I

FOREWORD

This book is devoted to the subject of the development, cultivation and manifestation of Personal Power — Personal Power in all its phases, aspects and modes of manifestation and expression.  “Personal Power,” as understood and taught in this book, may be defined as: “The ability or strength possessed by the human individual, by which he does, or may, accomplish desired results in an efficient manner, along the lines of physical, mental, and spiritual effort and endeavor.”

This book is not written with the purpose of reforming the world, nor of conducting a propaganda for the advancement of some particular creed, belief, body of teaching or doctrine; nor is it written on behalf of any particular organization, cult, society, or school interested in enlarging its membership, or in spreading its doctrines.  Instead, it is written for YOU — YOU are the individual in whom we are interested, and for whom this instruction is intended.

You have been attracted to this book, and it to you, by reason of certain ever-operative though little-known laws of life and being.  You have long awaited the coming of this book; you are now ready to absorb its teachings; “your own has come to you” after your period of watching and waiting; and you will recognize it as your own, by reason of a certain intuitive perception which comes to those who are ready to receive that which it contains.  You have demanded this book: here it is.

This book is different in many respects from anything that you ever have read.  A careful and earnest study of the truths presented in it will work a marked change in you, though you may not fully realize it at this time.  You will never be exactly the same after its reading: it will have left its indelible impress upon you.

You may come to think that you have put it aside, and that you have no further interest in its teachings.  But you will find that certain memories of the statements contained in it will abide with you, and that echoes of its teachings will ring in the ears of your mind.  In the words of Whitman, its “words will itch in your ears till you understand them.” Its basic truths, and the suggestions as to their application, will stick in your mind as the burr sticks in the fleece of the sheep which has acquired it in its wanderings.

You can no more escape from the influence of the truths presented in its pages than you can run away from your own shadow.  At every turn and crossroads of the path of experience hereafter, you will find yourself almost unconsciously applying the principles of this instruction, and employing some of the methods taught in it.  You are hereby warned that such will be the case: if you are not willing to experience such results, now is your time to put away the book.

If, however, you decide to proceed with the reading and study of this book, we have several suggestions to make to you.  You need not expect to master this instruction at the first reading.  There is much solid food contained in it — many things requiring careful mental mastication, digestion, and assimilation.  You will need to read the book several times, from start to finish, with intervals between each reading.  Yet the instruction is quite simple, and at each reading you will acquire many important facts, principles, and methods.

The proper way in which to read this book for the purpose of study — in which to extract from its pages that which is condensed in them — is to start by reading it carefully, from beginning to end, but without trying to memorize any particular portion, or to impress any particular detail upon your mind.  Then lay it aside for a short time, while you think over its teachings in a general way.  In this mental rumination try to classify the several most important topics and divisions of the general subject, but without direct reference to the book itself.  Having done this, take up the book again, and this time carefully absorb each and every phase and feature of its instruction.  Take your time in thus re-reading and restudying it.  You will find something new in this book each and every time you take it up — no matter how many times you have previously “gone over it.”

Finally, you are not asked to accept as true the instruction contained in this book merely because we have asserted it to be true.  You have at your disposal the means of testing and proving the truth of our assertions — the test of actual application, experiment, and experience.  If you will earnestly and persistently put into practice the principles and methods set forth in it, you will find yourself actually manifesting and demonstrating the results logically flowing from them.

All that you are asked to do is to accept at least tentatively — as a “working hypothesis” — the general principles announced in this book, and to adopt as a “working plan” the methods it presents to you.  Reserve for yourself the right to accept or to reject either principles or methods, or both, after you have subjected them to an earnest, faithful, diligent, and persistent trial in actual life and work.  If you will do this, you will, in all probability, need no further argument to convince you of the truth of the underlying principles of this instruction, and of the efficacy of the methods suggested in it.

Here is the prophecy: If you will recognize, by means of your intellect, the Fundamental Principles of Personal Power; and will realize them in your feeling; then will you be able to manifest and demonstrate them in your everyday life and work, by means of the methods herein indicated, or by similar methods devised by yourself but based upon the same general principles.  The principles are basic and fundamental; the methods are designed merely to enable you to apply effectively the principles — you are at liberty to adapt or to modify the latter to suit your own individual requirements.

If you attain the first two of the above stages, then assuredly you will attain the third stage — the stage of manifestation.  These first two stages may be attained by any person of average intelligence, provided that he will faithfully and earnestly apply himself or herself to the task.  You are hereby challenged to test the truth of this prophecy by such a trial and experiment; but that trial and experiment must be made in good faith, in an earnest, serious spirit, and must be pursued with diligence, persistence, and insistence.