Chapter 2
SPIRITUAL
MIND, THE OMNIPRESENT DIRECTIVE
PRINCIPLE OF
PROSPERITY
Charles Fillmore
Prosperity
EVERYTHING that appears
in the universe had its origin in mind.
Mind evolves ideas, and ideas express
themselves through thoughts and words.
Understanding that ideas have a
permanent existence and that they
evolve thoughts and words, we see how
futile is any attempted reform that
does not take them into consideration.
This is why legislation and external
rules of action are so weak and
transient as reforms.
Ideas generate thought
currents, as a fire under a boiler
generates steam. The idea is the most
important factor in every act and must
be given first place in our attention
if we would bring about any results of
a permanent character. Men formulate
thoughts and thoughts move the
world.
Ideas are centers of
consciousness. They have a positive and
a negative pole and generate thoughts
of every conceivable kind. Hence a
man's body, health, intelligence,
finances, in fact everything about him,
are derived from the ideas to which he
gives his attention.
Man has never had a
desire that could not somewhere, in the
providence of God, be fulfilled. If
this were not true, the universe would
be weak at its most vital point. Desire
is the onward impulse of the
ever-evolving soul. It builds from
within outward and carries its
fulfillment with it as a necessary
corollary.
All is mind. Then the
things that appear must be expressions
of mind. Thus mind is reality, and it
also appears as phenomena. The is-ness
of mind is but one side of it. Being is
not limited to the level of is-ness; it
has all possibilities, including that
of breaking forth from its inherencies
into the realm of appearances. Mind has
these two sides, being and appearance,
the visible and the invisible. To say
that mind is all and yet deny that
things do appear to have any place in
the allness is to state but half the
truth.
An idea is capable of
statement as a proposition. The
statement is made in response to a
desire to know experimentally whether
the proposition is capable of proof. A
number of elements are involved in the
statement of a proposition that are not
integral parts of the proposition
itself but necessary to its working
out. In the simplest mathematical
problem processes are used that are not
preserved after the problem is solved
yet that are necessary to its solution.
The figures by the use of which we
arrived at the solution are immediately
forgotten, but they could not be
dispensed with and it is to them we owe
the outcome. The exact outcome of each
step in the solution is a matter of
experiment. The intermediate steps may
be changed or retracted many times, but
ultimately the problem is solved and
the fulfillment of the desired result
attained. If this is true of the
simplest problem in arithmetic it is
equally true of the creation of the
universe. "As above, so below." Here is
where many who have caught sight of the
perfection and wholeness of the ideal
fail to demonstrate. They deny the
appearance because it does not express
perfection in its wholeness.
The student in the
depths of a mathematical problem who
should judge thus would erase all his
figures because the answer was not at
once apparent, though he may have
already completed a good part of the
process leading up to the desired
answer. We would not say that a farmer
is wise who cuts down his corn in the
tassel because it does not show the
ripened ears. Do not jump to
conclusions. Study a situation
carefully in its various aspects before
you decide. Consider both sides, the
visible and the invisible, the within
and the without.
The very fact that you
have an ideal condition or world in
your mind carries with it the
possibility of its fulfillment in
expression. Being cannot shirk
expression. To think is to express
yourself, and you are constantly
thinking. You may deny that the things
of the outer world have existence, yet
as long as you live in contact with
them you are recognizing them. When you
affirm being and deny the expression of
being, you are a "house divided against
itself."
We have all wondered why
we do not understand more truth than we
do or why it is necessary to understand
at all, since God is all-wise and
all-present. Understanding is one of
the essential parts of your I AM
identity. Man is a focal point in God
consciousness and expresses God.
Therefore he must understand the
processes that bring about that
expression. Infinite Mind is here with
all its ideas as a resource for man,
and what we are or become is the result
of our efforts to accumulate in our own
consciousness all the attributes of
infinite Mind. We have learned that we
can accumulate ideas of power,
strength, life, love, and plenty. How
should we use these ideas or bring them
into outer expression without
understanding? Where shall we get this
understanding save from the source of
all ideas, the one Mind? "But if any of
you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God,
who giveth to all liberally and
upbraideth not; and it shall be given
him."
In following the
principles of mathematics we use rules.
There is a rule of addition that we
must observe when we add; other rules
that must be followed when we subtract
or multiply. The ideas of Divine Mind
can only be expressed when we follow
the rules or laws of mind, and these
rules require understanding if we would
follow them intelligently and achieve
results. Man is given all power and
authority over all the ideas of
infinite Mind, and the idea of wisdom
is one of them.
Closely associated with
the idea of wisdom in Divine Mind is
the idea of love. These ideas are the
positive and the negative pole of the
creative Principle. "Male and female
created he them." The ideas of God-Mind
are expressed through the conjunction
of wisdom and love. God commanded that
these two ideas should be fruitful and
multiply and replenish the whole earth
with thoughts in expression.
