lower thought

Lower Thought Prevents Spiritual Growth

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“Too much association with anyone of lower thought may lessen your natural power to attract. You may carry a part of their selfish, cynical, gloomy, or other evil thought with you wherever you go. You put it out with your own. It is felt as a disagreeable alloy with your own.

“Your value and charm for others, as a companion, depends far more on what you think, than on what you say. If your thought is all pure, clean, bright, confident, and courageous, you are a value, and an increasing value wherever you go.

“People will always be glad to see you. When you bring yourself (your thought), you bring an actual pleasure to people. You bring also a power and strength to them. Your thought helps to strengthen their bodies. They feel better for seeing you. You are a fountain of health and pleasure wherever you go. You can disarm the sourest temper, and the person most opposed to you. When you can say in mind, ‘I refuse to look upon any person as my enemy,’ you will have no enemies. When we talk of ‘having enemies,’ and keep on, in thought, looking on certain people as enemies, we are making them enemies.” ~Prentice Mulford

Anyone of Lower Thought

Mulford has an interesting idea of what constitutes “lower thought”. I’m sure we can all agree that thought of murder, rape, theft, and other forms of violence are lower thought, but Mulford goes beyond those obvious kinds of lower thought. He adds to that list selfish, cynical, and gloomy thoughts. I think we can say that he would consider the rampant greed, me-first attitude, and lack of consideration for others among certain groups today to also be lower thought. I agree with him, those are all types of lower thought. And he wisely advises those of us seeking spiritual growth to avoid those of lower thought as much as possible. Obviously, that also means we should try to avoid having such thoughts ourselves. Continue reading “Lower Thought Prevents Spiritual Growth” →

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two forces

Two Forces Attract, Repel, and Eventually Unite

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“The idea of two forces – opposites or polarities – coming together is an idea that permeates most religions which are not wholly monotheistic. For Gnosticism in particular, the union of opposites comes up over and over again. As we have seen, emanations that are essentially balanced emerge from the union between God and His Protonnoia. Some instances of where balance is needed are : First Man is the union of two fires, the light and the dark; Adam must find his partner; and the physical world is evil while the spiritual world id good but the two must be brought together. All these idea demonstrate that out of duality must come unity. This union or marriage is now becoming evident in very subtle ways in today’s world. …

“Women have realized that they are powerful in their own right, but they also have to learn not to abuse that power. Gnostic texts in the early Christian era do give women their rightful place in the scheme of things but in the modern day they must also appreciate that they should not emasculate their men folk.” ~Bernard Simon

Two Forces

Whatever you may think of duality, you have to admit that it exists. To deny it is to be living in a fantasy. Hot and cold, light and dark, male and female, the two forces are everywhere. But they can also be deceptive.

Most of us know that an electric circuit consists of a positive side and a negative side, and when the two are connected together with a conductor, electricity flows. But the positive pole and the negative pole are not true opposites. It is simply that one pole has more than the normal amount of electrons, while the other has less. When the two sides are connected by a conductor such as copper wire, electrons flow from one side to the other until equality is achieved. Once that happens, the flow stops. So electrical devices must be designed to prevent that from happening. With a battery, for example, chemicals in the battery make sure that the two poles remain opposites. Yet you can see from this example that nature is trying to bring about that union of opposites that Mr. Simon mentions.

via GIPHY

A similar example is lightning. Many think that a bolt of lightning simply shoots from a cloud to the ground and that is it. In reality, the bolt usually shoots back and forth between the cloud and the ground until the positive and negative sides are reasonably balanced. Another union of opposites. But at the same time, natural forces in the cloud and ground and building up those electrical forces again until the difference becomes enough for another bolt of lightning. So part of nature is creating duality while another part seeks the union of opposites. Continue reading “Two Forces Attract, Repel, and Eventually Unite” →

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cheer yourself

Cheer Yourself Up with Positive Thoughts and Deeds

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“When thou wilt comfort and cheer thyself, call to mind the several gifts and virtues of them, whom thou dost daily converse with; as for example, the industry of the one; the modesty of another; the liberality of a third; of another some other thing. For nothing can so much rejoice thee as the resemblance and parallels of several virtues, visible and eminent in the dispositions of those who live with thee; especially when, all at once, as near as may be, they represent themselves unto thee. And therefore thou must have them always in a readiness.

