As A Person Thinketh, By James Allen, Chapter 2

Effect of Thought on Circumstances: James Allen begins by using a garden as a metaphor for the mind, seeds as thoughts, and we as cultivators. He says it may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but either way, it will produce the fruitage of useful seeds or useless weed seeds, reproducing after their own kind in abundance.

Transcript

Effect of Thought on Circumstances A person's mind may be likened to a garden,

Which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild,

But whether cultivated or neglected,

It must be and will bring forth.

If no useful seeds are put into it,

Then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein,

And will continue to produce their kind.

Just as a gardener cultivates their plot,

Keeping it free from weeds and growing the flowers and fruits which they require,

So may a person tend the garden of their mind,

Weeding out all the wrong,

Useless,

And impure thoughts,

And cultivating toward perfection,

The flowers and fruits of right,

Useful,

And pure thoughts.

By pursuing this process,

A person sooner or later discovers that they are master gardener of their soul,

The director of their life.

They also reveal within themselves the law of thought,

And they begin to understand with ever-increasing accuracy how the thought forces and mind elements operate in the shaping of their character,

Circumstances,

And destiny.

Thought and character are united,

And as character can only manifest and discover itself through environment and circumstance,

The outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to be harmoniously related to their inner state.

This does not mean that a person's circumstances,

At any given time,

Are an indication of their entire character,

But that those circumstances are so intimately connected with some vital thought element within themselves,

That,

For the time being,

They are indispensable to their development.

Every person is where they are by the law of cause and effect.

The thoughts which they have built into their character have brought them there,

And in the arrangement of life,

There is no element of chance,

But all is the result of a law which cannot fail.

This is just as true of those who feel out of harmony with their surroundings as those who are contented with them.

As a progressive and evolving being,

A person is where they are that they may learn that they may grow,

And as they learn the spiritual lesson which any circumstance contains for them,

It passes away and gives place to other circumstances.

People are buffeted by circumstances so long as they believe themselves to be creatures of outside conditions,

But when they realize that they have creative power,

And that they may command the hidden soil and seeds of their being out of which circumstances grow,

They then become in control of themselves.

That circumstances grow out of thought,

Every person knows who has for any length of time practiced self-control and self-purification,

For they will have noticed that the alteration in their circumstances has been in exact ratio with their altered mental condition.

So true is this that when a person earnestly applies themselves to remedy the defects in their character,

And make swift and marked progress,

They pass rapidly through a succession of positive changes.

The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors,

That which it loves,

And also that which it fears.

It reaches the height of its cherished aspirations,

It falls to the level of its base desires,

And circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.

Every thought,

Seed,

Sown,

Or allowed to fall into the mind and to take root there,

Produces its own,

Blossoming sooner or later into action,

And bearing its own fruit of opportunity and circumstance.

Good thoughts bear good fruit,

Bad thoughts,

Bad fruit.

The outer world of circumstance shapes itself to the inner world of thought,

And both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions are factors which make for the ultimate good of the individual.

As the reaper of their own harvest,

A person learns both by suffering and bliss,

Following the inner desires,

Aspirations,

Thoughts,

By which they allow themselves to be dominated,

Pursuing the vapors of impure imaginings,

Or steadfastly walking the highway of strong and high endeavor,

A person at last arrives at their fruition and fulfillment in the outer conditions of their life.

The law of growth and adjustment everywhere produce fruit.

A person does not come to the poorhouse or the jail by the tyranny of fate or circumstance,

But by the pathway of groveling thought and base desires.

Nor does a pure-minded person fall suddenly into crime by stress of any mere external force.

The criminal thought had long been secretly fostered in their heart,

And the hour of opportunity revealed its gathered power.

Circumstance does not make the person,

It reveals them to themselves.

No such conditions can exist as descending into vice and its attended suffering apart from vicious inclinations,

Or ascending into virtue and its pure happiness without the continued cultivation of virtuous aspirations.

And a person,

Therefore,

As the manager of their thoughts,

Is the maker of themselves,

And the shaper and author of environment.

Even at birth,

The soul comes to its own,

And through every step of its earthly pilgrimage,

It attracts those combinations of conditions that are revealed,

That are the reflections of one's own purity and impurity,

Its own strength and weakness.

People do not attract that which they want,

But that which they are.

Their whims,

Fancies,

And ambitions are thwarted at every step,

But their inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their own food,

Be it foul or clean.

The divinity that shapes our ends is in ourselves,

It is our very self.

Only yourself chains yourself.

Thought and action are the jailers of fate,

They imprison,

Being base.

They are also the angels of freedom,

They liberate,

Being noble.

Not what they wish and pray for does a person get,

But what they justly earn.

Their wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with their thoughts and actions.

In the light of this truth,

What,

Then,

Is the meaning of fighting against circumstances?

It means that a person is continually revolting against an external effect.

