Foundation Stones To Happin..

Foundation stones to happiness and success. By James Allen. The James A... http://james-allen.in1woord.nl/?text=foundation-stones-to-happiness-and-...
T H E J A M E S A L L E N F R E E L I B R A R Y
Foundation stones to happiness and success. By Jam es Allen.
CONTENTS
1. Foreword
2. Right principles
3. Sound methods
4. True actions
5. True speech
6. Equal-mindedness
7. Good results
EDIT OR’S PRE FAC E
This is one of the last MSS. written by James Allen. Like all his works it is eminently
practical. He never wrote theories, or for the sake of writing, or to add another to his many
books; but he wrote when he had a message, and it became a message only when he had
lived it out in his own life, and knew that it was good. Thus he wrote facts, which he had
proven by practice.
To live out the teaching of this book faithfully in every detail of life will lead one to more than
happiness and success — even to Blessedness, Satisfaction and Peace.
LILY L. ALLEN
“Bryngoleu,”
Ilfracombe,
England.
FOREWORD
How does a man begin the building of a house? He first secures a plan of the proposed
edifice, and then proceeds to build according to the plan, scrupulously following it in every
detail, beginning with the foundation. Should he neglect the beginning - the beginning on a
mathematical plan - his labour would be wasted, and his building, should it reach completion
without tumbling to pieces, would be insecure and worthless. The same law holds good in
any important work; the right beginning and first essential is a definite mental plan on which
to build.
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Nature will have no slipshod work, no slovenliness and she annihilates confusion, or rather,
confusion is in itself annihilated. Order, definiteness, purpose, eternally prevail, and he who
in his operations ignores these mathematical elements at once deprives himself of
substantiality, completeness, happiness and success.
JAMES ALLEN
1 . R IGHT P R IN C IP L E S
It is wise to know what comes first, and what to do first. To begin anything in the middle or at
the end is to make a muddle of it. The athlete who began by breaking the tape would not
receive the prize. He must begin by facing the starter and toeing the mark, and even then a
good start is important if he is to win. The pupil does not begin with algebra and literature,
but with counting and ABC. So in life – the businessmen who begin at the bottom achieve the
more enduring success; and the religious men who reach the highest heights of spiritual
knowledge and wisdom are they who have stooped to serve a patient apprenticeship to the
humbler tasks, and have not scorned the common experiences of humanity, or overlooked
the lessons to be learned from them.
The first things in a sound life - and therefore, in a truly happy and successful life - are right
principles. W ithout right principles to begin with, there will be wrong practices to follow with,
and a bungled and wretched life to end with. All the infinite variety of calculations which
tabulate the commerce and science of the world, come out of the ten figures; all the
hundreds of thousands of books which constitute the literature of the world, and perpetuate
its thought and genius, are built up from the twenty-six letters. The greatest astronomer
cannot ignore the ten simple figures. The profoundest man of genius cannot dispense with
the twenty-six simple characters. The fundamentals in all things are few and simple: yet
without them there is no knowledge and no achievement. The fundamentals - the basic
principles - in life, or true living, are also few and simple, and to learn them thoroughly, and
study how to apply them to all the details of life, is to avoid confusion, and to secure a
substantial foundation for the orderly building up of an invincible character and a permanent
success; and to succeed in comprehending those principles in their innumerable
ramifications in the labyrinth of conduct, is to become a Master of Life.
The first principles in life are principles of conduct. To name them is easy. As mere words
they are on all men’s lips, but as fixed sources of action, admitting of no compromise, few
have learned them. In this short talk I will deal with five only of these principles. These five
are among the simplest of the root principles of life, but they are those that come nearest to
the everyday life, for they touch the artisan the businessman, the householder, the citizen at
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every point. Not one of them can be dispensed with but at severe cost, and he who perfects
