One of the aspects of personal magnetism is physical magnetism, which has three kinds of attraction. One kind comes because the mechanism of the body is working properly, regularly, when the circulation of the blood is right and when proper care is taken of the body; the next depends on the attractiveness of the form and features with which a person is born; and the third is caused by harmonious movement. The person who lacks any of these three things will naturally lack magnetism. As there is the blossoming of the trees, so there is the time in a person's life when he blossoms, a time which is called youth, when this magnetism expresses itself in its fullness. It comes as a season and it goes as a season.

The second aspect of magnetism is the magnetism of mind. A person of thought and wit, one who is quick to grasp something and apt in expressing his ideas to others, naturally has magnetic power. This magnetism of thought can also be divided into three kinds. One is thoughtfulness. A thoughtful person may not perhaps speak one word, nor do anything, but the very fact that he is thoughtful will attract others to him. The next way in which the magnetism of mind manifests is in the form of speech, of wit, of expression. Those who are in the presence of a man who has a living mind are immediately won by his magnetism. And the third kind of magnetism is the power of perception and conception. There are people to whom we at once feel attracted, to whom we feel close, who understand us and what we say and mean. Such a person need not speak or explain anything in order to show his magnetic power. He may sit before us and listen to us, and while we are talking to him we feel at one with him.

The third aspect of magnetism is the magnetism of heart. It is more powerful than the magnetism of mind, for the latter touches the surface whereas the magnetism of heart touches the depths of a person. The heart can be best described as a glowing fire if it is living, but when it is dead it is like frozen snow. Magnetism of heart needs no expression, for a person with a loving heart is indubitably magnetic. Therefore, no one should profess to love, for love speaks for itself. It needs no words. The fire does not cry out, 'I am burning!' The heat of the glow is felt without words.

The magnetism of the heart can also be divided into three kinds. One is the heart that receives love. It has the magnetism of the moon. The cooling effect of the moon is seen in the beloved soul. Then there is the heart that loves, and this has a more powerful magnetism, a magnetism which can be likened to the sun, which is powerful and which shines. And the third kind of love is greater, finer, and more subtle than the two mentioned above: it is developed when the love becomes a continually springing fountain, which rises as a stream and falls as many drops. It is the love of souls who cannot help but love, the love of souls who only know love, not hate; the love of souls who are no longer the possessors of love but who have become love itself. Their magnetism spreads in a wider horizon and lasts longer than one could ever imagine.

The fourth and highest aspect of magnetism is the magnetism of the soul. The soul that is born again, the soul that has begun to live, the soul that has opened its eyes to the world, that soul not only attracts the wise and the virtuous, but also those who are devoid of wisdom and who lack virtue. The presence of souls who have awakened is itself a magnetism. It draws people walking on the earth and it draws souls that are not on the earth. It not only draws the living beings, the lower creation, but also the trees and plants are drawn to it. The atmosphere that an awakened soul produces lives for centuries in this world, unbroken and unpolluted. The sky takes care of it and preserves it for generations, in order to experience and enjoy this atmosphere produced by the illuminated souls. And the third way in which the illuminated soul shows its magnetism is in words and acts, so that every word becomes dynamic, in Biblical terms a tongue of flame; and everything this soul gives to the world remains, it lives and never dies.

checked 03-Sep-2006