Tag: Thought

Week 2-19 – Thought

I’d like to examine paragraph 24 from this week’s lesson material, focusing on thought:

24. Thought is the vital force or energy which is being developed and which has produced such startling results in the last half century as to bring about a world which would be absolutely inconceivable to a man existing only 50 or 25 years ago. If such results have been secured by organizing these mental powerhouses in 50 years, what may not be expected in another 50 years?

Many things came into play to bring about the physical changes we have seen in our world over the last 25-50 years, but this book was written nearly 100 years ago, and the statement was just as true then as it is today.

Most of you reading this can remember a world without cell phones or Twitter or Facebook or the internet, but you have to think hard about how we managed to do the things we did. Despite all that, each material thing in the world today originated with a thought. Someone had to first imagine the item and then puzzle out how to create the physical item.

So, the key to everything lies in the power of thought. Anyone from any economic situation can think. The introduction to this lesson opens by saying,

Fear is a powerful form of thought. It paralyzes the nerve centers, thus affecting the circulation of the blood. This, in turn, paralyzes the muscular system, so that fear affects the entire being, body, brain and nerve, physical, mental, and muscular. Of course, the way to overcome fear is to become conscious of power.

If the key to everything is the power of thought, use thought to overcome fear. Use thought to focus on the power of good. The power of truth. The power of positive in our world. Collectively, with our thoughts and the actions that result from them, we can each be a positive force for a positive world.

Week 37: Thought

One of the things we’re examining for Continuation is Thought. We’re reading and reflecting on As A Man Thinketh by James Allen. It’s a short twenty-page treatise focusing on “thought and character,” “effect of thought on circumstances,” “effects of thoughts on health and body,” “thought and purpose,” “the thought-factor in achievement,” “visions and ideals,” and “serenity.”

I’ve read the document through a little more than once, but now, I’m beginning to break it down and truly study it for application in my life. We’ve been learning the power of the mind for this entire course, but the intricacies are fascinating. “Man is made or unmade by himself.”

“Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection all the flowers and fruits of right, useful and pure thoughts.” This mental pruning and weeding takes time but is worth the effort.

I’m beginning to see the fruits of my labor in small ways. This is encouraging and inspires me to continue the process. I think I’ve eradicated the biggest and baddest weeds. Now I’m pruning, stopping the regrowth from returning. This, of course, is a life-long process. “Men do not attract what they want but what they are.” I am making sure I AM what I WANT to be.

For now, that means I’m focusing on manifesting my Definite Major Purpose (DMP). The daily read of the Blueprint Builder sets the foundation, the DMP is the framework, and my services and plan of action are the bricks and mortar. The sit helps me check progress and make adjustments along the way.

As a Man…or Woman…Thinketh, so will be his or her life. How are your thoughts? Are you pruning the weeds and encouraging the fruits and flowers? I hope so.

Week 27: Thought

Thought. We all do it, but how many of us do so consciously? How often? It’s been on my mind this week. Pardon the pun. As I read the Master Keys lessons, the topic has come up repeatedly this week. Yesterday’s gem: “Thought is a spiritual activity and is therefore endowed with creative power.” Today’s gem: “In order to possess vitality thought must be impregnated with love.” And still more, “If we wish to express abundance in our lives, we can afford to think abundance only, and as words are only thoughts taking form, we must be especially careful to use nothing but constructive and harmonious language, which when finally crystalized into objective forms, will prove to our advantage.”

Every where we turn in the Master Keys, we are exhorted to think only positive thoughts. Think with precision about what we want most. What we think about grows. (But if you’re in the US and you’re forgotten about your taxes, you better think about them quickly, because even if you’ve forgotten them, the IRS hasn’t). But normally, what we forget, atrophies, so think about what you want and forget what you don’t.

This is where someone usually chimes in with a comment about something negative they have to deal with, or a remark that you can’t just think something into existence. The negative thing you have to deal with is an opportunity to substitute a positive thought pattern that presents it in a more positive light. And, if you’re not willing to work to make what you think about a reality, then it’s just a daydream. The purpose of thinking about what we want in precise, specific detail, is to make us alert to opportunities to change our lives in a way that will bring our dream in our heads closer to reality. By being aware of what we want, we’ll be more attuned to the opportunities when they appear.

But first, we need to get our minds in order. We need to practice thinking. We need to seek opportunities. They are there. Rarely will what we want just fall into our laps; however, by thinking deeply and regularly, it will be far more effortless than if we aren’t doing the thinking. Quiet your mind, and think.