What is the tie-in between self-love and “new thought”?
We now know what self-love is all about, so perhaps we better define “new thought” a bit more.
New thought was a philosophy that began in the early mid-nineteenth century that postulated the idea of “healthy mindedness” as well as a healthy body. It was a spiritual movement with its roots in metaphysical beliefs. It grew out of existing Christian beliefs, especially those of a Calvinist origin. New thought’s basic premise was; “that anything that exists in the mind and could be expressed through words had the ability to transcend the physical and be realized through individual thoughts and intuition.”
Many philosophers and thinkers of the time latched onto “new thought” as expressing their belief in the universality of humanity and whilst still accepting a higher power, they attributed that higher power to the Universe rather than some arbitrary human construct, such as God, Yaweh, Allah, or whatever it might be.
Perhaps, for most of us today, “new thought” only came to the forefront of our consciousness in 2006 with the world-wide streaming of Rhonda Byrne’s movie and later book, “The Secret”. It was at this time the idea of the Law of Attraction and New Thought actually swept across the world. Rhonda would be the first to admit that her movie was espousing nothing new, but rather sharing the “secret” that she had discovered from reading a one-hundred-year-old book by Wallace Wattles, titled, The Science of Getting Rich. So, although Rhonda’s epiphany may have seemed startling, exciting, and new to a whole new generation of adherents, the basic principles that made up the new thought philosophy had been around and discussed for many years.
Joseph Campbell:
One adherent to the new thought philosophy was Joseph Campbell. An American author and editor who lived from 1904 to 1987, Joseph Campbell is best known for his works on comparative mythologies across the world. He examined the universal functions and impacts of myths in various cultures and mythical figures across a wide range of different literature from all over the world.
For me, however, it was his pronouncements and quotes that have the greatest effect and inspiration. We talked last week about the greatest way to love yourself is to find your true path in life – that which you were gifted; those unique and special talents that we’ve been talking about. Joseph Campbell’s simple quote, for me, sums up perfectly what we need to do, as individuals, if we are to achieve the self-realization, self-actualization and self-love that we both seek and deserve.
“Follow your bliss and the Universe will open doors where there were only walls.”
Joseph Campbell
Such a simple phrase – “follow your bliss” but one that is guaranteed to put you where you (a) want to be and (b) where you belong.
Follow Your Bliss:
What is bliss?
Bliss is a concept that almost defies description. It is vast, boundless, immeasurable AND it is a totally different state, for every single person and that is the key. Bliss must be personally experienced to understand what it is for YOU. Bliss exists on an entirely different dimension to simple happiness – it is so much more than that. It is a state where the sense of ego slips away and a feeling of total connectedness takes over. When you are in a state of bliss there is no sense of “me”, separate from the rest of creation – there is just joy and peace.
Perhaps the best definition I’ve heard of bliss is doing something where time, the environment, and everything around you fades away into the background and only the thing you are currently focused on matters anymore. This is the way I feel when I’m writing these blogs, or my novels, so, for me, a state of bliss is attained when I am writing. For everyone it will be different and you need to focus on what gives you bliss and then find a way to relate that to today’s environment and a way to “follow your bliss” that also rewards you financially for doing so. Remember what Richard Branson said about not doing what he did for the money, but for the fun and the challenge. But that when he had fun, invariably the money followed.
If there is one guaranteed way to achieve the self-love and satisfaction that we all seek, that is it.
“If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are — if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.”
Joseph Campbell
Simply put, if you do things that you are passionate about, you’ll feel more alive and doors will open for you.
New Thought and Self-Talk:
We’ve talked a lot in the last few blogs about the importance to our well-being of our own self-talk. Regardless of the reasons for us having a low opinion of ourselves, so many of us do and we are continually berating ourselves for not measuring up to either our or others opinions or expectations of us. When we denounce ourselves, we are doing serious harm to our self-esteem and self-worth.
This is particularly cogent when we look at new thought beliefs. One of the core beliefs of this new thought philosophy is expressed in the concept that; “thoughts are things”. One of the best known of the new thought authors is Napoleon Hill and perhaps his most famous quote was:
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.”
I’m sure that will right now be resonating with readers of this blog. What an inspirational quote – if we act and think positively, with respect to self-love and self-talk, we can create whatever we desire and need. If thoughts are things and we can achieve whatever we conceive and believe in, if we don’t believe in ourselves, we will create exactly what we believe in and constantly tell ourselves – that we are hopeless, we are a failure, we can’t do anything right, or what’s the point in even trying if we’re just going to mess it up?
