What is faith?
When people say they have no faith in God, or a higher power, it is because they cling to material things and these form their reality. By its very nature, confusion and limitation must result. It seems logical that when one looks upwards at the planets and the stars; outwards at the beauty of Nature and inwards at the rich resources of our soul, that there is a creator and higher power behind it all, very much greater than we are. Faith is not an empty thing; it is born from humility, awe and wonder at the perfection of creation; it is a stage after belief and an essential stage before wisdom and enlightenment.
Faith requires us to listen to our intuition or to the wisdom of those whom we trust such as my own Spiritual teacher, Dr. George King, founder of The Aetherius Society. This demands discrimination and study, as well as open-mindedness on our part. One of the great benefits of regular Spiritual practices is that these strengthen our faith and make us more aware of a higher reality. The more we practice yoga breathing, visualization, mantra, and prayer, the more these glimpses will become a reality and greater faith will be born.
The benefits of faith are enormous. Unlike doubt, which erodes and is destructive, faith regenerates. It is constructive in nature and through faith we can draw upon our inner strength and power in a balanced way. By having faith in the divine source within all life, we can help build strength in others.
Affirmation
Most of us are aware of the power and creativity of positive thinking. We have all heard stories about people beating unbelievable odds through the sheer power of their will and positive thinking. This is something we can all do through the technique of affirmation.
When we affirm negative things, we are programming our subconscious mind in the wrong way. The subconscious mind governs all bodily functions and if we constantly tell it that we are getting older and sicker, then it will obediently carry out your instructions by making us older and sicker. The subconscious mind does not reason; it just obeys. It is extremely brilliant but it is not creative in that it just obeys what we tell it to do.
If you are an anxious type of person it is difficult to stop worrying. It is extremely difficult to change your negative thought pattern just by a sheer act of will, more difficult than stopping an ingrained habit such as smoking. Try instead to slowly introduce affirmations into your daily routine. These will have a ripple effect on your thought patterns and you will gradually find that the motion of the affirmation will literally knock your thoughts and words into better shape.
Never lie to yourself
Many people teach affirmations and you may already be repeating some. However, remember you should never lie to yourself and the reason for this is simple. If you tell yourself a lie, your obedient servant – the subconscious mind – will try and program the lie; this will cause confusion and eventually your circuits will break down!
If you are sick, don’t tell yourself you are healthy. Instead, repeat an affirmation like this one:
Every day in every way I am getting better and better and better.
Although very simple, this is a brilliant affirmation that can be used safely and successfully by everyone. Why? Because by repeating this you will never lie to yourself. You are not saying “I am completely well”, instead you are informing your subconscious mind of your positive intentions to become better and are programming it to carry out this instruction. You are assisting your body in its natural healing process. Also, you are working to improve every part of you– your mental and spiritual aspects as well as your physical health. Finally, this affirmation has a dynamic and powerful rhythm that will help to drive it into your subconscious mind.
Prove that you mean it
Also, you have to work along with your affirmations. I know people who think that if they are affirming something then that is the only course of action they need to take. It would not make sense to affirm that your financial situation is getting better if you stopped working and instead went on endless shopping sprees! Affirmations will work for you; they will become a part of you, and then it is up to you to prove that you really mean them, by acting upon what you are affirming. In other words, we should not be hypocrites.
Chrissie Blaze