We have access to the
divine realm from which all thoughts
are projected into the world. We are
constantly taking ideas from the
spiritual world and forming them into
our own conception of the things we
desire. Sometimes the finished product
does not satisfy or please us. That is
because we have taken the idea away
from its true parents, wisdom and love,
and let it grow to maturity in an
atmosphere of error and
ignorance.
In the matter of money
or riches we have taken the idea of
pure substance from the spiritual
realm, then have forgotten the
substance idea and tried to work it out
in a material atmosphere of thought. It
was a wonderful idea, but when we took
it away from its spiritual parents
wisdom and love, it became an unruly
and disappointing child. Even if
without love and understanding of
substance you accumulate gold and
silver, your store will not be stable
or permanent. It will fluctuate and
cause you worry and grief. There are
many people who "don't know the value
of a dollar," with whom money comes and
goes, who are rich today and poor
tomorrow. They have no understanding of
the substance that is the underlying
reality of all wealth.
To have adequate supply
at all times, an even flow that is
never enough to become a burden yet
always enough to meet every demand, we
must make union with the Spirit that
knows how to handle ideas as substance.
Men have the idea that material
substance is limited, and they engage
in competition trying to grab one
another's money. Divine Mind has ideas
of substance as unlimited and
everywhere present, equally available
to all. Since man's work is to express
substance ideas in material form, we
must find a way to connect ideas of
substance with ideas of material
expression, to adjust the ideas of
man's mind with the ideas of Divine
Mind. This is accomplished by faith
through prayer.
That part of the Lord's
Prayer which reads, "Give us this day
our daily bread," is more correctly
translated, "Give us today the
substance of tomorrow's bread." By
prayer we accumulate in our mind ideas
of God as the substance of our supply
and support. There is no lack of this
substance in infinite Mind. Regardless
of how much God gives, there is always
an abundance left. God does not give us
material things, but Mind
substance--not money but ideas--ideas
that set spiritual forces in motion so
that things begin to come to us by the
application of the law.
It may be that you solve
your financial problem in your dreams.
Men often think over their problems
just before going to sleep and get a
solution in their dreams or immediately
upon awakening. This is because their
minds were so active on the
intellectual plane that they could not
make contact with the silent inner
plane where ideas work. When the
conscious mind is stilled and one makes
contact with the superconsciousness, it
begins to show us how our affairs will
work out or how we can help to bring
about the desired
prosperity.
This is the law of mind.
The principle is within each one of us,
but we must be spiritually quickened in
life and in understanding before we can
successfully work in accord with it.
However we must not discount the
understanding of the natural man. The
mind in us that reasons and looks to
the physical side of things has also
the ability to look within. It is the
door through which divine ideas must
come. Jesus, the Son of man, called
Himself "the door" and "the way." It is
the divine plan that all expression or
demonstration shall come through this
gateway of man's mind. But above all
this are the ideas that exist in the
primal state of Being, and this is the
truth of which we must become
conscious. We must become aware of the
source of our substance. Then we can
diminish or increase the appearance of
our supply or our finances, for their
appearance depends entirely on our
understanding and handling of the ideas
of substance.
The time is coming when
we shall not have to work for things,
for our physical needs in the way of
food and clothing, because they will
come to us through the accumulation of
the right ideas in our mind. We will
begin to understand that clothing
represents one idea of substance, food
another, and that every manifest thing
is representative of an
idea.
In the 2d chapter of
Genesis this living substance is called
"dust of the ground" in the Hebrew, and
Adam was formed from it. We find that
the elemental substance is in our body.
The kingdom of the heavens or the
kingdom of God is within man. It is a
kingdom of substance and of Mind. This
Mind interpenetrates our mind and our
mind interpenetrates and pervades our
body. Its substance pervades every atom
of our body. Are you giving it your
attention, or do you still look to
outer sources for supply? Are you
meditating and praying for an
understanding of this omnipresent
substance? If you are, it will come,
and it will demonstrate prosperity for
you. When it does, you are secure, for
nothing can take that true prosperity
from you. It is the law that does not
and cannot fail to operate when once
set in operation in the right
way.
This law of prosperity
has been proved time and time again.
All men who have prospered have used
the law, for there is no other way.
Perhaps they were not conscious of
following definite spiritual methods,
yet they have in some way set the law
in operation and reaped the benefit of
its unfailing action. Others have had
to struggle to accomplish the same
things. Remember that Elijah had to
keep praying and affirming for a long
time before he demonstrated the rain.
