James Allen

[Amita]

He died in 1912 and left many fine writings.  His Daily Meditations, for example was put together by his wife, after Allen died.  This link has practically everything of his:

http://james-allen.in1woord.nl/

[Amita]

Love is not complete until it is lived by man.

May Fifteenth.
EVERY precept of Jesus demands the unconditional sacrifice of some selfish, personal element, before it can be carried out. Man cannot know the Real whilst he clings to the unreal ; he cannot do the work of Truth whilst he clings to error. Whilst a man cherishes lust, hatred, pride, vanity, sell-indulgence, covetousness, he can do nothing, for the works of all these sinful elements are unreal and perishable. Only when he takes refuge in the Spirit of Love within, and becomes patient, gentle, pure, pitiful, and forgiving, does he the works of Righteousness, and bears the fruits of Life. The vine is not a vine without its branches, and even then it is not complete until those branches bear fruit.

Daily practising love towards all in heart and mind and deed, harbouring no injurious or impure thoughts, he discovers the imperishable Principles of his being.

Man’s only refuge from sin is sinless Love.

Before a man can know Love as the abiding Reality within him, he must utterly abandon all those human tendencies which frustrate us perfect manifestation.

[Crazy Horse]

 

[Amita]

For those who prefer text to audio, here is Allen's famous little book:

http://james-allen.in1woord.nl/?text=as-a-man-thinketh

[Amita]

http://james-allen.in1woord.nl/?text=foundation-stones-to-happiness-and-success

Another sagely book.

[+Sherapy]

2 hours ago, Amita said:

For those who prefer text to audio, here is Allen's famous little book:

http://james-allen.in1woord.nl/?text=as-a-man-thinketh

The following is not based in a current or viable understanding of suffering. It isn’t adaptive/applicable advice. It sounds like a rant misinterpreting suffering, 

 

“Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself, with the Law of his being. The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure. Suffering ceases for him who is pure” 

 

“I work as a caregiver for people in Hospice. Suffering is an unpleasant or even anguishing experience which can severely affect a person on a psychophysical and even existential level.” Granted some suffering is as a result of how a person interprets an experience and exploring one’s pov might help, but there is lots of suffering that is not. 
 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by Sherapy

[+Sherapy]

Amita, 

an add to: not recognizing the suffering in another human being or in oneself is really more a lack of compassion. This material is good for a guide on how not to be. 
 

Recognizing suffering is understanding the vulnerability of a human being, doing something about it is compassion. 
 

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by Sherapy

[+Sherapy]

On 5/16/2023 at 8:13 AM, Amita said:

For those who prefer text to audio, here is Allen's famous little book:

http://james-allen.in1woord.nl/?text=as-a-man-thinketh

“Thought in the mind hath made us, What we are
By thought was wrought and built. If a man’s mind
Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes
The wheel the ox behind....

..If one endure
In purity of thought, joy follows him
As his own shadow—sure."

 

Unfortunately this isn’t based in a current understanding of the brain, for ex: the brain learns from negative experiences and stores them in long lasting neural structures so just being with one’s mind to pluck out negative thoughts in and of itself isn’t offering much, the negative thoughts will still be there, along with love, gratitude, honesty, etc.etc.  In other words, one’s experiences are far more productive and viable as the brain is experience~dependent this involves time, exposure and practice, the rule of thumb is observe, do what you observe (experientially) and then teach to someone else. 

An ex: learning patience is the ability to remain calm, tolerate the current circumstances no matter how overwhelming painstakingly slow results are or how frustrating they are.
 

I have a caregiver right now who is new and learning to manage a patient that has Advanced Parkinson’s, her lack of capacity and experience to tolerate the patient shows in her getting overwhelmed and upset, blaming the patient. The patient can only hold her legs up so long before her quads start to burn and she needs to put her feet down to rest, well this turns a wheelchair ride into a fiasco, caregiver gets upset ~snaps at patient. Patient cries.
 

 Solution:  I had the caregiver get in the wheel chair hold her legs up as I pushed her and told her when your legs burn let me know and we will stop and rest until she was ready to go again. I said the patient isn’t putting her legs down to trigger you, but because her quads burn, try this instead. Bingo problem resolved. I could have said you need to be patient, you have no right to get overwhelmed, you have no empathy, you’re evil, you’re negative what kind of caregiver are you, your not going to heaven blah blah blah. But, this approach would have not helped as that would have polarized her further from the patient and had given her the experience of feeling feel bad about herself instead of helping her. I get self help books offer quick fixes but this particular book is offering judgments as opposed to viable solutions the problem is it doesn’t have a current grasp of basic neuroscience and there are no quick fixes when it comes to finding better ways, it is trial and error both apply experientially. 

