Author's forward to Thinking and Destiny
This book was dictated to Benoni B. Gattell at intervals between the years 1912 and 1932. Since then it has been worked over again and again. Now, in 1946, there are few pages that have not been at least slightly changed. To avoid repetitions and complexities entire pages have been deleted, and I have added many sections, paragraphs and pages.
Without assistance, it is doubtful whether the work would have been written, because it was difficult for me to think and write at the same time. My body had to be still while I thought the subject matter into form and chose appropriate words to build out the structure of the form: and so, I am indeed grateful to him for the work he has done. I must also here acknowledge the kind offices of friends, who desire to remain unnamed, for their suggestions and technical assistance in completing the work.
A most difficult task was to get terms to express the recondite subject matter treated. My arduous effort has been to find words and phrases that will best convey the meaning and attributes of certain incorporeal realities, and to show their inseparable relation to the conscious selves in human bodies. After repeated changes I finally settled on terms used herein.
Many subjects are not made as clear as I would like them to be, but the changes made must suffice or be endless, because on each reading other changes seemed advisable.
I do not presume to preach to anyone; I do not consider myself a preacher or a teacher. Were it not that I am responsible for the book, I would prefer that my personality be not named as its author. The greatness of the subjects about which I offer information, relieves and frees me from self-conceit and forbids the plea of modesty. I dare make strange and startling statements to the conscious and immortal self that is in every human body; and I take for granted that the individual will decide what he will or will not do with the information presented.
Thoughtful persons have stressed the need of speaking here of some of my experiences in states of being conscious, and of events of my life which might help to explain how it was possible for me to be acquainted with and to write of things that are so at variance with present beliefs. They say this is necessary because no bibliography is appended and no references are offered to substantiate the statements herein made. Some of my experiences have been unlike anything I have heard of or read. My own thinking about human life and the world we live in has revealed to me subjects and phenomena I have not found mentioned in books. But it would be unreasonable to suppose that such matters could be, yet be unknown to others. There must be those who know but cannot tell. I am under no pledge of secrecy. I belong to no organization of any kind. I break no faith in telling what I have found by thinking; by steady thinking while awake, not in sleep or in trance. I have never been nor do I ever wish to be in trance of any kind.
What I have been conscious of while thinking about such subjects as space, the units of matter, the constitution of matter, intelligence, time, dimensions, the creation and exteriorization of thoughts, will, I hope, have opened realms for future exploration and exploitation. By that time right conduct should be a part of human life, and should keep abreast of science and invention. Then civilization can continue, and Independence with Responsibility will be the rule of individual life and of Government.
Here is a sketch of some experiences of my early life:
Rhythm was my first feeling of connection with this physical world. Later on I could feel inside the body, and I could hear voices. I understood the meaning of the sounds made by the voices; I did not see anything, but I, as feeling, could get the meaning of any of the word-sounds expressed, by the rhythm; and my feeling gave the form and color of the objects which were described by words. When I could use the sense of sight and could see objects, I found the forms and appearances which I, as feeling, had felt, to be in approximate agreement with what I had apprehended. When I was able to use the senses of sight, hearing, taste and smell and could ask and answer questions, I found myself to be a stranger in a strange world. I knew I was not the body I lived in, but no one could tell me who or what I was or where I came from, and most of those whom I questioned seemed to believe they were the bodies in which they lived.
I realized that I was in a body from which I could not free myself. I was lost, alone, and in a sorry state of sadness. Repeated happenings and experiences convinced me that things were not what they appeared to be; that there is continued change; that there is no permanence of anything; that people often said the opposite of what they really meant. Children played games they called "make-believe" or "let us pretend." Children played, men and women practiced make-believe and pretense; comparatively few people were really truthful and sincere. There was waste in human effort, and appearances did not last. Appearances were not made to last. I asked myself: How should things be made that will last, and made without waste and disorder? Another part of myself answered: First, know what you want; see and steadily hold in mind the form in which you would have what you want. Then think and will and speak that into appearance, and what you think will be gathered from the invisible atmosphere and fixed into and around that form. I did not then think in these words, but these words express what I then thought. I felt confident I could do that, and at once tried and tried long. I failed. On failing I felt disgraced, degraded, and I was ashamed.
