As I think: James Allen's As a Man Thinketh in personal affirmation form 0875166369, 9780875166360

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AS

THINK

I

James Allen ARRANGED BY ART

W.

CHRISTENSEN

y

The Classic ASA MAN THINKETH in Personal Affirmation form.

S8.95US Price higher in

other countries

AS

THINK

I

JAMES ALLEN'S inspirational classic

As A

Man Thinketh has long been read by millions of people seeking joy, success, and health through the

power of thought and effect

on

its

life.

For the first time, this book has been written in the

form of an affirmation so that

when it is read,

the

powerful thoughts become planted in your mind. Throughout each page,

you will re-affirm that the power of thought is not people but for "me" and "my" life, for "I

just for other

am literally what I think, my character being the complete sum of all my thoughts."

IHl

i DEVCXiSS Publications

I

SV

AS

THINK

I

r

James

As

a

Allen's

Man

Thinketh

personal affirmation form

in

arranged by

Art

Mind

is

the

W.

Christensen

Master-power that molds and makes.

And I am Mind, and evermore The

tool of Thought, and, shaping

I

take

what

Bring forth a thousand joys, a thousand /

think in secret,

Environment

is

and but

it

comes

my

I will, ills

to pass:

looking-glass

DEVORSS Publications

—

As I Think Copyright© 1991 by Art W. Christensen

All rights reserved.

without permission

who may

No part of this book may in writing

be reproduced in any form

from the publisher, except by a reviewer

quote brief passages for review purposes.

ISBN: 0-87516-636-9

Second

Printing,

1993

Third Printing, 1998

DeVorss

& Company, Publisher P.O.

Box 550

Marina del Rey, Printed in the

CA

90294

Hong Kong

CONTENTS My

Thought and

My

Character ...

My Thought My Circumstances

1

Effect of

on

My Thought My Health and My

6

Effect of

on

My

Thought and

My

Thought-Factor in

My

My

Visions and

My

Serenity

My

.

.

25

Purpose .... 30

Achievement

My

Body

Ideals

35 41

48

—

FOREWORD This

volume

little

(the result of

meditation and experience)

is

not

in-

tended as an exhaustive treatise on the

much-written-upon subject of the power of thought. explanatory,

suggestive rather than

It is its

object being to stimulate

men and women

to the discovery

and

perception of the truth that

"They themselves are makers of themselves"

by virtue of the thoughts which they

choose and encourage; that mind

is

the

master weaver, both of the inner garment of character and the outer garment of cir-

cumstance, and that, as they hitherto

they

woven

in

may have

ignorance and pain

may now weave

in

enlightenment

and happiness.

James Allen

AS

I

THINK

MY THOUGHT AND MY CHARACTER The

aphorism, "As

heart so

am

I,"

I think,

my

complete sum of

my

is

so comprehen-

out to every condition

and circumstance of my

what

think in

not only embraces the

whole of my being, but sive as to reach

I

life.

I

am literally

character being the

all

my

thoughts.

As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of

mine springs from the hidden seeds of my thought, and could not have appeared

without them. This applies equally to those acts called "spontaneous" and "un-

premeditated" as to those which are deliberately executed.

Act

is

the blossom of thought, and joy

and suffering are its fruits; thus I garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of my

own

husbandry.

1

As

2

"Thought

Think

mind hath made

in the

What we

I

us.

are

By thought was wrought and

built. If

my mind Hath

evil

thoughts, pain comes on

comes The wheel the ox behind

me

as

...

.

If

.

I

.

endure

In purity of thought, joy follows

As

me

my own shadow — sure." am

growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of my thought as in the world of visible and material things. A noble and I

a

God-like character

is

or chance, but

the natural result of

is

not a thing of favor

continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association

God-like thought. character, by the result of the

An

with

ignoble and bestial

same process,

is

the

continued harboring of

groveling thoughts.

