Excerpts from
  Mastery of Fate
by Christian D. Larson





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Book Description
What man is, and what man does, determines in what conditions, circumstances and environments he shall be placed. And since man can change both himself and his actions, he can determine what his fate is to be. To change himself, man must change his thought, because man is as he thinks; and to change his actions, he must change the purpose of his life, because every action is consciously or unconsciously inspired by the purpose held in view. To change his thought, man must be able to determine what impressions are to form in his mind, because every thought is created in the likeness of a mental impression. To choose his own mental impressions, man must learn to govern the objective senses, and must acquire the art of original thought.

CONTENTS


Chapter 1 - Mastery of Fate...................
Chapter 2 - The State of Self-Supremacy.......
Chapter 3 - Superior Thoughts.................
Chapter 4 - Creating The Spirit of Success....
Chapter 5 - We Can Create Any Fate............
Chapter 6 - He Can Who Thinks He Can..........
Chapter 7 - Express Your Individuality........
Chapter 8 - The Four Parts of Fate............
Chapter 9 - Making The Ideal Real.............
Chapter 10 - Directing Creative Forces........
Chapter 11 - How To Develop Internal Insight..
Chapter 12 - Character, Ability and Faith.....
 

Chapter 1 - Mastery of Fate


Everything that enters the mind through the physical senses will produce impressions upon the mind, unless prevented by original thought. These impressions will be direct reflections of the environment from whence they came; and since thoughts will be created in the exact likeness of these impressions, so long as man permits environment to impress the mind, his thoughts will be exactly like his environment: and since man becomes like the thoughts he thinks, he will also become like his environment.

But man, in this way, not only grows into the likeness of his environment, but is, in addition, controlled by his environment, because his thoughts, desires, motives and actions are suggested to him by the impressions that he willingly accepts from environment.

Therefore, one of the first essentials in the mastery of fate is to learn to govern the physical senses so thoroughly, that no impression can enter mind from without, unless it is consciously desired.

This is accomplished by holding the mind in a strong, firm, positive attitude at all times, but especially while surrounded by conditions that are inferior.

This attitude will bring the senses under the supremacy of the subconscious will, and will finally produce a state of mind that never responds to impressions from without unless directed to do so.

To overcome the tendency of the physical senses to accept, indiscriminately, all sorts of impressions from without, mind should, at frequent intervals, employ the physical senses in trying to detect the superior possibilities that may be latent in the various surrounding conditions. And gradually, the senses themselves will become selective, and will instantaneously inform the mind whenever an undesirable impression demands admission.

While the senses are being employed in the search of superior possibilities, the impressions thus received should be analyzed, and re-combined in the constructive states of consciousness, and according to the mind's own original conception. This will promote original thinking, which will, in turn, counteract the tendency of the objective side of mind to receive suggestions from without.

Every original thought that mind may create, will to a degree, change man and re-make him according to what he inwardly desires to be; because every original thought is patterned after man's conception of himself when he is at his best.

Thoughts inspired by environment are inferior or superior, according to what the environment may be; but an original thought is always superior, because it is inspired by man himself while the superior elements of his being are predominant.

When every thought that mind creates is an original thought, man will constantly grow in greatness, superiority and worth; and when all these original thoughts are created with the same purpose in view, man will become exactly what is indicated by that purpose.

Therefore, since man can base thinking upon any purpose that he may desire, he can, through original thinking, become whatever he may choose to become.

Fate is the result of man's being and doing; a direct effect of the life and the works of the individual; a natural creation of man; and the creation is always the image and likeness of the creator.

Therefore, when man, through original thinking, acquires the power to become what he chooses to become, his fate will of itself change as man changes; and through this law he can create for himself any fate desired.

That man will consciously and naturally create his own fate when he gains the power to re-create himself as he desires to be, is evident for various reasons. And the power to re-create himself is simply the power of original thought. Because man becomes like the thoughts he thinks, and original thoughts are created in the likeness of man's ideal impressions of his superior self.

