Material Success and Happiness Through Yoga Principles

by Swami Kriyananda
(J. Donald Walters)

Copyright © 2005 Hansa Trust
All rights reserved.

Lesson Two
How to Magnetize Money
The Principles
Money is a thing, merely—a medium of exchange. We give it energy by the expectations we project onto it. Otherwise, it has no energy or magnetism of its own. To some people, it comes effortlessly. I remember a well-to-do lady from Australia remarking to me quite casually, “Money’s easy to make. It’s never been a problem for me.” The way she said that might make many people envy her “luck,” though it wasn’t really luck at all. She simply had good money karma. Many other people, to their misfortune, have quite the opposite: No matter how hard they work, prosperity, for them, remains elusive.
The father of a friend of mine in college made his living by advising people on their investments. A number of his clients became wealthy by following his advice. He himself, however, although never poor, could not achieve their level of financial success. Success in every field is determined, ultimately, by karmic law. My friend’s father, although fully conversant with the principles of investment, and able to make others rich, hadn’t the personal karmic magnetism to attract wealth.
Considering the important role karma plays in these matters, some people ask, “What’s the use of even trying to be successful? Isn’t success just ‘written in the stars’—an inevitability?” Is there truth in that question? Is success-karma, as people like that believe, a decree of kismet?
Emphatically not!
The power of a particular karma is determined by two factors: energy, and will power. Those same two factors can change our karma. We set it in motion in the first place by our own energy and will power: We can change that motion, again, by our own energy and will power. In fact, because karma means action, it may also be described as motion. We need not be its passive recipients, unless we choose to be: We can be those who determine what it shall be. We can, for example, mitigate it by developing a new, good karma in some other field of activity. We can nullify it by using our very flaws of the past in a new and better way.
For instance, if in the past we tried to hurt people by unkind acts, we can devote all our energy and will power to helping and uplifting others. If we fought with armies to conquer countries in battle, we can work intensely, now, to bring peace to mankind by “fighting” for it in non-violent ways, like the heroic feats, in our times, of Mahatma Gandhi.
Indeed, it is entirely possible that Gandhi himself was expiating past deeds of violence by his extraordinary example of non-violence in the present life. It is more likely, however, that he paid off those old sins several times over in former lives, for it takes lifetimes of good karma to develop the power he showed in going into hostile places and converting people, contrary to their desires and convictions, to paths of kindness, tolerance, and love.
Never forget that the worst of sinners can—indeed, must—become a saint someday: not because God will force him to become good, but because he himself will at last recognize, in the search for happiness that is everyone’s quest in life, that what he has really been seeking is not outward gratification, but the inner joy of his own being. The happiness he has sought in things has been with him always, inside his own Self. Such is the destiny of every human being—and, in the long span of cosmic time, of every creature. We came from the Infinite: Someday, we will ourselves want to re-discover our identity with the Infinite.
If someone was a merchant in a past life who cheated people, in this life he can burn up that bad karma by devoting great energy and will power to using the skills he developed in the business world to helping others in the present.
Karma can be mitigated, or lessened, but if one wants really to change it and to nullify its harmful effects, there is a simple principle to remember: The more energy and will power you put into changing that karma, the sooner and the more completely you’ll be able to wipe the slate clean.
Think of the example of Valmiki. He was an evil man, but he was also strong in his evil. What he did, in the end, was use that very strength to cling the more ardently to God. And because he couldn’t even call to God at first, he was taught how to turn his very rejection of God into an obsession with Him, which—because God is Love itself—caught him up in the whirlwind of divine love!
Whatever skills you have, and however you developed and used them in the past, use them now for good. The more energetically you do that, with will power, the more quickly you will expiate any wrongs you may have done in the past, to become a shining example for all.
For there is another feature of this inner transformation: The more positive energy you put out, the more positive energy it will attract to itself. What seems difficult to develop in the beginning becomes easier and easier, until the slowest nag plodding heavily through busy streets becomes a racehorse: the sinner becomes a saint, and the failure in life becomes a radiant example of success!
