galvanized my attention like concentration on the very process of awareness seeking to
discover its source. Ontologically driven, I felt the flow of my awareness much like that of a river
and tracing the river back to its source became the central theme of my adult life.
Gods of the past, made in the cramped image of their creators, ultimately reflect their makers’
narrow sense of self. As such, they provide us with glimpses into the self-image of these
populations—and by extrapolation, into our own inherited self-image. The representations of
God sculpted by ancient cultures suggest that the people of the times saw themselves as
participants in the grand scheme of the natural world that played out in time frames stretching
on for millions and billions of years. Images of God portrayed by monotheistic cultures, whether
visually descriptive of physical features or narratively expressive of tribal ideals and ideas, point
to a different understanding of the human self. Promises of paternal guidance “from above” and
of a division between heaven-bound believers and hell-bound nonbelievers give an impression
of people who considered themselves distanced from the cosmos and divided amongst
themselves. In each instance, God was viewed as the property of a select membership in a
centralized house of worship. The insular self-image that gave rise to monotheistic God images
detached from a “fallen” humanity today breeds intense feelings of superiority over others and
separation from every universal concept of God, hindering spiritual investigation into the nature
of the cosmos and human self-awareness.
In tackling the question What is God? this narrow sense of self prompts one answer, while a
more expansive sense of self, encompassing its inherently inclusive nature, propels another.
People closely identified with a monotheistic religion often declare that God is a force “out there”
ministering exclusively to individuals of their particular faith, often to the detriment of others.
Moreover, these religions and their images of gods will not suddenly vanish or be replaced by
secular humanism; and neither will the natural tendency of the human heart to worship
something larger than itself summarily disappear. But as the monotheist’s self-image expands,
she is likely to arrive at a more pantheistic perspective, saying that the one infinite
substance—call it God or the self-awareness inherent in the cosmos—underlies everyone and
everything.
Expansion of the sense of self, the seedbed of all knowledge, engenders peace internally and
also in the world. With expanded ideas of self, one hundred people may come up with one
hundred images of God; yet everyone would agree that each image merely provides a focal
point of concentration for the heart and head to identify with humanity and explore a more
inclusive spirituality. Though everyone in the world would probably arrive at a slightly different
image of God to focus on, each reflecting a unique sense of self on its journey of expansion,
these images would cease to cloak narrow interests and instead serve humanity as a whole.
Miracles and the Mind
Experience shows, without exception, that miracles occur only in times and in countries in which
miracles are believed in, and in the presence of persons who are disposed to believe in them.
—Ernest Renan
For millennia, religion has been associated with miracles, viewed as instances when the laws of
nature are temporarily suspended to prove God’s power. Krishna is credited with everything
from swallowing a forest fire to lifting a hill. The Buddha stops a raging elephant in its tracks.
Moses’s snake eats the snakes of Egyptian priests. Christ materializes enough fish and bread to
feed throngs of assembled people. Muhammad, according to hagiographical accounts, is
capable of splitting the moon. Stories of miraculous feats have nothing to do with the laws of
nature, however, but rather with the respective religion’s efforts to demonstrate the power and
sovereignty of its self-reflecting ideal of God.
By encouraging the interpretation of events as miracles, organized religions sought to prove
their claims and win converts. For example, during the widespread plague of the second
century, many Christians survived due to their habits of hygiene and their communal style of
living, though they attributed their endurance to the supremacy of their God. After the plague
passed, tens of thousands of people converted to Christianity because they, too, interpreted the
Christians’ survival as miraculous proof of their God’s protection.
People who interpret their circumstances as miraculous often end up bolstering their feelings of
security in life. Upon landing a great job, a man may feel that God is on his side; if he doesn’t
get the job, he might decide that God is protecting him from what would otherwise have been an
unhappy work experience. Similarly, whereas the ancient Hebrews were initially henotheistic,
worshipping one god while accepting the existence of others, they became monotheistic
following the loss of their worldly kingdom to the Babylonians in the sixth century BCE, when
they determined that, instead of being squarely defeated by the Babylonians’ gods, Yahweh had
used the Babylonians as his instrument to punish Israel—a self-glorifying interpretation
extending the dominion of their god over all people and all lands. Viewing Yahweh as the one
universal god, the Hebrews could also pray to him anywhere, increasing their sense of safety in
the world.
