Self-Development and the Way to Power | Page 4

us.

Such is the universe in which we find ourselves and from it there is no
escape. No man can avoid life--not even the foolish one who, when the
difficulties before him appear for the moment overwhelming, tries to
escape them by suicide. A man cannot die. He can only choose how he
will live. He may either helplessly drift through the world suffering
from all the ills and evils that make so many unhappy or he may choose
the method of conscious evolution that alone makes life truly
successful. We may be either the suffering slaves of nature or the happy
masters of her laws.
Now, all powers possessed by any human being, no matter how exalted
his position in evolution, or how sublime his spiritual power, are latent
in all human beings and can, in time, be developed and brought into
action. Of course there is no magic rule by which the ignoramus can
instantly become wise or by which a brutal man can be at once
transformed into a saint. It may require scores of incarnations to
accomplish a work so great, but when a man reaches the point in his
evolution where he begins to comprehend the purpose of life, and to
evolve the will to put forth his energies in co-operation with nature, his
rise to wisdom and power may be swift indeed. But this transformation
from the darkness of ignorance to spiritual illumination, from
helplessness "in the fell clutch of circumstance" to power over nature,
must be brought about by his own efforts, for it is a process of
evolution--of forcing the latent to become the active. Therefore one
must resolve to take oneself in hand for definite and systematic
self-development. Nobody else can do the work for us. Certain moral
qualities must be gained before there can be spiritual illumination and
genuine wisdom and such qualities, or virtues, have to be evolved by
the laws under which all growth occurs. It is just as impossible to
acquire a moral quality by reading about its desirability as to evolve
muscular strength by watching the performance of a group of athletes.
To gain muscular strength one must take part in the physical activities
that produce it. He must live the athletic life. To win spiritual strength
and supremacy he must live the spiritual life. There is no other way. He
must first learn what mental and moral qualities are essential, and how
to gain them, and then set earnestly about the work of acquiring them.

The first thing necessary is to get a clear understanding of the fact that
the physical body is not the self but only a vehicle or instrument
through which the self is being manifested in the visible world. The
body is as much your instrument as the hand is, or as your pen is. It is a
thing which you, the self, use and a clear conception of this fact--a
feeling that this is the fact--is the first step toward that absolute control
of the physical body that lays the foundation for success in conscious
evolution. When we feel that in managing the physical body we are
controlling something that is not ourself we are fairly started on the
right road.
Now, there are three things that a person must possess to be successful
in self-development. If he has not these three qualifications he will
make but little progress; but, fortunately, any lacking quality can be
evolved and if one does not possess these three necessities his first
work is to create them. These three things are an ardent desire, an iron
will and an alert intelligence. Why are these three qualifications
essential to success and what purpose do they serve?
Desire is nature's motor power--the propulsive force that pushes
everything forward in its evolution. It is desire that stimulates to action.
Desire drives the animal into the activities that evolve its physical body
and sharpen its intelligence. If it had no desire it would lie inert and
perish. But the desire for food, for drink, for association with its kind,
impel it to action, and the result is the evolution of strength, skill and
intelligence in proportion to the intensity of its desires. To gratify these
desires it will accept battle no matter how great may be the odds
against it and will unhesitatingly risk life itself in the combat. Desire
not only induces the activity that develops physical strength and beauty,
but also has its finer effects. Hunger compels the animal not only to
seek food, but to pit its cunning against that of its prey. Driven forward
by desire it develops, among other qualities, strength, courage, patience,
endurance, intelligence.
Desire plays the same role with man at his higher stage of evolution. It
stimulates him to action; and always