e mind can
influence the body with which it is so intimately associated, than how it
can influence circumstances. If the operation of thought-power were
confined exclusively to the individual mind this difficulty might arise;
but if there is one lesson the student of Mental Science should take to
heart more than another, it is that the action of thought-power is not
limited to a circumscribed individuality. What the individual does is to
_give direction_ to something which is unlimited, to call into action a
force infinitely greater than his own, which because it is in itself
impersonal though intelligent, will receive the impress of his personality,
and can therefore make its influence felt far beyond the limits which bound
the individual's objective perception of the circumstances with which he
has to deal. It is for this reason that I lay so much stress on the
combination of two apparent opposites in the Universal Mind, the union of
intelligence with impersonality. The intelligence not only enables it to
receive the impress of our thought, but also causes it to devise exactly
the right _means_ for bringing it into accomplishment. This is only the
logical result of the hypothesis that we are dealing with infinite
Intelligence which is also infinite Life. Life means Power, and infinite
life therefore means limitless power; and limitless power moved by
limitless intelligence cannot be conceived of as ever stopping short of the
accomplishment of its object; therefore, given the _intention_ on the part
of the Universal Mind, there can be no doubt as to its ultimate
accomplishment. Then comes the question of intention. How do we know what
the intention of the Universal Mind may be? Here comes in the element of
impersonality. It has _no intention_, because it is _impersonal_. As I have
already said, the Universal mind works by a law of averages for the
advancement of the race, and is in no way concerned with the particular
wishes of the individual. If his wishes are in line with the forward
movement of the everlasting principle, there is nowhere in Nature any power
to restrict him in their fulfilment. If they are opposed to the general
forward movement, then they will bring him into collision with it, and it
will crush him. From the relation between them it results that the same
principle which shows itself in the individual mind as Will, becomes in the
universal mind a Law of Tendency; and the direction of this tendency must