there is among an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment and say, One man is an oppressor because many are slaves. Let us despise the slaves. The truth is that oppressor and slave are cooperators in ignorance, And while seeming to afflict each other, Are in reality afflicting themselves. A perfect knowledge perceives the action of law in the weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor. A perfect love, Seeing the suffering which both states entail, Condemns neither. A perfect compassion embraces both oppressor and oppressed. He who has conquered weakness and has pushed away all selfish thoughts, Belongs neither to the oppressor nor oppressed. He is free. A man can only rise, Conquer, And achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak, Abject, And miserably by refusing to lift up his thoughts. Before a man can achieve anything, Even in worldly things, He must lift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence. He may not, In order to succeed, Give up all animality and selfishness, Necessarily, But a portion of it must, At least, Be sacrificed. A man whose first thought is bestial indulgence could neither think clearly nor plan methodically. He could not find and develop his latent resources and would fail in any undertaking. Not having begun to manfully control his thoughts, He is not in a position to control affairs and to adopt serious responsibilities. He is not fit to act independently or stand alone, But he is limited only by the thoughts that he chooses. There can be no progress nor achievement without sacrifice, And a man's worldly success will be by the measure that he sacrifices his confused animal thoughts and fixes his mind on the development of his plans and the strengthening of his resolution and self-reliance. The higher he lifts his thoughts, The greater will be his success. The more blessed and enduring will be his achievements. The universe does not favor the greedy, The dishonest, The vicious, Although on the mere surface it sometimes may appear to be so. It helps the honest, The magnanimous, The virtuous. All the great teachers of the ages have declared this in varying ways, And to prove it and to not it and to know it, A man has but to persist in making himself increasingly virtuous by lifting his thoughts. Intellectual achievements are the result of thought consecrated to the search for knowledge, Or for the beautiful and the true in nature. Such achievements may sometimes be connected with vanity and ambition, But they are not the outcome of those characteristics. They are the natural outgrowth of long and arduous effect, And of pure and unselfish thoughts. Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He who lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts, Who dwells upon all that is pure and selfless, Will as surely as the sun reaches its zenith and the moon its full, Become wise and noble in character and rise into a position of influence and blessedness. Achievement of any kind is the crown of effort, The diadem of thought. By the aid of self-control, Resolution, Purity, Righteousness, And well-directed thought, A man ascends. By the aid of animality, Indolence, Impurity, Corruption, And confusion of thought, A man descends. A man may rise to high success in the world, Even to lofty attitudes in the spiritual realm, And again descend into weakness and wretchedness by allowing arrogant, Selfish, And corrupt thoughts to take possession of him. Victories attained by right thought can be maintained only by watchfulness. Many give way when success is assumed and rapidly fall back into failure. All achievements, Whether in the business, Intellectual, Or spiritual world, Are the result of definitely directed thought. They are governed by the same law and of the same method. The only difference lies in the object of attainment. He who would accomplish little needs sacrifice little. He who would accomplish much must sacrifice much. He who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly. I'm Carol. Thank you for listening. Leave a comment. Let me know what you think.

Reviews

Thank you Carol. Amazing talk 💞

Thank you very much. Really interesting and beautifully related.

Always beautifully spoken. Many points to ponder 🙏

Thank you for your lovely chat wise words gave me a lot to think about
Namaste

Thank you for sharing this wisdom. I'll have to get my book out! 💖