Introduction

INTRODUCTION

From the very beginning of time, people have been making statements such as, "Be Positive", "Laughter is the Best Medicine", etc. Many famous people-Plato, Shakespeare, Newton, Hugo, Beethoven, Lincoln, Emerson, Edison, Einstein-were aware of the power of positive thinking. But until the end of last century, nobody did much research on the subject as to "how" or "to what extent" the power of positive thinking actually works. Now we see growing evidence all around us on how positive thinking can bring about miraculous healing of relationships, health, finance and career. People have also tried to provide scientific explanation, using quantum physics. We know now that each thought has a frequency which can be measured. Dr Denis Waitley instituted a Visual Motor Rehearsal program, where Olympic athletes were hooked up to sophisticated biofeed equipments and were told to run their event only in their mind. Surprisingly, the same muscles fired out in the same sequence when they were running the race on their mind as when they were actually running on the track. This can be explained by the fact that the mind can't distinguish whether they were really doing it or if they were just practicing it in their mind. Dr Denis concludes by saying that "if you have been there in your mind, you'll go there in your body". That is how powerful our thoughts are.

Law of Attraction

The Law of Attraction says: "That which is like unto itself is drawn" or "Like attracts like". According to this law, there is nothing that we can't be, do or have. We are the creators of our reality and we create this reality by the thoughts we think. This has been summed up by the writer, Mike Dooley, in three simple words-Thoughts become things. We attract to our life what we think of the most. The problem is that it doesn't matter if our thoughts are positive or negative in nature. As long as the thoughts are predominant, they will manifest into reality. So if we concentrate our thoughts on the lack of something, that lack remains and keeps coming up in our life again and again. So, we must always try to focus on what we do want and believe in the possibility of their manifestation. In other words, we should always try to think positive thoughts for them to come to fruition.

How it works

Spiritual Explaination- We are physical extensions of the Source Energy. The better we feel, the more we are in allignment with Source Energy. The more we are alligned, the easier it is for our desires to be heard and answered by this Source and then be received by us. Every thought, idea, Being and thing is vibrational in nature, so when we focus our attention on something, the vibration of our Being begins reflecting the vibration of that which we are giving our attention to. The more we think about it, the more we vibrate like it and the more which is similar to it is then attracted to us. This process will continue to occur and will eventually turn the thought into a belief, unless we start offering a different vibration. Once the belief is powerful enough, it will start manifesting into our life in the form of an experience.

Scientific Explaination-According to the Quantum Physics, it is not possible for there to be a universe without mind entering into it. The mind shapes the very thing that is being perceived. So whatever reality exists outside is because of it's existence in our mind (in the form of thoughts).

The three steps to get all we want

The Law of attraction can be divided into three vital steps:

Step 1-WE ASK

Due to the contrasting experiences of day-to-day life, desiring for certain things come naturally and effortlessly to us. The only catch is that instead of focusing on what we would like to manifest, we concentrate on what we don't want to happen. The Law of Attraction is unbiased to whether we perceive something to be good or bad or on whether we want or don't want something; it simply responds to our thoughts. So it is very essential for the thoughts to be in allignment with what we want.

Step 2-The UNIVERSE ANSWERS

All the things that we ask for, large or small, are immediately understood and fully offered. The only reason why people are still left with unfulfilled desires is due to the incompletion of the third step.

Step 3-WE ALLOW IT IN(RECEIVE)

We must believe that what we want will manifest, no matter how unlikely it seems or how long it takes. If we could somehow make ourselves to feel the way we would feel once we get what we want, then that would accelerate Step 2.

The emotional guidance scale 

Different emotions have different vibrational frequencies and these emotions are the indicators of the frequency we radiate. They tell us of our degree of allignment with the Source Energy-the better we feel, the more we are alligned with it. Hence, it is essential to know which emotion is preferable to the others. For this, we have the emotional guidance scale, that lists down all emotions in the order of their preference.

1)Joy/Knowledge/Empowerment/Freedom/Love/Appreciation

2)Passion

3)Enthusiasm/Eagerness/Happiness

4)Positive Expectation/Belief

5)Optimism

6)Hopefulness

7)Contentment

8)Boredom

9)Pessimism

10)Frustation/Irritation/Impatience

11)"Overwhelment"

12)Disappointment

13)Doubt

14)Worry

15)Blame

16)Discouragement

17)Anger

18)Revenge

19)Hatred/Rage

20)Jealousy

21)Insecurity/Guilt/Unworthiness

22)Fear/Grief/Depression/Despair/Powerlessness.

All that we must try to do is move up the emotional scale. The closer we are to the 1st category of emotions, the more we are vibrating the right signal. . If we see the list, we can find "anger" above depression/fear/grief/despair/powerlessness. This can be explained by the fact that the former brings relief from the latter feelings. As one moves up the emotional scale, one starts to feel relief and freedom and that shows us that we are moving in the right direction.