Don’t imagine that any goal you set yourself in life will be the end of the story once you achieve that end. Don’t fix your sights with blinders, like those on horses, seeing only the road ahead. There are many wonderful discoveries to be made on your way to perfection. Even your present material ambitions will be achieved more gloriously if you don’t tie them all to a single post.
Bad karma can be overcome above all by rechanneling the energy it once directed inward toward oneself. It can be overcome by expanding it outward by helping others.
The effects of bad karma can be changed by removing the subconscious blocks of uncertainty and doubt, placed there by inner conflicts as to what you really want in life, and what you really were. Once your energy is turned and directed one-pointedly toward that which you want to do, you can release great energy within yourself for constructive action.
I remember a fellow disciple of mine whose brother, an intelligent, capable man, had never been able to achieve success in his work. Our Guru “de-jinxed” him by removing a certain energy block from the man’s consciousness. From then on, the man’s business flourished. Guruji never explained to us what that block had been, nor even why he had seen fit to remove it: These are subtle matters which can be best understood by introspection. We need, that is to say, to apply them to our own lives. What blocks are there in ourselves, for example, that prevent us from fulfilling our desires?
In the end, we usually discover that the solution required embodies universal principles, and is not so difficult to sift out. Any block to positive energy can be removed by focusing energy concentratedly in the direction you want your energy to flow. Consider the laser: Even light, intensely concentrated, can perform, for instance, wonders of surgery.
That story about the man my Guru “de-jinxed” raises several interesting questions: Was this man simply ready to receive added assistance in a struggle that he was already winning? Another person might not have been ready for that assistance. For it is ever the divine way to work with man’s will, never against it. There must be complete consent in the subconscious before a saint will consent to assist him. Certainly it isn’t that my Guru went about scattering success-karma, like largesse to the multitudes!
At the same time, I do recall that when people prayed to him for help, things often did go extraordinarily well for them. My wish in this course of lessons, however, is not to steer you to some saint so that you can give him all your problems. My wish is to show you how you can strengthen your own success karma. I want, in addition, to give you faith that you can do so! God Himself, however, needs the complete consent of your own will before He can bless you. The secret of all understanding is to work outward from the center of every situation, not from the periphery.
Karma is not a road down which one coasts as far as it will take him. “Coasting” will accomplish nothing for you. A memory springs to mind that fits this image perfectly. Years ago I was driving up Skyline Drive to San Francisco from the peninsula to the south. Suddenly my car started “coughing” and making stuttering sounds, such as cars make when their petrol tanks are nearly empty. Ahead of me I saw an off-ramp, and took it hoping for the best. I found myself on a stretch of road leading a long distance downhill; I must have coasted down it for at least two miles. No traffic lights or stop signs intervened, fortunately.
Just as the road was starting to level off, I saw a petrol station on the other side. This meant I’d have to cross the road, possibly meeting cars coming in the opposite direction. No such difficulty presented itself. The moment I reached the petrol pump and was just about to apply the brakes, the petrol ran out completely; the car stopped of its own accord, right by the pump. Miraculous? More likely, a coincidence, albeit a most pleasing one. I’ve found that amazing “coincidences” like that do happen when I call on God for help, which I was doing then.
It is always a question of focused energy: not of coasting, but of intensely generating the power to direct your own life. Even in that story, which involved coasting literally, I myself had to steer the car, to look for solutions, to remain in neutral gear (I forgot to mention that) so as not to use petrol unnecessarily, and, finally, to pray strongly, with faith, and not in a lackluster manner.
