William Walker Atkinson

“ He feels, in only a lighter degree, the emotion that one experiences when, in occasional moments, his mind leads to a contemplation of The Infinite. He feels that that which men mean when they say "Gravitation" and "The Ether," are but symbols and feeble concepts of Something so far above human experience that the Mind of Man may grasp only its lowest shadings, the greater and higher part of it, like the higher rays of the Spectrum, being hidden from the experience of Man. ”

“ In that Great Ocean of Universal or Cosmic Mind, bodies of Substance are but as floating specks of dust—or even bubbles formed of the substance of that Ocean itself—on the surface of that Ocean, there may arise waves, currents, ripples, eddies, whirlpools,—storms, hurricanes, tempests,—from its bosom may rise vapor, that after stages of clouds, rain-drops, flowing in streams, rivers, bays, at last again reach the source of its origin. ”

“ But it will outlive this, and in time will come to its own—perhaps long after the writer and the book have been forgotten.
This must be so—for the idea of "Dynamic Thought" underlies the entire Universe, and is the cause of all phenomena. Not only is all that we see as Life and Mind, and Substance illustrations of the Law, but even that which lies back of these things must evidence the same Law. Is it too daring a conception to hazard the thought that perhaps the Universe itself is the result of the Dynamic Thought of The Infinite? ”

“ There is no conflict between True Occultism and True Science, notwithstanding their directly opposite theories and ideals—they are merely looking at the Truth from different viewpoints—at different sides of the same shield. A better day is coming, when they shall work together, instead of in opposition. There should be no partisanship in the search for Truth.
Things have worked this way: Occultism would enunciate a theory or principle—but would not attempt to prove it by material facts, for it had not gathered the facts, having found the principle within the mind, rather than without. ”

“ If it were not for this attraction by the Sun, the planets would fly out into space, like a stone from a sling. The Attraction of Gravitation acts on the planets just as does the string of the whirling sling that keeps the stone from flying away during the whirling until the string is released. Some astronomers think that our sun revolves around some greater sun, and this again around a greater, and so on to infinity. If this be so, then the Attraction of Gravitation is that which holds them all in their orbits and places in spite of their motion. ”

“ The Segnogram is a monthly magazine for Success-Thought Thinkers and Readers. It has one mission to fill—the upbuilding—the betterment of man. It has no time to quarrel with any creed, sect, doctrine or belief. The Law of Love is its controlling influence—it has none other. To read it is to be imbued with its high teachings. It is a Success Magazine that teaches how to win Success without preaching about it. It believes in doing things, because in doing things we win Success. ”

“ It is more than the power that "pulls things to the earth," as the average man would define it. It does more than cause water to run down hill, and turn mill-wheels to drive machinery. Water-power results from Gravitation, but even the Energy of Niagara Falls is insignificant when compared to the other manifestations of the Mother of Energy—Gravitation.
Webster defines Gravitation as: "That attraction or force by which all bodies or particles in the universe tend toward each other." ”

“ It will be noticed that Science has made no serious attempt to connect the phenomenon of Gravitation or Attraction with the Ether. Gravitation stands alone—an "outsider" among the Forces, responding to none of their laws—needing no time in which to travel—needing no medium like the Ether in which to transmit "waves"—fearing no obstacle or interfering body, but passing right through the same—different, different, different. ”

“ What it is like now, the imagination of Man cannot conceive. Still the revolutions continue, doubling each second. What is being produced? The imagination cannot conceive of what this state of Substance, now being reached, is like. By a scientific form of poetry we might think of it as melting into Energy—pure Energy, if there were such a thing. Long since it has been resolved into its original Particles—its Corpuscles, and perhaps into the "stuff" from which particles are made. But we must let the curtain drop—the wildest fancy cannot follow the Dance of Substance any further. ”

“ Let us see if the Dynamic Thought Theory throws any light on the subject!
The first step in the solution of the problem of the transferring and communication of Energy is the remembrance of the fact that the Energy is purely Mental. Be it Gravitation, Affinity or Attraction, on the one hand—or Light, Heat, Magnetism or Electricity on the other—it is all Mental Force. Attraction in all of its forms has been recognized as Mental Action. And the vibrations that cause Light, Heat, Magnetism and Electricity have been seen to result from the Law of Attraction, and, therefore, are Mental. ”

“ And, to tell the truth, even Science has held this view until a comparatively recent period, laughing to scorn the old Occult Teaching that the Universe is Alive, and capable of Thinking. But the recent discoveries of modern Science has changed all this, and we no longer hear Science speaking of "dead Matter" or "blind Force"—it recognizes that these terms are meaningless, and that the dreams of the old Occultists are coming true. Science confronts a live and thinking Universe. ”

“ Blue is the color of the Religious thoughts, ranging, however, through a great variety of stages, from the dull shade of superstitious religious belief, to the beautiful violet of the highest religious emotion or thought. ”

“ The majority of persons, when thinking of "Gravitation," are satisfied with the idea that it is a power that "pulls things down to the ground," and do not think of it as a force that "pulls things" other ways besides "down," and which is possessed and exercised by the speck of dust as well as by the whole earth—by the molecule as well as by the mass. The reason of this is that this power is so slight in small bodies of Substance that it is unnoticed; and that only when the mass is sufficiently large to make the "pull" strong does one perceive and appreciate that the force exists. ”

“ Every Atom is like a great bee-hive with a swarm of Corpuscles vibrating, moving around each other, and upon their own centres. And, if by the action of intense heat, transmitted, or caused by interrupted Motion—or if by a strong Electric charge—some of these Corpuscles are detached from the Atoms (or possibly an Atom broken up) , they fly off through Space at a marvellous speed of many thousand miles an hour. ”

