Above Lifes Turmoil

Above Life's Turmoil
by James Allen
Foreword
True Happiness
The Immortal Man
The Overcoming of Self
The Uses of Temptation
The Man of Integrity
Discrimination
Belief, the Basis of Action
Belief that Saves
Thought and Action
Your Mental Attitude
Sowing and Reaping
The Reign of Law
The Supreme Justice
The Use of Reason
Self-Discipline

Resolution
The Glorious Conquest
Contentment in Activity
The Temple of Brotherhood
Pleasant Pastures of Peace
Foreword
We cannot alter external things, nor shape other people to our liking,
nor mould the world to our wishes but we can alter internal things,-our
desires, passions, thoughts,-we can shape our liking to other people,
and we can mould the inner world of our own mind in accordance with
wisdom, and so reconcile it to the outer world if men and things. The
turmoil of the world we cannot avoid, but the disturbances of mind we
can overcome. The duties and difficulties of life claim our attention,
but we can rise above all anxiety concerning them. Surrounded by
noise, we can yet have a quiet mind; involved in responsibilities, the
heart can be at rest; in the midst of strife, we can know the abiding
peace. The twenty pieces which comprise this book, unrelated as some
of them are in the letter, will be found to be harmonious in the spirit, in
that they point the reader towards those heights of self-knowledge and
self-conquest which, rising above the turbulance of the world, lift their
peaks where the Heavenly Silence reigns.
James Allen
True Happiness
To maintain an unchangeable sweetness of disposition, to think only
thoughts that are pure and gentle, and to be happy under all
circumstances,- such blessed conditions and such beauty of character
and life should be the aim of all, and particularly so of those who wish
to lessen the misery of the world. If anyone has failed to lift himself
above ungentleness, impurity, and unhappiness, he is greatly deluded if

he imagines he can make the world happier by the propagation of any
theory or theology. He who is daily living in harshness, impurity, or
unhappiness is day by day adding to the sum of the world's misery;
whereas he who continually lives in goodwill, and does not depart from
happiness, is day by day increasing the sum of the world's happiness,
and this independently of any religious beliefs which these may or may
not hold.
He who has not learned how to be gentle, or giving, loving and happy,
has learned very little, great though his book-learning and profound his
acquaintance which the letter of Scripture may be, for it is in the
process of becoming gentle, pure, and happy that the deep, real and
enduring lessons of life are learned. Unbroken sweetness of conduct in
the face of all outward antagonism is the infallible indication of a
self-conquered soul, the witness of wisdom, and the proof of the
possession of Truth.
A sweet and happy soul is the ripened fruit of experience and wisdom,
and it sheds abroad the invisible yet powerful aroma of its influence,
gladdening the hearts of others, and purifying the world. And all who
will, and who have not yet commenced, may begin this day, if they will
so resolve, to live sweetly and happily, as becomes the dignity of a true
manhood or womanhood. Do not say that your surroundings are against
you. A man's surroundings are never against him; they are there to aid
him, and all those outward occurrences over which you lose sweetness
and peace of mind are the very conditions necessary to your
development, and it is only by meeting and overcoming them that you
can learn, and grow, and ripen. The fault is in yourself.
Pure happiness is the rightful and healthy condition of the soul, and all
may possess it if they will live purely and unselfish.
_"Have goodwill
To all that lives, letting unkindness die,
And greed and wrath, so that your lives be made

Like soft airs passing by."_
Is this too difficult for you? Then unrest and unhappiness will continue
to dwell with you. Your belief and aspiration and resolve are all that are
necessary to make it easy, to render it in the near future a thing
accomplished, a blessed state realised.
Despondency, irritability, anxiety and complaining, condemning and
grumbling- all these are thought-cankers, mind-diseases; they are the
indications of a wrong mental condition, and those who suffer
therefrom would do well to remedy their thinking and conduct. It is
true there is much sin and misery in the world, so that all our love and
compassion are needed, but our misery is not needed- there is already
too much of that. No, it is our cheerfulness and happiness that are
needed for there is too little of that. We can give