Excerpts from
Mental Chemistry
by
Charles F. Haanel
.
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Book Description
1922. Mental chemistry is the science which treats of the changes which
material conditions undergo through the operations of the mind,
verified by exact observation and correct thinking. As the
transformations which are brought about in applied chemistry are the
result of the orderly combination of materials, it follows that mental
chemistry brings about results in a like manner.
MENTAL CHEMISTRY
Chemistry is the science which treats of the
intra-atomic or the intra-molecular changes which material things
undergo under various influences.
Mental is defined as “of or appertaining to
the
mind, including intellect, feeling, and will, or the entire rational
nature.”
Science is knowledge gained and verified by
exact
observation and correct thinking.
Mental chemistry is, therefore, the science
which
treats of the changes which material conditions undergo through the
operations of the mind, verified by exact observation and correct
thinking.
As the transformations which are brought
about in
applied chemistry are the result of the orderly combination of
materials, it follows that mental chemistry brings about results in a
like manner.
Any conceivable number may be formed with the
Arabic numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0.
Any conceivable thought may be expressed with
the
26 letters of the alphabet.
Any conceivable thing can be organized with
the 14
elements and always and only by the proper grouping of electrons into
molecules.
When two or more molecules are grouped a new
individuality is created, and this individuality which has been called
into being possesses characteristics which are not possessed by either
of the elements which gave it being.
Thus one atom of sodium and one of chlorine
give us
salt, and this combination alone can give us salt, and no other
combination of elements can give us salt, and salt is something very
different from either of the elements of which it is composed.
What is true in the inorganic world is
likewise
true in the organic--certain conscious processes will produce certain
effects, and the result will invariably be the same. The same thought
will always be followed by the same consequence, and no other thought
will serve the purpose.
This must necessarily be true because the
principle
must exist independently of the organs through which they function.
Light must exist--otherwise there could be no eye. Sound must
exist--otherwise there could be no ear. Mind must exist--otherwise
there could be no brain.
Mental action is therefore the interaction of
the
individual upon the Universal Mind, and as the Universal Mind is the
intelligence which pervades all space and animates all living things,
this mental action and reaction is the law of causation.
It is the Universal Chemist, but the
principle of
causation does not obtain in the individual mind but in the Universal
Mind. It is not an objective faculty but a subjective process.
The individual may, however, bring the power
into
manifestation and as the possible combinations of thought are infinite,
the results are seen in an infinite variety of conditions and
experiences.
Primordial man, naked and bestial, squatting
in
gloomy caverns, gnawing bones, was born, lived, and died in a hostile
world. His hostility and his wretchedness arose from his ignorance. His
handmaidens were Hate and Fear. His sole reliance was his club. He saw
in the beasts, forests, torrents, seas, clouds, and even in his fellow
man, only enemies. He recognized no ties binding them one to another or
to himself.
Modern man is born to comparative luxury.
Love
rocks his cradle and shields his youth. When he goes forth to struggle
he wields a pencil, not a club. He relies upon his brain, now his
brawn. He knows the physical as neither master nor equal, but as a
useful servant. His fellow men and the forces of Nature are his
friends--not his enemies.
These tremendous changes, from hate to love,
from
fear to confidence, from material strife to mental control, have been
wrought by the slow dawn of Understanding. In direct proportion as he
understands Cosmic Law is man’s lot enviable or the reverse.
Thought builds organic structures in animals
and
men. The protoplasmic cell desires the light and sends forth its
impulse; this impulse gradually builds an eye. A species of deer feed
in a country where the leaves grow on high branches, and the constant
reaching for their favorite food builds cell by cell the neck of the
giraffe. The amphibian reptiles desire to fly in the open air above the
water; they develop wings and become birds.
Experiments with parasites found on plants
indicate
that even the lowest order of life makes use of mental chemistry.
Jacques Loeb, M. D., Ph. D., a member of the Rockefeller Institute made
the following experiment: “In order to obtain the material, potted rose
bushes are brought into a room and placed in front of a closed window.