That the fate of each individual person is the direct, or indirect result of what that person is and does, can be demonstrated by the following self-evident facts:

• • • The mental world in which a person lives is the exact reflection of what that person is, feels and thinks; therefore, when a superior life and worthier thoughts are attained, the mental world will also change accordingly.

• • • The circumstances and conditions of man's physical world are the direct or indirect effects of the active elements in his mental world; a fact we shall thoroughly demonstrate in the following pages.

• • • Like attracts like; therefore, the associations of man are after his own kind; and as he changes for the better he will attract, and be attracted into better associations.

• • • The events that transpire in the life of man are the consequences of his own efforts to express himself in his individual world of action. Therefore, what happens to any person is the reaction of what that person has previously said or done.

This being true, man has the power to cause any event to transpire that he may decide upon; though to accomplish this it is necessary to understand the law of action and reaction as applied both to the physical and metaphysical worlds.

When man begins to re-create himself, he will rise superior to his present position; and since new and better opportunities always appear when man proves himself superior to his present position, he can, by changing himself as he desires, call forth any opportunity that he may desire.

To have the privilege to take advantage of better opportunities, is the direct path to better conditions, better circumstances and better environments; and since man can create this privilege at will, he can create his own fate, his own future, his own destiny.

However, the secret of creating this privilege at will, lies in man's power to form only such impressions upon his mind as will originate constructive thought. Because when all the thought he thinks is constructive, every mental process will be a building process, and will constantly increase the ability, the capacity and the personal worth of man himself. This in turn makes man competent to accept the larger places that are waiting everywhere for minds with sufficient capability to fill them.

Every thought has creative power; and this power will express itself according to the desire that was in mind when the thought was created. Therefore, if every thought is to express its creative power in the building up of man, mind must constantly be filled with the spirit of that purpose.

When the desire for growth and superior attainment does not predominate in mind, the greater part of the creative energy of thought will misdirect, and artificial mental conditions will form, only to act as obstacles to man's welfare and advancement.

The creative power of thought is the only power employed in the construction and reconstruction of man; and for this reason man is as he thinks.

Consequently, when man thinks what he desires to think, he will become what he desires to become. But to think what he desires to think, he must consciously govern the process through which impressions are formed upon mind.
To govern this process is to have the power to exclude any impression from without that is not desired, and to completely impress upon mind every original thought that may be formed; thus giving mind the power to think only what it consciously chooses to think.

Before man can govern this process, he must understand the difference between the two leading attitudes of mind - the attitude of self-submission, and the attitude of self-supremacy; and must learn how to completely eliminate the former, and how to establish all life, all thought, and all action absolutely upon the latter.

When this is done, no impression can form upon mind without man's conscious permission; and complete control of the creative power of thought is permanently secured.

To master the creative power of thought is to master the personal self; and to master the personal self is to master fate.


Chapter 2 - The State of Self-Supremacy

MAN is inherently master over everything in his own life, because the principle of his being contains the possibility of complete mastership; and the realization of this principle produces the attitude of self-supremacy.

While mind is in this attitude, only those impressions are formed that are consciously selected; consequently, only those thoughts are created that conform to the purpose that may predominate in mind at the time.

To remain constantly in the attitude of self-supremacy, is therefore the secret of original thinking; and since the mastery of fate comes directly from original thinking, everything that interferes with the attitude of self-supremacy must be eliminated completely.

The most serious obstacle to this attitude is the belief that man is, for the greater part, the product of his environment; and that man cannot change to any extent until a change is first produced in his environment.

The result of this belief is the attitude of self-submission; and the more deeply this belief is felt, the more completely does man submit himself to the influence of his surroundings.

While mind is in this attitude, it has only a partial control over the process of thinking; it accepts willingly every impression that may enter through the senses, and permits the creation of thought in the likeness of those impressions without the slightest discrimination.

To remove the attitude of self-submission, man must cease to believe that he is controlled by environment, and must establish all his thinking upon the conviction that he is inherently master over his entire domain.

This, however, may appear to be not only impossible, but absurd, when considered in the presence of the fact that man is controlled by environment. To tell a man to cease to believe as true that which he knows to be true, may not, at first sight seem to contain any reason; but at second sight it proves itself to mean the same as to tell a man to leave the darkness and enter the light.

