Introduction to Chinese Medicine

Introduction to Chinese Medicine

We are part of Nature, Nature is part of us. Nature, the universe, and all beings are in relationship with one another: Earth always below us, the vast sky above, the Sun, the Moon, the planets and stars even further away. We are understood as being in relationship to the elements of Nature around us. And these elements of Nature are understood to be within us.

Observing ourselves in this way, we can get closer to the notion that a human being is a microcosmic representation of the larger Universe. We have seasons of birth, growth, adulthood, decline, and death just as a tree is subject to Spring, Summer, Late Summer, Fall, and Winter. We are made of the same material that makes everything in the world around us. To know ourselves, we look to Nature as the mirror of what we humans might actually be.

What we can see, touch, feel, hear, and taste are known as physical manifestations…Manifestations from what basis?

When we see a tree , we see only a part of it. The roots are hidden beneath the surface of the ground. The seed from which the tree originally sprouted is completely gone. In a similar way, a physical manifestation grows out of energy that is not perceived by our five senses. This original, vast, mysterious Source from which everything came is a Mystery.

“The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth,” declares the Tao Te Ching.

Every manifestation, every thing, person, plant, and bug originates from this vast and nameless Mystery. The energy of this Mystery is eternal. Each of us has a spark of this energy within us. This spark of life will return to its Mysterious Source when the physical manifestation within which it resides comes to an end.

In Western science we find a similar revelation that humans are composed of 

“star dust.” The molecules that make up the stars are the same as the molecules that form our bodies. As Carl Sagan wrote, “The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.” Some of the material in our bodies is from the beginning of the Universe.

Meridian Massage,

Cindy Black

Personal Lunar Cycles

Personal Lunar Cycles

There is nothing more primal than the basic rhythm of ebb and flow. We constantly live with the dualities of empty/full, inner/outer, give/take. These rocking rhythms are linked with heartbeat, breath, life, and death. As a holistic nurse astrologer, the intention of my work is to help people find the point of cohesion, where inner is one with outer, where sky is one with earth. The instrument of my work is natural cycles - primarily the cycles of the Moon.

The Moon mirrors duality: New Moon to Full, Full to Dark of Moon, then dissolution and the beginning of another cycle. In this consistent rhythm of waxing and waning, the Moon teaches us how to live with duality. It is in the transition period between lunar cycles, however, that the Moon teaches us how to transcend duality. The space between ending cycle and beginning cycle - and there is such a space - represents an emptiness that encompasses all. Master meditation teachers of many traditions teach about this still point in relation to the moment between breaths. The moment of spaciousness between cycles, or between breaths, is a place of wisdom. When our intention is to become aware of this turning point, we resonate with the core from which duality arises, the root of our Oneness.

                                                            Moon Phase Activity

Dark of Moon	Rest, Dissolution
New Moon	Beginning
First Quarter Moon	External Resistance
Full Moon	Union
Last Quarter Moon	Internal Resistance

I suggest that the capacity to transcend duality is part of an ultimate state of health. Since change is the only constant in life, and we are always in the position of having to make a choice, it is important to ask: What is our ground, how are we rooted, where are we safe? By hanging out in that moment of stillness between cycles, we begin to open to a multidimensional knowingness that sees beyond the duality of self/other. We no longer feel isolated or alienated because we are aware of being actively linked to All That Is. We then make choices based on this broad view rather than from the limited, dualistic vision of ego and personality. Connecting consciously, and habitually, with the root of Oneness, we begin to generate self-certainty. No matter what the tides of change bring us, we know we will be safe because we are rooted in belonging.

Many people ignore the Moon as she whispers, "Watch this, transcend duality" at the end of each cycle. Do you ever overhear the statement "I am so tired and I don't know why" during the Dark of the Moon, those three days before each New Moon? We are often blood-and-bone tired as one cycle dissolves and another begins. Yet most people do not connect this sky/earth event with their physical experience of tiredness.

It was through awareness of the Collective Lunar Cycle (1) that I uncovered another, equally reliable cycle of the Moon, which I call the Personal Lunar Cycle.

                                                      Your Personal Lunar Cycle

The Personal Lunar Cycle is based on the return of a person's natal Sun-Moon phase angle. As an echoed vibration of the Collective Lunar Cycle, the Personal Cycle contains the same four components: New, First Quarter, Full, and Last Quarter Moons. The vibration of the Personal Lunar Cycle can be perceived as subtler than the Collective Cycle because the potency of the Personal Cycle relates to the fulfillment of individual destiny.