If the plants are allowed to dry out, the aphides (parasites),
previously wingless, change to winged insects. After the metamorphosis,
the insects leave the plants, fly to the window and then creep upward
on the glass.”
It is evident that these tiny insects found
that
the plants on which they had been thriving were dead, and that they
could therefore secure nothing more to eat and drink from this source.
The only method by which they could save themselves from starvation was
to grow temporary wings and fly, which they did.
That the brain cells are directly affected by
mental pictures, and that the brain cells in their turn can affect the
entire being, was proven by Prof. Elmer Gates of the Smithsonian
Institution at Washington. Guinea pigs were kept in enclosures with
certain colors dominant; dissection showed their brains to be larger in
the color area than those of the same class of guinea pigs kept in
other enclosures. The perspiration of men in various mental moods was
analyzed, and the resultant salts experimented with. Those of a man in
an angry state were of an unusual color; a small portion put on the
tongue of a dog produced evidences of poisoning.
Experiments at Harvard College with students
on the
weighing board proved that the mind moves the blood. When the student
was told to imagine that he was running a foot race, the board sank
down at the foot, and when a problem in mathematics was being worked
the balanced board sank down at the head.
This shows that thought not only flashes
constantly
between mind and mind, with an intensity and swiftness far transcending
electricity, but that it also builds the structures through which it
operates.
Through the conscious mind we know ourselves
as
individuals, and take cognizance of the world about us. The
subconscious mind is the storehouse of past thoughts.
We can understand the action of the conscious
and
subconscious minds by observing the process by which the child learns
to play the piano. He is taught how to hold his hands and strike the
keys, but at first he finds it somewhat difficult to control the
movement of his fingers. He must practice daily, must concentrate his
thoughts upon his fingers, consciously making the right movements.
These thoughts, in time, become subconscious, and the fingers are
directed and controlled in the playing by the subconsciousness. In his
first months, and possibly first years of practice, the pupil can
perform only by keeping his conscious mind centered upon the work; but
later he can play with ease and at the same time carry on a
conversation with those about him, because the subconscious has become
so thoroughly imbued with the idea of right movements that it can
direct them without demanding the attention of the conscious mind.
The subconscious cannot take the initiative.
It
carried out only what is suggested by the conscious mind. But these
suggestions it carries out faithfully, and it is this close relation
between the conscious and subconscious which makes the conscious
thinking so important.
Man’s organism is controlled by the
subconscious
thought; circulation, breathing, digestion, and assimilation are all
activities controlled by the subconscious. The subconscious is
continually getting its impulses from the conscious, and we have only
to change our conscious thought to get a corresponding change in the
subconscious.
We live in a fathomless sea of plastic mind
substance. This substance is ever alive and active. It is sensitive to
the highest degree. It takes form according to the mental demand.
Thought forms the mould or matrix from which the substance expresses.
Our ideal is the mould from which our future will emerge.
The Universe is alive. In order to express
life
there must be mind; nothing can exist without mind. Everything which
exists is some manifestation of this one basic substance from which and
by which all things have been created and are continually being
recreated. It is man’s capacity to think that makes him a creator
instead of a creature.
All things are the result of the thought
process.
Man has accomplished the seemingly impossible because he has refused to
consider it impossible. By concentration men have made the connection
between the finite and the Infinite, the limited and the Unlimited, the
visible and the Invisible, the personal and the Impersonal.
Great musicians have succeeded in thrilling
the
world by the creation of divine rhapsodies. Great inventors have made
the connection and startled the world by their wonderful creations.
Great authors, great philosophers, great scientists have secured this
harmony to such an extent that though their writings were created
hundreds of years ago, we are just beginning to realize their truth.
Love of music, love of business, love of creation caused these people
to concentrate, and the ways and means of materializing their ideals
slowly but surely developed.
