From International Viewpoints (IVy) Issue 4 - December 1991
Book News
Financial Succes
Reviewed by Leonard Dunn, England
Wallace D. Wattles. "Financial Success through Creative Mind Power"
(Originally titled "The Science of Getting Rich"). Westwood
Publishing, Glendale CA, USA
I feel that if one wants to get rich and if one -carries out all that
the author tells one to do-, then, as he claims one will become rich.
Like some of the drugs that are used these days to relieve some
physical disorders I feel that this could produce unfortunate side
effects such as being more heavily trapped in MEST than one is
already. His idea of richness is entirely in terms of money and what
it can buy.
His primary idea is that one should become rich first and then, if one
wants to, occupy oneself with philosophical matters. One who has no
desire for great wealth is, according to him, abnormal. By his
standards I am abnormal since I find my richness of life in quite
different areas.
He offers some very sound principles that are very workable but from
my point of view they are directed towards the wrong target. He has
the conception of a God who is only too pleased to give one everything
material that one wants. I seem to have heard that this god is named
Mammon and doesn't have a very high reputation.
On the other hand he does emphasise that one gains wealth without
its being at the expense of someone else. As with his predecessor
Ralph Waldo Trine he does say that one should not ask for oneself that
which one would not ask equally for all others. One very important
thing which he emphasises but, to the best of my recollection Trine
does not, is that one must never try to influence another by one's use
of positive thought, not even for their own good. He could have been
quoting from my first article on Thought.
He orders "Do not dabble in Theosophy, Spiritualism or kindred
studies." I agree that one should not dabble one should study them
seriously since they are the path to Ancient Wisdom.
He quotes Jesus several times but NOT "Seek ye first the kingdom of
Heaven and its righteousness and all these (material) things shall be
added unto you." Nor "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye
of the needle (the small pedestrian gate beside the main gate in many
Eastern towns) than it is for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven". I wonder why!
I cannot help comparing this work with "In Tune with the Infinite" by
Trine, since Trine emphasises the use of thought for spiritual
advancement and good health with material things following on as a
matter of course.
Wattles' attitude contrasts strongly with that of LRH who says, in the
PDC lectures, that if one says to hell with money then it just flows
in of its own accord. I have had personal experience of this
happening.
This author favours a constant concentration upon MEST objects that
one desires. I personally find that if I do happen to need something
MEST, as when I moved house, all I had to do was to make a single
simple postulate. I much prefer the attitude of Lao Tsu in the Tao te
Ching that if one follows the Way then things will go right for one.
All told, I found this book a very mixed bag with far too much
concentration upon the material for my taste but I am sure that it
will work for those who have a different outlook from my own.