“I say the power of the thought-machine itself is enormously increased by this faculty of letting it alone on the one hand, and of using it singly and with concentration on the other.  It becomes a true tool, which a master-workman lays down when done with, but which only a bungler carries about with him all the time to show that he is the possessor of it.”

We ask the students to read carefully the above quotations from Mr. Carpenter’s book, for they are full of suggestions that may be taken up to advantage by those who are emancipating themselves from their slavery to the unmastered mind, and who are now bringing the mind under control of the Ego, by means of the Will.

Our next lesson will take up the subject of the relationship of the “I” to the Universal “I,” and will be called the “Expansion of the Self.”  It will deal with the subject, not from a theoretical standpoint, but from the position of the teacher who is endeavoring to make his students actually aware in their consciousness of the truth of the proposition.  In this course we are not trying to make our students past-masters of theory, but are endeavoring to place them in a position whereby they may know for themselves, and actually experience the things of which we teach.

Therefore we urge upon you not to merely rest content with reading this lesson, but, instead, to study and meditate upon the teachings mentioned under the head of “Mental Drill,” until the distinctions stand out clearly in your mind, and until you not only believe them to be true, but actually are conscious of the “I” and its Mental Tools.  Have patience and perseverance.  The task may be difficult, but the reward is great.  To become conscious of the greatness, majesty, strength and power of your real being is worth years of hard study.  Do you not think so?  Then study and practice hopefully, diligently and earnestly.

Peace be with you.

MANTRAMS (AFFIRMATIONS) FOR THE SECOND LESSON.

“I” am an entity—­my mind is my instrument of expression.

“I” exist independent of my mind, and am not dependent upon it for existence or being.

“I” am Master of my mind, not its slave.

“I” can set aside my sensations, emotions, passions, desires, intellectual faculties, and all the rest of my mental collection of tools, as “not I” things—­and still there remains something—­and that something is “I,” which cannot be set aside by me, for it is my very self; my only self; my real self—­“I.”  That which remains after all that may be set aside is set aside is the “I”—­Myself—­eternal, constant, unchangeable.

[Illustration:  “I am”]

THE THIRD LESSON.

THE EXPANSION OF THE SELF.

In the first two lessons of this course we have endeavored to bring to the candidate a realization in consciousness of the reality of the “I,” and to enable him to distinguish between the Self and its sheaths, physical and mental.  In the present lesson we will call his attention to the relationship of the “I” to the Universal “I,” and will endeavor to give him an idea of a greater, grander Self, transcending personality and the little self that we are so apt to regard as the “I.”