James Allen

The teaching

Taught from his own books, above all As a Man Thinketh (1903), From Poverty to Power (1901) and Eight Pillars of Prosperity.

As he thinketh in his heart

Allen takes his text from Proverbs: as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. A person is literally what he thinks, his character the complete sum of all his thoughts. As the plant springs from the seed, every act springs from the hidden seeds of thought; act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits. Cause and effect are as absolute in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of things, so a noble character is no gift of favour or chance but the natural result of long effort in right thinking, and a base one the result of long-harboured base thoughts. Mind, in his phrase, is the master-weaver, both of the inner garment of character and the outer garment of circumstance.

Even in weakness a person is master, though a foolish master who misgoverns his household. He becomes the wise master by discovering the laws of thought within himself, and that is a matter of practice: to watch, control and alter his thoughts, and to trace their effects on himself, on others and on his life, using every experience, however trivial, as a means of knowing himself.

The garden of the mind

The mind is a garden, which may be cultivated or allowed to run wild; but cultivated or neglected, it must bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, weed seeds will fall there and produce their kind. So a person tends the garden of the mind as a gardener tends a plot: weeding out wrong, useless and impure thoughts, and growing toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful and pure ones.

Circumstance

The outer conditions of a life are always found to be in harmony with the inner state. This does not mean that circumstances show a person's whole character at any moment, but that they are bound to some vital element of thought within, and are needed, for the time being, for that person's growth: everyone is where they are so that they may learn, and when the lesson a circumstance holds has been learned, it passes and gives way to another. Men do not attract that which they want, he writes, but that which they are. Not what a person wishes and prays for comes to them, but what they justly earn.

Hence his charge against those who fight their circumstances: they revolt against an effect outside while nourishing its cause in their hearts. People are anxious to improve their circumstances but unwilling to improve themselves, and so they remain bound. Even the one whose only aim is wealth must make great personal sacrifices to win it; how much more the one who would build a strong and balanced life.

Thought and purpose

Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment. Most people let the bark of thought drift, and aimlessness, in his teaching, is a vice. A person should conceive a legitimate purpose, spiritual or worldly as their nature then is, make it the centre of their thoughts, and give themselves to it without wandering off into passing fancies. Even if they fail again and again, the strength of character gained is the measure of their true success. Those not yet ready for a great purpose should fix their thoughts on doing their present duty faultlessly, however small it seems, for that is how the strength for larger purposes is built. Doubt and fear are the great enemies of knowledge, and he who has conquered them has conquered failure.

The body and the mind

The body, he teaches, is the servant of the mind. Fear and anxiety lay it open to illness, and strong, pure and happy thoughts build it up in vigour and grace; a change of diet, he says, will not help one who will not change his thoughts. He gives this as a law of thought; the house gives it as his belief, adds that no one is to blame for an illness, and leaves illness to a doctor.

Visions and ideals

The dreamers are the saviours of the world. Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet and sage are the makers of the after-world, and humanity lives on the visions of its solitary dreamers. So he tells his reader to cherish their visions and ideals, the music that stirs in the heart and the beauty that forms in the mind, for out of them, kept faithfully, the conditions of a life grow: a person becomes as small as the controlling desire, or as great as the dominant aspiration.

Meditation

From Poverty to Power teaches meditation as the intense dwelling in thought on an idea or theme, with the object of thoroughly comprehending it. Whatever a person constantly meditates on, they come to understand and also grow into its likeness, so the object must be above and not below: dwelling on the selfish makes a person selfish, and dwelling on the pure makes them pure. Meditation is not idle reverie but searching and uncompromising thought.

Set apart a time and keep it sacred; the best is the very early morning, when the passions are quiet and the mind restful. If work forbids it, give an hour at night, or turn the thoughts upward in the intervals of work. Begin by meditating on yourself, questioning your motives, thoughts and acts against your ideal; if you are given to anger, meditate on gentleness and forgiveness until you begin to live in them.

Serenity and the eight pillars

Calmness of mind, he writes, is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom, the fruit of long and patient self-control. The calm person, having learned to govern himself, knows how to adapt himself to others, and is like a shade-giving tree in a thirsty land or a sheltering rock in a storm. As a Man Thinketh closes on three short sentences: self-control is strength; right thought is mastery; calmness is power.

Eight Pillars of Prosperity names the virtues on which a lasting prosperity stands: energy, economy, integrity, system, sympathy, sincerity, impartiality and self-reliance. Prosperity in this teaching is first of all a moral thing, a life built well, and the money that may come with it is a lesser part.