“ Science renders valuable service in showing us the details of the "mechanism" of Thought, but it will never really explain anything unless it assumes the existence of Mind, back of and in everything. It may dissect the brain-cells, and show us their composition, but it never will find Mind under the scalpel, or in the scale or test-tube. Not only is this true, but it cannot even discover the fine Psychoplasm which is used in the production of Mind. ”

“ THE MYSTERY OF MIND THE writer, in this book, has treated the two manifestations of Life, viz., Mind and Substance, as if they were separate things, although he has hinted at his belief that Substance, at the last, might be found to emanate from Mind, and be but a cruder form of its expression. The better way to express the thought would be to say that he believes that both Substance, and Mind as we know it, are but expressions of a form of Mind as much higher than that which we know as Mind, as the latter is higher than Substance. ”

“ It could only belong to another and an entirely different order of existence from that of Substance as we know it. It must possess characteristics and properties of an order as yet unknown to us by name—for which the material world contains no analogy—for which Substance has no analogues. It must be a far more complex thing than is even the most complex thing we call Matter, or that which we call Force or Energy. ”

“ Occultists tell us that the character of a man's thought vibrations may be determined by certain colors, which are visible to those having "Astral Sight." There is nothing so wonderful about this, when it is remembered that the various "colors" of light, comprising the visible colors of the spectrum, ranging from red, on through orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and terminating in violet, arise simply from different rates of vibration of the Particles of Substance. And as Thought is produced by Mind causing vibrations in the Psychoplasm, why is not the Astral Colors reasonable? ”

“ And in Physics, you may learn that this same Attraction of Gravitation prevents the people and objects on the surface of the earth from [Pg 139] flying off into space. And that it holds the portions of the earth together, preventing them from flying apart.
And, remember this, for it is important—the Attraction of the Earth, great and powerful as it is, is nothing more than the combined attractive power of its constituent molecules, or atoms, or parts. The centre of the Earth is the Centre of the Attraction, because it is the centre of the aggregation of its Particles. ”

“ THE FORCES OF NATURE THE Substance filling the Universe is in constant and unceasing Motion. Motion is evidenced in every physical and chemical process and change, and manifested in the constant interchange of position of the Particles of Substance.
There is absolutely no rest in Nature—everything is constantly changing—moving—and vibrating. Building-up processes are ever at work forming larger masses or bodies of the Particles—and tearing-down processes, disintegration and decomposition of Molecules and Atoms, and Corpuscles, are constantly at work also. ”

“ But, note this, Science in its other branches, namely in Geology, etc., holds that the Sun already has been throwing out energy for 500,000,000 or more years, and seems able to stand the strain for many millions of years more. Thus Science is arrayed against Science. Does not this Theory harmonize the two, by showing that the Sun does not emanate Energy in all directions, equally, and at all times—but, on the contrary radiates Energy only along the lines of Gravitation, and in proportion to the relative distances and sizes of the bodies to whom such Energy is radiated? ”

“ Just as the Particles are bound by lines of Attraction, so are the Minds of Men bound together by lines of Mind, or Mental filaments. And just as special forms of Attraction exist between the Particles, so do special forms of Attraction exist between Men. And just as Particles are influenced at a distance by other Particles, so are Men influenced at a distance by other Men. And just as the Particle draws toward itself that which it Desires, so do Men draw toward themselves that which they Desire. ”

“ Cohesive Attraction is that form of Universal Attraction that causes the Molecules of a body to draw together—that "invisible power of" the Molecule, by which it draws another Molecule toward itself, and itself toward the other, the manifestation of which power by several Molecules tends to draw each of them together. (We shall learn of these particles of Substance called Molecules before long.) It is a primal cause of Motion, this mutual Attraction, and drawing-power. Now is it reasonable to suppose that this wonderful "power" is a mere blind-force? ”

“ In order to grasp the idea of the Universality of Mind, let us go back to the elementary forms of Things, and, step by step, see how Mentation manifests itself in every point on the scale from mineral to man—using bodies ranging from the hardest rock to that finest form of known Substance—the Brain of Man. ”

“ Let us look closer and we will see that the great lines of Gravitation radiating from, and connecting world with world—sun with planet—are really cables composed of much smaller lines, the finest strands of which are seen to emanate from each Corpuscle or Particle of Substance—the "line" of Gravitation reaching from the Earth to the Sun being composed of a mass of tiny strands which connect each Particle of one body with each Particle of the other. The last analysis shows us that each Particle is connected with every other Particle in the Universe by a line of Attraction. ”

“ And so, summing up our conclusions regarding Force and Energy and Motion in Inorganic Substance—and then in Organic Substance—we arrive at an understanding of the Basic Proposition of the Theory of Dynamic Thought, which is as follows:
Basic Proposition.—That All forms and exhibition of Force, Energy, Motion and Power are manifestations of Vital-Mental Action. And that, consequently, at the last there is no Force but Vital-Mental Force; no Energy but Vital-Mental Energy; no Motion but Vital-Mental Motion; no Power but Vital-Mental Power. ”

“ The Energy is like a Radical Agitator who wishes to stir up an Excitement, leading to "a change," while the Body is like the Conservative element that prefers to "let well enough alone," and resists the stirring-up process, and exerts itself to restore quiet, and to maintain accustomed conditions.
The explanation of the phenomenon given in any work on Physics or Natural Philosophy will answer fairly well in the consideration of this Theory of Dynamic Thought, the only important change being required, being the substitution of "Thought-waves" for "Waves of the Ether" of Science. ”