How to use the Laws of Mind, Chapter Six, Becoming Spiritual-Minded

 How to use the Laws of Mind, Chapter Six, Becoming Spiritual-Minded

Many people have a vague idea of what it is to be spiritual. To become spiritual-minded, according to the beliefs of many people, is confused with conforming to certain devotions, rituals and ceremonies. What is it to become spiritual? How may I become so? These are questions of great importance to all men and women.

You will become spiritual-minded when you make up your mind to think heavenly thoughts, which means to think according to eternal verities and principles of life, which are the same yesterday, today and forever. Your subconscious mind is the seat of habit, and as you continue thinking God-like thoughts, you will form a very good habit and wonders will happen in your life.

The Bible says: Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment (John 7:24). To judge is to separate that which is false from that which is true. In other words, you come to a decision in your mind regarding the truth or falsity of any thought. To affirm the good and the true is righteous judgment and brings harmony and peace into your life.

If a man is sick or crippled, you don't deny the evidence of your senses, but you go to the Infinite Healing Presence within you and affirm wholeness, vitality and perfection for him. You see him as he ought to be: happy, joyous and free. Your interpretation of what your five senses report to you may be wrong. Check on how you interpret what your senses report to you.

Many people think that in order to be spiritual-minded, they must put in practice ascetic mortifications, which are really of no value. Instead, to develop spiritually, you start from the inside, not the outside. As you spiritualize your thought life, your body will magically melt into the image and likeness of your contemplation.

You Can Rise

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me (John 12:32). Lift up your concept of God and realize that the Holy of Holies is within yourself. As you dwell upon the attributes and qualities of God within yourself, the more your spiritual power and psychological force are augmented. Just so far as we know God, do we become more God-like, and we can do Divine works to the same extent.

Affirm frequently:

 "I exalt God in the midst of me, mighty to heal and restore. I am illumined from On High." 

Make a habit of this and you will find that you are lifted up and inspired to accomplish great things. Be careful not to subsequently deny what you affirm.

Begin to Believe

Belief and life, from an etymological standpoint, are the same. To believe is to live. To believe is a movement of our interior life towards the fulfillment of our desire. In other words, pour life and love into your ideal, goal or desire. Live in the state of being it. Live the role just like an actor or actress. Animate your desire. Contemplate its fulfillment and see the happy ending.

To believe that you are being healed or prospered now turns the current of Universal Life in that direction. Believe in the truths of the Spirit rather than in the evidence of your five senses. This is salvation in the complete signification of the word.

The Price You Pay

The price you pay for spiritual unfoldment is attention, recognition and devotion to the eternal truths of life. You pay with mental and spiritual coin. There is no free lunch, and attention is the key to life. As you absorb and mentally digest more and more of wisdom, truth and beauty, you will be able to impart the healing message to others.

You cannot give what you do not have; therefore, . . . seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness (right thinking); and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33). Gold and silver in the Bible are symbols of celestial good and truth. As you look to the Source of all blessings, you are recognizing your everlasting inheritance and you will never want for any good thing.

Why He Was Disappointed

Recently I talked with a man who had been experiencing an acute business problem. He needed a loan from the bank to tide him over for some months, but due to recent restrictions he was turned down. He was very tense and anxious. He also understood that these negative emotions would generate the reverse of what he was praying for.

I suggested that he go to the Source of all blessings—namely, the Infinite Spirit within him—and affirm the great eternal truths to bring his mind to a state of peace and rest. I suggested that he detach his mind from the problem and assume an attitude of Divine indifference, which means that it is impossible for your prayer to fail. Infinite Intelligence knows only the answer.

I suggested also that he reiterate the following age-old truths, realizing that when his mind was at peace, the answer would come. Accordingly, he meditated on the following scriptural verses several times a day, and when fear thoughts came to him, he would immediately quote one of the verses to himself:

—But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory . . . (Philippians 4:19).

 —In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength . . . (Isaiah 30:15). 

—. . . God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy (I Timothy 6: 17).

—. . . But with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

—. . . Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear (Isaiah 65:24).

—. . . According to your faith he it unto you (Matthew 9:29).

—. . . If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth (Mark 9:23). 

—He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him (Psalm 91:15).

—All things be ready if the mind be so (Shakespeare).

—The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall Ifear?. . . (Psalm 27:1)/

—I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help (Psalm 121:1).

He remained faithful to his meditation, and one of his customers, to whom he had previously mentioned his predicament, suddenly came to him and generously advanced him far more money than he needed and his problem was solved. When he established a Divine indifference to results, the answer came. Contemplating these statements of the Law of Life frequently, he succeeded in building into his mentality a state of peace and equilibrium.

The Psalmist expressed it this way: But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night (Psalm 1:2). You induce a quiet, receptive mind as you reflect on the great truths, and you then will dramatize the answer more quickly. 

