Joseph Murphy (1898-1981)

 Joseph Murphy (1898-1981)

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DR. JOSEPH MURPHY wrote, taught, counseled, and lectured to thousands all over the world for nearly fifty years. Born in 1898, he was educated in Ireland and England. Years of research studying the world’s major religions convinced him that some great Power lay behind them all: The Power is within you!

Dr. Murphy was Minister-Director of the Church of Divine Science in Los Angeles for 28 years, where his lectures were attended by 1300 to 1500 people every Sunday. His daily radio program during all that time was immensely popular. He moved to Laguna Hills, California in 1976, where he continued to speak every Sunday until he made his transition in 1981.

Joseph Murphy, Ph.D., D.D., was a world-renowned authority on mysticism and mind dynamics. The author of more than thirty books, including The Power of the Subconscious Mind and Secrets of the I Ching, he remains a beacon of enlightenment and inspiration for legions of loyal followers.

Joseph Murphy was strongly influenced by the idea of a conscious and subconscious mind working synchronously in the happy, whole person. The "Life-Force" was God's will working within each of us. "The will of God for you is something marvelous, wonderful and beautiful, transcending your fondest dreams. God is absolute peace and cannot wish pain. God is boundless joy and cannot wish sorrow. God is boundless love and cannot do anything unloving. God is wholeness, beauty and perfection and cannot wish sickness. God is the same yesterday, today and forever." In addition, God is impersonal. "Man rewards and punishes himself based on the way his conscious mind impregnates his subconscious mind. If man thinks good, he receives good; and if he thinks evil, evil inevitable follows (How to Use the Laws of Mind).

Murphy realized that thoughts, feelings, imagination and beliefs affect prosperity and health. "When you stop and think, you realize that everything you do and that you refuse to do is previously determined by an attitude of mind - a way of thinking on your part. If you find your condition chronic, if you are leading a dull, routine, monotonous life, it is very likely that you too are dwelling on the past and repeating the same old mental patterns". Negative experiences are viewed as the Life Principle shaking us out of our lethargy to find the solution and aim for something higher.

In his ministry and radio talks, Murphy taught how to change negative thinking. He relied heavily on the Bible, particularly the Psalms as a guide to right thinking. He would often have a client who came to him in trouble rewrite a psalm or a Bible verse so that it fit their situation. They were then to say this in the way of an affirmation as a means of getting the message from the conscious to the subconscious mind.

Murphy was outspoken about popular beliefs - "superstitions". "If it is God's will." "That is too absurd for words. The will of God is a greater measure of life, freedom, expression and growth … Bring your conscious and subconscious together at one point - then you will bring your desire to pass."

Another superstition is, " 'If it's right for me.' What is not right for you? It is right for you to lead the abundant life.". He was aware the world impinged on us. "Keep prayed up," he would advise.

The riches of the world are there for all to enjoy. If you do not yet share in the opulence of the world, Murphy reminds us that "the cattle on a thousand hills are yours; the song of the birds is yours; you can enjoy the stars in the heavens, the morning dew, the sunset and the sunrise … There is enough fruit that rots in the tropics to feed all of humanity. Nature is bountiful, lavish, extravagant, and actually wasteful" (Miracle Power for Infinite Riches). The subconscious can be enriched with ideas of abundance, and abundance will follow. These are spiritual laws.

The affirmations and prayers in Murphy's books rely heavily on Bible quotations, which are then expanded upon to fit the individual situation. A reader of another orientation could still find helpful meditations in these books if they were to change the wording from God the Father, to Goddess, Creative Spirit, Universal Consciousness or something else more fitting to them. He provides many stories to illustrate how the principles worked to create financial prosperity, health, creative ideas, harmonious relationships and more. They are good as examples of the working of the laws of prosperity consciousness in the twentieth century.

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