INFINITE LIFE AND POWER.

INFINITE LIFE AND POWER.

Man possesses, did he but know it, illimitable Power. [1] This Power

is of the Spirit, therefore, it is unconquerable. It is not the power

of the ordinary life, or finite will, or human mind. It transcends

these, because, being spiritual, it is of a higher order than either

physical or even mental. This Power lies dormant, and is hidden within

man until he is sufficiently evolved and unfolded to be entrusted

with its use.

[1] The powers of the sub-conscious mind are dealt with in other

chapters. The Powers of the Spirit are far greater and finer

than those of the sub-conscious mind.

Thought is a spiritual power of tremendous potency, but this is not

the power of which we speak. By thought, man can either raise himself

up and connect himself with the "Power House" of the Universe, or

cut himself off entirely from the Divine Inflow. His thought is his

greatest weapon, because, by it he can either draw on the Infinite

or sever himself (in consciousness, but not in reality) from his

Divine Source.

Through the Divine Spark within him, which is really his real Self,

man is connected with the Infinite. Divine Life and Power are his,

if he _realizes_ that they are his. So long as he is ignorant of his

oneness with the Divine Source of all life, he is incapable of

appropriating the power that is really his. If, however, he enters

into this inner knowledge, he finds himself the possessor of infinite

power and unlimited resources.

This Power, then, is God's, yet it is also man's, but it is not

revealed to him until he is fit to be entrusted with it. It is only

when man realizes his oneness with his Divine Source that he becomes

filled with Its power. Many teachers and initiates lament the fact

that certain secrets are being spread broadcast to-day; secrets that,

in the past, were kept closely guarded. They fear that unillumined

and un-evolved people may make destructive use of spiritual power.

This, to the writer, appears to be improbable. It is true that strong

personalities, who have a great belief in their own power to achieve

and succeed, draw unconsciously on hidden powers, and thus are able

to raise themselves high above their fellows. The use, however, that

they can make of spiritual power for base purposes is limited, and

is not to be feared. There are others, of course, who are misusing

their powers. These are black magicians, and while they may do a

certain amount of harm, they become reduced, ultimately, to beggary

and impotence. There are also others who spend the whole of their

spare time searching for knowledge of this very subject. They read

every occult book they can lay hands on, but they never find that

for which they seek. There are spiritual powers and influences that

withhold the eyes of the seekers from seeing, until they are ready

for the revelation. When man, in his search for Truth, has given up

all selfish striving after unworthy things, and has ceased to use

his self-will in conflict with the greater Will of the Whole, he is

ready for the revelation of his oneness with the Infinite. Yielding

implicitly to the Will of the Whole may seem, to the unillumined,

an act of weakness, yet it is the entrance to a life of almost

boundless power.

Man is not separate from his Divine Source and never has been. He

is, in reality, one with the Infinite. The separation which he feels

and experiences is mental, and is due to his blindness and unbelief.

Man can never be separated from Spirit, for he himself is Spirit.

He is an integral part of one complete whole. He lives and moves and

has his being in God (Universal, Omnipresent Spirit), and God (Spirit)

dwells in him. The majority of people are unaware of this intimate

relationship with the Divine, and, because they are unaware, or

because they refuse to believe it, they are, in one sense, separated

from the inner life of God. Yet this separation is only in their

thoughts and beliefs, and not in reality. Man is not separated and

never can be, yet so long as he believes that he is separate and

alone, he will be as weak and helpless as though he actually were.

As soon as man realizes the truth of his relationship to the Infinite,

he passes from weakness to power, from death unto life. One moment

he is in the desert, afar off, weak, separate, and alone; the next,

he realizes that he is nothing less than a son of God, with all a

son's privileges and powers. He realizes, in a flash, that he is one

with his Divine Source, and that he can never be separated. He awakens

also to the fact that all the Power of the Infinite is his to draw

upon; that he can never really fail, that he is marching on to

victory.

It will thus be seen how great is the power of man's thought. While

thought is not the power of the Spirit, it is the power by which man

either connects himself up with the Infinite Power, opening himself

to the Divine Inflow, or cuts himself off and separates himself from

his Spiritual Source. Thus, in a sense, man is what he thinks he is.

If he thinks he is separate from God and cut off from His Power, then

it is as though this were really the case, and he is just as impotent

and miserable as though he actually existed apart from God. On the

other hand, if he thinks and believes that he is one with the

Infinite, he finds that it is gloriously true, and that he is really

a son of God. If he believes and thinks that he is a mere material

being, then he lives the limited life of a material being, and is

never able to rise above it. But if, on the contrary, he thinks and

believes that he is a spiritual being, then he finds that he possesses

all the powers of a spiritual being.

Again, if he thinks that his work is difficult and that he is not

equal to his tasks, he finds that really his tasks are difficult and

beyond his powers. Yet on the other hand, if he believes his work

is easy, or, at any rate, within his powers, he finds that such is

the case, and that he can do his work with ease.

The power within is infinite, for, by faith in it, man is directly

"coupled up" with the Spiritual Power of the Universe. The Divine

Spark within him connects him to the Sacred Flame, thus making him

potentially a god in the making.

A change then, must take place within man before he can enter into

his Divine inheritance. He must learn to think after the Spirit,

_i.e._, as a spiritual being, instead of after the flesh, _i.e._,

as a material creature. Like the prodigal son he must "come to

himself," and leave the husks and the swine in the far country,

returning to his Father's house, where there is bread (of life)

enough and to spare. "Within You is the Power" -- Henry Thomas Hamblin