While human experiences viewed as miracles can furnish a sense of safety and security, these
experiences, contrary to religion’s claims, cannot validate God’s power. All they can do is
reinforce beliefs we already harbor. The more miracles we embrace, the more deeply
entrenched our beliefs become, because we habitually interpret our experiences through the
filter of these beliefs.
Suppose, for instance, that an intelligent species on a distant planet developed a religion
complete with an image of God. During worship, its ideal of God might manifest in believers’
minds, in their dreams, and perhaps even before their eyes. Yet their ecstatic visions would
have nothing to do with the power of their God and everything to do with the form epitomizing
their local beliefs. In much the same way, a crowd of people on earth witnessing a vision of the
Virgin Mary does not validate Christianity but rather reflects local adoration of the image of
Mary. Visions of gods are not evidence of “seeing the light” but of the darkening influence of
provincial conditioning on the mind that hides more expansive ideals.
Miracles experienced by people, either singly or in masses, are informed solely by beliefs.
Historically, the Virgin Mary did not appear to individuals until the image of the Virgin Mary had
become a widely used icon, and she became visible to crowds only after her cult had grown in
popularity. Nor has any image of God from one religion appeared to followers of another
religion. The acceptance of supernormal events connected with any of the world’s major
religions, such as marble statues inexplicably drinking milk before Hindus or others bleeding
before Christians, are likewise informed by the accumulated beliefs and expectations held by
millions of people over many years’ duration.
Religious authorities who interpret events as miracles are themselves guided by beliefs. These
authorities either acknowledge apparent miracles or deny their existence, depending on whether
the so-called miracles support the religion’s dogma. In the event that an apparent miracle
conflicting with the dogma cannot be denied, perhaps because it has been witnessed by many
people, the phenomenon will often be attributed to a diabolical force. A classic example of this
type of demonizing occurred when Catholic theologians, unable to either take credit for or
discredit parallel myths of other religions, such as the virgin birth of the Buddha, declared them
works of the devil meant to trick humanity.
Not only are miracles used in dubious ways to increase one’s sense of security and reinforce
religious dogma, but they cast a dangerously misleading model of the universe—one that
spiritual investigators would question. For one thing, assigning to God the cause for inexplicable
events stifles the pursuit of knowledge. In the past when humankind was confronted with a
mystery, God was usually invoked as an explanation, keeping people unschooled in the
mechanics of nature. As a result, thunder was for centuries considered the rumbling of gods;
rainfall, the outcome of angels opening the windows of heaven; insanity, the work of demons;
and comets, the flaming swords of divine battles, the flowing beards of gods, the smoke of
human sin rising to darken the heavens, or even omens of war. Today as well, interpretations of
enigmatic events as the handiwork of God impede inquiry into occurrences ranging from the
accounts of yoga masters to the thoughts we hear in our heads; similarly, misinterpreting
common occurances delays scientific advances, such as the mystification of childbirth stalling
stem cell research. Hence, a better definition of miracles would be events that have not yet
been fully explained.
Spiritual investigators would also question the validity of presenting God as capable of
overriding the laws of nature. Separating God from nature in this way at once transports God
beyond the realm of human inquiry and discourages scientific research into the strange and
wondrous phenomena misnamed “supernatural.” In reclaiming events from this hinterland, we
increase the likelihood of finding verifiable explanations for an abundance of unusual
phenomena; already, many bizarre events that have been scientifically investigated are found to
result from quite calculable causes. And having accepted that the laws of nature are the
unalterable “will” or manifestation of the impersonal cosmic substance popularly called “God,”
we improve our chances of understanding God’s will. With every insight into the enigmatic
workings of the cosmos, we can then view ourselves as active seekers of knowledge instead of
observers passively watching God disrupt the fabric of life to prove his existence. In fact, the
very act of reuniting God with the natural world demonstrates a desire to understand more about
our embodied self-awareness in nature, of which we are a part.
Most significantly, spiritual inquiry into apparent miracles illuminates a profound connection
between the human mind and events taking place in the world around us. Generations of
human beings who in their ignorance perceived comets as signs of battle proceeded to actually
engage in war—not because of the omens they thought they saw, but as a direct consequence
of the thoughts they projected into the nighttime skies. Similarly, group prayers for wellness are
today believed by congregants to repeatedly accelerate a person’s recovery from illness. These
and other effects of collective impressions suggest that events considered miraculous may
actually be interpretive products of the human mind. And from this broader perspective, the
capacity of the human brain to shape its own understanding of cause and effect and impress
other minds with its interpretations may be the one miracle behind them all.
