Thought-Force In Business and Everyday Life
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Volation, the measure of success - Leaders of men possess it - Unconscious acquirement - Napoleon Bonaparte aware of the truth - Strong men feel the "I" – Desire - Some not willing to "pay the price" of success - Men who have mastered occult power - The vibratory force - Telepathy, thought transference and mind reading - Masters of the art guard their secrets - The prime requisite for acquirement - Exercise of volation in personal interview – Expectation - Some men but puppets - General instructions - Power must not be used to harm others - A warning - Satan's terrible example - How to "will" a thing - Exercise I: Making a person turn around - Exercise 2: Influencing a person in a public place - Exercise 3: Influencing a person without looking directly at him - Comical results - Exercise 4: Suggesting a forgotten word - Remarkable results obtained by a German student - Exercise 5: Directing the motions of another person - Exercise 6: Window exercises - Influencing passers-by - Fascinating experiments - To be used for your own development, not for amusement or to satisfy vulgar curiosity.

The exercise of Volation differs very materially, in degree, among different men. It maybe states, broadly, that a man exerts an influence over other men in an exact ratio to his measure of Volation. The ledger of men has developed this power to a comparatively high degree, although perhaps unconsciously and without any knowledge of the workings of the mighty force which is operating in his behalf. Many such men frankly admit that they are unable to explain or account for their power over men. They know that they have some sort of power, but are ignorant of its nature or laws. Napoleon is a striking example of a man of highly developed Volation. His will was imposed upon millions of men who obeyed his commands, and he accomplished results little short of miraculous. From remarks dropped by him, it seems probable that he had, at least, a faint idea of the force at his command, and he acted in accordance therewith, for a while. He afterwards attempted to misuse his power; lost sight of the source of his strength; neglected its laws, and fell. You will notice that all successful men instinctively feel the "I" strongly. They have faith in themselves, and frequently feel that they have a special Providence overlooking their affairs. They, like Napoleon, feel that they have a "star of destiny." This is an instinctive recognition of the I AM. They have but a glimpse of the truth, and have made the most of it, their strong desire for power, fame, or riches pushing them on, and causing them to instinctively avail themselves of the powerful aid of the Ego. There are many who recognize the power of the I AM, some of whom understand its laws, and yet these men do not assert themselves in the struggle for material reward. They have the power within them, but DESIRE is not there. They are content with the lesser material rewards, and are not willing to "pay the price" of what is known as Success or the mastery of men. Many men who have mastered the occult power, scorn wealth, position and fame, and exert no desire for them, feeling that these things are unworthy of their power, and preferring to use the forces at their command for what they consider higher aims. They say with the prophet, "Vanity, vanity, all is vanity," and with Puck, "what fools these mortals be." The law of compensations seems to even all things, and wealth, power and position do not always bring happiness. The old sayings: "uneasy the head that wears the crown," and "There is no rose without its thorn," are literally true.

However, I do not propose preaching a sermon on Life, nor do I wish to point at moral. Every individual must choose for himself, and no man can decide for another. I say, however, that whatever you do, do it right. There is only one way to do things, and that is to do them. You must "put your hand to the plow, and look not backward." Select your goal and then move straight toward it, sweeping from your path all obstacles. To accomplish your aim, you must have Desire strongly present, and much recognize your real self, the I AM, in order to exert what is generally known as "will power," in the furtherance of your plans.

In the preceding lesson I have defined Volation as "the conscious effort of the will, producing thought vibrations and impelling them toward a given object." The vibratory force may be exerted in the ordinary way - at short range, upon the occasion of a personal interview; it may also be exerted in a much less understood way, by means of long-range vibrations (sometimes called telepathy). The first form is quite common, and we all have seen exhibitions of it; the second form is somewhat rare, and those who understand it best have but little to say about it. It is practiced quietly, however, by many more person than we usually dream of in that connection. We see mild examples of it in what is known as Telepathy or Thought Transference, mind Reading, etc., but those who understand the subject very imperfectly usually give these exhibitions. I know several persons who have developed this power to a wonderful degree, and in no case will they consent to an exhibition of their power to any but a few chosen friends, with whom they are in perfect sympathy and who happen to be likewise familiar with the subject. These people know the real nature of the power of which they are making use, and will not degrade it by making it the subject of an ordinary show. They are content with their knowledge and seek to convince no one else. The are not looking for converts, and, in fact, discourage any attempt to make public their occult knowledge believing that the time is not yet ripe for such publicity, and that its promulgation at this time would result in its misuse.

