Ancient Manifestation Secrets

Throughout the ages, ancient wisdom has passed through the hands of many cultures and societies.

• From the Mystic Rituals of the Egyptians...

• To the profound philosophies of the Greeks...

• And the secretive experiments of the alchemists…

This ancient wisdom has evolved into what we now call personal development.

In its modern form, however, personal development and manifestation has lost its connection to its roots, missing a critical element that holds many back from realizing their true potential and manifesting their dreams.

An Invitation to a Transformative Journey

Hi - my name is Jaden Easton. Welcome to the Better Thought newsletter.

In addition to building a business that was featured in the Inc 5000 as one of the fastest-growing companies in America, I’ve dedicated the last five years and invested tens of thousands of dollars in acquiring and studying rare, centuries-old books, unearthing secrets that time has largely forgotten.

For perhaps the first time, I am breathing new life into this ancient wisdom, modernizing it and bringing it directly to you.

I’m no guru; I’m a student of life just like you. I'm extending an invitation to explore the profound depths of our potential and embark on a transformative journey together.

The Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science By Thomas Troward

Should you accept, we will begin with The Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science, published in 1909 by Thomas Troward. Troward’s groundbreaking work laid the foundation for contemporary personal development. He’s the mentor, of the mentor, of the mentor, of modern-day personal development icons.

What is Mental Science?

Mental science is the study and application of the mind's power to shape our reality—kinda like enrolling in Hogwarts—just less wands and broomsticks. It delves into the hidden mechanisms of thought, belief, and consciousness, revealing how our inner world creates our outer experiences. Think of it as the cheat code for life. By understanding and harnessing these principles, we can transform our lives, achieve our deepest desires, and unlock the boundless potential within us.

Through mental science, you gain profound insights into the nature of reality, the connection between your thoughts and experiences, and the techniques to align your mind with your goals. Like finding out you’ve had superpowers all along—but instead of flying, you just get your life together. Which, honestly, might be even cooler.

So, get ready for a wild ride into your mind. We’re about to unlock the best version of you. And hey, if it means you can finally stop overthinking that text you sent three hours ago, isn’t it worth a shot?

The Foundation: Understanding Spirit and Matter

Diving into the vastness of Mental Science is a bit like deciding which Netflix series to binge-watch next – it’s tough to know where to start, and there’s no right answer. Various starting points have their own peculiar advantages, but after some careful deliberation, I’ve decided that for this series, there’s no better starting point than understanding the relationship between Spirit and Matter.

Why start here, you ask? Well, when I say “Spirit” and “Matter,” your mind probably starts thinking of spirit as something alive (livingness) and matter as something dead (deadness). From an outward perspective, aka only considering what you can see (appearances), this impression makes sense.

I don’t know about you, but I trust my senses. Most of us do. If you touch something and it burns, you’d say it’s hot, right? Even if there’s a sign saying it’s cold, you’re not going to be like, “Oh, the sign must be right!” No, you trust your own senses. Any attempt to override the senses of a healthy individual will eventually fail because the truth always comes to light, just like that one friend who can’t keep a secret at a surprise party.

Judging by Appearances: A Common Pitfall

Error often comes in, however, when we overly judge the meaning of what our senses tell us. By nature, we judge by appearances and are quick to create stories about situations or events in our lives – like assuming someone’s mad at you just because they didn’t text back immediately.

When we train ourselves to seek the truth and dig for the causes behind appearances, our life begins to change for the better and we step into a new world of freedom and beauty.

It takes persistent determination to discover the truth instead of sticking to preconceived notions. It’s like trying to get in shape; you can’t just wish for abs and outsource the work to someone else. You have to do the crunches yourself.

So, let’s start by understanding what we mean by the livingness we attribute to spirit and the deadness we attribute to matter. This is foundational knowledge for the lessons to come.

The Distinction Between Spirit and Matter

On the surface, it might seem easy to define livingness as motion and deadness as the absence of motion. However, modern science throws a wrench into that simplicity. Imagine there is a crystal rock in front of you. To the naked eye, it looks like dead matter, not moving at all. But if you peek through a microscope, you’d see it’s vibrating with intense energy at the atomic level, like a toddler on a sugar high.

So, we can’t say the root distinction between spirit and matter is motion – we need to dig deeper.