Another occasion springs to mind: I had a reservation to fly from Los Angeles to Oakland to give a lecture, and was meditating in a darkened room. In another hour (so I thought) a friend was going to drive with me to the airport. The telephone rang. This was on a weekend, at an hour when no one usually phoned me. I thought it was my friend who must have mistaken the time. Because the room was in darkness, I looked at the luminous dial on my watch; it reassured me that I still had an hour before our departure for the airport. The phone rang two or three more times. Finally I turned on the light, to discover that I had turned my forearm the wrong way: It was well past the time I had planned to leave. I hastily telephoned two more friends to come with us to the airport—one to look out the back window for police cars, the second out the left window, the third out the right window. Then, as the saying goes, “I drove like mad.” I also prayed—though not, I hope, “like mad”! There were about seventeen traffic lights on the way—lying in ambush, possibly? Every one of them was green! I rushed into the airport lobby spilling coins out of my pocket as I took out the ticket. I was told at the counter that the gate was just about to close, but the people at the gate agreed to hold everything two more minutes—enough time for me to get there if I sprinted. I arrived just in time to stumble up the steps onto the plane!
It is easy to think that this, too, was just a coincidence, and not the result of some special good karma, or of divine intervention. After a lifetime, however, of many and even far more extraordinary events, it has become increasingly easy for me to believe that special blessings are part of the equation of success. One thing I can say with confidence: Success begins, certainly, by having the right attitude, and by putting forth the right energy.
People don’t realize that faith simply means working with an energy and a will that are already there. There is a subtle power in the universe that we can lock in to, like plugging an electric cord into a wall socket. An all-important point to consider is motivation. When one does anything with ulterior motives, he dissipates his energy by pretending to be doing a thing while really doing or wanting something else. Few people, I suspect, have considered the story of Valmiki as he relates it himself in the Ramayana, how very straightforward he was even in his villainy.
Let us review that account briefly without going into it at length, since that story is so well known. Valmiki set out in life as a highway robber. One day he encountered a group of saints, and demanded their money. When he found they hadn’t any, he told them that they’d left him no choice but to kill them.
Why, they asked, had he chosen this sure path to perdition? When he explained that he had a wife and family to support, and that this was his way of doing it, they inquired further, “Why don’t you ask them if they are willing to share not only your ill-gotten gains, but also the bad karma you’re reaping?” Valmiki, after extracting a promise from them to remain at that spot until he returned, went home and asked his family how they felt about that question the saints had put him. They were outraged that he would want them to share his bad karma as well. “How you earn your money is your business, not ours,” was their reply. Valmiki, equally outraged by their response, returned to the saints and asked to be converted to their company.
I can’t help suspecting a certain amount of hyperbole in this story, as well as a radical abbreviation of what really happened. Nevertheless, Valmiki’s straightforward sincerity even in his villainy showed a singleness of purpose that helped him, eventually, to become a saint and the author of one of India’s great spiritual legacies. One cannot succeed in life without single-minded purpose. Whatever you are doing, do it with all your heart. When earning money, do that also the same way, following the principles presented in these lessons. For if when dealing with a customer, for example, you pretend to be helping him, but in your mind you are thinking, “Money! Profit!” you will be working at cross purposes with yourself. You might as well sit in the street and hold out a hand, begging without even smiling in thanks to your generous donors.
True, the beggar’s motivation seems single, but there is another rule here: Energy must be directed outward, away from one’s self. Valmiki’s was, for even when he was a robber he was thinking only of supporting his family. Later, when he redirected that outward-flowing energy expansively to God, he advanced quickly on the spiritual path. So also a person seeking material success will go much farther and much faster toward his goal if he doesn’t think “Me—Me—Me!” all the time. In fact, it isn’t possible to be single-mindedly selfish: Everyone who thinks only of personal gain will also be roaming restlessly in his mind in search of opportunities. What one achieves by single-mindedness is just the opposite: inward, calm determination.
Karma is energy that we ourselves set in motion, whether long ago or recently. The power of karma is determined by the energy we put into creating it in the first place. Strong will and energy create a strong karma. A deed, on the other hand, that is done without any real interest or feeling creates a relatively feeble karma. An action, moreover, in which the ego is not involved at all has very different consequences even if there is a mighty will behind it. Such is the case with jivan muktas: saints who have become free from all sense of “I and mine,” and whose actions, therefore, attract no results back to themselves. Since the jivan mukta never does anything from ego-consciousness, the power of his actions flows outwardly, resulting in great benefit for all. Those karmas are not drawn magnetically back to their doer.