While all the time they are nourishing and preserving its cause in their heart,

That cause may take the form of a conscious vice or an unconscious weakness,

But whatever it is,

It stubbornly retards the efforts of its possessor,

And thus calls aloud for remedy.

People are eager to improve their circumstances,

But are unwilling to improve themselves.

They,

Therefore,

Remain bound.

The person who does not shrink from self-sacrifice can never fail to accomplish the object upon which their heart is set.

This is as true of earthly as of heavenly things.

Even the person whose sole object is to acquire wealth must be prepared to make personal sacrifices before they can accomplish this objective.

And how much more so those who would realize a strong and well-balanced life.

Here is someone who is wretchedly poor.

They are extremely anxious that their surroundings and home comfort should be improved.

Yet,

All the time,

They avoid their work and consider they are justified in trying to deceive their employer on the grounds of the insufficiency of their pay.

Such a person does not understand the simplest rudiments of those principles which are the basis of true prosperity,

And is not only totally unfit to rise out of their wretchedness,

But is actually attracting to themselves a deeper wretchedness by dwelling in and acting out indolent,

Deceptive,

And wretched thoughts.

Here is a rich person who is the victim of a painful and persistent disease as a result of gluttony.

They are willing to give large sums of money to get rid of it,

But they will not sacrifice their gluttonous desires.

They want to gratify their taste for rich and unnatural foods and have their perfect health as well.

Such a person is totally unfit to have health because they have not yet learned the first principle of a healthy life.

There is an employer of labor who adopts crooked measures to avoid paying the regulation wage and in the hope of making larger profits,

Reduces the wages of his work people.

Such a person is altogether unfit for prosperity,

And when they find themselves bankrupt,

Both as regards reputation and riches,

They blame circumstances,

Not knowing that they themselves are the sole author of their condition.

I have introduced these three cases merely as illustrative of the truth that a person is the cause,

Though nearly always unconsciously,

Of their circumstances,

And that while aiming at a good end,

They may be continually frustrating its accomplishment by encouraging thoughts and desires which cannot possibly harmonize with that end.

Such cases could be multiplied and varied almost indefinitely,

But this is not necessary,

As the reader can,

If they so resolve,

Trace the action of the laws of thought in their own mind and life.

And until this is done,

Mere external facts cannot serve as a ground of reasoning.

Circumstances,

However,

Are so complicated,

Thought is so deeply rooted,

And the conditions of happiness vary so vastly with individuals,

That a person's entire soul condition,

Although it may be known to themselves,

Cannot be judged by another from the external aspect of their life alone.

A person may be honest in certain directions,

Yet suffer misery.

A person may be dishonest in certain directions,

Yet acquire wealth.

But the conclusion usually formed that one person fails because of their particular honesty and that the other prospers because of their particular dishonesty,

Is the result of a superficial judgment which assumes that the dishonest person is almost totally corrupt and the honest person almost entirely virtuous.

In the light of a deeper knowledge and wider experience,

Such judgment is found to be erroneous.

The dishonest person may have some admirable virtues which the other does not possess,

And the honest person may have obnoxious vices which are absent in the other.

The honest person reaps the good result of their honest thoughts and actions.

They also bring upon themselves the suffering which their vices produce.

The dishonest person,

Likewise,

Gathers their own suffering and happiness.

It is pleasing to human vanity to believe that one suffers because of one's virtue.

But not until a person has removed every sickly,

Bitter,

And impure thought from their mind and washed every negative stain from their soul,

Can they be in a position to know and declare that their sufferings are the result of their good and not of their bad qualities.

And on the way to,

Yet long before they have reached,

That supreme level of perfection,

They will have found,

Working in their mind and life,

The great law which is absolutely just,

Which cannot,

Therefore,

Give good for evil or evil for good.

Possessed of such knowledge,

They will then know,

Looking back upon their past ignorance and blindness,

That their life is and always was justly ordered,

And that all their past experiences,

Good and bad,

Were the equitable outworking of their growing,

Yet not fully mature,

Self.

Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results.

Bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results.

This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn,

Nothing from weeds but weeds.

People understand this law in the natural world and work with it,

But few understand it in the mental and spiritual world,

Though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating.

And they,

Therefore,

Do not cooperate with it.

Sufferings is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction.

It is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with the law of their being.

The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify,

To burn out that which is useless and impure.

Suffering ceases for those who are pure.

There could be no object in burning gold after the dross has been removed,

And likewise,

A perfectly pure and enlightened being rises above suffering.

The circumstances which a person encounters with suffering are the result of their own mental disharmony.

The circumstances which a person encounters with blessedness are the result of their own mental harmony.

Blessedness,

Not material possessions,

Is the measure of right thought.

Wretchedness,

Not the lack of material possessions,

Is the measure of wrong thought.

A person may be cursed and rich.

They may be blessed and poor.

Blessedness and riches are only joined together when the riches are rightly and wisely used.

