The Essential Worldwide Laws of Life
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The Essential Worldwide Laws of Life

Sir John Templeton

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eBook - ePub

The Essential Worldwide Laws of Life

Sir John Templeton

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About This Book

What does it mean to live a good life?

The major scriptures of the world, various schools of philosophical thought, storytellers, scientists, artists, and historians have all offered answers to this question. Surprisingly, these answers are common among nearly all sources. Famed investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton called these commonalities the "laws of life."

Templeton gathers the best of these teachings in The Essential Worldwide Laws of Life. This handsome volume shows readers of all ages, from all parts of the world, how to make their lives more joyous and useful by learning the universal truths that transcend time and culture.

Each law is presented in an essay format, with stories, commentary, and quotations to illustrate its importance. The material is designed to inspire the reader to put these laws into practice and to enjoy the rewarding life that will result.

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Year
2012
ISBN
9781599474137

CHAPTER 1

Controlling Your Mind
When you rule your mind, you rule your world
—BILL PROVOST
GREAT TEACHERS THROUGH the ages have described the importance of our minds and of mastering our thoughts. Buddha said, “The mind is everything; what you think, you become.” Philosopher and psychologist William James wrote, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.”
If you desire to understand the reason behind the statement “When you rule your mind, you rule your world,” take a look at what some religious teachers and spiritual philosophers call Infinite Mind and the Law of Mind Action. Some say there is only one Mind, sometimes called Spirit, or God Mind. This Mind is the life, intelligence, power, and creativity that suffuses the entire universe. Yet they say the Law of Mind action holds that we are individual and yet remain a part of the whole.
We have free will. Here is the starting point of our actions, our spoken words, our thoughts, even our feelings. That makes a great deal of difference in what we think about God, our self, our family, our neighbors, our acquaintances, our work associates—everything. As English essayist Joseph Addison said, “One of the most difficult things for a powerful mind is to be its own master!”
A positive attitude toward life can be difficult for some people to adopt, for it may seem unrealistic. These skeptics may find it hard to believe that positive thinkers can accomplish almost anything they set their minds to. But, with a positive attitude, your chance for success in any situation is greater if you look for workable solutions rather than allowing negative thinking to limit your decision making. Zig Ziglar, a sales motivation expert, says, “Your business is never really good or bad out there. It’s either good or bad right between your two ears!” He describes the most essential component of successful selling as the ability to understand and meet the other person’s needs, saying, “You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough people get what they want.” The ability to listen to others and appropriately interpret their needs depends to a great extent on a receptive mental attitude. Ralph Waldo Emerson, the nineteenth-century essayist, emphasized the importance of the spiritual perspective in our life as well as the power of the mind.
Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, was one of the most remarkable success stories of our time. Since 1963, her company grew from a modest storefront in Dallas to an international, billion-dollar operation with a sales force numbering in the millions. Her approach to management was based on meeting the needs of others. With well-grounded Christian values undergirding her business philosophy, she asked everyone in her organization to focus on meeting the needs of others as their top priority.
Selfishness overlooks a key principle of success—helping others. Successful people meet the needs of others because it makes them feel good about themselves. Then, by subordinating any selfish motives to the greater motive of being of service, they successfully navigate their way through life. As with successful men and women throughout the world, our success is proportionate to the number of people we have helped to grow and prosper.
Our thoughts are, most assuredly, things. They are conceived in the mind and travel through time and space like ripples in a pond, affecting all they touch. Thoughts are the building blocks of our experience. The world we see is the one we have created with our thoughts, for “Mind is the builder.”
Your life becomes what you think
—MARCUS AURELIUS
Thought—the act or process of thinking—is one of the greatest powers we possess, and, like most powers, it can be used for good or evil, as we choose. Many people have never been taught how to use thought, to master the power of the mind. It is just as essential to know how to think correctly as it is to know how to speak or act correctly.
The mind, which is invisible, directs the thinking process. It tells the brain how to sort experience and fact, and how to give shape and form to new ideas. The indirect action of thought is easy to understand, for people must think before they can do anything. Thought is the motivating power behind an action, just as electricity is the motivating power behind lighting our home. Thought also has a direct effect on matter. Regardless of whether or not we translate our thought into action, the thought itself has already produced some kind of effect.
Have you ever had an original idea and wondered where it came from? It’s as if your mind planted a seed of the idea in the brain. Your brain recalled your experience and knowledge and developed the idea in a way that could finally be expressed by you coherently and persuasively. You probably honed the idea as you tested it under various conditions.
In the same way, the mind tells the brain what to think about. It’s tempting to believe that we have no control over what comes into our heads but, in reality, we do. If a thought comes to you that is not in your best interest, you can, with practice, begin thinking something else, so that the undesirable thought will simply go away.
