As they say, the greatest teachers in life are old age, sickness, and death. I will keep it joyful and only talk about death. I will never forget the first time I learned about death. I can’t remember how old I was but I was super young.
My mother was telling me and my brother a story and the word “death” came along. My brother and I were unfamiliar with that term. My mother had to explain it and I started crying. I was not crying because I would die. I was crying because I was scared of losing her.
When you realize that you will die and everybody you love will die, it’s not a fun day. It is what it is though. It is liberating to know that it will happen to all of us. Death is not something to be feared or to decide for oneself (i.e suicide)
Death is to be embraced as a natural part of the process of life. Pondering upon death brings about a sense of urgency for our time is limited. Whether you believe in reincarnation, eternal hell, or heaven or nothing (nihilism) we all know and believe in death.
Realizing that death comes to us all and unexpectedly should make us humble and yes also powerless because we no power over it. Death will surely come and it will come on its own accord and without any heads up.
When you really think about it, it can be infuriating. We will die and we can die at anytime and we don’t even how we will pass. How is it not maddening to have so little control over such a big event?
Once we pass that stage of anger and frustration, what we have to humbly admit is that we do not have a choice in the matter. Death is inevitable, therefore we should embrace and contemplate it. Not because it is fun but because that’s the only way we can make sense of life and gain wisdom.
How else will we know what to prioritize and what matters if we do not understand that we will die ? How can we start detaching and be equanimous if we don’t start to fathom what is death?
No matter what happens to us in life we should always have memento Mori in mind. When something great happens, good memento Mori. I will die. When something bad happens, it’s OK, this too will pass. Memento Mori.
Do you see what I mean? In the grand scheme of things, all the seemingly good and bad things don’t matter much. What truly matters most is the smaller things. The people we love. The people that love us back. The kindness, the love, the warmth, the care, the generosity, the peace, and all that good stuff.
All the struggles, failures, successes, material gains will not matter. You might have some status, fame even posterity but it does not matter much you will be dead.
Yes, it’s important to leave a legacy where others will remember you as someone who did well because truly that’s the only thing you get to bring with you when you die. Your karma.
That’s very important. Life is transient and death comes unexpectedly so make good with it and do good. Now is the time to live a wholesome life.
Don’t deluded yourself into thinking that next week, next month, next year you will change. Start now. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Whatever happens to you now, always remind yourself memento Mori. I will die. I will die.
Why should you do that? One word: Perspective
Once you understand death you won’t take anything and anybody for granted. Last, but not least you won’t take life for granted because to truly understand death is to truly appreciate life.
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The first divine abiding (brahmavihara) is Loving & kindness (Metta). It’s the sublime quality and skill of benevolent love towards all living things.
As rain does not discriminate when it falls so should you NOT, when practicing loving & kindness. Try it and sustain it as much as you possibly can in your day-to-day.
For some of you, radiating love towards all beings may seem preposterous. You might get angry at the thought of spreading the love towards some specific people.
However when you start understanding that most human beings are only suffering as we all are. You will develop over time more tolerance.
You will understand that some people are just stuck in their ignorance and delusion. Make no mistake, people whom you might think as “evil” are not happy.
Oftentimes they are just poor souls who are lost. They do not know how to cure themselves of their suffering.
Remember one thing when you are dealing with difficult people. You may have to live with them for a moment but they have to live with themselves all the time.
Once you realize that, it is easier to have compassion and understanding for anybody and that also includes yourself.
Do not neglect yourself in the process, remember that as it applies for difficult people it applies to you as well.
You have to live with yourself most of the time. Therefore you need to radiate that loving & kindness towards YOU and accept the good, the bad, and the ugly.
You can then find a way to encourage the good and grow it and slowly but surely let go of the “not-so-good”, not by repressing it but by accepting, not by being complacent but by being kind.
Planting the seeds of wisdom, love, and kindness and see them grow in the beautiful garden of your life. Do not water the weeds. Pour water on the growing good in you and see those seeds flourish overtime.
]]>The Cause Of His Financial Trouble & Its Reversal
A young boy of about sixteen years of age in my neighborhood came to see me. He complained that his father would not allow him to go to college and become and engineer. His father was constantly saying, “We don't have the money to send you to college. We can't meet the mortgage on our home or the note that is due at the bank. We never make ends meet. Forget it!”
You can see the reason for this father's financial lack. He was constantly dwelling on lack, limitation, and financial restrictions of all kinds, and his subconscious naturally responded according to the nature of his habitual thinking. Think rich and riches follow; think poverty and poverty follows.
His Reversed Attitude Worked Wonders
I explained to this boy's father that all he needed was to cultivate the feeling of opulence and to constantly imagine that he possessed all kinds of riches. As a result, every night prior to sleep he imagined that he had received a letter from his son, telling him how happy he was to be in college and thanking him for all he had done for him. Furthermore, he claimed silently and feelingly: “God is the eternal source of my supply, meeting all my needs at every instant.”
During the day when thoughts came to his mind, such as “I am short of money. I hardly know how to pay my bills. What have I to give? I am broke,” and so forth, he never permitted the sentence to be finished in his mind. He persisted in neutralizing the negativity by immediately affirming: “God is the constant source of my supply, meeting all of my needs instantaneously.” Often, at first, he had to do this thirty and forty times in one hour, but after a few days the momentum and force of habitual negative thoughts died out, and he ceased to be troubled by them.
Then, almost miraculously, he won a large sum of money from a lucky lottery ticket which paid all his debts and gave him increased confidence and faith in the power of his mind to meet all his needs at all times everywhere.
Today his son is in a university of his choice and is deeply grateful for the discovery of the real riches. This father and son will no longer tremble in fear and trepidation when financial exigencies and emergencies loom up before them.
“…my desperation forced me to put my imagination to the test…. But I needed so many things and in such short order that I found myself exhausted when I finally got through the list, and by that time I was so nervous I could not sleep. One lecture night I heard you tell of an artist who captured the ‘feeling,’ or ‘word,’ as you called it, of ‘isn’t it wonderful!’ in his personal experience. I began to apply this idea to my case. Instead of thinking of and imagining every article I needed, I tried to capture the ‘feeling’ that something wonderful was happening to me – not tomorrow, not next week – but right now. I would say over and over to myself as I fell asleep, “Isn’t it wonderful! Something marvelous is happening to me now!’ And as I fell asleep I would feel the way I would expect to feel under such circumstances.
“I repeated that imaginary action and feeling for two months, night after night, and one day in early October I met a causal friend I hadn’t seen for months who informed me was about to leave on a trip to New York. I had lived in New York many years ago and we talked of the city a few moments and then parted. I completely forgot the incident. One month later, to the day, this man called at my apartment and simply handed me a Certified Check in my name for twenty-five hundred dollars. After I got over the initial shock of seeing my name on a check for so much money, the story that unfolded seemed to me like a dream. It concerned a friend I had not seen nor heard from in more than twenty-five years. This friend of my past, I now learned, had become extremely wealthy in those twenty-five years. Our mutual acquaintance who had brought the check to me had met him quite by accident during the trip to New York last month. During their conversation they spoke of me, and for reasons I was not to know…this only friend decided to share a portion of this great wealth with me.
“For the next two years, from the office of his attorney, I received monthly checks so generous in amount they not only covered every necessary requirement of daily living, but left much over for all the lovely things of life: a car, clothes, a spacious apartment – and best of all, no need to earn my daily bread.
-Look at his body. He’s probably on steroids. strive to eliminate.
You know how it goes. You are scrolling down incessantly on your Instagram or Facebook feed and without realizing it your thoughts become dark, aggressive, and hostile. Have you ever been down this dark rabbit hole?
I know I have. I have to catch myself and turn this thing around. I really don’t want to have this kind of thought. They are-He or she made money but they did the wrong way.
-Look at his girlfriend or boyfriend she or he is so ugly. She or he is not that beautiful
-All those photos are fake they are not really having that great of a life.
The list goes on and on, truth be told those thoughts might not be wrong but regardless of whether those thoughts are right or wrong, the mindset that is behind those thoughts need to be corrected. Why?
Because the mindset behind those thoughts is one that covets, is one that envies. We are having those thoughts to feel good about ourselves. We envy, therefore we want everybody else to feel shitty and have a shitty life so we can feel better about ourselves.
It’s OK to feel this way. It’s very human, and in our modern-day and age, is very hard to escape. Why do you guys think social media platforms have such a bad rep? Envy is one of the reasons. We envy and therefore we feel frustration, anger, bitterness, and depression.
Gary Vaynerchuk said that social media platforms are not the problem. They just expose us. To a certain extent, I have to agree. Those social media platforms are free and yes they are made in a way to keep you there and keep you addicted to notifications, likes, and comments but nobody is forcing you to stay there, let alone have those unwholesome negative thoughts.
If you had those thoughts, do not worry, do not feel bad about yourself, and please do not feel angry towards yourself or even towards me. I have a lot of empathy for myself and for others when it comes to this subject because it’s a tough thing to overcome.
I know, I felt that envy. When my friend is telling me about one of our acquaintances and how well she or he is doing. I know I felt that envy when I go to the club and see a table of people I know having so much fun. Or even worst, you see your ex-girlfriend or boyfriend in real life or in the virtual life having so much fun with their new partner and it makes you feel envious and shitty.
We can all relate to this feeling. It’s so human but it does not mean we should accept it. Envy is truly a poison. So what’s the solution? Mudita — Sympathetic joy. This is a Buddhist concept. It’s very simple. You rejoice in the happiness, the joy, the beauty, and the success of others.
When someone is sad you feel compassion for them. Mudita is feeling happy and joyful for someone’s happiness. Mudita is the complete opposite of envy. You can start implementing it in your life right now. And it does not necessarily need to be towards people you have envied or are envying. No, it can be for anybody who is joyful and happy.
When you see someone happy or someone who has done something great just indulge in it. You don’t need to be with them, you can do it at a distance. You rejoice in your mind and in your heart. Smile and tell yourself: “I am happy for them. I am so joyful for them”
You can say something along those lines or anything else that resonates with you. In the beginning, it will take some practice but do it continuously and you will get better. The best part of it is that you will truly feel happy because of this.
When it comes to the people you envy say the same thing in your mind. Yes, it might sound false and insincere at the beginning but do it anyway. When you muster as much positivity as you can it will get better over time.
A quick tip to make it more sincere. Always picture people in their most innocent child-like figure. Always remember that all people have their own shit and suffering, and the joy they have now might just be a highlight. It’s not necessarily the whole of their life so rejoice with them when they are happy and feel compassion for them when they are not.
Bonus words — When you want something and envy, someone because they have it. You prevent that thing from coming to your life. What you can do instead, be happy for that person who has what you want. Wish them even more of what they have so it will put you in a very receptive mode where you can also receive and manifest what you had envied previously.
If you want something in your life. Wish it for someone else
Wayne Dyer
Whatever you want to manifest in your life. Give it of increase to other people and you will manifest what you want
Joseph Murphy
Keep on living life that way. When you are feeling sad or bored. Look for happiness and rejoice in that happiness as if it were your own. That envy will dissipate very fast and will give way to a better you, a better life, and better opportunities
]]>The beginning of the practice is no different from any other meditation practice. Sit in a position that is comfortable.
Let go of the past and future then bring your awareness to the present moment. Make an intention to keep your focus on the meditation object (death).
After that, you can say to yourself something like this :
“May this meditation help me gain wisdom and understanding to bring me and others closer to the end of suffering”
Death comes to us all. It is not something we can avoid. It is something we have to face. Living a life where we avoid the question of death is pointless and counterintuitive. If death was something that happened only to a chosen few, pondering and dwelling upon it would not be necessary. However, we will ALL go through it at one point or another, therefore it is crucial for us to truly understand that we will ALL die.
1.a Everyone has to die
Death comes to us all. None of us are immortal. Passing away is not something we can avoid. It is something we have to face. Living a life where we avoid the question of death is pointless and counterintuitive. If death was something that happened only to a chosen few, pondering and dwelling upon it would not be necessary. However, we will ALL go through it at one point or another therefore it is crucial for us to truly understand that we will ALL die.
1.b Each moment is getting you closer to death.
When we celebrate each birthday we should silently tell ourselves that this is one year closer to death. Every month that passes is a month closer to death. Every week that passes is one closer to death. Everyday day that passes is one closer to death. Every moment that passes is one closer to death. Remind yourself of that to truly fathom that time is limited.
1.c The time you have for spiritual practice is limited.
Our time is limited and life takes a lot of time and energy for a lot of stuff that we need to do to live, to survive, to make a living,etc, etc… The spiritual practice time we have is limited that’s why we need to have a sense of urgency for matters that should be more of a priority such as spiritual practice.
2. The uncertainty of the time of death
2.a You don’t know when you will die
At any given moment any of us could die. Perhaps it is not likely that you will die tomorrow but it is definitely a possibility. To think that tomorrow or the day after is guaranteed is foolish. Remind yourself that death has its own schedule for us. Death comes whenever it wishes to come so let’s be ready.
2.b They are many ways you can die
They are countless ways we can die. Innumerable times we can die. Death will come when it wants to come but it will also come in a way that is unknown to us. Let us not forget that part too.
2.c The human body is very fragile
Our bodies are strong, in a sense that we can survive a lot and do a lot during our lifetime but paradoxically our bodies are incredibly fragile as well because it would not take much for us to lose our lives. On a daily basis, if you were to count all the ways you could die, you would not be able to stop counting because there are just too many ways you could die.
3. Spiritual practice is your only salvation
3.a Your loved ones cannot help
We come to this world alone and we will leave this world alone. That’s the truth. We tend to believe that we are surrounded by people but in reality we are alone at the beginning and at the end and if we are completely realistic we are alone most of the time in between. Death happens to us all but death is to be faced alone and nobody will be there to save you or to help you when it comes knocking at your door.
3.b Your possessions and enjoyments cannot help
Whatever you own and whatever fun you have had with what you have gained in life will not come to your aid when you pass. As they say, you can’t bring anything with you to the afterlife. The only two things you will keep with you at that time is your stream of consciousness and the karma (good or bad) that comes along with it.
3.c Your own body cannot help
Each passing moment your body is deteriorating. You might not see it, you might not feel it but it is true nonetheless. As they say, each glass has a crack even though it might be small. It won’t be long until the glass breaks altogether.
Closing words
I am reading what I just wrote and it does feel a bit morose. I guess it’s difficult in the West to talk about death without having a bit of a stigma. My words, however, are not here to sadden nor cause any form of anxiety and fear. Death is inevitable but we need not see it as something bad. It is what it is as they say.