Some Proven Processes to Improve The Point of Attraction.

Even after knowing about the Law of Attraction, we still find it very hard to keep ourselves in a constant state of positive energy because of various outside circumstances. This again leads us to start thinking negatively, which causes a resistance to our natural connection with the Source Energy. To prevent this from happening, some processes have been developed that effectively releases all the resistive thoughts and helps us to always remain positive and focussed on our desires. All these processes have been proven to be effective. Different process will appeal to different people and one must choose (and then perform) those processes towards which one is most drawn to.

Process #1-The Rampage Of Appreciation

This process is most effective when our emotion ranges from 1)Joy/Knowledge/Empowerment/Freedom/Love/Appreciation to 5)Optimism.

This process is started by looking around our immediate surrounding and gently noticing something that pleases us. We try to hold our attention on this pleasing object as we consider how wonderful, beautiful or useful it is. As we focus upon it, our positive feeling will increase. Once the good feeling is noticeably stronger than when we began, we look around and choose another pleasing object to appreciate. The longer we focus upon things that feel good, the easier it is for us to maintain those positive vibrational frequencies. The more we maintain these good-feeling frequencies, the more the Law Of Attraction will deliver to us thoughts, experiences, people and things that match our practiced vibration. Vibration of appreciation is the most powerful connection with the Source Energy and when we practice it, there is no resistive thoughts in our vibration.

Process#2-The Magical Creation Box

This process will again be of most value to us, when our emotion ranges from 1)Joy/Knowledge/Empowerment/Freedom/Love/Appreciation to 5)Optimism.

To begin the process, we find a nice-looking box that pleases us whenever we look at it. On the lid, we write the words:"Whatever is contained in this box-IS". Next, we leaf through the pages of magazines, catalogs and brochures and clip out pictures of anything that exemplifies any desires that we hold and that we would like to include in our experience. If we witness something that we would like to experience, we write a description of it and drop that into the box. The more things we find for our box, the more ideas the Universe will deliver to us to match the ones already in it. The more ideas we drop, the more focussed our desires will get and the better we feel. If we feel no doubt of achieving all these things that we are dropping into the box, doors will start opening and we will soon start seeing evidences of these things moving closer into our experience.

Process#3-The Creative Workshop

This process works best when our emotion ranges from 1)Joy/Knowledge/Empowerment/Freedom/Love/Appreciation to 5)Optimism.

Though this game could be played in our mind, it is most effective when we perform the action in writing. We begin the process by taking four pieces of paper and put the following headings at the top of each sheet:My Body, My Home, My Relationships, My Work. Under each heading, we jot down in points all that we would want about the four topics and why we would want that. This helps us to focus our energy upon the areas that are most immediate and important to our life experience. When we make more specific statements of desire, we activate the energy around those subjects even more. When we try answering the "why" of our desire, we soften the resistance regarding the subject while adding more clarity and power to the thoughts. Why we want something defines the essence of what we want. We must remember to not put deadlines to our desires since that increases resistance involving the thought. If we practice this often, soon we will become the deliberate creator of our reality and our experience.

Process#4-Virtual Reality

This process is most effective when our emotion ranges between 1)Joy/Knowledge/Empowerment/Freedom/Love/Appreciation and 8)Boredom.

In this process, we visualise in as much detail as possible something that we want to experience. When we visualise something that we desire, it will automatically release our resistive thoughts and take us to a positive-feeling place. This brings intense focus on the object of our desire. The Universe can't distinguish between what is actually occurring and what is being thought of as occuring since we live in a Vibrational Universe. Hence, the Universe responds to our vibration(offered by our visualisation) and amazing things begin to flow to our experience, resembling our Virtual Reality.

Process#5-The Prosperity Game

This process is effective when our emotion ranges between 1)Joy/Knowledge/Empowerment/Freedom/Love/Appreciation and 16)Discouragement.

In this process, we first create an imaginary checking account. There will be no actual bank involved, but we will make deposit entries and check withdrawals as if there were an actual account. On first day, we deposit $1,000 into our checkbook register and then write out checks to spend those dollars. We also write a brief description in the memo portion of the check of the purchased item. We try spending the entire money on that day itself. On second day, we deposit $2000, on third day $3000 and so on. Many of us don't really imagine much and hence offer vibration based on our day-to-day observations. As a result of this, our future evolves much the same and doesn't improve drastically. But if we provide our focus to these wonderful expanding ideas that this game evokes from us, our point of attraction shifts positively. By this process, not only will the financial situation improve but also all those things that we focused upon will start flowing into our experience.