He sent his servant out the first time,
and there was no sign of a cloud. He
prayed and sent him out again and again
with the same result, but at last,
after repeated efforts, the servant
said he saw a little cloud. Then Elijah
told them to prepare for rain, and the
rain came. This shows a continuity of
effort that is sometimes necessary. If
your prosperity does not become
manifest as soon as you pray and affirm
God as your substance, your supply, and
your support, refuse to give up. Show
your faith by keeping up the work. You
have plenty of Scripture to back you
up. Jesus taught it from the beginning
to the end of His ministry and
demonstrated it on many occasions. Many
have done the same thing in His
name.
Jesus called the
attention of His followers to the inner
realm of mind, the kingdom of God
substance. He pointed out that the
lilies of the field were gloriously
clothed, even finer than Solomon in all
his glory. We do not have to work
laboriously in the outer to accomplish
what the lily does so silently and
beautifully. Most of us rush around
trying to work out our problems for
ourselves and in our own way, with one
idea, one vision: the material thing we
seek. We need to devote more time to
silent meditation and like the lilies
of the field simply be patient and grow
into our demonstrations. We should
remember always that these substance
ideas with which we are working are
eternal ideas that have always existed
and will continue to exist, the same
ideas that formed this planet in the
first place and that sustain it
now.
A great German
astronomer had worked the greater part
of his life with a desire to know more
about the stars. One night, quite
suddenly and strangely enough--for he
had given but little thought to the
spiritual side of things--he broke
right out into a prayer of thanksgiving
because of the perfect order and
harmony of the heavens. His prayer was
"O God, I am thinking Thy thoughts
after Thee." The soul of this man had
at that moment made the contact and
union with infinite Mind. But though
this contact seemed to be made
suddenly, it was the result of long
study and the preparation of his mind
and thought. Jesus expressed the same
at-one-ment with God at the moment of
His supreme miracle, the raising of
Lazarus. His words were "Father, I
thank thee that thou heardest me. And I
knew that thou hearest me
always."
This gives us another
side of the prosperity law. We open the
way for great demonstrations by
recognizing the Presence and praising
it, by thanking the Father for
Spiritual quickening. We quicken our
life by affirming that we are alive
with the life of Spirit; our
intelligence by affirming our oneness
with divine intelligence; and we
quicken the indwelling,
interpenetrating substance by
recognizing and claiming it as our own.
We should meditate in this
understanding and give sincere thanks
to the God of this omnipresent realm of
ideas because we can think His thoughts
after Him. We can thank the Father that
His thoughts are our thoughts and that
our natural mind is illumined by
Spirit. We can illumine our mind any
time by affirming this
thought:
I thank Thee, Father,
that I think Thy thoughts after Thee
and that my understanding is illumined
by Spirit.
Spiritual thoughts are
infinite in their potentiality, each
one being measured by the life,
intelligence, and substance with which
it is expressed. The thought is brought
into expression and activity by the
word. Every word is a thought in
activity, and when spoken it goes out
as a vibratory force that is registered
in the all-providing
substance.
The mightiest vibration
is set up by speaking the name Jesus
Christ. This is the name that is named
"far above all rule, and authority,"
the name above all names, holding in
itself all power in heaven and in
earth. It is the name that has power to
mold the universal substance. It is at
one with the Father-Mother substance,
and when spoken it sets forces into
activity that bring results.
"Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father
in my name, he may give it to you." "If
ye shall ask anything in my name, that
will I do." There could be nothing
simpler, easier, or freer from
conditions in demonstrating supply.
"Hitherto [before the name Jesus Christ
was given to the world] have ye asked
nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall
receive, that your joy may be made
full."
The sayings of Jesus
were of tremendous power because of His
consciousness of God. They raised the
God ideal far above what had ever
before been conceived. These ideas so
far transcended the thought plane of
the people that even some of the
disciples of Jesus would not accept
them, and they "walked no more with
him." Until fairly recent times most
men have failed to grasp the lesson of
the power of the spoken word expressing
spiritual ideas. Jesus has never been
taken literally, else men would have
sought to overcome death by keeping His
sayings. Few have taken His words in
full faith, not only believing them but
so saturating their minds with them
that they become flesh of their flesh
and bone of their bone, being
incarnated in their very bodies, as
Jesus intended.
The secret of
demonstration is to conceive what is
true in Being and to carry out the
concept in thought, word, and act. If I
can conceive a truth, there must be a
way by which I can make that truth
apparent. If I can conceive of an
inexhaustible supply existing in the
omnipresent ethers, then there is a way
by which I can make that supply
manifest. Once your mind accepts this
as an axiomatic truth it has arrived at
the place where the question of
processes begins to be
considered.
No one ever fully sees
the steps that he must take in reaching
a certain end. He may see in a general
way that he must proceed from one point
to another, but all the details are not
definite unless he has gone over the
same ground before. So in the
demonstration of spiritual powers as
they are expressed through man, we must
be willing to follow the directions of
someone who has proved his
understanding of the law by his
demonstrations.