We have to not only accept it but embrace it. If we understand death it will be easier to understand life. By understanding that life comes to us all and potentially at any given moment. We can value its meaning and its preciousness. We can live our lives with more of a sense of urgency and prioritize what truly matters so that when death comes. We are ready, calm, collected, and have faith that the karma we have is mostly good and we let death take us to a better place without any regret of leaving this current life because we have done our best.
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A new idea will not become part of your common currency of thought until it has been repeated over and over and you begin to live by it.
You have been taught to believe that God exists outside of you, but I say you are all Imagination. That God exists in us and we in him. That our eternal body is the Imagination, and that is God Himself. I mean every word I have just said, but it is a new thought. Until this new idea becomes a part of your thinking, every time you hear the word, “God,” your mind will go out to something you have conceived God to be.
When I say I am, I am speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ of the New Testament and the Jehovah of the Old. When you go to bed tonight and put your head on a pillow, you are aware of being. That awareness is God! I want to show you how to use your awareness as brazen impudence.
In the 11th chapter of Luke, it is said that Jesus was praying when one of his disciples said: "Lord, teach us to pray," at which time he gave them the Lord’s Prayer. Now, the Lord’s Prayer that you and I have is translated from the Latin, which does not have the imperative passive mood necessary to convey the meaning of the prayer. In its original Greek, the prayer is like brazen impudence, for the imperative passive mood is a standing order, something to be done absolutely and continuously. In other words, "Thy will be done," becomes "Thy will must be being done." And "Thy kingdom come" becomes “Thy kingdom must be being restored."
That is not what is being taught, however, as he taught in the form of a parable such as: "Which of you who has a friend would go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey and I have nothing to set before him,’ and from within he says, ‘Do not bother me; the door is shut and my children are in bed. I cannot rise and give you anything.’ Yet I tell you, although he will not rise because he is a friend, yet because of his importunity, he will rise and give him whatever he needs." The word importunity means brazen impudence. In other words, he would not take No for an answer!
Jesus was not teaching a disciple on the outside how to pray. He was telling you how to adjust your thinking so you will not take No for an answer. In the story the friend knew what he wanted. He assumed he had it and continued to assume he had it until his assumption took on the feeling of reality and he got it. This is how you find God in yourself, by being persistent in your assumption.
Then this story is told to show how you should pray and not lose heart: "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man. There was a widow in that city who came constantly, asking him to vindicate her against her enemies. At first he refused, then he said to himself, ‘Although I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this woman bothers me I will vindicate her before she wears me out.’” Again we see the need for persistence in prayer.
How to Raise Your Energy Level
You have two types of energy. One is physical, the other is mental and spiritual. The latter is by far the more important, for from your subconscious mind you can draw vast power and strength in time of need.
Think, for example, of the great feats of strength and endurance you've read about people performing while under the stress of intense emotion. There is an automobile accident and a husband is pinned under the overturned car. In her moment of fear and determination, his tiny and frail wife manages to raise the car enough to free him!
Or the insane person, his mind dominated by his subconscious running wild, can break, lift, bend, and smash with a force he never could hope for during periods of normality.
In a series of articles for Sports Illustrated, Dr. Roger Bannister told how he first broke the four-minute mile on May 6, 1954, by training both his mind and his muscles to accomplish this long- sought dream of the athletic world.
For months, he conditioned his subconscious into the belief that the record, which some people claimed was unattainable, could be achieved. Others thought of the four-minute mark as a barrier. Bannister thought of it as a gateway which, if he once passed through, would I open the way to many new records for himself and other milers.
And of course he was right. Roger Bannister led the way. In a period of little more than four years after he first set a four- minute mile, the feat was performed 46 times by himself and other runners! And in one race, at Dublin, Ireland, on August 6, 1958, five runners ran the mile in less than four minutes!
The man who taught Roger Bannister the secret was Dr. Thomas Kirk Cureton, director of the physical fitness laboratory at the University of Illinois. Dr. Cureton has developed revolutionary ideas concerning the body's energy level. They apply, he says, to both athletes and non-athletes. They can make a runner run faster and the average man live longer.
"There is no reason why," Dr. Cureton says, "any man can't be as fit at 50 as he was at 20 — providing he knows how to train his body."
Dr. Cureton's system is based on two principles: (1) Train the whole body. (2) Push yourself to the limit of endurance, extending the limit with each workout.
"The art of record-breaking," he says, "is the ability to take more out of yourself than you've got. You punish yourself more and more and rest between spells."
Dr. Cureton became acquainted with Roger Bannister while running physical fitness tests on European athletic stars. He noticed that Bannister's body was wonderfully developed in some ways. For example, his heart was 25 percent larger than normal in relation to his body size.
How Your Subconscious Removes Mental Blocks
The solution lies within the problem. The answer is in every question. If you are presented with a difficult situation and you cannot see your way clear, the best procedure is to assume that Infinite Intelligence within your subconscious mind knows all and sees all, has the answer, and is revealing it to you now. Your new mental attitude that the creative intelligence is bringing about a happy solution will enable you to find the answer. Rest assured that such an attitude of mind will bring order, peace and meaning to all your undertakings.
How To Break Or Build A Habit
You are a creature of habit. Habit is the function of your subconscious mind. You learned to swim, ride a bicycle, dance and drive a car by consciously doing these things over and over again until they established tracks in your subconscious mind. Then, the automatic habit action of your subconscious mind took over. This is sometimes called second nature which is a reaction of your subconscious mind to your thinking and acting. You are free to choose a good habit or a bad habit. If you repeat a negative thought or act over a period of time, you will be under the compul- sion of a habit. The law off your subconscious is compulsion.
How He Broke A Bad Habit
Mr Jones said to me, “An uncontrollable urge to drink seizes upon me, and I remain drunk for two weeks at a time. I can't give up this terrible habit.”
Time and time again these experiences had occurred to this unfortunate man. He had grown into the habit of drinking to excess. Although he had started drinking of his own initiative, he also began to realize that he could change the habit and establish a new one. He said that while through his will power he was able to suppress his desires temporarily, his continued efforts to suppress the many urges only made matters worse. His repeated failures convinced him that he was hopeless and powerless to control his urge or obsession. This idea of being powerless operated as a powerful suggestion to his subconscious mind and aggravated his weakness, making his life a succession of failures.
I taught him to harmonize the functions of the conscious and subconscious mind. When these two cooperate, the idea or desire implanted in the sub mind is realized. His reasoning mind agreed that if the old habit path or track had carried him into trouble, he could consciously form a new path to freedom, sobriety and peace of mind. He knew that his destructive habit was automatic, but since it was acquired through his conscious choice, he realized that if he had been conditioned negatively, he also could be conditioned positively. As a result, he ceased thinking of the fact that he was powerless to overcome the habit. Moreover, he under- stood clearly that there was no obstacle to his healing other than his own thought. Therefore, there was no occasion for great mental effort or mental coercion.
The Power Of His Mental Picture
This man acquired a practice of relaxing his body and getting into a relaxed drowsy, meditative state. Then he filled his mind with the picture of the desired end, knowing his subconscious mind could bring it about the easiest way. He imagined his daughter congratulating him on his freedom, and saying to him, “Daddy, it's wonderful to have you home!' he had lost his family through drink. He was not allowed to visit them, and his wife would not speak to him.
Regularly, systematically, he used to sit down and meditate in the way outlined. When his attention wandered, he made it a habit to immediately recall the mental picture of his daughter with her smile and the scene of his home enlivened by her cheerful voice. All this brought about a reconditioning of his mind. It was a gradual process. He kept it up. He persevered knowing that sooner or later he would establish a new habit pattern in his subconscious mind.
I told him that he could liken his conscious mind to a camera, that his subconscious mind was the sensitive plate on which he registered and impressed the picture. This made a profound impression on him, and his whole aim was to firmly impress the picture on his mind and develop it there. Films are developed in the dark; likewise, mental pictures are developed in the darkroom of the subconscious mind.
Focused Attention
Realizing that his conscious mind was simply a camera, he used no effort. There was no mental struggle. He quietly adjusted his thoughts and focused his attention on the scene before him until he gradually became identified with the picture. He became absorbed in the mental atmosphere, repeating the mental movie frequently. There was no room for doubt that a healing would follow. When there was any temptation to drink, he would switch his imagination from any reveries of drinking bouts to the feeling of being at home with his family. He was successful because he confidently expected to experience the picture he was developing in his mind. Today he is president of a multimillion dollar concern and is radiantly happy.
HOW TO CONTROL YOUR EMOTIONS
The Ancient Greeks said, “Man, know thyself.” As you study yourself, you seem to be made up of four parts: Your physical body, emotional nature, intellect, and the Spiritual Essence which is called the Presence of God. The I AM within you, the Divine Presence, is your Real Identity Which is Eternal.
You are here to discipline yourself, so that your intellectual, emotional, and physical nature are completely spiritualized. These four phases of your nature are called the four beasts of The Book of Revelation. {The Revelation of St. John means God revealing himself as man.
The real way for you to discipline and bridle your intellectual and emotional nature is by the Practice of the Presence of God all day long.
You have a body; it is a shadow or reflection of the mind. It has no power of itself, no initiative, or volition. It has no intelligence of itself; it is completely subject to your commands or decrees. Look upon your body as a great disc upon which you play your emotions and beliefs.
Being a disc, it will faithfully record all your emotionalized concepts and never deviate from them; therefore, you can register a melody of love and beauty, or one of grief and sorrow upon it. Resentment, jealousy, hatred, anger, and melancholia are all expressed in the body as various diseases. As you learn to control your mental and emotional nature, you will become a channel for the Divine, and release the imprisoned splendor that is within you.
Think over this for a moment: You cannot buy a healthy body with all the money in the world, but you can have health through riches of the mind, such as thoughts of peace, harmony, and perfect health.
Let us dwell now on the emotional nature of man. It is absolutely essential for you to control your emotions if you want to grow spiritually. You are considered grown up or emotionally mature when you control your feelings. If you cannot discipline or bridle your emotions, you are a child even though you are fifty years old.
You must remember that the greatest tyrant is a false idea which controls a man’s mind holding him in bondage. The idea you hold about yourself or others induces definite emotions in you.
Psychologically speaking, emotions compel you for good or evil. If you are full of resentment toward someone or possessed by a grudge, this emotion will have an evil influence over you, and govern your actions in a manner which has nothing to do with what you say is the original cause.
When you want to be friendly and cordial, you will be ugly, cynical, and sour. When you want to be healthy, successful, and prosperous in life, you will find everything going wrong. Those of you reading this book are aware of your capacity to choose a concept of peace and good will. Accept the idea of peace in your mind, and let it govern, control, and guide you.
Quimby pointed out that ideas are our masters, and that we are slaves to the ideas we entertain. The concept of peace with which you now live will induce the feeling of peace and harmony. Your feeling is the Spirit of God operating at the human level; this feeling of peace and good will will compel you to right action. You are now governed by Divine Ideas which are mothered by the Holy Spirit.
Uncontrolled or undisciplined emotion is destructive. For example, if you have a powerful automobile, it will take you through the roughest country, or to the top of a high hill; however, you must control the automobile. If you do not know how to drive, you may hit a telegraph pole or another car. Should you step on the gas instead of the brake, the car may be destroyed.
It is wonderful to posses a strong, emotional nature provided you are the master. Your emotions are controlling you if you permit yourself to get angry over trifles or agitated over practically nothing. If you get upset over what you read in the newspapers, you are not controlling your emotions. You must learn to blend your intellect and emotions together harmoniously. The intellect of man is alright in its place, but it should be anointed or illumined with the Wisdom of God.
There are many people who are always trying to intellectualize God. You cannot define the Infinite. Spinoza said that to define God is to deny him. You have met the highly intellectual man who says that man cannot survive death, because he does not take his brain with him. Somehow he is so clever he really believes the brain thinks by itself. Such a man is looking at everything from a three-dimensional standpoint; that is where the intellect ceases.
The intellect, as I said previously, is alright in its place—for example, in our everyday work, and in all kinds of science, art, and industry. However as we approach the Living Spirit Almighty within, we are compelled to leave the world of the intellect and go beyond into the realm of spiritual values which are perfection, and where dimension is infinity.
When man’s intellect is blended with the emotions of love, peace, and goodwill, he will not use explosives and knowledge of chemistry for the destruction of mankind. The reason man uses the atomic bomb, submarine, and other implements of warfare to destroy his fellow creature is because his spiritual awareness and knowledge lag so far behind his intellectual achievements.
Let us see how emotions are generated. Suppose you observe a cripple; perhaps you are moved to pity. On the other hand you may look at your young, beautiful child, and you feel an emotion of love welling up within you. You know that you cannot imagine an emotion, but if you imagine an unpleasant episode or event of the past, you induce the corresponding emotion. Remember it is essential to entertain the thought first before you induce an emotion.
An emotion is always the working out of an idea in the mind. Have you noticed the effect of fear upon the face, eyes, heart, and other organs? You know the effect of bad news or grief on the digestive tract. Observe the change that takes place when it is found the fear is groundless.
All negative emotions are destructive and depress the vital forces of the body. A chronic worrier usually has trouble with digestion. If something very pleasant occurs in his experience, the digestion becomes normal, because normal circulation is restored, and the necessary gastric secretions are no longer interfered with.
The way to overcome and discipline the emotions is not through repression or suppression. When you repress an emotion, the energy accumulates in the subconscious and remains snarled there. In the same manner as the pressure increases in the boiler, if all the valves are closed, and you increase the heat of the fire, finally there will be an explosion.
Today in the field of psychosomatic we are discovering that many cases of ill health, as arthritis, asthma, cardiac troubles, and failure in life, etc., may be due to suppressed or repressed emotions, perhaps occurring during early life or childhood.
These repressed or suppressed emotions rise like ghosts to haunt you later on. There is a spiritual and psychological way to banish these ghosts which walk in the gloomy gallery of your mind. The ideal way is the law of substitution. Through the law of mental substitution, you substitute a positive, constructive thought for the negative.
When negative thoughts enter your mind, do not fight them; just think of God and His Love; you will find the negative thoughts disappear. “I say unto you, That ye resist not evil.” (Math. 5:39) If a person is fearful, the positive emotion of faith and confidence will completely destroy it.
If you sincerely wish to govern your emotions, you must maintain control over your thoughts. By taking charge of your thoughts, you can substitute love for fear. The instant you receive the stimulus of a negative emotion supplant it with the mood of love and good will. Instead of giving way to fear, say, “One with God is a majority.” Fill your mind with concepts of peace, love, and faith in God; then the negative thoughts cannot enter.