himself in their application will rise superior to many of the troubles and failures of life, and
will come into these springs and currents of thought which flow harmoniously towards the
regions of enduring success. The first of these principles is -
DUTY - A much-hackneyed word, I know, but it contains a rare jewel for him who will seek it
by assiduous application. The principle of duty means strict adherence to one’s own
business, and just as strict non-interference in the business of others. The man who is
continually instructing others, gratis, how to manage their affairs, is the one who most
mismanages his own. Duty also means undivided attention to the matter in hand, intelligent
concentration of the mind on the work to be done; it includes all that is meant by
thoroughness, exactness, and efficiency. The details of duties differ with individuals, and
each man should know his own duty better then he knows his neighbour’s, and better than
his neighbour knows his; but although the working details differ, the principle is always the
same. W ho has mastered the demands of duty?
HONESTY is the next principle. It means not cheating or overcharging another. It involves
the absence of all trickery, lying, and deception by word, look, or gesture. It includes
sincerity, the saying what you mean, and the meaning what you say. It scorns cringing policy
and shining compliment. It builds up good reputations, and good reputations build up good
businesses, and bright joy accompanies well-earned success. W ho has scaled the heights
of Honesty?
ECONOMY is the third principle. The conservation of one’s financial resources is merely
the vestibule leading towards the more spacious chambers of true economy. It means, as
well, the husbanding of one’s physical vitality and mental resources. It demands the
conservation of energy by the avoidance of enervating self-indulgences and sensual habits.
It holds for its follower strength, endurance, vigilance, and capacity to achieve. It bestows
great power on him who learns it well. W ho has realized the supreme strength of Economy?
LIBERALITY follows economy. It is not opposed to it. Only the man of economy can afford to
be generous. The spendthrift, whether in money, vitality, or mental energy, wasted so much
on his own miserable pleasures as to have none left to bestow upon others. The giving of
money is the smallest part of liberality. There is a giving of thoughts, and deeds, and
sympathy, the bestowing of goodwill, the being generous towards calumniators and
opponents. It is a principle that begets a noble, far-reaching influence. It brings loving
friends and staunch comrades, and is the foe of loneliness and despair. W ho has measured
the breadth of Liberality?
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SELF–CONTROL is the last of these five principles, yet the most important. Its neglect is
the cause of vast misery, innumerable failures, and tens of thousands of financial, physical,
and mental wrecks. Show me the businessman who loses his temper with a customer over
some trivial matter, and I will show you a man who, by that condition of mind, is doomed to
failure. If all men practised even the initial stages of self-control, anger, with its consuming
and destroying fire, would be unknown. The lessons of patience, purity, gentleness,
kindness, and steadfastness, which are contained in the principle of self-control, are slowly
learned by men, yet until they are truly learned a man’s character and success are uncertain
and insecure. W here is the man who has perfected himself in Self-Control? W here he may
be, he is a master indeed.
The five principles are five practices, five avenues to achievement, and five source of
knowledge. It is an old saying and a good rule that “Practice makes perfect,” and he who
would make his own the wisdom which is inherent in those principles, must not merely have
them on his lips, they must be established in his heart. To know them and receive what they
alone can bring, he must do them, and give them out in his actions.
2. SOUND METHODS
From the five foregoing Right Principles, when they are truly apprehended and practised, will
issue Sound Methods. Right principles are manifested in harmonious action, and method is
to life what law is to the universe. Everywhere in the universe there is the harmonious
adjustment of parts, and it is this symmetry and harmony that reveals a cosmos, as
distinguished from chaos. So in human life, the difference between a true life and a false,
between one purposeful and effective and one purposeless and weak, is one of method. The
