And so, this is what this Theory is--a "_tie that binds_." How you will like it depends upon yourself. For himself, the writer does not hesitate to say that he is pleased with his handiwork, rude, and clumsy though it may be. He believes that he has made a thing that will stand wear and tear, and that though it be not beautifully finished, it "will serve," and "be useful." And that is the main thing, after all. And, then, perhaps, some may see beauty in the very crudeness of the thing--may see that it bears the loving mark of the hammer that beat it into shape--may recognize that over it has passed the caress of the hand that made it--and in that seeing there may come the recognition of a beauty that is beyond "prettiness." WILLIAM WALKER ATKINSON. _Los Angeles, California, February 16, 1906._ CONTENTS CHAPTER. PAGE. I. "In the Beginning" 11 II. Things as They Are 20 III. The Universality of Life and Mind 30 IV. Life and Mind Among the Atoms 41 V. The Story of Substance 61 VI. Substance and Beyond 75 VII. The Paradox of Science 96 VIII. The Forces of Nature 109 IX. Radiant Energy 121 X. The Law of Attraction 135 XI. The Theory of Dynamic Thought 154 XII. The Law of Vibrant Energy 171 XIII. The Riddle of the Sphinx 182 XIV. The Mystery of Mind 200 XV. The Finer Forces of the Mind 206 XVI. Thought in Action 219 "A fire-mist and a planet, A crystal and a cell, A jelly-fish and a saurian, And caves where the cave-men dwell; Then a sense of law and beauty, And a face turned from the clod,-- Some call it Evolution, And others call it God." "Like tides on a crescent sea-beach, When the moon is new and thin, Into our hearts high yearnings Come welling and surging in,-- Come from the mystic ocean Whose rim no foot has trod,-- Some of us call it Longing, And others call it God." --W.H. CARRUTH. DYNAMIC THOUGHT CHAPTER I "IN THE BEGINNING" This book will deal with Life. It holds that Life is Universal--that it is inherent in, and manifests (in different degrees) in every part, particle, phase, aspect, condition, place, or relationship, in the World of Things that we call the Universe.