Karma can also be deflected, as I said, even as a steep downhill ski run can be done relatively safely if the skier goes down the slope crosswise, instead of straight down it. Bad karma can also be offset by intelligently creating an opposite, good karma. For such action to be directed wisely, a true guru, or spiritual teacher, is almost essential.
All action, finally, depends on the energy and strength of the intention behind it. In Autobiography of a Yogi there is a passage where Mukunda (Paramhansa Yogananda’s boyhood name), in his anxiety to follow strictly the teaching of Patanjali on ahimsa (harmlessness), restrained his impulse to kill a mosquito. His guru Swami Sri Yukteswar asked him, “Why didn’t you finish the job?”
“Master!” the disciple replied, “Do you advocate taking life?”
“No, but the deathblow already had been struck in your mind. Patanjali’s meaning,” the guru went on to explain, “was the removal of the desire to kill.” (The disciple’s thought processes had been an open book to him.) “This world,” he added, “is inconveniently arranged for a literal practice of ahimsa. Man may be compelled to exterminate harmful creatures. He is not under similar compulsion to feel anger or animosity.”
Karma depends above all, as I said, on the intention behind the deed. The debt of a minor sin, Sri Yukteswar explained, is incurred every time one finds it necessary to kill any of God’s creatures. It is nevertheless right, he stated also, for man to keep pests like mosquitoes under control, for they can be a danger to human life. Human beings are more highly evolved, and for that reason must be considered first.
The contemplation of karmic law, with all its ramifications, is endlessly fascinating. I’ve given a few examples particularly for another reason: to show that the more conscious and intense the will behind an act, the stronger its consequences. The question of karma is, in fact, secondary to our present discussion. The point I want to make is that actions now can shatter old karmic patterns with fresh energy. Thus, they can change any obstructing influence in one’s life.
No matter how skeptical a person is of karmic law, he surely will not challenge the scientifically demonstrated phenomenon of energy, for this phenomenon is known everywhere in the world. It seems self-evident, in light of this discussion, that in order to succeed one must put energy into whatever he wants to accomplish. No one can fly to the top of a mountain by merely wishing to be up there.
Think back to the example in Lesson One of William Baker and Joe Crumpet. Wouldn’t Joe be far more successful in his work than William? Joe puts more energy into what he is doing. It is his energy that makes all the difference. My college friend’s father couldn’t succeed to the same degree as did those who followed his advice. There was a block in his energy-flow. In fact, recalling to mind the man himself, I remember him as being rather a low-energy person. Probably there was a certain unwillingness to put out energy, personally, that constituted his chief block to success. Often, a general lack of energy will manifest itself as lack, in a general sense. High energy, on the other hand, produces talent in many fields: in art, in music, in business, and virtually in anything in which one is interested. My friend’s father had enough energy to give advice, but not enough to be single-minded in a sense of being productive.
Perhaps at some time in the past he had been successful, but selfish. If so, that could mean that in this life, if he was to achieve success he would first have to channel his energy outward once again in service to others.
It seems strange that the path outward into the world should show single-mindedness, and the path inward should show quite the opposite. This is one of the fascinating anomalies on the path of yoga. Inwardness, in meditation, really indicates an upward direction—a kind of shooting star, so to speak, soaring upward with intense focus into the heavens. Inwardness that is motivated by selfishness takes the mind downward, shrinking one inward upon the ego. When one thinks in terms of serving others, his inner energy becomes focused rightly.
Perhaps that father once deceived others in their investments. If so, then again, by helping others in the present he would “make good” on those past mistakes. These are suppositions, merely. The important thing in any case is that one’s karmic blocks are best removed, not by exhausting that karma, but by generating the right energy to offset them. Thus, a talented and educated person who for some reason has not been successful in life can achieve the success his abilities merit by giving service to others, and, if possible, by giving the kind of service that is geared to offsetting his particular past mistakes.