BF Skinner said there is no learning without experience, in other words, it is experience that wires the brain’s neural structures. 

Edited May 17, 2023 by Sherapy

[Crazy Horse]

2 hours ago, Sherapy said:

 I get self help books offer quick fixes but this particular book is offering judgments as opposed to viable solutions the problem is it doesn’t have a current grasp of basic neuroscience and there are no quick fixes when it comes to finding better ways, it is trial and error both apply experientially. 

 

To which point do you disagree with Allen, in particular?

Perhaps if you are more specific, we discuss it?

[+Liquid Gardens]

15 minutes ago, Crazy Horse said:

To which point do you disagree with Allen, in particular?

"Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound. The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set."

"Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself, with the Law of his being. The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure. Suffering ceases for him who is pure. "

All people I'd wager, whether they shrink from self-crucifixion or not, do fail to accomplish some of the objects upon which his heart is set; for evidence of this, see: 'life'.  Suffering is not always the effect of 'wrong thought in some direction', which I think ties into his myopic and obviously incomplete proclamations about 'circumstance'.

I'm with @Sherapy, for people who find meaning in it that's fine, good for them, but it all reads like religious, popular self-help book style pablum to me.

[+Sherapy]

26 minutes ago, Crazy Horse said:

To which point do you disagree with Allen, in particular?

Perhaps if you are more specific, we discuss it?

Post number 6 is an example. 

[+Sherapy]

20 minutes ago, Liquid Gardens said:

"Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound. The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set."

"Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself, with the Law of his being. The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure. Suffering ceases for him who is pure. "

All people I'd wager, whether they shrink from self-crucifixion or not, do fail to accomplish some of the objects upon which his heart is set; for evidence of this, see: 'life'.  Suffering is not always the effect of 'wrong thought in some direction', which I think ties into his myopic and obviously incomplete proclamations about 'circumstance'.

I'm with @Sherapy, for people who find meaning in it that's fine, good for them, but it all reads like religious, popular self-help book style pablum to me.

This book is claiming a way to eliminate confirmation bias (CB). So is most of the self help genre to no avail. It is on par with diet books. 
 

One cannot eliminate CB, but it can be managed with Critical Thinking Skills. Which of course is a cumulative learning curve that requires work.to varying degrees. 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

Edited May 17, 2023 by Sherapy

[Amita]

Foreword to his Foundation Stones book:

How does a man begin the building of a house? He first secures a plan of the proposed edifice, and then proceeds to build according to the plan, scrupulously following it in every detail, beginning with the foundation. Should he neglect the beginning - the beginning on a mathematical plan - his labour would be wasted, and his building, should it reach completion without tumbling to pieces, would be insecure and worthless. The same law holds good in any important work; the right beginning and first essential is a definite mental plan on which to build.

Nature will have no slipshod work, no slovenliness and she annihilates confusion, or rather, confusion is in itself annihilated. Order, definiteness, purpose, eternally prevail, and he who in his operations ignores these mathematical elements at once deprives himself of substantiality, completeness, happiness and success.

JAMES ALLEN

[Amita]

It is good that care givers can relieve physical suffering to a degree. 

However Allen's lesser light - like the Suns of  Buddha, Krishna, Plato or Jesus etc. - was not mainly addressing that tiny group, but the majority of those whose afflictions must be personally handled (or not) by the unhappy, bored or vice ridden human.

Edited May 17, 2023 by Amita

[+Sherapy]

2 hours ago, Amita said:

It is good that care givers can relieve physical suffering to a degree. 

However Allen's lesser light - like the Suns of  Buddha, Krishna, Plato or Jesus etc. - was not mainly addressing that tiny group, but the majority of those whose afflictions must be personally handled (or not) by the unhappy, bored or vice ridden human.

This helps you? If so, may I inquire how?

[Crazy Horse]

10 hours ago, Liquid Gardens said:

"Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound. The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set."

"Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself, with the Law of his being. The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure. Suffering ceases for him who is pure. "

All people I'd wager, whether they shrink from self-crucifixion or not, do fail to accomplish some of the objects upon which his heart is set; for evidence of this, see: 'life'.  Suffering is not always the effect of 'wrong thought in some direction', which I think ties into his myopic and obviously incomplete proclamations about 'circumstance'.

I'm with @Sherapy, for people who find meaning in it that's fine, good for them, but it all reads like religious, popular self-help book style pablum to me.