Sound difficult? Try the following experiment. If someone says to you, “Don’t think about bananas!” you immediately conjure up a mental image of a banana. To tell yourself to stop thinking about something doesn’t do a great deal of good then, does it? The undesirable thought must be replaced by a desirable thought. If you don’t want to think about bananas, try thinking about Valentine hearts. Once these two words are planted in your mind, you can picture the Valentine heart, in all its beauty, and the bananas are gone.
This is called the crowding-out technique. If you fill your mind to capacity with thoughts that are good and productive, you won’t have room for the bad ones. The thoughts you can “crowd out” are those of envy, hatred, covetousness, self-centeredness, damaging criticism, revenge, and any time-wasting thoughts that are counterproductive to your ultimate goals in life. Another method for crowding out negative thoughts is to quietly release them. You might affirm, “I lovingly release you to the vast nothingness from whence you came.” Then let them go.
Be kind to yourself in this process. If you’ve worked at changing your thoughts and the negative ones seem to keep roosting in your mind, laugh at yourself. Accept that you’re doing your best, and return to thinking your replacement thought. As you become more adept at controlling your thoughts, your positive, good thoughts will change your life for the better.
W hat we focus on expands
—ARNOLD PATENT
When we focus on a particular thought, our mind often immediately responds by calling up similar thoughts. Positive and loving thoughts and feelings spark a whole range of thoughts and feelings that can lift our spirits. If, on the other hand, we concentrate on negative thoughts and fearful emotions, we may conjure up an ever-greater negativity. Whatever we choose to focus on, our mind automatically expands that image for us.
Given this truth, wouldn’t you rather focus on positive images than on negative ones? In a short scenario, suppose you are faced with a complicated task, and your mind focuses on the word failure. Suddenly, an image might be evoked in which you fail at your task. This image could expand to the point where you may fail at other tasks and, possibly, to the point where people may ridicule you for your failure. Now, clear your mind, and visualize that you are faced with the same task, and decide to focus on the word success. Let positive images of accomplishing the task fill your mind. You see images of others appreciating your success, shaking your hand, smiling with admiration. This success image snowballs, and you can see yourself succeeding at other, more difficult, tasks.
But can these thoughts affect your actual performance? Absolutely. When you focus on a particular image, you tend to talk about what’s on your mind. Thus, if your mental focus is on positive images, you’re more likely to mention these ideas and images in communication with others. A good listener, who focuses on what is being said, can absorb your positive words and actions, and many constructive images or ideas might come to him. Like the spark that ignites the flame, he may share these good ideas with others, and they, in turn, may share them with still others. Thoughts expand not only within our own minds but expand through others as well.
Many spiritual teachers know that the human mind is molded from an omnipresent element that takes form, shape, and intelligence, and becomes a part of our thought world. The knowledge and awareness that compose your world often come from what you have held in mind as your inner ideal. Be confident about your mental focus. Are you really alive, alert, awake, and enthusiastic about life? If so, the harvest of abundant living can fill your world with gladness.
As you think, so you are
—CHARLES FILLMORE
The condition of your health, your finances, your relationships, your livelihood—all of these reflect the fruit of certain attitudes. If you don’t like the fruit you’re harvesting—for example, poor health, financial struggle, difficulty in maintaining meaningful relationships, unhappiness with your work—it’s essential that you harvest from another tree.
The writer of Proverbs said, “As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7, KJV). He understood that it’s what we think in our heart that expresses itself in our lives. What you believe about yourself, what you believe about life, can work itself into and through everything you do. Successful living begins by believing yourself worthy of success.
A young woman named Marianne believed she was inferior and her life bore the fruit of that belief. She had grown up on the so-called wrong side of the tracks. Throughout her young life, well-meaning friends warned her not to expect too much because life was hard and it was unfair. For years her life bore the fruit of that belief. She became a prostitute and a drug addict. She was in and out of jail regularly. One day, while walking through a shopping mall, Marianne stole a wallet from another woman’s purse. The wallet contained a few dollars, some credit cards, and, among other things, a small pamphlet. Intending to take only what was of immediate value and get rid of the rest, a sentence from the pamphlet caught her attention, “As a child of God, you are worthy of the best life has to offer.”
In the moments that followed, something strange began to happen to Marianne. Her cold, bitter attitude toward life and people began to thaw. Somehow those words struck a chord that had long been lost but not quite forgotten. She was further surprised when she found herself desperately feeling the need to return the wallet to the woman. Getting the phone number from a blank check in the wallet, Marianne phoned the woman that day. She explained what she had done and said that she wanted to bring the wallet over to her home immediately.
To Marianne’s surprise, there was no bitterness in the woman’s attitude. Instead, there was compassion and understanding. Marianne told the woman about her hard life, and the woman listened to her with tender sympathy. The woman offered Marianne a job in one of the many dress shops she owned in the city. She went out of her way to help Marianne shed the harsh feelings from her past and begin to believe in herself. In time, the young woman’s life began to bear a whole different kind of fruit. She gradually gained confidence in herself and was able to begin to trust others and see the good in them.