I could not help being observant of events. What I heard people say about things that happened, particularly about death, did not seem reasonable. My parents were devout Christians. I heard it read and said that God made the world; that he created an immortal soul for each human body in the world; and that the soul who did not obey God would be cast into hell and would burn in fire and brimstone for ever and ever. I did not believe a word of that. It seemed too absurd for me to suppose or believe that any God or being could have made the world or have created me for the body in which I lived. I had burned my finger with a brimstone match, and I believed that the body could be burned to death; but I knew that I, what was conscious as I, could not be burned and could not die, that fire and brimstone could not kill me, though the pain from that burn was dreadful. I could sense danger, but I did not fear.
People did not seem to know 'why' or 'what', about life or about death. I knew that there must be a reason for everything that happened. I wanted to know the secrets of life and of death, and to live forever. I did not know why, but I could not help wanting that. I knew that there could be no night and day and life and death, and no world, unless there were wise ones who managed the world and night and day and life and death. However, I determined that my purpose would be to find those wise ones who would tell me how I should learn and what I should do, to be entrusted with the secrets of life and death. I would not even think of telling this, my firm resolve, because people would not understand; they would believe me to be foolish or insane. I was about seven years old at that time.
Fifteen or more years passed. I had noticed the different outlook on life of boys and girls, while they grew and changed into men and women, especially during their adolescence, and particularly that of my own. My views had changed, but my purpose--to find those who were wise, who knew, and from whom I could learn the secrets of life and death--was unchanged. I was sure of their existence; the world could not be, without them. In the ordering of events I could see that there must be a government and a management of the world, just as there must be the government of a country or a management of any business for these to continue. One day my mother asked me what I believed. Without hesitation I said: I know without doubt that justice rules the world, even though my own life seems to be evidence that it does not, because I can see no possibility of accomplishing what I inherently know, and what I most desire.
In that same year, in the spring of 1892, I read in a Sunday paper that a certain Madam Blavatsky had been a pupil of wise men in the East who were called Mahatmas; that through repeated lives on earth, they had attained to wisdom; that they possessed the secrets of life and death, and that they had caused Madam Blavatsky to form a Theosophical Society, through which their teachings could be given to the public. There would be a lecture that evening. I went. Later on I became an ardent member of the Society. The statement that there were wise men--by whatever names they were called--did not surprise me; that was only verbal evidence of what I inherently had been sure of as necessary for the advancement of man and for the direction and guidance of nature. I read all that I could about them. I thought of becoming a pupil of one of the wise men; but continued thinking led me to understand that the real way was not by any formal application to anybody, but to be myself fit and ready. I have not seen or heard from, nor have I had any contact with, 'the wise ones' such as I had conceived. I have had no teacher. Now I have a better understanding of such matters. The real 'Wise Ones' are Triune Selves, in The Realm of Permanence. I ceased connection with all societies.
From November of 1892 I passed through astonishing and crucial experiences, following which, in the spring of 1893, there occurred the most extraordinary event of my life. I had crossed 14th Street at 4th Avenue, in New York City. Cars and people were hurrying by. While stepping up to the northeast corner curbstone, Light, greater than that of myriads of suns opened in the center of my head. In that instant or point, eternities were apprehended. There was no time. Distance and dimensions were not in evidence. Nature was composed of units. I was conscious of the units of nature and of units as Intelligences. Within and beyond, so to say, there were greater and lesser Lights; the greater pervading the lesser Lights, which revealed the different kinds of units. The Lights were not of nature; they were Lights as Intelligences, Conscious Lights. Compared with the brightness or lightness of those Lights, the surrounding sunlight was a dense fog. And in and through all Lights and units and objects I was conscious of the Presence of Consciousness. I was conscious of Consciousness as the Ultimate and Absolute Reality, and conscious of the relation of things. I experienced no thrills, emotions, or ecstasy. Words fail utterly to describe or explain CONSCIOUSNESS. It would be futile to attempt description of the sublime grandeur and power and order and relation in poise of what I was then conscious. Twice during the next fourteen years, for a long time on each occasion, I was conscious of Consciousness. But during that time I was conscious of no more than I had been conscious of in that first moment.
Being conscious of Consciousness is the set of related words I have chosen as a phrase to speak of that most potent and remarkable moment of my life.
Consciousness is present in every unit. Therefore the presence of Consciousness makes every unit conscious as the function it performs in the degree in which it is conscious.
Being conscious of Consciousness reveals the 'unknown' to the one who has been so conscious. Then it will be the duty of that one to make known what he can of being conscious of Consciousness .