It is far easier to cremate, burn up, and destroy negative thoughts at the moment they enter the mind, rather than try and dislodge them when they have taken possession of your mind. Refuse to be a victim of negative emotions through controlling your thought and thinking of God and His Attributes. You can be master of all emotions and conditions. “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.”
The Book of Revelation deals with the control of the intellectual and emotional life of man. It says in Chapter 4, verses 6, 7, and 8: “And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
“And the first beasts was like a lion, and the second beasts like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
“And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.”
The sea of glass before the throne means the inner peace of God, for God is peace. Deep in the centre of your being, the Infinite One lies stretched in smiling repose. It is the Living Presence of God within you. You stand before this throne. The throne is a symbol of authority. Your emotional conviction of a deep, abiding faith in the God- Power is your authority in consciousness. To say it simply: Your inner conviction is your throne in heaven, because therein lies your power. “According to your faith is it done unto you.” Faith is a positive, emotional attitude knowing that the good I seek is mine now.
The four beasts forever before the throne are the four phases of your being: spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical. In order to get your emotional nature on a spiritual basis, it is necessary to understand these four beasts; in doing so you learn the gentle art of scientific prayer which in the final analysis is the answer to all problems. Study these four potencies of consciousness.
The lion is the king of the jungle; it means God, your I AMNESS.
Taurus means the bull or beast of burden. Your burden is your desire. You labor in your imagination to make your desire a part of your consciousness.
Aquarius means the water bearer; it means meditation. The word meditation means to eat of God or your good, to feast upon your ideal. You pour water on your ideal, meaning you dwell upon and pour love on it which is the water of life. Something happens as you mentally feast upon your ideal; you generate an emotion; the latter is the spirit of God moving on your behalf.
Your emotion is the Holy Spirit moving at human levels. God is a reactive, reciprocal Power within you. Your emotion responds according to the nature of the idea. As you emotionalize your idea, it sinks into the subconscious mind as an impression; this is called the Eagle or Scorpio, meaning the Divine impregnation. These are the four stages of the unfoldment or manifestation of an ideal or desire. Whatever is impressed is expressed.
The four beasts had each of them six wings. The six wings refer to the mental, creative act. When idea and feeling blend together in harmony and faith, there has taken place a wedding ceremony in the mind. Knowledge of this mental, creative act gives you wings; enables you to soar aloft above the storms and struggles of the world, and find peace and strength in your own mind.
Let us take an illustration explaining the story of spiritual and mental creation: In the name Jehovah is concealed the perfect way to pray scientifically; thereby bringing all discordant emotions under scientific control. Jehovah, Yod-He-Vau-He, is composed of four letters. Yod means God, or I AM; He means desire or idea; Vau is feeling or conviction; the final He is the manifestation of what you felt as true inside.
The third letter Vau is considered the most important of all. It enables you to feel you are that which you desire to be. Walk in the mental atmosphere that you now are what you want to be; this mood will jell within you, and you will experience the joy of the answered prayer. The word Vau also means nail. To nail your desire is to fix it in consciousness, so that you are at peace about it.
Remember you do not have to live in a world of sickness and confusion created by your own errors or ignorance. You have the power and the capacity to imagine and feel you are what you desire to be. As you completely accept your desire mentally, that you now are what you wish to be, through mental absorption, you have completed the name or the creative way of God as portrayed in the name: Yod-He-Vau-He. In other words you have completed the creative process in your own mind as outlined by Troward in his Bible Mystery and Bible Meaning. To know how to pray scientifically is to be able to control your emotions. “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams
Your Magnificent Obsession
With the idea that we are about to give you, you can have riches far beyond your fondest hope.
This idea will bring you a wealth of happiness. For your personality will expand. And you will receive affection and love, both of a quality and a quantity you have never before dreamed possible.
This principle was expressed dramatically on many occasions by the author, Lloyd C. Douglas. When Douglas retired from the ministry he moved into a more extended form of inspirational teaching: the writing of novels. His ministry had reached hundreds; his books reached thousands; his movies, millions. And to each he preached the same basic message. But it was never so clearly expressed as in the novel The Magnificent Obsession. The principle is so obvious here that those who need it most may not see it at all. It is simply this:
Develop an obsession — a Magnificent Obsession — to help others.
Share yourself without expecting a reward, payment, or commendation. And above all else — keep your good turn a secret.
And, if you do this, you will set in motion the powers of a universal law. For, try as you will to avoid payment for your good deed — blessings and rewards will be showered upon you.
No matter who you are, you can have a Magnificent Obsession. Every living person can help others by sharing a part of himself.
You don't have to be rich or powerful to develop a Magnificent Obsession. Regardless of who you are, or what you have been, you can create inside yourself a burning desire to be helpful to others.
Take, for example, the sinner with a magnificent obsession.
You'll never know his name. That's a secret. When he was asked to help the Boys Clubs of America — an organization the sole purpose of which is the building of character in children — with a small donation, he refused. In fact, he was more than rude to the man who had called to interview him on this occasion.
"Get out!" he said. "I'm sick and tired of people asking me for money!"
As the representative was walking toward the door to leave, he stopped, turned around, and looked kindly at the man sitting behind his desk. "You may not wish to share with the needy. But I do. I'll share with you a part of what I have — a prayer: May God bless you." And then he turned swiftly and left.
You see, with a flash of inspiration the Boys Club representative had remembered: "... silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I unto you." And a few days later an interesting thing happened.
The man who had said, "Get out!" knocked on the door of the Club representative's office and asked, "May I come in?" He brought with him a part of what he had to share: a check for half a million dollars. As he laid the check on the desk, he said: "I am giving this on one condition: that you never let anyone know that I did it."
"Why not?" he was asked.
"I don't want my name to represent to boys and girls that I am good. I'm not a saint. For I have been a sinner."
And that is why you'll never know his name. Just he, the Boys Club representative, and the Greatest Giver of All know the name of the sinner whose money was donated for the purpose of helping boys and girls avoid doing the wrong things he had done.
Like the Boys Club representative, you may not have money, but you can share by giving a part of what you have. And like him, you can be a part of a great cause. And you, too, when you give, can give generously.
Your most preciously valued possessions and your greatest powers are often necessarily invisible and intangible. No one can take them. You and you alone can share them.
The more you share, the more you will have.
Now if you doubt this, you can prove it to yourself by giving: a smile to everyone you meet; a kind word; a pleasant response; appreciation with warmth from the heart; cheer; encouragement; hope; honor, credit, and applause; good thoughts; evidence of love for your fellow-men; happiness; a prayer for the godless and the godly; and time for a worthy cause with eagerness.
If you do experiment by giving any one of the above, you will also prove to yourself what we have found is one of the most difficult principles to teach those who need it most: how to cause desirable actions within yourself. Until you do learn, you will fail to realize that what is left with you when you share it with others will multiply and grow; and what you withhold from others will diminish and decrease. Therefore, share that which is good and desirable and withhold that which is bad and undesirable.
The trouble with most people is that they have no invisible means of support when business falls away, or the stock market drops, or they lose their investments; they seem helpless. The reason for such insecurity is that they do not know how to tap the subconscious mind. They are unacquainted with the inexhaustible storehouse within.
A man with a poverty-type mind finds himself in poverty-stricken conditions. Another man with a mind filled with ideas of wealth is surrounded with everything he needs. It was never intended that man should lead a life of indigence. You can be wealthy, have everything you need, and plenty to spare. Your words have power to cleanse your mind of wrong ideas, and to instill right ideas in their place.
I have talked to many people during the past thirty-five years; their usual complaint is, “I have said for weeks and months that I am wealthy; I am prosperous, and nothing has happened.” I discovered that when they said, “I am prosperous; I am wealthy,” they felt within that they were lying to themselves.
One man told me, “I have affirmed until I am tired that I am prosperous. Things are now worse. I knew when I made the statement, that it was obviously not true.” His statements and those of the others were rejected by the conscious mind, and the very opposite of what they affirmed and claimed was made manifest.
Auto-suggestion succeeds best when it is specific, and it does not produce a mental conflict or argument; hence the statements made by this man made matters worse, because they suggested his lack. The subconscious accepts only your convictions and beliefs, not just words or statements. The dominant idea or belief is always accepted by the subconscious mind.
The following is a way to overcome this conflict for those who have this difficulty. Make this practical statement frequently, particularly prior to sleep: “By day and by night I am being prospered in all of my interests.” This will not arouse any argument, because it does not contradict the subconscious mind’s impression of financial lack.
I suggested to one business man whose sales were very low, and he was greatly worried, that he sit down in his office, get quiet, and repeat this statement over and over again: “My sales are improving every day. I am advancing, progressing, and getting wealthier every day.” This statement engaged the cooperation of the conscious and subconscious mind; results followed.
In I Corinthians 3:6 read: I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the in- crease. Increase is what all men and women throughout the world are seeking; it is the urge of God within them, seeking fuller expression in all phases of their lives.
Your desire to grow wealthy, to expand, and to unfold is a fundamental impulse of your being. You wish to increase your circle of wonderful friends, you wish more and better food, clothing, automobiles, and homes, and more of the luxuries of life. Moreover, you desire to travel more, to learn more of the inner powers, and to experience a greater measure of beauty. In short, you want to live the life more abundant.
You plant wheat in the soil and water the ground, but God gives the increase in the form of multiplying the wheat grains a hundredfold or a thousandfold. Like- wise, whatever you plant in your mind in the way of thought, feeling, and imagination is increased in manifestation.
Increase means the multiplication of your good, the unfolding of your incipient thought or plan. If no action is initiated, obviously there can be no increase. Begin now to impress your mind with the idea of increase. You can't do it alone, however; it is God that giveth the increase.
“There are two kinds of money: Happy Money and Unhappy Money. Happy Money is the kind that a ten-year-old boy uses to buy flowers for his mom on Mother’s Day. Happy Money is when parents gladly pinch pennies in order to save a few extra dollars each week to be able to send their kids to soccer camp or take piano lessons. There are so many ways regular old money can become Happy Money:
• helping a struggling family member out of a bind
• sending a few dollars to those affected by a hurricane
• raising money by selling cookies for a homeless shelter
• investing in a business or community project
• receiving money for work or services from satisfied clients.
All the money circulated with love, care, and friendship is Happy Money. Happy Money makes people smile and feel loved and cared for deeply. It is in many ways an active form of love—a way in which people can see, feel, and touch. Often money can help others in a way that nothing else can. For example, when someone is going through a major hardship, like losing their entire home to a fire, “thoughts and prayers” and “good[…]”
“Money circulated in frustration, anger, sadness, and despair is Unhappy Money. This kind of money makes people stressed, desperate, aggravated, depressed, and sometimes violent. It deprives people of their dignity, self-esteem, and gentleness of heart. Whenever you receive and spend money and you do so with negative energy, it becomes Unhappy Money.
It is your right to be rich. You are here to lead the abundant life and be happy, radiant and free. You should, therefore, have all the money you need to lead a full, happy and prosperous life.
You are here to grow, expand and unfold spiritually, mentally and materi- ally. You have the inalienable right to fully develop and express yourself along all lines. You should surround yourself with beauty and luxury.
Why be satisfied with just enough to go around when you can enjoy the riches of your subconscious mind? In this chapter you can learn to make friends with money, and you should always have a surplus. Your desire to be rich is a desire for a fuller, happier, more wonderful life. It is a cosmic urge. It is not only good, but very good.
Money Is A Symbol
Money is a symbol of exchange. It means to you not only freedom from want, but beauty, luxury, abundance and refinement. It is merely a sym- bol of the economic health of the nation. When your blood is circulating freely in your body, you are healthy. When money is circulating freely in your life, you are economically healthy. When people begin to hoard mon- ey, to put it away in tin boxes and become charge with fear, there is eco- nomic illness. Money has taken many forms as a medium of exchange down through the centuries, such as salt, beads and trinkets of various kinds. In early times a man's wealth was determined by the number of sheep and oxen he had. Now we use currency, and other negotiable in- struments, as it is much more convenient to write a check then carry some sheep around with you to pay bills.
How To Walk The Royal Road To Riches
Knowledge of the powers of your subconscious mind is the means to the royal road to riches of all kinds; spiritual, mental or financial. The student of the laws of mind believes and knows definitely that regardless of eco- nomic situations, stock market fluctuation, depression, strikes, war or other conditions and circumstances, he will always be amply supplied, re- gardless of what form money takes. The reason for this is that he has conveyed the idea of wealth to his subconscious mind, and it keeps him supplied wherever he may be. He has convinced himself in his mind that money is forever flowing freely in his life and that there is always a won- derful surplus. Should there be a financial collapse of government tomor- row and all the man's present holdings become valueless, as the German marks did after the First World War, he would still attract wealth and be cared for, regardless of the form the new currency took.
Why You Do Not Have More Money
As you read this chapter, you are probably saying, “I am worthy of a high- er salary than I am receiving.” I believe most people are inadequately compensated. One of the causes many people do not have more money is that they are silently or openly condemning it. They refer to money as “filthy lucre' or “the love of money is the root of all evil.” Another reason they do not prosper is that they have a sneaky subconscious feeling there is some virtue in poverty. This subconscious pattern may be due to early childhood training, superstition or it could be based on a false interpreta- tion of scriptures.
Money & A Balanced Life
One time a man said to me, “I am broke. I do not like money. It is the root of all evil.” These statements represent a confused, neurotic mind. Love of money to the exclusion of everything else will cause you to be- come lopsided and unbalanced. You are here to use your power or author- ity wisely. Some men crave power, others crave money. If you set your heart on money exclusively and say, “Money is all I want; I am going to give all my attention to amassing money; nothing else matters,” you can get money and attain a fortune, but you have forgotten that you are here to lead a balanced life. You must also satisfy the hunger for peace of mind, harmony, love, joy an perfect health.
By making money your sole aim, you simply made a wrong choice. You thought that was all you wanted, but you found after all your efforts that it was not only the money you needed. You also desired true expression of your hidden talents, true place in life, beauty and the joy of contribut- ing to the welfare and success of others. By learning the laws of your sub- conscious mind, you could have a million dollars or many millions, if you wanted them, and still have peace of mind, harmony, perfect health and perfect expression.
Poverty Is A Mental Disease
There is no virtue in poverty; it is a disease like any other mental disease. If you were physically ill, you would think there was something wrong with you. You would seek help and do something about the condition at once. Likewise, if you do not have money constantly circulating in your life, there is something radically wrong with you.
The urge of life principle in you is toward growth, expansion and the life more abundant. You are not here to live in a hovel, dress in rags and go hungry. You should be happy, prosperous and successful.
Why You Must Never Criticize Money
Cleanse your mind of all weird and superstitious beliefs about money. Do not ever regards money as evil or filthy. If you do, you cause it to take wings and fly away from you. Remember that you lose what you con- demn. You cannot attract what you criticize.
