{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_74178/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_74178","id":"gutenberg_74178","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74178","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Conduct of life","New Thought"],"text":"Out from the Heart\n\n\n  BY\n\n  JAMES ALLEN\n\n  Author of\n  \"FROM POVERTY TO POWER,\"\n  \"AS A MAN THINKETH,\" ETC.\n\n\n  _Make pure thy heart, and thou wilt make thy life\n  Rich, sweet, and beautiful, unmarred by strife;\n  Guard well thy mind, and, noble, strong, and fret,\n  Nothing shall harm, disturb, or conquer thee;\n  For all thy foes are in thy heart and mind.\n  There also thy salvation thou wilt find._\n\n\n\n  R. F. FENNO & COMPANY\n  18 EAST SEVENTEENTH ST., NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nThe Heart and the Life\n\nThe Nature and Power of Mind\n\nFormation of Habit\n\nDoing and Knowing\n\nFirst Steps in the Higher Life\n\nMental Conditions and Their Effects\n\nExhortation\n\n\n\n\nOUT FROM THE HEART\n\n\n\nTHE HEART AND THE LIFE\n\nAs the heart, so is the life.  The within is ceaselessly becoming the\nwithout.  Nothing remains unrevealed.  That which is hidden is but\nfor a time; it ripens and comes forth at last.  Seed, tree, blossom,\nand fruit is the fourfold order of the universe.  From the state of a\nman's heart proceed the conditions of his life; his thoughts blossom\ninto deeds, and his deeds bear the fruitage of character and destiny.\n\nLife is ever unfolding from within, and revealing itself to the\nlight, and thoughts engendered in the heart at last reveal themselves\nin words, actions, and things accomplished.\n\nAs the fountain from the hidden spring, so issues man's life from the\nsecret recesses of his heart.  All that he is and does is generated\nthere.  All that he will be and do will take its rise there.\n\nSorrow and gladness, suffering and enjoyment, hope and fear, hatred\nand love, ignorance and enlightenment, are nowhere but in the heart;\nthey are solely mental conditions.\n\nMan is the keeper of his heart; the watcher of his mind; the solitary\nsentinel of his citadel of life.  As such, he can be diligent or\nnegligent.  He can keep his heart more and more carefully; he can\nmore strenuously watch and purify his mind; and he can guard himself\nagainst the thinking of unrighteous thoughts: this is the way of\nenlightenment and bliss.  On the other hand, he can live loosely and\ncarelessly, neglecting the supreme task of rightly ordering his life:\nthis is the way of self-delusion and suffering.\n\nLet a man realize that life in its totality proceeds from the mind,\nand lo, the way of blessedness is opened up to him!  For he will then\ndiscover that he possesses the power to rule his mind, and to fashion\nit in accordance with his Ideal.  So will he elect to strongly and\nsteadfastly walk those pathways of thought and action which are\naltogether excellent; to him life will become beautiful and sacred;\nand, sooner or later, he will put to flight all evil, confusion and\nsuffering; for it is impossible for a man to fall short of\nliberation, enlightenment, and peace, who guards with unwearying\ndiligence the gateway of his heart.\n\n\n\n\nTHE NATURE AND POWER OF MIND\n\nMind is the arbiter of life; it is the creator and shaper of\nconditions, and the recipient of its own results.  It contains within\nitself both the power to create illusion and to perceive reality.\n\nMind is the infallible weaver of destiny; thought is the thread, good\nand evil deeds are the warp and woof, and the web, woven upon the\nloom of life, is character.  Mind clothes itself in garments of its\nown making.\n\nMan, as a mental being, possesses all the powers of mind, and is\nfurnished with illimitable choice.  He learns by experience, and he\ncan accelerate or retard his experience.  He is not arbitrarily bound\nat any point, but he has bound himself at many points, and having\nbound himself he can, when he chooses, liberate himself.  He can\nbecome bestial or pure, ignoble or noble, foolish or wise, just as he\nchooses.  He can, by recurring practice, form habits, and he can, by\nrenewed effort, break them off.  He can surround himself with\nillusions until Truth is completely lost, and he can destroy one and\nanother of those illusions until Truth is entirely recovered.  His\npossibilities are limitless; his freedom is complete.\n\nIt is in the nature of mind to create its own conditions, and to\nchoose the states in which it shall dwell.  It also has the power to\nalter any condition and to abandon any state, and this it is\ncontinually doing as it gathers knowledge of state after state by\nrepeated choice and exhaustive experience.\n\nInward processes of thought make up the sum of character and life,\nand man can modify and alter these processes by bringing will and\neffort to bear upon them.  The bonds of habit, impotence, and sin are\nself-made, and can only be destroyed by one's self; they exist\nnowhere but in one's mind, and although they are directly related to\noutward things, they have no real existence in those things.  The\nouter is moulded and vivified by the inner, and never the inner by\nthe outer.  Temptation does not arise in the outer object, but _in\nthe lust of the mind for that object_; nor do suffering and sorrow\ninhere in the external things and happenings of life, but in an\nundisciplined attitude of mind toward those things and happenings.\nThe mind that is disciplined by Purity and fortified by Wisdom,\navoids all those lusts and desires which are inseparably bound up\nwith affliction, and so arrives at enlightenment and peace.\n\nTo condemn others as evil, and to rail against outside conditions as\nthe source of evil, increases, and does not lessen, the world's\nsuffering and unrest.  