Do you believe...

[guthrio]

Originally Posted by Taurus44

Wow, thanks for your great response. But I have a question. I know that when I have chosen in the past to create an affirmation for myself, often I would focus on the end goal and visualize the possibilities of success on a near constant basis. I've always been a day dreamer and someone who lives in a fantasy world, so especially when I am having trouble dealing with the current situation in my life, I will dive deep into imagining all the great things I am trying to affirm. So, if I understand correctly, do you mean to say that when I am sending a positive affirmation into the universe I should simply say it once, and let it go? Or should I say it on a daily basis, but just try my darnedest to remove any form of desire, lust, or excitement for the result?

Taurus44,

To answer your question specifically, "So, if I understand correctly, do you mean to say that when I am sending a positive affirmation into the universe I should simply say it once, and let it go? Or should I say it on a daily basis, but just try my darnedest to remove any form of desire, lust, or excitement for the result?"

Allow me to put it this way. How many times does one need to plant a seed into the ground in order for the plant to grow? You know the answer, right?

Let me also reveal a subtle block that many miss: it’s the erroneous belief that YOU must do the “work” of “manifesting” your desire.

Why ? Because the Universe IS the reflection of YOU experiencing the desire (seed) you planted in It.

Seen another way, consider all the delicious veggies you've eaten in the meals prepared for you. You recognize that before any of them can be used, a farmer (or even you, if you have a vegetable garden) planted the seeds that eventually became those delicious consumables. Realize that once you (or the farmer) have planted those seeds...all that is necessary after that is for them to be nourished by the requisite soil, sun water, and air so they grow into perfect representatives of their kind (and only their kind).....all by themselves! There is an extremely important point illustrated here. Once planted, the seed, sun, air, water, and soil need no assistance whatsoever to figure out how to do their work. Why ?

"The act of planting seeds, whether made of mental desires or from plants, is the ONLY way to activate the completed pattern that is ALREADY present IN the seed....it's the omnipresent capability for it to grow INTO fruition AS a bloom of its kind. Already!....even before it is planted."

Accordingly, it is the correctly planted seed that grows it into a plant, not your repeatedly planting the seed. As it is with seeds, so it is with affirmations. To explain, please consider the reference posts from related threads which explain why the only “work” you need to do is “plant the seed”….so the Universe can do the rest.

I believe you'll also be greatly helped with your question, beginning with CHAPTER VII, Things to Remember, in the 1st source. Here's an excerpt:

5. Remember when you are visualizing properly that there is no strenuous effort to hold your thought-forms in place. Strenuous effort defeats your purpose, and suggests the consciousness of an adverse force to be fought against, and this creates conditions adverse to your picture.

6. By holding your picture in a cheerful frame of mind, you shut out all thoughts that would disperse or dissipate the spiritual nucleus of your picture. Because the law is Creative in its action, your pictured desire is certain of accomplishment.

Enjoy the realization of your dreams....without daydreaming !

Reference: http://files.meetup.com/1434103/YourInvisiblePower.pdf by Genevieve Behrend.

Reference: http://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/sh...mp;postcount=4

Reference: http://whats-in-it-for-you.blogspot.com/

Originally Posted by guthrio

Taurus44,

To answer your question specifically, "So, if I understand correctly, do you mean to say that when I am sending a positive affirmation into the universe I should simply say it once, and let it go? Or should I say it on a daily basis, but just try my darnedest to remove any form of desire, lust, or excitement for the result?"

Allow me to put it this way. How many times does one need to plant a seed into the ground in order for the plant to grow? You know the answer, right?

Not so sure I go along with this, and particularly the seed-planting idea. Firstly, "spiritual" seeds are planted in the unconscious mind which is never as easy as just "telling yourself" a desired outcome. A lot of magicians have spent a lot of time trying to devise ways to do this. Sometimes their results are useable other times not.

Secondly, seeds don't always germinate - spiritual or material. It may be the fault of the seed or the soil or the act of planting.

Let me also reveal a subtle block that many miss: it’s the erroneous belief that YOU must do the “work” of “manifesting” your desire.

Why ? Because the Universe IS the reflection of YOU experiencing the desire (seed) you planted in It.

So, let me to get this straight. If I want to "manifest" being a famous composer or pianist or financier I just affirm to myself that I want to be this...and need do no work to manifest my desire?

I don't think so.

I suppose it may work if the affirmer is not aiming high and beyond their means, or their affirmation is in accordance with their True Will. But if it involves big changes/attractions/desires beyond one's immediate means then some ground work (at least) would be needed.

Accordingly, it is the correctly planted seed that grows it into a plant, not your repeatedly planting the seed. As it is with seeds, so it is with affirmations. To explain, please consider the reference posts from related threads which explain why the only “work” you need to do is “plant the seed”….so the Universe can do the rest.

You said it - "correctly planted". There may be just a slight difference between pushing a seed "correctly" into soil and burying a seed deep in the unconscious mind the parameters of which are far less predictable. Attempts to map the rules of the physical world onto the spiritual one are fraught with problems.

It could be very disappointing if one plants a seed and it fails to grow, or grows into some distorted thing because something was incorrect, etc.