false life is an incoherent jumble of thoughts, passions, and actions; the true life is an
orderly adjustment of all its parts. It is all the difference between a mass of lumber and a
smoothly working efficient machine. A piece of machinery in perfect working order is not
only a useful, but an admirable and attractive thing; but when its parts are all out of gear,
and refuse to be readjusted, its usefulness and attractiveness are gone, and it is thrown on
the scrap-heap. Likewise a life perfectly adjusted in all its parts so as to achieve the highest
point of efficiency, is not only a powerful, but an excellent and beautiful thing; whereas a life
confused, inconsistent, discordant, is a deplorable exhibition of wasted energy.
If life is to be truly lived, method must enter into, and regulate, every detail of it, as it enters
and regulates every detail of the wondrous universe of which we form a part. One of the
distinguishing differences between a wise man and a foolish is, that the wise man pays
careful attention to the smallest things, while the foolish man slurs over them, or neglects
them altogether. W isdom consists in maintaining things on their right relations, in keeping all
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things, the smallest as well as the greatest, in their proper places and times. To violate
order is to produce confusion and discord, and unhappiness is but another name for
discord.
The good businessman knows that system is three parts of success, and that disorder
means failure. The wise man knows that disciplined, methodical living is three parts of
happiness, and that looseness means misery. W hat is a fool but one who thinks carelessly,
acts rashly, and lives loosely? W hat is a wise man but one who thinks carefully, acts calmly,
and lives consistently?
The true method does not end with the orderly arrangement of the material things and
external relations of life; this is but its beginning; it enters into the adjustment of the mind -
the discipline of the passions, the elimination and choice of words in speech, the logical
arrangement of the thoughts, and the selection of right actions.
To achieve a life rendered sound, successful, and sweet by the pursuance of sound
methods, one must begin, not by neglect of the little everyday things, but by assiduous
attention to them. Thus the hour of rising is important, and its regularity significant; as also
are the timing of retiring to rest, and the number of hours given to sleep. Between the
regularity and irregularity of meals, and the care and carelessness with which they are
eaten, is all the difference between a good and bad digestion (with all that this applies) and
an irritable or comfortable frame of mind, with its train of good or bad consequences, for,
attaching to these meal-times and meal-ways are matters of both physiological and
psychological significance. The due division of hours for business and for play, not
confusing the two, the orderly fitting in of all the details of one’s business, times for solitude,
for silent thought and for effective action, for eating and for abstinence - all these things
must have their lawful place in the life of him whose “daily round” is to proceed with the
minimum degree of friction, who is to get the most of usefulness, influence, and joy out of
life.
But all this is but the beginning of that comprehensive method which embraces the whole life
and being. W hen this smooth order and logical consistency is extended to the words and
actions, to the thoughts and desires, then wisdom emerges from folly, and out of weakness
comes power sublime. W hen a man so orders his mind as to produce a beautiful working
harmony between all its parts, then he reaches the highest wisdom, the highest efficiency,
the highest happiness.
But this is the end; and he who would reach the end must begin at the beginning. He must
systematise and render logical and smooth the smallest details of his life, proceeding step
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by step towards the finished accomplishment. But each step will yield its own particular
measure of strength and gladness.
To sum up, method produces that smoothness which goes with strength and efficiency.
Discipline is method applied to the mind. It produces that calmness which goes with power
and happiness. Method is working by rule; discipline is living by rule. But working and living
are not separate; they are but two aspects of character, of life.
Therefore, be orderly in work; be accurate in speech, be logical in thought. Between these

