Book Four - Magick

...which we have prescribed; however, the mind will probably not let him remain in that simple state. This fact is the root of all the legends about a "Saint" being tempted by the "Devil." Consider the parable of Christ in the Wilderness, where he is tempted to use his magical power to do anything except the one thing that should be done. These attacks on the will are just as harmful as the distracting thoughts that intrude upon Dharana original: Dharana; a Sanskrit term in Yoga referring to the practice of intense concentration on a single object or thought.. It would almost seem as if one cannot successfully practice meditation until the will has become so strong that no force in the Universe could either bend or break it.

Before concentrating the lower principle, the mind, one must concentrate the higher principle, the Will.

Failure to understand this has destroyed the value of all attempts to teach "Yoga," "Menticulture" A popular late-19th-century self-help movement focused on mental hygiene and "right thinking.", "New Thought" A spiritual movement emphasizing that the mind has the power to heal the body and manifest reality., and similar systems.

There are methods of training the will by which it is easy to monitor one’s progress.

Everyone knows the power of habit. Everyone knows that if you continue to act in a particular way, that action becomes easier and, at last, becomes absolutely natural.

All religions have devised practices for this purpose. If you continue praying with your lips long enough, you will one day find yourself praying from your heart.

The whole question has been thoroughly examined original: threshed out and organized...