Energy is the key, always. It must be generated consciously. An important teaching of Paramhansa Yogananda’s was, “The greater the will, the greater the flow of energy.” So as not to confuse the will with a furrowed brow and inner tension, one could substitute in certain circumstances the expression, “The greater the willingness. . . .” When you really want to succeed at something, you have the necessary willingness to do it well.
There is a valuable corollary to this principle: “If you want to be fortunate, don’t wait for good luck to come to you: Go out with energy; meet it halfway!”
The results of bad karma are not necessarily a destiny chiseled in stone. There are strong karmas, both bad and good. Their strength depends on the amount of energy, generated by will power, that went into creating them. To overcome a bad karma, one has only to oppose it with an equal and opposite good karma. There is nothing absolute in any prediction based, let us say, on your horoscope. There is no kismet looming so overpoweringly that it can never be changed. Sri Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita, declares that even the worst of sinners, if he meditates steadfastly, “speedily comes to Me.”
Several questions remain: Is it even good, always to eliminate the effects of bad karma? That karma may provide a much-needed lesson. In this case, to have its effects simply removed might not be helpful.
In India, many years ago, I met a young woman saint who never spoke, but did respond in writing to requests for healing prayers. Her prayers, someone told me, were invariably effective. Interestingly, her own father had a chronic illness, but she wouldn’t pray for him. Her mother repeatedly asked her to do so.
After some time, the mother raised an unanswerable objection: “It’s because he’s your own father that you won’t pray for him. You think that if you pray, people will interpret it as a sign of personal attachment, which to you would be wrong. But what is this refusal of yours except attachment to people’s good opinion of you?”
The young saint, thus forced, scribbled a reply: “You’ll see what will happen if I pray.” The mother kept on insisting, however. Finally, the daughter relented.
The father was healed. Soon afterward, however, he began to live immorally. His illness, until then, had kept him living a more balanced life. It would have been far better, in his case, not to have had a physical healing.
How was the universe created? It is a manifestation of consciousness. Even in the material sciences it is now known that matter, seemingly so solid, is really only a vibration of energy. Energy itself, in turn, is a vibration of thoughts. And thoughts, finally, are manifestations of absolute, undifferentiated consciousness. This truth has been explored only superficially, so far, by modern science. The much deeper explanation of how all things were created was taught ages ago by the great rishis of India. It is hinted at in the teachings of Vedanta.
I don’t suggest that anyone try literally to materialize money! This is not to say that such a feat is impossible. Swami Nityananda, the guru of Swami Muktananda of Ganeshpuri, did exactly that. The police came to him one day and demanded that he show them his printing press. They had learned that he was giving money away freely, and figured that he could not have acquired it normally. Obviously, then, he must be printing it!
The swami replied, “Come, and I’ll show you.” He led them to a nearby lake, walked into the water, became submerged to the point of disappearing from sight. He then emerged with wads of rupee notes in his fists. “Come down with me,” he said with a smile. “I’ll show you my ‘press.’” The police thereupon prudently decided to leave well enough alone. They stopped bothering him!
It isn’t necessary for you to become like Swami Nityananda before you try to put these teachings into practice! Not everybody can manifest money by materializing it, but everybody can generate the energy that will attract money. When the energy-flow is right, it will be like electricity flowing through an electric wire; that is to say, it will generate a magnetic field. The stronger that field, the stronger also the magnetism it generates.
The kinds of karma, and the kinds of magnetism that generate it, are infinitely varied. I remember—incidentally, only—my Guru commenting about a disciple who had what he called “commotion-karma.”
Obstacles to the energy-flow are whatever produces mental “static,” such as doubt, anxiety, fear, self-interest, lack of self-confidence, and a self-narrowing focus on results.
Doubt can be simply resolved: Test it! Science in modern times has blazed a trail by demonstrating the existence of energy. We have only to learn the different directions that trail can lead. Don’t attempt to manifest vast sums of money all at once! Aspire to smaller, more sensible victories. If you keep your aspirations within the bounds of reason, you’ll be surprised at how practical this principle really is.
