This blog was first published on aetherius.org.

“Evil is made up of lies and pessimistic dwellings.”

So said the great Karmic Lord Mars Sector 6.

From a young age, we’re taught not to lie. There’s still a lot of lying out there, but nevertheless it is usually almost universally frowned upon to lie.

It can be difficult to tell if someone else is lying, but we generally all know if we are lying ourselves, if we have any sense of self-awareness.

And if we ever hope to find truth – spiritual truth – then we need to live truth.

But pessimism is a bit different.

It isn’t as widely condemned as lying. It’s not spoken of as negatively. We’re not so overtly taught to avoid it as children. It’s even not as much of an insult to call someone a pessimist.

In fact, some people would even be proud to say they are pessimistic. Some would say that it’s more realistic than optimism.

But actually nothing could be further from the truth.

Optimism and health

Strangely enough, if you practice either one – optimism or pessimism – they may well prove themselves to be true.

Master of Yoga Dr George King says that optimism, and positive thinking in general, can improve your health in this extract from Realize Your Inner Potential:

A person who is optimistic, happy and positive is a person who generally, even if he is ill, recuperates very quickly. The more positive and dynamic you are, the greater the powers of recuperation you have. You can be very ill today and fit tomorrow. The negative type of thinker can be very ill today and very ill this time next year and have exactly the same complaint. They are interfering with their subconscious mind by feeding it negative suggestions. The dynamic and positive person, who will be more optimistic, is building up the subconscious mind by feeding it with positive suggestions.

As Charles Abrahamson says in his introduction to Dr King’s book You Too Can Heal:

After all, you have given Healing, or received it, practically every day of your life! It is not possible for two persons to pass on the street, let alone for them to shake hands or strike up a conversation, without some interchange of subtle magnetic forces taking place. One is bound to be stronger, more optimistic, in better general health than the other. An exchange takes place and the weaker of the two benefits. Such Healing takes place between all living things at all times. It is instinctive and unconscious.

Changing our attitude from an overly pessimistic one to a more positive and optimistic one can be more than just a change of mindset, it can also be helped through the power of correct breathing.

The Cosmic Master known as the Master Aetherius gave an excellent practice referred to as ‘The Breathing and Recharging Practice’ which focuses on the flow of prana through the nostrils. In his commentary on this practice, which can be found in both The Practices of Aetherius and Realize Your Inner Potential, Dr King says:

The morbid, pessimistic, easily led individuals are those who breathe too frequently through their left nostrils.

And later:

The over-optimistic, highly strung individuals who always perspire easily are breathing too much through their right nostril.

He goes on to describe how this particular practice, ‘The Breathing and Recharging Practice’, can help alleviate this.

So even the simple act of breathing correctly can have a significant impact. Indeed some of the greatest truths in life are the simplest. And this next statement from Mars Sector 6 is an excellent example of this.

“Limitation is death, expansion is life, expand – and live!”

One of the main ways we limit ourselves is through our incorrect thinking. In this case, through “pessimistic dwellings” as Mars Sector 6 describes it.

Pessimistic thinking can create a negative, downwards spiral – a self-fulfilling prophecy of limitation.

Optimistic thinking, on the other hand, can create a positive self-fulfilling prophecy – a virtuous circle; an upwards spiral of expansion.

Importantly, both of them can be contagious. Our thoughts can spread and influence the thoughts of others. Probably all of us have a friend, family member or colleague who radiates positivity and optimism. As soon as they walk into a room, the dynamic changes for the better. Likewise, we all know someone with “pessimistic dwellings” and their company can result in the opposite effect.

A healthy, balanced optimism requires effort

While optimism alone isn’t enough, it definitely helps. It can enhance everything we do.

Optimism can sometimes be looked upon as a bit flakey in our world. It might be seen as impractical, unrealistic, as not living in the real world. It can be looked down upon as foolish. But in fact it is actually just as realistic as pessimism, and can result in more preferable outcomes.

Optimism – not to the extent of foolishness – but a balanced practical optimism, takes effort. When things are stacked against you, it can seem easier to believe that you can’t rise above them, that it’s easier to accept defeat.