Throughout the entire Universe the law of
cause and
effect is ever at work. This law is supreme; here a cause, there an
effect. They can never operate independently. One is supplementary to
the other. Nature at all times is endeavoring to establish a perfect
equilibrium. This is the law of the Universe and is ever active.
Universal harmony is the goal for which all nature strives. The entire
cosmos moves under this law. The sun, the moon, the starts are all held
in their respective positions because of harmony. They travel their
orbits, they appear at certain times in certain places, and because of
the precision of this law, astronomers are able to tell us where
various stars will appear in a thousand years. The scientist bases his
entire hypothesis on this law of cause and effect. nowhere is it held
in dispute except in the domain of man. Here we find people speaking of
luck, chance, accident, and mishap; but is any one of these possible?
Is the Universe a unit? If so, and there is law and order in one part,
it must extend throughout all parts. This is a scientific deduction.
Like begets like on every plane of existence,
and
while people believe this more or less vaguely, they refuse to give it
any consideration where they are concerned. This is due to the fact
that heretofore man could never realize how he set certain causes in
motion which related him with his various experiences.
It is only in the past few years that a
working
hypothesis could be formulated to apply this law to man--the goal of
the Universe is harmony. This means a perfect balance between all
things.
Ether fills all interplanetary space. This
more or
less metaphysical substance is the elementary basis of all matter. it
is upon this substance that the messages of the wireless are
transmitted through space.
Thought dropped into this substance causes
vibrations which in turn unite with similar vibrations and react upon
the thinker. All manifestations are the result of thought--but the
thinking is on different planes.
We have one plane of thought constituting the
animal plane. Here are actions and interactions which animals respond
to, yet men know nothing of. Then we have the conscious thought plane.
Here are almost limitless planes of thought to which man may be
responsive. It is strictly the nature of our thinking that determines
to which plane we shall respond. On this plane, we have the thoughts of
the ignorant, the wise, the poor, the wealthy, the sick, the healthy,
the very poor, the very rich, and so on. The number of thought planes
is infinite, but the point is that when we think on a definite plane,
we are responsive to thoughts on that plane, and the effect of the
reaction is apparent in our environment.
Take for example one who is thinking on the
thought
plane of wealth. He is inspired with an idea, and the result is
success. It could not be otherwise. He is thinking on the success
plane, and as like attracts like, his thoughts attract other similar
thoughts, all of which contribute to his success. His receiver is
attuned for success thoughts only, all other messages fail to reach his
consciousness, hence, he knows nothing of them; his antennae, as it
were, reach into the Universal Ether and connect with the ideas by
which his plans and ambitions may be realized.
Sit right where you are, place an amplifier
to your
ear, and you may hear the most beautiful music, or a lecture, or the
latest market reports. What does this indicate, in addition to the
pleasure derived from he music or the information received from the
lecture or market reports?
It indicates first that there must be some
substance sufficiently refined to carry these vibrations to every part
of the world. Again it indicates that this substance must be
sufficiently refined to penetrate every other substance known to man.
The vibrations must penetrate wood, brick, stone or steel of any kind.
They must go over, through and under rivers, mountains, above the
earth, under the earth, everywhere and anywhere. Again it indicates
that time and space have been annihilated. The instant a piece of music
is broadcasted in Pittsburgh or anywhere else, by putting the proper
mechanism to your ear you can get it as clearly and distinctly as
though you were in the same room. This indicates that these vibrations
proceed in every direction; wherever there is an ear to hear, it may
hear.
If then there is a substance so refined that
it
will take up the human voice, and send it in every direction so that
every human being who is equipped with the proper mechanism may receive
the message, is it not possible that the same substance will carry a
thought just as readily and just as certainly? Most assuredly. How do
we know this? By experimentation. This is the only way to be certain of
anything. Try it. Make the experiment yourself.
