Menticulture; or, the A-B-C of True LivingFletcher, Horace
Religion
Menticulture; or, the A-B-C of True Living
Fletcher, Horace
Anger; Conduct of life; Worry
Should not the chemical condition of selection be more difficult than a
similar voluntary mental accomplishment? In comparison with a similar
process in physics the more pliable material of the mind ought to be
fashioned with greater ease.
[Sidenote: A Fortunate Disappointment]
I could recount many experiences which prove a brand new condition of
mind, but one more will be sufficient. Without the slightest feeling of
annoyance or impatience I have seen a train that I had planned to take
with a good deal of interested and pleasurable anticipation, move out
of a station without me, because my baggage did not arrive. The porter
from the hotel came running and panting into the station just as the
train pulled out of sight. When he saw me he looked as if he feared a
scolding, and began to tell of being blocked in a crowded street and
unable to get out. When he had finished, I said to him, "It doesn't
matter at all, you couldn't help it, so we will try it again to-morrow.
Here is your fee, I am sorry you had all this trouble in earning it."
The look of surprise that came over his face was so filled with
pleasure that I was repaid on the spot for the delay in my departure.
Next day he would not accept a cent for the service, and he and I are
friends for life. The sequence of this incident has no bearing on its
value, but it has a significance. Had I taken the train I missed, I
would have been caught in a wreck in which two persons were killed and
several wounded, while my stay over in Cleveland proved to be both
pleasant and profitable.
During the first weeks of my experience I was on guard only against
worry and anger; but, in the meantime, having noticed the absence of
the other depressing and dwarfing passions, I began to trace a
relationship, until I was convinced that they are all growths from the
two roots I have specified.
I have felt the freedom now for so long a time that I am sure of my
relations toward it; and I could no more harbor any of the depressing
and thieving influences that once I nursed as a heritage of humanity
than a fop would voluntarily wallow in a filthy gutter: and the
strength of the position is reinforced by the experience of others.
[Sidenote: The Religions]
There is no doubt in my mind that pure Christianity, and pure Buddhism,
and the Mental Sciences, and all Religions, fundamentally teach what
has been a discovery to me; but none of them have presented it in the
light of a simple and easy process of absolute elimination. All of the
religions seemed to me to hinge principally on some other life, with
the usual features of punishment and reward, and with incidental
satisfaction or fear in this life. But as life reveals itself to me in
my present condition of mind, this world, these fellow men, the blush
of Spring, the blossom of Summer, the flame of Autumn, the sparkle of
Winter, and the violet-softened refulgence of every waking moment yield
a never failing succession of delights.
[Sidenote: Fear Eliminated]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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