Book Review by Dr. Scott Zarcinas

The Law of Opulence Overview

Originally released in 1908 as a trilogy of articles within the prominent monthly magazine, The Nautilus,  a pioneering periodical of the New Thought movement during its time, “The Law of Opulence” by Wallace D. Wattles, celebrated for his timeless classic, The Science of Getting Rich, unveils the principles of achieving ‘non-competitive success’.

In the pages of “The Law of Opulence,” we find a profound exposition of Wallace D. Wattles’ philosophy, one that transcends the boundaries of time and remains as relevant today as it was when first penned.

Wattles’ work, though originally written as an article, serves as a timeless guide to understanding the intricate relationship between the human mind, the forces of nature, and the pursuit of abundance.

Wattles postulates that God, the Mind of Nature, unfolds the bounties of the world with the primary aim of nurturing the continuous development of humanity as a whole.

His core message challenges us to move beyond the confines of competitive thinking and embrace the profound truth that what we desire for ourselves, we must seek for all.

In this way, we become co-creators with the divine, aligning our aspirations with the greater purpose of life’s advancement.

The cornerstone of Wattles’ teachings lies in the principle of oneness with the Mind of Things, a harmonious mental resonance that attracts abundance and prosperity into our lives.

He emphasises the power of unwavering faith and the absolute importance of eradicating doubt and fear from our consciousness.

As we impress our desires upon the Mind of Things, we are met with a response that brings forth the resources, opportunities, and wealth required to live a more abundant life.

The path to non-competitive success, as outlined by Wattles, is elegantly simple:

Desire for all what you desire for yourself, provide full equivalence in life for what you take, and move forward with unwavering faith that everything needed for your fullest life will manifest.

Gratitude becomes the linchpin that connects the cycle of giving and receiving, as we acknowledge that our gains contribute to the well-being of others.

In a world often defined by competition and scarcity, “The Law of Opulence” is a beacon of hope and transformation.

It challenges us to shift our focus from personal gain to collective advancement, to understand that there is an infinite supply of abundance, and that, by nurturing the advancement of all, we can create a society where everyone thrives.

Wallace D. Wattles’ wisdom stands as an enduring testament to the potential for abundance that exists within every individual, awaiting recognition, and activation.

The Law of Opulence

God, the Mind of Nature, produces the abundance of nature with the purpose of providing for the development of man.

Not of some men, but of man.

The purpose of nature is the continuous advancement of life, and as man is the embodiment of God, the highest form of life, the purpose of nature must be the continuous advancement of every man into more abundant life.

That which seeks the advancement of every man cannot take away anything from any man, therefore to be one with the Mind of Nature is to seek the advancement of all at the expense of none, to seek to get for all what one desires to get for oneself.

This must lift one entirely out of the competitive thought.

“What I want for myself I want for all.”

That is the declaration of independence aimed at the competitive system.

“Our Father give us.” That is the prayer of the advancing life.

This declaration and prayer are in unison with the Mind of Nature.

The man who so declares and so prays is mentally one with all that lives, God, nature and man, and this is the atonement.

To be mentally one with the Mind of Things makes you able to register your thoughts on that mind and your desires as well.

When you desire a thing, and your mind and the Mind of Things are one, that thing will desire you and will move toward you.

If you desire dollars, and your mind is one with the mind that pervades dollars and all things else, dollars will be permeated with a desire to come to you.

They will move toward you, impelled by the eternal power which makes for more abundant life.

To obtain what you want you only need to establish your own at-one-ment with the Mind of Things and they will be driven toward you.

But the primal purpose of the Mind of Things is the continuous advancement of all into more abundant life.

Therefore nothing will be taken away from any man or woman and given to you unless you give to that person more in the way of life than you take away.

It will be plainly seen that the divine mind cannot be brought into action in the field of purely competitive business.

God cannot be divided against himself.

He cannot be made to take from one and give to another.

He will not decrease one man’s opportunity to advance in life in order to increase another man’s opportunity to advance in life.

He is no respecter of persons and has no favourites.

He was equally in all, equally for all, and at the service of all alike.

To make the at-one-ment you must see that your business gives to all who deal with you a full equivalent in life for the money value of what you take from them.

I say ‘in life’, that does not necessarily mean in money value.

Here is what many critics in the profit system fail to understand,

That a thing of small value to one man may be of inestimable value to another who can use it for the advancement of his life.