In freeing ourselves from the idea that God authors miracles, we begin seeing the world
differently and taking more responsibility for our thoughts and consequently our actions. Aware
of the mind’s capacity to shape outcomes, we notice that the world perceived by religious
adherents is forged by their beliefs and, similarly, that while all events are ultimately natural,
miraculous events fail to occur in the lives of people who doubt such events. Christians, it has
been said, will behold the face of Jesus in the bark of the same tree in which Hindus behold the
face of Krishna. Spiritual investigators, however, might wonder if the bark contains healing
properties, or perhaps the capacity to impart healing in response to thoughts projected onto it.
Once out of the grip of miracle-thinking, truth seekers realize they have been continually
brainwashing themselves by interpreting their experiences through a limited sense of self. The
world they now see becomes a reflection of a self no longer narrowed by religious
indoctrination, instead claiming its membership in the vast realm of nature, which contains
enough mysteries to keep humanity occupied for untold millennia. Viewing the
stratosphere—cleared at last of Elijah, Jesus, Muhammad, and other ascending saints
representing humanity’s skyward projection of hope in immortality—they observe heavenly
bodies whirling through vast space. More and more, as we take science into our own hands, we
can test the strange events in our midst, seek better models to explain them, then investigate
those models. In a world perceived as less arbitrary and governed by cause and effect, we
become increasingly more self-reliant as well. Having wrested the power of the mind from
religions that exclusively centralize that power, we observe that improved personal and global
conditions come not from a god above or from divine answers to human prayer, but from within
us. The image we hold of God, used to focus the heart and mind and expand the sense of self,
as described in Technique 2, merely intensifies and directs our affirmative thoughts.
Human thoughts projected outward reap observable effects; we can build a world or lay waste
to entire cities. When those effects are considered miracle based, they disconnect God from the
natural world, promoting ignorance and war. But they usher in harmony in keeping with the laws
of nature when our thoughts affirm goodness. Seekers can test the effectiveness of affirmation
in their own lives by working with Technique 3.
TECHNIQUE 3
Affirmation
Affirmation helps us improve the odds of securing our needs—such as good health, suitable
employment, or caring friends—or to positively modify behavior by curbing and redirecting the
restlessness of the mind. Affirmations themselves are like seeds in the soil of the mind,
harnessing and directing nervous energy otherwise squandered in bad habits and destructive
emotions. They are practiced by silently repeating a carefully worded thought or by focusing on
the visual image of a desired outcome. In either instance, the phenomenon that manifests is
your world’s interpretive response to your focused mind. Affirmations are not self-hypnosis but
are rather an exercise of the mind’s capacity to increase its own efficiency.
Affirmations produce results because they create a tug between or vacuum in your experiences
of the world by establishing a contradiction between your consciously affirmed thoughts and the
habituated subconscious thoughts, insecurities, and fears that fail to serve your needs. The
nature of the mind, abhorring a vacuum, then informs your experience of the world with the
prevailing thought or a combination of all of your impressions, eventually eliminating the
contradiction. Provided that you persevere with an affirmation regardless of any internal worries
or chronic habits of thought suggesting it may not be successful, your beneficial thought will
eventually uproot your restless habits and reactive thinking.
Ideally, affirmations are a form of positive thinking proactively practiced to manifest an
uncluttered, productive, and service-oriented life. However, years of thinking that you are a
failure qualifies as a subconscious, negative affirmation that will likely manifest as mental
anguish. Depending on the particular thoughts or images seeded in the mind, they may either
build confidence and thus indirectly attract a partner or destroy a relationship, induce calmness
or stir up restlessness, and help to secure the essentials of life or generate material
possessions in excess; they may likewise either eliminate or accentuate unwanted things and
habits. Consciously practicing affirmation seeks to crowd out all the subconscious affirmations
that bring you down and squander energy. For best results, temper the power of your mind with
introspection and calmness, remaining continually aware of the larger scope of your life and
your desired outcomes while cultivating an increasingly expansive sense of self.