My I

Thoughts and

My

am made or unmade

Character

3

by myself;

in the

armory of thought I can forge the weapons by which I may destroy myself; but I can also fashion the tools with which to build for myself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, I

ascend to the Divine Perfection; but

by the abuse and wrong application of thought,

I

can descend below the

level of

two extremes are all the grades of character, and I am their maker and master. the beast. Between these

Of all

the beautiful truths pertaining to

the soul which have been restored

and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this that I am the master of my thought, the molder of my character, and the maker and shaper of my condition, environment, and destiny. As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of my own thoughts, I hold the key to every situation, and

—

As

4

Think

I

contain within myself that transforming

and regenerative agency by which myself what I

am

I

I

make

will.

in

my

state;

but

always the master, even

weakest and most abandoned

if

my weakness and degradation would be the foolish master who misgoverned in

I

his or her

"household." Instead,

I

begin

upon my condition, and to search diligently for the Law upon which my being is established, becoming the

to reflect

wise master, directing intelligence,

my

energies with

and fashioning

to fruitful issues. Such

master, which

I

thus

is

my thoughts

the conscious

become by

discover-

ing within myself the laws of thought;

which discovery

is

totally a matter of ap-

and experience. Only by much searching and mining are gold and diamonds obtained, and

plication, self-analysis,

I

find every truth connected with

being, as

my

soul;

I

my

dig deep into the mine of

and that

I

am

the

maker of my

My

My

Thoughts and

Character

character, the molder of the builder of

prove, as

I

my

my

destiny,

upon

watch, control, and others,

and upon

and

unerringly

I

thoughts, tracing their effects self,

life,

5

alter

my

upon my-

my

life

and

circumstances, linking cause and effect

by patient practice and investigation, and utilizing

my every experience,

even to the

most trivial, everyday occurrence, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of myself which is Understanding, Wisdom, Power. In this direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that "He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it is opened"; for only by patience, practice,

and ceaseless importunity do I enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge.

MY THOUGHT ON MY EFFECT OF

CIRCUMSTANCES

M

y mind

may

be likened to a gar-

which may be

.den,

intelligentl y

— —— mus——

cultivated or allowed to, run * wild; but »-

^

-

*

.^

whether cultivated or neglected,

t,

it

no useful seed s are put into it, then an abundance of use less we ed-seeds will fall therein and will CtOy^GJ^ continue to produce J^heirjdnd. and

will, bring forth. If

,

Just as a gardener cultivates a plot,

from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits required, so I tend the garden of my mind, weeding out all the wrong useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection th e flowers and fr uits of right, useful and pure though ts. By purs uing this ^rocess, keeping

it

free

,

,

I

discover that

I

am the master-gardener

My

Circumstances

my

of

7

my

soul, the director of

life.

I

also reveal, within myself, the laws of t

hought

,

and understand, with ever-

increasing accuracy,

how

the thought-

and mind-elements operat ein the shaping of my Character, ofcumstance s, and destin y. v'* Theouter world of circumstance shapes itself to the in ner world of t hought and b oth pleasant and unpleasant external conditions are factors which make for the ultimate good of theTncTisooner or later intp

,

act,

—

v

9

10

^V"

'

As

I

Think

As the r eaper of my own harvest learn both by suffering and bliss

vidual. I

,

.

F ollowingj he inmost desires, aspirar

mm

tjon_s,

thoughts, by which

to be

dominate d (pursuing the

I

allow myself will-o'-

the-wisps of impure imaginings or steadfastly

walking the highway of strong and

high endeavor ), fruition

at last arrive at their

I

and fulfilment

ditions of

my

life.

con -

in the outer

The laws

IH come

it is

o

of growth

and adjustment everywhere obtain. /

C~n

to the pot-house or the

-

gao l,

^

not by the tyran ny of fate or circum -

pathway of groveling t houghts and base desire s. Nor do I, stance but by the ,

ure-minded, stress of

fall

suddenly into crime b y

any mere external force

:

the

criminal thought has long to be secretly fostered in the hear t,

and the hour of

opportuni ty only reveals

its

gathered

po wer. Circumstance does not make me it

reveals

me

to myself.

No

;

such condi-

tions can exist as descending into vice

r