Byways to Blessedness by James Allen is a profound exploration of the pathways to a life filled with blessings, peace, and fulfillment. Originally published in the early 20th century, this classic work offers timeless wisdom and practical insights for those seeking a deeper understanding of the principles that lead to a blessed and harmonious existence.

Once again James Allen instructs us on how to improve our life and spiritual wellbeing through the power of positive thinking. He teaches us how to see what is in front of us and not rush by it. There are a multitude of opportunities for us all and this book will help make sure you don't miss them. Life is full of beginnings. They are presented every day and every hour to every person. Most beginnings are small, and appear trivial and insignificant, but in reality they are the most important things in life.-James Allen

Along the highways of Burma there is placed, at regular distances away from the dust of the road, and under the cool shade of a group of trees, a small wooden building called a “rest-house”, where the weary traveller may rest a while, and allay his thirst and assuage his hunger and fatigue by partaking of the food and water which the kindly inhabitants place there as a religious duty. Along the great highway of life there are such resting places; away from the heat of passion and the dust of disappointment, under the cool and refreshing shade of lowly Wisdom, are the humble, unimposing “rest-houses” of peace, and the little, almost unnoticed, byways of blessedness, where alone the weary and footsore can find strength and healing. Nor can these byways be ignored without suffering. Along the great road of life, hurrying, and eager to reach some illusive goal, presses the multitude, despising the apparently insignificant “rest-houses” of true thought, not heeding the narrow little byways of blessed action, which they regard as unimportant; and hour by hour men are fainting and falling, and numbers that cannot be counted perish of heart-hunger, heart-thirst, and heart-fatigue. But he who will step aside from the passionate press, and will deign to notice and to enter the byways which are here presented, his dusty feet shall press the incomparable flowers of blessedness, his eyes be gladdened with their beauty, and his mind refreshed with their sweet perfume. Rested and sustained, he will escape the fever and the delirium of life, and, strong and happy, he will not fall fainting in the dust, nor perish by the way, but will successfully accomplish his journey. This version of the classic book includes a biography about the life and times of James Allen.

This Story goes into great detail explaining how selfishness impedes our spiritual growth. James Allen really was ahead of his time. It is now on my al-time favorites list right next to the road less traveled and the art of war.

THE genius of the present age in matters spiritual is towards simplicity, and the hunger of the human heart is for Truth naked and uninvolved. That hunger wil eventual y bring about (is already bringing about) its own satisfaction, and here and there are men and women who, passing through the Gateway of Self-conquest, are entering into possession of the Transcendent Righteousness. The closing years of the nineteenth century witnessed the culmination of Formalism, and the spiritual reaction is now firmly established. Already "the end of old faiths and beginning of the new" is discernible to al who have removed from their mental vision somewhat of the textual dust of dying creeds, and have penetrated, however faintly, that sublime region of Truth which is discoverable only by practice, and which is made manifest by pure thoughts and holy deeds. The universal decay of effete religious systems which the world is witnessing today is matter for rejoicing; it is the death which precedes Life; it is the passing away of the false in order that the True may be more ful y revealed. The True can, at worst, but remain hidden. It endures. It remains forever. Its invincibility cannot be qualified, and he who has but one momentary glimpse of the True can never again be anxious for its safety. That about which men are anxious is the false, which they mistake for the True, and this, in spite of al their anxiety, must fade away at last. In the lives of al the Great Teachers we see a manifestation of that Universal Truth, the majesty and splendor of which is as yet but dimly comprehended by mankind, but which must, during the gradual transformation and transmutation which the accumulating ages shal effect, at last become the possession of al . That Truth, as manifested by the Teachers, was written by them, as it only can be written, in thoughts and deeds of the loftiest moral excel ence which have been permanently impressed upon the mind of mankind by their embodiment in preceptial form. It is to the sweet lives and 2 inspiring words of these mighty Teachers that the eyes of a hungering and thirsty world are again being turned, and the Light of Life is being lighted up, the world over, in hearts that are ready to attune themselves to the Eternal Song of Love and Peace. What religions have failed to do, Religion wil accomplish; what the Priest has obscured, the Spirit of Truth in the heart of man wil make plain, and the world is now finding spiritual healing and refreshment in turning away from traditional and historic accretions, and going back to the pure Fountain of Truth as revealed to them so simply, clearly and beautiful y by their blameless Teachers, and which had its inexhaustive spring within themselves. To aid men and women (more particularly those in Christian countries) more speedily to find this abiding Truth, these articles, setting forth the life and precepts of Jesus, were written. Formalism and self were heavy burdens to carry, and in directing the minds of men to blamelessness of conduct and purity of heart, I know I can leave the result with the Supreme Law, and that there are those who wil read and, having read, wil pass from the burdensome complexities of ignorance and formalism to the joyful simplicity of Enlightenment and Truth. James Allen.

In his ongoing quest to show the path to inner peace amid a noisy and cluttered world, the author of As a Man Thinketh-one of the most popular writers in the fields of inspiration at the turn of the 20th century-writes simply but eloquently on such topics as The Divine Center, The Unfailing Wisdom, Perfect Freedom, and The Might of Meekness. As always, his advice is both spiritual and practical: be in the moment, seek simplicity, push past the clutter to find your inner goodness. His words are as valuable today as when they were first written, and provide a welcome balm to uneasy souls in an uncertain world.British author and pop philosopher JAMES ALLEN (1864-1912) retired from the business world to pursue a life of writing and contemplation. He authored many books about the power of thought including The Way of Peace, The Mastery of Destiny, and Entering the Kingdom.