In a fairly recent TMA interview, Michael Erlewine mentioned that the natal Sun-Moon phase angle is very important in Tibetan astrology. (2) Although I've been a practicing Tibetan Buddhist for many years, I have not studied Tibetan astrology. Instead, I came to awareness of the Personal Lunar Cycle through a kinesthetic experience I had in 1993.

At the time, I was in the middle of a transition to home-based self-employment, and was no longer battling Boston traffic or the stress of an organizational environment. Living in the country, working creatively, I was making my own schedule, so there was no reason to feel a familiar tiredness I had always related to job burnout. I began to track these periods of inordinate tiredness and discovered, to my amazement, that they came with unfailing regularity during the three days before my Sun-Moon phase-angle return. (3) I have come to refer to this time as the Personal Dark of the Moon.

During these periods I experience a pulling downward and in. Just as in the Collective Lunar Cycle's Dark of the Moon, the Personal Dark of the Moon is a time for observing the void, in absolute stillness, as one cycle dissolves and the next begins. It is a time for reviewing the goals of past cycles and seeding intention for future cycles, although this is often a subconscious process.

The Personal Lunar Cycle phases are identical to those of the Collective Cycle. During the first few days of the Personal New Moon phase, just as with the Collective New Moon phase, we find ourselves moving through a nebulous, formless state and back into a more corporeal, formed state again. Then, during the Personal First Quarter phase, we meet with an outer resistance to our life or work. This sensation of external resistance is similar to the work that occurs both at age two and during the teen years, when we feel the pressure to individuate in order to mature and grow. The true work of this First Quarter phase is to push beyond others' expectations and manifest our singular selves.

The Personal Full Moon phase presents us with a crisis of yes or no proportions. We must choose either to say yes to life and the opportunity for mind/body integration, or to say no to life and remain in the shadow lands of our potential, frustrated and self-thwarted. Then, during each Personal Last Quarter phase, we meet with inner resistance to our life and our work. Here, we resist the eventual dissolution that occurs as we move from the formed state back into the formless state as we approach the end of the cycle. We may be playing out a mini fear of death here, although this experience is often largely subconscious. We can use the Personal Last Quarter phase as a practice session for learning how to let go.

                                         How to Calculate Your Personal Lunar Cycle

To begin, you need to know the degree of your natal Sun-Moon phase angle (the phase of the Moon during which you were born). Many astrological software programs provide this information, as do some web sites, e.g., or tycho.usno

Once you have determined your Sun-Moon phase angle, it is easy to track your Personal Lunar Cycle. Both Win*Star 2 and Solar Fire 4 offer phase-angle return options, and other software programs may have this option as well. If you do not have access to a phase-angle return program, you can figure out your Personal Lunar Cycle for yourself. Many general calendars list the four phases of the Moon. In the 360° cycle, the New Moon = 0°, the First Quarter Moon = 90°, the Full Moon = 180°, the Last Quarter Moon = 270°, and the Dark of the Moon Phase = approximately 324°. Determine which phase of the Moon is closest to your Sun-Moon phase angle.

Using the example of a Sun-Moon phase of 165°, we see that this Sun-Moon angle is closest to the Full Moon phase, or 180°. We then subtract 165° from 180°, which gives us a 15° difference. The Moon travels approximately 12° in one 24-hour period, or 1/2° per hour. (4) Therefore, the Personal Lunar Cycle, or phase-angle return, for the person with a 165° Sun-Moon angle would be about 30 hours before each Full Moon in the Collective Lunar Cycle. (See Table 1.)

To determine the entire four quarters of the Personal Lunar Cycle, start with the Sun-Moon phase-angle return and add 90° for each subsequent quarter. Using the example of a Sun-Moon phase angle of 165°, add 90° to get the First Quarter phase of the Personal Lunar Cycle at 255°. Add 90° to this First Quarter phase to get the Personal Full Moon phase at 345°. Add 90° to this Full Moon phase to get the Personal Last Quarter phase at 75°. To determine the Personal Dark of the Moon phase, subtract 36° from the New Moon phase of 165°. (5) In this example, the Personal Dark of the Moon phase will occur at 129°. (See Table 2.)