We all know intuitively
that there is something wrong in a
world where poverty prevails and we
would not knowingly create a world in
which a condition of poverty exists.
Lack of any kind is not possible in all
God's universe. So when there is an
appearance of poverty anywhere, it is
our duty to deny it. Sorrow and
suffering accompany poverty, and we
wish to see them all blotted out. This
desire is an index pointing the way to
their disappearance. As the
consciousness of the kingdom of heaven
with its abundant life and substance
becomes more and more common among men,
these negative conditions will fade out
of seeming existence.
Jesus said that all
things should be added to those who
seek the kingdom of heaven. We do not
have to wait until we have fully
entered the kingdom or attained a
complete understanding of Spirit before
prosperity begins to be manifest, but
we do have to seek, to turn the
attention in that direction. Then
things begin to be added unto us.
Thousands of people are proving the law
in this age. They accept the promise of
the Scriptures and are looking to God
to supply their every need. In the
beginning of their seeking they may
have little to encourage them to
believe that they will be provided for
or helped along any particular line.
But they carry out the command to seek
and in faith act just as though they
were receiving, and gradually there
opens up to them new ways of making a
living. Sometimes avenues are opened to
them to which they are strangers, but
they find pleasant experience and are
encouraged to continue seeking the
kingdom of God and rejoicing in its
ever increasing bounty.
Many such people today
are wisely using their one talent. They
may not have seen the holy of holies in
the inner sanctuary, but they are
getting closer to it. This is the step
we must all take: begin to seek this
kingdom of God's substance. Trust in
the promise and see the result in the
mental currents that are set in motion
all about us. You may not be able to
see at just what point success began,
or what separate word of allegiance to
the Father first took effect, but as
the weeks or months go by you will
observe many changes taking place in
your mind, your body, and your affairs.
You will find that your ideas have
broadened immensely, that your little
limited world has been transformed into
a big world. You will find your mind
more alert and you will see clearly
where you were in doubt before, because
you have begun thinking about realities
instead of appearances. The
consciousness of an omnipotent hand
guiding all your affairs will establish
you in confidence and security, which
will extend to the body welfare and
surroundings. There will be a lessening
or entire absence of prejudice and
faultfinding in you. You will be more
forgiving and more generous and will
not judge harshly. Other people will
feel that there has been a change in
you and will appreciate you more,
showing it in many ways. Things will be
coming your way, being added unto you
indeed according to the
promise.
All this is true not
only of your own affairs. The effects
extend also to those with whom you come
in contact. They will also become more
prosperous and happy. They may not in
any way connect their improvement with
you or your thoughts, but that does not
affect the truth about it. All causes
are essentially mental, and whoever
comes into daily contact with a high
order of thinking must take on some of
it. Ideas are catching, and no one can
live in an atmosphere of true thinking,
where high ideas are held, without
becoming more or less inoculated with
them.
Do not expect miracles
to be performed for you, but do expect
the law with which you have identified
yourself to work out your problem by
means of the latent possibilities in
and around you. Above all, be yourself.
Let the God within you express Himself
through you in the world
without.
"Ye are gods,
And all of you sons of
the Most High."
The idea of God covers a
multitude of creative forces. In this
case you are working to bring
prosperity into your affairs. Hence you
should fill your mind with images and
thoughts of an all-providing
all-supplying Father. The ancient
Hebrews understood this. They had seven
sacred names for Jehovah, each one of
which represented some specific idea of
God. They used the name Jehovah-jireh
when they wished to concentrate on the
aspect of substance. It means "Jehovah
will provide," the mighty One whose
presence and power provides, regardless
of any opposing circumstance. To
quicken the consciousness of the
presence of God the Hebrews used the
name Jehovah-shammah which means
"Jehovah is there," "the Lord is
present." Realize the Lord present as
creative mind, throbbing in the ether
as living productiveness.
Charge your mind with
statements that express plenty. No
particular affirmation will raise
anyone from poverty to affluence, yet
all affirmations that carry ideas of
abundance will lead one into the
consciousness that fulfills the law.
Deny that lack has any place or reality
in your thought or your affairs and
affirm plenty as the only appearance.
Praise what you have, be it ever so
little, and insist that it is
constantly growing larger.
Daily concentration of
mind on Spirit and its attributes will
reveal that the elemental forces that
make all material things are here in
the ether awaiting our recognition and
appropriation. It is not necessary to
know all the details of the scientific
law in order to demonstrate prosperity.
Go into the silence daily at a stated
time and concentrate on the substance
of Spirit prepared for you from the
foundation of the world. This opens up
a current of thought that will bring
prosperity into your affairs. A good
thought to hold in this meditation is
this:
The invisible substance
is plastic to my abundant thought, and
I am rich in mind and in
manifestation.
