The Doctrine and Practice of Yoga | Page 5

a concentration of
Thought-Force or Mind-Substance. The entire universe is seen
objectively. This is on the cosmic scale. On the individual scale--"As a
man thinketh in his heart, so he is." This is a literal truth. Your body is
nothing but a Thought-Form. Control your modes of thinking and
shape them to lofty ideals. So will you infallibly, positively and
immediately control your destiny. Control your thoughts and you can
control the thoughts of all other men. The tone of your thoughts must
always be lofty. You must change your Thought-Habits and shift your
plane of consciousness from the lower to the higher life. I am going to
give you hints on same. Pay attention please.
_(b) Thought-Forms._
Every one of us, as he thinks, feels and wills, sends forth
Thought-Forms and Thought-Waves of greater or lesser intensity. This
force once set into motion persists, for a greater or lesser period of time,
in Ether. Thought-Force is the concentration of a high form of vibratory
energy in the Akasa (universal ether) and the ether, as you know,
permeates all space, interpenetrates and pervades all forms of matter,
from atom to the sun and the stars. Just as the light-waves of a star exist
and move on centuries after the star has ceased to be, just as the

heat-vibrations remain in a room even after the producing cause has
been removed, similarly mentative energy and its corresponding
Thought-Forms persist in the ether even after the originating impulse
has been withdrawn.
_(c) Thought-Atmosphere._
In this way places, houses, cities and temples have peculiar
Thought-Atmospheres of their own, imparted by those living there,
exerting an influence upon every one living or going there. These are
positive, animating, purifying and exalting Thought-Atmospheres, and
there are negative, weakening and unholy, morbid
Thought-Atmospheres.
The higher and loftier your tone of general Thought-Activity, the finer
and more powerful the vibrational nature of the energy emanating from
you. The quality of the thought determines the rate of vibration. For
instance, photographs have been taken through highly-sensitized plates,
indicating the nature of the energy generated. Tongues of flame,
brilliant and flashing with golden-yellow, were photographed from
prayer and devotion. Rotary forms spreading out in ever widening
circles of intense power appeared from lofty enthusiasm in a noble
cause. Dark, murky, cloudy forms resulted from fear, morbidness and
worry, and so on.
_(d) The Human Aura._
Similarly each human organism has an 'Aura' of Thought-Force around
it, having its own peculiar rate of vibration, its peculiar forms of colour,
etc. This 'Aura' is an extension of our physical, mental and spiritual
energies.
_(e) The Adductive Power of Thought._
Now as you think, the quality of your thoughts and feelings sets up a
magnetic centre within your Aura, vortices are created, attracting to
yourself similar forms of thought and mentative energy and combining
with other similar forms of energy, reacting upon you and your

circumstances and also wielding an influence upon all such as may
come within its area, radius or field of Force. Thus you see thoughts of
the 'I can and I will', 'I do and I dare' type draw similar ones to you,
ever increasing your own stock and at the same time stimulating and
energising all others vibrating in the same key throughout the world.
Hence you see we owe it to ourselves as well as to humanity in general
to generate only positive, loving and lofty thoughts. Just brace up and
send forth fearless, 'I can and I will' thoughts into the world's great
reservoir of thought forces, and you will be surprised at your power to
attract influence, and energise others.
_(f) Thought-Control._
There are four special classes of thoughts that are poisoning the lives of
almost all humanity. They are:--(1) Fear-thoughts, (2) Hate-thoughts,
(3) Sensual-thoughts, (4) Selfish-thoughts. All worry, doubt, timidty,
lack of self-respect, jealousy, spite, malice, envy, slander, dirty, vicious,
will-weakening, health-destroying, poverty-breeding, soul-killing
influences radiate from one or all of these four. You must cut at their
roots and utterly destroy them. In your efforts follow assiduously the
following four rules. They alone can give you absolute thought-control.
They are infallible:
(1) You can break up old thought-habits and build up new ones by
sheer force of Will.
(2) You can easily become great by associating with some
strong-willed, holy, wisdom-steeped soul. This is absolutely necessary
and means the finding of your Guru.
(3) By auto-suggestion, _i.e._, by impressing upon your passive mind
the particular change you would have it work out.
(4) By thought-absorption, _i.e._, by constant meditation on that one
line of thinking.
Now let me give you a few valuable hints on the above four in detail:

(1) & (3). Character Building.
You can accomplish this result by tensing the will and by strengthening
the active function of your mind and thus