[Continuing our series on Joseph Murphy & the Subconscious Mind: Part 1]
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Notice how it heals a cut on your face caused by shaving; it knows exactly how to do it. The doctor dresses the wound; he says, “Nature heals it.” Nature refers to natural law, the law of the subconscious mind, or self-preservation, which is the function of the subconscious mind. The instinct of self-preservation is the first law of nature; your strongest instinct is the most potent of all autosuggestions.
You have just learned that you can induce disease in your own body, or that of another through suggestion, in defiance of your natural instincts. It is perfectly natural and obvious that suggestions in harmony with instinctive auto-suggestion would have greater power.
It is easier to maintain and restore health, than it is to bring about sickness in the body. The faith that brings about healing is a certain mental attitude, a way of thinking, an inner certitude, an expectancy of the best.
In the healing of the body it is, of course, desirable to secure the concurrent faith of both the conscious and subconscious mind; however, it is not essential if the person will enter into a state of passivity and receptivity by relaxing the mind and the body, and getting into a sleepy state. I have known people who have completely denied matter and their bodies; yet they received marvelous healings. I have known others who said the world was real, that matter was real, and that their bodies were real; they, likewise, have had wonderful healings.
The point is that any method, technique, or process you may use which will bring about a change in the mind or a new mental atmosphere is legitimate; results will follow. Healing is due to a changed mental attitude, or to a transformation of the mind. Paracelsus said, “Whether the object of your faith be true or false, you will nevertheless obtain the same effects.” Thus if you believe in the bones of saints to heal, or if you believe in the healing power of certain waters, you will get results, because of the powerful suggestion given to your subconscious mind; it is the latter that does the healing. The witch doctor with his incantations heals by faith also.
Any method which causes you to move from fear and worry to faith and expectancy will heal. True, scientific, mental healing is brought about by the combined function of the conscious and subconscious mind scientifically directed.
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Neville Goddard, one of the world’s truly great teachers, has this to say in his book Faith Is Your Fortune: “… things and qualities pass away if you take your attention from them; because your attention is the sap of life which sustains the expression of your life.”
He also states, in the same book, “To remove your manifestations all that is required of you, the conceiver, is to take your attention away from the conception.”
This is because attention is ENERGY, and if we dwell on our sickness or problems, we are energizing them.
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The man who denies the ulcer on his hand, though he has one, who even denies his body, and who says all that is visible and tangible has no real existence may get a healing; all of this would be absurd to you. The question arises, “How does the man get a healing when he protests against such statements claiming they insult his intelligence?” The reason is very obvious when you know how the subconscious mind works.
The man is asked to relax his mind and body, to get into a quiet, passive, receptive state; then the objective senses are partially suspended and in abeyance. He is in a sleepy state, and the subconscious mind is amenable to suggestion. The practitioner then suggests wonderful words of perfect health which enter his subconscious mind; the client finds immense relief and perhaps a complete healing. The practitioner is not handicapped by antagonistic auto-suggestions of the patient arising from objective doubt of the power of the healer or the correctness of the theory. In the sleepy, drowsy state of the conscious mind resistance is reduced to a minimum; hence results follow.
There are a great number who claim that because their theory produces results, it is, therefore, the correct one; this, as explained in this chapter, cannot be true. You know there are all types of healing. Mesmer and others healed by claiming they were sending forth a certain magnetic fluid. Other men came along and said all of this was nonsense, that the healing was due to suggestion. All of these groups, such as psychiatrists, psychologists, osteopaths, chiropractors, physicians, and all churches are using the one universal, healing power resident in the subconscious mind. Each may proclaim the healings are due to their theory. The process of all healing is a definite, positive, mental attitude, an inner certitude, or a way of thinking called faith. Healing is due to a confident expectancy which acts as a powerful suggestion to the subconscious mind releasing its healing potency.
One man does not heal by a different power than another. It is true he may have his own theory and method. There is only one process of healing, and that is faith; there is only one healing power, namely, your subconscious mind. Select the theory and method which you prefer. You can rest assured, if you have the faith, you shall get results.
