James Allen was a new-thought author of several books; his most famous one entitled As A Man Thinketh. For more than thirty years, a framed quote from it has held a place of honour in my bedroom. It begins as follows: “Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream so shall you become. Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall last unveil.” In this article, I’m going to focus upon another of his works, a little masterpiece entitled The Heavenly Life. He originally published the work without copyright, so that its rich content could be enjoyed by as many readers as possible. The following are some of the quotations that leapt to my attention:

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“The toil of life ceases when the heart is pure.”

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“Heaven is in the heart. They will look for it in vain who look elsewhere. In no outward place will the soul find Heaven until it finds it within itself; for, wherever the soul goes, its thoughts and desires will go with it.“

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“Heaven is here. It is also everywhere. It is wherever there is a pure heart. The whole universe is abounding with joy, but the sin-bound heart can neither see, hear, nor partake of it. No one is, or can be, arbitrarily shut out from Heaven; each shuts himself out.”

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“If you have a trouble it is in your own mind, and nowhere else; you make it, it is not made for you; it is not in your task; it is not in the outward thing. You are its creator; and it derives its life from you only.”

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“Think lovingly, speak lovingly, act lovingly, and your every need shall be supplied.”

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“Purify your thought-world until no stain is left, and you will ascend into Heaven, while living in the body.“

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“Herein lies the peace and patience and beauty of Love–it sees no evil.”

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To help you mine the rich content of these quotations, I offer the following quote from The Law of Success, by Paramahansa Yogananda: “The mind is the creator of everything.” As challenging as this may be to accept, this includes our body-minds, all objects, and the “world.” None of them have existence independent of the mind that perceives them. The degree to which this seems impossible is represented by the thickness of the apparent veil of egoic identity. All body-minds (including our own) are only representational forms of various perspectives of the ONE, Consciousness. The quality of our life depends on the beliefs that we hold in our heart, true Self. It is from these deeply held paradigms (models, or patterns) that our apparent “reality” is formed. When better than NOW to ask ourselves what we’ve habitually been imagining?

Dare to Dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2022 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones–released September 8, 2020), press here. My YouTube videos may be found through this link. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. 🙏🧡

“Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”