The Law of the New Thought, by William Walker Atkinson, is a great introduction into the basic principles of New Thought. He explains a number of Laws and puts them into context with examples and analogies.
The book starts off with "What is New Thought?" Atkinson explains that the entire subject of New Thought is so large that it is difficult to answer fully. However, he does a good job of sharing the basic principles and the book serves as a great primer on the concepts of New Thought.
Atkinson talks about the central theme of New Thought being "The Oneness of All." New Thought has no creeds or dogmas. In other words, New Thought allows people to look at the world through their own eyes. The Truth is a combination of our own experiences, intuition, and spiritual interpretation.
Those who believe in New Thought may have differing points of view on minor points, but they all understand and respect this and, at the core, they all share a Fundamental Truth. He explains that we all have a bit of the Truth, but no one has all of the truth. He explores this in more detail in a later chapter.
New Thought teaches that there is a Supreme Power that exists in ALL things. "The Supreme Power is Infinite, Illimitable, Eternal, and Unchangeable It IS, has always been, and always will be. It is Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient." This Supreme Power is known by many names, such as: Mind, Spirit, Law, The Absolute, Nature, Life, and God. Whatever name you feel comfortable with using, it still means Supreme Power. The principles of Omnipresence, Omnipotence, and Omniscience will be explored in detail further in the book.
Atkinson explores another concept within New Thought and that is Man's unfolding of consciousness. The unfoldment of consciousness is an individual thing. Just as children develop at different rates, so do we develop our spiritual consciousness at different rates. As we reach a level of spiritual consciousness, we become conscious of the existence of God. It becomes a knowing, rather than a belief, based upon what we we're taught, whether real or assumed, by others.
One of my favorite concepts explored in this book is the notion that God is connected to all of us and that he is not full of wrath or punishment. Think about this for a moment - if we know that God is Good, why would he want to punish us? God's love is unconditional. In our spiritual growth, we come to know that God has a loving, good, perfect, just and wise plan for all of us. "New Thought teaches that All is One - that all the Universe, high and low, developed and undeveloped, manifest and unmanifest is One - all is an emanation of God."
One concept of New Thought, that I believe has really become mainstream, is that "Thoughts are Things." According to Atkinson, "...like attracts like in the world of thought - that a man attracts to himself thoughts in harmony with his own - people in harmony with his thoughts - yes, that even things are influenced by thought in varying degrees." In my opinion, this is in direct correlation with the concept that everything is energy. Each person, place, and thing vibrates at its own unique frequency. When we tune into these frequencies, we draw them to us.
In summary, New Thought has a unique meaning to every man and woman who believes in it. And each of us takes from these concepts that which are suited to our own needs and leaves the rest for others.
Each of these concepts of New Thought will be explored in more depth in future posts.
The purpose of New Thought Inspiration is to share concepts related to New Thought and Spirituality. The pearls of wisdom and inspirational quotes about life are meant to spur our minds. Let's live a conscious-driven life and Get Inspired!