"It is only to man, daring to think of himself noble, divinely, ay, as the son of God, that there comes the possibility of putting his human powers to their perfect use. Character and service both fling their doors wide open to him that knows himself to be the son of God." - Phillips Brooks.

"The glorious consummation toward which organic evolution is tending is the production of the highest and most perfect psychical life." - John Fiske.

"My mind to me a kingdom is." - Epictetus.

For many years man has been studying the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms; but in all his investigations he has overlooked what is greater than all else - man himself. The most important pursuit in all this world is the study of man. It will repay the diligent student far more than any other line of research. "Know thyself," said a wise man in ancient times; and he might have added, "you will know all other people; you will know all else, because in this human mind - in this soul of ours - is contained everything to be found in the outer world."

To know ourselves the investigation must be carried on in a manner quite different from that governing all other lines of study. To know ourselves as we are we must set aside pride of self, we must examine into everything carefully and minutely. We need to know the cause of all man's varying emotions and the motives that prompt him to follow certain courses - such as shutting his mind to certain thoughts and events and opening it to others. In the past we believed what we wished to believe, without regard to its truth. A certain body of men had promulgated certain doctrines, and we took them for granted; we accepted them as the truth without investigation. Our ministers and our doctors have done our thinking for us. But this condition is rapidly passing away, and each individual soul is beginning to think and act for itself, The trammels that hitherto have bound the soul are being thrown aside.

In the study of man, a careful, thoughtful inquiry into the matter by oneself is necessary - not taking anything that others say as the indisputable truth, but investigating and seeing whether another's idea of truth appeals to the inquirer's highest sense of right, and whether it will prove beneficial if accepted.

The idea of storing up something for the future is exploded. What we want is health, strength, and happiness, here and now. The idea of going through the world with a long face, thinking it indicates religion, no longer passes current. The religion of Christ is a religion of hope, not despair; yet the majority of Christians carry about on their faces the opposites of brightness and happiness. We must investigate in the true way. Through the exercise of soul and mind and body the whole man grows strong and attains to true self-knowledge.

It is largely through the wonderful control of thought and breath that the Hindu adepts perform many of their remarkable feats. Indeed, the wonders transpiring every day, strange as they appear, are but trifling in comparison to those that will yet be disclosed through the human mind. We do not even dream in the present of the powers and possibilities of mind. We have power in our own souls to transform our bodies; to quicken the action of the heart and the blood; to strengthen every part of the body; and so to increase in knowledge of things good and true that ere long we may absolutely control our bodies.

Knowledge of the law and its application are essential to a thoroughly controlled, powerful life. There is a real science of life, one by which the mind is renewed, quickened and made strong. This renewing of the mind is in turn fully exprest in physical well-being. If we will carefully and thoughtfully examine into these matters, and then live in accordance with our knowledge, there is not one among us who may not be benefited both mentally and physically. Man comes as absolutely under the universal laws of God as suns and planets or systems of suns and planets that move in unison with eternal law. There can be no health nor happiness aside from conformity to the laws of God. In vain shall we seek for these blessings elsewhere.

Students of esoteric science claim that there is one great life-principle which is in all, through all, and above all. Exoteric science speaks of this principle as energy, or force; Christian people call it God; Hindus speak of it as Brahm. But they all mean exactly the same thing - "the Power that makes for righteousness," as Matthew Arnold aptly puts it. It is that "infinite and eternal Energy" of Herbert Spencer's belief. Every soul represents a part of it - therefore the Whole; in other words, it is "God working within us to will and to do." Our bodies, in turn, represent the force within us. The body is the outgrowth of the mind; hence, the mind can make it what it will. If in the past we have made errors, and as a resuit of them have weak or diseased bodies, remember that we have the power to correct those errors. We have the power to make our bodies what we will, if our wills be in accord with the divine will. It is through the power of God within us, for there is no other power. Everything in the universe gives evidence of it. It is in the mineral, the vegetable, and the animal kingdoms, and is found in the highest degree of manifestation in the life of man.

Our study of "self," therefore, rests on the foundation that there is but one supreme life-force in the universe. It naturally follows that there can be but one Intelligence, and that every sentient thing must manifest a certain degree of that Life and Intelligence. We find the degrees varying all the way up from the mineral to the animal kingdom - different degrees of manifestation; yet one power, one God working in all. "I the Lord am God, and besides me there is none else." It is a realization of this infinite potency in our own lives that will bring health and strength; it is the knowledge that we have the power of God within us - the power of all the universe working with us - that gives strength of mind and health of body. We must realize that it is not possible to be separated from this eternal source; that we are one with all power; and that the whole force of God's universe is working with us and for us, not against us.