Getting The Right Attitude Toward Money
Here is a simple technique you may use to multiply money in your experi- ence. Use the following statements several times a day, “I like money, I love it, I use it wisely, constructively and judiciously. Money is constantly circulating in my life. I release it with joy and it returns to me multiplied in a wonderful way. It is good and very good. Money flows to me in avalanches of abundance. I use it for good only and I am grateful for my good and for the riches of my mind.”
How The Scientific Thinker Looks At Money
Suppose, for example, you found gold, silver, lead, copper or iron in the ground. Would you pronounce these things evil? All evil comes from man's darkened understanding, from his ignorance, from his false interpretation of life and from his misuse of his subconscious mind. Uranium, lead or some other metal could have been used as a medium of exchange. We use paper bills, checks, nickel and silver; surely these things are not evil. Physicists and chemists know today that the only difference between one metal and another is the number and rate of motion of electrons revolving around a central nucleus. They can now change one metal into another through a bombardment of the atoms in the powerful cyclotron. Gold, under under conditions, becomes mercury. I believe that our modern scientists in the near future will be able to make gold, silver and other metals synthetically in the chemical laboratory. The cost may be prohibitive now, but it can be done. I cannot imagine any intelligent person seeing any- thing evil in electrons, neutrons, protons and isotopes.
The piece of paper in your pocket is composed of atoms and molecules with their electrons and protons arranged differently. Their number and rate of motion are different. That is the only way the paper differs from the silver in your pocket.
How To Attract The Money You Need
Many years ago I met a young boy in Australia who wanted to become a physician and surgeon, but he had no money. I explained to him how a seed deposited in the soil attracts to itself everything necessary for its un- folding, and that all he had to do was to take a lesson from the seed and deposit the required idea in his subconscious mind. For expenses, this young, brilliant boy used to clean out doctors' offices, wash windows and do odd repair jobs. He told me that every night, as he went to sleep, he used to picture in his mind's eye a medical diploma on a wall with his name on it in big, bold letters. He used to clean and shine the framed diplomas in the medical building where he worked. It was not hard for him to engrave the image of a diploma in his mind and develop it there. Definite results followed as he persisted with his mental picture every night for about four months.
The sequel of this story was very interesting. One of the doctors took a great liking to this young boy and after training him in the art of sterilizing instruments, giving hypodermic injections and other miscellaneous first aid work, he employed him as a technical assistant in his office. The doc- tor later sent him to medical school at his own expense. Today, this young man is a prominent medical doctor in Montreal, Canada. He discovered the law of attraction by using his subconscious mind the right way. He op- erated an age old law which says, “Having seen the end, you have willed the means to the realization of the end.” The end in this case was to be- come a medical doctor.
This young man was able to imagine, see and feel the reality of being a doctor. He lived with that idea, sustained it, nourished it and loved it until through his imagination it penetrated the layers of his subconscious mind and became a conviction, thereby attracting to him everything necessary for the fulfillment of his dream.
Why Some Men Do Not Get A Raise In Pay
If you are working in a large organization and you are silently thinking of and resenting the fact you are underpaid, that you are not appreciated and that you deserve more money and great recognition, you are subconsciously severing your ties with that organization. You are setting a law in motion and the superintendent or manager will say to you, “We have to let you go.” Actually, you dismissed yourself. The manager was simply the instrument through which your own negative mental state was confirmed. It was an example of the law of action and reaction. The action was your thought and the reaction as the response of your subconscious mind.
Obstacles & Impediments On The Pathway To Riches
I am sure you have heard men say, “That fellow has a racket.” “He is a racketeer.” “He is getting money dishonestly.” “He is a faker.” “I knew him when he had nothing.” “He is a crook, a thief and a swindler.”
If you analyze the man who talks like that, you discover he is usually in want or suffering from some financial or physical illness. Perhaps his former college friends went up the ladder of success and excelled him. Now he is bitter and envious of their progress. In many instances this is the cause of his downfall. Thinking negatively of these classmates and condemning their wealth causes the wealth and prosperity he is praying for to vanish and flee away. He is condemning the thing he is praying for.
He is praying two ways. On the one hand he is saying, “Wealth is flowing to me now,” and in the next breath, silently or audibly, he is saying, “I re- sent that fellow's wealth.” Always make it a special point to rejoice in the wealth of the other person.
Protect Your Investments
If you are seeking wisdom regarding investments, or if you are worried about your stocks or bonds, quietly claims, “Infinite Intelligence governs and watches over all my financial transactions, and whatsoever I do shall prosper.” Do this frequently and you will find that your investments will be wise; moreover, you will be protected from loss, as you will be prompted to sell your securities or holdings before any loss accrues to you.
You Cannot Get Something For Nothing
In large stores the management employs store detectives to prevent people from stealing. They catch a number of people every day trying to get something for nothing. All such people are living in the mental atmosphere of lack and limitation and are stealing from themselves peace, harmony, faith, honesty, integrity, good will and confidence. Furthermore, they are attracting to themselves all manner of loss, such as loss of character, prestige, social status and peace of mind. These people lack faith in the source of supply and the understanding of how their minds work. If they would mentally call on the powers of their subconscious mind and claim that they are guided to their true expression, the would find work and constant supply. Then by honesty, integrity and perseverance they would become a credit to themselves and to society at large.
Your Constant Supply Of Money
Recognizing the powers of your subconscious mind and the creative power of your thought or mental image is the way to opulence, freedom and constant supply. Accept the abundant life in your own mind. Your mental acceptance and expectancy of wealth has its own mathematics and mechanics of expression. As you enter in to the mood of opulence, all things necessary for the abundant life will come to pass.
Let this be your daily affirmation; write it in your heart, “I am one with the infinite riches of my subconscious mind. It is my right to be rich, happy and successful. Money flows to me freely, copiously and endlessly. I am forever conscious of my true worth. I give of my talents freely and I am wonderfully blessed financially. It is wonderful!”
Now, here's the second law that changed my life forever in network marketing. I learned the law of sowing and reaping. And in the law of sowing and reaping is also the story of the law of averages.
Jot this down...the story of the sower. It comes from the Bible. I am an amateur on the Bible, but this is such a useful story. Here's what the story says, and take notes, because the drama's in the details.
Firstly, the sower was ambitious. When you read the whole story you'll conclude yes, this was an ambitious sower.
Here was number two. He had excellent seed. The sower who sowed the seed had excellent seed. The excellent seed could be an excellent opportunity, an excellent product, an excellent story.
So we've got an ambitious sower with excellent seed. Now here are the rest of the details of the story. For your information, for the drama of your life, so you can understand things better ~ learning some of this is how I got rich by age 31.
The sower goes out to sow the seed, but the first part of the seed falls by the wayside and the birds get it.
So jot this down. The birds are going to get some of the seed.
Now you say, "Mr. Rohn, what does that mean?"
Well, I invited John to come to a meeting. He said he'd be there Tuesday night. Tuesday night I show up. John isn't there. I say, "I wonder why John didn't make it."
Now I know the answer. The birds! The birds! John had this great idea of coming to the meeting to look at an opportunity, and somebody stole it and said, "You're not going to go see network marketing." And he says, "Well, maybe not."
So have you jotted that down now? The birds are going to get some of the seeds.
Now when the birds get some, you've got two options. Number one is to chase birds. You say, "Well, let me get hold of the person who talked him out of coming to the meeting. I'll tear him a new page." I wouldn't do this.
Here's what happens if you go chasing birds. You leave the field. If you go chasing birds now, you stop sowing. This is going to detract from your future, not add. So you can't chase birds and try to straighten this stuff out.
Here's what it is. It's just one of those things, and here's the best comment when things are a little disappointing. "Isn't that interesting?"
You just have to say, "I thought sure he would be there. He promised me! But I know it was the birds." And you just have to say, "Isn't that interesting?"
Now here's the rest of the story.
The sower kept on sowing. See, that was the secret to his success. He kept on sowing. And if you keep sowing, you can sow more than the birds can get because there aren't enough birds. If you keep sowing, there are always some birds but there's not enough, because the Law of Averages will work for you.
My mentor taught me, "You know, Mr. Rohn, there are only nine or ten real nasty, miserable people in the whole world. Now you know they move around a lot and you're liable to bump into one once in awhile, but when you bump into one you say “There's only 9 more like you in the whole world – I can handle that !"
Now here's what else it says. The sower now keeps sowing the seed. Now the seed falls, the story says, on rocky ground where the soil is shallow.
And the rocky ground where the soil is shallow is not of your making, because you had excellent seed and you were an ambitious sower.
But here is what it says happened. This time, the little seed that falls in the ground starts to grow and the little plant starts to grow. But the first hot day, it withers and dies. Not an easy thing to watch.
I finally get John started. Sure enough, three or four days later somebody says "Boo!" and he's gone--doesn't show up at the second meeting. And I say, "I thought sure John would last a week."
What happened? Jot this down. The hot weather is going to get some. And this is not of your making. Here ́s what you must say when that happens. "Isn't that interesting?" What can you do? The answer is nothing.
You say, "Well, I'm going to try to change this!" I wouldn't take that class. You know, the sun comes up in the east and somebody says, "Why is that?" I wouldn't spend much time on that. Just let that happen.
Don't go for this why,
why, why stuff. I'm
giving you the answers
here. The answer is in
the structure and in the consequences and is in
the deal. The answer is
in the deal. Anything
beyond that is not worth studying.
You say, "Well, how come some just last a little while?" I wouldn't sign up for that class either. Here's the answer: Some don't stay. You just have to jot that down. And when some leave you say, "That's one of those who don't stay."
Now, you know what category to put them in, and you can't solve this now. It's like rearranging the seasons. You can't fool with that. All you can do is cooperate with the way things are set up. I didn't set it up.
You say, "Well, it shouldn't be this way." Well, when you get your own planet you can rearrange this whole deal,
but on this planet you ́re a guest. You've got to take it as it comes.
Now, here is the secret to the ambitious sower with good seed. It said he kept on sowing.
Here's what he had to do to keep on sowing. He had to discipline his disappointment. This is a key phrase now to use for the rest of your life. You must learn to discipline your disappointment. Because you didn't set up the set up, and some are not going to stay, and that is not of your making.
Now, if you made gross errors and you ran them off, see that'd be different. You're responsible for that. But if it's in the normal course of things ... this is just the way things are.
Here's what it says. The sower keeps on sowing. Now it says the seed falls on thorny ground. And somebody says, "Well, how much of this do you have to go through?"
Well, hang on. It's not the end of the story. The little seed falls on thorny ground and the little plant starts to grow again, but as the little plant starts to grow, the thorns choke it to death and it dies.
So jot this down. The thorns are going to get some. And that's not of your making.
And what are these thorns? The story even called these little thorns little cares, little distractions, little somethings. Who knows what they all are.
I said, "John, we had a meeting last night. You weren't here." And John says, "Well, I can't make every meeting."
I say, "Why not? You're part-time."
He said, "Well, the screen door came off the hinges and you can't just let your house fall apart. You've got to take some time and fix things up."
And I can hear the thorns growing. He said, "Some extra trash had piled up in the garage. You can't let mountains of trash take over. You've got to keep your trash hauled out."
People let little things cheat them out of big opportunities, and you feel almost helpless. What could I do about that? And the answer is nothing. And you say, "Well, why is this?"
I'm asking you not to sign up for that class. Don't sign up for these, "Why is this?" classes. It's just the way it is – like winter following fall and spring following winter.
So have you got that? The thorns are going to get some.
Now here's the good news.
Let's read the rest of the story quickly. The sower now keeps on sowing the seed. Keeps on sharing the story. Keeps on giving an invitation. Yes the invitation can be more powerful for me now as it is one year later than it was the first month, because now I'm saying I'm making twice as much money part time as I'm making on my fulltime job.
The story can be more powerful, but the Law of Averages is still going to work. Now here ́s what the story says.
Finally the seed falls on good ground. Now put this in parentheses. It always will, if you keep sowing. If you share a good idea long enough, it will fall on good people.
So here's the rest of that story. Some of the good ground did 30%. And some of the good ground did 60%. And some of the good ground did 100%.
You say, "Well, why the difference in numbers?" I wouldn't sign up for that class! Have I said that often enough now? Don't register for that class. It's just the way it is.
I tried to get the 30 ́s to do 60. Found out it was more than I could handle. I used to say, "I'll make them successful if it kills me." I almost died. No, you can't do that.
Here's what you do. Let the 30's do 30 to the best of their ability, because that's how they build their lifestyle and get what they want out of life. And let the 60's do 60. And let the 100's do 100.
How can you get some to do a 100%? You've got to go through all these experiences and you've got to talk to all these people.
So . . . the message is simple. Start with ambition and excellent seed (your story) . . . keep on sowing the seed (perservere).
Determination, Patience and the Law of Averages will carry you past the birds . . . the weather . . . the thorns ~ to harvest time . . . !
Chapter 1 Believe in Yourself
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy. But with sound self-confidence you can succeed. A sense of inferiority and inadequacy interferes with the attainment of your hopes, but self-confidence leads to self-realization and successful achievement. Because of the importance of this mental attitude, this book will help you believe in yourself and release your inner powers.
It is appalling to realize the number of pathetic people who are hampered and made miserable by the malady popularly called the inferiority complex. But you need not suffer from this trouble. When proper steps are taken, it can be overcome. You can develop creative faith in yourself—faith that is justified.
After speaking to a convention of businessmen in a city auditorium, I was on the stage greeting people when a man approached me and with a peculiar intensity of manner asked, "May I talk with you about a matter of desperate importance to me?"
I asked him to remain until the others had gone, then we went backstage and sat down. "I'm in this town to handle the most important business deal of my life," he explained. "If I succeed, it means everything to me. If I fail, I'm done for."
I suggested that he relax a little, that nothing was quite that final. If he succeeded, that was fine. If he didn't, well, tomorrow was another day.
"I have a terrible disbelief in myself," he said dejectedly. "I have no confidence. I just don't believe I can put it over. I am very discouraged and depressed. In fact," he lamented, "I'm just about sunk. Here I am, forty years old. Why is it that all my life I have been tormented by inferiority feelings, by lack of confidence, by self-doubt? I listened to your speech tonight in which you talked about the power of positive thinking, and I want to ask how I can get some faith in myself."
"There are two steps to take," I replied. "First, it is important to discover why you have these feelings of no power. That requires analysis and will take time. We must approach the maladies of our emotional life as a physician probes to find something wrong physically. This cannot be done immediately, certainly not in our brief interview tonight, and it may require treatment to reach a permanent solution. But to pull you through this immediate problem I shall give you a formula which will work if you use it.