In the Los Angeles Examiner some time ago, John McDowell described tests being conducted in prayer therapy at Redlands University under the title, “Psychosomatic Tests Bare Prayer’s Power.” He writes as follows: “Dr. William R. Parker, 37-year-old director of the clinic, today revealed for the first time that early results of prayer therapy in a group of twenty arthritic, tubercular, ulcer, and speech impediment patients have been favorable.
“These patients, who agreed to practice prayer therapy in addition to the university clinic’s regular group psychological therapy, have been making greater progress than the clinic’s regular patients, Dr. Parker said.
“For example: A stomach ulcer patient, relying solely on prayer and group therapy, has reported that, for the last three weeks, all symptoms of his ailment have disappeared. “A Redlands University professor, afflicted most of his life with a severe case of stuttering which years of various treatments failed to correct, today has no trace of speech impediment after six months of prayer therapy.
“Another teacher, forced into retirement a year ago because of tuberculosis, is now back at his teaching job, apparently cured.
” ‘This man’s doctor,—a tuberculosis specialist—recently gave him a sputum test,’ Dr. Parker said. ‘The test turned up negative, and the doctor was certain a mistake had been made. He immediately made another test, and that was negative, too.’
“Dr. Parker—a doctor of psychology, not medicine—stresses that prayer therapy is no ‘quackish’ miracle cure-all, but a scientific approach to prayer and its effect on the subconscious mind.
“The subconscious mind, in the eyes of the still-pioneering psychosomatic medicine world, is the fountainhead of many of mankind’s afflictions, including arthritis, asthma, hay fever, multiple sclerosis, tuberculosis, ulcers, and high blood pressure.
“The psychosomatic theory—hotly disputed by the medical profession—is that such ailments start as functional disorders in the subconscious and develop into organic disease, which doctors treat by attacking the symptoms rather than the cause.
“Prayer therapy, according to Dr. Parker, is a psychosomatic attempt to attack the causes of these disorders in the subconscious. ” ‘Four basic personality difficulties are at the root of everything that goes wrong in the subconscious mind,’ Dr. Parker said. ‘They are fear, hate, guilt, and inferiority.’
“In the Redlands prayer-therapy experiments, these basic difficulties are first ferreted out through a series of standard psychological tests given to patients participating in the project. “Subsequently, the patients meet in a ninety-minute group session once a week to discuss their problems. At these meetings, each patient is given a sealed envelope containing information on one detrimental aspect of his or her personality uncovered in the tests. “Once at home, the patients open the envelopes, learn a new, undesirable phase of their personality, and resolve that particular difficulty in prayer daily until the next group meeting.
“There is only one ‘must.’ Each patient is required to pray regularly each night before he or she retires.
” ‘We insist on a prayer at that time, because the last thing that a person is thinking before going to sleep is most likely to penetrate to the subconscious,’ Dr. Parker said.
“Dr. Parker, who first tried out his prayer theories on himself during an onset of ulcers three years ago, said most of the patients have to be taught how to pray.
“The clinic’s prayer-therapy patients are taught a positive approach to prayer, stressing love, and an uplifting concept of God and the universe.
“Our prayers are not a begging for health, but are affirmations of the healing of the unhealthy element the patient wants to attack stated in such a positive, repetitious manner that eventually it sinks into the subconscious, and becomes a part of that person,’ Dr. Parker said.
” ‘In that manner, through prayer, destructive aspects within the subconscious can be attacked and eventually overcome, thus eliminating the basic causes of their physical ills.’ ” In the Wilshire Ebell Theatre where I speak to an overflow audience each Sunday, we have a period called “the healing silence.” The first thing I do is ask the audience to relax, let go, and to stop the wheels of their mind. The purpose is to quiet down the doubting Thomas (conscious mind), and insert a new idea such as health, peace, joy, and abundance into the receptive minds of the listeners. Those who are impregnated will give birth to a healing or an answer to their prayer. This is the kinetic action of the subconscious mind. Many report excellent results every Sunday as attested to by grateful letters.
I would like to stress a few important factors here relative to the workings of the subconscious mind. A man came to me one time and asked me why it was when he kept on saying to himself, “I have no headache,” that the pain did not go away? The subconscious mind will not easily accept this contradiction; it accepts only what you believe and feel as true, or accept, as possible. If you mentally accept the possibility of the execution of your idea, the subconscious will cooperate. In order to impress the subconscious mind, you must gain its cooperation. If you can convince the subconscious mind you have no headache, the headache will go away.