and slovenliness, inaccuracy and confusion, is the difference between success and failure,
music and discord, happiness and misery.
The adoption of sound methods of working, acting, thinking – in a word, of living, is the
surest and safest foundation for sound health, sound success, sound peace of mind. The
foundation of unsound methods will be found to be unstable, and to yield fear and unrest
even while it appears to succeed, and when its time of failure comes, it is grievous indeed.
3. TRUE AC T ION S
Following on Right Principles and Methods come True Actions. One who is striving to grasp
true principles and work with sound methods will soon come to perceive that details of
conduct cannot be overlooked - that, indeed, those details are fundamentally distinctive or
creative, according to their nature, and are, therefore, of deep significance and
comprehensive importance; and this perception and knowledge of the nature and power of
passing actions will gradually open and grow within him as an added vision, a new revelation.
As he acquires this insight his progress will be more rapid, his pathway in life more sure, his
days more serene and peaceful; in all things he will go the true and direct way, unswayed
and untroubled by the external forces that play around and about him. Not that he will be
indifferent to the welfare and happiness of those about him; that is quite another thing; but
he will be indifferent to their opinions, to their ignorance, to their ungoverned passions. By
True Actions, indeed, is meant acting rightly towards others, and the right-doer knows that
actions in accordance with truth are but for the happiness of those about him, and he will do
them even though an occasion may arise when some one near to him may advise or implore
him to do otherwise.
True actions may easily be distinguished from false by all who wish so to distinguish in order
that they may avoid false action, and adopt true. As in the material world we distinguish
things by their form, colour, size, etc., choosing those things which we require, and putting
by those things which are not useful to us, so in the spiritual world of deeds, we can
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distinguish between those that are bad and those that are good by their nature, their aim,
and their effect and can choose and adopt those that are good, and ignore those that are
bad.
In all forms of progress, avoidance of the bad always precedes acceptance and knowledge
of the good, just as a child at school learns to do its lessons right by having repeatedly
pointed out to it how it has done them wrong. If one does not know what is wrong and how to
avoid it, how can he know what is right and how to practise it? Bad, or untrue, actions are
those that spring from a consideration of one’s own happiness only, and ignore the
happiness of others, that arise in violent disturbances of the mind and unlawful desires, or
that call for concealment in order to avoid undesirable complications. Good or true actions
are those that spring from a consideration for others, that arise in calm reason and
harmonious thought framed on moral principles or that will not involve the doer in shameful
consequences if brought into the full light of day.
The right-doer will avoid those acts of personal pleasure and gratification which by their
nature bring annoyance, pain, or suffering to others, no matter how insignificant those
actions may appear to be. He will begin by putting away these; he will gain a knowledge of
the unselfish and true by first sacrificing the selfish and untrue. He will learn not to speak or
act in anger, or envy, or resentment, but will study how to control his mind, and will restore it
to calmness before acting; and, most important of all, he will avoid, as he would the drinking
of deadly poison, those acts of trickery, deceit, double-dealing, in order to gain some
personal profit of advantage, and which lead, sooner or later, to exposure and shame for
the doer of them. If a man is prompted to do a thing which he needs to conceal, and which
he would not lawfully and frankly defend if it were examined of witness, he should know by
that that it is a wrong act and therefore to be abandoned without a further moment’s
consideration.
The carrying out of this principle of honesty and sincerity of action, too, will further lead him
into such a path of thoughtfulness in right-doing as will enable him to avoid doing those
things which would involve him in the deceptive practices of other people. Before signing
papers, or entering into verbal or written arrangements, or engaging himself to others in any
way at their request, particularly if they be strangers, he will first inquire into the nature of
the work or undertaking, and so, enlightened, he will know exactly what to do, and will be fully
aware of the import of his action. To the right-doer thoughtlessness is a crime. Thousands
of actions done with good intent lead to disastrous consequences because they are acts of
thoughtlessness, and it is well said “that the way to hell is paved with good intentions.” The
man of true actions is, above all things, thoughtful:- “Be ye therefore wise as serpents and
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harmless as doves.”
The term Thoughtlessness covers a wide field in the realm of deeds. It is only by increasing
in thoughtfulness that a man can come to understand the nature of actions, and can,
thereby, acquire the power of always doing that which is right. It is impossible for a man to
be thoughtful and act foolishly. Thoughtfulness embraces wisdom.
It is not enough that an action is prompted by a good impulse or intention; it must arise in
thoughtful consideration if it is to be a true action; and the man who wishes to be
permanently happy in himself and a power for good to others must concern himself only with
true actions. “I did it with the best of intentions,” is a poor excuse from one who has
thoughtlessly involved himself in the wrong-doing of others. His bitter experience should
teach him to act more thoughtfully in the future.
True actions can only spring from a true mind, and therefore while a man is learning to
distinguish and choose between the false and the true, he is correcting and perfecting his
mind, and is thereby rendering it more harmonious and felicitous, more efficient and
powerful. As he acquires the “inner eye” to clearly distinguish the right in all the details of
life, and the faith and knowledge to do it, he will realise that he is building the house of his