                                                Personal and Collective Lunar Cycles

Coordinating the Personal with the Collective Lunar Cycle requires dexterity. It is where the work is: living the connection of inner with outer.

We see from the example of a Sun-Moon phase angle of 165° that the Personal Dark of the Moon occurs about four days before the Full Moon in the Collective Lunar Cycle (180° - 129° = 51 divided by 12 = 4.25). The person with a 165° Sun-Moon phase angle can expect to feel an inward pull toward stillness just as the rest of the world is building toward a Full Moon crescendo. Conversely, he or she will experience a Personal Full Moon just as the rest of the world is responding to the inward call to stillness with the approach of the Collective Dark of the Moon.

It is easier to integrate Personal and Collective Lunar Cycles for some of the Sun-Moon phases than for others. For instance, those with a Sun-Moon phase angle between 345° and 15° will have their Personal Lunar Cycle closely synchronized with the Collective cycle. They will also have a longer Dark of the Moon period - four to six days, rather than the usual three days - because the Personal and Collective Dark of the Moon times flow into one another.

The integration of the Collective and Personal Lunar Cycles is an end point of working with this information, not a beginning point. The alignment of one's life with natural cycles is subtle work. It has been thousands of years since most people have paid attention to the integration of inner and outer cycles. It takes time, therefore, to recognize the subtle mix of rhythms on the physical level.

You can start this work by beginning to notice, over a six-month-to-two-year time frame, those three days of the Personal Dark of the Moon just before each Personal Lunar Cycle return. Once you have integrated the rhythms of the Personal Dark of the Moon and Personal New Moon phases, you will automatically sense the other phases of the Personal Lunar Cycle.

I stress the importance of the Personal Dark of the Moon because this is where the alignment between inner and outer rhythm feels most pronounced. There is a definitive tiredness during Personal Dark of the Moon times. When we rest during these times, naturally turning inward, this rest is like velvet. When we resist rest and keep pushing ourselves, we end up feeling depressed, spiteful, angry, and frustrated. This is because the Dark of the Moon is for deep receptivity. We must be still and quiet to receive the knowing available to us. If we insist on putting out effort, on doing, the result is discordance. This discordance can harm subtle energy fields, eventually affecting physical fields as well. (6)

One client with a tendency to overwork reported that she was "annoyed" when she didn't accomplish things at her usual pace during Personal Dark of the Moon periods. I explained to her that we are still working during Dark of the Moon times, although it is a very different kind of work. It is the work of releasing, resolving, and dissolving out of one cycle and into another.

Dark of the Moon times are prime for any activity that supports the exchange of information between the subconscious and conscious mind. Activities such as taking naps with the intention to bring subconscious material to the surface, non-dominant hand drawing, creative play, or outdoor exercise can facilitate this work. The purpose of this exchange is to awaken superconsiousness, or deep, inner knowing.

                                  Who Can Benefit from Tracking Personal Lunar Cycles?

Those with a strong desire to manifest their highest spiritual potential can benefit from working with the Personal Lunar Cycle. No matter how much you meditate or dedicate yourself to a spiritual life, if you are still living by mechanical time you are stuck in a construct of limitation. (7) When you align with natural cycles you open to the fullest range of potential within any moment. You allow yourself 360° vision - forward, back, up, down, top, bottom. You have a freedom of movement that corresponds to nature and the unlimited potential for awakening. Intuition deepens, connection with All That Is strengthens, contentment flows.

On a more practical level, people with busy schedules can also benefit from working with natural cycles. It helps to know, in advance, when one can expect to feel more tired, such as in Dark of the Moon times, or when one might have an intensification of energy during Full Moon times.

Families can greatly benefit from respecting one another's Personal Dark of the Moon periods. Family members can cover chores for one another during low energy times, so that each person can experience adequate rest and renewal at the appropriate times.Families can expect to feel an increased sense of harmony, bonding, and support when they honor one another's rhythms in this way.

If corporations utilized the awareness of natural cycles when planning and scheduling, it is likely that corporate profits would increase. There is less margin for error in any kind of human production, and less waste, when people do not try to force themselves upstream during downstream times.

Persons living with chronic disease can benefit by recognizing that patterns of low energy are related to lunar cycles rather than to a deterioration of health. Anticipating personal and collective Dark of the Moon phases, one can allow more time for rest, which naturally boosts the immune system. Appreciating the natural rhythms of these energy dips makes for less worry, which also boosts the immune system.

