The Spirit

of Opulence

THE S PIRIT

OF

O PULENCE

By Thomas Troward, Excerpt from The Hidden Power

It is quite a mistake to suppose that we must restrict and stint

ourselves in order to develop greater power or usefulness. This is to

form the conception of the Divine Power as so limited that the best use

we can make of it is by a policy of self-starvation, whether material or

mental.

necessary to our producing good work, then so long as we entertain this

belief the fact actually is so for us .

Of course, if we believe that some form of self-starvation is


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But all this exists in, and is produced by, our belief; and when we

come to examine the grounds of this belief we shall find that it rests upon

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an entire misapprehension of the nature of our own power.

SEE EXERCISE 1

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If we clearly realize that the creative power in ourselves is unlimited,

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then there is no reason for limiting the extent to which we may enjoy

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what we can create by means of it.

SEE EXERCISE 2

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Where we are drawing from the infinite we need never be afraid of

taking more than our share.
SEE EXERCISE 3

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That is not where the danger lies. The danger is in not sufficiently

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realizing our own richness, and in looking upon the externalized products

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of our creative power as being the true riches instead of the creative

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power of spirit itself.

SEE EXERCISE 4

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If we avoid this error, there is no need to limit ourselves in taking what

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we will from the infinite storehouse: All things are yours. And the way

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to avoid this error is by realizing that the true wealth is in identifying

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ourselves with the spirit of opulence. We must be opulent in our thought .

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Do not think money, as such, for it is only one means of opulence; but

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think opulence, that is, largely, generously, liberally, and you will find

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that the means of realizing this thought will flow to you from all quarters,

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whether as money or as a hundred other things not to be reckoned in

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cash.

SEE EXERCISE 5

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We must not make ourselves dependent on any particular form of

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wealth, or insist on its coming to us through some particular channel

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that is at once to impose a limitation, and to shut out other forms of

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wealth and to close other channels; but we must enter into the spirit of it.

SEE EXERCISE 6

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Now the spirit is Life, and throughout the universe Life ultimately

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consists in circulation, whether within the physical body of the individual

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or on the scale of the entire solar system; and circulation means a

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continual flowing around, and the spirit of opulence is no exception to

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this universal law of all life.

SEE EXERCISE 7

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When once this principle becomes clear to us, we shall see that our
attention should be directed rather to the giving than the receiving.

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We must look upon ourselves, not as misers chests to be kept locked

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for our own benefit, but as centres of distribution; and the better we fulfil

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our function as such centres the greater will be the corresponding inflow.

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If we choke the outlet the current must slacken, and a full and free flow

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can be obtained only by keeping it open. The spirit of opulencethe

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opulent mode of thought, that isconsists in cultivating the feeling that

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we possess all sorts of riches which we can bestow upon others, and

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which we can bestow liberally because by this very action we open the

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way for still greater supplies to flow in.

SEE EXERCISE 8

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But you say, I am short of money, I hardly know how to pay for
necessaries. What have I to give?


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The answer is that we must always start from the point where we are;

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and if your wealth at the present moment is not abundant on the material

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plane, you need not trouble to start on that plane. There are other sorts

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of wealth, still more valuable, on the spiritual and intellectual planes, which

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you can give; and you can start from this point and practise the spirit of

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opulence, even though your balance at the bank may be nil. And then the

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universal law of attraction will begin to assert itself. You will not only

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begin to experience an inflow on the spiritual and intellectual planes, but

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it will extend itself to the material plane also.

SEE EXERCISE 9

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If you have realized the spirit of opulence you cannot help drawing to

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yourself material good, as well as that higher wealth which is not to be

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measured by a money standard; and because you truly understand the

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spirit of opulence you will neither affect to despise this form of good, nor

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will you attribute to it a value that does not belong to it; but you will

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coordinate it with your other more interior forms of wealth so as to make it

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the material instrument in smoothing the way for their more perfect

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expression. Used thus, with understanding of the relation which it bears

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to spiritual and intellectual wealth, material wealth becomes one with them,

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and is no more to be shunned and feared than it is to be sought for its own

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sake.

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It is not money, but the love of money, that is the root of evil; and the

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spirit of opulence is precisely the attitude of mind which is furthest removed

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from the love of money for its own sake. It does not believe in money.

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What it does believe in is the generous feeling which is the intuitive

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recognition of the great law of circulation, which does not in any

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undertaking make its first question, How much am I going to get by it?

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but, How much am I going to do by it? And making this the first question,

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the getting will flow in with a generous profusion, and with a

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spontaneousness and rightness of direction that are absent when our first

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thought is of receiving only.

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We are not called upon to give what we have not yet got and to run into

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debt; but we are to give liberally of what we have, with the knowledge that

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by so doing we are setting the law of circulation to work, and as this law

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brings us greater and greater inflows of every kind of good, so our out-

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giving will increase, not by depriving ourselves of any expansion of our

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own life that we may desire, but by finding that every expansion makes us

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the more powerful instruments for expanding the life of others. Live and

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let live is the motto of the true opulence.

EXERCISE 1
Your results are an outward expression of your inner belief system. In an
effort to examine the grounds of your various beliefs, it is recommended that you
first examine your results.
Clearly describe the results you are getting in the following areas of your
life:
Relationships
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Physical Health
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Finances
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Contribution to your Community

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

EXERCISE 2
Exercise your imagination with the awareness that thought is the preamble
to everything and clearly describe your perception of what your life will be like in
the following areaswhen you are living in the Spirit of Opulence.
Relationships
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Physical Health
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Finances
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Contribution to your Community

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

E XERCISE 3
Do you feel reluctant to ask for more than you need, knowing there are
so many needy people in the world?

E XERCISE 4
THE CAUSE
INFINITE

THE EFFECT

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E XERCISE 5
In the space provided and in your own words, record your philosophy of
what Troward is conveying in lines 20-28.

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E XERCISE 6
Design an affirmation that will create the consciousness described in lines
29-32.
_________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________

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E XERCISE 7
The basic law of life is

or

E XERCISE 8
I will induce others to serve me
because of my willingness to serve others.
Napoleon Hill

List three people you can help, describe how you plan to help them and by
when.

1.

By

, I plan to help

accordingly

______________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

2.

By

, I plan to help

accordingly

______________________________________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________________________

3.

By

, I plan to help

accordingly

______________________________________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________________________

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E XERCISE 9
List three ways you could be of service to others without receiving any
monetary remuneration.

1.

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2.

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__________________________________________________________________________

3.

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