And the poor person only descends into wretchedness when they regard their circumstance as a burden unjustly imposed.

Indigence and indulgence are the two extremes of wretchedness.

They are both equally unnatural and the result of mental disorder.

A person is not in a right condition until they are a happy,

Healthy,

And prosperous being.

And happiness,

Health,

And prosperity are the result of a harmonious adjustment to the inner with the outer of a person with their surroundings.

A man or woman only begins to be a man or woman when they cease to whine and revile and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates their life.

And as they adapt their mind to that regulating factor,

They cease to accuse others as the cause of their condition and build themselves up in strong and noble thoughts.

They cease to kick against circumstances but instead begin to use them as aids to their more rapid progress and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities within themselves.

Law,

Not confusion,

Is the dominating principle in the universe.

Justice,

Not injustice,

Is the soul and substance of life.

And righteousness,

Not corruption,

Is the molding and moving force in the spiritual government of the world.

This being so,

A person has to but adjust themselves to find that the universe is right.

And during the process of adjusting themselves,

Will find that they alter their thoughts toward things and other people.

Things and other people will adjust or alter toward them.

The proof of this truth is in every person and it therefore allows for easy investigation by systematic introspection and self-analysis.

Let a person radically alter their thoughts and they will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will affect in the material conditions of their life.

People imagine that thought can be kept secret but it cannot.

It rapidly crystallizes into habit and habit solidifies into circumstance.

Beastly thoughts crystallize into habits of drunkenness and unhealthy actions which solidify into circumstances of destitution and disease.

Impure thoughts of every kind crystallize into destructive and confusing habits which solidify into misery and adverse circumstances.

Thoughts of fear,

Doubt,

And indecision crystallize into weak,

Timid,

And irresolute habits which solidify into circumstances of failure,

Indigence,

And confusion.

Circumstances of failure,

Indigence,

And slavish dependence.

Lazy thoughts crystallize into habits of uncleanness and dishonesty which solidify into circumstances of foulness and beggary.

Hate and condemnatory thoughts crystallize into habits of accusation and violence which solidify into circumstances of injury and persecution.

Selfish thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of self-seeking which solidify into circumstances more or less distressing.

On the other hand,

Beautiful thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of grace and kindliness which solidify into genial and sunny circumstances.

Pure thoughts crystallize into habits of temperance and self-control which solidify into circumstances of repose and peace.

Thoughts of courage,

Self-reliance,

And decisiveness crystallize into strong habits which solidify into circumstances of success,

Plenty,

And freedom.

Energetic thoughts crystallize into habits of cleanliness and industry which solidify into circumstances of pleasantness.

Gentle and forgiving thoughts crystallize into habits of gentleness which solidify into protective and preservative circumstances.

Loving and unselfish thoughts crystallize into habits of self-forgetfulness and care for others which solidify into circumstances of sure and abiding prosperity and true riches.

A particular train of thought persisted in,

Be it good or bad,

Cannot fail to produce its results on the character and circumstances.

A person cannot directly choose their circumstances,

But they can choose their thoughts and so indirectly yet surely shape their circumstances.

Nature helps every person to gratify the thoughts which they most encourage and opportunities are presented which will most speedily bring to the surface both the good and evil thoughts.

Let a person cease from their wicked thoughts and all the world will soften toward them and be ready to help them.

Put away your weak and sickly thoughts and low opportunities will spring up on every hand to aid your strong resolves.

Encourage good thoughts and no hard fate shall bind you down to wretchedness and shame.

The world is your kaleidoscope and the varying combinations of colors which at every succeeding moment it presents to you the exquisitely adjusted pictures of your ever moving thoughts.

So,

You will be what you will to be.

Let failure find its false content in that poor world environment,

But spirit scorns it and is free.

It masters time,

It conquers space,

It defeats that boastful trickster chance and bids the tyrant circumstance.

Be gone and fill a servant's place.

The human will that force unseen,

The offspring of an eternal soul can cut away to any goal.

The walls of granite intervene.

Be not impatient in delays,

But wait as one who understands.

When spirit rises and commands,

All of nature is ready to obey.

Reviews

Beautiful to listen to you speak these words. I like that you are not religious but spiritual.

Carol’s eloquence is brilliant. My spirit, heart, and mind feel nourished and fortified with her supportive presence. I will listen again and again.

Wow. Chapter 2 was packed with wisdom. A keeper for sure. Much appreciated 🙏🙏

I read this long ago I think ! Thank you for wonderful reading of it Carol ! I am blessed today ! 💫💛

I love the analogy of our thoughts being like a garden, that we can culivate. It totally makes sense and is interesting to listen to. Wonderful food for thought and well worth listening to. Thank you.

Thank you Carol for reminding me of what I have lost track of when I am overwhelmed by circumstances. I’m inspired to work harder on being more balanced and less stressed.
Namaste 🙏

Copy that Carol… I’m on it!