The outer is but the shadow and effect of the\ninner, and when the heart is pure all outward things are pure.\n\nAll growth and life is from within outward; all decay and death is\nfrom without inward; this is a universal law.  All evolution proceeds\nfrom within.  All adjustment must take place within.  He who ceases\nto strive against others, and employs his powers in the\ntransformation, regeneration, and development of his own mind,\nconserves his energies and preserves himself; and as he succeeds in\nharmonizing his own mind, he leads others by consideration and\ncharity into a like blessed state, for not by assuming authority and\nguidance over other minds is the way of enlightenment and peace\ndiscovered, but by exercising a lawful authority over one's own, and\nby guiding one's self in pathways of steadfast and lofty virtue.\n\nA man's life proceeds from his heart, his mind: he has compounded\nthat mind by his own thoughts and deeds: it is in his power to\nrefashion that mind by his choice of thought: he can therefore\ntransform his life.  Let us see how this is to be done.\n\n\n\n\nFORMATION OF HABIT\n\nEvery established mental condition is an _acquired habit_, and it has\nbecome such by continuous repetition of thought.  Despondency and\ncheerfulness, anger and calmness, covetousness and\ngenerosity--indeed, all states of mind--are habits built up by\nchoice, until they have become automatic.  A thought constantly\nrepeated at last becomes a fixed habit of the mind, and from such\nhabits proceeds the life.\n\nIt is in the nature of the mind to acquire knowledge by the\nrepetition of its experiences.  A thought which it is very difficult,\nat first, to hold and to dwell upon, at last becomes, by constantly\nbeing held in the mind, a natural and habitual condition.  Just as a\nboy, when commencing to learn a trade, cannot even handle his tools\naright, much less use them correctly, but after long repetition and\npractice plies them with perfect ease and consummate skill, so a\nstate of mind, at first apparently impossible of realization, is, by\nperseverance and practice, at last acquired and built into the\ncharacter as a natural and spontaneous condition.\n\nIn this power of the mind to form and reform its habits, its\nconditions, is contained the basis of man's salvation, and the open\ndoor to perfect liberty by the mastery of self, for as a man has the\npower to form harmful habits, so he has the same power to create\nhabits that are essentially good.  And here we come to a point which\nneeds some elucidating, and which calls for deep and earnest thought\non the part of my reader.\n\nIt is commonly said to be easier to do wrong than right, to sin than\nto be holy; such condition has come to be regarded, almost\nuniversally, as axiomatic, and no less a teacher than the Buddha has\nsaid:--\"Bad deeds, and deeds hurtful to ourselves, are easy to do;\nwhat is beneficial and good, that is very difficult to do,\"--and as\nregards humanity generally, this is true, but it is only true as a\npassing experience, a fleeting factor in human evolution; it is not a\nfixed condition of things, is not of the nature of an eternal truth.\nIt is easier for men to do wrong than right, because of the\nprevalence of ignorance, because the true nature of things, and the\nessence and meaning of life, are not apprehended.  When a child is\nlearning to write, it is extremely easy for it to hold the pen\nwrongly, and to form its letters incorrectly, but it is painfully\ndifficult to hold the pen and to write properly; and this because of\nthe child's ignorance of the art of writing, which can only be\ndispelled by persistent effort and practice, until, at last, it\nbecomes natural and easy to hold the pen properly, and to write\ncorrectly, and difficult, as well as altogether unnecessary, to do\nthe wrong thing.  It is the same in the vital things of mind and\nlife.  To think and do rightly requires much practice and renewed\neffort, but the time at last comes when it becomes habitual and easy\nto think and do rightly, and difficult, as it is then seen to be\naltogether unnecessary, to do that which is wrong.\n\nJust as an artisan becomes, by practice, accomplished in his craft,\nso a man can become, by practice, accomplished in goodness; it is\nentirely a matter of forming new habits of thought, and he to whom\nright thoughts have become easy and natural, and wrong thoughts and\nacts difficult to do, has attained to the highest virtue, to pure,\nspiritual knowledge.\n\nIt is easy and natural for men to sin, because they have formed, by\nincessant repetition, harmful and unenlightened habits of thought.\nIt is very difficult for the thief to refrain from stealing when\nopportunity occurs, because he has lived so long in covetous and\navaricious thoughts; but such difficulty does not exist for the\nhonest man who has lived so long in upright and honest thoughts, and\nhas thereby become enlightened as to the wrong, folly, and\nfruitlessness of theft, that even the remotest idea of stealing does\nnot enter his mind.  The sin of theft is a very extreme one, and I\nhave introduced it in order to the more clearly illustrate the force\nand formation of habit; but all sins and virtues are formed in the\nsame way.  Anger and impatience are natural and easy to thousands of\npeople, because they are constantly repeating the angry and impatient\nthought and act, and with each repetition the habit is more firmly\nestablished and more deeply rooted.  Calmness and patience can become\nhabitual in the same way--by first grasping through effort, a calm\nand patient thought, and then continuously thinking it, and living in\nit, until \"use becomes second nature,\" and anger and impatience pass\naway for ever.  It is thus that every wrong thought may be expelled\nfrom the mind; thus that every untrue act may be destroyed; thus that\nevery sin may be overcome.