Process#6-The Process Of Meditation

This process is effective when our emotion lies between 1)Joy/Knowledge/Empowerment/Freedom/Love/Appreciation and 22)Fear/Grief/Depression/Despair/Powerlessness.

By now, we know that by deliberately choosing positive thoughts, our hindering beliefs can be replaced. But meditation is a method of changing one's beliefs in much shorter time. It is easier for us to have no thoughts at all than to have positive, pure thoughts. That is exactly what is done in Meditation. Imagine a cork bobbing on a water body-this represents the place of high, fast, pure vibration that is natural to us, Now, let us imagine holding the cork down under the water-this is what resistance is like. When we let go of the cork, it automatically rises back up to the surface of the water. Just like it is natural for the cork to float on the water surface, it is natural for us to experience the high, fast, pure vibration, free of resistance. We do not have to work at being in the high vibration since it comes naturally to us. In meditation, we practise "absence of thought", when there is no vibration within us, so we naturally start emitting pure, higher vibrations. There are various ways by which a meditative state can be achieved. The basic objective is to concentrate on something that doesn't evoke any reaction within us. So, we usually close our eyes, relax and perform some simple action like silently counting numbers or focusing on our breathing. As the mind becomes silent, we start feeling a sense of physical detachment. For example, we may feel that there is no difference between our toe and our nose or feel the sensation of twitches and itches beneath the skin, involuntary movements in our body like swaying from side-to-side or to-and-fro, etc. All of these are indicators of our achievement of a state of meditation.

Process#7-Evaluating Dreams

This process is of most value when our emotions lies between 1)Joy/Knowledge/Empowerment/Freedom/Love/Appreciation and 22)Fear/Grief/Depression/Despair/Powerlessness.

When we dream, it is always a match to the thoughts that we have been thinking. The fact that it has now manifested in our dream state means that we have given it a significant amount of thought. The way we feel about the things we think will eventually manifest in our real-life experience but it takes even less time and attention for it to manifest in our dream state. For this reason, our dreams can be of immense value in helping us understand what we are in the process of creating. Meaningful dreams are always accompanied by strong emotions. When we wake up from a good dream, we should know that we are closer to the manifestation of that wonderful thing that we dreamed of and try to keep up the strong, positive emotions that the dream had evoked. When we awaken from a bad-feeling dream, we must acknowledge that our dominant thoughts are in the process of attracting something that we do not want and hence change our thinking to bring about the manifestation of something we do want.

Process#8-The Book Of Positive Aspects

This process is most effective when our emotion ranges between 1)Joy/Knowledge/Empowerment/Freedom/Love/Appreciation and 10)Frustation/Irritation/Impatience.

We begin the process by purchasing a nice notebook. On the cover page, we write:My Book Of Positive Aspects. On a daily basis, we write in it a brief description of someone or something that we always feel good about, noting down only those things that we appreciate about that person/thing and why. By this process, we will activate within ourselves such a powerful vibration of appreciation, that other names and titles for this book will continue to flow to us. The more positive aspects we search for, the more we are going to find. Not only is an improved degree of focus certain, but with the focus will come an increase in both clarity and in our feeling of being alive. By this process, our point of attraction will continue to improve, our relationship with each subject of the book will become richer and more satisfying and the Law Of Attraction will continue to deliver more wonderful people, places, experiences and things for us to enjoy.

Process#9-Scripting

This process is of most value when the emotion ranges between 2)Passion and 6)Hopefulness.

If something that we desire is not coming, it is only because we are not allowing it to come since the thoughts that we are practicing are contrary to our own desire. Nothing else prevents us from realising every dream. In the Scripting Process, we pretend to be a writer and everything that we write will be performed in the real life exactly as we write it. Our only job is to describe, in detail, everything exactly as we want it to be. As we are having fun playing this game and are not taking it too seriously, we accomplish two things that are necessary in the achievement of anything-We focus the lens of our desire and we offer no resistance. The longer we concentrate on a subject and the more detail we give to it, the faster the Energy moves. With practice, amazing evidence of the power of the game will be observed. Things that we have written will begin to occur in our experience and people we interact with will actually say the words that we had scripted. This is the power of our intent since in reality, we are the (vibrational) script-writers of our life.

Process#10-Pivoting

This process is most effective when our emotion ranges from 8)Boredom to 17)Anger.

It is possible to be focused in vibrational opposition to what we really desire without knowing it. Just like the opposite ends of a stick,-when we pick up the stick, we pick up both the ends. This Pivoting Process will help us be to be more aware of which end of the stick we are currently activating:the end that is about what we want or the end that is about the absence of what we want. The contrast of the time-space reality is extremely useful since it sharpens our focus-whenever we know what we don't want, we know more clearly what we do want and vice versa. This process helps us to clearly define what we desire. However, since there is a wide variation in the vibration of the two ends of the stick, shifting our vibration from one(resistive) end to the other (positive) end might take some time. Whenever we are focused upon something unwanted, we should stop and say, "I know now what I don't want, so what is it that I do want?". Little by little, we will redirect our vibration and eventually the improved vibration will become our dominant thought.

