Joseph Murphy - The Power of Your Subconscious Mind

You Can Counteract Negative Suggestions

Pick up the paper any day and you can read dozens of items that could sow the seeds of futility, fear, worry and impending doom. If accepted by you, these thoughts of fear could cause you to lose the will for life. Knowing that you can reject all these negative suggestions by giving your subconscious mind constructive autosuggestions, you counteract all these destructive ideas.

Check regularly on the negative autosuggestions that people make to you. You do not have to be influenced by destructive heterosuggestion. All of us have suffered from it in our childhood and in our teens. If you look back, you can easily recall how parents, friends, relatives, teachers and associates contributed in a campaign of negative suggestions. Study the things said to you and you will discover much of it was in the form of propaganda. The purpose of much of what was said was to control you or instill fear into you.

This heterosuggestion process goes on in every home, office, factory and club. You will find that many of these suggestions are for the purpose of making you think, feel and act as others want you to and in ways that are to their advantage.

How Suggestion Killed A Man

Here is an illustration of heterosuggestion: A relative of mine went to a crystal ball gazer in India who told him that he had a bad heart and predicted that he would die at the next new moon. He began to tell all members of his family about this prediction, and he arranged his will.

This powerful suggestion entered into his subconscious mind because he accepted it completely. My relative also told me that this crystal gazer was believed to have some strange occult powers and she could do harm or good to a person. He died as predicted not knowing that he was the cause of his own death. I supposed many of us have heard similar stupid, ridiculous, superstitious stories.

Let us look at what happened in the light of our knowledge of the way the subconscious mind works. Whatever the conscious, reasoning mind of man believes; the subconscious mind will accept and act upon. My relative was happy, healthy, vigorous and robust when he went to see the fortuneteller. She gave him a very negative suggestion, which he accepted. He became terrified and constantly dwelt upon the fact that he was going to die at the next new moon. He proceeded to tell everyone about it, and he prepared for the end. The activity took place in his own mind and his own thought was the cause. He brought about his own so-called death, or rather destruction of the physical body, by his fear and expectation of the end.

The woman who predicted his death had no more power than the stones and sticks in the field. Her suggestion had no power to create or bring about the end she suggested. If he had known the laws of his mind, he would have completely rejected the negative suggestion and refused to give her words any attention, knowing in his heart that he was governed and controlled by his own thought and feeling. Like tin arrows aimed at a battleship, her prophecy could have been completely neutralized and dissipated without hurting him.

The suggestions of others in themselves have absolutely no power whatever over you except the power that you give them through your own thoughts. You have to give your mental consent; you have to entertain the thought. Then, it becomes your thought, and you do the thinking. Remember, you have the capacity to choose. Choose life! Choose love! Choose health! Choose abundance!

The Power Of An Assumed Major Premise

Your mind works like a syllogism. This means that whatever major premise your conscious mind assumes to be true determines the conclusion your subconscious mind comes to in regard to any particular question or problem in your mind. If your premise is true, the conclusion must be true as in the following example:

Every virtue is laudable;

Kindness is a virtue;

Therefore, kindness is laudable.

Another example is as follows:

All formed things change and pass away;

The Pyramids of Egypt are formed things;

Therefore, some day the Pyramids will pass away.

The first statement is referred to as the major premise, and the right conclusion must necessarily follow the right premise.

A college professor, who attended some of my science of mind lectures in May, 1962, at Town Hall, New York, said to me, “Everything in my life is topsy-turvy, and I have lost health, wealth and friends. Everything I touch turns out wrong.”

I explained to him that he should establish a major premise in his thinking, that the Infinite Intelligence of his subconscious mind was guiding, directing and prospering him spiritually, mentally and materially. Then, his subconscious mind would automatically direct him wisely in his investments, decisions, and also heal his body and restore his mind to peace and tranquility.

This professor formulated an overall picture of the way he wanted his life to be, and this was his major premise: “Infinite Intelligence leads and guides me in all my ways. Perfect health is mine, and the Law of Harmony operates in my mind and body. Beauty, love, peace and abundance are mine. The principle of right action and divine order govern my entire life. I know my major premise is based on the eternal truths of life, and I know, feel and believe that my subconscious mind responds according to the nature of my conscious mind thinking.”

He wrote me as follows: “I repeated the above statements slowly, quietly and lovingly several times a day knowing that they were sinking deep down into my subconscious mind, and that results must follow. I am deeply grateful for the interview you gave me and I would like to add that all departments of my life are changing for the better. It works!”

The Subconscious Does Not Argue Controversially

Your subconscious mind is all-wise and knows the answers to all questions. It does not argue with you or talk back to you. It does not say, “You must not impress me with that.” For example, when you say, “I can't do this,” “I am too old now,” “I can't meet this obligation,” “I was born on the wrong side of the tracks,” “I don't know the right politician,” you are impregnating your subconscious with these negative thoughts and it responds accordingly. You are actually blocking your own good, thereby bringing lack, limitation and frustration into your life.

When you set up obstacles, impediments and delays in your conscious mind, you are denying the wisdom and intelligence resident in your subconscious mind. You are actually saying in effect that your subconscious mind cannot solve your problem. This leads to mental and emotional congestion, followed by sickness and neurotic tendencies. To realize your desire and overcome your frustration, affirm boldly several times a day: “The Infinite Intelligence, which gave me this desire leads, guides and reveals to me the perfect plan for the unfolding of my desire. I know the deeper wisdom of my subconscious is now responding and what I feel and claim within is expressed in the without. There is a balance, equilibrium and equanimity.”

If you say, “There is no way out; I am lost; there is no way out of this dilemma; I am stymied and blocked,” you will get no answer or response from your subconscious mind. If you want the subconscious to work for you, give it the right request, and attain its cooperation. It is always working for you. It is controlling your heartbeat this minute and also your breathing. It heals a cut on your finger and its tendency is lifeward, forever seeking to take care of you and preserve you. Your subconscious has a mind of its own, but it accepts your patterns of thought and imagery.

When you are seeking an answer to a problem, your subconscious will respond, but it expects you to come to a decision and to a true judgment in your conscious mind. You must acknowledge the answer is in your subconscious mind. However, if you say, “I don't think there is any way out; I am all mixed up and confused; why don't I get an answer?” you are neutralizing your prayer. Like the soldier marking time, you do not get anywhere.