\n\n\n\n\nDOING AND KNOWING\n\nLet a man realize that his life, in its totality, proceeds from his\nmind, and that that mind is a combination of habits which he can, by\npatient effort, modify to any extent, and over which he can thus gain\ncomplete ascendancy and control, and he has at once obtained\npossession of the key which shall open the door to his complete\nemancipation.\n\nBut emancipation from the ills of life (which are the ills of one's\nmind) is a matter of steady growth from within, and not a sudden\nacquisition from without.  Hourly and daily must the mind be trained\nto think stainless thoughts, and to adopt right and dispassionate\nattitudes under those circumstances in which it is prone to fall into\nwrong and passion.  Like the patient sculptor upon his marble, the\naspirant to the Right Life must gradually work upon the crude\nmaterial of his mind until he has wrought out of it the Ideal of his\nholiest dreams.\n\nIn working toward such supreme accomplishment, it is necessary to\ncommence at the lowest and easiest steps, and proceed by natural and\nprogressive stages to the higher and more difficult.  This law of\ngrowth, progress, evolution, unfoldment, by gradual and ever\nascending stages, is absolute in every department of life, and in\nevery human accomplishment, and where it is ignored, total failure\nwill result.  In acquiring learning, in learning a trade, or in\npursuing a business, this law is fully recognized and minutely obeyed\nby all; but in acquiring Virtue, in learning Truth, and in pursuing\nthe right conduct and knowledge of life, it is unrecognized and\ndisobeyed by nearly all; hence Virtue, Truth, and the Perfect Life\nremain unpractised, unacquired, and unknown.\n\nIt is a common error to suppose that the Higher Life is a matter of\nreading, and the adoption of theological or metaphysical hypotheses,\nand that Spiritual Principles can be apprehended by this method.  The\nHigher Life is a higher living in thought, word, and deed, and the\nknowledge of those Spiritual Principles, which are imminent in man\nand in the universe can only be acquired after long discipline in the\npursuit and practice of Virtue.\n\nThe lesser must be thoroughly grasped and understood before the\ngreater can be known, and practice always precedes real knowledge.\nThe schoolmaster never attempts to teach his pupils the abstract\nprinciples of mathematics at the commencement; he knows that by such\na method teaching would be vain, and learning impossible.  He first\nplaces before them a simple sum, and, having explained it, leaves\nthem to do it.  When, after repeated failures and ever-renewed\neffort, they have succeeded in doing it correctly, a more difficult\ntask is set them, and then another and another; and not until the\npupils have, through many years of diligent application, mastered all\nthe lessons in arithmetic, does he attempt to unfold to them the\nunderlying mathematical principles.\n\nIn learning a trade, say that of a mechanic, the boy is not at first\ntaught the principles of mechanics, but a simple tool is put into his\nhand and he is told how rightly to use it, and is then left to do it\nby effort and practice.  As he succeeds in plying his tools\ncorrectly, more and more difficult tasks are set him, until, after\nseveral years of successful practice, he is prepared to study and\ngrasp the principles of mechanics.\n\nIn a properly governed household, the child is first taught to be\nobedient, and to conduct itself properly under all circumstances.\nThe child is not even told why it must do this, but is commanded to\ndo it, and only after it has so far succeeded in doing what is right\nand proper, is it told why it should do it.  No father would attempt\nto teach his child the principles of ethics before exacting from it\nthe practice of filial duty and social virtue.\n\nThus practice ever precedes knowledge even in the ordinary things of\nthe world, and in spiritual things, in the living of the Higher Life,\nthis law is rigid in its exactions.  Virtue can only be known by\ndoing, and the knowledge of Truth can only be arrived at by\nperfecting oneself in the practice of Virtue and to be complete in\nthe practice and acquisition of Virtue is to be complete in the\nknowledge of Truth.\n\nTruth can only be arrived at by daily and hourly doing the lessons of\nVirtue, beginning at the simplest, and passing on to the more\ndifficult; and as a child patiently and obediently learns its lessons\nat school, constantly practising, ever exerting itself until all\nfailures and difficulties are surmounted, even so does the child of\nTruth apply himself to right-doing in thought and action, undaunted\nby failure, and made stronger by difficulties; and as he succeeds in\nacquiring Virtue, his mind unfolds itself in the knowledge of Truth,\nand it is a knowledge in which he can securely rest.\n\n\n\n\nFIRST STEPS IN THE HIGHER LIFE\n\nSeeing that the Path of Virtue is the Path of Knowledge, and that\nbefore the all-embracing Principles of Truth can be comprehended,\nperfection in the more lowly steps must be acquired, how, then, shall\na disciple of Truth commence?  How shall one who aspires to the\nrighting of his mind and the purification of his heart--that heart\nwhich is the fountain and repository of all the issues of life--learn\nthe lessons of Virtue, and thus build himself up in the strength of\nknowledge, destroying ignorance and the ills of life?  What are the\nfirst lessons, the first steps?  How are they learned?  How are they\npractised?  How are they mastered and understood?