Poise and Power · 10 of 11
Chapter X
To save energy, to accumulate energy, to transmute energy, and to concentrate energy—all these are desired because we wish to use energy; and we wish to use as much as we can possibly secure. Our object in life is progress, advancement; but nothing moves forward without power— the constructive use of power. To use power constructively is work; therefore, in the last analysis the purpose of Poise is to fit us for better work. To the majority the term “work” means wear, tear and weariness; but it ought to mean pleasure, strength and development.
The industrial world is out of Poise; therefore, the waste is enormous, and the weariness is pitiful, while the laborer wears out like inanimate machinery. The majority imagine they are overworked and have good reasons, from the old point of view, for such conclusions; but the real trouble is not too much work; the real trouble is too little Poise.
So long as you are working in Poise, it is practically impossible to overwork. It is not work that furrows the brow, whitens the head, ages the body and weakens the mind; it is nervous rush. To work without Poise is one of the greatest mistakes of the age. The result is premature death to the worker and inferiority in the product.
The person who works always in Poise will live longer, accomplish more, do better work, improve constantly, and enjoy every moment of existence.
When we work in Poise, works gives strength, never weariness. This is a statement that may seem absurd, but you can prove it to be true.
Poise prevents all waste of energy; and to work in Poise will accumulate energy, because energy constructively employed multiplies itself.
When we are out of Poise, we dislike work, and work only because we have to. When we are in Poise, work is a pleasure, and we work because we want to.
If work is a drudgery to you, you are out of Poise, and are consequently losing nearly nine-tenths of your energy every day.
We view work as something that exhausts energy. We approach work fully expecting to become exhausted and tired; and what we expect generally comes, later, if not sooner. The abnormal desire to get something for nothing, so prevalent in this age, is caused directly by the almost universal dislike for work. We dislike work because we do not know how to work. When we learn how to work, work will become our greatest pleasure, and we shall far rather work for what we require than get it for nothing.
The object of work is two-fold; to produce something of worth; and to develop greater worth in the producer. The latter purpose has been wholly neglected, with detrimental results both to the artist and his art.
We must remember that the worth of the product increases as the worth of the producer is developed.
Products of high quality bring high prices. It is therefore profitable for the producer to develop himself perpetually. But the average person complains that he has no time for selfimprovement; most of his time is required at his work, and when he is not working he is too tired for study. Such statements, however, indicate that Poise has not been discovered.
The fact is that when you work in Poise, all the faculties that you employ at your work can be developed while you work. Then when your evening comes you will not be too tired for study; you will not be tired at all; therefore, a few hours of study will be thoroughly enjoyed.
To work in Poise does not mean to work slowly. While you are in Poise you can work with great rapidity without losing any power whatever. To work in Poise is to express all your energies through the attitude of supreme serenity.
The most powerful forces of nature, electricity in particular, move in absolute stillness, but with an enormous speed. The creative powers in man can do the same— would do the same if mind was always in Poise.
By working in Poise you can therefore supply both quality and quantity.
Should you be engaged in a work that is neither pleasant nor profitable, you will not remain long in that position after you have begun to work in Poise; because you will constantly improve and will soon be wanted elsewhere in a better place.
That improvement of mind and body should follow the constructive use of energy is perfectly natural; and to work in Poise is to employ all energy constructively.
Exercise promotes development in every case; and what is work but exercise?
When we go to our work we expect to tear down the system; and through that attitude of mind we get out of Poise.
When we proceed to take gymnastic exercises for mind or body, we expect development—construction; and through that mental attitude we enter to a degree into Poise.
Any physical culturist who understands Poise knows that all exercises taken while the system is out of Poise are wholly detrimental; and that a certain degree of Poise is indispensable to physical development. The same is true of the mind and all the various faculties of the mind. There is no development when Poise is absent; but when Poise is present any exercise of mind or body promotes development.
It is therefore evident that all work, physical or mental, that is expressed through Poise, will develop the worker himself; and that that part of mind or body that is employed directly in the work will receive the greatest amount of development. That all work can be made a developing process as well as a producing process is a far-reaching statement, and means a great deal more than the average thinker will at first understand. But it must be readily admitted that the industrial world will be revolutionized—remarkably changed for the better when the two-fold purpose of work is recognized and applied. The individual, however, will not be required to wait for the industrial world at large to adopt the new system; he can begin now to make his work a developing process as well as a producing process, and thus improve himself and his environments perpetually.
It has been stated that deep feeling is one of the essentials to Poise; but to this we must add good feeling. To be in Poise is to feel thoroughly good through and through, and to enjoy a grade of happiness that is infinitely superior to anything that the restless pleasures on the surface can give to man. This gives another reason why Poise is so valuable in the process of development: viz, that no action of mind or body can promote growth or development unless it is exercised in joy.
Advancement is the result of what we like to do, what we want to do, and what we derive pleasure from doing.
Mental sunshine is as necessary to the development of the talents of the mind as the outer sunshine is to the growth of the flowers of the field.
To work in Poise and to promote development through your work, a new mental attitude towards work must be formed. Look upon your work as a channel through which you may pass to a better environment and a superior personal development. Do not go to your work with the sole idea of earning wages, because that is not your purpose. Recompense comes as a natural result of work well done, and the better the work, the larger the recompense. But to improve your work you must go to your work with the object of improvement in view: in fact, the whole of attention must be concentrated upon improvement—self improvement and better work. The person, however, who simply works for wages will not give his first thought to improvement; consequently, there will be no improvement, neither in himself, his work, nor his salary.