When man ceases to believe that he is controlled by environment, he departs from a belief that is detrimental; and when he begins to realize that he has the power to completely control himself, he enters a conviction that is favorable to the highest degree.

While he is in the attitude of self-submission, he is controlled by environment, and the belief that he is thus controlled, is true to him. But when he enters the attitude of self-supremacy, he is not controlled by environment; therefore, the belief that he is controlled by environment is no longer true to him. While we are in the dark, we can truthfully say that we are in darkness; but when we enter the light, we cannot say, truthfully, that we are in darkness.
There is such a thing as being influenced by conditions that exist in our surroundings; but when we transcend that influence we are in it no more; therefore, to say that we are in it when we are out of it, is to contradict ourselves. And we equally contradict ourselves when we state that we are controlled by environment after we are convinced that we are inherently masters of everything in the personal life.
What is not true to us now, we should not admit now, even though it had been true to us for all previous time.

To state that you are controlled by environment, and to permit that belief to possess your mind, is to submit yourself almost completely to the control of environment.

To recognize the principle of your being, and to realize that within that principle the power of complete supremacy does exist; to establish yourself absolutely upon that principle, and to state that you are not controlled by environment, is to depart from the control of environment.

While you are conscious of the principle of self-supremacy, you are unconscious of the influence of environment; therefore, to speak the truth, you must declare that you are complete master in your own domain.

When you know that the possibility of self-supremacy is within you, you can not state truthfully that it is not there; and to state, in the presence of your knowledge of self-supremacy, that you are controlled by environment, is the same as to state that there is no self-supremacy.

The very moment that you admit the possibility of self-supremacy, the control of environment is no longer a real fact to you; because in the state of self-supremacy, it is not possible for the control of environment to exist.

When man discovers the state of self-supremacy, he can no longer believe in the control of environment as a principle; and is therefore compelled to declare that the control of environment is no longer true to him. And, as he is permitted to speak only for himself, and judge only his own life, he must refuse absolutely to believe in the control of environment under any condition whatever.

To believe that others are controlled by environment, is to judge where he has no authority, and also to place himself once again in the belief that environment controls man. To place himself in that belief is to enter the attitude of self-submission, and submit himself to the influence of everything that enters his sphere of existence.

It is therefore evident that the principal reason why those who know of self-supremacy do not master fate, is because they are not true to their own convictions. They believe that the principle of self-supremacy exists, but they also believe that the control of environment exists. They try to believe both to be true at the same time, which is impossible.

If the one exists as a living power in the life of a person, the other does not exist in the life of that person. It would be just as reasonable to believe that light and darkness could exist in the same place at the same time.

To try to believe in the idea of self-supremacy and the control of environment at the same time, is to live in confusion; and he who lives in confusion controls practically nothing. He is therefore more or less controlled by everything,

When man is convinced that he is, in himself, master over his life, he can no longer believe that his life is controlled by environment. He must absolutely reject the latter belief; both cannot be true to any one mind; therefore, every mind must decide which one of these beliefs to accept as absolutely true, and which one to reject as absolutely untrue.

The mind that does not wholly reject one of the two, is trying to serve two masters, which is impossible. He who tries to serve two masters will serve the one only, and that one will be the false one; because whoever tries to serve two masters is false to himself, and will consequently serve that which is false.
In this connection it may be questioned how we know that the principle of self-supremacy does exist; and how we know that complete mastership is inherent in man.

But we do know; because man does exercise complete mastership over certain parts of his being at certain times; and the fact that he does this proves the existence of the principle.

If the principle of self-supremacy did not exist, man could not exercise complete control over anything at any time; but every mind demonstrates supremacy many times every hour.

The mastership exercised over mind and body in various ways may be confined to limited spheres of action; but within those spheres of action the mastership is complete. And those spheres will expand constantly as the principle of self-supremacy is applied on a larger and a larger scale.