How He Conquered Despondency

A young college student came to see me and told me that the girl to whom he had been engaged and was about to marry had been killed in one of the recent air crashes. He was failing in his studies and was depressed, dejected and suffering from melancholia. At the same time he was taking tranquilizers, but when the effect wore off, he was right back where he started. I suggested to him that he must not let these negative emotions gel and crystalize in his subconscious mind, which would cause a very negative subconscious complex with harmful results. I explained to him that an expert motorist here in Leisure World had had a crackup while going 90 miles an hour. He had not been seriously injured, and while the Automobile Club truck was towing his car to the repair shop, he immediately called a taxi and drove around for about an hour or more, the reason being that he wanted to prevent that experience from forming a negative pattern in his subconscious. He did not want to develop a fear complex.

This young man began to realize that everyone eventually passes on to the next dimension and that his gloom and despondency were not helping his sweetheart in the next dimension of life, but were actually holding her back. He decided to loose her and let her go, affirming whenever he thought of her, "God gives you peace and harmony." He then redirected his mind to his studies and began to keep his mind tuned in to the Infinite Presence and Power, reflecting frequently on Divine guidance, peace and harmony. Following this procedure, his negative emotions were dissolved in the light of Divine love.

The Prince of This World

. . . For the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me (John 14:30). A young college girl in a nearby university, who has read several of my books, including Songs of God, said to me that she had belonged to a certain cult and had since dropped the association when she realized that it was all rank superstition and balderdash. The other three members had told her that they would pour imprecations upon her and that she would suffer.

She knew that the prince of the world is fear and that their intention was to instill fear and terror into her mind, a sort of hypnotic suggestion. She read the inner meaning of the 91st Psalm and reiterated many passages during the day. Whenever the memory of their threat came into her mind, she would immediately affirm, "God loves me and cares for me."

She knew that if she could not give hate, she could not receive it. All she did was bless them and walk on, laughing at their dire predictions, knowing full well  that they were negative suggestions which she refused to accept. Of course, the negative thoughts of her former friends boomeranged and were returned to them. All three, she told me, were subsequently killed in an auto crash.

The prince of this world (fear) had come to her and had found nothing in her to correspond to that fear. She knew the Law of Life. She had enthroned in her mind peace, harmony, right action and Divine love. The truths of the 91st Psalm had penetrated her subconscious and she walked with God, finding ways of pleasantness and paths of peace.

There Is an Easier Way

A businessman said to me after a lecture a few Sundays ago, "I spent my early years toiling, moiling, and grabbing for the good things of life. I was always trying to make ends meet. I wanted more money, a home, a car and lovely surroundings."

He had gone to a spiritual counselor for advice, and she had told him that he was trying too hard. She taught him to go to the Source of all good—the God- Presence within—and to claim peace, harmony, right action, beauty and abundance. She told him that God was flowing through him, filling up all the empty vessels in his life.

He continued along that spiritual path, and all the things he had been seeking were added to him. His faith and confidence in the Infinite Presence within him were translatable to health, wealth, true expression and an abundant supply of money, also. He stopped trying so hard, begging and beseeching for the gifts of Life which have been proffered to all of us from the dawn of time.

Shakespeare said, "All things be ready if the mind be so." Open your mind to receive; learn to be a good receiver. God has given you Himself and the whole world. It is, therefore, foolish and stupid to beseech the Infinite to do something for us, because it is written, . . . Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear (Isaiah 65:24). No matter what your problem is, the answer is there even before you ask.

The best spiritual medicine today is to get acquainted with the Spirit within you and then claim peace, harmony, and Divine law and order in your life. Reflect and dwell upon the Divine Law, which is: "I AM that which I contemplate." Contemplate whatsoever things are true, lovely, noble and God-like and let wonders happen in your life.

The Answer to Doom and Gloom

We have a great number of prophets today predicting all manner of disasters, and they are instilling fear and uncertainty in the minds of millions of people. I counsel with many people who are morose, morbid, sullen and ill humored. They are afraid of old age, atomic warfare, insecurity and the future, and many are living in fear of death.

The Bible says: . . . God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (II Timothy 1:7). It is true that fear, in some form, comes to all of us. When hearing the honk of a horn when walking along the road, you step aside, and the momentary fear is transmuted to desire to live, and you are free.

Many listen to the news and read the magazines and papers predicting nuclear war, the end of the world, earthquakes, etc. As they dwell on these predictions, they are seized with a sort of crippling fear. I suggest to them that they hold these fears up to the light of reason, examine them and recognize that most of these predictions never come to pass, but come out of the fetid brain of the prognosticator of doomsday. Paul points out in Corinthians, . . . Whether there be prophecies, they shall fail. . . (I Corinthians 13:8).

Basically, all of this abnormal fear is due to a man's basic sense of insecurity, in failing to align himself with the Infinite Presence and Power. When he joins up with this Source, the Life Principle, which is all-powerful, all-wise and knows no opposition, he discovers a reflex action and his abnormal fear is gradually dissipated.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

How to use the Laws of Mind, Chapter Six, Becoming Spiritual-Minded

Dr. Joseph murphy