All the wisdom possible to man on this material earth is to be found only in complete self-mastery

James Allen,  As a Man Thinketh

 

And that self-mastery pertains to thought, which is the generative power of every thing, visible and invisible.

Man must, as a practical matter, gain control of his thoughts. This can seem like subduing a pack of ravening wild dogs, but the effort must be made. Everything that comes to you, comes from and through your thoughts.

There is nothing existing in the physical world, that was not thought of first.

 

 

As the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation

 

Allen is saying that it is in our own power to deliver ourselves from the burdens that preoccupy us. This seems too good to be true.

You must be the watchdog of your own thoughts, like any mastiff trained to sniff out and forcefully repel intruders.

How is this to be done?

You can do it by a physical act.  Write a letter; pour out all the griefs and grievances.  Then burn it. Signify that it has become nothing. You can do this in imagination, or carry it out with your physical body, which gives the ritual more power.

 

 

It is in the conscious control of your thoughts, in self-mastery, that all salvation lies, nowhere else. It is in your own power to deliver salvation to yourself.

This must be the good news they speak of. This is something I can do. This is practical work, something that can be created in deliberate, everyday acts. 

Such as stopping a thought. Practice becoming conscious when you are being swept away in negative emotion. Catch the thought responsible, write it up in your mind, and burn it. Reduce it to absolute nothingness.

Then replace the old thought you have disrupted with a new, better one, whether James Allen’s “Say unto your heart: peace, be still”, or A Course in Miracle’s “I could feel peace instead of this”, or Abraham‘s process of pivoting from the unwanted to the wanted.

A watchdog is always vigilant

 

Negative thoughts are an army on the march, fed on the food you have given them of fear and anger.  Now it is time to starve them.

 

 

So be the guardian at the gate. See the thoughts arrive. Plant your legs wide like a Roman centurion, and deny them access. Send away what does not please you.

 

 

I let go all that does not serve