Since the principle of complete control exists in man, there is a way to apply that principle in everything, and at all times. But to accomplish this, the attitude of self-supremacy must prevail at all times, and under all conditions.

While man is in the attitude of self-supremacy, he exercises complete control over certain things in his life; but when he enters the belief that he is controlled or influenced by other things, he leaves the attitude of self-supremacy, and ceases to exercise his complete control.

In the present state of human development, the average mind is so constituted that it oscillates from one state to another, remaining the greater part of the time in the attitude of self-submission; due principally to the fact that we are seldom absolutely true to the higher conviction, and also because we try to think that both beliefs are true at the same time.

Consequently, the great essential for man in his present state is to accept the high conviction as an absolute truth, and be true to that truth every moment of existence.

To be true to that truth he must refuse absolutely to believe that he can be controlled or influenced by anything or anybody. He must depart completely from the belief in the control of other powers, and must recognize in himself the only power to control - the power to control completely, everything in his own domain.

Nor is this a contradiction, because when man enters the consciousness of self-supremacy, he cannot submit his self to any outside influence; therefore, there are no outside influences in action in his life.
And when this is the case he cannot believe in the existence of outside influences, as far as he is concerned. When nothing is trying to control him, he cannot truthfully say that he is being controlled, nor even that he is liable to be controlled.

When man is in a state of self-supremacy, he is in a state where no, influence from without exists; he is in a world where the power of self-mastery is the only controlling power; therefore, he can not truthfully recognize any other.

While in the attitude of self-submission, your mind is open to all kinds of impressions from without; and consequently, your thinking will be suggested to you by your environment. The result is that you will become like your environment, and will think, act and live as your environment may suggest.

If your environment be inferior, you will think inferior thoughts, live an inferior life, and commit deeds that are low or perverse, so long as you are in the attitude of self-submission. But if you should submit yourself to a better environment, your life, thoughts, and deeds would naturally become better. In each case you would be the representation of the impressions that enter through the senses.

However, the very moment you pass from a superior environment to one that is inferior, you will begin to change for the worse, unless you have in the meantime attained a degree of self-supremacy.

To enter a superior environment will not of itself develop self-supremacy, nor the art of original thinking; because so long as you permit yourself to be influenced by environment, you prevent your mind from gaining consciousness of the principle of self-supremacy.

A change of environment, therefore, will not give man the power to master his fate. This power comes only through a change of thought.

While in the attitude of self-supremacy your mind is not open to impressions from any source; but you can place your mind, at will, in the responsive attitude, so that it may receive impressions from any source that you may select.
By proper selection, consciousness can, in this way, be trained to express itself only through those mental channels that reach the superior side of things, and thereby come in contact with the unlimited possibilities of things.

From impressions received through this contact with unlimited possibilities, mind will be able to form original thoughts that embody superior powers and attainments; and as man becomes like his thoughts, he will, through this process, become superior.

Instead of being controlled by the impressions received from environment, he will control those impressions, and use them as material in the construction of his own larger life, and the greater destiny that must follow.

While mind is in the attitude of self-supremacy, man's contact with the world will not affect him contrary to the way he desires to be affected; because he controls the impressions that come from without, and can completely change their natures before they are accepted in consciousness. Or, he may refuse to accept them entirely.

In the midst of adversity he does not permit the adverseness of the circumstances to impress his mind, but opens his mind to be impressed by the great power that is back of the adversity. His mind is not impressed by the misdirection of power, but by the power itself.

Therefore, instead of being disturbed, he is made stronger.

There is something of value to be gained from every disagreeable condition, because within every condition there is power, and there are always greater possibilities latent than the surface indicates.

Through original thinking these greater possibilities are discerned; and when mind is in the attitude of self-supremacy, it may choose to be impressed by the greater possibilities only, thus providing more material for the reconstruction of man, and his destiny, on a larger and superior scale.

It is therefore evident that self-supremacy is indispensable; and it is attained by placing all life, all thought and all action upon the principle that man is inherently master over everything in his life; and by refusing absolutely to believe that we can be controlled by environment under any condition whatever.

"Mastery of Fate" by Christian D. Larson

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