\n\nThe first lessons consist in overcoming those wrong mental conditions\nwhich are the most easily eradicated, and which are the common\nbarriers to spiritual progress, as well as in practising the simple\ndomestic and social virtues; and the reader will be the better aided\nif I group and classify the first ten steps in three lessons as\nfollows:--\n\n  VICES TO BE OVERCOME AND ERADICATED.\n\n  VICES OF THE BODY.\n\n  1. Indolence.                             ) FIRST LESSON.\n  2. Self-indulgence.                       ) Discipline of the Body.\n\n  VICES OF THE TONGUE.\n\n  1. Slander.                               )\n  2. Gossip and idle conversation.          ) SECOND LESSON.\n  3. Abusive and unkind speech.             )   Discipline of\n                                            )      Speech.\n  4. Levity, or irreverent speech.          )\n  5. Captiousness, or fault-finding speech. )\n\n  VIRTUES TO BE PRACTICED AND ACQUIRED.\n\n  1. Unselfish performance of duty.         ) THIRD LESSON.\n                                            )   Discipline of\n  2. Unswerving rectitude.                  )   Inclination.\n  3. Unlimited forgiveness.                 )\n\n\nThe two vices of the body, and five of the tongue, are so called\nbecause they are manifested in the body and tongue, and also because,\nby so definitely classifying them, the mind of the reader will be the\nbetter helped; but it must be clearly understood that these vices\narise primarily in the mind, and are wrong conditions of heart worked\nout in the body and the tongue.\n\nThe existence of such chaotic conditions is an indication that the\nmind is altogether unenlightened as to the real meaning and purpose\nof life, and their eradication is the beginning of a virtuous,\nsteadfast, and enlightened life.\n\nBut how shall they be overcome and eradicated?  By first, and at\nonce, checking and controlling their outward manifestations, by\nsuppressing the wrong act; this will stimulate the mind to\nwatchfulness and reflection until, by repeated practice, it will at\nlast come to perceive and understand the dark and wrong conditions of\nmind, out of which such acts spring, and will abandon them entirely.\n\nIt will be seen that the first step in the discipline of the mind is\nthe overcoming of indolence.  This is the easiest step, and until it\nis perfectly accomplished, the other steps cannot be taken.  The\nclinging to indolence constitutes a complete barrier to the Path of\nTruth.  Indolence consists in giving the body more ease and sleep\nthan it requires, in procrastinating, and in shirking and neglecting\nthose things which should receive immediate attention.  This\ncondition of laziness must be overcome by rousing up the body at any\nearly hour, giving it just the amount of sleep it requires for\ncomplete recuperation, and by doing promptly and vigorously, every\ntask and duty, no matter how small, as it comes along.  On no account\nshould food or drink be taken in bed, and to lie in bed after one has\nwakened, indulging in ease and reverie, is a habit fatal to\npromptness and resolution of character, and purity of mind.  Nor\nshould one attempt to do his thinking at such a time.  Strong, pure,\nand true thinking is impossible under such circumstances.  A man\nshould go to bed to sleep, not to think.  He should get up to think\nand work, not to sleep.\n\nThe next step is the overcoming of self-indulgence, or gluttony.  The\nglutton is he who eats for animal gratification only, without\nconsidering the true end and object in eating, who eats more than his\nbody requires, and is greedy after sweet things and rich dishes.\nSuch undisciplined desire can only be overcome by reducing the\nquantity of food eaten, and the number of meals per day, and by\nresorting to a simple and uninvolved dietary.  Regular hours should\nbe set apart for meals, and eating at other times should be rigidly\navoided.  Suppers should be abolished, as they are altogether\nunnecessary, and conduce to heavy sleep and cloudiness of mind.  The\npursuit of such a method of discipline will rapidly bring the\nhitherto ungoverned appetite under control, and as the sensual sin of\nself-indulgence is taken out of the mind, the right selection of food\nwill be instinctively and infallibly adapted to the purified mental\ncondition.\n\nIt should be well borne in mind that change of heart is the needful\nthing, and that any change of diet which does not subserve this end\nis futile.  Whilst one eats for enjoyment he is gluttonous.  The\nheart must be purified of sensual craving and gustatory lust.\n\nWhen the body is well controlled and firmly guided; when that which\nis to be done is done vigorously; when no task or duty is delayed;\nwhen early rising has become a delight; when frugality, temperance,\nand abstinence are firmly established; when one is contented with the\nfood which is put before him, no matter how scant and plain, and the\ncraving for gustatory pleasure is at an end,--then are the first two\nsteps in the Higher Life accomplished; then is the first great lesson\nin Truth learned.  Thus is established in the heart the foundation of\na poised, self-governed, virtuous life.\n\nThe next lesson is the lesson of Virtuous Speech, in which are five\norderly steps.  The first step is the overcoming of slander.  Slander\nconsists in inventing or repeating evil reports about others, in\nexposing and magnifying the faults of others, or of absent friends,\nand in introducing unworthy insinuations.  The elements of\nthoughtlessness, cruelty, insincerity, and untruthfulness enter into\nevery slanderous act.  He who aims at the living of the right life\nwill commence to check the cruel word of slander before it has gone\nforth from his lips, and will then check and eliminate the insincere\nthought which gave rise to it.  He will watch himself that he does\nnot vilify any, and will refrain from disparaging and condemning the\nabsent friend, whose face he has so recently kissed, or shaken his\nhand, or smiled into his face.  