The solution won’t be found by comparing life to deadness. The key is perhaps in comparing different degrees of livingness.

We know plants are alive, but their livingness is different from that of animals. I mean, no kid would choose a goldfish over a golden retriever as a pet. And why is a boy considered an advance upon the dog? The plant, fish, dog, and boy are all alive, but there’s a clear difference in their livingness, which is about intelligence. It’s like comparing an iPhone to a Motorola RAZR – they both make calls, but one’s definitely smarter.

Intelligence: The Measure of Livingness

Intelligence measures the "livingness" of any individual life. It’s this greater intelligence that places an animal higher than a plant and an intellectual man over the savage. Increased intelligence activates higher modes of motion. The higher the intelligence, the more control over motion.

Just think about the complexity of a human body with all its organs and cells working together versus the simplicity of a plant or single-celled organism. Which has more innate intelligence? Which can recognize itself?

You should start to grasp that the livingness of life is intelligence – the power of Thought. So, we can say that the distinctive quality of spirit is Thought.

What about the distinctive quality of Matter? Well, it’s form. For matter, to be matter at all, it must occupy space, and to occupy any particular space necessarily implies a corresponding form.

Again, it’s for these reasons, we confidently say that the distinctive quality of spirit is Thought, and the distinctive quality of matter is Form. This radical distinction is crucial for the student to understand because important consequences will follow.

Form, Thought, and the Nature of Reality

Let’s continue our train of thought regarding the distinctive qualities of spirit (Thought) and matter (Form). What does form imply? Form implies space and limitation within boundaries. Thought, however, implies neither.

So when we think about life, like actual living, breathing life, we usually imagine something we can see, right? Picture an elephant – this massive, majestic beast. Now, picture a mouse – cute, tiny, probably the star of some animated movie. You might think, “Hey, that elephant’s got more ‘living substance’ because it’s bigger.” But guess what? Size doesn’t matter! Size. Doesn’t. Matter. A mouse is just as alive as an elephant. Both have life.

Here’s the kicker: If we think of life as just the act of living, size is irrelevant. You can be a colossal elephant or a minuscule mouse; you’re alive all the same. And if we can imagine life as something that doesn’t take up space, like the essence of life itself, it means it’s everywhere, all at once.

Time, Space, and the Power of Thought

Now, let’s talk about time. Scientifically speaking, time is just the measure of how long it takes for something to move from point A to point B. So, if there’s no space, there’s no time. Mind blown, right? If spirit is something that doesn’t take up space, it exists outside of time. It’s like that friend who’s always late – just doesn’t follow the same rules as the rest of us.

In this view, nothing is far away in time or space. Either it’s here, or it’s nowhere. Without time, there’s no future. Without space, there’s no concept of distance.

That’s why some wise folks say, “thoughts are things” – in a way, they are. When you remove time and space from the equation, everything exists in the here and now. It’s like Schrodinger’s cat but without the box and the poor confused cat.

Just because we can’t see something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Like the movement of atoms – we know they’re there, we just can’t see them.

Now, this might seem abstract, like trying to explain TikTok trends to your grandma, but it’s crucial for understanding Mental Science. Later, we’ll apply this to some cool stuff.

Balancing the Abstract and the Concrete

On the flip side, everything we experience happens in time and space, giving us size, distance, direction, and sequence. These create relationships between the abstract (like your dream of being a superhero) and the concrete (like the reality that your costume is just pajamas). They’re not in conflict but work together. Reality needs both to be complete. Extreme idealists ignore the contextual, and extreme materialists ignore universal truths. You can’t have one without the other, like trying to have an inside without an outside – doesn’t work.

As you’ll soon see, manifesting what you desire involves working in both spiritual and physical realms. For now, get a good grasp on the difference between Spirit and Matter.

Next week, in Part 2: The Unity Of Spirit, we will examine how Spirit is not fragmented or divided, but rather a unified, continuous force that permeates all of existence. We'll discuss how recognizing this unity can deepen our understanding of the creative process and how this insight is essential for truly mastering manifestation. By understanding the Unity of Spirit, you will see how everything in the universe is interconnected, and how this connection plays a crucial role in shaping your thoughts and experiences.

Until next time, keep your thoughts sharp and your spirit steady.

Jaden Easton