The great worth in being conscious of Consciousness is that it enables one to know about any subject, by thinking. Thinking is the steady holding of the Conscious Light within on the subject of the thinking. Briefly stated, thinking is of four stages: selecting the subject; holding the Conscious Light on that subject; focusing the Light; and, the focus of the Light. When the Light is focused, the subject is known. By this method, Thinking and Destiny has been written.
The special purpose of this book is: To tell the conscious selves in human bodies that we are inseparable doer parts of consciously immortal individual trinities, Triune Selves, who, within and beyond time, lived with our great thinker and knower parts in perfect sexless bodies in the Realm of Permanence; that we, the conscious selves now in human bodies, failed in a crucial test, and thereby exiled ourselves from that Realm of Permanence into this temporal man and woman world of birth and death and re-existence; that we have no memory of this because we put ourselves into a self-hypnotic sleep, to dream; that we will continue to dream through life, through death and back again to life; that we must continue to do this until we de-hypnotize, wake, ourselves out of the hypnosis into which we put ourselves; that, however long it takes, we must awake from our dream, become conscious of ourselves as ourselves in our bodies, and then regenerate and restore our bodies to everlasting life in our home--The Realm of Permanence from which we came--which permeates this world of ours, but is not seen by mortal eyes. Then we will consciously take our places and continue our parts in the Eternal Order of Progression. The way to accomplish this is shown in chapters which follow.
At this writing the manuscript of this work is with the printer. There is little time to add to what has been written. During the many years of its preparation it has been often asked that I include in the text some interpretations of Bible passages which seem incomprehensible, but which, in the light of what has been stated in these pages, make sense and have meaning, and which, at the same time, corroborate statements made in this work. But I was averse to make comparisons or show correspondences. I wanted this work to be judged solely on its own merits.
In the past year I bought a volume containing The Lost Books of the Bible and The Forgotten Books of Eden. On scanning the pages of these books, it is astonishing to see how many strange and otherwise incomprehensible passages can be comprehended when one understands what is herein written about the Triune Self and its three parts; about the regeneration of the human physical body into a perfected, immortal physical body, and the Realm of Permanence, which in the words of Jesus is the "Kingdom of God."
Again requests have been made for clarifications of Bible passages. Perhaps it is well that this be done and also that the readers of Thinking and Destiny be given some evidence to corroborate certain statements in this book, which evidence may be found both in the New Testament and in the books above mentioned. Therefore I will add a fifth section to Chapter X, Gods and their Religions, dealing with these matters.
H.W.P.
New York, March 1946
About the Book "Thinking and Destiny" by Harold waldwin Percival
What is most important to you in life?
If your answer is to achieve greater understanding of yourself and the world in which you live; if it is to understand why you are here on earth and what awaits you after death; if it is to know the true purpose of life, your life, Thinking and Destiny offers you the opportunity to find these answers. And many more.
Within these pages, information older than recorded history is now made known to the world—about Consciousness. The great value of this is that it can help us to better understand ourselves, the universe ... and beyond. This book is not a doctrine that will tell you how to live your life. The author states that an important lesson for each man and woman is to determine for one’s self what to do and what not to do. He said: “I do not presume to preach to anyone; I do not consider myself a preacher or a teacher.”
Although this great work was lovingly written for all of humanity, relatively few throughout the world have found it. But the tides are shifting as more seek to understand the meaning of the personal and global challenges we face, as well as the pain and suffering that often accompany them. The author's sincerest wish was that Thinking and Destiny serve as a beacon light to help all human beings to help themselves.
Both the casually curious reader and the most ardent seeker of profound knowledge cannot help but be intrigued by the abundance, scope and detail of the subjects that are addressed in this book. Many will wonder how the author obtained the information. The unusual manner in which this masterpiece was produced is described in both the Author’s Foreword and the Afterword.
Percival began to outline chapters for Thinking and Destiny following experiences of potent illumination, which he referred to as being conscious of Consciousness. He stated that being conscious of Consciousness reveals the “unknown” to the one who has been so conscious. These experiences allowed Percival to later access knowledge about any subject by a particular method of focusing, or what he called "real thinking." It was through this method that the book was written.
There is an authenticity in Percival's writing because it is devoid of assumptions, theory or pretense. His impeccable dedication to the highest mode of truth never wavers. This is a book that speaks to the longing in every human heart to know why humankind is as it is. Thinking and Destiny is an unusually eloquent discourse on the science of man that can also be applied to the lives of all who discover its liberating message.
