Excerpts from
"Poise and Power" by Christian D. Larson Order in Adobe PDF eBook form for $4.95 or click here to order from Amazon.com Book Description To attain and accomplish as much as possible is our privilege as well as our desire; therefore any method through which this continuous increase of power might be secured would naturally be received with the greatest of joy. The newest science of life has discovered such a method, and to make the laws and principles of this method so clear that anyone can successfully apply them, is the purpose of the following pages. This method is POISE; not poise in the usual or external sense, but POISE in a deep interior sense; that is, where we feel the soul-serenity of the limitless power of the great within. CONTENTS
Chapter
1 - How to Use the
Power of Poise
Whatever
we wish
to attain or
accomplish, a continuous increase of
power is required. Advancement is progressive; to attain much is to
attain more, and the higher we rise in the scale the more power we
require to go higher still.
The path to the perpetual increase of power is first, to save and constructively use what we already possess, and second to train the mind to penetrate deeper and deeper into the vastness of subconscious power, thus giving the system an ever growing capacity to appropriate, generate and accumulate more. And to accomplish this the attainment of POISE in the real sense becomes absolutely necessary. When we attain POISE we save all the energy generated in the system; all the loss of power is prevented because it is the nature of POISE to hold in the system all the power that the system may contain. This fact alone gives POISE a value that cannot be measured, and we shall begin to form some conception of that value when we learn that the average person loses from three-fourths to nine-tenths of the power generated in his system. If he had POISE he would hold in his system all his power, and, in consequence, his personality would become from three to ten times as strong. The same is true of the mental giants of the world; most of them lose from one-fourth to three-fourths of their energies; what is saved makes them great; then what might they not become if they saved it all? The human personality may well be termed a living dynamo because the amount of energy generated in the average healthy person is simply enormous. We may therefore predict great things for the race when the art of saving and using all this power is learned. The importance of the subject, however, is not confined to the worlds of attainment and achievement; the art of saving all the power generated in the human system has exceptional value in every form of activity, physical or metaphysical. Modern physiological research has demonstrated conclusively that it is practically impossible for any one to become sick so long as the system is full of energy, and the majority of ordinary human ills have been traced to the lack of vital force. But this lack comes from waste, not from any failure of the system to generate the adequate supply. That sickness could be wholly prevented if this waste was discontinued is therefore evident; there is enough energy generated in the average person to perform several times as much physical or mental labour as any person usually does perform, thus giving every one the power to do all that he wants to do and yet have more than enough remaining to keep the entire personality full to the brim at all times. These are great facts, and since POISE will prevent all waste and all loss of energy, nothing can be more important than the attainment of POISE. When we enter the industrial world and witness the numerous failures on every hand, we find more evidence to prove that our subject deserves the very largest measure of attention. The majority of these failures are due to a lack of mental capacity, and a lack of energy is one of the chief causes of mental incapacity. When the system is full of energy there will be a continuous increase in physical endurance and mental capacity, because a full supply of power develops everything in the sphere of that power. The mind, with all its faculties and talents, will constantly advance in scope, ability and efficiency, and a growing success must necessarily follow. The energy generated in the human system, when saved and caused to accumulate, will push the individual forward into higher attainments, greater achievements and superior states of existence, even though nothing else be done to promote his progress. We are all aware of the great fact that nothing can hold down the person that is actually charged with enormous energies, and we are all being charged every hour with such energies, but we do not retain them. We permit the greater part of this power to slip away because we have not acquired POISE. Power simply must press on to greater things; and it is only the mind that is ever full of power that can enjoy the privilege of continuous advancement. Then add to the possession of power the constructive use of power and we have the secret of greatness. Chapter 2 - Acting With Poise and Power Poise may be defined as that state of conscious being wherein peace and power thoroughly combine. The feeling of power becomes perfectly serene and the feeling of peace becomes enormously strong. When you feel absolutely calm and self-possessed, and at the same time feel strong enough to move mountains, you are in POISE. The mere act of being quiet is not sufficient to prevent the loss of power; the power that is inactive is lost, while the power that is in a high state of calm action is saved. A quiet person is not any stronger than a restless or strenuous person, because the former lacks action while the latter lacks the calmness of self-possession; both are necessary to POISE. The fact that peace and power may exist in different parts of the system at the same time does not prove that the person has POISE, not that power is being saved. To be in a real state of POISE the entire system must feel that peace and power have combined so perfectly that; they are one and inseparable. To feel peace and power combine in this deep, interior oneness, is to realize the existence of the supreme power within - that power that acts so silently that it can be known only by its final results, and yet is so enormously strong that there are no results it cannot produce. When a person undertakes to live the serene life without any regard to the law of POISE, he may become so quiet in mind that a large number of his faculties become dormant; and the greater part of the power that is generated in his system is lost because it is not caused to act in that calm state that he is trying to establish. To save power and attain POISE the energies of the system must work in a calm action. Every action that is not calm wastes energy, and every calm state that is not in action is a dormant state. It is therefore evident that nearly all the mental and physical actions of the average person are wasteful. Even such important actions of mind as ambition, enthusiasm and determination scatter forces to a degree that is startling. The true ambition is perfectly calm as well as exceptionally strong. When the action of ambition is not calm it simply stirs up valuable mental forces and throws them away. The same is true of a sudden, forceful determination to do something remarkable; powerful energies are aroused simply to be scattered. But when the power of determination is just as deep and calm as it is strong, it invariably does what it is determined to do. The ordinary outburst of enthusiasm is another method for stirring up dormant energy and then throwing it away, while if the natural enthusiast would acquire POISE and learn to use his powers constructively, he would become a genius. The various forms of nervous feeling and nervous action are due to a lack of POISE, and are therefore channels through which a great deal of energy is lost. When POISE is acquired, however, every form of nervousness will entirely disappear. Other channels of waste will be found in emotionalism, excited feeling, uncontrolled passion, anger, fear, depression, suspense, and every state of mind wherein action does not contain the calm, self-possessed element. To desire the present realization of those things that we cannot gain possession of in the present, is to misdirect and consequently waste a great deal of energy. Whenever we desire anything a certain amount of force rushes to that organ in the body or faculty in the mind that would naturally be gratified should that desire be granted. But if this desire is not granted, all this energy will be lost because there will be nothing in that organ or faculty upon which to act. When energy is sent into any part of the system and given nothing to do, it will scatter and be lost, unless it is transmitted and put to work elsewhere. But the average person does not understand transmutation, therefore loses every force that is called into action by desires that cannot be granted now. To desire now what cannot be realized now, must not be confounded, however, with aspiration, or the desire to promote improvement. In the latter we are daily working up towards a certain superior goal, while in the former we turn energy into channels where no constructive action can, at present, take place. The true course of desire is to desire now everything that you know you can enjoy now, and to desire that constant improvement that you know will bring you, into everything that you may wish to enjoy. This action of desire will give the energies of the system something to work for whenever they are placed in action, and energies that are given something definite to work for, will not only be saved but they will accumulate more. "Poise and Power" by Christian D. Larson Order in Adobe PDF eBook form for $4.95 or click here to order from Amazon.com |
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