Study Notes on Mastery of Fate by Christian D. Larson
The Foundations of Fate Determination
The Causative Principle of Environment: Christian D. Larson establishes that a person’s conditions, circumstances, and environments are determined by what that person is and what that person does.
The Law of Change: Because an individual can change both their internal self and their external actions, they possess the inherent power to determine their own fate.
Restructuring Self Through Thought: To change the self, one must change their thought, for "man is as he thinks."
Restructuring Action Through Purpose: To change actions, one must change the life's purpose. Every action, whether conscious or unconscious, is inspired by a held purpose.
The Origin of Thought: Every thought is created in the image of a mental impression. Consequently, to control thought, one must govern the impressions that form in the mind.
Governing Mental Impressions: This is achieved by two means:
Governing the objective senses.
Acquiring the art of original thought.
The Impact of Environment on Thought: Anything entering the mind through physical senses creates an impression unless intercepted by original thought. If the mind reflects the environment directly, thoughts become identical to that environment, and because man becomes his thoughts, he eventually becomes a direct reflection of his surroundings.
Mastery Over the Senses: The first essential of mastering fate is preventing any impression from entering the mind unless it is consciously desired. This requires a strong, firm, and positive mental attitude, particularly when surrounded by inferior conditions.
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The Principles of Self-Supremacy and Self-Submission
Defining the Two Attitudes:
Self-Submission: The belief that man is a product of his environment and cannot change until the environment changes. This attitude leads to a loss of control over the thinking process.
Self-Supremacy: The realization that the principle of one's being contains the possibility of complete mastership.
The Paradox of Belief: Larson argues that if one believes they are controlled by environment, that becomes true for them. However, once they enter the attitude of self-supremacy, environment no longer controls them. To speak the truth is to declare one is a master in their own domain.
The Exclusivity of Truth: Self-supremacy and environmental control cannot coexist in the same mind. Attempting to believe both leads to confusion and a lack of control over anything.
Inherent Mastership: This is proven by the fact that individuals already exercise complete control over certain parts of their being at certain times. These limited spheres of action can be expanded by applying the principle of supremacy on a larger scale.
The Path to Superiority: A change of environment alone does not give mastership; only a change of thought does. While in supremacy, one is not open to random impressions but can choose to be responsive to selected, superior sources.
The Correspondence Between Mental and Physical Worlds
The Law of Reflection: The physical world is an exact reflection of the mental world (what a person is, feels, and thinks).
The Root of Misfortune: Barring natural accidents, misfortunes are traced to competence issues or the misapplication of ability. Specifically, doing the "wrong thing at the wrong time" is caused by mental confusion or obtuse judgment.
Attraction and Association: Based on the principle that "like attracts like," a person’s associations are determined by their own mental quality. A worthy mind attracts associations where worth congregates.
The Case of the Negative Genius: A genius may be incompetent if they lack the practical talent to turn power into results. Misfortune here is not external adversity but a state of mind that lacks the art of practical application.
Managing the Inferior Side: A skilled workman may remain low in status if he antagonizes his environment, revealing only his inferior side. Larson advises: "Hide your inferior side until you have destroyed it entirely."
The Power of Sympathy: Sympathy is a primary power of attraction. Training oneself to sympathize only with the superior side of people and the greater possibilities of things draws the individual irresistibly toward excellence.
Worth, Reward, and Economic Mastery
The Problem of Recompense: Many feel underpaid or undervalued. Larson suggests the solution is individual and internal rather than external or legal.
Correct Self-Valuation: One must neither overvalue nor undervalue their work. Comparing oneself to the "unscrupulous" who gain wealth illegitimately is a flaw; one should only focus on their actual worth.
The Atmosphere of Worth: The world pays for what a man contributes to life, not just his visible labor. If a person carries an atmosphere of personal recklessness or crudeness, they hide their true skill from the world's view.
The Spirit of Success: Doing one's best regardless of wages makes a man a "living power for success." Taking a living interest in an enterprise creates a spirit that leads to greater reward.
