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The Magic of Believing (excerpts)
by Claude M. Bristol
"Glance around as you read this. If you are in a furnished room, your eyes tell you that you are looking at a number of inanimate objects. That is true so far as visual perception is concerned, but you are actually looking at thoughts or ideas which have come into materialization through the creative work of some human being. It was a thought, first, that created the furniture, fashioned the window glass, gave form to the draperies and coverings...
"Your very life is your thinking---and the result of your thinking processes. Your flesh, bones, and muscles can be reduced to 70% water and a few chemicals of small value, but it is your mind and what you think that makes you what you are. The secret of success lies not outside, but within the thoughts of man...
"For success, it is essential that your desire be an all-obsessing one, your thoughts and aims be co-ordinated, and your energy be concentrated and applied without letup... you can have your objective, provided you are willing to make it the burning desire of your life...
"...[Thoughts] create only according to their pitch, intensity, emotional quality, depth of feeling, or vibratory plane. In other words, thoughts have a creative or controlling force in the exact ratio of their constancy, intensity and power---comparable to the wave length and wattage of a broadcasting station...
"...all the systems, creeds, and cults work as a result of the firm beliefs of the individual---and that brings us to the magic of believing...
"Freud brought forth the hypothesis that a powerful force within us, an unilluminated part of the mind---separate from the conscious mind---is constantly at work molding our thoughts, feelings, and actions...Others have called this division of our mental existence the soul, ... the super-ego, the inner power, the super-consciousness, the unconscious, the subconscious, and various other names. Still others have asserted that it is part of the Supreme Intelligence to which we are all linked. Hence the name Universal Mind---that which embraces every living thing, all human as well as plant and animal life...
"No matter what we call it---I prefer the term subconscious---it is recognized as the essence of life, and the limits of its powers are unknown. It never sleeps. It comes to our support in times of great trouble, it warns us of impending danger, it often aids us to do what seems impossible. It guides us in many ways and when properly employed, performs so-called miracles...
"Objectively, it does as it is told---that is, when it is commanded or besought by the conscious mind; subjectively, it acts primarily upon its own initiative, although there are times when its activity appears to be the result of influences from the outside..."
"Perhaps the most effective method of bringing the subconscious into practical play is through making mental pictures. Use your imagination to perfect an image of the thing or situation as you would like it to exist in physical form. This is usually referred to as visualization.
"However, most sustained and continuing manifestations come as a result of deep-seated belief. Through this belief, with its strange power, miracles happen and peculiar phenomena occur for which there appears to be no known explanation. I refer now to unquestioning belief---a firm and positive conviction that goes through every fiber of your being---when you believe with your heart and soul.
"Call it a phase of emotion, a spiritual force, a type of electrical vibration---anything you please---but that's the force that brings outstanding results, sets the law of attraction into operation, and allows sustained thought to correlate with its object. Belief changes the tempo of the mind or thought-frequency. Like a huge magnet, it draws the subconscious forces into play, changing your whole aura and affecting everything about you---including people and objects at great distances. It often brings into your individual sphere of life results that are sometimes startling---results you never dreamed possible.
What the subconscious really is
"...to draw upon the resources and powers of the subconscious and awaken it into action, you must first be sure you are asking for something that is rightfully yours to have and within your ability to handle, for the subconscious manifests itself only according to a person's capabilities. Next, in conveying our need to the subconscious, it must be in images of the work having already been done. Thus, while it is necessary for you to feel and think yourself successful, it is important to go one step further and actually see yourself as already successful, either in the performance of some selected task or as actually occupying the position to which you aspire. For the next and final step, you must wait patiently while the subconscious assimilates the elements of your problem and then goes about its own way to work it out for you. You must have patience and absolute faith, for, as Theodore Simon Jouffroy, the French philosopher, said, 'The subconscius mind will not take the trouble to work for those who do not believe in it.' ...
"In due course, with the flowing of the ideas and plans of the subconscious into your waiting conscious mind, the solution of your problem will be revealed to you and the correct course of action indicated. You must receive the message from the subconscious freely, and after understanding it you must act at once, immediately and unquestioningly. There must be no hesitation on your part, no mental reservation, no deliberation. Only by a prompt and automatic response will you make your subconscious continue to respond whenever you call upon it.
"However, your problem may be one that cannot be solved in this manner. Instead of receiving the final fulfillment, at intervals you may feel some mysterious force urging you to do certain things that seem to have no special significance or logical connection. Nevertheless, you must continue to believe in the power and wisdom of the subconscious. Obediently perform the seemingly irrelevant things, and one day you will find yourself in the position you sought, doing the work you envisioned for yourself. Then, when you look back, you will see how the things you were called upon to do, through the aid of the subconscious, all formed a logical line of events, the last one of which was your final arriving---the reward of your sincerest hopes and desires, your own triumphant personal success!
Suggestion is power
"After studying the various mystical religions and different teachings and systems of mind-stuff, I'm impressed that they all have the same basic modus operandi. That is, they achieve success through repetition---the repeating of certain mantras, words, or formulas.