About the Author of the book "Thinking and Destiny"
Regarding this unusual gentleman, Harold Waldwin Percival, we are not so concerned with his personality. Our interest lies in what he did and how he accomplished it. Percival himself preferred to remain inconspicuous, as he pointed out in the Author's Foreword to Thinking and Destiny. It was because of this that he did not wish to write an autobiography or have a biography written. He wanted his writings to stand on their own merit. His intention was that the validity of his statements be tested according to the degree of Self-knowledge within the reader and not be influenced by Percival's own personality.
Nevertheless, people do want to know something about an author of note, especially if they are greatly affected by his ideas. As Percival passed away in 1953, at the age of eighty-four, there is no one now living who knew him in his early life and only a few who know details of his later life. We have assembled those few facts that are known; however, this must not be considered a complete biography, but rather a brief sketch.
Harold Waldwin Percival was born in Bridgetown, Barbados, British West Indies, on April 15, 1868, on a plantation owned by his parents. He was the third of four children, none of whom survived him. His English parents, Elizabeth Ann Taylor and James Percival, were devout Christians. Yet much of what he heard as a very young child did not seem reasonable, and there were no satisfactory answers to his many questions. He felt that there must be those who knew, and at a very early age determined that he would find the "Wise Ones" and learn from them. As years passed, his concept of the "Wise Ones" changed, but his purpose to gain Self-knowledge remained.
When Harold Percival was ten years old, his father died and his mother moved to the United States, settling in Boston, and later in New York City. He looked after his mother for about thirteen years until her death in 1905. An avid reader, he was largely self-educated.
In New York City Percival became interested in Theosophy and joined the Theosophical Society in 1892. That society split into factions after the death of William Q. Judge in 1896. Percival later organized the Theosophical Society Independent, which met to study the writings of Madame Blavatsky and Eastern "scriptures."
In 1893, and twice during the next fourteen years, Percival had the unique experience of being "conscious of Consciousness," a potent spiritual and noetic enlightenment. He stated, "Being conscious of Consciousness reveals the 'unknown' to the one who has been so conscious. Then it will be the duty of that one to make known what he can of being conscious of Consciousness." He stated that the value of that experience was that it enabled him to know about any subject by a mental process he called "real thinking." Because these experiences revealed more than was contained in Theosophy, he wanted to write about them and share this knowledge with humanity.
From 1904 to 1917, Percival published a monthly magazine, The Word, which was dedicated to the brotherhood of humanity and had a worldwide circulation. Many eminent writers of the day contributed to the magazine and all of the issues contained an article by Percival as well. These early writings earned him a place in Who's Who in America.
In 1908, and for a number of years, Percival and several friends owned and operated about five hundred acres of orchards, farmland, and a cannery in upstate New York. When the property was sold Percival kept about eighty acres on which there was a small house. This is where he resided during the summer months and devoted his time to the continual work on his manuscripts.
In 1912 he began to outline material for a book which would contain his complete system of thinking. Because his body had to be still while he thought, he dictated whenever assistance was available. In 1932 the first draft was completed; it was called The Law of Thought. He continued to work the manuscript over and over to clarify and edit it. He did not wish this to be a mystery book and was determined to clothe his work in accurately fitting words however long or great the effort. Its title was changed to Thinking and Destiny and finally printed in 1946.
This one-thousand-page masterpiece was produced over a period of thirty-four years. This system of thinking, which covers in exhaustive detail the subject of Man and his world, is not found in any other literature. Subsequently, in 1951, he published Man and Woman and Child and in 1952, Masonry and Its Symbols and Democracy Is Self-Government. The three smaller books are based on Thinking and Destiny and deal with selected subjects of importance in greater detail.
In 1946, Percival, with two friends, formed The Word Publishing Co., which first published and distributed his books. During this period, Percival worked to prepare manuscripts for additional books, but he always made himself available to answer the many questions from correspondents.
The Word Foundation, Inc. was formed in 1950 to make known to the people of the world all books written by Harold W. Percival and to insure that his legacy to humanity would be perpetuated. Percival assigned the copyrights for all of his books to The Word Foundation, Inc.
On March 6, 1953, Percival passed away of natural causes in New York City a few weeks before his eighty-fifth birthday. His body was cremated, according to his wishes.
It has been stated that no one could meet Percival without feeling that they had met a truly remarkable human being of immense power and greatness. His works represent a towering accomplishment in addressing the true state, and potential, of the human. His contribution to humankind can have a far-reaching effect on our civilization and civilizations to come.