That, in a nutshell is why positive self-talk and believing in ourselves and our unique abilities is so important. If we don’t – we are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy through the Law of Attraction. Remember the mirror exercise from recent blogs. We really need to practice that – we need to be able to look in the mirror and say; “I am an awesome human being, I can achieve anything I set my mind to, I am capable, I am special, I am unique, I am… (fill in the blank).
There are so many people in this world today who are quick to try to bring you down, to scoff at your achievements and to belittle you or even withhold applause or praise. Congratulations, and celebrations are so important – always look for things to appreciate in yourself and give yourself a big pat on the back and a high five whenever you make constructive progress or take positive action. Self-love is also about moving away from lower [on an energetic sphere] feelings / emotions such as shame – guilt – anger – judgement and so on, and raising your vibration, instead.
We hope you’ll review this series from time to time and deploy some of the tips on a regular basis. It is your duty to yourself to remind yourself that you are better than all of that, that you are special and unique, that you are wonderful. If you don’t believe it, how can you expect anyone else to believe it?
I hope you have realized over these last four blogs why self-love, self-care, self-awareness is so important to us, as human beings and what we can do to ensure that we do love ourselves properly and look after ourselves so that we are able to utilize those special and unique talents that make us who we are. I want to leave you today, with a special quote that neatly sums up everything we’ve been discussing over these last four weeks.
“You can’t hate yourself happy. You can’t criticize yourself thin. You can’t shame yourself worthy. Real change begins with self-love and self-care.”
– Jessica Ortner
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Till Next Time I’m Sending: Peace and Light
The new thought (sometimes known as higher thought) movement first came to prominence in the middle of the 19th Century with the teachings of mesmerist and healer Phineas Quimby. Quimby believed that illness originated in the mind as a consequence of erroneous beliefs, and that a mind, open to God’s wisdom, could overcome any illness. By the middle of the 19th Century, Quimby’s metaphysical healing beliefs were beginning to mix with the mental science of Warren Felt Evans and the Christian science of Mary Baker Eddy. By the end of the Century a series of essays on Your Forces and How to Use Them by Prentice Mulford, a book by William Walker Atkinson, titled Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World, along with Bruce MacLelland’s book Prosperity Through Thought Force, all served to crystalize what we now think of as the Law of Attraction – “You are what you think; not what you think you are”.
Simply this; if, as I believe, we are spiritual beings merely embarking on a human journey, then we must assume we were something before we became human and we will be something after we are human. We understand from the First Law of Thermodynamics: Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only change its form. New thought teachings tell us we are exactly that – energy! We can neither be created nor destroyed but can only change our form. It follows, therefore, that we must have existed before we became human and we will exist after we are human – we are eternal beings. Indeed, it seems to me that there are many, many, different kinds of beings, which exist on numerous different dimensions such as– Spirit, Divine Beings of Light, Extraterrestrial, Galactic, Angelic, Power Animals, Creator and Guardian Light Beings. In some dimensions both lighter and darker beings exist, just like here on Earth – as above, so below. So it is. Blessed be. In the higher vibrational realms or dimensions there are levels, a little like school grades it seems…life, the universe, and everything, eh? I don’t claim to be an expert about the “out there or the other side,” but I do subscribe to the concepts of Star-seeds, Indigos, Crystals and Lightworkers, as I discuss in the About the Book and Authors Notes section in my novel Spirit of Prophecy, which also [much to my surprise as I was never until recently a UFO sort] features a pop-in arrival of ET’s.
“We are stardust, we are golden, we are one- billion- year old carbon.”
“Remember to look up at the stars not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist.”
If we follow the Law of Attraction, we are committed to try and live our lives in “the present”. We are encouraged not to dwell on the past or to worry about the future – the past cannot be changed [although its negative limitations can be carried forwards but they can be cleared/released] and the future will be shaped by what we intend, believe and do today. There is a particularly compelling paragraph in one of Rhonda Byrne’s books where she posits the thought that our departed loved ones are still actually with us, but we cannot always see or hear from them because they are all on the “level of love”. That idea appeals immensely to me.
