Chapter I

THE PROBLEM OF MASTERSHIP
AN is either a victim of fate or the master of his destiny! There are no two ways about it, and no neutral position. I am speaking, of course, of mankind and not of the individual. There are individuals who are masters and creators of their destinies part of their lives, and innocent or despondent victims of fate at other times. The lives of such persons simply prove the fact that man can be master or slave as he chooses.
The system set forth in this book for the attain' ment and application of self mastership or the mastership over so-called fatalistic conditions is based upon the premise that man is essentially a creator of his environment and his circumstances, and not the result of these things. Usually a pre' mise is an assumption or a supposition, but I tnast that my readers will see before they have com'
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pleted the reading of this book that the premise in this case is a fact, and that the other facts in the system built upon this premise substantiate and demonstrate that fundamental fact. Therefore, if you are one of the many who have been led to believe that environment has gradually molded civilization, and that it has specifically made of man what he is and still controls him, I implore you for your ov^oi sake and your own best interests to lay aside that belief and for the time of the reading of this book and the testing of its prin' ciples, that you assume the premise upon which this system is founded to be true and thereby give it every opportunity to serve you.
The fundamental principle involved in this sys' tern of self mastery is that which was observed centuries ago by those untutored and non-academic minds which had to depend upon the casual and multifarious manifestations of man's existence and nature's operations to determine the natural laws in both the spiritual and material kingdoms. That principle, evolved through observation and per- fected through test and application, reveals that all life and all existence within the universe has
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THE CYCLES OF LIFE
its expression in cycles, the periodicity of which is equivalent to the rhythm of certain measured and harmonious recurrences of stresses or impulses of a Cosmic nature.
Modern science in its laboratory examination of the microscopical manifestations of natural law has discovered that all cells of living matter and all crystals of non-living matter have varying periods of rhythmic motion beginning with their birth, and controlling the process of development to maturity and guiding the evolutionary steps preceding the process of breaking down or repro- ducing others of their own species. And it has been found that the periodicity which distinguishes the rhythm of each of these species or classifica' tions of matter is harmoniously related to the periodicity observable in the movements of the planets and the effects of rhythm on the tides of the waters of the earth, and the growth of plant life as well as animal life.
Even in the functioning of the organs of animal bodies, such as the breathing processes, the heart action and similar movements contributing to the maintenance of life, there is a definite rhythm
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closely resembling and having a harmonic relation to the larger and more pronounced rhythms of the Cosmic energy.
It is not my intention to be highly technical nor even academic in my explanation of the laws and principles pertaining to the cause of the universal rhythm which constitutes the motion of hfe. Such facts are contained in the Rosicrucian teachings for those who are devoting their lives to the prcK found research work for which Rosicrucian scien- tists have been eminent for many centuries. Suffice it to say that there are certain facts, self-evident, and others easily demonstrable, which supply the basis for further study in this direction.
It is tny intention to speak specifically in this book of the rhythm of life as it affects man and his interests. Even a casual study of the system represented in this book will open the doorway to such mastership of the practical affairs of our daily lives and there will be no room left in the minds of any who test the system or doubt as to the universality of the law involved and its universal effect upon all Hfe and all things seem- ingly without life.
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THE CYCLES OF LIFE
The question has often been discussed as to whether man is a free agent or not, and a test of the system contained in this book will reveal to anyone that in so far as having the right and privilege to choose is concerned, man is absolutely a free agent. But, he will also find that not a personal God but an impersonal Cosmic law holds him responsible for his choice in each and every instance.
We see throughout our lives the success of those men and women who seem to have been fortunate in their choice of professions, occupations, or ap" plications of time, or who were "lucky" in their selection of property, material, place, or time for the attainment of wealth and happiness, or who followed continuously some intuitive urges which actuated them in their affairs at most propitious times. We see, on the other hand, those who seem to be most unfortunate in all of these things; and in ignorance of the laws involved we may be apt to attribute the fortunes and misfortunes to chance or to fate.
It is the purpose of the system set forth in this book to enable every man, woman, and child to
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take advantage of certain natural laws and work in harmony with them to the end that each may be master of his fate, and through harmonious cooperation with the cycles of life reap the richest rewards offered by the bountiful disposition of the Cosmic plan.
Without resort, therefore, to superstitious be- liefs or practices, and without invoking the ques' tionable influence of hypothetical and theoretical powers of an invisible nature, and with all the saneness and rationalism of a scientific method of living, the practical men and women of this modem time who may even be prejudiced toward that which is unique or metaphysical may bring large an4 important changes in their lives and redirect the courses of their careers toward a cer- tain and assured goal.
With such a desire in mind, let the reader analyze carefully the brief explanations of the laws and principles which follow in the succeed- ing chapters, without slighting one of them and without minimi2,ing their importance because of their simplicity.
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