Genevieve Behrend - Attaining Your Desires: By Letting Your Subconscious Mind Work for You

As told by

The Sage to His Pupil

The Sage: Thomas Troward's philosophy as taught to his only personal pupil, Genevieve Behrend.

The Pupil: Humanity at large.

"There shall never one lost good!What was, shall live as before."- Browning.

"I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall beforever: nothing can be put to it, nor anythingtaken from it. That which hath been is now;and that which is to be hath already been; andGod requireth that which is past."- Ecclesiastes 3: 14, 15.

These pages, the outpouring of a full heart, I lay reverently upon the memoryalter of a man who was sage and saint, teacher and guide, and my dearlybeloved friend, Judge T. Troward.

"All we have willed or hoped or dreamed of good, shallexist, Not its semblance, but itself."- Browning.

"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; andthat which is done is that which shall be done."- Ecclesiastes 1:9.

The sages of the centuries, each one tincturing their thought with their own soulessence, have united in telling us that, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." It hasbeen established by the experience of the ages that always the law is the same. ButHOW shall one think in their heart, so that only goodness may blossom and ripen intorich deed and rare result? What is the apparently mysterious secret by which life's dullmetal is transmuted into precious mintage?

It is my purpose to tell you in this little book. I desire to crystallize the heart-coiningsof my revered master, Judge Thomas T. Troward, as reflected through the mirror ofmy mind and soul. I have adopted as my means of expression, the dialogue style,familiar to all students of that greatest of all speculative philosophers, Plato. I amconvinced, through years of study of this almost superhuman mind, that this literaryform is the one most nearly calculated to convey the most subtle shades of meaning,the richest depth of soul-sounding.

I know that my readers will agree with me that if they will put themselves in myplace, as students, and let me answer them as my master answered me, it will clarifytheir interest and intensify their joy in these lessons.

What I wish particularly to convey to you within these pages is the method ofscientific right thinking, and to awaken in you the desire to try to use this method inorder to form the habit of thinking ONLY the thoughts you wish to see crystallized ina worthy achievement or result. In addition, I want to direct your thoughts toward abetter understanding of that Spirit of God, or Good, which points the way to theroseate dawn of a new civilization. The rapidity with which the ideas of man arechanging causes humanity to realize that this new civilization is already manifestingitself through a clearer understanding of the relation between man and his Maker.

The epochal keynote of the present generation is that mind is the kingdom in whichman reigns supreme. As the poet says, "A brute I might have been, but I would notsink I' the scale." In endeavoring to make conscious use of thought-power, causing itto produce desired material results, mankind is beginning to understand theindispensability of absolute control.

My chief idea in sending forth this message is to make it easier for you to live inhourly consciousness that you have been given dominion over every adversecircumstance and condition which may arise. The conscious use of the creative powerof thought to protect and guide you, as well as to provide for you, is only attainablethrough understanding the "natural relations between mental action and materialconditions."

Your reading of these lessons should be with a steadfast determination to thinkrationally and effectively on every word, in order that the full meaning of eachthought may be thoroughly grasped and comprehended. Thought-power is thekingdom of God in us, always creating results in our physical forms corresponding toour normal sustained thought. As Troward has said, "Thought is the only action of themind. By your habitual thoughts you create corresponding external physicalconditions, because you thereby create the nucleus which attracts to itself its owncorrespondence, in due order, until the finished work is manifested on the materialplane."

This is the principle upon which we shall proceed to work out a simple and rationalbasis of thought and action whereby we may bring into outer expression any desiredgoal. Let us work together to this end.

G.B.

One of the really great minds and souls of modern times and indeed of any time -was Thomas Troward, late Divisional Judge of the Punjab, India. Of his writings, thelate William James of Harvard said, "Far and away the ablest statement of thatpsychology that I have ever met, beautiful in its sustained clearness of thought andstyle, a really classic statement." The Boston Transcript editorially stated, "The authorreveals himself as easily the profoundest thinker we have ever met on this subject."The late Archdeacon Wilberforce, when writing to Troward, signed himself, "Yourgrateful pupil."

Responding to the many requests from Troward's friends and admirers for a moreintimate glimpse of this great man, I am pleased to present to you a few phases of hisdaily life as I saw them while studying with him. These may be all the moreinteresting because of the fact that I enjoyed the unique privilege of being the onlypupil to whom he ever gave personal instruction.

The Early Life of a Genius

Thomas Troward was born in Ceylon, India, in the year 1847, of English parents andHuguenot ancestors. When quite a young boy he was sent to England to be educatedat Burmshtead Grammar School, but was most unhappy there, as he could not fullyadapt himself to the humdrum life of the English schoolboy. Later on, when hecontinued his education in the beautiful Isle of Jersey, its charm entered into hisblood, and he was thoroughly contented there. Perhaps the old Huguenot strain in himfound a congenial element in the semi-French environment of the college. At theearly age of eighteen the natural bent of his mind began to assert itself, and he wonthe Helford College gold medal for literature.

When his studies were completed, Troward went up to London for the Indian CivilService examination, a very stiff one, which he passed with high credit. He returnedto India at the age of twenty-two in the capacity of Assistant Commissioner. Anincident which occurred during the course of his examination foreshadowed the trendof the life that was to replace the regulation judicialcareer when the twenty-five years of service had expired.