How to Use the Laws of Mind, Chapter One, How your Mind Works
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your Early Training
All of us, when we were young, malleable and highly impressionable, received suggestions regarding religious beliefs, opinions, superstitions, false beliefs and prejudices from our parents, uncles, aunts, clergymen, teachers and others.
All of us accepted the suggestions, beliefs, language, customs and traditions of our parents and environment. We had no other choice. We could not reject their suggestions and indoctrination, as we had not yet reached the point in our lives of discernment or the capacity to differentiate between that which is false and that which is true.
You were not born with any religious beliefs, fears, taboos or strictures of any kind. Like all of us, you were born helpless, ignorant and completely at the mercy of your parents or those entrusted with your care. You were born with only two fears—the fear of falling and the fear of noise—both of which represent God's alarm system in you to protect you. All other fears were given to you.
I suggest to people that they examine the origin of their beliefs, religious concepts, and fears and see if they contribute to their health, happiness and peace of mind. You can eradicate and expunge from your subconscious mind anything that was learned, acquired or copied by you in your youth. In other words, you can recondition or reprogram your subconscious mind along the lines of eternal verities, which are universal and belong to all men. These eternal truths are the same yesterday, today and forever.
Look Within
Do not look outside yourself for peace of mind, wealth, security or inner strength. The Divine Presence is within you—the Supreme Intelligence which created all things and is All-Wise. No government, institution or person can bestow on you the quiet mind or inner peace.
Your subconscious mind is the seat of habit, and habits are built up in the same way you learned to walk, swim, dance, play the piano, type or drive a car. You repeated certain thought patterns and actions over and over, and after a certain length of time these patterns were implanted in your subconscious mind. Now you do these things automatically. You might call this second nature. The latter is simply the response of your deeper mind to your conscious choices and actions.
Frequently during the day, affirm: "God's river of peace saturates my mind and heart. I rest in the everlasting arms of wisdom, truth and beauty." Make a habit of repeating this prayer. Repeat it over and over again, knowing what you are doing and why you are doing it. As you continue to affirm and reiterate these simple truths, you will become peaceful and harmonious, and you will contribute to the peace and serenity of all those around you.
Many say to me that they would love to find some hamlet, some town near the beaches, where they could find rest and comfort. Remember, you take your mind with you wherever you go. Actually, you meet yourself at all times. If the mind is in turmoil and you are anxious and worried, the beach or the mountain will not give you peace. You must choose peace.
Some people are unceasingly searching for a Shangri-La where all is bliss and harmony, a sort of Utopia, where all of us will share everything together and live harmoniously, peacefully and joyfully. You must remember, however, that you create your own Utopia. There is no such place except in the mind of man, who is in tune with the Infinite and who has found the peace that passeth understanding. The problems, challenges, difficulties and turmoil around us incite us to find that inner peace and also enable us to discover our Divinity and rise above the problems of the world.
Overcome the World
The world, in Biblical language, represents all the people in the world, some good, some bad. The mass mind, or law of averages, means the way four and a half billion people are thinking. Every day you read of wars, cruelty, crime, hate, jealousy, murder, race conflicts and religious struggles. You also read of the good and noble people who contribute to the peace of the world.
You cannot run away from the world or the mass mind. All of us are immersed in it because, subjectively, we are all one and the psychic sea impinges on all of us. That is why you should keep prayed up. Assume now, today, that Infinite Intelligence is guiding and directing you and that the power of the Infinite animates and sustains you. Radiate love, peace, and goodwill to all people and wish for them all the blessings of life.
This attitude will guarantee you success along all lines. Furthermore, you will be contributing to the welfare of all people everywhere. You can definitely move triumphantly through the maelstrom of this confused world into ways of pleasantness and paths of peace. Your inner assumptions, beliefs and convictions dictate and control all external actions.
Be Sure to Remember a Basic Truth
William James, the father of American psychology, stated that he felt the greatest discovery of the last one hundred years was the awareness of the powers of the subconscious mind. Dr. Phineas Qiiimby, who started healing people in 1847, pointed out in his experiments that, "If I really believed a thing, the effect would follow whether I was thinking of it or not."
This is of great importance, because it applies to all of us and reveals that whatever has been deposited in our subconscious mind governs and controls us. In other words, your subconscious beliefs, assumptions and convictions dictate, control and direct all your conscious actions, whether you are thinking about them or not. Whatever is impressed in your subconscious mind, whether good or bad, will always be expressed on the screen of space. Your habitual thinking is gradually absorbed and recorded in your subconscious. There they become laws and beliefs which act automatically.
Practice This Truth
Anything that your conscious mind assumes to be true is accepted by your subconscious mind, and the Infinite Intelligence of your subconscious proceeds to bring to pass and execute the role suggested by your assumption. Your assumption, true or false, hardens into fact and is projected on the screen of space.
How to Use the Laws of Mind,
Chapter One, How your Mind Works,
Dr. Joseph Murphy
No comments:
Post a Comment