The Power of Thought
One of the topics that spirits often speak about through mediums is the power of thought. Reality is subjective in many ways, and you have control over these subjective areas by the way you think.
Positive Thinking
Using positive thinking to develop a positive attitude towards other people.
Much of what has been written on the subject of positive thinking has been about how to use it to accomplish material goals. However, positive thinking is an important technique (in addition to meditation ) that you can use to develop a positive attitude towards other people and in doing so, reduce the unpleasantness of negative feelings such as anger and hate. This helps one to developing love for other people which is an important step in spiritual evolution and is an important purpose for which spirits incarnate on earth.
"The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale is a good general reference on positive thinking. The discussion here which you are now reading focuses on the specific application of how to use positive thinking to help develop a positive attitude towards other people.
Positive thinking is simply the process of creating a positive thought whenever you notice a negative thought occurring in your mind. This practice has been advocated by spirits in "Confessions of a Psychic" and "The Book of James" by Susy Smith and in "The Betty Book" by Stewart White. Ways of thinking are to a large extent determined by habit and by what has been learned and practiced over a lifetime. You can use positive thinking to learn a new way of thinking about other people. With practice, positive thinking becomes automatic.
To use positive thinking in this way, you must first notice when you are thinking unloving thoughts about other people. Insight meditation can help you increase your awareness of unloving thoughts like anger or hate because it helps you become more aware of emotions. When you find yourself thinking an unloving thought, you need a way to create a positive thought in a way that will help you break the habit of negative thinking.
A practical solution to this is to simply say a prayer for the benefit of another person when you find yourself thinking an unloving thought about them. You might think it would be difficult or insincere to say a prayer for the benefit of someone you dislike or are angry at. However if you pray, for example, that the person be protected so that only the highest and best forces can influence them, then the prayer is not only an unselfish request for the benefit of the other person, it is also a prayer for the benefit of humanity and for yourself. Another characteristic of a prayer like this is that it can help you keep in mind that every one is a child of God and that all are evolving on the same path of development even if some are further along than others. In addition to replacing a negative thought with something positive, it should also help you to forgive the other person. You can say the prayer for a person or a group of people.
Such a prayer can be something like:
Oh God, please watch over and protect them so that only the highest and best forces can influence them.
Please may they have, hear, and heed the highest and best guidance.
(Instead of "them" or "they" you can say the name of the person or group.)
If you are thinking a negative thought about someone you otherwise love or are friendly with, you might want to add something for their benefit like:
Please may they be happy and healthy.
or whatever else you feel is appropriate.
Affirmations
Affirmations can be used to help you accomplish goals that you set for yourself. They work by helping you to replace self defeating and self limiting thoughts with enabling thoughts through a process of mental rehearsal and visualization of the accomplishment of your goal. Athletic trainers understand this principle and teach their athletes to mentally rehearse an athletic skill through visualization.
Here is a hypothetical example: Suppose someone wants to write a book. If he is afraid that he won't finish the book, that he can't write well, that no publisher will publish the book, that it will be unpopular, and that he will be cheated by the publisher, all these fears will interfere with accomplishing his desire. He will procrastinate in writing, he will be reluctant to put in a whole hearted effort, he will be contentious with prospective publishers, and he will be afraid to promote the book.
However he can overcome such self limitations by visualizing the thing he wants to achieve with the help of an affirmation. An affirmation that could be used in this situation might be: "I finished my book according to schedule, it was accepted by a successful publisher, my book is on sale and in demand everywhere." At the same time he would visualize having completed the book, its acceptance by a publisher, the book for sale in a store window and a long line of people waiting to buy it.
Notice that in this example, the affirmation says "I finished my book" rather than "I can write a book." There is a reason why the affirmation is phrased as if the desired outcome was already accomplished. With an affirmation you should create more than just the belief in your ability to do something, you should create the belief that you will actually do it and be successful. Nothing can be more convincing than an accomplished fact. It will release your whole potential. In our example, this would enable the person to put in a 100% effort on the book, work constructively with his publisher and whole-heartedly promote his book.
The affirmation in the example is not used to influence one's emotional state. The information in the section on Insight Meditation on the Meditation page is better suited to working with emotions.
There is also a spiritual side to this. If you pray for help you will receive it in proportion to the effort you put in. Once you start making a whole-hearted effort through the use of affirmations and positive thinking, the help you receive from spiritual forces will be that much greater. While you are working on the book, your spirit guides may help you in writing it and get you connected with the right publisher.
Your motivation for accomplishing your goal should be unselfish. If your motivation is good and pure you will attract the right kind of spirit guides.
Perspective
What you think about has a very large effect on how you experience reality. There are a number of things you can do to help maintain a positive perspective in life.
Count your blessings. Don't create a negative world for yourself by ignoring the good things in your life.
Look for the good in yourself. Don't become so focused on your failings that you ignore the good qualities in yourself or the successes you have achieved.
Look for the good in situations. You are on this earth to learn from your experiences. Looking for the good in situations you don't like is one way to learn from unfortunate events.
Try to understand others, and try to see the good in them. When people act in ways you don't like, try to understand why they might act that way. Also try to also notice the good qualities they do have. This is an important method of developing the qualities of forgiveness and tolerance in yourself.
Develop reminders to help you maintain your perspective. For example, this reminder can help you maintain a spiritual perspective:
I am an immortal spirit temporarily incarnating to learn from life. My progress is measured by the love in my heart, and not through petty conflicts or by material attainments. I do not have to resort to pettiness or anxiety. I can be unhurried and undisturbed by the inconveniences in life.
Sometimes just remembering these simple phrases can help you keep a more balanced perspective and let go of attachments.
Relax. Don't take things too seriously. Lighten up. Don't be so intense.
Always try to relax for a moment or two while repeating a reminder.
Your Thoughts Affect Others
Your thoughts affect other people. On a physical level, your thoughts affect what you say and do, and that affects other people. Your thoughts affect your posture, your tone of voice, and your facial expressions all of which have an effect on others.
However, there are also reasons to believe that your thoughts can affect people on a spiritual or psychic level too. People are spirits incarnated in a physical body. Since spirits can communicate with each other it is also possible that incarnated spirits can communicate on a spiritual level. Have you ever known what someone was going to say before they said it? Many people have had at least some small psychic experience. So, even though you might not be aware of being psychic, there is good reason to believe that at some level mind to mind influence can occur between people.
This is one reason why you should try to be charitable in your thoughts of others. Try to understand why other people do the things they do. Don't suppress your thoughts, but try to understand why you might have negative thoughts. Let your thoughts and emotions express themselves, but still try to see things from another's point of view. Also, in your own mind try to make the distinction between your emotions and your intentions.