The value of a thing to a man is determined by the plane of life on which he stands.

What is of no value on one plane or in one stage of his development is indispensable on another plane or in another stage.

The life-giving power of any article may be out of all proportion to its monetary value.

This magazine [The Nautilus, 1908] is not worth a dollar a year, so as the cash value of the paper and ink are concerned, but one sentence in it may be worth thousands of dollars to any reader.

You may sell an article for more than it cost you, making a profit, but the purchaser may put it to such use that it will be worth hundreds of times its cost to him, and in that case profit is no robbery.

See that your business meets this fundamental requirement.

That is the first step.

When you have done this, you are one with that intelligence in nature, which is working for more life for all.

The aim of your work is that all may have life and have it more abundantly.

What you seek for yourself, you are seeking for all, and the mental principle in everything that you need begins to gravitate toward you.

If you need dollars, the Mind of Things in the dollars is conscious of the need and you can affirm with truth, “Dollars want me.”

Dollars will begin to move toward you and they will come invariably from those who need what you can give.

In exchange, the divine mind will attend to transference of that which is needed for the advancement of life to the place where need exists.

This will apply not only to all that you need to keep your business going, but to all that you are capable of using to enter into fuller life yourself.

No good thing will be withheld from you.

Your unity with the evolutionary power with the purpose of nature will be such that you will receive all that nature has to give.

Because you will do always the will of God, all things are yours and you need to compete with no one.

But you must bear in mind that you were once or impressed on the divine mind only by your faith.

A doubt cuts the connection. Anxiety and fear cut the connection.

Exactly as you are in the matter of impressing your own subconscious mind, so you are in the matter of impressing the Mind of Things.

Your affirmations fall flat unless they are made with a dynamic power of absolute faith.

The Mind of Things will not act positively for doubt and hesitancy.

What things soever you desire when you pray believe that you receive them and ye shall have them.

We cannot walk and work with God and distrust him at the same time.

If you feel distrust, you impress the mind of things with distrust of you and things will move away from you rather than toward you.

The Requirements for Non-Competitive Success

The requirements for non-competitive success are very simple:

1. 1. 1. First, desire for everybody what you desire for yourself and be sure to take nothing from anybody without giving a full equivalent in life, and the more you give the better for you. The aim of your work is that all may have life and have it more abundantly: “What I want for myself I want for all.”
      2. Then move out with the absolute faith that all you need for the fullest life you are capable of living will come to you. Pray with unfaltering faith to the Father that it shall come to you: “Our Father give us.”
      3. Thank Him in every prayer from a heart full of gratitude that:

• • • • It does come to you
      • Everything that comes to you will mean more life to someone else
      • Each gain you make will add to the wealth of someone else
      • What you get for yourself, you get for all
      • Your success adds to the life, health, wealth, and happiness of all

But someone says, wherein does this differ from competition; after all, are you not still competing with those in the same line of business?

No, what you gain will not come from the limited supply for which others are struggling, but from the whole.

Let me illustrate. It may be said that there is only a limited supply of money in the country, not enough to supply the needs of all.

Suppose a large number of people enter into this way of life and dollars begin to move toward them. All there will not be enough to go around.

Well, that is true, but the thought of need impressed upon the Mind of Things would react upon the minds of men.

New currency laws would be passed, the bullion would begin to move toward the mints, and the printing presses to turn out banknotes, if they were necessary, to the advancement of life.

The mind of things reaches beyond the coined cash to the gold and silver lying in the hearts of the hills, and it will all begin to move forward when it is called for by the prayer of faith, and the same is true of everything else.

Not only the mints but the mills will start whenever a sufficient number of people have entered the way of the advancing life.

If it be urged that the wage system prevents the workers from living full lives, the answer is that wherever the workers begin to live full lives, if the wage system stands in the way of their advancement, it will be changed.

Their demand for more life will be all that is required to change it.

Life cannot be advanced by changing systems, but systems may be changed by the advance of life.

There is plenty of work to be done. The erection of useful and beautiful things.

All that is needed is the demand for those things by those whose sole purpose is to use them to give more life to all.

As the number of such people increases, the prosperity of all will increase, and a constantly increasing proportion of all classes will come into the truth, abandoning competition and the way of limited supply until the kingdom will be established on earth as it is in heaven.

Wallace D. Wattles, 1908