The prime requisite for the acquirement of the art of Volation is the recognition of the power of the real self - the I AM. The more complete the recognition, the greater the power. I cannot give you specific directions for acquiring this faculty of recognition. You must feel it rather that reason it out. You will not be in doubt as to whether you are on the right track - you will realize it at once. As near as I can express it to you, is to say that you will feel that your body is as a suit of clothes, which, whilst covering you temporarily, its not YOU; that you are separate and apart from your body and superior to it, although for the time being connected with it. You will realize that even your mind is not YOU, but that is merely the instrument through which YOU manifest yourself, and which being imperfect, prevents the complete expression of your real self. In short, when you say or think "I AM," you are conscious of the existence of your real self, and feel the growth of a new sense of power within you. This recognition of the self may be but faint; but encourage it and it will grow, and whilst growing will manifest itself to your mind by impressing upon the latter the knowledge of the proper plan for further development. It is an example of "to him who hath shall be given, and to him who hast not shall be taken away even that which he hath." Their mere calling of the attention to the act may awaken the recognition in some, whilst others will find it necessary to reflect upon the idea and awaken to recognition of the truth more slowly. Some will not feel the truth. To such I say: the time is not yet ripe for your recognition of this great truth, but the seed is planted and the plant will appear in time. This may seem like the veriest nonsense to you now but the time will come when you will admit its literal correctness. To those who feel the first indications of the awakening of the real self, I say: Carry the thought with you and it will unfold like the lotus, naturally and gradually; the truth once recognized cannot be lost, and there is no standing still in nature. To those who recognize the truth, I would like to say more, but this is not the place.

The practice of concentration, as explained in a subsequent lesson, will enable anyone to develop this idea of the real self. The thought, "I AM," held in the Silence, whilst you are concentrating, will grow stronger and stronger.

To exercise the power of Volation in influencing others, in a personal interview, you have merely to make a strong mental demand of the other person, accompanied with a consciousness of your right to do so, and the veil that your command will be obeyed. You must fully expect that your command will be obeyed. In all mental processes the earnest expectation is a prime factor in producing the effect. If you have only a faint, half-hearted expectation, you will have only halfway results. You will realize the reason for this after you have completed this course, the matter being explained in subsequent lessons.

Now, do not understand that you will be able to approach anyone, and by simply willing and expecting the results, make that person do just what you will. You could do all of this if the person had no power of mental resistance, no Volic Force of his own to counteract yours. Some persons, unfortunately for themselves, have but little Volic Forces, and are but puppets in the hands of those who know the secret of personal influence; others have a little more of the force, and so on, until the high stages are reached.

I do say, however, that you will obtain some degree of success from this plan from every person with whom you come in contact, the degree of success depending entirely upon the degree of Volic Force of the other person, as compared with you own. You will understand this well after a few trials. Do not hesitate in commencing to practice this form of mental influence at once. You will improve by practice, and will grasp the theory better from having put it into practice. Remember the boy not being able to swim until he believed he could, and tried. You should of course use Volation in connection with the power of suggestion as explained in preceding lessons. You will be able to concentrate your powers of command by observing the exercises given in the lesson on Concentration. In other lessons, I will explain why these occult powers should not be used for any evil purposes or in working harm to anyone, but I think it well, at this point to caution students against any misuse of this power. Such practices, besides being wrong morally, will result to the disadvantage of the practitioner, and if persisted in, will wreck his prospects in the end. He may be successful temporarily but the result in the end will be disastrous. There are good occult reasons for this, and I hope that my warnings will be heeded by anyone reading this course. There is no harm in using this knowledge and information toward promoting your legitimate business interests and your welfare, providing always that no harm is inflicted on the person influenced. You may influence a man to deal with you, and if you treat him fairly, you are making no misuse of your powers. But, on the other hand, if you should influence a man for the purpose of swindling or cheating him or doing him other harm, you commit a great working for which you will some day suffer in proportion to the wrong perpetrated. I am not speaking of punishment in a future life, but right here in this world. "As ye sow so shall reap," holds well in this case. There is very little likelihood of your misusing your powers of Volation, for when you attain them fully; you will instinctively recoil from the idea of working evil by means of your newfound strength. There are, however, a few men in the world, who, like Satan, use their mighty power for evil, but, like Satan, these men are doomed to extreme misery and unhappiness. They are like fallen gods.

The best exercise for the development of Volation is of course Concentration, but it may be interesting to the student to be able to "try his hand" on a few simple tests so as to gain confidence in himself. I append a few exercises for this purpose. Many others will readily occur to the student. Try only easy tests at first, and then gradually work up to more difficult feats. Practice makes perfect.

Let me say here that when you "will" anything, do not get the notion that you must frown or clinch your fists or anything of that sort. The force is attained by a calm, undisturbed attitude, the "willing" being done in the form of a clam, earnest demand, and the thought that what you expect will occur. The earnest expectation is the secret. You will soon get the "knack" of it. Do not be discouraged, but keep at it until you get things working smoothly.

In our next lesson we will take up the subject of "long-range" Volation or, more properly, Telepathic Volation.