He will not say of another that which\nhe dare not say to him.  Thus, coming at last to think sacredly of\nthe character and reputation of others, he will destroy those wrong\nconditions of mind which give rise to slander.\n\nThe next step is the overcoming of gossip and idle conversation.\nIdle speech consists in talking about the private affairs of others,\nin talking merely to pass away the time, and in engaging in aimless\nand irrelevant conversation.  Such an ungoverned condition of speech\nis the outcome of an ill-regulated mind.  The man of virtue will\nbridle his tongue, and thus learn how rightly to govern the mind.  He\nwill not let his tongue run idly and foolishly, but will make his\nspeech strong and pure and will either talk with a purpose or remain\nsilent.\n\nAbusive and unkind speech is the next vice to be overcome.  The man\nwho abuses and accuses others has himself wandered far from the Right\nWay.  To hurl hard words and names at others is to sink deeply into\nfolly.  When a man is inclined to abuse and condemn others, let him\nrestrain his tongue and look in upon himself.  The virtuous man\nrefrains from abuse and quarrelling, and employs only words that are\nuseful, necessary, pure, and true.\n\nThe next step is the overcoming of levity, or irreverent speech.\nLight and frivolous talking; the repeating of coarse jokes; the\ntelling of vulgar stories, having no other purpose than to raise an\nempty laugh; offensive familiarity, and the employment of\ncontemptuous and irreverent terms when speaking to or of others, and\nparticularly of one's elders and those who rank as one's teachers,\nguardians, or superiors,--all this will be put away by the lover of\nVirtue and Truth.\n\nUpon the altar of irreverence absent friends and companions are\nimmolated for the passing excitement of a momentary laugh, and all\nthe sanctity of life is sacrificed to the zest for ridicule.  When\nrespect towards others and the giving of reverence where reverence is\ndue are abandoned, Virtue is abandoned.  When modesty, gravity, and\ndignity are eliminated from speech and behavior, Truth is lost, yea,\neven its entrance gate is hidden away and forgotten.  Irreverence is\ndegrading even in the young, but when it accompanies grey hairs, and\nappears in the demeanor of the preacher,--this is indeed a piteous\nspectacle; and when this can be imitated and followed after, then are\nthe blind leading the blind, then have elders and preacher and people\nlost their way.\n\nThe virtuous man will be of grave and reverent speech; he will think\nand speak of the absent as he thinks and speaks of the dead--tenderly\nand sacredly; he will put away thoughtlessness, and watch that he\ndoes not sacrifice his dignity to gratify a passing impulse to\nlightness and frivolity.  His mirth will be pure and innocent, and\nhis voice will become subdued and musical, and his soul be filled\nwith grace and sweetness as he succeeds in conducting himself as\nbecomes a man of Truth.\n\nThe last step in the second lesson is the overcoming of captiousness,\nor fault-finding speech.  This vice of the tongue consists in\nmagnifying and harping on small or apparent faults, in foolish\nquibbling and hair-splitting, and in pursuing vain arguments based\nupon groundless suppositions, beliefs, and opinions.  Life is short\nand real, and sin and sorrow and pain are not remedied by carping and\ncontention.  The man who is ever on the watch to catch at the words\nof others in order to contradict and controvert them, has yet to\nreach the higher way of holiness, the truer life of self-surrender.\nThe man who is ever on the watch to check his own words in order to\nsoften and purify them will find the higher way and the truer life;\nhe will conserve his energies, maintain his composure of mind, and\npreserve within himself the spirit of Truth.\n\nWhen the tongue is well controlled and wisely subdued; when selfish\nimpulses and unworthy thoughts no longer rush to the tongue demanding\nutterance; when the speech has become harmless, pure, gentle,\ngracious, and purposeful, and no word is uttered but in sincerity and\ntruth,--then are the five steps in virtuous speech accomplished, then\nis the second great lesson in Truth learned and mastered.\n\nAnd now some will ask, \"But why all this discipline of the body and\nrestraint of the tongue?  Surely the Higher Life can be realized and\nknown without such strenuous labor, such incessant effort and\nwatchfulness?\"  No, it cannot.  In the spiritual as the material,\nnothing is done without labor, and the higher cannot be known until\nthe lower is fulfilled.  Can a man make a table before he has learned\nhow to handle a tool and drive a nail?  And can a man fashion his\nmind in accordance with Truth before he has overcome the slavery of\nhis body?  As the intricate subtleties of language cannot be\napprehended and wielded before the alphabet and the simplest words\nare mastered, neither can the deep subtleties of the mind be\nunderstood and purified before the ABC of right conduct is perfectly\nacquired.  As for the labor involved--does not the youth joyfully and\npatiently submit himself to a seven-years' apprenticeship in order to\nmaster a craft?  And does he not day by day carefully and faithfully\ncarry out every detail of his master's instructions, looking forward\nto the time when, perfected through obedience and practice, he shall\nbe himself a master?  Where is the man who sincerely aims at\nexcellence in music, painting, literature, in any trade, business, or\nprofession who is not willing to give his whole life to the\nacquirement of his particular perfection?  Shall labor, then, be\nconsidered where the very highest excellence is concerned--the\nexcellence of Truth?  