The first point can only be known as true, (or not) to those who actually self sacrifice, humbly, and with a gentle kindness.

And the second point, I would argue that suffering can only arise from ignorance, and wrong thought.

The truth/Truth shall set you free, from all suffering.

[Crazy Horse]

On 5/16/2023 at 6:54 PM, Sherapy said:

“Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself, with the Law of his being. The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure. Suffering ceases for him who is pure” 

"I work as a caregiver for people in Hospice. Suffering is an unpleasant or even anguishing experience which can severely affect a person on a psychophysical and even existential level.” Granted some suffering is as a result of how a person interprets an experience and exploring one’s pov might help, but there is lots of suffering that is not. 

So, from my perspective, mind, and thought, is the supreme "power tool" from which everything is created.

Therefore, to my mind, any wrong thought will inevitably lead one to suffering.

If you disagree with those sentiments, then please do explain why!

[psyche101]

My favourite sage of old is Harry Hart 

 

[eight bits]

12 hours ago, Amita said:

Nature will have no slipshod work, no slovenliness and she annihilates confusion, or rather, confusion is in itself annihilated. Order, definiteness, purpose, eternally prevail, and he who in his operations ignores these mathematical elements at once deprives himself of substantiality, completeness, happiness and success.

Where is @XenoFish? We need a singing commercial for Chaos Magick!

[Piney]

5 minutes ago, eight bits said:

Where is @XenoFish? We need a singing commercial for Chaos Magick!

He takes frequent breaks, but if he's gone too long I'll email him. 

[+Sherapy]

8 hours ago, Crazy Horse said:

So, from my perspective, mind, and thought, is the supreme "power tool" from which everything is created.

Therefore, to my mind, any wrong thought will inevitably lead one to suffering.

If you disagree with those sentiments, then please do explain why!

CH, your first two sentences are a great example of Confirmation bias “favoring information that reinforces your existing opinion belief over conflicting ones.”

 

An add to: “to my mind any wrong thought will inevitably led one to suffering.” (CH quote).

Believing this creates a cognitive filter through which you interpret your experiences that any thing you deem a wrong thought will cause suffering. You found a self help book written in 1903 that agrees with your belief, reinforces your belief as opposed to challenging it, questioning it, refining it or getting to the crux of why you believe this is a fact, it isn’t based in objectivity. Because in actuality there are probably many times that you thought so called “wrong thoughts” and you didn’t suffer. It sounds like you catastrophize quite a bit and are drawn to narratives that support interpreting things in worse case scenarios. 
 

An add to: the brain thinks all kinds of positive and negative thoughts in the span of 5 minutes depending on the circumstances, conditioning, influences, experiences etc. The best skill to have is an ability to critically think. 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2023 by Sherapy

[Will Due]

12 minutes ago, Sherapy said:

the brain thinks 

 

What?

You don't think?

 

 

[+Sherapy]

9 minutes ago, Will Due said:

 

What?

You don't think?

 

 

Will, stop trolling me. It will only lead to me hitting the report button.

 

[+Hammerclaw]

43 minutes ago, Sherapy said:

Because in actuality there are probably many times that you thought so called “wrong thoughts” and you didn’t suffer.

Got that right. In fact, I almost lost a girlfriend because she was afraid I was one of those guys that didn't have "wrong thoughts." 

[Crazy Horse]

1 hour ago, Sherapy said:

CH, your first two sentences are a great example of Confirmation bias “favoring information that reinforces your existing opinion belief over conflicting ones.”

 

An add to: “to my mind any wrong thought will inevitably led one to suffering.” (CH quote).

Believing this creates a cognitive filter through which you interpret your experiences that any thing you deem a wrong thought will cause suffering. You found a self help book written in 1903 that agrees with your belief, reinforces your belief as opposed to challenging it, questioning it, refining it or getting to the crux of why you believe this is a fact, it isn’t based in objectivity. Because in actuality there are probably many times that you thought so called “wrong thoughts” and you didn’t suffer. It sounds like you catastrophize quite a bit and are drawn to narratives that support interpreting things in worse case scenarios. 
 

An add to: the brain thinks all kinds of positive and negative thoughts in the span of 5 minutes depending on the circumstances, conditioning, influences, experiences etc. The best skill to have is an ability to critically think. 

But it isn't necessarily all about cognitive narratives, influences and scenarios..

No, one knows a bad thought by how it makes you feel.

That's why we suffer, because we feel bad.

And then we start to ask questions, to make a narrative, to fit a pattern..