Hopes can be raised...and dashed. One's perception of the universe is, yes, always one's own but theirs isn't the only perception/consciousness, unless you're positing solipsism. In practice no one can "prove" solipsism or otherwise so the alternative is that we're individuals acting on the same physical substrate as physical vehicles of our individual spirit. So, often our manifestations will entail interaction with other consciousnesses.

Just my tuppence worth.

...

[guthrio]

Originally Posted by Lorelyen

Not so sure I go along with this, and particularly the seed-planting idea. Firstly, "spiritual" seeds are planted in the unconscious mind which is never as easy as just "telling yourself" a desired outcome. A lot of magicians have spent a lot of time trying to devise ways to do this. Sometimes their results are useable other times not.

Secondly, seeds don't always germinate - spiritual or material. It may be the fault of the seed or the soil or the act of planting.

So, let me to get this straight. If I want to "manifest" being a famous composer or pianist or financier I just affirm to myself that I want to be this...and need do no work to manifest my desire?

I don't think so.

I suppose it may work if the affirmer is not aiming high and beyond their means, or their affirmation is in accordance with their True Will. But if it involves big changes/attractions/desires beyond one's immediate means then some ground work (at least) would be needed.

You said it - "correctly planted". There may be just a slight difference between pushing a seed "correctly" into soil and burying a seed deep in the unconscious mind the parameters of which are far less predictable. Attempts to map the rules of the physical world onto the spiritual one are fraught with problems.

It could be very disappointing if one plants a seed and it fails to grow, or grows into some distorted thing because something was incorrect, etc.

Hopes can be raised...and dashed. One's perception of the universe is, yes, always one's own but theirs isn't the only perception/consciousness, unless you're positing solipsism. In practice no one can "prove" solipsism or otherwise so the alternative is that we're individuals acting on the same physical substrate as physical vehicles of our individual spirit. So, often our manifestations will entail interaction with other consciousnesses.

Just my tuppence worth.

...

Lorelyen, thanks for the opportunity to clarify.

One's perception of the universe (to use your words) is a con-sequence of, and is inextricably interconnected with, everything else there is to be perceived, thusly (as excerpted from the 1st reference below):

"Physiological reality, take me literally... is a mirror, it is just a more complex mirror, a holographic mirror... a multi-dimensional mirror, so that you don't always recognize all the reflections as you, but believe me... they are... .all the reflections are you, and I mean literally every object, person, place and thing, every situation... every circumstance, every moment of time and space is you being reflected back to yourself, from the particular point of view you chose to express at that particular moment. The idea therefore, is to understand, that what you will always discover, will simply be All That Is expressing itself through the unique portion of All That Is you were created to be. Remember the Second Law: "The One is All, the All are One". Every component of the All That Is, all of you... all of us, every individuated being... every individuated concept, is the whole expressing itself as a part. Important point... I'll rewind that and repeat it, because we understand that you have been trained to think segregationally, sometimes individuals on your planet may miss the point, all of you are, yes... a part of the whole, but as a part of the whole, you are the Whole expressing Itself as "a part of the whole". Big difference than just thinking of yourself as a part of the whole without the other side. You have to understand yourself holographically, it is this and that... not this or that. So, you are the part... you are the whole, you are both one and the same, but expressing the whole as a part."

As such, any seed is the “part of the Whole” expressing itself AS the seed, and AS the sun, and AS the soil, and AS the water, and AS the air which nourishes the seed, and AS you, acting as the “part of the Whole” who places the seed into the just-mentioned “parts” of the Whole…so that the Whole can express Itself, in its various stages, AS the bloom that the seed-“part” eventually becomes. Every “thing” (including EACH of us, and every “manifestation”) is a part of the whole, but as a part of the whole, it is the Whole expressing Itself as "a part of the whole”.

Do you see ?

"I, the individual self" is really the Whole I AM expressing Itself as "a part of the Whole"....you!

As indicated in the 2nd and 3rd references, "Life did not give being to the person you believe yourself to be.” “Life (or God) gave being to you by becoming you, by being you, to the same degree that a branch is the presence of the vine. One is the Source and the other is the Source manifesting. There is not the Source And the manifestation. There is only the Source. Every man on Earth is the one Source (God) manifesting, only no one is aware of this. It is a paradox. God … did not create ‘men’. ‘Men’ … created men. God gave being to Himself as the organism known as ‘man’. Man and God are one and the same. God … made ‘man’ to be as God … as Himself. The only thing that has being is the Source. Only God is. Man … is God embodied, only he thinks he is the person his parents created when they named him at his birth." “A rose, is the ‘Invisible’ (God) manifesting AS a rose. A canary is the ‘Invisible’ manifesting As a canary. A dolphin is the ‘Invisible’ manifesting As a dolphin. A man, is ‘God’ manifesting As a man. No living ‘thing’ has any ‘being’ of itself. No matter what you are looking at, you are looking at the Source. (‘God’), manifesting as that ‘thing’
.