He who says, \"The Path which you point out is\ntoo difficult; I must have Truth without labor, salvation without\neffort,\" that man will not find his way out of the confusions and\nsufferings of self-hood; he will not find the calm and well-fortified\nmind and the wisely ordered life.  His love is for ease and\nenjoyment, and not for Truth.  He who, deep in his heart, adores\nTruth, and aspires to know it, will consider no labor too great to be\nundertaken, but will adopt it joyfully and pursue it patiently, and\nby perseverance in practice he will come to the knowledge of Truth.\n\nThe necessity for this preliminary discipline of the body and tongue\nwill be the more clearly perceived when it is fully understood that\nall these wrong outward conditions are merely the expressions of\nwrong conditions of heart.  An indolent body means an indolent mind;\nan ill-regulated tongue reveals an ill-regulated mind, and the\nprocess of remedying the manifested condition is really a method of\nrectifying the inward state.  Moreover, the overcoming of these\nconditions is only a small part of what is really involved in the\nprocess.  The ceasing from evil leads to, and is inseparably\nconnected with, the practice of good.  While a man is overcoming\nindolence and self-indulgence, he is really cultivating and\ndeveloping the virtues of abstinence, temperance, punctuality, and\nself-denial, and is acquiring that strength, energy, and resolution\nwhich are indispensable to the successful accomplishment of the\nhigher tasks.  While he is overcoming the vices of speech, he is\ndeveloping the virtues of truthfulness, sincerity, reverence,\nkindliness, and self-control, and is gaining that mental steadiness\nand fixedness of purpose, without which the remoter subtleties of the\nmind cannot be regulated, and the higher stages of conduct and\nenlightenment cannot be reached.  Also, as he has to do right, his\nknowledge deepens, and his insight is intensified, and as the child's\nheart is glad when his school task is mastered, so with each victory\nachieved, the man of virtue experiences a bliss which the seeker\nafter pleasure and excitement can never know.\n\nAnd now we come to the third lesson in the Higher Life, which\nconsists in practising and mastering, in one's daily life, three\ngreat fundamental Virtues--(1) Unselfish Performance of Duty; (2)\nUnswerving Rectitude; and (3) Unlimited Forgiveness.  Having prepared\nthe mind by overcoming the more surface and chaotic conditions\nmentioned in the two first lessons, the striver after Virtue and\nTruth is now ready to enter upon greater and more difficult tasks,\nand to control and purify the deeper motives of the heart.  Without\nthe right performance of duty, the higher virtues cannot be known,\nand Truth cannot be apprehended.  Duty is generally regarded as an\nirksome labor, a compulsory something which must be toiled through,\nor be in some way circumvented.  This way of regarding Duty proceeds\nfrom a selfish condition of mind, and a wrong understanding of life.\nAll duty should be regarded as sacred, and its faithful and unselfish\nperformance one of the leading rules of conduct.  All personal and\nselfish considerations should be extracted and cast away from the\ndoing of one's duty, and when this is done, Duty ceases to be\nirksome, and becomes joyful.  Duty is only irksome to him who craves\nsome selfish enjoyment or benefit for himself.  Let the man who is\nchafing under the irksomeness of his duty look to himself, and he\nwill find that his wearisomeness proceeds, not from the duty itself,\nbut from his selfish desire to escape it.  He who neglects duty, be\nit great or small, or of a public or private nature, neglects Virtue;\nhe who in his heart rebels against Duty, rebels against Virtue.  When\nDuty has become a thing of love, and when every particular duty is\ndone accurately, faithfully, and dispassionately, there is much\nsubtle selfishness removed from the heart, and a great step is taken\ntowards the heights of Truth.  The virtuous man concentrates his mind\non the perfect doing of his own duty, and does not interfere with the\nduty of another.\n\nThe second step in the third lesson is the practice of Unswerving\nRectitude.  This Virtue must be firmly established in the mind, and\nso enter into every detail of man's life.  All dishonesty, deception,\ntrickery, and misrepresentation must be for ever put away, and the\nheart be purged of every vestige of insincerity and subterfuge.  The\nleast swerving from the path of rectitude is a deviation from Virtue.\nThere must be no extravagance and exaggeration of speech, but the\nsimple truth should be stated.  Engaging in deception, no matter how\napparently insignificant, for vain-glory, or with the hope of\npersonal advantage, is a state of delusion which one should make\nefforts to dispel.  It is demanded of the man of Virtue that he shall\nnot only practice the most rigid honesty in thought, word, and deed,\nbut that he shall be exact in his statements, omitting and adding\nnothing to the actual truth.  In thus shaping his mind to the\nprinciple of Rectitude, he will gradually come to deal with people\nand things in a just and impartial spirit, considering equity before\nhimself, and viewing all things with freedom from personal bias,\npassion, and prejudice.  When the Virtue of Rectitude is fully\npractised, acquired, and comprehended, so that all temptation to\nuntruthfulness and insincerity has ceased, then is the heart made\npurer and nobler, then is character strengthened, and knowledge\nenlarged, and life takes on a new meaning and a new power.  Thus is\nthe second step accomplished.\n\nThe third step is the practice of Unlimited Forgiveness.  This\nconsists in overcoming the sense of injury which springs from vanity,\nselfishness, and pride; and in exercising disinterested charity and\nlarge-heartedness towards all.  