If you have access to a software program that offers the phase-angle return option, run charts for each monthly Sun-Moon phase-angle return. Read these charts the way you would read a regular lunar return chart, searching for the deeper themes and issues that will be highlighted during a particular Personal Lunar Cycle Return. For instance, I find that the tightest dynamic aspect in these charts provides much valuable information. These themes thread into life lessons as you see the work of one cycle spiraling into the work of the following cycle.

                                                         Medicine of the Future

Why is it so important that we recognize these transitions? Why do we need to reflect upon the end of a day and the beginning of a new one, on the end of a month and the beginning of a new one, on the end of a year and the beginning of a new one?

I suspect that many of today's stress-related syndromes stem from a lack of connection with natural cycles. Birth time of day, Sun-Moon Phase, and season of birth all provide fail-proof rhythms by which to coordinate our lives. Relying solely on mechanical time - timing that is external to us - is a health hazard because it has no connection with our nature.

                                                             Conclusion

Something amazing happens when I present information on Personal Lunar Cycles in my workshops, usually to people who don't know the first thing about astrology or their own charts. Using relaxation techniques, guided imagery, and sound healing within a workshop setting, 95 percent of all participants intuit their own birth phase. Participants often reverse the Quarter Moons, mistaking First Quarter for Last Quarter, and vice versa; however, most everyone guesses whether they were born during the Dark of the Moon, the New Moon, the Quarter Moons, or the Full Moon.

This natural intuiting of birth phase, without any prior knowledge, amazes me. It suggests that we carry the knowing of our charts deep within us. Allowing our clients the space, time, and framework to experience their charts from the inside out empowers them and our profession.

Living in awareness of natural cycles is a wonderful source of self-care. The alignment of inner with outer reverberates through our being and the cosmos: we have found our place, and we stand in it even as it changes. Natural cycles awareness allows us to appreciate duality and transcend it. We see beyond ebb and flow to the rock-safe core that holds us steady. Natural cycles awareness is a medicine of the future.

If you are interested in living in alignment with natural cycles, the Personal Lunar Cycle is a good place to start. The benefits are plentiful. Do not take my word for it. Try it yourself. Over the next six-to-24-months, take a look at your energy levels in relation to the recurring Sun-Moon phase angle in your birth chart. With self-created ritual, observe the void as one cycle ends and the next one begins.

Sky above
earth below
we are the connection.

(I want to thank Paula R. Gassmann, Peter Perrone, and Rab Wilkie for their valuable help in the preparation of this article. Special thanks to Michael Erlewine and Philip Sedgwick as well; their pioneering work influences my own.)

                                                    References and Notes

1. "Collective Lunar Cycle" refers here to the recurring cycle beginning with each New Moon, when the Sun and Moon are at the same degree and minute in the zodiac.

2. "Tibetan Astrology: An Interview with Michael Erlewine," The Mountain Astrologer, June/July 1998, pp. 47-51.

3. The Astrological Calendar AFA/Circle Books lists the Sun-Moon phase angle in the bottom left-hand corner of the block for each day. This yearly calendar is written and compiled by Michael, Margaret, and Stephen Erlewine, Matrix Software, Big Rapids, MI. It is published by American Federation of Astrologers, Inc., Tempe, AZ.

4. There are 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes in each Lunar cycle, according to http://www.hawastsoc.org/solar/eng/moon.htm

5. We subtract 36° here because the Moon travels approximately 12° in a day; the Dark of the Moon phase occurs three days before the New Moon (3 x 12 = 36°).

6. Valerie Hunt, Infinite Mind, Science of the Human Vibrations of Consciousness, 2nd Edition, Malibu, CA: Malibu Press, 1996.

7. Skye Compton, "Natural Time, A Workshop on the Mayan Calendar," Oregon House, Yachats, OR, September 18-20, 1998.

© 1999 Samten Williams - all rights reserved

Samten Williams, B.S.N., R.N., is a holistic nurse and astrologer. Through her company, Fresh Perspectives, Applications of Astrology for Intuitive Living, she offers workshops, seminars, consultations, and writings. Samten offers a long-distance meditation group, Synchronizing with Natural Time, on solstices, equinoxes, eclipses, and other significant astrological events throughout the calendar year. She is also writing a book on Personal Lunar Cycles. Samten can be reached at (541) 552-0586; P.O. Box 1049, Ashland, OR 97520; e-mail; or visit her website.

