How to use the Laws of Mind, Chapter Seven, Thought Patterns Are Creative

How to use the Laws of Mind, Chapter Seven, Thought Patterns Are Creative

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The faculty of imagination, in the estimate of masses of the world population, and even among those who are presumed to be highly educated, has been greatly undervalued. With many, imagination has been degraded to a lower level among their intellectual powers. Nevertheless, remember that imagination is really one of the highest and most important powers within you.

Imagination is the formative power of your mind. It has creative potency. God created the universe and the galaxies of space by imagining Himself to be all of these things, and He became what He imagined Himself to be. God had to image man for man to appear.

Consider fiction writers for a moment and realize that all of the wonderful scenes they create are products of a lively imagination. Fiction, in the etymological sense, is that which the imagination creates. Poetry is a mental creation. The imagination is the image-making faculty, or that which forms an idea which is projected on the screen of space.

The imagination is the foremost faculty of man. It is a spiritual force and a creative power. The very fact that a man imagines himself to be sick is a proof that he is so, for the disease is only the effect of the misuse and the abnormal action of this creative power. If we could trace the mental history of every ailment or disease in individuals, we would undoubtedly discover the power of misdirected imagination.

You can use any power two ways. Be sure to use disciplined, controlled, directed imagination based on universal principles and eternal verities. Imagine what is lovely, noble, dignified and God-like. Imagination combined with faith works wonders in effecting healings of all manner of diseases. In these two spiritual powers—namely, imagination and faith—we have the most important of all creative devices.

He Ministered to a Mind Diseased

The late Carrick Cook, who was a minister in San Francisco for many years and an associate of the late Ernest Holmes, founder of the Science of Mind in Los Angeles, once told me about a black woman who was a remarkable healer. It seems that someone had sold her a bone relic presumed to be that of a saint, and she had been convinced that when people came to her for a healing, if they would only touch that bone, they would be healed of whatever infirmity they had.

Great numbers were truly healed, but in the words of Carrick Cook, it was actually the bone of a dog. The patients who had come to her believed what she said, and their faith and imagination did the rest. Carrick Cook said a medical doctor who had examined the bone explained to her that it was part of the foot of a dog.

This shows you the power of faith and imagination, which resurrected the healing power within those who accepted what the practitioner had said. This, of course, was blind faith, as they had no understanding of how or why they were healed. True faith is the union of your conscious and subconscious mind, scientifically directed.

The most potent forces of nature act silently, with no noise. Your thoughts have power over your body. Your thoughts may be morbific, a type which generates disease; or your thoughts may be wholesome, constructive and promotive of health. The state of thinking and feeling is the cause of the bodily condition.

Thoughts and ideas represent the underlying reality of all outward and visible objects. As you look out at the world, everything you see, such as the starry heavens, the mountains, seas, lakes, trees, etc., are the thoughts of God. By studying nature, we communicate with the Infinite, in the same way as we do with the ideas of an author by reading the words of his book.

Where Are the Enemies?

Frequently I receive letters from men and women who ask, "How can I forgive or love those who rape, murder, steal, plunder, rob, mistreat their children and in some cases murder them?" They go on and talk about Iranians who hold Americans in hostage and treat them so cruelly.

In the Bible it says: . . . Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (Matthew 5:44). Many people misinterpret and misunderstand the real meaning of "love your enemies." You are also told that the enemies are of your own household (mind). If the thoughts in your mind are hateful, resentful, angry and full of rancor and bitterness, you are emotionally disturbed. Your health suffers, perhaps bringing on disease, such as ulcers, high blood pressure, failure in business and poor human relations.

Why He Did Not Prosper

Some time ago a brilliant businessman who had achieved great success in his field of expression said that his business was dropping off, his clerks were stealing, and many of his customers had gone elsewhere.

The reason was that he was involved in a marital problem, a bitterly contested divorce. He hated his wife, and his mind was polluted with anger, suppressed rage and fear. The enemies were created by himself.