Sit right where you are. Select a subject
with
which you are fairly familiar. Begin to think. The thoughts will follow
each other in rapid succession. One thought will suggest another. You
will soon be surprised at some of the thoughts which have made you a
channel of their manifestation. You did not know that you knew so much
about the subject. You did not know that you could put them into such
beautiful language. You marvel at the ease and rapidity with which the
thoughts arrive. Where do they come from? From the One Source of all
wisdom, all power. and all understanding. You have been to the source
of all knowledge, for every thought which has ever been thought is
still in existence, ready and waiting for someone to attach the
mechanism by which it can find expression. You can therefore think the
thoughts of every sage, every artist, every financier, every captain of
industry who ever existed, for thoughts never die.
Suppose your experiment is not entirely
successful;
try again. Few of us are proud of our first effort at anything. We did
not even make a very great success in trying to walk the first time we
tried. If you try again, remember that the brain is the organ of the
objective mind, that it is related to the objective world by the
cerebro-spinal or voluntary nervous system; that this system of nerves
is connected with the objective world by certain mechanism or senses.
These are the organs with which we see, hear, feel, taste, and smell.
Now, a thought is a thing which can neither be seen, nor heard; we
cannot taste it, nor can we smell it, nor can we feel it. Evidently the
five senses can be of no possible value in trying to receive a thought.
They must therefore be stilled, because thought is a spiritual activity
and cannot reach us through any material channel. We will then relax
both mentally and physically and send out an S. O. S. for help and
await the result. The success of our experiment will then depend
entirely upon our ability to become receptive.
Scientists like to make use of the word Ether
in
speaking of the substance “In which we live and move and have our
behaving,” which is Omnipresent, which impenetrates everything, and
which is the source of all activity. They like to use the word Ether
because Ether implies something which can be measured and so far as the
materialistic school of scientists is concerned, anything which cannot
be measured does not exist; but who can measure an electron? And yet
the electron is the basis for all material existence, so far as we know
at present.
It would require 500,000,000 atoms placed
side by
side to measure one linear inch. A number of atoms equal to twenty-five
million times the population of earth must be present in the test tube
for a chemist to detect them in a chemical trace. About 125 septillions
of atoms are in an inch cube of lead. And we cannot come anywhere near
even seeing an atom through a microscope!
Yet the atom is as large as our solar system
compared to the electrons of which it is composed. All atoms are alike
in having one positive central sun of energy around which one or more
negative charges of energy revolve. The number of negative electrons
each atom contains determines the nature of the so-called “element” of
which it is a part.
An atom of hydrogen, for instance, is
supposed to
have one negative electron as a satellite to its positive center. For
this reason chemists accept it as a standard of atomic weight. The
atomic weight of hydrogen is placed at 1.
The diameter of an electron is to the
diameter of
the atom as the diameter of our Earth is to the diameter of the orbit
in which it moves around the sun. More specifically, it has been
determined that an electron is one-eighteen-thousandth of the mass of a
hydrogen atom.
It is clear therefore that matter is capable
of a
degree of refinement almost beyond the power of the human mind to
calculate. We have not as yet been able to analyze this refinement
beyond the electron, and even in getting thus far have had to
supplement our physical observation of effects with imagination to
cover certain gaps.
The building up of Matter from Electrons has
been
an involuntary process of individualizing intelligent energy.
Food, water and air are usually considered to
be
the three essential elements necessary to sustain life. This is very
true, but there is something still more essential. Every time we
breathe we not only fill our lungs with air which has been charged with
magnetism by the Solar Orb, but we fill ourselves with Pranic Energy,
the breath of life replete with every requirement for mind and spirit.
This life giving spirit is far more necessary than air, food, or water,
because a man can live for forty days without food, for three days
without water, and for a few minutes without air; but he cannot live a
single second without Ether. It is the one prime essential of life, and
contains all the essentials of life, so that the process of breathing
furnishes not only food for body building, but food for mind and spirit
as well.
Mental Chemistry
by
Charles F. Haanel
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Charles F.
Haanel
Biography
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