Your subconscious mind is impersonal and unchanging, neither considering persons nor respecting religious affiliations or institutions of any kind. It is neither compassionate not vindictive. The way you think, feel and act toward others returns at least upon yourself.
The Daily Headlines Made Him Sick
Begin now to observe yourself. Observe your reactions to people, conditions, and circumstances. How do you respond to the events and news of the day? It makes not difference if all the other people were wrong and you alone were right. If the news disturbs you, it is your evil because your negative emotions robbed you of peace and harmony.
A woman wrote me about her husband, saying that he goes into a rage when he reads what certain newspaper columnists write in the newspaper. She added that his constant reaction of anger and suppressed rage on his part brought on bleeding ulcers and his physician recommended an emotional reconditioning.
I invited this man to see me and I explained to him the way his mind functions indicating how emotionally immature it was to get angry when others write articles with which he disapproves or disagrees.
He began to realize that he should give the newspaperman freedom to express himself even though the latter disagreed with him politically, religiously or in any other way. In the same manner, the newspaperman would give him freedom to write a letter to the newspaper disagreeing with is published statements. He learned that he could disagree without being disagreeable. He awakened to the simple truth that it is never what a person says or does that affects him, it is his reaction to what is said or done that matters.
This explanation was the cure for this man, and he realized that with a little practice he could master his morning tantrums. His wife told me, subsequently, that he laughed at himself and also at what the columnists say. They no longer have power to disturb, annoy or irritate him. His ulcers have disappeared due to his emotional poise and serenity.
I Hate Women, But I Like Men
A private secretary was very bitter toward some of the girls in her office because they were gossiping about her, and as he said, spreading vicious lies about her. She admitted that she did no like women. She said, “I hate women, but I like men.” I discovered also that she spoke to the girls who were under her in the office in a very haughty, imperious and irritable tone of voice. She pointed out that they took delight in making things difficult for her. There was a certain pomposity in her way of speaking, and I could see where her tone of voice would affect some people unpleasantly.
If all the people in the office of factory annoy you, isn't it a possibility that the vibration, annoyance and turmoil may be due to some subconscious pattern or mental projection from you? We know that a dog will react ferociously if you hate or fear dogs. Animals pick up your subconscious vibrations and react accordingly. Many undisciplined human beings are just as sensitive as dogs, cats and other animals.
I suggested a process of prayer to this private secretary who hated women, explaining to her that when she began to identify herself with spiritual virtues and commenced to affirm the truths of life, her voice, mannerisms and hatred of women would completely disappear. She was surprised to know that the emotion of hatred shows up in a person's speech, actions, in his writings and in all phases of his life. She ceased reacting in the typical, resentful and angry way. She established a pattern of prayer, which she practiced regularly, systematically and conscientiously in the office.
The prayer was as follows: “I think, speak and act lovingly, quietly and peacefully. I now radiate love, peace, tolerance and kindness to all the girls who criticized me and gossiped about me. I anchor my thoughts on peace, harmony and good will to all. Whenever I am about to react negatively, is ay firmly to myself, 'I am going to think, speak and act from the standpoint of the principle of harmony, health and peace within myself.' Creative intelligence leads, rules and guides me in all my ways.”
The practice of this prayer transformed her life and she found that all criticism and annoyance ceased. The girls became co-workers and friends along life's journey. She discovered that there is no one to change but myself.
His Inner Speech Held Back His Promotion
One day a salesman came to see me and described his difficulties in working with the sales manager of his organization. He had been with the company ten years and had received no promotion or recognition of any kind. He showed me his sales figures, which were greater proportionately than the other men in the territory. He said that he sales manager did not like him, that he was unjustly treated and that at conferences the manager was rude to him and at times ridiculed his suggestions.
I explained that undoubtedly the cause was to a great degree within himself, and that his concept and belief about his superior bore witness to the reaction of this man. The measure we mete, shall be measured to us again. His mental measure or concept of the sales manager was that he was mean and cantankerous. He was filled with bitterness and hostility toward the executive. On his way to work he conducted a vigorous conversation with himself filled with criticism, mental arguments, recriminations and denunciations of his sales manager.
What he gave out mentally, he was inevitably bound to get back. This salesman realized that his inner speech was highly destructive because of the intensity and force of his silent thoughts and emotions and personally conducted mental condemnation and vilification of the sales manager entered into his own subconscious mind. This brought about the negative response from his boss as well as creating many other personal, physical and emotional disorders.
He began to pray frequently as follows: “I am the only thinker in my universe. I am responsible for what I think about my boss. My sales manager is not responsible for the way I think about him. I refuse to give power to any person, place or thing to annoy me or disturb me. I wish health, success, peace of mind and happiness for my boss. I sincerely wish him well, and I know he is divinely guided in all his ways.”
He repeated this prayer out loud slowly, quietly and feelingly, knowing that his mind is like a garden, and that whatever he plants in the garden will come forth like seeds after their kind.
I also taught him to practice mental imagery prior to sleep in this way: He imagined that his sales manager was congratulating him on his fine work, on his zeal and enthusiasm, and on his wonderful response from customers. He felt the reality of all this, felt his handshake, heard the tone of his voice and saw him smile. He made a real mental movie, dramatizing it to the best of his ability. Night after night he conducted this mental move, knowing that his subconscious mind was the receptive plate on which his conscious imagery would be impressed.
Gradually by a process of what may be termed mental and spiritual osmosis, the impression was made on his subconscious mind, and the expression automatically came forth. The sales manager subsequently called him up to San Francisco, congratulated him, and gave him a new assignment as Division Sales Manager over one hundred men with a big increase in salary. He changed his concept and estimate of his boss, and the latter responded accordingly.
Becoming Emotionally Mature
What the other person says or does cannot really annoy or irritate you except you permit him to disturb you. The only way he can annoy you is through your own thought. For example, if you get angry, you have to go through four stages in your mind. You begin to think about what he said. You decide to get angry and generate an emotion of rage. Then, you decide to act. Perhaps, you talk back and react in kind. You see that the thought, emotion, reaction and action all take place in your mind.
When you become emotionally mature, you do not respond negatively to the criticism and resentment of others. To do so would mean that you had descended to that state of low mental vibration and become one with the negative atmosphere of the other. Identify yourself with your aim in life, and do not permit any person, place, or thing to deflect you from your inner sense of peace, tranquility and radiant health.
The Meaning Of Love In Harmonious Human Relations