"As you walk down the street tonight I suggest that you repeat certain words which I shall give you. Say them over several times after you get into bed. When you awaken tomorrow, repeat them three times before arising. On the way to your important appointment say them three additional times. Do this with an attitude of faith and you will receive sufficient strength and ability to deal with this problem. Later, if you wish, we can go into an analysis of your basic problem, but whatever we come up with following that study, the formula which I am now going to give you can be a large factor in the eventual cure."
Following is the affirmation which I gave him—"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4:13) He was unfamiliar with these words so I wrote them on a card and had him read them over three times aloud.
"Now, follow that prescription, and I am sure things will come out all right."
He pulled himself up, stood quietly for a moment, then said with considerable feeling, "O.K., Doctor. O.K."
I watched him square his shoulders and walk out into the night. He seemed a pathetic figure, and yet the way he carried himself as he disappeared showed that faith was already at work in his mind.
Subsequently he reported that this simple formula "did wonders" for him and added, "It seems incredible that a few words from the Bible could do so much for a person."
This man later had a study made of the reasons for his inferiority attitudes. They were cleared away by scientific counseling and by the application of religious faith. He was taught how to have faith; was given certain specific instructions to follow (these are given later in this chapter). Gradually he attained a strong, steady, reasonable confidence. He never ceases to express amazement at the way in which things now flow toward rather than away from him. His personality has taken on a positive, not negative, character so that he no longer repels success, but, on the contrary, draws it to him. He now has an authentic confidence in his own powers.
There are various causes of inferiority feelings, and not a few stem from childhood. An executive consulted me about a young man whom he wished to advance in his company. "But," he explained, "he cannot be trusted with important secret information and I'm sorry, for otherwise I would make him my administrative assistant. He has all the other necessary qualifications, but he talks too much, and without meaning to do so divulges matters of a private and important nature."
Upon analysis I found that he "talked too much" simply because of an inferiority feeling. To compensate for it he succumbed to the temptation of parading his knowledge. He associated with men who were rather well to do, all of whom had attended college and belonged to a fraternity. But this boy was reared in poverty, had not been a college man or fraternity member. Thus he felt himself inferior to his associates in education and social background. To build himself up with his associates and to enhance his self- esteem, his subconscious mind, which always seeks to provide a compensatory mechanism, supplied him with a means for raising his ego.
He was on "the inside" in the industry, and accompanied his superior to conferences where he met outstanding men and listened to important private conversations. He reported just enough of his "inside information" to cause his associates to regard him with admiration and envy. This served to elevate his self esteem and satisfy his desire for recognition.
When the employer became aware of the cause of this personality trait, being a kindly and understanding man, he pointed out to the young man the opportunities in business to which his abilities could lead him. He also described how his inferiority feelings caused his unreliability in confidential matters. This self-knowledge, together with a sincere practicing of the techniques of faith and prayer, made him a valuable asset to his company. His real powers were released.
I can perhaps illustrate the manner in which many youngsters acquire an inferiority complex through the use of a personal reference. As a small boy I was painfully thin. I had lots of energy, was on a track team, was healthy and hard as nails, but thin. And that bothered me because I didn't want to be thin. I wanted to be fat. I was called "skinny," but I didn't want to be called "skinny." I wanted to be called "fat."
I longed to be hard-boiled and tough and fat. I did everything to get fat. I drank cod-liver oil, consumed vast numbers of milk shakes, ate thousands of chocolate sundaes with whipped cream and nuts, cakes and pies innumerable, but they did not affect me in the slightest. I stayed thin and lay awake nights thinking and agonizing about it. I kept on trying to get heavy until I was about thirty, when all of a sudden did I get heavy? I bulged at the seams. Then I became self conscious because I was so fat, and finally had to take off forty pounds with equal agony to get myself down to respectable size.
In the second place (to conclude this personal analysis which I give only because it may help others by showing how this malady works), I was a minister's son and was constantly reminded of that fact. Everybody else could do everything, but if I did even the slightest little thing—"Ah, you are a preacher's son." So I didn't want to be a preacher's son, for preachers' sons are supposed to be nice and namby-pamby. I wanted to be known as a hard-boiled fellow.
Perhaps that is why preachers' sons get their reputation for being a little difficult, because they rebel against having to carry the banner of the church all the time. I vowed there was one thing I would never do, and that was to become a preacher.
Also, I came of a family practically every member of which was a performer in public, a platform speaker, and that was the last thing I wanted to be.
They used to make me get up in public to make speeches when it scared me to death, even filled me with terror. That was years ago, but the twinge of it comes to me every now and then when I walk onto a platform. I had to use every known device to develop confidence in what powers the good Lord gave me.
I found the solution of this problem in the simple techniques of faith taught in the Bible. These principles are scientific and sound and can heal any personality of the pain of inferiority feelings. Their use can enable the sufferer to find and release the powers which have been inhibited by a feeling of inadequacy.
Such are some of the sources of the inferiority complex which erect power barriers in our personalities. It is some emotional violence done to us in childhood, or the consequences of certain circumstances, or something we did to ourselves. This malady arises out of the misty past in the dim recesses of our personalities.
Perhaps you had an older brother who was a brilliant student. He got A's in school; you made only C's, and you never heard the last of it. So you believed that you could never succeed in life as he could. He got A's and you got C's, so you reasoned that you were consigned to getting C's all your life.
Apparently you never realized that some of those who failed to get high grades in school have been the greatest successes outside of school. Just because somebody gets an A in college doesn't make him the greatest man in the United States, because maybe his A's will stop when he gets his diploma, and the fellow who got C's in school will go on later to get the real A's in life.
The greatest secret for eliminating the inferiority complex, which is another term for deep and profound self doubt, is to fill your mind to overflowing with faith. Develop a tremendous faith in God and that will give you a humble yet soundly realistic faith in yourself.
The acquiring of dynamic faith is accomplished by prayer, lots of prayer, by reading and mentally absorbing the Bible and by practicing its faith techniques. In another chapter I deal with specific formulas of prayer, but I want to point out here that the type of prayer that produces the quality of faith required to eliminate inferiority is of a particular nature.
Surface skimming, formalistic and perfunctory prayer is not sufficiently powerful.
A wonderful colored woman, a cook in the home of friends of mine in Texas, was asked how she so completely mastered her troubles. She answered that ordinary problems could be met by ordinary prayers, but that "when a big trouble comes along, you have to pray deep prayers."
One of my most inspiring friends was the late Harlowe B. Andrews of Syracuse, New York, one of the best businessmen and competent spiritual experts I ever knew. He said the trouble with most prayers is that they aren't big enough, "To get anywhere with faith," said he, "learn to pray big prayers. God will rate you according to the size of your prayers."
Doubtless he was right, for the Scriptures say, "According to your faith be it unto you." (Matthew 9:29) So the bigger your problem, the bigger your prayer should be. Roland Hayes, the singer, quoted his grandfather to me, a man whose education was not equal to that of his grandson, but whose native wisdom was obviously sound. He said,
"The trouble with lots of prayers is they ain't got no suction." Drive your prayers deep into your doubts, fears, inferiorities. Pray deep, big prayers that have plenty of suction and you will come up with powerful and vital faith.
Go to a competent spiritual adviser and let him teach you how to have faith. The ability to possess and utilize faith and gain the release of powers it provides are skills and, like any skills, must be studied and practiced to gain perfection.
At the conclusion of this chapter are listed ten suggestions for overcoming your inferiority pattern and for developing faith. Practice these rules diligently and they will aid you in developing confidence in yourself by dissipating your feelings of inferiority, however deeply imbedded.
At this point, however, I wish to indicate that to build up feelings of self confidence the practice of suggesting confidence concepts to your mind is very effective. If your mind is obsessed by thoughts of insecurity and inadequacy it is, of course, due to the fact that such ideas have dominated your thinking over a long period of time. Another and more positive pattern of ideas must be given the mind, and that is accomplished by repetitive suggestion or confidence ideas.
In the busy activities of daily existence thought disciplining is required if you are to re-educate the mind and make of it a power-producing plant. It is possible, even in the midst of your daily work, to drive confident thoughts into consciousness. Let me tell you about one man who did so by the use of a unique method.
One icy winter morning he called for me at a hotel in a Midwestern city to take me about thirty-five miles to another town to fill a lecture engagement. We got into his car and started off at a rather high rate of speed on the slippery road. He was going a little faster than I thought reasonable, and I reminded him that we had plenty of time and suggested that we take it easy.
"Don't let my driving worry you," he replied. "I used to be filled with all kinds of insecurities myself, but I got over them. I was afraid of everything. I feared an automobile trip or an airplane flight; and if any of my family went away I worried until they returned. I always went around with a feeling that something was going to happen, and it made my life miserable. I was saturated with inferiority and lacked confidence.
This state of mind reflected itself in my business and I wasn't doing very well. But I hit upon a wonderful plan which knocked all these insecurity feelings out of my mind, and now I live with a feeling of confidence, not only in myself but in life generally."
This was the "wonderful plan." He pointed to two clips fastened on the instrument panel of the car just below the windshield and, reaching into the glove compartment, took out a pack of small cards. He selected one and slipped it beneath the clip. It read, "If ye have faith...nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matthew 17:20) He removed that one, shuffled expertly through the cards with one hand as he drove, selected another, and placed it under the clip. This one read, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)
"I'm a traveling salesman," he explained, "and I drive around all day calling on my customers. I have discovered that while a man drives he thinks all kinds of thoughts. If his pattern of thought is negative, he will think many negative thoughts during the day and that, of course, is bad for him; but that is the way I used to be.
I used to drive around all day between calls drinking fear and defeat thoughts, and incidentally that is one reason my sales were down. But since I have been using these cards as I drive and committing the words to memory, I have learned to think differently. The old insecurities that used to haunt me are just about all gone, and instead of drinking fear thoughts of defeat and ineffectiveness, 1 think thoughts of faith and courage. It is really wonderful the way this method has changed me. It has helped in my business, too, for how can one expect to make a sale if he drives up to a customer's place of business thinking he is not going to make a sale?"
This plan used by my friend is a very wise one. By filling his mind with affirmations of the presence, support, and help of God, he had actually changed his thought processes. He put an end to the domination of his long held sense of insecurity. His potential powers were set free.
We build up the feeling of insecurity or security by how we think. If in our thoughts we constantly fix attention upon sinister expectations of dire events that might happen, the result will be constantly to feel insecure. And what is even more serious is the tendency to create, by the power of thought, the very condition we fear. This salesman actually created positive results by vital thoughts of courage and confidence through the process of placing the cards before him in his car. His powers, curiously inhibited by a defeat psychology, now flowed out of a personality in which creative attitudes had been stimulated.
]]>BELIEVE YOU CAN SUCCEED AND YOU WILL
THE MAGIC OF THINKING BIG. . . .DAVID J. SCHWARTZ CHAPTER 1 -BELIEVE YOU CAN SUCCEED AND YOU WILL
How does the subconscious mind work ? - Joseph Murphy
Man has only one mind, but he has two distinct phases or functions of the one mind. Each phase is characterized by its own phenomena which is peculiar to itself. Each of these minds is capable of independent action, as well as synchronous action. We call one the objective mind, because it deals with external things, and the other is the subjective mind. The subjective mind is amenable, and controlled by suggestion of the objective or conscious mind. The objective mind takes cognizance of the objective world. The media of observation are the five physical senses. The objective mind is your guide in your contact with the environment. We gain knowledge through the five senses. The objective mind learns through observation, experience, and education. The greatest function of the conscious mind is that of reasoning.
Look around Los Angeles; you come to the conclusion that it is a beautiful city based upon your observation of the parks, the buildings, the beautiful structure, the lovely flower gardens, etc. This is the working of your conscious or objective mind.
The word objective means that it deals with objective things. The subjective mind takes cognizance of its environment by means independent of the five physical senses. The subjective mind or the subconscious mind—either term may be used—perceives by intuition. The subconscious mind is the seat of your emotions. We know without a doubt that it performs its highest functions when the objective senses are in abeyance.
It is the intelligence that makes itself manifest when the conscious mind is suspended or in a sleepy, drowsy state. The subconscious mind sees without the use of the eyes; it has the capacity of clairvoyance and clairaudience. The subconscious mind can leave the body; travel to distant lands, and bring back intelligence oftentimes of the most exact and truthful character. Through the subconscious mind you can read the thoughts of others, even to the minutest details; read the contents of sealed envelopes and closed safes.
The subconscious mind has the ability to apprehend the thoughts of others without the use of the ordinary, objective means of communication. So it is of the greatest importance that we understand the interaction of the conscious and subconscious mind, in order to learn the true art of prayer.
Now there are many terms used in describing the objective and the subjective mind. They are, as we told you, called: The conscious or subconscious mind, the waking or sleeping mind, the surface self or the deep self, voluntary mind or involuntary mind, the male and the female, and many other terms. Remember there is only one mind having two phases or functions.
The subjective mind is always amenable to suggestion; it is controlled by suggestion. We must recognize that the subconscious mind accepts all suggestions; it does not argue with you, but it fulfills your wishes. All things that have happened to you are based on thoughts impressed on the subconscious mind through belief. The subconscious mind will accept your beliefs and your convictions.
It is like the soil; it will accept any seed that you deposit in it, whether it is good or bad. Remember: Anything that you accept as true and believe in will be accepted by your subconscious mind, and brought into your life as a condition, experience, or event. Ideas are conveyed to the subconscious mind through feeling.
We will use an illustration: The conscious mind is like the navigator or man at the bridge of a ship. He directs the ship, and signals orders to the men in the engine-room which consists of all of the boilers, instruments, gages, etc. The men in the engine-room do not know where they are going; they follow orders. They would go on the rocks if the man on the bridge issued faulty or wrong instructions, based on his findings with the compass, sextant, or other instruments. The men in the engine-room obey him, because he is the director. They do not talk back to the captain; they simply carry out orders.
The captain is the master of the ship; his orders are followed out; likewise, your conscious mind is the captain, the master of your ship. Your body and all of your affairs represent the ship. Your subconscious mind takes the orders you give it based upon your belief and suggestions accepted as true.
Another simple illustration is this: When you repeatedly say to people, “I do not like mushrooms,” then the time comes for you to be served mushrooms, you get indigestion, because your subconscious mind says to you, “The boss does not like mushrooms.” This is an example probably amusing to you; nevertheless, this is an example of the relationship between the conscious and subconscious mind.
When a woman says, “I wake up at three o’clock if I drink coffee at night”; whenever she drinks it, the subconscious mind nudges her, as if to say, “The boss wants you to stay awake tonight.”