Also reevaluate any inclination you may have to affirm things or behaviors for the sake of
personal happiness. The belief that we reap happiness after acquiring everything we want, or
after changing our ways for the better, places happiness in some eternally distant future and
keeps it contingent on positive results. So if you learned from the self-help movement, for
instance, that happiness derives from manifested affirmations for healing, romance, prosperity,
possessions, or personal conduct, reevaluate your past accomplishments to see if they were
instead outcomes of happiness. Affirmations primarily work by conserving unhealthy
expenditures of nervous energy, automatically reaping the reward of calmness, contentment,
and peace of mind. You cannot “get things” with affirmations but you can conserve the restless
nervous energy subconsciously invested in continually hankering after things. Experienced
practitioners of affirmation, aware that unconditional happiness comes only from within, build
their outer success through affirmation based on an inviolable inner happiness.
The successful practice of affirmation depends on three additional considerations. First, since
your interpretive experience of the world will seem to respond by creating the conditions for the
attitude behind your affirmations to manifest, word them carefully to avoid ambiguity; affirm
desires true to you while tapping into the well of unconditioned happiness within you and giving
voice to your most expansive sense of self. Subconscious affirmations shaped by a narrow
sense of self often generate results that cause suffering and further narrow the sense of self.
Second, keep your affirmations deliberate. Since spontaneous thoughts or words uttered in a
heightened emotional state may produce immediate and regrettable effects, review many
possible affirmations before choosing one to silently intone. Silent affirmations are generally
more effective than spoken ones because they harness more intensity of concentration. Finally,
couple your affirmations with daily actions and habits that support their efforts to conserve your
energy. This principle is always in effect, even for affirmations born from the narrow self. For
example, affirming that you will win the lottery, an energy-squandering thought sure to find
company with millions of other such restless thoughts nationwide, cannot practically inform your
mind’s interpretation of the results of playing if in fact you never buy a lottery ticket.
To begin using this technique, write down the behaviors you want in your life and the things that
squander your energy and afford little peace of mind. For each one, compose a generalized
single-sentence affirmation such as “I am eager to question and challenge new ideas,” “I feel
secure, content, and happy,” “I am a conduit for wealth,” or “I seek to act in the service of
others.” Once you have arrived at your affirmations, fine-tune them through introspection and
keep them confidential. In sharing an affirmation with someone, you risk dissipating a portion of
your initial determination. It is also possible to decrease the power of an affirmation by revealing
it to someone who may then affirm its opposite and cast doubt on your best efforts. A listener’s
well-intentioned opinions and words can have an equally adverse effect. For example, you
might avoid affirming someone’s illness because your discussions of sickness may delay
healing for vulnerable and impressionable minds. Doubting an addict’s affirmative efforts at
quitting constitutes an adverse use of affirmation. Even a seemingly positive statement such as
“I hope he gets better” affirms that the individual is not well.
The best affirmations for health of any sort—physical, financial, or emotional—unconditionally
affirm vibrant well-being without assuming the need for recovery. This means that if you are ill,
do not pray for healing but rather affirm that you are already healthy, for then your thoughts and
outlook will automatically focus on well-being and cease to squander energy on worry. The mind
and body are always listening and will seek to create conditions that mimic your affirmations by
conserving resources. And above all, persevere despite any counteractive thoughts in your
midst. An affirmation for health is unlikely to instantly materialize; your body may be contending
with injury, illness, harmful thoughts, imbalanced moods, and poor habits of living in either the
present or the past. But wasting energy on fear of lifelong sickness can be immediate.
Prospects improve with steadfast practice as the body and mind learn the vital lesson of energy
conservation.
When you are ready to implement an affirmation you have composed, identify its function and
adhere to the appropriate practice guidelines described below. Affirmations have a wide range
of functions and can be categorized according to the following types:
Maintenance affirmations involve the basic needs of life, such as health, food, clothing, shelter,
friendship, education, and peace of mind. This type of affirmation can be practiced upon rising
and before sleep. If your maintenance affirmations remain the same from day to day, avoid
repeating them by rote, for then they may not take root in your mind and effectively liberate
energy squandered on thoughts of despondency. Instead, practice them with concentration and
depth of feeling. If you feel you have been wronged and your inability to forgive weighs you
down, construct a daily maintenance affirmation that seeks to curb the nervous energy
squandered in chronic anger and resentment.
Ideal affirmations target specific harmful habits and the acquisition of virtues such as patience,
equanimity, honesty, and healthy living. This type of affirmation works to create both the inner
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