The Mystic Will | Page 6

time to the present day no
sage or poet has ever grasped it in its full extent, and yet is is a very

literal truth, that there lie hidden within us all, as in a sealed-up
spiritual casket, or like the bottled-up djinn in the Arab tale,
innumerable Powers or Intelligences, some capable of bestowing peace
or calm, others of giving Happiness, or inspiring creative genius,
energy and perseverance. All that Man has ever attributed to an
Invisible World without, lies, in fact, within him, and the magic key
which will confer the faculty of sight and the power to conquer is the
Will.
It has always been granted that it is a marvellously good thing to have a
strong will, or a determined or resolute mind, and great has been the
writing thereon. I have by me the last book on the subject, in which the
faculty is enthusiastically praised, and the reader is told through all the
inflexions of sentiment, that he ought to assert his Will, to be vigorous
in mind, etcetera, but unfortunately the How to do it is utterly wanting.
It will be generally admitted by all readers that this How to do it has
been always sought in grandly heroic or sublimely vigorous methods of
victory over self. The very idea of being resolute, brave, persevering or
stubborn, awakens in us all thoughts of conflict or dramatic
self-conquering. But it may be far more effectively attained in a much
easier way, even as the ant climbed to the top of the tree and gnawed
away and brought down the golden fruit unto which the man could not
rise. There are easy methods, and by far the most effective, of
awakening the Will; methods within the reach of every one, and which
if practised, will lead on ad infinitum, to marvellous results.
The following chapters will be devoted to setting forth, I trust clearly
and explicitly, how by an extremely easy process, or processes, the will
may be, by any person of ordinary intelligence and perseverance,
awakened and developed to any extent, and with it many other faculties
or states of mind. I can remember once being told by a lady that she
thought there ought to be erected in all great cities temples to the Will,
so as to encourage mankind to develop the divine faculty. It has since
occurred to me that an equal number of school-houses, however
humble, in which the art of mastering the Will by easy processes
seriatim should be taught, would be far more useful. Such a

school-house is this work, and it is the hope of the author that all who
enter, so to speak, or read it, will learn therefrom as much as he himself
and others have done by studying its principles.
To recapitulate or make clear in brief what I intend, I would say Firstly,
that the advanced thinkers at this end of the century, weary of all the
old indirect methods of teaching Morality, are beginning to enquire,
since Duty is an indispensable condition, whether it is not just as well
to do what is right, because it is right, as for any other reason? Secondly,
that this spirit of directness, the result of Evolution, is beginning to
show itself in many other directions, as we may note by the great
popularity of the answer to the question, "How not to worry," which is
briefly, Don't! Thirdly, that enlightened by this spirit of scientific
straightforwardness, man is ceasing to seek for mental truth by means
of roundabout metaphysical or conventional ethical methods (based on
old traditions and mysticism), and is looking directly in himself, or
materially, for what Immaterialism or Idealism has really never
explained at all--his discoveries having been within a few years much
more valuable that all that a priori philosophy or psychology ever
yielded since the beginning. And, finally, that the leading faculties or
powers of the mind, such as Will, Memory, the Constructive faculty,
and all which are subject to them, instead of being entirely mysterious
"gifts," or inspirations bestowed on only a very few to any liberal
extent, are in all, and may be developed grandly and richly by direct
methods which are moreover extremely easy, and which are in
accordance with the spirit of the age, being the legitimate results of
Evolution and Science.
And, that I may not be misunderstood, I would say that the doctrine of
Duty agrees perfectly with every form of religion--a man may be
Roman Catholic, Church of England, Presbyterian, Agnostic, or what
he will; and, if a form aids him in the least to be sincerely honest, it
would be a pity for him to be without it. Truly there are degrees in
forms, and where I live in Italy I am sorry to