Pale Blue Dot

Pale Blue Dot

In September 1977, NASA launched Voyager 1, a 722-kilogram (1,592 lb) robotic spacecraft on a mission to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space.^[3][4] After the encounter with the Jovian system in 1979 and the Saturnian system in 1980, the primary mission was declared complete in November of the same year. Voyager 1 was the first space probe to provide detailed images of the two largest planets and their major moons.

The spacecraft, still travelling at 64,000 km/h (40,000 mph), is the most distant man-made object from Earth and the first one to leave the Solar System.^[5] Its mission has been extended and continues to this day, with the aim of investigating the boundaries of the Solar system, including the Kuiper belt, the heliosphere and interstellar space. Operating for 41 years and 18 days as of today (23 September 2018), it receives routine commands and transmits data back to the Deep Space Network.

Voyager 1 was expected to work only through the Saturn encounter. When the spacecraft passed the planet in 1980, Sagan proposed the idea of the space probe taking one last picture of Earth.^[8] He acknowledged that such a picture would not have had much scientific value, as the Earth would appear too small for Voyager's cameras to make out any detail, but it would be meaningful as a perspective on our place in the universe.

Although many in NASA's Voyager program were supportive of the idea, there were concerns that taking a picture of Earth so close to the Sun risked damaging the spacecraft's imaging system irreparably. It was not until 1989 that Sagan's idea was put into practice, but then instrument calibrations delayed the operation further, and the personnel who devised and transmitted the radio commands to Voyager 1 were also being laid off or transferred to other projects. Finally, NASA Administrator Richard Truly interceded to ensure that the photograph was taken.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Twenty-five years ago, Voyager 1 looked back toward Earth and saw a 'pale blue dot,' " an image that continues to inspire wonderment about the spot we call home.

— Voyager project scientist

We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.

Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

— Carl Sagan, speech at Cornell University, October 13, 1994

Intuition

Intuition

I listen to the voice of the universe as it speaks within me. It is the voice of truth and it guides me unerringly along the paths of my life. Somewhere deep within me, in the perfect bud of my soul, there stands an immobile universe where all things and all law lie revealed. I reach within to this place of peace and quietness. I harken to the voice of my heart. I close my eyes and sense a living, breathing universe dwelling within me, and I dwelling in it. I am one with all people and all life and all things. I move in accordance with divine law. All the limitless power of creation is mine to draw upon, for it is in me and one with me and I am a part of it. The answer comes with the question; the path is lighted with the first step; the way is cleared with the looking; the goal is in sight with the desire. I know that I am fulfilling the fondest wish of God, for I place myself in His hands, taking each step of my life boldly and strongly, for it is God who prompts me, and God moves with sureness.

I see tomorrow for I know today, and this day is father of tomorrow. The things of my life are the children of my thoughts, and my thoughts of today are even now bearing the children of tomorrow. All that is good I desire; all that is evil I refuse to accept. By attaining, I do not deprive. All that is and ever will be is available to every man; he need only ask and it shall be given. I bind myself to the power for good that surges heavenward all around me. The limits and inhibitions of my past are gone. Each day is a new birth of my soul. Each day is another step on my journey to a oneness with God. I do not seek, I know. I do not strive, but I am guided.

Three Magic Words,
U.S.Andersen

Imagination Creates Reality…How The Law Works

Imagination Creates Reality…How The Law Works

The law of identical harvest or cause and effect is impersonal and can be used to bring into your experience anything you can conceive. Since creation is finished, every possible state already exists. Your fusion with a particular state (imagining with feeling what you would experience were you in that state) causes that state to be projected on your screen of space. This law cannot be changed or broken and always reproduces in your outer world the exact duplicate of any belief you consent to as true. If you would change your world, you must change your beliefs. Since consciousness is the only cause, you cannot blame others for the conditions which presently exist nor can fate or chance be the cause of that which you are now experiencing. Nothing can alter the course of events in your life except a change in your own consciousness. Whatever is appearing in your world now, although it appears real and an unalterable fact, is a reflection of previous activity in your own consciousness. Therefore, a change in consciousness will reflect that change in the future just as surely as past beliefs reflect the present.