Work for something else besides wages, and better wages must inevitably follow. Work for improvement both in yourself and in your product.
Go to your work with the idea that you are to spend a whole day turning energy into constructive use; and that you are to pass through a series of exercises which will develop your entire personality.
Realize that whenever you move a muscle in joy, that muscle grows; and that every time you think in Poise and harmony, your mind becomes stronger. Work because you desire to exercise muscles and brains in such a way that you may daily grow and develop into a stronger man, a more competent man, and a more able man.
Never go to work with the idea that you are working for a living. To simply work for a living with no thought of improvement is to continue to work where living will be meagre and hard to get. But when you look upon all work as a constructive process in yourself and use all work for building up mind and body, you will not only make a living, but you will make a better living every year. What is more, you will at the same time be making for yourself a better life.
It has frequently been stated that it is only those who love their work who work well; but the majority have answered by saying that it is practically impossible to love work under present industrial conditions; and from their view-point they are correct.
However, anyone can love his work when he knows that it is always a means to greater things; and it is. Work in Poise; work in the right mental attitude and your work will positively be a means to something better.
Think of growth while at work; feel the expansive process of development all through your system, whenever you move a muscle or think a thought. action, he continues to apply conscious action, and consequently fails to secure the attitude of rest.
Before any part of the system can rest, complete inactivity must be secured for that part; but so long as consciousness acts upon that part, complete inactivity is impossible, and consciousness continues to act upon everything that we are conscious of. It will therefore be readily understood that by trying to make yourself quiet, you will prevent yourself from becoming quiet.
The art of resting is consequently based upon the ability to withdraw conscious action from any part of the system when desired, and to become wholly unconscious of any plane of action when desired. This is something that anyone can do without any effort whatever.
True rest is not promoted by trying to do nothing, but by proceeding to do something else. To do nothing is impossible; therefore, to try to do nothing is to resist nature; and to resist anything is to lose power.
The conscious ego never stops action; it always acts upon something. While awake, this action is directed upon the objective personality; while asleep, it is turned upon the subconscious. Therefore, if you want conscious action to cease in one part of being, you must direct that action to some other part. You can not stop the action itself. The secret is to give that action something else to do.
When you wish to rest one group of muscles, go and exercise another group. When you wish to rest one part of the brain or mind, think of something entirely different. When the whole brain needs rest, go and take some physical exercise that requires no constructive thought. Such exercise will rest the brain more quickly and far better than to lie down and think about how tired you feel.
When the entire body needs rest, read an entertaining book, or listen to quieting music, or think about something which takes you entirely away from physical existence. To enter the loftiness, the beauty and the silent life of spiritual thought will recuperate the body in less time than any other method that can be employed.
When you wish to rest any one faculty or function, do not try to force consciousness away from that faculty or function. Simply direct your attention elsewhere, and become thoroughly interested in the new object of your attention. Consciousness will then follow, and all action be completely removed from the part that is to rest.
When you wish to rest the entire outer personality, go to sleep; but do not go to sleep in the ordinary way. To go to sleep properly is a fine art, and one that will prove most profitable when mastered.
When we go to sleep, we enter the subconscious mind and carry on a form of activity in that state that is absolutely necessary. Everything that we have received during the waking state is carried into the subconscious when we go to sleep, and while we sleep, these things are made a part of ourselves.
During sleep we build character, ability, desires, motives, states of consciousness, etc., always employing the material that we have gathered during the waking state just preceding.
During the waking state we gather material; during sleep we take that material and rebuild ourselves. It is, therefore, of the highest importance that we gather the best material possible, and promote the subconscious reconstruction under the best conditions possible
All construction, however, requires energy; therefore, all the energy generated in the system should flow into the subconscious during sleep. This is accomplished by going to sleep with a definite purpose in view. A definite purpose in consciousness, as it passes into the subconscious will produce a mental tendency towards the subconscious, and all the active energy in the system will follow that tendency.
Every form of restless or disturbed sleep is produced by a portion of the active energy remaining in the outer personality during sleep. This condition, however, will be entirely removed by, employing the method just mentioned. Therefore, to secure a sleep that is sound, peaceful, restful and recuperative to the very highest degree, we should go to sleep with a definite purpose in view. This purpose should form itself into a clear conception of what we wish to develop, and should be filled with a strong but gentle desire to promote that development. Through this method, perfect rest for mind and body will be secured; a great deal of energy will be saved from loss, and subconscious development will be more thoroughly promoted.
From the foregoing it is therefore evident that the art of resting is mastered by giving the conscious ego something definite to do in another part of the system, while those parts which have been acted upon, are to rest. In this connection it is well to remember that at those moments when the conscious ego has nothing definite to do, all the energy generated in the system at the time, is lost. Consequently, during those moments when we are not engaged in regular constructive work, we should turn attention upon those latent faculties or talents which we wish to develop. Wasted time means wasted energy; both are prophets of failure. The belief that we are resting and recuperating during those moments when we are generally inactive, is not true. General inactivity is impossible. What is called general inactivity is simply the scattering of forces, letting all the energies slip away, because they are not directed into something constructive.
Energy is being generated in the system constantly and if this energy is not given constructive work, it will scatter and disappear. Therefore, when we are through acting constructively in one line, we should immediately turn to another. Every moment should be devoted to some constructive work either on the physical, metaphysical or spiritual planes. To devote certain regular hours to these three planes, alternately, every day is of the highest value, because such a practice will not only give regular rest to each plane but will employ constructively all the energy of the system every moment of existence. The result will be the higher development of the whole man—the one perfect goal we all have in view.
§