character and life upon a rock which the winds of failure and the storms of persecution can
never undermine.
4. TRUE SPEECH
Truth is known by practice only. W ithout sincerity there can be no knowledge of Truth; and
true speech is the beginning of all sincerity. Truth in all its native beauty and original
simplicity consists in abandoning and not doing all those things which are untrue, and in
embracing and doing all those things which are true. True speech is therefore one of the
elementary beginnings in the life of Truth. Falsehood, and all forms of deception; slander
and all forms of evil-speaking - these must be totally abandoned and abolished before the
mind can receive even a small degree of spiritual enlightenment. The liar and slanderer is
lost in darkness; so deep is his darkness that he cannot distinguish between good and evil,
and he persuades himself that his lying and evil-speaking are necessary and good, that he
is thereby protecting himself and other people.
Let the would-be student of “higher things” look to himself and beware of self-delusion. If he
is given to uttering words that deceive, or to speaking evil of others – if he speaks in
insincerity, envy, or malice - then he has not yet begun to study higher things. He may be
studying metaphysics, or miracles, or psychic phenomena, or astral wonders – he may be
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studying how to commune with invisible beings, to travel invisibly during sleep, or to produce
curious phenomena - he may even study spirituality theoretically and as a mere book study,
but if he is a deceiver and a backbiter, the higher life is hidden from him. For the higher
things are these – uprightness, sincerity, innocence, purity, kindness, gentleness,
faithfulness, humility, patience, pity, sympathy, self-sacrifice, joy, goodwill, love – and he
who would study them, know them, and make them his own, must practice them, there is no
other way.
Lying and evil-speaking belong to the lowest forms of spiritual ignorance, and there can be
no such thing as spiritual enlightenment while they are practised. Their parents are
selfishness and hatred.
Slander is akin to lying, but it is even more subtle, as it is frequently associated with
indignation, and by assuming more successfully the appearance of truth, it ensnares many
who would not tell a deliberate falsehood. For there are two sides to slander - there is the
making of repeating of it, and there is the listening to it and acting upon it. The slanderer
would be powerless without a listener. Evil words require an ear that is receptive to evil in
which they may fall, before they can flourish; therefore he who listens to a slanderer, who
believes it, and allows himself to be influenced against the person whose character and
reputation are defamed, is in the same position as the one who framed or repeated the evil
report. The evil-speaker is a positive slanderer; the evil-listener is a passive slanderer. The
two are co-operators in the propagation of evil.
Slander is a common vice and a dark and deadly one. An evil report begins in ignorance,
and pursues its blind way in darkness. It generally takes its rise in a misunderstanding.
Some one feels that he or she has been badly treated, and, filled with indignation and
resentment, unburdens himself to his friends and others in vehement language, exaggerating
the enormity of the supposed offence on account of the feeling of injury by which he is
possessed; he is listened to and sympathised with; the listeners, without hearing the other
person’s version of what has taken place, and on no other proof than the violent words of an
angry man or woman, become cold in their attitude towards the one spoken against, and
repeat to others what they have been told, and as such repetition is always more or less
inaccurate, a distorted and altogether untrue report is soon passing from mouth to mouth.
It is because slander is such a common vice that it can work the suffering and injury that it
does. It is because so many (not deliberate wrong-doers, and unconscious of the nature of
the evil into which they so easily fall) are ready to allow themselves to be influenced against
one whom they have hitherto regarded as honourable, that an evil report can do its deadly
work. Yet its work is only amongst those who have not altogether acquired the virtue of true
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speech, the cause of which is a truth-loving mind. W hen one who has not entirely freed
himself from repeating or believing an evil report about another, hears of an evil report
about himself, his mind becomes aflame with burning resentment, his sleep is broken and his
peace of mind is destroyed. He thinks the cause of all his suffering is in the other man and
what that man has said about him, and is ignorant of the truth that the root and cause of his
suffering lies in his own readiness to believe an evil report about another. The virtuous
man - he who has attained to true speech, and whose mind is sealed against even the
appearance of evil-speaking - cannot be injured and disturbed about any evil reports
concerning himself; and although his reputation may for a time be stained in the minds of
those who are prone to suggestions of evil, his integrity remains untouched and his
character unsoiled; for no one can be stained by the evil deeds of another, but only by his
own wrongdoing. And so, through all misrepresentation, misunderstanding, and contumely,
he is untroubled and unrevengeful; his sleep is undisturbed, and his mind remains in peace.
True speech is the beginning of a pure, wise and well-ordered life. If one would attain to
purity of life, if he would lessen the evil and suffering of the world, let him abandon
falsehood and slander in thought and word, let him avoid even the appearance of these
things, for there are no lies and slanders so deadly as those which are half-truths, and let
him not be a participant in evil-speaking by listening to it. Let him also have compassion on
the evil-speaker, knowing how such a one is binding himself to suffering and unrest; for no
liar can know the bliss of Truth; no slanderer can enter the kingdom of peace.
By the words which he utters is a man’s spiritual condition declared; by these also is he
finally and infallibly adjudged, for as the Divine Master of the Christian world has declared,
“By thy words shalt thou be justified, and by thy words shalt thou be condemned.
5 . EQUAL- M IN DE D N E S S
To be equally-minded is to be peacefully-minded, for a man cannot be said to have arrived

