BY
RALPH WALDO TRINE
AUTHOR OF "IN TUNE WITH THE INFINITE," ETC.
LONDON
G. BELL AND SONS, LTD.
1933
First published May 1918
Reprinted November 1918.
Reprinted 1919, 1923, 1927, 1933.
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD.
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, GLASGOW
We are all dwellers in two kingdoms,the inner kingdom, the kingdom of the mindand spirit, and the outer kingdom, that of thebody and the physical universe about us. Inthe former, the kingdom of the unseen, liethe silent, subtle forces that are continuallydetermining, and with exact precision, theconditions of the latter.
To strike the right balance in life is one ofthe supreme essentials of all successful living.We must work, for we must have bread. Werequire other things than bread. They arenot only valuable, comfortable, but necessary.It is a dumb, stolid being, however, who doesnot realize that life consists of more thanthese. They spell mere existence, not abundance,fullness of life.
We can become so absorbed in making aliving that we have no time for living. To becapable and efficient in one's work is a splendidthing; but efficiency can be made a greatmechanical device that robs life of far morethan it returns it. A nation can become sopossessed, and even obsessed, with the idea of[Pg 6]power and grandeur through efficiency andorganisation, that it becomes a great machineand robs its people of the finer fruits of lifethat spring from a wisely subordinated andcoordinated individuality. Here again it isthe wise balance that determines all.
Our prevailing thoughts and emotions determine,and with absolute accuracy, the prevailingconditions of our outward, material life,and likewise the prevailing conditions of ourbodily life. Would we have any conditionsdifferent in the latter we must then make thenecessary changes in the former. The silent,subtle forces of mind and spirit, ceaselesslyat work, are continually moulding these outwardand these bodily conditions.
He makes a fundamental error who thinksthat these are mere sentimental things in life,vague and intangible. They are, as great numbersare now realising, the great and elementalthings in life, the only things that in the endreally count. The normal man or woman cannever find real and abiding satisfaction in themere possessions, the mere accessories of life.There is an eternal something within thatforbids it. That is the reason why, of lateyears, so many of our big men of affairs, somany in various public walks in life, likewisemany women of splendid equipment and withlarge possessions, have been and are turning[Pg 7]so eagerly to the very things we are considering.To be a mere huckster, many of our bigmen are finding, cannot bring satisfaction, eventhough his operations run into millions in theyear.
And happy is the young man or the youngwoman who, while the bulk of life still liesahead, realises that it is the things of themind and the spirit—the fundamental thingsin life—that really count; that here lie theforces that are to be understood and to beused in moulding the everyday conditionsand affairs of life; that the springs of life areall from within, that as is the inner so alwaysand inevitably will be the outer.
To present certain facts that may be conduciveto the realisation of this m