I explained to him that he was the only thinker in his world and that he was responsible for the way he was thinking about his wife. He began to see clearly that it is not what happens to him but his reaction to it—the way he thinks about it—that makes the difference between success and failure, or health and sickness.

Accordingly, he practiced the law of substitution. He supplanted his negative thoughts with constructive  thoughts and began to claim that there was a Divine, harmonious solution to his legal problem and that Divine justice would reign supreme.

He discovered that the real enemies had been his own thoughts, created by him; so he practiced right thought, right feeling and right action. A simple prayer he used was, "God thinks, speaks and acts through me. God loves me and cares for me." When fear or hateful thoughts came to his mind, he immediately affirmed, "God's love fills my soul." Thus, he healed himself and his business prospered.

Dominion of the Mind

There is no part of the body that is not under the dominion of the mind and that cannot be influenced by an intelligent voluntary action. I knew a man in India who could suspend the pulsation of his heart at will. This capacity is well known in research circles today.

There were other teachers at the Ashram who could perspire at will. Others were able to contract or dilate the pupils of the eyes as they wished. They said that all they had to do was to think of a very dark place and the pupils of the eyes would dilate. When they thought of a very bright spot the pupils of the eyes would contract. For example, if you think of something sour, such as lemon juice, it affects your salivary glands and causes your mouth to water.

Thus, an idea, a thought, an imagination, may act as a medicine or as a poison. For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. . . (Proverbs 23:7). This is one of the wisest things Solomon ever said. In your subconscious mind reside all the active, vital powers. Given a certain mental state, a corresponding bodily condition follows with the unerring certainty of the law of cause and effect. There is a power in thought over all the organs of our body that is not recognized by the masses.

To live truly means to think truly and to discern the truth. It is important to bear in mind that imagination is a mode of thought, and every idea in the mind tends by its inherent nature to an actuality in the body. The only living force of the body is the mind.

Remember a simple truth: It is your thought, created by yourself, that is the real enemy. Come to a point of decision regarding these enemies in your mind and cast them out. Consume them and burn them up with the fire of Divine love. It is foolish to assume that loving your enemies means to invite felons, rapists, murderers and dope fiends into your home and entertain them, putting your arms around them and telling them how much you love them. That is absurd.

You understand why they act the way they do. They are under the compulsion of negative, destructive and irrational emotions. You understand that they are full  of self-hatred and are projecting that on to others. You look upon them with a degree of comprehension and tolerance. You do not under any circumstances condone their crimes, but you understand the malignant forces operating in their minds. Furthermore, you realize that justice and punishment will prevail.

The murderers, rapists, etc., should be incarcerated so that society may be protected. Some do-gooders who have little or no understanding of wisdom and who are on the parole boards, oftentimes release these hardened criminals to prey again on society. One such criminal freely admitted to me that he pretended to be religious and said that he was converted and born again, so they released him. That is not love. There is no love without wisdom and no wisdom without love.

The Word Made Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). A word is a thought expressed, and it is creative. It is the only immaterial power we know. Your thought is God in the sense that it is a creative power at the level of the individual mind. It is not God in the sense of Universal Mind and Infinite Spirit.

The word of God which people speak of represents the truth of God, which is the same yesterday, today and forever. The Bible says: . . . Say in a word, and my servant shall be healed (Luke 7:7).

When you pray for another, you claim that what is true of God is also true of the sick person. Turn to the Indwelling Presence and Power (God) and remind yourself of absolute peace, absolute harmony, beauty, boundless love and limitless power. Cease dwelling on symptoms, organs, or any part of the body. Feel and know that there is only one Healing Presence and Power; quietly and lovingly affirm the uplifting, healing, strengthening power of the Infinite Healing Presence flowing through the person you are praying for, making him whole and perfect. Know and feel that the harmony, beauty, wholeness and love of God are manifesting in the other. Get a clear realization of this; then you will be sending the word which heals.

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How to use the Laws of Mind, Chapter Seven, Thought Patterns Are Creative

Dr. Joseph Murphy