Another person’s faith in us can strengthen our faith in ourselves. The mother of a fifteen-year-old named Doug became increasingly worried when her son’s temperature kept rising until it reached 105 degrees. Doug was taken to the hospital, where blood tests revealed leukemia. The doctors were frank, telling Doug that for the next three years he would have to undergo chemotherapy. He might go bald and gain weight. Learning this, Doug became discouraged; although he was told that there was a good chance of remission, he was smart enough to know that leukemia can be fatal.
On the day Doug was admitted—his first time in a hospital—he had opened his eyes, looked around the room, and said to his mother, “I thought you got flowers when you are in the hospital.” Hearing this, an aunt called to order an arrangement. The voice of the sales clerk was high-pitched, and she sounded young. The aunt imagined an inexperienced person who may be unaware of the arrangement’s significance. So she said, “I want the planter especially attractive. It’s for my teenage nephew who has leukemia.”
“Oh,” said the sales clerk, “Let’s add some fresh-cut flowers to brighten it up.”
When the arrangement arrived at the hospital, Doug was feeling strong enough to sit up. He opened the envelope and read the card from his aunt. Then he saw another card. His mother said it must have been meant for another flower arrangement, but Doug removed it, opened it, and began to read. The card said, “Doug—I took your order. I work at Brix Florist. I had leukemia when I was seven years old. I’m twenty-two years old now. Good luck. My heart goes out to you. Sincerely, Laura Bradley.” Doug’s face lit up. For the first time since he entered the hospital, he felt inspired. He had spoken with many doctors and nurses, but this one card was the thing that made him believe he might beat the disease.
This story was reported in the Chicago Tribune newspaper by Bob Greene:
It’s funny; [Doug] was in a hospital filled with millions of dollars of the most sophisticated medical equipment. He was being treated by expert doctors and nurses with medical training totaling hundreds of years. But it was a sales clerk in a flower shop … who—by taking the time to care, and by being willing to go with what her heart told her to do—gave Doug hope and the will to carry on. The human spirit can be an amazing thing, and sometimes you encounter it at its very best when you aren’t even looking!
Pay close attention to what your heart tells you. If you are working toward prosperity and harmony in life, be certain you truly believe you are worthy of having them. This inner conviction, coupled with action, may produce the fruit in life you so deeply desire. Remember, as you think, so you are!
Your thoughts are like boomerangs
—EILEEN CADDY
The continent of Australia has given us many unusual things. Cut off from the rest of the world by vast ocean waters for millions of years, even animal life there has developed into strange forms—for example, the kangaroo and the platypus, the goose-billed, fur-bearing animal that lays eggs and feeds on earthworms.
Australia’s indigenous people have their own unique customs and inventions. Of the latter, the boomerang is the most famous. It is a “stick that comes back.” When thrown by a skilled handler, a boomerang, which comes in a variety of different shapes, may sail far away and still return to the thrower’s hands. Some Australian natives are so skilled in its use that they can kill birds and other game for food with the boomerang.
Our conduct, the way we act, may be similar to the boomerang—especially acts of loving-kindness. For kindness has a way of returning to those who express it to others. You may have heard of the old fable of the lion and the mouse. One day a hungry lion caught a tiny mouse who pleaded for its life, saying, “I am such a tiny mouthful for you, O great lion. Besides, if you release me, some day I may be able to do you a return favor.” The lion laughed at the mouse and let it go.
Sometime later, the lion was caught in a rope net trap which had been set by hunters. And who do you think gnawed the ropes apart and saved the lion? The tiny mouse, of course.
It is the truly brave, the truly great, the truly unafraid who often exhibit the greatest kindness in their activities. Many are rewarded with kindness from others and with positive things that happen to them. When a job opening, or an opportunity for advancement becomes available, or a chance to accompany a friend on a trip or to a special event, the friend who has acted kindly toward others generally receives the special invitation first.
That which returns to us may often be decreed by what we send out. The Good Samaritan in the Bible narrative could have walked by the injured man lying beside the road and sincerely prayed that the man would somehow be helped. Instead, he did the practical thing by stopping to assist a fellow traveler and proved to be a noble instrument of God, binding the man’s wounds and helping him to shelter.
God has given his children so many blessings. We may draw forth from the reservoir of spirit as much as we choose to receive and use. When we begin to realize and appreciate spiritually the wonders of God’s creation, we become like an explorer who visits a new country filled with abundant, amazing, and beautiful opportunities. As we abide in this consciousness of love and kindness, we begin to pass along to others our love and our blessings in many ways. This energy may then return to us, like a boomerang. It might take years to return, and the blessings may come from a different direction, but the law of life of giving and receiving can do its precious work in our lives.
Thoughts held in mind produce after their kind
—CHARLES FILLMORE
Many ago comedian Flip Wilson made famous the phrase “What you see is what you get.” While this is a common belief, it would perhaps be more accurate to say, “What you think is what you get!”
Thoughts, like seeds, sprout and blossom according to their variety, and the thoughts you cultivate create your experiences of life. Just as a seed planted in fertile soil produces...

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