The heart is called the subconscious mind in ancient allegories. The Egyptians knew that the heart was the subconscious mind, but they did not call it by that name. The Chaldeans and the Babylonians called it by different names. You can impress your subconscious mind, and your subconscious mind will express what is impressed upon it. Any idea that is emotionalized or felt as true will be accepted by your subconscious mind.
If you want a healing, for example, get silent, relax, breathe easily, immobilize your attention, think of the healing power within your subconscious mind; affirm that the organ of your body is healing now. As you do that, there must be no resentment or bitterness in your heart; you must forgive everyone. You can repeat this healing process three or four times daily. Remember that your subconscious mind made the body, and can heal it also. People are constantly affirming the healing of an organ or a part of their body; then ten or fifteen minutes afterwards, they say, “Oh, I am getting worse; I’ll never be healed. I am incurable.” This mental attitude or these negative statements neutralize the previous, positive affirmation.
If a surgeon operated on you, cut out your appendix, and in the next few minutes ran back and opened you up again to see how you were getting along; then a half hour later ran back and opened you up again, he would probably kill you by poisoning. You kill or prevent your healing by using negative statements.
There is a subconscious mind within you; you should learn how to use it in the same manner as a man learns to use electricity. Man controls electricity with wires, tubes, and bulbs, plus his knowledge of the laws of conductivity and insulation, etc. We must learn about the tremendous power and the intelligence within us, and use it wisely.
Many men are beginning to realize the true importance of the subconscious mind. In business many men are using it to achieve success and promotion. Edison, Ford, Marconi, Einstein, and many others have used the subconscious mind; it has given to them the insight and the “know how” for all of their great achievements in science, industry, and art. Research has shown that the ability to bring into action the subconscious powers has determined the success of all of the great scientific and research workers. There is a tremendous dynamo within you, and you can use it. You can also be completely released from tension and frustration. You can discover the abundant energy within you enabling you to energize and vitalize all parts of your body.
We are told, for example, that Elbert Hubbard declared that his most important ideas came while he was relaxed, or working in the garden, or going for a walk; the reason being when the conscious mind is relaxed, the subjective wisdom comes to the fore. There are oftentimes inspirational up rushes when the conscious mind is completely relaxed.
How often have you wondered at night what the answer to a particular problem was, and when you turned the request over to the subconscious mind, it gave you the solution in the morning. This is the meaning of the old adage, “Night brings counsel.” If you want to wake up at seven o’clock in the morning, and you suggest seven o’clock to the subconscious mind, the subconscious mind will wake you at seven o’clock on the dot.
A mother may be nursing a sick child, and she falls asleep; but before she goes to sleep, she suggests to the subconscious mind that she will awaken if the child’s temperature goes up, or when it needs medicine, or perhaps cries. There may be a thunderstorm going on while the mother sleeps; yet she is not awakened by the storm; however, when the child cries, she is immediately awakened. This is a simple function of the subconcious mind.
Chapter One – Law and Its Operation
THE world, and all within it, is man’s conditioned consciousness objectified. Consciousness is the cause as well as the substance of the entire world.
So it is to consciousness that we must turn if we would discover the secret of creation.
Knowledge of the law of consciousness and the method of operating this law will enable you to accomplish all you desire in life.
Armed with a working knowledge of this law, you can build and maintain an ideal world.
Consciousness is the one and only reality, not figuratively but actually. This reality may for the sake of clarity be likened unto a stream which is divided into two parts, the conscious and the subconscious. In order to intelligently operate the law of consciousness, it is necessary to understand the relationship between the conscious and the subconscious.
The conscious is personal and selective; the subconscious is impersonal and non-selective. The conscious is the realm of effect; the subconscious is the realm of cause. These two aspects are the male and female divisions of consciousness. The conscious is male; the subconscious is female
The conscious generates ideas and impresses these ideas on the subconscious; the subconscious receives ideas and gives form and expression to them.
By this law – first conceiving an idea and then impressing the idea conceived on the subconscious – all things evolve out of consciousness; and without this sequence, there is not anything made that is made.
The conscious impresses the subconscious, while the subconscious expresses all that is impressed upon it.
The subconscious does not originate ideas, but accepts as true those which the conscious mind feels to be true and, in a way known only to itself, objectifies the accepted ideas.
Therefore, through his power to imagine and feel and his freedom to choose the idea he will entertain, man has control over creation. Control of the subconscious is accomplished through control of your ideas and feelings.
The mechanism of creation is hidden in the very depth of the subconscious, the female aspect or womb of creation.
The subconscious transcends reason and is independent of induction. It contemplates a feeling as a fact existing within itself and on this assumption proceeds to give expression to it. The creative process begins with an idea and its cycle runs its course as a feeling and ends in a volition to act.
Ideas are impressed on the subconscious through the medium of feeling.
No idea can be impressed on the subconscious until it is felt, but once felt – be it good, bad or indifferent – it must be expressed.
Feeling is the one and only medium through which ideas are conveyed to the subconscious.
Therefore, the man who does not control his feeling may easily impress the subconscious with undesirable states. By control of feeling is not meant restraint or suppression of your feeling, but rather the disciplining of self to imagine and entertain only such feeling as contributes to your happiness.
Control of your feeling is all important to a full and happy life.
Never entertain an undesirable feeling, nor think sympathetically about wrong in any shape or form. Do not dwell on the imperfection of yourself or others. To do so is to impress the subconscious with these limitations. What you do not want done unto you, do not feel that it is done unto you or another. This is the whole law of a full and happy life. Everything else is commentary.
Every feeling makes a subconscious impression and, unless it is counteracted by a more powerful feeling of an opposite nature, must be expressed.
The dominant of two feelings is the one expressed. I am healthy is a stronger feeling than I will be healthy. To feel I will be is to confess I am not; I am is stronger than I am not.
What you feel you are always dominates what you feel you would like to be; therefore, to be realized, the wish must be felt as a state that is rather than a state that is not.
Sensation precedes manifestation and is the foundation upon which all manifestation rests. Be careful of your moods and feelings, for there is an unbroken connection between your feelings and your visible world. Your body is an emotional filter and bears the unmistakable marks of your prevalent emotions. Emotional disturbances, especially suppressed emotions, are the causes of all disease. To feel intensely about a wrong without voicing or expressing that feeling is the beginning of disease – dis-ease – in both body and environment. Do not entertain the feeling of regret or failure for frustration or detachment from your objective results in disease.
Think feelingly only of the state you desire to realize. Feeling the reality of the state sought and living and acting on that conviction is the way of all seeming miracles. All changes of expression are brought about through a change of feeling. A change of feeling is a change of destiny. All creation occurs in the domain of the subconscious. What you must acquire, then, is a reflective control of the operation of the subconscious, that is, control of your ideas and feelings.
The trouble with most people is that they have no invisible means of support when business falls away, or the stock market drops, or they lose their investments; they seem helpless. The reason for such insecurity is that they do not know how to tap the subconscious mind. They are unacquainted with the inexhaustible storehouse within.
A man with a poverty-type mind finds himself in poverty-stricken conditions. Another man with a mind filled with ideas of wealth is surrounded with everything he needs. It was never intended that man should lead a life of indigence. You can be wealthy, have everything you need, and plenty to spare. Your words have power to cleanse your mind of wrong ideas, and to instill right ideas in their place.
I have talked to many people during the past thirty-five years; their usual complaint is, “I have said for weeks and months that I am wealthy; I am prosperous, and nothing has happened.” I discovered that when they said, “I am prosperous; I am wealthy,” they felt within that they were lying to themselves.
One man told me, “I have affirmed until I am tired that I am prosperous. Things are now worse. I knew when I made the statement, that it was obviously not true.” His statements and those of the others were rejected by the conscious mind, and the very opposite of what they affirmed and claimed was made manifest.
Auto-suggestion succeeds best when it is specific, and it does not produce a mental conflict or argument; hence the statements made by this man made matters worse, because they suggested his lack. The subconscious accepts only your convictions and beliefs, not just words or statements. The dominant idea or belief is always accepted by the subconscious mind.
The following is a way to overcome this conflict for those who have this difficulty. Make this practical statement frequently, particularly prior to sleep: “By day and by night I am being prospered in all of my interests.” This will not arouse any argument, because it does not contradict the subconscious mind’s impression of financial lack.
I suggested to one business man whose sales were very low, and he was greatly worried, that he sit down in his office, get quiet, and repeat this statement over and over again: “My sales are improving every day. I am advancing, progressing, and getting wealthier every day.” This statement engaged the cooperation of the conscious and subconscious mind; results followed.
The above is a very simple, unique way of impressing the subconscious mind with the idea of wealth. Perhaps you are saying as you read this chapter, “I need wealth and success.” This is what you do: Repeat for about five minutes to yourself three or four times a day, “Wealth—Success.” These words have tremendous power.
They represent the inner power of the subconscious mind. Anchor your mind on this substantial power within you; then conditions and circumstances corresponding to their nature and quality will manifest in your life. You are not saying, “I am a success,” or “I am wealthy.” You are dwelling on real powers within you. There is no conflict in the mind when you say, “Wealth,” or “Success”; furthermore, the feeling of wealth and success will well up within you, as you dwell upon these ideas.
The feeling of wealth produces wealth; the feeling of being successful produces success; keep this in mind at all times. The subconscious mind is like a bank—a sort of universal bank; it magnifies whatever you deposit or impress upon it, whether it is good or evil.
You sign blank checks when you make such statements as: “There is not enough to go around;” or “There is a shortage;” maybe, “I will lose the mortgage;” etc. If you are full of fear about the future, you are also writing a blank check, and attracting negative conditions to you. The subconscious mind takes your fear and belief as your requests, proceeding in its own way to bring obstacles, delays, lack, and limitation into your life.
To him that hath the feeling of wealth, more wealth shall be added; to him that hath the feeling of lack, more lack shall be added. The subconscious mind gives you compound interest also. Every morning as you awaken deposit thoughts of prosperity, success, wealth, and peace; dwell upon these concepts; busy your mind with them as often as possible. These positive thoughts will find their way as deposits in your subconscious mind, and bring forth abundance and prosperity.
I can hear you saying, “Oh, I did that and nothing happened.” You did not get results, because you indulged in fear thoughts perhaps ten minutes later, and neutralized the good you had affirmed. When you place a seed in the ground, you do not dig it up.
Suppose, for example, you are going to say, “I shall not be able to make that payment!” Before you get further than, “I shall—” stop the sentence, and dwell on a positive, constructive statement, such as, “By day and by night I am being prospered in all my ways.”
Excerpts from the great book by Joseph Murphy : " The Miracles of the Mind"
Here is a simple technique for you to increase your consciousness of wealth; use these statements several times a day: “I like money; I love it; I use it wisely, constructively, and judiciously. Money is constantly circulating in my life. I release it with joy, and it returns to me multiplied in a wonderful way. It is good and very good.” This will help you get the right attitude toward money.
Never criticize money by saying, “It is filthy lucre; it is bad; it is tainted.” You cannot attract what you criticize. When you begin to think things through, you will realize that real wealth depends on the circulation of wonderful ideas in your mind which well up from the subconscious levels.
A young detective desiring more money, used the above mentioned formula. One morning he awakened with an intense desire to write a short story based on one of his experiences. He sat down; ideas came freely; his story was accepted; then he wrote many others, and was paid handsomely for these articles. Wealth came to him as ideas in his own mind. Your mind, also, can reveal to you a new invention, the material for a new book, or play. Make use of your subconscious mind.
One sales manager I knew used to get ideas for his promotional sales campaign when he awakened in the morning. He became the president of the company; they never had a sales manager like him.
Your subconscious mind is never short of ideas; there are within it an infinite number of ideas ready to flow into your conscious mind, and appear as cash in your pocket book in countless ways. This process will continue to go on in your mind regardless of whether the market goes up or down, or whether the pound sterling or dollar drops in value.
Your wealth is never truly dependent on bonds, stocks, or money in a bank; these are really all symbols necessary and useful, of course. The point I wish to emphasize is that if you convince your subconscious mind that wealth is yours, and that plenty of money is always circulating in your life, you will always have it regardless of the form it takes.
If you believe that wealth or money is dependent on your job or more hours of work, you have a limited concept; you are bound by your own beliefs. This is a world of cause and effect. If you worry and fret about money, this mood of lack will produce a greater lack of money. Your mental attitude is the cause; less money is the effect.
There is one emotion which is the cause of financial lack in the lives of many. Most people learn this fact the hard way. It is envy. For example, if you see a competitor depositing large sums of money in the bank, and you have only a meagre amount to deposit, does it make you envious? The way to overcome this emotion is to say to yourself, “Isn’t it wonderful! I rejoice in that man’s prosperity. I wish for him greater and greater wealth.”
Do you know what you are doing? You are actually impressing the subconscious mind with the idea of wealth! To entertain envious thoughts is devastating, because it places you in a very negative position; therefore, wealth flows from you, instead of to you. If you are ever annoyed or irritated by the prosperity or great wealth of another, claim immediately that you truly wish for him greater prosperity in every possible way. This will neutralize the negative thoughts in your mind, and cause a greater measure of wealth to flow to you by the law of your own subconscious mind.
Maybe you know someone who is always trying to make ends meet; they seem to have a great struggle with money. Have you listened to their conversation? In many instances their conversation runs along this vein: They are constantly condemning those who have succeeded in life, and who have put their heads above the crowd. Perhaps they are saying, “Oh, that fellow has a racket; he is ruthless; he is a crook.”
This is why they lack; they are condemning the thing they desire and want. The reason they speak critically of their prosperous associates is because they are envious and covetous of the other’s prosperity. The quickest way to cause wealth to take wings and fly away is to criticize and condemn others who have more money than you.
Do you say you never had a chance? Are you blaming your relatives, your mother, or father, because they never aided you financially. Stop doing it immediately. Learn that the secret to wealth is the correct use of your own mind. All of the resources of that infinite mind are behind you seeking expression through you, if you will only have a receptive, mental attitude.
If you are worried and critical about someone whom you claim is making money dishonestly, cease worrying about him. You know such a person is using the law of mind negatively; the law of mind takes care of him. Be sure not to criticize him, for the reasons before assigned.
If you are experiencing a financial block, the obstruction is in your own mind. You can now destroy that mental block. Get on mental, good terms with everyone.
As you go to sleep tonight, practice the many techniques which we occasionally refer to. Repeat the word, “Wealth,” quietly, easily, and feelingly. Do this over and over again as a lullaby. Lull yourself to sleep with the one word, “Wealth.” You should be amazed at the results. Wealth should flow to you in avalanches of abundance; this is another example of The Miracles of The Subconscious Mind.
