Day Twelve: Imagine

There is a saying that “thoughts are things.” This statement underscores how important it is for us to be aware of our thoughts and the creative power and potential they hold. Did you ever wonder how thoughts are connected to experience or how they potentially influence what unfolds in life? Science has confirmed what we already know from our personal experience about the body-mind connection. Our thoughts influence how we feel and directly impact our mental and physical health. There is a feedback loop between our recurring thoughts, our state of mind, and our experience of physical well-being. Do thoughts also influence our environment or external conditions?

Through the science of yoga and metaphysics, we explore how thought does, indeed, influence external conditions. At the core of this exploration is the philosophical basis that there is really no external (meaning separate) condition. Since one Reality expresses as all that is, there is not a discrete “me” or “you” that is separate from the environment. There is, instead, a continuum of consciousness unfolding in expression. With regard to mind, there is the illusion of a separate or individual mind but our minds are actually units of universal mind, connected to all that is. We have glimpses of this “one mind” when we experience moments of shared insight with a friend and discover that we were both thinking the same thing at the same time.

According to Vedic theory, thought is a subtle form of matter. The thoughts that we focus on have creative power. First they affect our bodies and minds, and secondly, through our connection to universal mind, they influence or attract circumstances. Learning to use our minds creatively is one of the most important things we can do to contribute to our success and overall well-being.

Use the power of your mind to be successful:

1.     Be aware that thoughts and beliefs affect your experience. Be selective about what you take in to your mental field and what you will focus on. Cultivate only those thoughts and beliefs that are consistent with the truth of your being, those thoughts that will contribute to your well-being and that of others. Stand guard at the door of your mind. Let it serve truth.

2.     From time to time, engage in a process of creatively imagining the fulfillment of your goals in life. A good time to do this is after meditation when the mind is calm. Think about succeeding; picture the end result in your mind’s eye. Use your imagination to experience in the present moment how it will feel when your goal is met. This simple process allows us to cooperate with universal mind by consciously creating a mental impression that will attract what is needed to bring it about. We are doing the inner work, in mind and consciousness, to arrange conditions for our success. After that, we use our discernment and follow through with what know we need to do, or respond to, as it is presented to us.

Think About It: Dr. Robert J. Sternberg, Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences at Tufts University, is a renowned psychologist who specializes in determining what makes people successful. Dr. Sternberg has conducted research that demonstrates that imagination is as important as intelligence in predicting how successful people will be.

–from http://www.crayola.com/, The Other IQ

Be Inspired: Man may attract and direct any force in the universe by making himself a fit receptacle for it, establishing a connection with it, and arranging conditions so that its nature compels it to flow thorough him.

–ancient axiom