“It is in thy power absolutely to exclude all manner of conceit and opinion, as concerning this matter; and by the same means; to exclude all grief and sorrow from thy soul. For as for the things and objects themselves, they of themselves have no such power, whereby to beget and force upon us any opinion at all.

“That which is not good for the beehive, cannot be good for the bee.

“No man can hinder thee to live as thy nature doth require. Nothing can happen unto thee, but what the common good of nature doth require.” ~Marcus Aurelius

Comfort and Cheer Yourself

Marcus is correct in telling us how to cheer ourselves when we are feeling down. If we are feeling sad, angry, or disappointed with people, look around us at those we live with, work with and hang around with. What virtues do they have? How do they bring us joy? How have they helped us? What do they do that benefits others in the world? When we look at the positive rather than dwelling on the negative, we will generally find that things are not so bad after all.

And it doesn’t stop there. If we can’t get a pet to behave, if the dog chewed up your new gloves, remember the good they have done and the joy they have brought to you rather than dwelling on the negative. Of course, you can teach them not to do such things, but don’t dwell on the problem so long it does more harm to you than to the animal.

If you are angry with your government and its policies or behavior, whether on the city, state, or national level, you may be justified. However, dwelling on it until it gives you ulcers and gray hair is not wise. As quickly as you can, remind yourselves of the benefits you get from the government—and don’t say “None!”. We all get some benefits from the government, but few of us stop to think of it regularly, if at all. Do you put money in a bank? Would you do that if the government didn’t have a guaranteed reimbursement policy on lost deposits? Would you or your children read as much if there were no public libraries? Would you feel safe on the streets of there were no police? There are many more such questions to ask yourself and contemplate how you benefit from the government, but I’ll stop there, having made the point.

And if none of that works, just do something that cheers you up. Go to a concert or a movie. Take a walk in a park. Go on a vacation. Just don’t sit around angry, sad, or depressed. That hurts no one but you. Don’t just stay angry or depressed, cheer yourself! Continue reading “Cheer Yourself Up with Positive Thoughts and Deeds” →

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contrary darkness , creation and destruction, deny darkness, war for existence

Creation and Destruction, Positive and Negative

Posted on by Harold Boulette

“In true Gnostic fashion, the alchemists were aware that the capacity for creation and the capacity for destruction were very finely balanced – nowhere more so than in themselves. Whoever held the secret of life had a power for evil that was as great as his power for good. These were the men who ultimately understood the symbolism of the prime rule of alchemy: use only one vessel, one fire and one instrument, which is the self. Through their work they were aware of the Power of their own Being. They knew the characteristics of the Secret Fire, the serpent power that moves upward in spirals and of the great primitive force hidden in all matter both organic and inorganic.” ~Bernard Simon

Creation and Destruction

Many believe that creation and destruction go hand-in-hand. That you cannot create a new thing without destroying something else. That is not true. Real creation doesn’t destroy. Carving a statue out of rock is not creation or destruction. It is modification. The shape of the rock was changed, but noting really new was created.

On the other hand, chopping down trees to make room for houses or farms is destruction because you are replacing something living with something dead. Even if the wood from those trees is used to build the houses, you have destroyed living trees to make something artificial. That is destruction, not creation. True creation gives you something where there was previously nothing except energy.

Finely Balanced

Something many don’t understand is that natural energy, even spiritual energy, is neutral. It isn’t good or evil. The good or evil part depends on how you use that energy. If you take in that energy, and send it out to other full of thoughts of peace, love, and harmony, you are making it positive energy. But you can just as easily send forth that same energy embedded with thoughts of hate, fear, and prejudice and it will be a negative influence on those receiving it.

The Story of Two Wolves

Those energies and feelings within us may be “finely balanced” but we can choose which to use and which not to use. As the old Native American saying goes, we decide whether we will be like the good wolf or the bad wold by which one we choose to feed. As we continue to evolve, we will eventually rid ourselves of that dark side. Until then, we must be careful not to let it take control. Creation and destruction may walk hand in hand in the material world, but that can be corrected. Continue reading “Creation and Destruction, Positive and Negative” →

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