Spite, retaliation, and revenge are\nso utterly ignoble, and so small and foolish, as to be altogether\nunworthy of being noticed or harbored.  No one who fosters such\nconditions in his heart can lift himself above folly and suffering,\nand guide his life aright.  Only by casting them away, and ceasing to\nbe moved by them, can a man's eyes be opened to the true way in life;\nonly by developing a forgiving and charitable spirit can he hope to\napproach and perceive the strength and beauty of a well-ordered life.\nIn the heart of the strongly virtuous man no feeling of personal\ninjury can arise; he has put away all retaliation, and has no\nenemies; and if men should constitute themselves his enemies, he will\nregard them kindly, understanding their ignorance, and making full\nallowance for it.  When this state of heart is arrived at, then is\nthe third step in the discipline of one's self-seeking inclinations\naccomplished; then is the third great lesson in Virtue and Knowledge\nlearned and mastered.\n\nHaving thus laid down the first ten steps and three lessons in\nright-doing and right-knowing, I leave those of my readers who are\nprepared for them to learn and master them in their everyday life.\nThere is, of course, a still higher discipline of the body, a more\nfar-reaching discipline of the tongue, and greater and more\nall-embracing virtues to acquire and understand before the highest\nstate of bliss and knowledge can be apprehended, but it is not my\npurpose to deal with them here.  I have expounded only the first and\neasiest lessons on the Higher Path, and by the time these are\nthoroughly mastered, the reader will have become so purified,\nstrengthened, and enlightened, that he will not be left in the dark\nas to his future progress.  Those of my readers who have completed\nthese three lessons will already have perceived, beyond and above,\nthe high altitudes of Truth, and the narrow and precipitous track\nwhich leads to them, and will choose whether they shall proceed.\n\nThe straight Path which I have laid down can be pursued by all with\ngreater profit to themselves and to the world, and even those who do\nnot aspire to the attainment of Truth, will develop greater\nintellectual and moral strength, finer judgment, and deeper peace of\nmind by perfecting themselves in this Path.  Nor will their material\nprosperity suffer by this change of heart; nay, it will be rendered\ntruer, purer, and more enduring, for if there is one who is capable\nof succeeding and fitted to achieve, it is the man who has abandoned\nthe petty dissipations and everyday vices of his kind, who is strong\nto rule his body and his mind, and who pursues with fixed resolve the\npath of unswerving integrity and sterling virtue.\n\n\n\n\nMENTAL CONDITIONS AND THEIR EFFECTS\n\nWithout going into the details of the greater steps and lessons in\nthe right life (a task outside the scope of this small work) a few\nhints and statements concerning those mental conditions from which\nlife in its totality springs, will prove helpful to those who are\nready and willing to penetrate further into that inner realm of heart\nand mind where Love and Wisdom and Peace await the strenuous comer.\n\nAll sin is ignorance.  It is a condition of darkness and\nundevelopment.  The wrong-thinker and wrong-doer is in the same\nposition in the school of life as is the ignorant pupil in the school\nof learning.  He has yet to learn how to think and act correctly,\nthat is, in accordance with Law.  The pupil in learning is not happy\nso long as he does his lessons wrongly, and unhappiness cannot be\nescaped while sin remains unconquered.\n\nLife is a series of lessons.  Some are diligent in learning them, and\nthey become pure, wise, and altogether happy.  Others are negligent,\nand do not apply themselves, and they remain impure, foolish, and\nunhappy.\n\nEvery form of unhappiness springs from a wrong condition of mind.\nHappiness inheres in right conditions of mind.  Happiness is mental\nharmony; unhappiness is mental inharmony.  While a man lives in wrong\nconditions of mind, he will live a wrong life, and will suffer\ncontinually.  Suffering is rooted in error.  Bliss inheres in\nenlightenment.  There is salvation for man only in the destruction of\nhis own ignorance, error, and self-delusion.  Where there are wrong\nconditions of mind there is bondage and unrest; where there are right\nconditions of mind there is freedom and peace.\n\nHere are some of the leading wrong mental conditions and their\ndisastrous effects upon the life:--\n\n\n  WRONG MENTAL            THEIR EFFECTS.\n    CONDITIONS.\n\n  Hatred.                 Injury, violence, disaster, and\n                            suffering.\n\n  Lust.                   Confusion of intellect, remorse,\n                            shame, and wretchedness.\n\n  Covetousness.           Fear, unrest, unhappiness, and loss.\n\n  Pride.                  Disappointment, chagrin, lack of\n                            self-knowledge.\n\n  Vanity.                 Distress, and mortification of spirit.\n\n  Condemnation.           Persecution, hatred from others.\n\n  Ill-will.               Failures and troubles.\n\n  Self-indulgence.        Misery, loss of judgment, grossness,\n                            disease, and neglect.\n\n  Anger.                  Loss of power and influence.\n\n  Desire, or              Grief, folly, sorrow, uncertainty, and\n    Self-slavery.           loneliness.\n\n\nThe above wrong conditions of mind are merely negations; they are\nstates of darkness and deprivation and not of positive power.  Evil\nis not a power; it is ignorance and misuse of good.  The hater is he\nwho has failed to do the lesson of Love correctly, and he suffers in\nconsequence.  When he succeeds in doing it rightly, the hatred will\nhave disappeared, and he will see and understand the darkness and\nimpotence of hatred.  