to understand that the thoughts we allow to circle around in our heads eventually shape outcomes! They do! Cayce is very clear on this. And, these thoughts breed, which multiplies their impact on our lives. And, in the collective unconsciousness, others are affected by our thoughts, thus adding to the outcome. Outcomes are up to us and determined by our will. Negative thinking must be subdued and adjusted. Not that we blind ourselves to the facts, but we must not allow negativity to possess our minds. Find a way that situations can be changed little by little, step by step, but don’t let them circle through your mind as fixed realities. Remember, we need constructive hopefulness and a plan of action that eventually leads us out of the problem. Consider this question and answer session in one of Cayce’s volumes:
“(Q) I am very unhappy at the office—
“(A) (Interrupting) That’s too bad!
“(Q) As I feel [257], my employer, is depending upon me less and needs me less.
“(A) This the body should learn: Such an attitude of mind in self will only engender dissatisfaction in self’s attitude towards work attempted; and do not forget that the Mind is the Builder! Would the body [If the body would] continue to keep such an attitude, it may be very sure there will be built in the actions of self that condition as it felt. Should the body desire to correct same, know that the dependency can be placed in self and act in that manner! And grow toward where the requirements are more; but do not try to act in a manner that thoughts build dissatisfaction in self, for these will breed dissatisfaction with the employer—and would the body be that more is required, yet unable to perform that as is required, feeling that it is too great a burden? Then why should not there be dependence put in others? Be not double-minded. Use common horse sense with good judgment in that that may be accomplished in self, and more may be accomplished in the attitude of self towards that attempting to be accomplished than in any other manner. Know that desired, the place, position, dependency desired. Then act that way!” (349-6)
Notice how Cayce introduced the concept of double-mindedness. This is an important concept and one that we all entertain from time to time, some more than others. As Jesus taught:
“You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or `What shall we drink?’ or `What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.” (Matthew 6:24-34, RSV)
The word mammon is actually not from Jesus’ time but from medieval writers who used it as the name of the devil of covetousness, and Milton used it too, in Paradise Lost (1667). The original word meant “material riches.” Of course the lesson here is that one cannot be of one mind in gaining material, temporary things while at the same time be of another mind seeking to gain spiritual, eternal things. This does not mean that a materially rich person cannot be spiritual, but as Jesus also taught: “‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said to them, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” (Matthew 19:24-26, RSV)
We may surmise by their question to Jesus that the disciples were not as poor as they are often portrayed. The “eye of a needle” is the gate into ancient Jerusalem that was so narrow that even a camel carrying nothing could hardly squeeze through it.
True wealth comes from those things that give the spirit of life, and that spirit is the essence of that we call love. Here’s Cayce again:
“If you would be happy (it is the law), you must make others happy. You cannot know happiness unless you experience that you have brought happiness, hope, joy, into the experience of another. This does not mean, then, becoming long-faced, melancholy; but rather joyous, glad, hopeful! But neither does it mean folding thy hands in indolence; rather as has been given, the harvest is white, the laborers are few. If you would know Him, be up and doing. For as it was said, ‘He went about doing good.’ Not being good but doing good—which is the being good; being good for something, mentally, spiritually.” (412-9)
See how he is calling for good actions not just being good? He wants our goodness to be spread around—nourishing others, uplifting others, comforting others.
Too often, we can clearly see the faults of others, while spending little time just being kind, patient, and considerate of them. This does not mean that we never give them a little push, but we do it in the spirit of loving-kindness, not of condemning judgment.
Cayce continues this same reading:
“Mind is the Builder. Then, if you would have less strife and more harmony, build same in your daily relationships. For when you complain of the faults of others, do you not build such barriers that you cannot speak kindly or gently to those whom you have felt or do feel have defrauded or would defraud thee? How spoke the Master? ‘It is indeed necessary that offenses come, but woe unto him by whom they come.’ But ‘If your enemy smites you, turn the other cheek.’ Living that, being that, is to know the life eternal; and only in the manifesting of same, and bringing into materiality such experiences, may you indeed know the joy even of living.” (412-9, his emphasis)
The joy of living a life that is a joy to others, that is the ultimate goal, and it begins in our mind with our thoughts.
“That which the mind of a soul—a soul—dwells upon it becomes; for mind is the builder. And if the mind is in attune with the law of the force that brought the soul into being, it becomes spiritualized in its activity.” (262-63)
This is primordial. It is a seed planted within our souls at the very beginning.
“ … from the beginning of time, there is set before the mind of the individual entity good and bad, life and death. The individual chooses. For this is the birthright of each soul, given by or through the Creative Forces, that the individual entity or soul may become aware of itself and its relationships with those things, conditions, and other entities or souls about it. Thus may the entity find its true relationships to the whole.” (2747-1)
Now you may honestly state that you are doing this, but others are against you or cannot be good in return. Here’s Cayce’s answer to this:
“(Q) How may I overcome vibrations that are not in attune with my own?
“(A) Filling self’s mind (Mind the Builder) with those things that create more and more a unison of creative thinking, whether this be as applied to material, spiritual, or purely mental and social relations. Be sure they are creative in their essence.” (303-2)
In the next chapter, we’ll see just how “real” thoughts are.
