As a young man, I was naturally drawn to books about motivation and the powers of the mind. Despite my very limited understanding at the time, I read Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill; Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude, by Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone; and The Power of The Subconscious Mind, by Joseph Murphy. Intuitively, I understood that the degree of our success must be related to the following quote, attributed to Henry Ford: “Whether you think we can or we think we can’t, we are right.” .
In an effort to help you manifest more of what you desire and less of what you don’t, I’ll share one of my biggest misunderstandings. It still may be yours, without your being aware of it. Here it is: I thought I was the person, Art Russell, and that “i” was the doer of my actions. Such is only understandable, for we are conditioned to believe such from the day that we appear. Spiritual Newsflash: I Am not my body-mind; nor are you. I Am Spirit, aka Consciousness, Primordial Beingness.
The truth related to the New Thought movement is that any thought which is habitually impressed into the mind (with feeling) will inevitably lead to the apparent manifestation of that thought. Thinking of failure (by those who believe that life is happening outside of them–independent of their mind) leads to apparent actions that fulfill that thought pattern. Conversely, thinking of success (by those who realize that we–as Spirit–are intended to be in control of the thoughts that emanate from us) leads to apparent actions that fulfill our definition of success. We understand how this can possibly be the case when we realize that all of this–including this article, right now–is occurring in a dream. We, as humans, are not autonomous as flesh and bones. Rather, as the Bible clearly states in Acts 17:28: “For in Him we live and move and have our being.”
The author of Three Magic Words, U.S. Anderson, shares this basic principle through the following quote:
“There are only two things you can do for yourself. One is conception, and the other is conviction. All the work of creation rests with another than you. For no man [or woman] is responsible for anything in his life except his thought and his belief.”
Now, obviously, if you still believe that you are the “person” named John or Jane Doe, this is going to seem ludicrous. A deeper understanding of our co-creative abilities comes when we realize that we are not the body-mind, despite appearances. We are Spirit eternal, dreaming an apparently human life. As such, we are intended to rule the body-mind apparatus. To experience more success in your life, please deeply contemplate the following:
We can only attract that with which we are in harmonious vibration.
What does this mean? It means that we must first claim the spirit of what we desire–greater health, wealth, and success–in consciousness, and habitually BELIEVE that we have it, before it can apparently show up in the dream called “our life.” Isn’t that reason enough to practice right government of the mind? Put Awareness to work–you’ll be glad that you did.
Dare to dream (and care for one another).
With heartfelt regards,
Art
Copyright © – 2022 – R. Arthur Russell
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If you enjoyed this article (originally published in March, 2022, on my personal blog), you can find more of my writing at https://think2wice.me/. My YouTube videos may be found through this link. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey.
My father lived by “Think and Grow Rich.” We remained poor, so there was a disconnect.
Thank you for sharing your comment; believe it or not, I can understand that viewpoint, and I find it totally understandable. Despite my reading many books about the law of attraction, my financial results did not reflect my efforts. What I realize now, that I didn’t realize then, was that all of the books state that we must “get” the consciousness of whatever we desire, “within,” before we can ever expect to see the results “without.” I, too, held a deep misunderstanding about the what true wealth actually “is.” To define it by bank account numbers (as I used to be inclined to do) is to limit the definition of wealth. To me now, wealth is everything for which I am grateful–the ability to read your comment, to be able to type a reply, to see, hear, taste, touch, and smell; to be aware of air moving in and out of my lungs, and the faithful beat of my heart.
Kindest regards,
Art
I realized that money was energy, flowing to where it was respected. Wealth is certainly different from what is in the bank.
Would you say that it is kind of the same of what in coaching we call Locus of Control? Have a look here: https://crisbiecoach.blog/en/2019/02/03/locus-of-control-loc/. To help me understand. Thank you!
Hello Cristiana,
From my understanding, the locus of control might be called “the point of attraction,” in teachings related to the law of attraction. To understand it, a paradigm shift of reality itself is required. This will seem very odd, or even ludicrous, for someone who still adheres to the materialist (belief that we live in a world of “matter” and material things) that we were conditioned to believe. Since awakening in 2017, my view of the experience is that everything–all events, the typing of this reply, my body-mind, itself–is occurring within Consciousness. So, when I desire to create, I, Spirit (a spark of the Divine) hold to my beliefs with as much emotion and deep faith as possible. This is why there are such books out there as “Consciousness is The Only Reality,” by Neville Goddard. Events occur in the dream state at night, and those events (during the dream) seem very real. All of us realize that such events are created by Mind. What I am sharing, is that Mind (Consciousness, God, Awareness) is responsible for the events in this, the Waking State, which the majority of persons believe to be “reality.”
This is the key to greater understanding regarding our essential nature, and also the Law of Attraction. A line from my book, borrowed from “The Master Key System,” by Charles F. Haanel, sums up one of the principles: “The spirit of the thing, is the thing.”
I hope this has been useful.
Sincerely,
Art
Thank you Art! I think I am far from that, but I will make it one day!
You’re welcome, Cristiana. I think you’re just at the right place, right time. I know that I couldn’t “get” this until a few years ago. When I look back, I can see so many people who were trying to relate it.
Keep up with your great writing! 🙂
Thank you Art!
You’re welcome! 🙂
In case this calls to you, here’s the link to my article that I mentioned: https://think2wice.me/2021/04/28/affirming-truth/
So much to think about and process in this article, Art. This is one to reread. I read Hill’s book many years ago. I am still thinking about growing rich. 😆
Hello Michele,
Thank you for taking the time to comment. I realize that “Think and Grow Rich” is a very popular and well known book regarding the law of attraction, but it is not my favourite. To me, “The Master Key System” by Charles F. Haanel, although a challenging read, offers more. I also really recommend “The Power of Awareness” by Neville Goddard–a small book that packs a big punch of knowledge.
The key to greater understanding? To realize this: We are Spirit (Consciousness) dreaming an apparently human life. This can actually be experienced, and the term is “Enlightenment,” or “Awakening,” meaning to awaken from the dream of personhood. Just as life experiences apparently happen in our nighttime dreams, so, too, do they occur in this, the Waking State. We’ve been conditioned to believe that this is “reality” and that we are the doers. Doesn’t that feel the same, though, in our nighttime dreams–until we awaken in the morning? Enlightenment is the term to the experience of waking from our dream of personhood. When this occurs, we are no longer identified with the body-mind, our person of name and form.
If you scroll down the articles on my blog, you will find an article entitled “Affirming Truth.” I share more information there and in many of my articles. I also share more info about this thorugh my YouTube channel–there’s a link at the bottom of my articles.
This explains why the following line is included in “Think and Grow Rich:” More gold has been mined from men’s minds than has ever been taken out of the earth.” Our belief, firmly held with emotion, makes events “apparently” so. Paramahansa Yogananda stated: “Mind is the creator of everything.”
Sincerely,
Art
Thank you very much, Art, for your detailed response. More thought provoking layers to consider. I will dig deeper in your site. 🙏🏻
You’re very welcome, Michele!
Great post Art. I’m of the opinion that being rich is very much a state of mind. It depends on whether we feel we have enough in this moment. If you want something else, something more, you’re poor. No matter how much you actually possess. Thought provoking post Art. Thank you for sharing 🙏
Thank you very much, AP2. I would agree that being rich definitely isn’t just about possessions or an amount that shows in a bank account. To me the greatest true wealth is knowing true Self. I appreciate your taking the time to comment! 🙏
https://youtu.be/TrWK8CYvdCc I like this, why some people create their own luck
Thank you for sharing it!
Very Informative content on mental and spiritual awareness Thank you for the article!