To stand up and fight, to be optimistic enough to see that you have a chance even when the odds are stacked against you, takes courage. It takes bravery.

Blind optimism = foolishness

Of course you can overdo optimism too.

An overly optimistic attitude isn’t helpful. If someone turned up to a running race having done no training at all and thought that they could win purely because of their optimistic attitude, then they would get a rude awakening.

If you haven’t studied for a test then optimism is unlikely to prepare you on its own. If you’re late for work every day, optimism won’t mean your boss is fine with this.

Likewise, if you want the world to be a better place, optimism alone won’t make that happen.

The Cosmic Masters are optimistic

They have to be. The very fact that they are here helping us demonstrates this. We are, after all, the race that destroyed Maldek, and then went on to destroy our civilisations of Lemuria and Atlantis. Even again in the modern age we have continued to foolishly develop weapons capable of destroying ourselves.

If the Cosmic Masters weren’t optimistic, they would have given up long ago. Their very presence shows that they have a deep sense of optimism.

They have hope for our future. They can see our Divine potential, and they want us to realize it.

The founder of The Aetherius Society, Dr George King, was most certainly an optimist. There’s an old saying that goes: “The pessimist sees difficulty at every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.” Dr King’s life is virtually a masterclass in the second half of this saying. He, as with all Cosmic Masters, seemed to be able to extract success out of every challenge he faced, no matter how difficult or hopeless it may have seemed. So much so that sometimes it almost seemed like he even created difficulties, simply so that he could leverage the opportunities they produced. Such was the depth of his understanding of the Law of Karma.

But the optimism of the Cosmic Masters is perhaps best summed up in this final statement from Mars Sector 6. And let’s remember that Mars Sector 6 is a Lord of Karma. That means that he is intimately involved with the workings of the great Law that is God. So if anyone is an authority on whether your outlook on life can influence your future, it’s him.

“When a few are gathered together in our praise and appreciation, there is still hope for the planet Earth.”

If ever there was an optimistic statement, surely this is one!

Even though there are billions of people on Earth, the activity of even a relative few still means that there is hope. Now that’s optimism! And quite bold optimism. But certainly not foolish optimism, because while he says there is hope, he does add a condition to it.

If you’re looking for a model of optimism to follow then look no further than Mars Sector 6, because if there’s anything we can say for sure, it’s that he is never going to be one to fall into the trap of “pessimistic dwellings”.

So if you find yourself wondering if you might be being pessimistic about some kind of problem you’re facing, then you could always ask yourself this question: how would Mars Sector 6 see this problem?

We can’t know how he would see the problems we face in our daily lives, but it’s still an interesting exercise to try. It can help us to see things from a different perspective, to get out of our own minds and see things in a different light.

Spiritual optimism

I think we can probably all agree that our world needs help. It is struggling in many ways. In fact, it would be easy to give up on it. It would be easy to think – what can I do? I’m just one person. How can I possibly make any difference?

But the true spiritual worker – because of their optimism – will see the potential. They will see that they can make a difference, and that this difference can grow and blossom.

To be spiritual is to be optimistic. You can’t really be a spiritual person without optimism. It is an attribute of true spirituality.

You can’t really want peace, or even believe in peace, without believing that it is possible.

You can’t hope for a positive future for our world without believing it is possible.

If we’re honest, probably all of us have to admit that we can fall into the trap of pessimism at times to a certain degree. But when we think back to the original quote from Mars Sector 6:

“Evil is made up of lies and pessimistic dwellings.”

…we can see that pessimistic dwellings really are a poisonous thing and best avoided. They’re corrosive and unhelpful. They limit us.

Optimism on the other hand, helps. Not foolish optimism of course, but a balanced, pragmatic optimism.

So it makes sense to try and see things in a positive light wherever possible. If we want to avoid evil, we shouldn’t feed it with “pessimistic dwellings”.

So let’s be optimistic!

Be optimistic in your day to day affairs, and especially in your spiritual life.

Be optimistic about your future, and your success on your spiritual journey.

Be optimistic about the future of our spiritual organisation, The Aetherius Society, and be optimistic about its spiritual path, King Yoga.

Even better, be optimistic about the future of the whole of the human race.

Why?

Because optimism can make all the difference.