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educationMar 10, 20266:01

Doing and Knowing - James Allen

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Doing and Knowing - James Allen

James Allen Daily Lectures

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James Allen Daily LecturesDoing and Knowing - James Allen. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.

0:00President Barack Obama. Virginia, we are counting on you. Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to raid the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years. But you can stop them by voting yes by April 21st. Help put our elections back on a level playing field and let voters decide not politicians. Vote yes by April 21st. Paid for by Virginians for fair elections. Dog grooming genius here. Most people see a busy dog salon, but I see operational excellence. Thanks to genius from global payments. Scheduling, personalized, checkouts, instant, absolutely genius. From game day crowds to every groomer in this shop, genius keeps everything flowing seamlessly. Flawless execution. Big league reliability for any business. That's genius. Coffee genius here. Most people see a busy cafe, but I see precision at every step.

1:05Thanks to genius from global payments. Transactions, instant. Inventory, precise. Operations, in sync. Absolutely genius. From sold out crowds worldwide to managing the morning rush, genius keeps operations running smoothly. Flawless poor, perfectly timed. Just beautiful. Big league reliability for any business. That's genius. Doing and knowing. Let a man realize that his life in its totality proceeds from his mind. Let him realize that the mind is a combination of habits, which he can, by patient effort, modify to any extent, and over which he can thus gain complete ascendancy, mastery, and control. At once he will have obtained possession of the key, which will open the door to his complete emancipation. But freedom from the ills of life, which are the ills of one's mind, is a matter of steady growth from within, and not a sudden

2:10acquisition from without. Hourly and daily must the mind be trained to think stainless thoughts, and adapt right in dispassionate attitudes, under those circumstances in which it is prone to fall into wrong and passion. Like the patient sculptor upon his marble, the aspirant to the right life must gradually work upon the crude material of his mind, until he is wrought out of it the ideal of his holiest dreams. In working towards such supreme accomplishment, it is necessary to begin at the lowest and easiest steps, and proceed by natural, progressive stages to the higher and more difficult. The law of growth progress, evolution, and unfoldment by gradual and ever ascending stages is absolute in every department of life, and in every human accomplishment, where it is ignored, total failure will result. In acquiring education, in learning a trade, or in pursuing a business,

3:17this law is fully recognized and minutely abaid by all. But in acquiring virtue, in learning truth, and in pursuing the right conduct and knowledge of life, it is unrecognized and disobeyed by nearly all. Hence virtue, truth, and the perfect life remain unpracticed, unacquired, and unknown. It is a common error to suppose that the higher life is a matter of reading, and the adoption of theological or metaphysical hypotheses, and that the spiritual principles can be understood by this method. The higher life is higher living, in thought, word, and deed, and the knowledge of those spiritual principles, which are imminent in man and in the universe, can only be acquired after long discipline, in the pursuit and practice of virtue. The lesser must be thoroughly grasped and understood, before the greater can be known, practice always proceeds real knowledge.

4:24The schoolmaster never attempts to teach his pupils the abstract principles of mathematics at the start. He knows that such a method of teaching would be in vain, and learning impossible. He first places before them a simple sum, and having explained it, leaves them to do it. When after repeated failures, an ever renewed effort, they have succeeded in doing it correctly, a more difficult task is set before them, and then another, and another. It is not until the pupils have, through many years of diligent application, mastered all the lessons in arithmetic, that he attempts to unfold to them the underlying mathematical principles. In learning a trade, say that of a mechanic, a boy is not at first taught the principles of mechanics, but a simple tool is put in his hand, and he is told how to rightly use it. He is then left to do it by effort and practice. As he succeeds implying

5:28his tools correctly, more and more difficult tasks are set before him, until after years of successful practice, he is prepared to study and grasp the principles of mechanics. In a properly governed household, the child is first taught to be obedient, and to conduct himself properly under all circumstances. The child is not even told why he must do this, but is commanded to do it. Only after he has far succeeded in doing what is right and proper, is he told why he should do it. No father would attempt to teach his child the principles of ethics, before extracting from him the practice of family duty and social virtue. Thus practice ever precedes knowledge, even in the ordinary things of the world, and in spiritual things, in the living of the higher life, this law is rigid in its demands. Virtue can only be known by doing, and the knowledge of truth can only be arrived at

6:32by perfecting oneself in the practice of virtue. To be complete in the practice and acquisition of virtue is to be complete in the knowledge of truth. Truth can only be arrived at, by daily and hourly doing the lessons of virtue, beginning with the simplest, and passing on to the more difficult. A child patiently and obediently learns his lessons at school, by constantly practicing, and ever exerting himself, until all failures and difficulties are surmounted. Likewise, does the child of truth, undaunted by failure, and made stronger by difficulties, apply himself to right doing and thought in action. As he succeeds in acquiring virtue, his mind unfolds itself in the knowledge of truth, and it is a knowledge in which he can securely rest. Did you know that parents rank teaching financial literacy as the toughest life skill?

7:34That's where Greenlight comes in. The debit card and money app made for families. With Greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores, automate allowance, and track spending with real time notifications. Kids learn how to earn, save, and spend responsibly, while parents have peace of mind knowing smart money habits are being built with guardrails in place. Try Greenlight, risk free today at greenlight.com-try-greenlight. That's greenlight.com-try-greenlight.

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