Home > Spirit > Thought > Atkinson > Thought Vibration
Thought Vibration
There is a portion of this book that I can read over and over again, and that is the introduction entitled, "My Working Creed". In it, Atkinson proudly states his beliefs and his view of reality. Each little paragraph begins with the words, "I believe", and I would bet that Atkinson recited his creed to himself every single day of his life.
After reading his introduction, I thought that every person should create such a creed for themselves - a clear written statement of what they truly believe. In the past, I had worked out a partial list of my own beliefs, but it was as concise and powerful as Atkinson's. After putting this book down, I did feel inspired to finish working out my written statement of beliefs and coming up with a creed of my own.
Thought Vibration is a collection of articles that Atkinson wrote during the years that he was editor of the popular magazine, New Thought. These articles were later bundled up, placed in a readable order, and published as a book in 1906. This book is my first exposure to Atkinson's writings, and I place it high on my list of worthwhile books detailing the power of the mind. I found many good quotes in this book...
“Thought is a force - a manifestation of energy - having a magnet-like power of attraction.” – p. 2
“When we think we send out vibrations of a fine ethereal substance, which are as real as the vibrations manifesting light, heat, electricty, magnetism.” – p. 2
“We are sending out thoughts of greater of less intensity all the time, and we are reaping the results of such thoughts. Not only do our thought-waves influence ourselves and others, but they have a drawing power - they attract to us the thoughts of others, things, circumstances, people, "luck", in accord with the character of the thought uppermost in our minds.” – p. 7
“A strong thought, or a thought long continued, will make us the center of attraction for the corresponding thought-waves of others.” – p. 7
“We attract to us the thoughts of others of the same order of thought.” – p. 12
“A positive thought is infinitely more powerful than a negative one.” – p. 17
“The Will may be developed and strengthened by intelligent practice.” – p. 36
“In auto-suggestion is to be found the secret of the development of the mind so that it may become the efficient instrument of the Will.” – p. 41
The first time I heard of auto-suggestion was in Think And Grow Rich. Atkinson describes it in the same manner that Napoleon Hill does.
“The man who fears really expects the feared thing, and in the eyes of the Law (of Attraction) it is the same as if he really had wished for or desired it.” – p. 43
“The best way to get rid of darkness is to let in the light. It is a waste of time to fight a negative thought-habit by recognizing its force and trying to deny it out of existence by mighty efforts. The best, surest, easiest and quickest method is to assume the existence of the positive thought desired in its place.” – p. 44
This is a common theme among New Thought authors - that you don't make an effort to remove negative thoughts. Instead, you cultivate their opposite positive thought and the negative one will die off from lack of nourishment. I find this repeated often while reading Troward and Behrend.
“I regard the conquest of Fear as the first important step to be taken by those who wish to master the application of Thought Force. So long as Fear masters you, you are in no condition to make progress in the realm of Thought.” – p. 47
“The only thing to fear is Fear.” – p. 49
Umm, did President Roosevelt rip this quote off from Atkinson? Just add the word, "itself", and you have Roosevelt's famous quote from the start of World War Two.
“One draws to himself thought waves corresponding in character with the nature of the prevailing thoughts in his own mind - his mental attitude. Then again he begins to set in motion the great Law of Attraction, whereby he draws to him others likely to help him, and is, in turn, attracted to others who can aid him.” – p. 52
The first time I heard the expression, "Law of Attraction", was from Abraham-Hicks, whose channeled material began in the 1980's. Interesting to find this same all-encompasing Law with the same name mentioned at the start of the 20th century.
“You must want a thing hard enough before you can get it. You must want it more than you do the things around you, and you must be prepared to pay the price for it. The price is the throwing overboard of certain lesser desires that stand in the way of the accomplishment of the greater one.” – p. 53
Seems like a long-winded replication of the old proverb, "He who chases two rabbits catches neither". You have to declare one rabbit to be your greater rabbit and focus your desire towards it until it becomes a great, burning desire. And you have to stop chasing all lesser rabbits.
“There are better ways of overcoming objectionable thoughts than by fighting them. Learn to concentrate upon thoughts of an opposite character, and you will have solved the problem.” – p. 57
“More than half the people of the world are slaves of every vagrant thought which may see fit to torment them.” – p. 59
“People who are stalking around thinking that they are alive, but who are really dead to all that makes life worth while.” – p. 62
I laugh a little when I read such things. Although I know people like Atkinson wish the best for wayward souls, but when they comment on the people who are drifting through life, they are so cold-blooded about it. The stalking ignorant dead? Yeouch!
“Our subconscious mentality is a great store house for all sorts of suggestions from ourselves and others, and, as it is the "habit-mind," we must be careful to send it the proper material from which it may make habits.” – p. 67
“It is an axiom of psychology that 'Emotions deepen by repetition.' If a person allows a state of feeling to thoroughly take possession of him, he will find it easier to yield to the same emotion the second time, and so on, until the particular emotion or feeling becomes second nature to him.” – p. 70
“If we wish to conquer emotional tendencies in ourselves, we must . . go through the outward movements of those contrary dispositions which we prefer to cultivate.” – p. 75
“Each time we indulge in an undesireable thought or habit, the easier does it become to repeat that thought or action. And the oftener we give forth a certain desirable thought, or perform a desirable action, the easier does it become for us to repeat that thought or action.” – p. 79
“The best way to overcome undesirable or negative thoughts and feelings is to cultivate the positive ones.” – p. 79
“If you wish to cultivate a certain habit of action, begin by cultivating the mental attitude corresponding to it. And as a means of cultivating that mental attitude, start in to 'act-out', or go through, the motions of the act corresponding to the thought.” – p. 82
“In order to attain a thing it is necessary that the mind should fall in love with it, and be conscious of its existence, almost to the exclusion of everything else.” – p. 84
I said stop chasing lesser rabbits already, damnit.
“The man whose mind is full of a dozen interests fails to exert the attracting power that is manifested by the man of the one ruling passion.” – p. 87
STOP CHASING LESSER RABBITS! Alright, now I'm mad.
“Many good things are lost for want of the asking. Many splendid things are lost to you because of your feeling that you are unworthy of them.” – p. 99
This topic relates strongly to a message Seth would always state, which is that fostering a sense of self-appreciation, self-love, and self-worth was one of the most beneficial things you could do for yourself. Everyone is born worthy; they don't need to earn a state of worthiness.
“If you keep on repeating that you are unworthy of the good thing - that it is too good for you - the Law will be apt to take you at your word and believe what you say. That's a peculiar thing about the Law - it believes what you say - it takes you in earnest.” – p. 99
“If you persist in regarding the desired thing as if it belonged to another, instead of to yourself, you will be placing yourself in the position of the covetous or envious man, or even in the position of a tempted thief.” – p. 101
I look forward to reading Atkinson's other works when I find the time for them. I spent a lot of time on this one since it is so full of tips on how to manage one's mind for the better. There were many similarities I would notice between Atkinson's writings and the channeled material of Seth and Abraham. The quotes listed above should be a good indicator of how much usage information is to be found in this rather short book (112 pages). I really could write a lot more about each of these quotes and what they mean to me, but I've got so many other writings I want to move on to.