of the instruments and machinery of your personal expression and manifestation. It is not to the mere garments of personality that you are ascribing such great facts of being—it is to That which bears those garments for the time being. These incidental trappings of personality are but the things of the impermanent, changing, passing, phenomenal world which you are now experiencing in consciousness. The “I AM I” is that Reality which transcends these phenomenal instruments, machinery, garments, or attachments which in their aggregate constitute the “John Smith” or “Mary Jones” aspect of your individuality. Do not allow yourself to become entangled in consciousness with this outer aspect of personality—free your inner individuality from it in consciousness. Do not allow yourself to become spiritually “hidebound” by this outer skin of your personality. Do not exchange your birthright of permanent Individuality for the mess of pottage of transient Personality.
You must lay aside forever the erroneous notion that you are a mere “worm of the dust”, a lowly creature fit only to crawl along on its belly, begging that it may not be trodden upon. You must realize that You are YOU—a magnificent manifestation and expression of POWER. For YOU, the processes of Evolution have toiled and labored for many ages. For YOU, Nature has undergone countless laborpains through an ageslong period of delivery. For YOU, Time has waited long. Now that YOU are here, in your present state of personal existence, it is your right and duty to express and to manifest the full might and power that is in you, and to move forward fulfilling your manifest destiny. You are YOU; and YOU are ready to express yourself to the full measure of your inherent capacities.
In all your work, in all your play, in all your activities, physical and mental, carry with you the consciousness that You are YOU—a Centre of Power in the great Cosmic Manifestation of POWER. Base upon this consciousness all that you do—all your mental work, all your physical work. Falter not: be strong. Recognize and realize always that you are a focused, focalized, concentrated point of Reality—a focal point and centre of the PresencePower of POWER. Recognize and realize that back of you, around you, and in You, is POWER—AllthePowerthereIS; and that in the measure that you allow it to flow freely through you, that will be the measure of your Personal Power. Learn to affirm the “I AM I”, in full consciousness of what the words mean; mentally picture yourself as that “I AM I”; and then live up to and act out the truth of your being so expressed in thought, in feeling and in words.
By the careful observance of the foregoing instruction concerning the “I AM I”, conceived as a focalized centre of the Power of POWER, and as being the permanent, constant, identical element and factor of your being, you will find yourself unfolding into a greater and far more efficient phase of Personal Power. You will not only be creating a more definite, more intensely concentrated, and more highly focalized centre of manifestation of Personal Power, the source and real nature of which you have recognized and realized abiding on the higher and hidden planes or levels of your consciousness, your subconsciousness and your superconsciousness; you will also proceed to the gradual unfoldment of a higher power of knowing, of feeling, and of doing, by means of the increased efficiency and power of your instruments and machinery of expression.
This teaching of the “I AM I”—its powers and its possibilities—is not “milk for babes”: it is rather nourishing food for strong men and those who wish to become strong. The practical test of Truth is: “Will this make me stronger, better, and more efficient?” This teaching will meet the test of Truth, for it will assuredly make you stronger, better, and more efficient. It is in accordance with the Law of Evolution, which law proceeds to manifest on the spiritual and mental planes, as well as the physical plane. Fall in line and proceed with the Law of Cosmic Evolution, and the Powers of the Cosmos will come to your aid, and you will become as one of the Elect: if you oppose or run contrary to the Law, you will be ruthlessly pressed to the wall, and discarded as unfit. In the one case, you are nourished, supported, strengthened and encouraged by the Law; in the other case, you are relentlessly crowded out by its operations.
We here quote from the statement of one of the present writers, made in a much earlier work from his pen; this statement is quite as true now as when it was written many years ago:
“If you are a true individual, this teaching is just what you want. This is also true if you are not yet a true individual, but earnestly desire to be one. But if you are a weakling, and prefer to remain so, instead of rising and claiming your birthright of Strength, your heritage of Power, then by all means remain as you are, and depart in peace. In that case, you leave these teachings for those of the race who will not sell their birthright of Power for the mess of pottage of negative content and sheeplike passivity and docility, but who boldly claim their own, and demand their rightful portion. For those strong brothers of yours are the individuals—the true individuals—who are the coming inheritors of the earth.”
REALIZING THE IDEAL BODY. By the employment of the principles of combined IdeationWill, along the lines of Idealization, Affirmation, and Actualization, you may build or rebuild your physical body along the lines laid out and patterned in your mind. You may “make yourself over” physically in this way, your degree of successful manifestation depending upon your degree of successful recognition and realization of the principles involved, and upon your degree of the efficient application of those principles.
This is no new and strange doctrine. On the contrary, it is being taught and practiced by the many schools of Mind Cure, Mental Healing, Faith Cure, Metaphysical Healing, etc., etc., which have been so much in public view during the past quartercentury. Thousands have been transformed from weak, sick persons into strong, healthy individuals, by means of methods similar in general nature to those presented to you in this book. More over, by means of systems of physical culture employing at least some of the elements of Idealization, and the employment of IdeationWill, many have literally “made over” their physical bodies, building them up from frail, puny, undeveloped forms into strong, sturdy, efficient, welldeveloped physical instruments of expression.
The general principles involved in the process of Realizing the Ideal Body are those already presented to you; the methods employed are those likewise presented to you in this book. You start with the consciousness that the physical body, and all of its parts and organs, is but the instrument of the “I AM I”, Master Self and Real Self—the latter being the focalized centre of POWER. The Master Self assumes control of its physical instrument and machinery, and proceeds to build it up according to the highest possible pattern, design or mold.
In doing so, it employs the combined principles of IdeationWill—the Ideal Form energized by Will Power. It proceeds by Idealization, or the creation and projection of the Ideal Image, or Thought Form. It accompanies this by the appropriate Affirmation of the Idea or Thought. It also proceeds to apply the method of Actualization, by means of which it “lives out the idea”, “acts out the part”; and also performs such physical actions, exercises, and methods as may seem appropriate, and observes such basic, natural laws of Health and Physical WellBeing as are announced by the best thinkers along these lines.
Such are the general principles and methods employed in the processes of Realizing the Ideal Body—of materializing into objective reality the perfect, healthy, strong, efficient body pictured in the mind as the ideal form. If you will apply the principles previously announced and explained in the preceding sections of this book, particularly those included in the description of the Three Formulas; and will employ the methods also herein stated and explained, carefully and intelligently adapting them to the special requirements of your individual case; you should be able to manifest to a satisfactory degree the results which you seek.
All this will require careful and persistent effort, careful attention, and insistent perseverance. We are not offering you a “magic wand” by means of the waving of which you may gain in a moment perfect health and perfect physical wellbeing. But, if you will observe the proper methods, based upon the sound fundamental principles herein stated, and will manifest Definite Ideals, Insistent Desire, Confident Expectation, Persistent Determination, and Balanced Compensation,