Self-confidence is best developed when it isn’t centered in ego-consciousness, but expands in self-surrender to divine consciousness. Man’s own ability is severely limited, but there are no limits to the power of God for those who invite that power to flow through them.
Attachment to specific results is, as I said, self-narrowing. It changes one’s focus from energy to things. The energy is transformed in the mind from a fluid stream to a firm substance; it ceases to flow. To release one’s powers of accomplishment from narrow fixation, concentrate on the energy-flow itself, not on its intended objective. This is another reason why the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita on nishkam karma is so wonderful: “Action without desire for the results.” Action, to be self-freeing, must not be self-defining. Thus do great yogis manifest their so-called “miracles.” I say “so-called” because their feats, however amazing, are simply the consequence of a flow of consciousness, through energy, to its final, material condensation. The flow itself is facilitated by one’s not being identified with substance—by the fact, indeed, of being centered within one’s self—in that awareness which is the essence of everything manifested.
The Application
I have read advice in books that when one wants to fulfill a desire, he should give the object of that desire a definite shape and color. “If you want a new car,” they say, “visualize the exact model you want. Imagine it sitting in your driveway with the key in the ignition. See the front door standing open invitingly.” Somehow, this advice has always struck me as limiting; I have found that another method works far better. It is based on results that I have observed in other people’s lives, and in my own. Let me illustrate my meaning with a story:
A Christian died and went to heaven. Saint Peter welcomed him, and showed him around the place. When they’d taken in a few sights, Saint Peter took his charge to what he described as the “heavenly junkyard.”
“Here,” he said, “are all the things that the people on earth rejected.”
The newcomer, looking about him, was amazed to see so many shiny, new-looking objects. This place didn’t look to him like a “junkyard” at all! “How,” he asked, “could people have rejected so many wonderful objects? For instance, just see that beautiful car over there. I can’t imagine anyone rejecting anything so beautiful!”
“It’s interesting that you should ask about that particular object,” Saint Peter said. “As it happens, the person who sent it back was you!”
“Why, that isn’t possible!” exclaimed the newcomer. “I’d never have sent back anything so wonderful!”
“Oh, but you did!” St. Peter insisted. “That car was intended for you, but whenever you prayed for a car, you visualized a small Volkswagen.”
The point of this amusing but insightful anecdote is, Don’t place any limits on your aspirations or you’ll block an energy-flow that might produce even greater wonders for you.
In my experience, the best “system” is to offer whatever I visualize into the divine flow. I then pray, “Lord, this is what I’d like generally to accomplish. You, please, decide what You want done specifically, and how it should be done.”
Years ago, at our first Ananda community outside Nevada City, California, we held a meeting to invite our members to help with the enhancement of what we euphemistically called “downtown Ananda.” Members were invited to pledge different amounts of money according to their ability: ten dollars for a sapling; five dollars for a potted plant; twenty dollars for a movable tree. One request was made in the hope that some Ananda business might be able to pledge that amount. (All of our businesses, I should add, were fairly new.) The sum was $2,500 to pave the entrance driveway.
When I saw that relatively high sum, although I knew that there was a need, I thought, “No one is going to pledge so much.” Ananda was still young then, and, financially, still struggling. I decided to pledge that whole amount myself. I had nowhere near that kind of money, but experience had shown me that Divine Mother, as I address God when I pray to “Him,” can perform miracles when one asks Her lovingly—for others, not for oneself. Confidently, therefore, I pledged the amount asked. We’d been given two weeks to submit the money. How was I to meet that deadline? I had no idea! I had faith, only, that the money would come somehow. This was a specific request, but I was concentrating on the energy of the prayer itself. I didn’t visualize specifically how the driveway should look, or how the money might come. Instead, I thought, “Divine Mother knows more than I, and will take care of that end of things!”