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Talking to oneself is a habit everyone indulges in. We could no more stop talking to ourselves than we could stop eating and drinking. All that we can do is control the nature and the direction of our inner conversations. Most of us are totally unaware of the fact that our inner conversations are the causes of the circumstance of our life.
We are told that “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” But do we know that man’s thinking follows the tracks laid down in his own inner conversations? To turn the tracks to which he is tied in the direction in which he wants to go, he must put off his former conversation, which is called in the Bible the Old Man, and be renewed in the spirit of his mind. Speech is the image of mind; therefore, to change his mind, he must first change his speech. By ‘speech’ is meant those mental conversations we carry on with ourselves.
The world is a magic circle of infinite possible mental transformations. For there are an infinite number of possible mental conversations. When man discovers the creative power of inner talking, he will realize his function and his mission in life. Then he can act to a purpose. Without such knowledge, he acts unconsciously.Everything is a manifestation of the mental conversations which go on in us without our being aware of them. But as civilized beings, we must become aware of them and act with a purpose.
A man’s mental conversations attracts his life. As long as there is no change in his inner talking, the personal history of the man remains the same. To attempt to change the world before we change our inner talking is to struggle against the very nature of things. Man can go round and round in the same circle of disappointments and misfortunes, not seeing them as caused by his own negative inner talking, but as caused by others.
This may seem far-fetched, but it is a matter which lends itself to research and experiment. The formula the chemist illustrates is not more certainly provable than the formula of this science by which words are clothed in objective reality.
One day a girl told me of her difficulties in working with her employer. She was convinced that he unjustly criticized and rejected her very best efforts. Upon hearing her story, I explained that if she thought him unfair, it was a sure sign that she herself was in need of a new conversation piece. There was no doubt but that she was mentally arguing with her employer, for others only echo that which we whisper to them in secret.
She confessed that she argued mentally with him all day long. When she realized what she had been doing, she agreed to change her inner conversations with her employer. She imagined that he had congratulated her on her fine work, and that she in turn had thanked him for his praise and kindness. To her great delight, she soon discovered that her own attitude was the cause of all that befell her. The behavior of her employer reversed itself. It echoed, as it had always done, her mental conversations with him.
I rarely see a person alone without wondering, “to what conversation piece is he tied? On what mysterious track is he walking?” We must begin to take life consciously. For the solution of all problems lies just in this: the Second Man, the Lord from heaven in all of us, is trying to become self-conscious in the body, that he may be about his father’s business. What are his labors? To
imitate his father, to become master of the Word, master of his inner talking, that he may mold this world of ours into a likeness with the Kingdom of Love.The prophet said, “Be ye imitators of God as dear children.” How would I imitate God? Well, we are told that God calls things that are not seen as though they were seen, and the unseen becomes seen. This is the way the girl called forth praise and kindness from her employer. She carried on an imaginary conversation with her employer from the premise that he had praised her work, and he did.
Our inner conversations represent in various ways the world we live in. Our individual worlds are self revelations of our own inner speech. We are told that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof. For by their words they shall be justified, and by their words they shall be condemned.
We abandon ourselves to negative inner talking, yet expect to retain command of life. Our present mental conversations do not recede into the past as man believes. They advance into the future to confront us as wasted or invested words. “My Word,” said the prophet, “shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in all the things whereto I sent it.”
How would I send my Word to help a friend? I would imagine that I am hearing his voice, that he is physically present, that my hand is on him. I would then congratulate him on his good fortune, tell him that I have never seen him look better. I would listen as though I heard him; I would imagine that he is telling me he has never felt better, he has never been happier. And I would know that in this loving, knowing communion with another, a communion populous with loving thoughts and feelings, that my word was sent, and it shall not return unto me void, but it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
“Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.” It is only what is done now that counts, even though its effects may not be visible until tomorrow. We call, not out loud, but by an inner effort of intense attention; to listen attentively, as though you heard, is to create. The events and relationships of life are your Word made visible. Most of us rob others of their willingness and their ability to be kind and generous by our fixed attitudes towards them.Our attitudes unfold within us in the form of mental conversations. Inner talking from premises of fulfilled desire is the way to consciously create circumstances.
Our inner conversations are perpetually out-pictured all around us in happenings. Therefore, what we desire to see and hear without we must see and hear within, for the whole manifested world goes to show us what use we have made of the Word.
If you practice this art of controlled inner speaking, you too will know what a thrill it is to be able to say, “And now I have told you before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass, ye might believe.” You will be able to consciously use your imagination to transform and channel the immense creative energies of your inner speech from the mental, emotional level to the physical level. And I do not know what limits, if any, there are to such a process.
What is your aim? Does your inner talking match it? It must, you know, if you would realize your aim. For as the prophet asked, “Can two walk together except they be agreed?”And of course
the answer is, “No, they cannot.” The two who must agree are your inner conversation and the state desired. That is, what you desire to see and hear without, you must see and hear within.
Every stage of man’s progress is made by the conscious exercise of his imagination matching his inner speech to his fulfilled desire. As we control our inner talking, matching it to our fulfilled desires, we can lay aside all other processes. Then we simply act by clear imagination and intention: we imagine the wish fulfilled and carry on mental conversations from that premise. The right inner speech is the speech that would be yours were you to realize your ideal. In other words, it is the speech of fulfilled desire.Now you will understand how wise the ancient was when he told us in the Hermetica, “There are two gifts which God has bestowed upon man alone and on no other mortal creature. These two are Mind and Speech, and the gift of Mind and Speech is equivalent to that of immortality. If a man uses these two gifts rightly, he will differ in nothing from the Immortals. And when he quits his body, Mind and Speech will be his guides, and by them he will be brought into the troop of the gods and the souls that have attained to bliss.”
With the gift of Mind and Speech you create the conditions and circumstances of life. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word, said Hermes, is Son, and Mind is Father of the Word. They are not separate one from the other, for life is the union of Word and Mind. You and your inner talking, or Word, are one. If your mind is one with your inner conversations, then to be transformed in mind is to be transformed in conversation.
It was a flash of the deepest insight that taught Paul to write:
“Put off the former conversation, the Old Man which is corrupt, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Put on the New Man.” “Put on the New Man,” and “be renewed in the spirit of your mind,” is to change your inner conversation, for speech and mind are one – a change of speech is a change of mind.
The prophet Samuel said, “The Lord spake by me, and his Word was in my tongue.” If the Lord’s Word was in the prophet’s tongue, then the Lord’s mouth that uttered the Word must be the prophet’s mind, for inner conversations originate in the mind and produce little tiny speech movements in the tongue. The prophet is telling us that the mouth of God is the mind of man, that our inner conversations are the Word of God creating life about us as we create it within ourselves.
In the Bible you are told that the Word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
“See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil, blessings and cursings. Choose life.”
The conditions and circumstances of life are not created by some power external to yourself; they are the conditions which result from the exercise of your freedom of choice, your freedom to choose the ideas to which you will respond.Now is the accepted time. This is the day of salvation. Whatsoever things are of good report, think on these things. For your future will be formed by the Word of God which is your present inner talking. You create your future by your inner conversations. The worlds were framed by the Word of God, that is, your inner talking.
See yonder fields? The sesamum was sesamum, the corn was corn. The silence and the darkness knew! So is a man’s fate born. (The Light of Asia)For ends run true to origins. If you would reap success, you must plant success. The idea in your mind which starts the whole process going is the idea which you accept as truth. This is a very important point to grasp, for truth depends upon the intensity of imagination, not upon “facts.” When the girl imagined that her employer was unfair, his behavior confirmed her imagination. When she changed her assumption of him, his behavior reflected the change, proving that an assumption, though false, if persisted in will harden into fact.
The mind always behaves according to the assumption with which it starts. Therefore, to experience success, we must assume that we are successful. We must live wholly on the level of the imagination itself, and it must be consciously and deliberately undertaken. It does not matter if at the present moment external facts deny the truth of your assumption, if you persist in your assumption it will become a fact. Signs follow, they do not precede.
To assume a new concept of yourself is to that extent to change your inner talking or Word of God and is, therefore, putting on the New Man. Our inner talking, though unheard by others, is more productive of future conditions than all the audible promises and threats of men. Your ideal is waiting to be incarnated, but unless you yourself offer it human parentage it is incapable of birth. You must define the person you wish to be and then assume the feeling of your wish fulfilled in faith that that assumption will find expression through you.
The true test of religion is in its use, but men have made it a thing to defend. It is to you that the words are spoken, “Blessed is she that believed, for there shall be an accomplishment of those things which were spoken unto her from the Lord.”
Test it. Try it. Conceive yourself to be one that you want to be and remain faithful to that conception, for life here is only a training ground for image making. Try it and see if life will not shape itself on the model of your imagination.
Everything in the world bears witness of the use or misuse of man’s inner talking. Negative inner talking, particularly evil and envious inner talking, are the breeding ground of the future battlefields and penitentiaries of the world. Through habit man has developed the secret affection for these negative inner conversations. Through them he justifies failure, criticizes his neighbors, gloats over the distress of others, and in general pours out his venom on all. Such misuse of the Word perpetuates the violence of the world.
The transformation of self requires that we meditate on a given phrase, a phrase which implies that our ideal is realized, and inwardly affirm it over and over and over again until we are inwardly affected by its implication, until we are possessed by it. Hold fast to your noble inner convictions or “conversations.”
Nothing can take them from you but yourself. Nothing can stop them from becoming objective facts. All things are generated out of your imagination by the Word of God, which is your own inner conversation. And every imagination reaps its own Words which it has inwardly spoken.
The great secret of success is a controlled inner conversation from premises of fulfilled desire. The only price you pay for success is the giving up of your former conversation which belongs to the Old Man, the unsuccessful man. The time is ripe for many of us to take conscious charge in creating heaven on earth. To consciously and voluntarily use our imagination, to inwardly hear and only say that which is in harmony with our ideal, is actively bringing heaven to earth.
Every time we exercise our imagination lovingly on behalf of another, we are literally mediating God to that one. Always use your imagination masterfully, as a participant, not an onlooker. In using your imagination to transform energy from the mental, emotional level to physical level, extend your senses look and imagine that you are seeing what you want to see, that you are hearing what you want to hear, and touching what you want to touch. Become intensely aware of doing so. Give your imaginary state all the tones and feeling of reality. Keep on doing so until you arouse within yourself the mood of accomplishment and the feeling of relief.
This is the active, voluntary use of the imagination as distinguished from the passive, involuntary acceptance of appearances. It is by this active, voluntary use of the imagination that the Second Man, the Lord from heaven, is awakened in man.
Men call imagination a plaything, the “dream faculty.” But actually it is the very gateway of reality.
Imagination is the way to the state desired, it is the truth of the state desired, and the life of that state desired. Could you realize this fully, then would you know that what you do in your imagination is the only important thing. Within the circle of our imagination the whole drama of life is being enacted over and over again. Through the bold and active use of the imagination we can stretch out our hand and touch a friend ten thousand miles away and bring health and wealth to the parched lips of his being. It is the way to everything in the world. How else could we function beyond our fleshly limitations? But imagination demands of us a fuller living of our dreams in the present.Through the portals of the present the whole of time must pass. Imagine elsewhere as here, and then as now. Try it and see. You can always tell if you have succeeded in making the future dream a present fact by observing your inner talking. If you are inwardly saying what you would audibly say were you physically present and physically moving about in that place, then you have succeeded. And you could prophesy it from these inner conversations, and from the moods which they awaken within you, what your future will be.
For one power alone makes a prophet – ‘imagination’, the divine vision. All that we meet is our Word made visible. And what we do not now comprehend is related by affinity to the unrecognized forces of our own inner conversations and the moods which they arouse within us.
If we do not like what is happening to us, it is a sure sign that we are in need of a change of mental diet. For man, we are told, lives not by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And having discovered the mouth of God to be the mind of man, a mind which lives on Words or inner talking, we should feed into our minds only loving, noble thoughts. For with Words or inner talking we build our world.
Let love’s lordly hand raise your hunger and thirst to all that is noble and of good report, and let your mind starve e’er you raise your hand to a cup love did not fill or a bowl love did not bless. That you may never again have to say,
“What have I said? What have I done, O All Powerful Human Word?”
]]>Chapter VIII How to Get the Results You Want
The principle reasons for failure are: Lack of confidence and too much effort. Many people block answers to their prayers by failing to fully comprehend the workings of the subconscious mind. When you know how your mind functions, you gain a measure of confidence.
You must remember whenever your subconscious mind accepts an idea, it immediately be- gins to execute it. It uses all its mighty resources to that end and mobi- lizes all the mental and spiritual laws of your deeper mind. This law is true for good or bad ideas.
Consequently, if you use it negatively, it brings trouble, failure and confusion. When you use it constructively, it brings guidance, freedom and peace of mind. The right answer is inevitable when your thoughts are positive, construc- tive and loving.
From this it is perfectly obvious that the only thing you have to do in order to overcome failure is to get your subconscious to accept your idea or request by feeling its reality now, and the law of your mind will do the rest. Turn over your request with faith and confidence and your subconscious will take over and answer for you.
You will always fail to get results by trying to use mental coercion – your subconscious mind does not respond to coercion, it responds to your faith or conscious mind acceptance. Your failure to get results may also arise from such statements as, “Things are getting worse.” “I will never get an answer.” “I see no way out.” “It's hopeless.” “I don't know what to do.” “I'm all mixed up.”
When you use such statements, you get no response or cooperation from your subconscious mind. Like a soldier marking time, you neither go forward nor backward; in other words, you don't get anywhere.
If you get into a taxi and give a half dozen different directions to the driver in five minutes, he would become hopelessly confused and probably refuse to take you anywhere. It is the same when working with your sub- conscious mind. There must be a clear-cut idea in your mind.
You must arrive at the definite decision that there is a way out, a solution to the vexing problem in sickness. Only the Infinite Intelligence within your sub- conscious knows the answer. When you come to that clear-cut conclusion in your conscious mind, you mind is then made up, and according to your belief is it done unto you.
Easy Does It
A house owner once remonstrated with a furnace repairman for charging two hundred dollars for fixing the boiler. The mechanic said, “I charged five cents for the missing bolt and one hundred and ninety-nine dollars and ninety-five cents for knowing what was wrong.” Similarly, your subconscious mind is the master mechanic, the all-wise one, who knows ways and means of healing any organ of your body, as well as your affairs. Decree health, and your subconscious will establish it, but relaxation is the key.
“Easy does it.” Do not be concerned with details and means, but know the end result. Get the feel of the happy solution to your problem whether it is health, finances or employment. Remember how you felt after you had recovered from a severe state of illness. Bear in mind that your feeling is the touchstone of all subconscious demonstration.
