The Master Mind

scattered or sporadic thought with which the mind usually occupies itself when not concentrated on any definite work is what may be called self-thought—thought of a kind that dwells on and exaggerates the sense of self. This is hardly realized in its full degree until the effort is made to suppress it; and one of the most excellent results of such an effort is that, with the stilling of all the phantoms that hover around the lower self, one’s relations to others, to one’s friends, to the world at large, and one’s perceptions of all that is concerned in these relations, emerge into a purity and distinctness unknown before. Obviously, when the mind is full of little desires and fears that concern the local self, and is clouded over by the thought-images that such desires and fears evoke, it is impossible for it to see and understand the greater facts beyond, and its own relation to them. But with the subsiding of the former, the great vision begins to dawn; and a man never feels less alone than when he has ceased to think whether he is alone or not.”

From the above, the reader may get a general idea of what we mean when we speak of the Master Mind. But, as we proceed with the unfolding of the general idea upon which this book is based, the reader will catch the spirit of the idea in a way impossible for him now, when the subject has been presented merely in its general aspects. There are so many angles of viewpoint, and so many varied applications of the general principle involved, that it is necessary for the careful student of the subject to understand the many details of the presentation before he can expect to "catch the spirit of it," at least to the extent of being able to put into actual practice the working method which will be