Oh Lord, Won't You Buy Me a Mercedes Benz
Richard Bach wrote in his classical philosophical book
Illusions, “Argue for your limitations and they are yours.” It’s sort of a
reverse of the visualization movement or, the capsulized “The Secret” that is
so much easier to swallow than ritualistic western mysticism. If you think it
can’t work, then it can’t. Conversely, if you think it can, then it will.
To what end?
Some visualization enthusiasts may go on record as saying, “If
I visualize a grilled cheese sandwich than one shall appear!” or “If I want a
better cubicle than I shall be moved!” Richard Bach himself thought this was
true and spent a great deal of time in his books discussing the art of
visualization. Then The Secret swept
the nation and now Oprah fans too can visualize their own fates and futures.
Western Mysticism has been say this for hundreds of years,
both in Kabbalah traditions but also in Masonic ones. There are limits though,
aren’t there? I mean, wouldn’t there have to be? Does the power of thought
award someone a Porshe 911, cherry red, black leather interior, convertible with
6-disc CD changer, iPod hook-up and Sirius? And can we, as Richard Bach
suggests, walk through walls?
Many western mystics would argue that although positive (and
negative) visualization can yield results, it won’t turn you into Harry Potter.
As a matter of fact, you are probably bound by things like Physics or worst . .
. the Periodic Table of Elements. Conjuring that cherry red 911 may not be
physically possible, but adjusting your attitude about your job promotion may
be.
The power of thought can be magnificent. If you spend your
time convincing yourself that you’ll never get out of that one bedroom
apartment in the basement of the laundromat than you are blind to the possibility
of doing so. You’ve argued for your limitation and it will be difficult to take
those blinders off and the possibility of a new apartment across the street
from the pizzeria impossible. On the other side of the coin, if you “dress the
part” and “look the part” job promotions may come easy for you. Confidence goes
a long way.
Materializing in Jessica Alba’s dressing room? Probably not
going to happen. Even if you spend hours visualizing it. This work by Mark Havenner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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