I told no one of my pledge; I simply focused all my energy on telling Divine Mother that this was something we needed. I then prayed, “You have to come through with this!”
One morning when I got up, nearly two weeks later, I saw an envelope lying on the floor inside my front door. Opening the envelope, I found a brief letter from a friend who had lived for some time at Ananda, and had returned for a brief visit. The letter said, “My mother died a few months ago, and I’ve long been wanting to express to you my gratitude for what you’ve done for me. This check is from the inheritance she left me.” Enclosed was a check for $3,000. Our driveway became a reality!
That was by no means an isolated event: I’ve seen this principle work again and again in my life, and I don’t remember ever being disappointed. I’ve found that the “system” works best when I concentrate on the flow of energy, rather than on any specific thing I want. That was what I did in the case I’ve just described: I didn’t think, “Driveway! Driveway!” I prayed, “Divine Mother, You know what I want. All I can add to that is, We really need it!”
What I recommend is that you focus your demand, first. Then project it upward, with great will power and energy, from your heart and out through the spiritual eye. That flow of energy, like electricity passing through a wire, will generate a magnetic field, which will attract to itself consequences that match the thought and the strength of the energy.
I’ve found that it also helps to think of that energy as a ray of light. Rotate around that ray the magnetism you want to create. Whatever your need is, send the ray outward, not as an appeal, but (to use my Guru’s expression) as a “loving demand.”
Your consciousness is a unique expression of the Infinite. What you yourself can do is narrowly limited, but what God can accomplish through you is limitless. Offer your thoughts up into that infinite flow.
Karmic blocks to success may for a time prevent what you want from coming to you, but they cannot stop it forever. “If at first you don’t succeed”—surely you’ve heard this advice—“try and try again.” Success depends on your force of will. Use that will, directing the flow of energy toward whatever you want to attract.
Meditation
Visualize a cascade of gold coins pouring down like a waterfall. See the cascade land, then flow outward to form a shining stream. Do not think of the individual coins so much as of the shining light that has condensed into those golden forms. Reach out lightly, and touch that luminous flow of light. Hold your hands up to it; let it run freely through your fingers. Be one with its radiance, for it is yours. You have within you all the wealth you need to fulfill every dream.
Remember always, what you can do is limited, but what God can accomplish through you has no limits as long as you hold yourself open to that flow.
Affirmation
“Thy wealth flows into me and through me. Its strength and power of accomplishment are unlimited, for Thou art infinite. Thy power, within me, is infinite.”

Points to Remember
1. Money is a thing, merely. We give it energy by the expectations we project onto it
2. Our ability or inability to be successful is not “written in the stars”—an inevitability! Energy and will power created our karma and can be used to change it.
3. The more energy and will power you put into changing a karma, the sooner and the more completely you’ll be able to wipe the slate clean.
4. Whatever skills you have, use them now for good. The more energetically you do that, with will power, the more quickly you will expiate any wrongs you may have done in the past.
5. The more positive energy you put out, the more positive energy it will attract to itself. What seems difficult to develop in the beginning becomes easier and easier.
6. Don’t imagine that any goal you set yourself in life will be the end of the story once you achieve that end.
7. Any block to positive energy can be removed by focusing energy concentratedly in the direction you want your energy to flow.
8. It is the divine way to work with man’s will, never against it. There must be complete consent in the subconscious. Even God needs the complete consent of your own will before He can bless you.
9. Faith simply means working with an energy and a will that already exists in the universe.
10. When one does anything with ulterior motives, he dissipates his energy by pretending to be doing one thing while really doing or wanting something else. Whatever you are doing, do it with all your heart.
11. What one achieves by single-mindedness is inward, calm determination.
12. When one thinks in terms of serving others, his inner energy becomes focused rightly.
13. “The greater the will, or willingness, the greater the flow of energy.”
14. “If you want to be fortunate, don’t wait for good luck to come to you: Go out with energy; meet it halfway!”