at peace who allows his mind to be disturbed and thrown off the balance by occurrences.
The man of wisdom is dispassionate, and meets all things with the calmness of a mind in
repose and free from prejudice. He is not a partisan, having put away passion, and he is
always at peace with himself and the world, not taking sides nor defending himself, but
sympathising with all.
The partisan is so convinced that his own opinion and his own side is right, and all that goes
contrary to them is wrong, that he cannot think there is any good in the other opinion and the
other side. He lives in a continual fever of attack and defence, and has no knowledge of the
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quiet peace of an equal mind.
The equal-minded man watches himself in order to check and overcome even the
appearance of passion and prejudice in his mind, and by so doing he develops sympathy for
others, and comes to understand their position and particular state of mind; and as he
comes to understand others, he perceives the folly of condemning them and opposing
himself to them. Thus there grows up in his heart a divine charity which cannot be limited,
but which is extended to all things that live and strive and suffer.
W hen a man is under the sway of passion and prejudice he is spiritually blind. Seeing
nothing but good in his own side, and nothing but evil in the other, he cannot see anything as
it really is, not even his own side; and not understanding himself, he cannot understand the
hearts of others, and thinks it is right that he should condemn them. Thus there grows up in
his heart a dark hatred for those who refuse to see with him and who condemn him in return,
he becomes separated from his fellow-men, and confines himself to a narrow torture
chamber of his own making.
Sweet and peaceful are the days of the equal-minded man, fruitful in good, and rich in
manifold blessings. Guided by wisdom, he avoids those pathways which lead down to hatred
and sorrow and pain, and takes those which lead up to love and peace and bliss. The
occurrences of life do not trouble him, nor does he grieve over those things which are
regarded by mankind as grievous, but which must befall all men in the ordinary course of
nature. He is neither elated by success nor cast down by failure. He sees the events of his
life arrayed in their proper proportions, and can find no room for selfish wishes or vain
regrets, for vain anticipations and childish disappointments.
And how is this equal-mindedness - this blessed state of mind and life - acquired? Only by
overcoming one’s self, only by purifying one’s own heart, for the purification of the heart
leads to unbiased comprehension, unbiased comprehension leads to equal-mindedness, and
equal-mindedness leads to peace. The impure man is swept helplessly away on the waves of
passion; the pure man guides himself into the harbour of rest. The fool says, “I have an
opinion;” the wise man goes about his business.
6. GOOD RESULTS
A considerable portion of the happenings of life comes to us without any direct choosing on
our part, and such happenings are generally regarded as having no relation to our will or
character, but as appearing fortuitously; as occurring without a cause. Thus one is spoken
of as being “lucky,” and another “unlucky,” the inference being that each has received
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something which he never earned, never caused. Deeper thought, and a clearer insight into
life convinces us, however, that nothing happens without a cause, and that cause and effect
are always related in perfect adjustment and harmony. This being so, every happening
directly affecting us is intimately related to our own will and character, is, indeed, an effect
justly related to a cause having its seat in our consciousness. In a word, involuntary
happenings of life are the results of our own thoughts and deeds. This, I admit, is not
apparent on the surface; but what fundamental law, even in the physical universe, is so
apparent? If thought, investigation, and experiment are necessary to the discovery of the
principles which relate one material atom to another, even so are they imperative to the
perception and understanding of the mode of action which relate one mental condition to
another; and such modes, such laws, are known by the right-doer, by him who has acquired
an understanding mind by the practice of true actions.
W e reap as we sow. Those things which come to us, though not by our own choosing, are by
our causing. The drunkard did not choose the delirium tremens or insanity which overtook
him, but he caused it by his own deeds. In this case the law is plain to all minds, but where it
is not so plain, it is nonetheless true. W ithin ourselves is the deep-seated cause of all our
sufferings, the spring of all our joys. Alter the inner world of thoughts, and the other world of
events will cease to bring you sorrow; make the heart pure, and to you all things will be pure,
all occurrences happy and in true order.
“Wi thi n yoursel ves del i verance must be sought,
Each man hi s pri son makes.
Each hath such l ordshi p as the l ofti est ones;
Nay, for wi th Powers above, around, bel ow,
As wi th al l fl esh and whatsoever l i ves,
Act maketh joy or woe.”
Our life is good or bad, enslaved or free, according to its causation in our thoughts, for out
of these thoughts spring all our deeds, and from these deeds come equitable results. W e
cannot seize good results violently, like a thief, and claim and enjoy them, but we can bring
them to pass by setting in motion the causes within ourselves.
Men strive for money, sigh for happiness, and would gladly possess wisdom, yet fail to
secure these things, while they see others to whom these blessings appear to come
unbidden. The reason is that they have generated causes which prevent the fulfilment of
their wishes and efforts.
Each life is a perfectly woven network of causes and effects, of efforts (or lack of efforts)
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and results, and good results can only be reached by initiating good efforts, good causes.
The doer of true actions, who pursues sound methods, grounded on right principles will not
need to strive and struggle for good results; they will be there as the effects of his righteous
rule of life. He will reap the fruit of his own actions and the reaping will be in gladness and
peace.
This truth of sowing and reaping in the moral sphere is a simple one, yet men are slow to
understand and accept it. W e have been told by a W ise One that “the children of darkness
are wiser in their day than the children of light”, and who would expect, in the material world,
to reap and eat where he had not sown and planted? Or who would expect to reap wheat in
the field where he had sown tares, and would fall to weeping and complaining if he did not?
Yet this is just what men do in the spiritual field of mind and deed. They do evil, and expect
to get from it good, and when the bitter harvesting comes in all its ripened fullness, they fall
into despair, and bemoan the hardness and injustice of their lot, usually attributing it to the
evil deeds of others, refusing even to admit the possibility of its cause being hidden in
themselves, in their own thoughts and deeds. The children of light - those who are searching
for the fundamental principles of right living, with a view to making themselves into wise and
happy beings – must train themselves to observe this law of cause and effect in thought,
word and deed, as implicitly and obediently as the gardener obeys the law of sowing and
reaping. He does not even question the law; he recognises and obeys it. W hen the wisdom
which he instinctively practices in his garden, is practiced by men in the garden of their
minds – when the law of the sowing of deeds is so fully recognised that it can no longer be
doubted or questioned – then it will be just as faithfully followed by the sowing of those
actions which will bring about a reaping of happiness and well-being for all. As the children
of matter obey the laws of matter, so let the children of spirit obey the laws of spirit, for the
law of matter and the law of spirit are one; they are but two aspects of one thing; the
out-working of one principle in opposite directions.
If we observe right principles, or causes, wrong effects cannot possibly accrue. If we