Karma is a layered process: ancestral, past life, familial [our cells/DNA store memories which we may or may not be aware of], inner child, and present day. Karma from a past life can have a ripple effect causing wrinkles and reverberations throughout time and dimensions. This is another theme raised in my metaphysical/visionary crime novel Spirit of Prophecy and also why Akashic Record access is potentially advantageous, since clearing negative karma in say C12th could have a cascade affect on clearing the consequential limiting beliefs that are still showing up today!
In our next blog we will look at something that we all need more of, in this frantic, fast-paced world but far too often ignore or put off – meditation. What does it achieve and why should we do it? Be sure to catch that blog.
The teachings of Buddha in this area focus specifically on the actions a person takes in their lifetime, leading directly to what type of new existence they will reincarnate into after death. Reincarnation, in Buddhist lore is an endless cycle known as “samsara”. This cycle of death and rebirth is considered to be “dukkha” (unsatisfactory and painful). This endless death and rebirth can only be halted by the attainment of liberation or “enlightenment” which can be achieved by reaching insight and the extinguishing of personal desires. The idea of rebirth is foundational to Buddhist thought, along with karma, nirvana, and moksha (freedom from ignorance).
Traditional Buddhist teaching speaks of six possible realms of rebirth (also known as reincarnation or metempsychosis). These six realms (The Gati) include three good realms; Deva (heavenly), Asura (demigod), and Manusya (human). There are also three lower realms Tiryak (animals), Preta (ghosts), and Naraka (hellish). Where you end up after rebirth is totally dependent on one thing – KARMA. Your actions, thoughts and deeds in this and previous lives will determine what realm you will be reborn into in the next life. Good Karma will get you into the three good realms – bad karma, not so great; this theory says you will be heading for the lower realms.
At this stage, I will say that personally I don’t fully agree with the six realms described above, nor the endless suffering concept of “samsara.” Based on my personal experience with animals reincarnating – the story of my show jumper Redbrook returning some years later as Hooray Henry, is fictionalized in my novel Spirit of Prophecy. These two horses had a contract with me to reincarnate in order to allow me to get the ending right the second time around. Animals have souls, and moreover as I intuit it, they form part of our soul group connections and come back offering love to assist us here on Earth [the 3rd physical dimension] and to support us and help us or teach us something we really need to learn.
People who abuse those smaller and more helpless [animals] or the innocent [children] have plenty of seriously heavy karma to shift – deservedly, and so it is! Equally, I don’t imagine that simply turning a blind eye and choosing to ignore rather than acting to stop/prevent/report/expose such abuse, will go entirely un-noticed. Maybe next time around those adopting passive “whatever,” not-my-problem strategies, will get to experience abuse themselves plus what it feels like when no-one responds to their sobs, let-alone steps up to help or support them? Living in the now, and being positive also requires paying attention, and the intention to stay in alignment with your divine souls’ integrity, and willingness to empathize and walk in another person’s shoes, surely?
Next, I want to touch briefly on the role reincarnation plays in Hindu thought and teaching, bearing in mind that both Buddhism and Hinduism grew out of the ancient Vedic principles.
In the afterlife the soul is believed to be reborn (based on your Karma) into one of three realms: Heaven, Hell, or Earth (as either a human or an animal). It is important to note that wherever you are reborn, it is only temporary. Gods also die again, once their stored karma has been used up. The same is true for those sent to Hell. Everyone gets another chance, back on Earth, to do it all again, in an endless cycle. Like Buddhism, this cycle can only be broken after one embarks on a spiritual journey, gains deep self-knowledge and thereby gains moksha (liberation, freedom, release), believed to be a state of “utter bliss”. In Hindu tradition, this state of utter bliss is identical to what is known as Brahman. Brahman is described as, the “pervasive, genderless, infinite, eternal truth, which never changes and yet is the cause of all changes. It is a metaphysical concept that is seen as the single binding unity of all diversity that exists in the Universe.” Perhaps the best definition I’ve read of Brahman is that it is the unchanging reality that existed before the creation of the Universe, exists today and will still exist long after the Universe has disappeared.
Although different Hindu and Buddhist sects exist that teach differing ways of approaching rebirth and of how to achieve enlightenment, it is easy to see that both religions approach the topic in very similar ways and that the inviolable principles of karma, reincarnation and enlightenment run through every school of thought. There are, of course, other religions, offshoots and philosophies that embrace the idea of reincarnation, including, but not limited to; Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, Yoruba, Native American Tribes, and even to a limited extent in some Christian denominations.