15. Everybody can generate the energy that will attract money. When the energy-flow is right, it will be like electricity flowing through an electric wire—it will generate a magnetic field.
16. Obstacles to the energy-flow are doubt, anxiety, fear, self-interest, lack of self-confidence, and a self-narrowing focus on results.
17. Don’t attempt to manifest vast sums of money all at once! If you keep your aspirations within the bounds of reason, you’ll be surprised at your success.
18. Man’s own ability is severely limited, but there are no limits to the power of God for those who invite that power to flow through them.
19. To release one’s powers of accomplishment from narrow fixation, concentrate on the energy-flow itself, not on its intended objective. Practice nishkam karma: “Action without desire for the results.”
20. Don’t place any limits on your aspirations or you’ll block an energy-flow that might produce even greater wonders for you. Concentrate on the flow of energy, rather than on any specific thing you want.
21. Focus your demand. Then project it upward, with great will power and energy, from your heart and out through the spiritual eye. Think of that energy as a ray of light. Rotate around that ray the magnetism you want to create. Whatever your need is, send the ray outward as a “loving demand.”
22. Success depends on your force of will. Use that will, directing the flow of energy toward whatever you want to attract.

Workbook Ideas
by Joseph Bharat Cornell
Focused Energy: Key to Success
In eighteenth century Japan, mountain travel was often perilous. On the island of Honshu, passage through the Yamakuni River Gorge was especially so—every year travelers fell where the trail crossed its sheer walls. Hearing of the many lives lost there, a mendicant priest named Ryokai vowed he would carve a long tunnel through the solid rock cliff. With just a chisel and hammer, Ryokai began chipping away at the mountain.
At first travelers and local villagers laughed at Ryokai and said he was a fool. After several years of observing Ryokai’s unstinting labor, however, the villagers became inspired by his devoted efforts and began to help. But soon they became discouraged, thinking the project impossible.
Several more times workers came, stayed for a while, then left. Their coming and going didn’t matter to Ryokai. For him, now, only the rock wall existed—his eyes and mind saw only his chisel and the fall of his hammer. Years later, when the priest had dug half way through the mountain, thirty masons helped him finish. During this time, Ryokai was virtually unaware of their presence, so single-minded was he in pursuing the task God had given him.
Action Item:
Dynamic energy focused in one direction attracts success. The magnetism generated from concentrated effort also draws opportunities and help from the universe.
1.   Choose something you want to accomplish.
2.	Watch your energy as you work.
3.	Does it remain steadfast and concentrated? Or does it become easily diverted?
4.	If you become sidetracked, refocus your energy on your purpose.
5.	Continue refocusing your attention as needed.
6.	Observe how Life helps you when your energy is strong and positive.
7.	Remember, the only thing you have control over is the quality and focus of your energy. It is your most important asset!
Overcoming Karmic Blocks
In the above story, the priest’s motivation for building the tunnel was also for karmic reasons. As a young man, Ryokai had taken lives, and he knew now he had to save lives if his karma was to be expiated. After his crimes, Ryokai, filled with remorse, had almost surrendered to the authorities. But a saintly priest told him that he would surely be executed if he did. This priest suggested instead that Ryokai begin earnestly serving and saving the lives of others. Dying now wouldn’t help his victims, or himself. Only by denying himself and helping others could Ryokai become free of his karma.
Awareness of one’s faults should lead to direct, positive action. The way to mitigate one’s karma is not to outlast it, or feel guilty about it, but to consciously generate positive energy to offset it.
Action Item:
Although few of us have Ryokai’s karma, we all have karmic impediments that prevent us from achieving our goals. Blocks like fear, doubt, and lack of self-confidence siphon off a tremendous amount of energy. Removing subconscious blocks frees our energy for more worthwhile pursuits.
Ask yourself:
1.	Is there a part of me that paralyzes my efforts, that acts counter to what I want to do or accomplish?
2.	Meditate on what it is, and after its consequences become very clear, think of a way to redirect this blocked energy positively and expansively.
3.	Devote yourself energetically to this new direction.