pursue sound methods, no shoddy thread can find its way into the web of our life, no rotten
brick enter into the building of our character to render it insecure; and if we do true actions,
what but good results can come to pass; for to say that good causes can produce bad
effects is to say that nettles can be reaped from a sowing of corn.
He who orders his life along the moral lines thus briefly enunciated, will attain to such a
state of insight and equilibrium as to render him permanently happy and perennially glad; all
his efforts will be seasonally planted; all the issues of his life will be good, and though he
may not become a millionaire as indeed he will have no desire to become such – he will
13 of 14 1.12.2009 4:58 AM
acquire the gift of peace, and true success will wait upon him as its commanding master.
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14 of 14 1.12.2009 4:58 AM

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Foundation stones to happiness and success. By James Allen. The James A... http://james-allen.in1woord.nl/?text=foundation-stones-to-happiness-and-...

Foundation stones to happiness and success. By Jam es Allen.

EDIT OR’S PRE FAC E

Therefore, be orderly in work; be accurate in speech, be logical in thought. Between these

To be equally-minded is to be peacefully-minded, for a man cannot be said to have arrived

quiet peace of an equal mind.

“Wi thi n yoursel ves del i verance must be sought,

Each man hi s pri son makes.

Each hath such l ordshi p as the l ofti est ones;

Nay, for wi th Powers above, around, bel ow,

As wi th al l fl esh and whatsoever l i ves,

Act maketh joy or woe.”

If we observe right principles, or causes, wrong effects cannot possibly accrue. If we

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