Overcoming Bondage: Many remain weak by submitting to unscrupulous taskmasters or by wasting energy resisting adversity. The remedy is to stop resisting (as resistance implies fear) and start recreating the mind according to a higher standard.
Mental Attitudes for Creating Fate
Creation vs. Control: Fate is not controlled by the domineering will; it is created by constructive creative energies. Domineering the will scatters energy.
The Attitude of Harmony: Meeting everything in harmony while in a state of aspiration allows one to absorb the superior qualities of any condition. It transmutes the power back of adversity into personal power.
The Practice of Joy: Joy is a scientific principle. Being an ascending and expansive attitude, it allows the mind to rise above anything it encounters.
Love as a Pattern for Energy: The mind grows into the likeness of what it loves. Deep love for high worth ensures that the creative energies use superior patterns for thought.
The Principle of "He Can Who Thinks He Can"
The Faculty Development Law: Thinking you can do a thing draws creative energies into the specific faculty required (e.g., business talent, musical talent). Concentration of attention leads to development over time.
Persistence in Idealism: One must give ideal models to the creative energies. If the predominant impression is success, all forces will contain success elements.
Faith and Self-Confidence: Living in the conviction that "he can" increases persistence. It prevents the mind from being a slave to the random impressions of the senses.
The Subjective Mind and the Science of Letting Go
The Dual Mind:
Objective (Conscious): Acts, selects seeds, and gives orders.
Subjective (Subconscious): Reacts, grows the seeds, and carries out orders.
The Art of Letting Go: This is achieved by directing the will to act upon the subjective side of an idea or muscle. Larson uses the muscle analogy: acting on the objective side makes a muscle stiff, but acting on the subjective side allows it to move.
The Conscious Direction of the Subconscious: Most people direct the subjective mind ignorantly. Mastery involves using the will intentionally on the internal side of desires, habits, or conditions to remove or change them.
Originality vs. Imitation: To be oneself is to act in one's own world. Imitation misplaces the person and prevents the expression of hidden powers.
The Fourfold Composition of Fate
Creations of Nature: Elements that man voluntarily enters; these should be met through harmony and used constructively.
Creations of the Race (Heredity): Not permanent; undeveloped hereditary conditions are merely raw material or channels for greater things.
Creations of Other Individuals: Forces from friends and associations. Wisdom/insight is needed to select which impressions to accept.
Creations of the Individual: The direct result of the person's own creative efforts.
The Prophetic and Scientific Faculties
The Prophetic Faculty: The power to look within and above things to discern basic laws and unbounded possibilities. It is developed through imagination and interior insight.
The Scientific Faculty: The power to make the ideal real through practical application of principle.
The Ideal Self vs. the Personal Self: The ideal self is the complete, true version of the individual. The personal self is the partial expression. By thinking of the self as already ideal, the personal self grows into that likeness.
Bridging the Gulf: To remove the perceived distance between the real and the ideal, one must refuse to think of them as separate and instead move forward in their own life.
Directing Creative Forces and Interior Insight
Regulating Mental Tendencies: Forces in the system move through the channels of consciousness. By regulating these tendencies, one can accumulate creative power where it is needed.
The Transformation Process: One must create a predominating desire to refine and improve everything. This directs every force that enters the system to become a superior constructive power.
The Nature of Interior Insight: This is the "inside secret" of all success. It deals with underlying causes rather than appearances. To develop it:
Exercise it in small, daily affairs.
Seek its verdict even if not always accepted.
Test its insights with reason.
Refine the physical brain through serene concentration to perceive finer mental actions.
Character, Ability, and the Power of Faith
Character: A living power based on absolute right and divine consciousness. It is the channel through which every force must pass to go "right."
Ability: The positive creative power to do things.
The Role of Faith: Faith is not blind belief but "illuminant knowledge." It increases capacity, efficiency, and connects the mind to the Infinite. It provides a "solid rock" path to the universal.
Conclusion - The Power of Love in Action: Mastery of fate involves doing things in love. When one gives their whole, largest self to their life and work, they determine their fate through the quality of what they give.