WHEN
I say that you do not have to drive sharp bargains, I do not mean that you do
not have to drive any bargains at all, or that you are above the necessity for
having any dealings with your fellow men. I mean that you will not need to deal
with them unfairly; you do not have to get something for nothing, but can give to every man
more than you take from him.
You
cannot give every man more in cash market value than you take from him, but you
can give him more in use value than the cash value of the thing you take from
him. The paper, ink, and other material in this book may not be worth the money
you pay for it; but if the ideas suggested by it bring you thousands of
dollars, you have not been wronged by those who sold it to you; they have given
you a great use value for a small cash value.
Let
us suppose that I own a picture by one of the great artists, which, in any
civilized community, is worth thousands of dollars. I take it to Baffin Ray,
and by "salesmanship" induce an Eskimo to give a bundle of furs worth
$500 for it. I have really wronged him, for he has no use for the picture; it
has no use value to him; it will not add to his life.
But
suppose I give him a gun worth $50 for his furs; then he has made a good
bargain. He has use for the gun; it will get him many more furs and much food;
it will add to his life in every way; it will make him rich.
When
you rise from the competitive to the creative plane, you can scan your business
transactions very strictly, and if you are selling any man anything which does
not add more to his life than the thing he gave you in exchange, you can afford
to stop it. You do not have to beat anybody in business. And if you are in a
business which does beat people, get out of it at once.
Give
every man more in use value than you take from him in cash value; then you are
adding to the life of the world by every business transaction.
If
you have people working for you, you must take from them more in cash value
than you pay them in wages; but you can so organize your business that it will
be filled with the principle of advancement, and so that each employee who
wishes to do so may advance a little every day.
You
can make your business do for your employees what this book is doing for you.
You can so conduct your business that it will be a sort of ladder, by which
every employee who will take the trouble may climb to riches himself; and given
the opportunity, if he will not do so it is not your fault.
And
finally, because you are to cause the creation of your riches from Formless
Substance which permeates all your environment, it does not follow that they
are to take shape from the atmosphere and come into being before your eyes.
If
you want a sewing machine, for instance, I do not mean to tell you that you are
to impress the thought of a sewing machine on Thinking Substance until the
machine is formed without hands, in the room where you sit, or elsewhere. But
if you want a sewing machine, hold the mental image of it with the most
positive certainty that it is being made, or is on its way to you. After once
forming the thought, have the most absolute and unquestioning faith that the
sewing machine is coming; never think of it, or speak, of it, in any other way
than as being sure to arrive. Claim it as already yours.
It
will be brought to you by the power of the Supreme Intelligence, acting upon
the minds of men. If you live in Maine, it may
be that a man will be brought from Texas or Japan to engage
in some transaction which will result in your getting what you want.
If
so, the whole matter will be as much to that man's advantage as it is to yours.
Do
not forget for a moment that the Thinking Substance is through all, in all, communicating
with all, and can influence all. The desire of Thinking Substance for fuller
life and better living has caused the creation of all the sewing machines
already made; and it can cause the creation of millions more, and will,
whenever men set it in motion by desire and faith, and by acting in a Certain
Way.
You
can certainly have a sewing machine in your house; and it is just as certain
that you can have any other thing or things which you want, and which you will
use for the advancement of your own life and the lives of others.
You
need not hesitate about asking largely; "it is your Father's pleasure to
give you the kingdom," said Jesus.
Original
Substance wants to live all that is possible in you, and wants you to have all
that you can or will use for the living of the most abundant life.
If
you fix upon your consciousness the fact that the desire you feel for the
possession of riches is one with the desire of Omnipotence for more complete
expression, your faith becomes invincible.
Once
I saw a little boy sitting at a piano, and vainly trying to bring harmony out
of the keys; and I saw that he was grieved and provoked by his inability to
play real music. I asked him the cause of his vexation, and he answered,
"I can feel the music in me, but I can't make my hands go right." The
music in him was the URGE of Original Substance, containing all the
possibilities of all life; all that there is of music was seeking expression
through the child.
God,
the One Substance, is trying to live and do and enjoy things through humanity.
He is saying "I want hands to build wonderful structures, to play divine
harmonies, to paint glorious pictures; I want feet to run my errands, eyes to
see my beauties, tongues to tell mighty truths and to sing marvelous songs,"
and so on.
All
that there is of possibility is seeking expression through men. God wants those
who can play music to have pianos and every other instrument, and to have the
means to cultivate their talents to the fullest extent; He wants those who can
appreciate beauty to be able to surround themselves with beautiful things; He
wants those who can discern truth to have every opportunity to travel and
observe; He wants those who can appreciate dress to be beautifully clothed, and
those who can appreciate good food to be luxuriously fed.
He
wants all these things because it is Himself that enjoys and appreciates them;
it is God who wants to play, and sing, and enjoy beauty, and proclaim truth and
wear fine clothes, and eat good foods. "It is God that worketh in you to
will and to do," said Paul.
The
desire you feel for riches is the infinite, seeking to express Himself in you
as He sought to find expression in the little boy at the piano.
So
you need not hesitate to ask largely.
Your
part is to focalize and express the desire to God.
This
is a difficult point with most people; they retain something of the old idea
that poverty and self-sacrifice are pleasing to God. They look upon poverty as
a part of the plan, a necessity of nature. They have the idea that God has
finished His work, and made all that He can make, and that the majority of men
must stay poor because there is not enough to go around. They hold to so much
of this erroneous thought that they feel ashamed to ask for wealth; they try
not to want more than a very modest competence, just enough to make them fairly
comfortable.
I
recall now the case of one student who was told that he must get in mind a
clear picture of the things he desired, so that the creative thought of them
might be impressed on Formless Substance. He was a very poor man, living in a
rented house, and having only what he earned from day to day; and he could not
grasp the fact that all wealth was his. So, after thinking the matter over, he
decided that he might reasonably ask for a new rug for the floor of his best
room, and an anthracite coal stove to heat the house during the cold weather.
Following the instructions given in this book, he obtained these things in a
few months; and then it dawned upon him that he had not asked enough. He went
through the house in which he lived, and planned all the improvements he would
like to make in it; he mentally added a bay window here and a room there, until
it was complete in his mind as his ideal home; and then he planned its
furnishings.
Holding
the whole picture in his mind, he began living in the Certain Way, and moving
toward what he wanted; and he owns the house now, and is rebuilding it after
the form of his mental image. And now, with still larger faith, he is going on
to get greater things. It has been unto him according to his faith, and it is
so with you and with all of us.