be asked? Everything, for the one who possesses this quiet joy can
never be defeated in life's battles. He has something within him that
can never be quenched and which will lead him from victory to victory.




CHAPTER XII.

THE USE AND MIS-USE OF MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS.


The average individual knows nothing of mental forces, and, although
he may suffer from the effects of unconscious wrong thinking, yet
he is in no danger of making deliberate mis-use of the inner powers.
One, however, who has learnt how to use these interior forces must
be very careful to use them aright or he will find that the invisible
powers of mind and spirit are far more powerful and destructive than
dynamite. It is not meant by this that he can blow himself up thereby,
but it does mean that he can injure himself, not only in this life,
but for ages to come, and, in addition, seriously retard his spiritual
evolution.

All use of the mind to coerce other people or to influence them by
means of suggestion, not for their benefit, but for your advantage,
is highly destructive, not to them actually, _but to you_. On the
face of it, it looks an easy road to success and prosperity, but,
actually, it leads to failure and poverty. The mis-use of the mental
powers in this way is really a form of black magic, and the fate of
all black magicians is very terrible. Even the use of the mind to
coerce other people _for their good_ is not desirable. It never does
any real good, although it may seem beneficial for a time, and its
use, therefore, is to be deprecated. Healing, so-called, by
hetero-suggestion, is not permanent, for as soon as the healer ceases
to "pump" suggestion into the patient the latter begins to relapse
into his former state. Far better results accrue if the patient is
taught to use auto or self-suggestion for himself. It is seen, then,
that the use of the mind to influence others is distinctly harmful
if it is used selfishly, and of no real use if used unselfishly.
Hypnotism is harmful, no matter which way it is used, and is also
detrimental to the patient. Because of this some of our more