As Genevieve Behrend indicates in the 4th reference, "Endeavor to bear in mind that your mental picture is Universal Mind (i.e. the “Whole”) specifically exercising its inherent powers of initiative and selection. God, or Universal Mind, made man for the special purpose of differentiating Himself through him. Everything there is, came into existence in this same way, by this self-same law of self-differentiation, and for the same purpose. First came the idea, the mental picture, or the prototype of the thing, which is the thing itself in its incipiency. The Great Architect of the Universe contemplated Himself as manifesting through his polar opposite—matter—and the idea expanded and projected itself until we have not only a world, but many worlds." Ms. Behrend goes on to say ".....your mind is the mirror in which the Infinite Power and Intelligence of the Universe sees itself reproduced...."

Your mind, repeat, YOUR mind, IS the Creator's mind....expressing ITSELF through YOUR senses, and AS you, and AS every “thing” you can apprehend with them…and AS every “thing” beyond your ability to apprehend with them.

You are the consciousness of the Universe being aware of Itself...

So what does any of this have to do with your questions about affirmations and mental seeds ?

"As a man thinks, so is he..." except, now you may ascertain WHO It Is that is really thinking....AS you, do you not ?

Here’s an illustration excerpted from Ms. Behrend’s book, Your Invisible Power, "One of the doormen in the building in which I lived heard much of the mental picturing of desires from visitors passing out of my rooms. The average desire was for $500. He considered that five dollars was more in his line and began to visualize it, without the slightest idea of where or how he was to get it. My parrot flew out of the window, and I telephoned to the men in the courtyard to get it for me. One caught it, and it bit him on the finger. The doorman, who had gloves on, and did not fear a similar hurt, took hold of it and brought it up to me. I gave him five one-dollar bills for his service. This sudden reward surprised him. He enthusiastically told me that he had been visualizing for just $5, merely from hearing that others visualized. He was delighted at the unexpected realization of his mental picture. "

There is something extremely important about this example that is usually overlooked. What is that "something"?

It is One. Why One ??

Reflect again on the example of the doorman above and you will see....that each and every part of the example is really an interaction within, and of, the One Mind (the “Whole” )...as seen from apparently different perspectives ( “parts” ). Everything that transpired in this example....from the doorman's initial visualization....to Ms. Behrend's parrot flying unexpectedly out of her window....into the hands of the first doorman who was bitten....who then handed the parrot to the second doorman wearing gloves....who then took the escaped parrot back to Ms. Behrend....who then surprised the doorman with $5 for his deed.....is entirely One thing. And that One thing is the Universal Mind (i.e. the “Whole” expressing Itself as each “part”). Do you see ?

That is how and why it is not necessary to figure out HOW to manifest your desire into "fruition". The entirety of Creation knows exactly how to manifest (i.e. "grow") YOU into the very experience OF your desire....as grown from the seed (of your clearly visualized desire) that you planted...within YOURSELF, the Ground of Your Being. Your affirmation(s) and beliefs become "The act of planting seeds, whether made of mental desires or from plants, as the ONLY way to activate the completed pattern that is ALREADY present IN the seed....it's the omnipresent capability for it to grow INTO fruition AS a bloom of its kind. Already!....even before it is planted." Just as the mustard seed ALREADY contains the completed plant within it (the "faith" of the mustard seed), so also does your visualization "seed" ALREADY contain everything needed for IT to grow into your experience, all by itself.

Why ? Because ALL IS ONE as indicated above !

And for the record, it really doesn't matter in the slightest whether the One is called, Universal One Mind, Creator, God, or what have you. The important thing to realize is that whatever IT is called....All is One.

Again, if you understand yourself and EVERYTHING "else" holographically, as being this and that... not this or that....

....and that you are the "part"...as well as the "whole", being both one and the same, but "expressing the whole as a part"....

....then would you even be surprised to see that Life as essentially YOU looking at yourself and everything there is, as one and the same in the “mirror” of Creation ??

(reflect on that a moment).

"Love thy neighbor as thyself, because thy neighbor is Thyself".

Hope this, and the references below, helps you to do so...

Reference: http://www.bashar.org/transcriptfundamentals.html

Reference: http://www.thechristmind.org/iamthat.htm

Reference: http://www.thechristmind.org/nutshell.htm

Reference: http://www.lightisreal.com/YourInvisiblePower.pdf

I don't agree with everything being one. Interconnection and relation to all yes, but it the soul is commonly accepted to be an individual thing which reincarnates, some kids have memories from their previous life, so i doubt a manifestation of a bigger organism.

[guthrio]

Originally Posted by Woa93

I don't agree with everything being one. Interconnection and relation to all yes, but it the soul is commonly accepted to be an individual thing which reincarnates, some kids have memories from their previous life, so i doubt a manifestation of a bigger organism.

Hello Woa93,

Welcome to the forum.

I believe the references I've provided below will help clarify my posts....

Hope they help....

Reference: http://www.crystalclarity.com/yogananda/chap43.php (describes what reincarnation really is)

Reference: http://www.scribd.com/doc/190671262/...cy-You-Radiate (explains why "everything is one thing")

Reference: http://www.bashar.org/transcriptfundamentals.html (self-explanatory)