Shivyog

'Shiv' means Infinite and 'Yog' means Union. 'Shiv Yog' means the union with the infinite. Each one of us has infinite potential and Shiv Yog is the process of unfolding this potential. This was founded by Avdhoot Baba Shivanand and is based on ancient Hindu scriptures. In some of his articles, he talks of a phenomenon very similar to the Law of Attraction. He writes, "Every thought that comes in the mind creates energy...It is mentioned in our scriptures that if a thought comes to our mind repeatedly, it becomes a mantra. And if you are regularly reciting that mantra then it becomes a reality. In other words, you can create a life of your own choice if you know how to control your thoughts.....In our scriptures, it is written—Aham Brahmasmi; meaning I am Brahma, the ultimate creator......You create spirituality for yourself. You also create failures for yourself. There is no external force other than your thoughts and mind, which is responsible for creation of all these elements. Shiva is very kind. He has given you the choice to create things for yourself. He has given you the power to choose....My view is if you scan every thought entering your mind very carefully and select only the positive thought, your life will change for the better". This clearly proves that some of the teachings of Shivyog is the same as that which we learned in the Law of Attraction, even though it is obvious that there is no direct link between the two disciples.

Subconscious Mind

The best work regarding this subject has been done by Joseph Murphy via his best-selling book, "The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind". His strong belief in the power of subconscious mind comes from the fact that he had miraculously healed himself from a supposedly malignant and terminal disease-Sarcoma. In this book, he says that we are like the captain navigating a ship and must give right orders through thoughts and images to the Subconscious Mind, which controls and governs all our experiences. Whatever we think consciously, ultimately reaches the Subconscious Mind, which is unbiased and bring into our experience exactly what we think. The conscious mind is like a watchman at the gate and it's main job is to see to it that the right thoughts go to the subconscious mind. We have a power to choose and we must choose healthy, positive thoughts. The author also tries to explain how miraculous spiritual healings occur because of strong belief in holy places or holy people. He states that it actually happens because of our power of belief, that appropriately activates the subconscious mind and not because of some divine power of the religious places/people. Many examples of how effective the technique has proven to be for various people have been described in detail. Throughout the book, it is glaringly obvious that Law of Attraction and The Power of Subconscious Mind are one and the same thing, the only difference being that one has a spiritual basis and the other a psychological one.

Conclusion

Power of positive thinking is now a well known and widely researched subject. With passing time, more and more people are acknowledging it's existance and applying it to their way of living for a healthier and happier life.

Our job is to spread awareness regarding this to every human being, It is important to note that our work is not to "Fix the wrongs". Often we tend to think of how to fix people; stop wars, crimes, violence, etc. What we don't realise is that by just trying to fix something, we are providing our concentration and energy on the "wrongs", hence more of it is being attracted to our life. We must, instead, think of how to bring about love, peace, freedom and well-being. That is what is positive thinking all about.

Recommendation

We find ourselves very fortunate that we were able to come across a phenomenon as mind-blowing as "Power of positive thinking". We both are ardent believers of this power and apply it to our lives, At times, due to outside circumstances, it's admittedly very difficult to remain positive though not impossible. With practice, anyone can master this power and then wonders will start flowing to them. We both have had personal experiences to validate that last statement. One tends to wonder that if this was true, then how will the balance be maintained in the world. The books that we consulted answered that there is no need of any balance since there is infinite reserves to fulfill everyone's desire. What we think differs from what was said in the books-The balance will still remain and that's because half of the population will not really believe in the possibility of such a phenomenon. This half is busy being cynical and pessimistic, living their "practical" lives and they don't really have time to believe in anything so "wonderful" or "fairytalish", since for them, it's a waste of their precious time.We have encountered this problem while spreading awareness regarding this Law of the universe. Some people will simply not believe it! The other half of the population, who decided to be open and believe in the power of positive thinking, will succeed in all of their endeavors. It is totally upto us to decide which half of the population we want to be a part of.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Though there are many sources providing information regarding this subject, none of them describe them in as much detail as was found from the following sources:

The book-"Ask and It is given" by Esther and Jerry Hicks.

The book-"Power of Subconscious Mind" By Dr Joseph Murphy.

The movie-"The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne.

The Articles from the site-"www.shivyog.com".

English Project

I always wanted to write something about the "power of positive thinking".... did a project on this subject. I'm posting the written content as a blog..Hope people find it useful...