"...And this brings us to the law of suggestion. Forces operating within its limits are capable of producing phenomenal results. That is, the power of suggestion---either autosuggestion (your own to yourself) or heterosuggestion (coming to you from outside sources)---starts the machinery into operation, causing the subconscious mind to begin its creative work---and right here is where the affirmations and repetitions play their part. Repetition leads to belief, and once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.
"...This subtle force of the repeated suggestion overcomes our reason, acting directly on our emotions and our feelings, finally penetrating to the very depths of our subconscious minds. This is the basic principle of all successful advertising---the continued and repeated suggestion that first makes you believe, after which you are eager to buy...
"It is very important to remember that the subconscious will go into action at once under the impetus of the commands or suggestions it receives from the conscious mind (or which come from outside sources and are transmitted to it via the conscious mind). But it gets results quicker if the conscious mind accompanies its message with a mental picture of the desired goal. It may be faint, sketchy, or even unfinished, but even if only an outline, it will be enough for the subconscious to act upon.
"Without question, human imagination, visualization, and concentration are the chief factors in developing the subconscious mind's magnetic forces...
The art of mental pictures
"When you employ your imagination properly, you see yourself doing a thing, and then you go ahead and do it. Doing the thing you have pictured to yourself brings it into actual existence. In this connection, think about the use of a magnifying glass. When properly focused, it will gather and concentrate the light from the sun to burn a hole in the paper upon which the rays are focused. It must be held steady before the heat builds up. So it is with your images or mental pictures.
"When you realize that the subconscious works accurately to externalize whatever suggestion is most greatly impressed upon it, you then understand the necessity for concentrating and for constantly repeating one single suggestion.
"...plant the right kind of thought---of a pure strain---and habitually feed it with strong affirmative thought always directed toward the same end, and it will grow into a mighty force, finding ways and means of overcoming all obstacles.
"Desire is the generating power of all human action, and without it no one can get very far. The keener, the more urgent the desire, the sooner its consummation. It marks the difference between the uneducated ditchdigger and the person of accomplishment, between the clerk and the executive, between the failure and the success. So you must always start with desire. Keep in mind that by the magic of believing, you can obtain what you picture in your mind's eye. The mechanics are there only to help you focus our desire-picture sharply on the screen of your subconscious mind, and let you shut out all distracting thoughts, negative ideas, or any fear or doubt projections that might otherwise penetrate to your subconscious.
"At the start, you may have no idea how the results are to come. Yet you need not concern yourself. Just leave it to the subconscious mind, which has its own ways of making contacts and of opening doors and avenues that you may have never even guessed at. You will receive assistance from the most unexpected sources. Ideas useful in accomplishing your program will come at most unexpected times. You may be suddenly struck with the idea of calling a person you have not heard from for a long time, or writing someone you have never seen before. You may get the impulse to read the newspaper or listen to the radio. Whatever the idea is, follow it.
"I cannot emphasize too strongly that you should tell no one ... nor give anyone an inkling of what you desire. To do so may end disastrously for you. ... understand how thought vibrations---conscious or unconscious, because of envy or some other cause---can be set up to counteract your own.
"The truth is that when you talk about what you're going to do, you scatter your forces. You lose your close connection with the subconscious, and unless you do as directed here, you will frequently have to start all over again in your program of achievement."
The mirror technique for releasing the subconscious
"Stand in front of a mirror. It need not be full-length, but it should be large enough so that you can at least see your body from the waist up.
"Stand
fully erect, bring your heels together, pull in your stomach, keep your
chest out and your head up. Now breathe deeply three or four times until
you feel a sense of power, strength, and determination. Next, look into
the very depths of your eyes, tell yourself that you are going to get what
you want-name it aloud so that you can see you lips move and hear the words
uttered.
"Make a regular ritual of it, practice doing it at least twice a day,
mornings and evenings---and you will be surprised at the results. You can
augment this by writing with soap on the face of the mirror any slogans
or key words you wish, so long as they are key to what you have visualized
before and want to see in reality. Within a few days, you will have a developed
a sense of confidence that you never realized you could build within yourself.
"As you stand before the mirror, keep telling yourself that you are going to be an outstanding success and that nothing in this world is going to stop you. Does this sound silly? Don't forget that every idea presented to the subconscious mind is going to produce its exact counterpart in objective life, and the quicker your subconscious gets the idea, the sooner your wish becomes a picture of power. Certainly, it is not good business for you to tell anyone of the devices you employ, because scoffers might ridicule you and shake your confidence, especially if you are just beginning to learn the science.
"Much has been written about the power of the eyes. The eyes are said to be the windows of the soul; they reveal your thoughts. They express you far more than you imagine. They permit others to 'get your number,' as the saying goes. You will find, however, that once you start this mirror practice, your eyes will take on a power that you never realized you could develop (something that writers have referred to as a dynamic or fascinating power). This will give you that penetrating gaze that makes others think you are looking into their very souls. Sooner or later will come an intensity to bespeak the intensity of your thought, which people will begin to recognize.
Belief makes things happen
"'Know Thyself.' Know your power. ...Just believe that there is genuine creative magic in believing---and magic there will be, for belief will supply the power for you to succeed in everything you undertake. Back your belief with a resolute will, and you will become unconquerable, a master among men---yourself.
excerpted from The Magic of Believing: The Science of Setting Your Goal and Then Reaching It by Claude M. Bristol
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