It is so with every wrong condition.\n\nThe following are some of the more important right mental conditions\nand their beneficent effects upon the life:--\n\n\n  RIGHT MENTAL          THEIR EFFECTS.\n    CONDITIONS.\n\n  Love.                 Gentle conditions, bliss, and blessedness\n\n  Purity.               Intellectual clearness, joy, invincible\n                          confidence.\n\n  Selflessness.         Courage, satisfaction, happiness, and\n                          plenty.\n\n  Humility.             Calmness, restfulness, knowledge of\n                          Truth.\n\n  Meekness.             Equipoise, contentment under all\n                          circumstances.\n\n  Compassion.           Protection, love and reverence from\n                          others.\n\n  Goodwill.             Gladness and success.\n\n  Self-control.         Peace of mind, true judgment,\n                          refinement, health, and honor.\n\n  Patience.             Mental power, far-reaching influence.\n\n  Self-conquest.        Enlightenment, wisdom, insight, and\n                          profound peace.\n\n\nThe above right conditions of mind are states of positive power, of\nlight, of joyful possession, and of knowledge.  The good man knows.\nHe has learned to do his lessons correctly, and thereby understands\nthe exact proportions which make up the sum of life.  He is\nenlightened, and knows good and evil.  He is supremely happy, doing\nonly that which is divinely right.\n\nThe man who is involved in the wrong conditions of mind, does not\nknow.  He is ignorant of good and evil, of himself, of the inward\ncauses which make his life.  He is unhappy, and believes other people\nare entirely the cause of his unhappiness.  He works blindly, and\nlives in darkness, seeing no central purpose in existence, and no\norderly and lawful sequence in the course of things.\n\nHe who aspires to the attainment of the Higher Life in its\ncompletion--who would perceive with unveiled vision the true order of\nthings and the meaning of life--let him abandon all the wrong\nconditions of heart, and persevere unceasingly in the practice of the\ngood.  If he suffers, or doubts, or is unhappy, let him search within\nuntil he finds the cause, and having found it, let him cast it away.\nLet him so guard and purify his heart that every day less of evil and\nmore of good shall issue therefrom; so will he daily become stronger,\nnobler, wiser; so will his blessedness increase, and the Light of\nTruth, growing ever brighter and brighter within him, will dispel all\ngloom, and illuminate his Pathway.\n\n\n\n\nEXHORTATION\n\nDisciples of Truth, lovers of Virtue, seekers of Wisdom; ye, also,\nwho are sorrow stricken, knowing the emptiness of the self-life, and\nwho aspire to the life that is supremely beautiful, and serenely\nglad,--take now yourselves in hand, enter the Door of Discipline, and\nknow the Better Life.\n\nPut away self-delusion; behold yourself as you are, and see the Path\nof Virtue as it is.  There is no lazy way to Truth.  He who would\nstand upon the mountain's summit must strenuously climb, and must\nrest only to gather strength.  But if the climbing is less glorious\nthan the cloudless summit, it is still glorious.  Discipline in\nitself is beautiful, and the end of discipline is sweet.\n\nRise early and meditate.  Begin each day with a conquered body, and a\nmind fortified against error and weakness.  Temptation will never be\novercome by unprepared fighting.  The mind must be armed and arrayed\nin the silent hour.  It must be trained to perceive, to know, to\nunderstand.  Sin and temptation disappear when right understanding is\ndeveloped.\n\nRight understanding is reached through unabated discipline.  Truth\ncannot be reached but through discipline.  Patience will increase by\neffort and practice, and patience will make discipline beautiful.\n\nDiscipline is irksome to the impatient man and the self-lover, so he\navoids it, and continues to live loosely and confusedly.\n\nDiscipline is not irksome to the Truth-lover, and he will find the\ninfinite patience which can wait and work and overcome.  As the joy\nof the gardener who sees his flowers develop day by day, so is the\njoy of the man of discipline who sees the divine flowers of Purity,\nWisdom, Compassion, and Love, grow up in his heart.\n\nThe loose-liver cannot escape sorrow and pain.  The undisciplined\nmind falls, weak and helpless, before the fierce onslaught of passion.\n\nArray well your mind, then, lover of Truth.  Be watchful, thoughtful,\nresolute.  Your salvation is at hand; your readiness and effort are\nall that are needed.  If you should fail ten times, do not be\ndisheartened; if you should fail a hundred times, rise up and pursue\nyour way; if you should fail a thousand times, do not despair.  When\nthe right Path is entered, success is sure if the Path is not utterly\nabandoned.\n\nFirst strife, and then victory.  First labor, and then rest.  First\nweakness, and then strength.  In the beginning the lower life, and\nthe glare and confusion of battle, and at the end the Life Beautiful,\nthe Silence, and the Peace.\n\n\n\n\n  _BOOKS BY_\n\n  HENRY FRANK\n\n  The Mastery of Mind\n  The Kingdom of Love\n  The Shrine of Silence\n  The Triumph of Truth, or The Doom of Dogma\n\n\n\n\n  Books by\n\n  FLOYD B. WILSON\n\n  Paths to Power\n  Man Limitless\n  Thro' Silence to Realization\n  The Discovery of the Soul\n\n\n\n\n  _BOOKS BY_\n\n  JAMES ALLEN\n\n  As a Man Thinketh\n  Out from the Heart\n  The Heavenly Life\n  Entering the Kingdom\n  The Way of Peace\n  The Path of Prosperity\n\n\n\n  R. F. FENNO & COMPANY\n  18 EAST SEVENTEENTH ST., NEW YORK","title":"Out from the heart","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":7561}