Exercise 1. Whilst walking down the street, fix your attention upon someone walking just ahead of you. A distance of at least six to ten feet should separate you, and a greater distance is no obstacle. Fasten a firm, steady, earnest gaze upon your subject, focusing the gaze upon the back of the neck, just at the base of the brain. Whilst gazing firmly at this point, will that the subject shall turn his head and look around in your direction. A little practice is required to perfect yourself in this exercise, but after you once acquire the "knack" of it, you will be surprised at the percentage of people whom you can affect in this way. Women seem to be more highly susceptible to this mental influence than are men.

Exercise 2. Fix your gaze upon some one sitting ahead of you in church, theater, concert, etc., focusing your gaze upon the same point as in the previous exercise, and will that the person shall look around. You will notice that the subject will fidget around in his seat, appear more or less uncomfortable, and finally half turn in his seat and direct a quick glance in your direction. This experiment will prove more successful with persons whom you know, than with strangers. The better you know the person, the quicker the influence will manifest itself. The two exercise just given can be indefinitely multiplied by the ingenuity of the student. The principle is the same in all cases, the concentrated gaze and strong, earnest, expectant willing or demanding the result, being the prime factors in producing the phenomenon. You, of course, realize that the concentrated will power can be developed by the practice of the exercises given in the lesson on Concentration. If you find difficulty in producing the above results, you will know that your powers of concentration are not sufficiently developed, and you will accordingly perfect yourself in this respect.

Exercise 3. Select some person who may be seated on the opposite side of a streetcar from you, but several seats to the right or left of the point directly opposite you. You may look straight ahead, so as to appear as if you were not looking at the other party, but you will be conscious of his presence, and will see him out of the corner of your eye. Direct a strong mental demand toward him, willing and expecting that he will look in your direction. If you manage it properly, you will find that in a few moments the party will suddenly glance in your direction. Sometimes the glance will be directed in a seemingly unconscious manner, just as if the party had merely felt a passing fancy to look at you, whilst in other cases the glance will be shot at you, suddenly and sharply, as if the party had been conscious of a mental call. The person obeying the call often will look embarrassed, and somewhat sheepish, when he meets your full magnetic gaze, which you have directed upon him when he turned his eyes in your direction.

Exercise 4. When talking with a person, and he seems to hesitate in the choice of a word, glance sharply at him and give a strong mental suggestion of a word. In many cases he will immediately repeat the word, which you have suggested. Your word must be appropriate, as otherwise his Passive mind may hesitate about using it, and his Active mind will step in and insert another word. Some students have tried this experiment in the case of a public speaker, preacher, etc., and have related many amusing instances in their experience. I remember reading a work, translated from a German writer, in which is mentioned the case of a youth whose powers of Concentration and Volation were most highly developed. He was a student at a leading college, and being more interested in athletic sports than in study, ran a great risk of falling behind in his work. Having discovered his powers, accidentally, he contrived a plan in the furtherance of which he would commit to memory but a few answers in each lesson. When the professor would start to quiz him he would send forth strong vibrations, willing the "professor" to select certain questions, the answer to which he had memorized, the result being that he stood up well in each class. The German writer, however, went on to say that his plan failed, the young man in his examination, as the final questions were being prepared by the faculty and submitted in writing, the student had no opportunity to try the "willing game" on the day of the examination.

Exercise 5. An interesting experiment is that of willing the movement of a person in a certain direction. This can be tried when walking behind a person on the street, by focusing the gaze as instructed. When the person approaches another person walking in the opposite direction, you may will the subject to turn either to the right or left, in passing the other person. You may also try this experiment in the case of a person approaching you in the street. In this case you should walk straight ahead, turning neither to the right nor to the left, keeping your gaze fixed on the approaching party, and making a mental command that he turn to the right or left, as you will.

Exercise 6. Stand at your window and fix your eyes upon an approaching person, at the same time willing that he turn his head and look at you whilst passing. You will find that he will obey your mental attraction, seven times out of ten, providing your powers of concentration are sufficiently well developed. Even without the practice of the Concentrations exercises, you will be able to influence passer by sufficiently often to satisfy you that there is "something in it." You will be able to obtain better results in this particular experiment, if you will stand at a first floor window rather than at a window higher from the ground. The motion of obeying the impulse and merely turning the head being so much easier than the motion of looking up to a second or third floor window, the percentage of results obtained by the first plan will greatly exceed those of the latter one. This exercise may be varied by the plan of compelling the attention of a person seated at a window, which you are passing, and so on. When you once begin to practice these exercises, you will find it so fascinating that you will invent new plans of testing your power, you being governed by the particular circumstances of the occasion.

These exercises will do much to develop confidence in you powers, and to aid you in acquiring the "knack’ of sending out the vibratory impulses. They are of course more or less trifling in their natures, and unworthy of the exercise of the mental powers, except as a means of practice. They should not be used merely for the amusement of the student, and never for the amusement of his friends. One should never trifle with these mighty forces, nor exhibit them for the gratification of the vulgar curiosity of others. The student who grasps the real significance of the Law of Mental control will have little or no desire to parade his knowledge.