Your new idea must be felt subjectively in a finished state, not the future, but as coming about now. Infer No Opponent, Use Imagination & Not Will Power In using your subconscious mind you infer no opponent, you use no will power. You imagine the end and the freedom state. You will find your intellect trying to get in the way, but persist in maintaining a simple, child- like, miracle-making faith.
Picture yourself with the ailment or problem. Imagine the emotional accompaniment of the freedom state you crave. Cut out all red tape from the process. The simple way is the best. How Disciplined Imagination Works Wonders A wonderful way to get a response from your subconscious mind is through disciplined or scientific imagination.
As previously point out, your subconscious mind is the builder of the body and controls all its vital func- tions. The Bible says, Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall re- ceive. To believe is to accept something as true, or to live in the state of being it. As you sustain this mood, you shall experience the joy of the an- swered prayer!
The three Steps To Success In Prayer The usual procedure is as follows:
1. Take a look at the problem.
2. Turn to the solution or way out known only to the subconscious mind.
3. Rest in a sense of deep conviction that it is done. Do not weaken your prayer by saying, “I wish I might be healed.” “I hope so.” Your feeling about the work to be done is “the boss.”
Harmony is yours. Know that health is yours. Become intelligent by becoming a vehicle for the infinite healing power of the subconscious mind. Pass on the idea of health to your subconscious mind to the point of conviction; then relax. Get yourself off your hands. Say to the condition, and circumstance,
“This, too, shall pass.” Through relaxation you impress your subconscious mind enabling the kinetic energy behind the idea to take over and bring it More Free Books Law of Attraction Haven into concrete realization.
The Law Of Reversed Effort & Why You Get The Opposite Of What You Pray For Coue, the famous psychologist from France who visited America about forty years ago, defined the law of reversed effort as follows:
“When your desires and imagination are in conflict, your imagination invariably gains the day.” If, for example, you were asked to walk a plank on the floor, you would do so without question. Now suppose the same plank were placed twenty feet up in the air between two walls.
Would you walk it? Your desire to walk it would be counteracted by your imagination or fear of falling. Your dominant idea which would be the picture of falling would conquer. Your desire, will, or effort to walk on the plank would be reversed, and the dominant idea of failure would be reinforced.
Mental effort is invariably self-defeated, eventuating always in the oppo- site of what is desired. The suggestions of powerlessness to overcome the condition dominate the ind; your subconscious is always controlled by the dominant idea.
Your subconscious will accept the strongest of two contra- dictory propositions. The effortless way is better. If you say, “I want a healing, but I can't get it,” “I try so hard,” “I force myself to pray,” “I use all of the will power I have,” you must realize that your error lies in your effort.
Never try to compel the subconscious mind to accept your idea by exercising will power. Such attempts are doomed to failure and you get the opposite of what you prayed for. The following is a rather common experience.
Students, when taking ex- aminations and reading through their papers, find that all their knowledge has suddenly deserted them. Their minds become appalling blanks and they are unable to recall one relevant thought. The more they grit their teeth and summon the powers of the will, the further the answers seem to flee. But, when they have left the examination room and the mental pressure relaxes, the answers they were seeking flow tantalizingly back into their minds.
Trying to force themselves to remember was the cause of their failure. This is an example of the law of reversed effort whereby you get the opposite of what you asked or prayed for. The Conflict Of Desire & Imagination Must Be Reconciled To use mental force is to presuppose that there is opposition. When you mind is concentrated on the means to overcome a problem, it is no longer concerned with the obstacle.
Matthew 18:19 says, If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. Who are these two? It means the harmonious union between your conscious and subconscious on any idea, desire or mental image.
When there is no longer any quarrel in either part of your mind your prayer will be answered. The two agreeing may also be represented as you and your de- sire, your thought and feeling, your idea and emotion, your desire and imagination. You avoid all conflict between your desires and imagination by entering into a drowsy, sleepy state which brings all effort to a minimum.
The conscious mind is submerged to a great extent when in a sleepy state. The best time to impregnate your subconscious occurs prior to sleep and just after we awaken. In this state the negative thoughts and imagery which tend to neutralize your desire and so prevent acceptance by your subcon- scious mind no longer present themselves.
When you imagine the reality of the fulfilled desire and feel the thrill of accomplishment, your subcon- scious brings about the realization of your desire. A great many people solve all their dilemmas and problems by the play of their controlled, directed and disciplined imagination, knowing that whatever they imagine and feel as true will and must come to pass.
]]>PERSISTENT ASSUMPTION
I tell you a truth: There is nothing greater than your own wonderful human imagination! It is he who inspired Blake, Shakespeare, and Einstein, for there is only one spirit in the universe! "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One." That one spirit is the human imagination!
When Blake was asked what he thought of the divinity of Christ he answered: "Christ is the only God, but so am I and so are you." Don't think of Christ as someone greater than yourself. He is the only God, but so am I and so are you! Don't consider yourself less than Christ, for there is only God, who is your own wonderful human imagination.
Daring to assume that all things are possible to imagine, put this one reality to the extreme test by assuming you are the person you would like to be. Your reasonable mind and outer senses may deny it; but I promise you: if you will persist, you will receive your assumption.
Believe me, you are the same God who created and sustains the universe, but are keyed low; so you must be persistent if you would bring about a change. In the Book of Luke, the story is told of a man who came to a house at the midnight hour, and said: "A friend has arrived who is hungry. Would you let me have three loaves of bread?" The man upstairs replied: "It is midnight. My children are in bed asleep and I cannot come down and give you what you want."
Then this statement is made: "But because of the man's importunity, he was given all that he desired." The word “importunity” means "brazen impudence." Having a desire, the man would not take no for an answer! When you know what you want, you don't ask God as though he were another; you ask your individual self to bring about your desire, for you are he! And God - your own wonderful human imagination - will respond when you will not take no for an answer, as your denial is spoken from within and there is no other.
It is within your own being that you persist in assuming you have received what you want. The story is, even though it was midnight and the family was asleep, the father came down and gave what was needed. The God of a Blake, a Shakespeare, or an Einstein, does not differ from the God housed in you, as there is only one human imagination.
There cannot be two. He is not a dual God. You and your imagination are not less than anyone, but you must learn to be persistent. A friend recently shared a vision with me, in which I appeared and said: "The story of Jesus is persistent assumption."
If this is true, and we are told to imitate him as a dear child, I must dare to assume I am the being I want to be. I must continue in that assumption until that which I have assumed is objectively realized. And if I am one with everyone, how can anyone be greater than I? Do not believe that someone is greater than you because of some influx of spirit or validity.
Your imagination is the only God, and there is no other being greater than He! Claim you are what you want to be. Persist in that assumption. Continue to assume that role until that which you have assumed is reflected in your world.
Although the churches teach that another, greater than yourself, said: "Unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins" - these words were spoken by the human imagination! And because imagination is one, and you can't get away from that oneness, don't think of another. Accept these words in the first person, present tense; for unless you believe that you already are what you want to be, you will die in your sins by leaving your desire unfulfilled. If you do not believe you are all imagination, you will continue in your former belief, worshipping a God on the outside and not within.
On this level, we are fragmented, but we are all that one imagination. The word "Elohim" is a compound unity of one made up of others. Although we seem to be many, in the most intimate manner possible, we are one! On this level, you and I are keyed low for purposes beyond our wildest dreams, yet called upon to make the effort to rise above it. This is done in a physical, scientific, and artistic sense, as we begin to discover and express our human imagination.
We rise above this level through the act of assumption; for an assumption, though false, if persisted in will harden into fact. As William Blake said: "If the fool will persist in his folly he will become wise." There is nothing God cannot do!
Do not think that one who is fabulously rich has an influx of spirit which differs from yours. He is imagining wealth, either wittingly or unwittingly; but you can do it knowingly. If he does not know what he is doing, he can lose his wealth and not know how to recover it. I am asking you, regardless of your financial situation, to assume wealth, knowingly. If, tomorrow you would again return to your former state, bring wealth back by claiming "I am wealthy," for there is only one God. He who creates poverty also creates wealth, as there is no other creator. The world thinks of numberless gods, but there is only one.
That one is your own wonderful human imagination. Possessing only one son, when imagination awakens, God's only begotten son will reveal you as God. The same thing will happen to another, then another - and eventually everyone will see the same son, who will reveal the individual as God the Father. This world is a play, where divine imagination becomes human imagination by inserting himself into an olive skin, a black skin, a white skin, and a red skin.
Although we appear to be different, we all will see God's only begotten son - proving that there is only one God. The purpose behind the play is to expand imagination's creative power. Here we are fragmented into numberless parts, destined to gather ourselves together into the one God, the one Father of all.
Begin now to actively, constantly, use your imagination; for as you prove its creative power on this level, you are awakening to a higher level and birth into the spirit world where you know yourself to be God. Prove to yourself that you are God by feeling your desire is now an accomplished fact.
Listen to your friends talk about you. Are they rejoicing because of your good fortune, or are they expressing envy? Imagine their words are true. Persist in imagining they are true. Continue to imagine your desire is already an accomplished fact; and when it is objectively realized, proof will be yours.
Think of something lovely you would like to give another. Then ask yourself if you gave it to him and he wouldn't accept it, would you want to keep it for yourself? If, for instance, you gave a friend a million dollars and he would not accept it, would you be willing to keep it? I'm sure you would. Then imagine giving the money to him, then give to others in the same way.
You may not even have a bank account; but you can still give, because there is no one to give to but yourself! There is only God whose name is I am! "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." This great confession of faith is recorded in the sixth chapter, the fourth verse of the Book of Deuteronomy. The Lord is not two, not a dozen - just one. If I say "I am" that's one, but if I say "we are" I am speaking of many. Jesus' name is "I am."
He is not some superior being other than yourself. He is the inspiration for everything you write, be it trivia or profound. Inspiration does not come from some other being, because there cannot be another. When you sit down to write, the thoughts come from your own being! It is nonsense to think of some other being as possessing you.
The great poets - the Shakespeare’s, the Blake’s - had no great spiritual influx moving in them that is greater than the spiritual influx in you. It cannot be, for there is no one greater than self! When someone tells me he is under the influence of some greater power, I tell him that is not possible.
The inspiration is coming from the depths of his own soul. Perhaps you have an item you would like to advertise. As you think of what your customer needs, the answer will come from the depth of your own soul, and you will know what needs to be said to promote your product. You do not receive some influx of spirit outside of yourself, for there is no one greater! There is only God, and God is one!
In the Book of Psalms, you are told to; "Commune with your own self." Sit quietly. Be at peace with yourself and suddenly thoughts will begin to flow within you, from God. In the beginning you were God! And in the end, you and I and the whole vast world of billions will be regathered into the one God.
One imagination fell into this fragmented world of seeming others, yet the whole is within each one of us. A man's enemies are those of his own household, for they are all within him. Not knowing this, man fights within himself until he realizes there is no other, just himself. Then he tells others in the hope he can convince himself.
And as he rises from within, he is called back into the one being he was before that the world was. The fall into division was deliberate for God's expansion into unity. There was no other way to expand your creative power but by falling into limitation and overcoming it. As you fell, your being fragmented. I saw this so clearly in vision.
First, a rock appeared. Then it fragmented and as it gathered together it took the shape of a man sitting in the lotus posture, meditating, glowing. And I knew I was looking at myself! And as it began to glow like the sun, I awoke in my apartment in New York City. I am telling you what I have done, what I have seen, and what I have experienced.
Each one of us has a being within who is meditating us. The being in you and the being in all, form the one perfect being, who fell and fragmented himself. One day, everyone's living being will unite into the one God, who fell and fragmented himself. Do you know what you would you like to be? Dare to assume it and, for one week, claim: "I have assumed I am the one I want to be. I am still assuming I am, and I will continue to assume I am until that which I have assumed is objectively realized."
Fall asleep assuming it is true, and let that living being in you give it life. God the Father is dreaming in the depth of your soul. It is he who began a good work in you, and it is he who will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. On that day you will be brought to the same perfection as the Father in you, for God is dreaming himself into a greater image of himself and you, the dreamer, are dreaming yourself into the image of yourself.
While you are here, you can assume any desire for yourself and those you love. Then you can dare to believe in what you have assumed. And if you continue your assumption, you will express it. But you must believe, or you will die in your sins. Always talking to yourself, you are telling yourself that unless you believe you are the man you want to be, you will remain being the man you don't want to be, thereby dying in your sins.
To believe in another - whether he appear as a Blake, a Shakespeare or an Einstein - you have a false God. You must believe in yourself or die in your sins! You must believe that God actually became you that you may become God - for he did. His name is I am and unless you say within yourself: "I am what I want to be" and believe it, you will remain saying within yourself: "I wish I were what I want to be" and die in your frustration (your sin).
I urge to you learn how to believe in yourself. It may appear to be difficult at first, but not when you are willing to go out on a limb and try it. I admire the great, inspired poets. Shakespeare is marvelous. Blake is altogether wonderful, and Einstein truly great in his field. These were inspired men; but they did not have any influx of spirit that made them greater than your human imagination, for their imagination and your imagination are one grand, divine imagination, imagining!
Their work did not come from something outside of themselves, but from their own imagination, awakening. That same imagination is yours because there is only one spirit. The spirit of man is one with the spirit of the universe and there is no other! Start now to capture the feeling of being this one spirit.
Fall asleep in the feeling that you are God, and as you come hurtling back from the depth of unconsciousness toward this level, you will have numberless crazy little dreams based upon this person you are coming through.
You will give importance to these dreams; but oh, what depths you will reach in that which is unconscious relative to this level! Let no one frighten you, for you are an immortal being who cannot die. Although I have awakened to my Godhood before you, I am no better because I got there first, for there is no such thing as being first. Everyone is moving toward that level, and no one can fail.
And when all have returned, what joy will be expressed as we form the one body, the one spirit, the one Lord, the one God and Father of all! Everyone will have the vision and prove to himself that he is God the Father. I urge you to apply this principle and cushion yourself against the normal blows of life.
If your friends and loved ones cannot believe, cushion them anyway; for no matter what you leave them here, you are not going to stop the blows given by the depth of their own being. If you left each friend one hundred thousand dollars, you would cushion them for the moment; but the depth of their being will continue to take them through experiences, in order to awaken to the knowledge that they are the father of God's only begotten son, David.
The world is searching for the cause of the phenomena of life, not knowing he is their very self. What responsibility is yours when you discover that your awareness is the cause of everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen to you. But when you realize that you are causing all the blows, the heartaches, and pains, that happen to you, you will begin to change your thinking; and as you do, scripture will unfold in you. Now let us go into the silence.