When Monty Python tells me to keep my head up I smile and laugh, when the average person tells me I want to smack them. Maybe not really smack them, but I certainly develop one of those dark ink-scratch clouds over my head like Charles Schulz drew over Linus's head when Lucy tried to steal his blanket.
But I am pondering whether our states of mind can actually affect our quality of life. And I also question if a practice like voodoo is merely a self-induced hypnosis where we can harm ourselves by over-thinking something to the point of creating a self-fulfilling prophesy.
There are endless books on positive thinking where we are told how to remove anything bad from our minds and to only focus on the good, happy, and helpful. The queen of affirmations is probably Louise Hay who has helped endless people with her books, workshops, and recordings.
http://www.amazon.com/Heal-Your-Life-Gift-Edition/dp/1561706280/ref=pd_sim_b_1
Are affirmations just a form of reverse-voodoo?
Do we actually have the ability to make things happen with out thoughts? Some people think we do. Dr. Keith Scott-Mumbly believes we can help ourselves or harm ourselves by how we think. He even believes we sometimes accidentally sabotage ourselves with unconscious thought patterns. Supposedly we develop patterns when we are very young as defense mechanisms and methods of survival. As we grow and leave the situations that caused us to develop these necessary patterns, we continue to use them though we no longer need them. Now instead of helping us these patterns hinder us. Read how we can help ourselves with reprogramming according to Dr. Mumbly:
http://www.alternative-doctor.com/mind_stuff/tools10.html
My personal opinion on the topic stems from a famous quote by Eleanor Roosevelt. The quote says "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." Everyone loves this quote. It is supposed to be empowering--I feel it is dangerous. I believe it could hurt someone who is truly depressed and needs help they cannot muster from within. It could make someone feel worse who is stuck in a terrible situation and cannot figure a way out.
While I do believe we should always do our best and assume everything will be OK, I also think we should seek help when needed and NOT feel bad if we can't pull it off ourselves.
Now back to the magic.
If we eat purely healthy food, supposedly our bodies improve. New skin in 30 days, our liver can regenerate in 6 weeks, and our skeleton is replaced in 3 years by new cells. So why can't we do the same with our minds. Could we actually think ourselves into a better situation? If our thoughts are as pure as organic food can we do magic?
Mystics believe that we can. A tulpa is "the concept of a being or object which is created through sheer discipline alone. It is a materialized thought that has taken physical form and is usually regarded as synonymous to a thoughtform."
I have never had the ability to completely change a thought pattern if my emotions are pushing me in the other direction. I love the idea of true magic, but I am not convinced in one direction or another. If anyone has a magical story to share--I would LOVE to hear it :)
Please read about tulpas on Day 46 of 100 Unfortunate Days:
Day 46
Anything can be a tulpa. If you think of something long enough, you will make it real. You can make almost anything come true. Stacks of books are written about all the methods of imagery, manifestation and self-fulfilling prophecies—but in reality, all you have to do is think. Nothing tricky or fancy—just think. You’ll do this and you won’t even know it. You will worry about your kid…she’ll be sad at school, she’ll do badly with her new friends. Just keep it up—it will surely happen. Whatever you think about for your kids, whatever you worry about—that is what they will become. Pity them and they will become the kid that should be pitied. You gave them a tulpa. They are their own tulpa because of you. People take things away from us all the time. They call names, they give us wrong directions and they hurt our feelings. We take it from there. No one can ever talk to us as much as we talk to ourselves. “I’m such a witch, I’m such a witch…” One day your husband made you mad and you add something to his food that may upset his stomach just a little bit. “I’m such a witch…” The mole on your face has a hair you never noticed before. “…such a witch…” You no longer feel a communion with God. Somewhere along the line you become the witch. A tulpa is a thought come to life. Mystics in India