Man is pure formless consciousness and that which he conceives himself to be is an illusion or reflection of the particular ideas he holds true. These illusions exist only so long as man focuses his attention upon them and gives them life.

The conscious mind forms beliefs and opinions from the evidence of the senses or the perceived outer world. The creative power within each of us accepts as true that which the conscious mind impresses upon it. Your creative power takes those ideas, which are thought of with feeling, and projects them in your outer world. It is important to remember that not all thoughts are creative. Only those which are believed to be true or which are joined with feeling create the circumstances and events that you will encounter.

Therefore, emotions such as anger, fear, love or joy are creative. You must guard the emotions which you allow to enter your consciousness just as you would discriminate in allowing a stranger into your home. You cannot allow negative emotions to fill your mind without suffering the consequences of experiencing the state with which those emotions are joined. Fear of loss brings loss into your world. You could take every outward precaution to guard against loss, but if you fear loss, you will most certainly experience it in your affairs. Feelings of love and joy create happy events and loving relationships. Feeling abundant brings riches into your life. A person, who is unloving or suspicious and feels that others take advantage of him, draws to himself that which he believes. No matter what he does externally, his relationships with others will reflect that which he accepts as true. He may want a loving relationship but he can draw to himself only that which he is conscious of being.

Like literally does attract like, as within, so without. Consciousness is reality and that which is perceived by our senses and appears so real is but the shadow of that which we believe ourselves and the world to be.

Neville Goddard

Imagination Creates Reality...One Cause, Three

Imagination Creates Reality...One Cause, Three

It doesn’t matter what you have been taught; you can change your beliefs and so change the circumstances of your life...Most people pray to God to change something in their lives or to give them something they do not have.

Man must learn to believe in that which he does not, at the moment, see in order to grant himself that which he desires to have. Man’s prayers are always answered, for he always receives that which he believes. The law that governs prayer is impersonal. Belief is the condition necessary to realize the desire. No amount of pleas or ritual will bring about the fulfillment of your desires other than the belief that you are or have that which you want.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The full meaning of that statement must be understood. If the meaning were understood, man would have no problem in accomplishing his aims. Most men believe that nothing is impossible to God – that God could do anything if he chose to do it. So man believes he has faith in God and prays to God for that which he wants. If his prayer is not granted, he thinks that he either did not pray long enough or hard enough or that God chose to withhold his request.

However, faith is the actual substance of that which is hoped for. It is the evidence of the thing you want which you do not see in the outer world. That which you want to do or be has already been created. Therefore, it actually does exist. It is possible to bring into your world anything in creation by your belief that you already have it. Faith that what you want is already a fact is the means by which you activate the invisible state. That state then is later reflected in your outer world. Creation is finished. God can create nothing that is not already existent. Faith or belief that you already are or have that which you desire is the only means by which to experience your desires. No limitation is imposed on that which you can have except your failure to assume possession of the quality or thing desired 

Neville Goddard

Imagination Creates Reality...One Cause, Two

Imagination Creates Reality...One Cause, Two


That which you think about with feeling, that which you believe to be true and that which you imagine yourself to be or to have is the cause of everything in your personal world. You may believe that there is some other cause; you may blame others for your problems; you may believe that the events were wrought by fate or chance, but if you are objective and observe your own beliefs and thought patterns, you will see that your world accurately reflects all that you believe to be true of yourself and others. There is no one and nothing to change but the ideas from which you think. We think from ideas that we consent to as true and we imagine situations that match our beliefs. Consciousness is the only reality. It is the creative principle that brings into your experience the exact duplicate or reflection of that which you imagine to be true. The world in which we
live mirrors all that we believe and imagine to be true, be it good, bad, or indifferent.

The sooner that man rids himself of the belief in a second cause, the sooner will he realize that nothing happens to him except that which originates in his own consciousness. I do not deny that man believes that if he contracts a certain germ or virus that he will manifest a particular illness or disease. If he contemplates the cause, he may conclude that it is because he came in contact with someone else who had the bug. He doesn’t realize that in some way, his own feelings about health or illness attracted the illness he is experiencing. If viruses or germs were truly the cause of disease, everyone who came in contact with a particular virus would be affected. The outer world merely reflects that which a man is in his own consciousness.

Neville Goddard