I suggested to him this method: Declare: “It is passing away,” over and over again quietly and peacefully. In this way he would be better able to sell the idea or conclusion to the wise, deep self, called the subconscious mind. He got results; he added something to it, “It will never return.” For years he has never had any migraine attacks from which he suffered frequently. He had a belief or an expectancy that every Tuesday and Saturday morning, he would get migraine attacks. This feeling acted as an autosuggestion to his subconscious mind; the latter obliged him by seeing to it that he would have a headache at the time specified. It simply said, “It is Tuesday morning; the boss wants a headache.” The negative suggestion was removed by the above counter suggestion.
Here is another instance: A very brilliant woman came to me some years ago stating that she had psoriasis on her body which would go away by applying an ointment, but that as soon as the salve was discontinued, it would return. She was not resenting anyone; she was very religious, and seemingly well balanced emotionally. In talking to her I discovered that she lived in constant fear of its return. As a matter of fact this was a very powerful suggestion to her subconscious mind, since it is controlled by suggestion and belief; it responded accordingly.
She would affirm two or three times a day: ‘I am whole, pure, and perfect; my skin is perfect; I am healed.” Nothing happened. You can readily see what happened in her case. Every time she said, “My skin is perfect,” it started a quarrel in her mind; something within her said, “No, your skin is not perfect!”
The following technique worked for her in a wonderful way. She started to say for five or ten minutes three or four times a day: “It is changing now for the better.” This created no quarrel in her conscious or subconscious mind; results followed; it gradually disappeared, and it has never returned. I am sure she ceased suggesting its return. (What I fear most has come upon me.)
Trust the subconscious mind to heal you. It made your body, and it knows all of its processes and functions. It knows much more than your conscious mind about healing and restoring you to perfect balance. The subconscious mind, sometimes called the deep-self, knows more about your body than all of the wisest men in the world. Never try to coerce or force the mind. We do not infer that some people who say, “I am whole, pure, and perfect,” do not get results; of course they do, because they succeed in convincing themselves of it. Blind belief and faith will bring results due to the subjective faith of the individual.
A psychologist friend of mine told me that one of his lungs was infected. X-rays and analysis showed the presence of tuberculosis. At night before going to sleep, he would quietly affirm, “Every cell, nerve, tissue, and muscle of my lungs are now being made whole, pure, and perfect. My whole body is now being restored to health and harmony.” These are not his exact words, but they represent the essence of what he said. A complete healing followed in about a month’s time; subsequent X-rays showed a perfect healing.
I wanted to know his method, so I asked him why he repeated the words prior to sleep. Here is his reply: “The kinetic action of the subconscious mind continues throughout your sleep-time period; hence give the subconscious mind something good to work on as you drop off into slumber.” This was a very wise answer. In suggesting harmony and health, he never mentioned his trouble by name.
I strongly suggest that you cease talking about your ailments or giving them a name. The only sap from which they draw life is your attention and fear of them. Like the above mentioned psychologist become a good mental surgeon; then your troubles will be cut off like dead branches are pruned from a tree. If you are constantly naming your aches and symptoms, by the law of your own mind these imaginings tend to take shape, greatly feared.”
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As mentioned above, attention to problems is only energizing them.
WITHDRAW YOUR ATTENTION AND THEY WILL FADE AWAY NATURALLY!
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A technique of impressing the subconscious mind is as follows: This consists essentially in inducing the subconscious mind to take over your request as handed it by the conscious mind. This “passing over” is best accomplished in the reverie-like state. Know that in your deeper mind is infinite intelligence and infinite power. Just calmly think over what you want; see it coming into fuller fruition from this moment forward. Be like the little girl who had a very bad cough and sore throat. She declared firmly and repeatedly, “It is passing away now. It is passing away now.” It passed away in about an hour. Use this technique with complete simplicity and naiveté.
Joseph Murphy & the Subconscious Mind: Why Your Life is the Way It Is and How to Change It, Part 3
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