An article which appeared in Life Positive Magazine on How to Change you Life & achieve Success in every sphere of Life. The Power & application of the Law of Attraction. History of Success Principles. By Dilpreet Singh, New Delhi, dilpreet111@gmail.com

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Change
life
your
Model: Sharukh Vazifdar ;
Photo: Me��� �a�ier
24 life positive june 2009

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the secret h a s p o p u l a r i z e d t h e c o n c e p t o f p o s i t i v e t h i n k i n g
all over th e w o r l d , i n c l u d i n g i n d i a . w h e r e d i d i t o r i g i n a t e
from and w h a t a r e t h e g u i d i n g p r i n c i p l e s t h a t w i l l e n a b l e
u s t o d e t e r m i n e o u r ow n d e s t i n y ?
by Dilpreet Singh
F rom the start of this century, there
have been two topics that have attract-
ed attention in the media as well as in
help of sensitive instruments such as EEG
and MRI, that have traced the impact of
thoughts on our mental and physical being
books. They are terrorism, and positive revalues around.
thinking and living. Positive thinking in its modern avatar
Although both are 180 degrees from (i.e. freed from religious beliefs or practices)
each other, there is an inherent correlation got its start in America during the Great
between both, which I will point out later. Depression. The stock market crash of
Presently my focus is on positive thinking, 1929 led to the worst financial crisis of the
which leads to positive living. twentieth century. People lost their life sav-
Positive thinking entered the mainstream ings, businesses closed, and unemployment
in India from 2003 onwards on account of rose to 25 per cent. In the middle of the
one book, which has gained massive popu- Depression, two classic books on positive
larity and created a shift in anyone who has thinking promised to change everything:
had the opportunity to read it. The book How to Win Friends and Influence People
is The Secret, written by Rhonda Byrne. A (1936) by Dale Carnegie, and Napoleon
phenomenal best-seller everywhere in the Hill’s all-time classic, Think and Grow Rich.
world, it brought even those not acquainted Dale Carnegie’s book focused on humani-
with spiritual truth to the notice of the fun- tarian ways of dealing with people in
damental laws that govern the universe, and the industrial age, but it was Hill’s book,
that determine our health, happiness and Think and Grow Rich which truly focused
success. Indeed, even before the book was on the concept of positive thinking and the
made, came the video, a powerful and effec- power of thought.
tive piece of communication that made its It can easily be said that the initial footing
message accessible even to those not given or base that popularised the concept of pos-
to reading books. In addition, the video itive thinking and the power of thought, was
was recently translated into Hindi, and provided by Napoleon Hill. It is said that in
is readily available at leading music stores the days of the Depression, every business-
and bookshops, enabling it to penetrate man, especially the leaders of corporations,
deep into the minds of Everyman. carried Hill’s book, and distributed copies
The basic premise of positive thinking to his employees to boost their morale.
revolves around thought. It arises from the Though Napoleon Hill was one of the key
understanding that ‘thoughts are made of influences, positive thinking as a concept
energy (matter).’ This revolutionary insight goes even further back, promoted by several
has also been scientifically proved with the authors, previously obscure, but enjoying a
life positive june 2009 25

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erature. Written in the early 1900s, it dwarfs
the other books he has written.
Its popularity may have something to do
with the motivation with which he wrote
it. The book, he said, was “intended for the
men and women whose most pressing need
is for money; who wish to get rich first, and
philosophise afterward. It is pragmatical,
not philosophical; a practical manual, not a
lot of theory. It is for those who have, so far,
found neither the time or the means, nor
the opportunity to go deeply into the study
of metaphysics, but who want prosperous
results and who are willing to take the con-
clusions of science as a basis for action.”
Wallace asserts, “The science herein
applied is an exact science, and failure is
impossible” and I thoroughly agree with
it. If there is one book you want to read
Illustration: Doll�� Dasil�a or start with, I highly recommend this
Water ��our thoughts and gather a bouquet! one. In fact, if you Google on the net,
revival of interest currently in the wake of there are a few sites that are offering it free
The Secret’s overwhelming popularity. of cost, in the form of an e-book, as long
as you register with them or subscribe
Early exponents to their newsletter.
James Allen was one of the early authors of The French pharmacist Emile Coue
the 19th century whose famous contribu- (1857-1926) is another pillar of positive
tion to the world of Thought and Success thinking who introduced the concept of
was his book, As a Man Thinketh, which was autosuggestion as a method for applying
published in the early 1900s. The essence of positive thinking in life. Coue is known
the book was that ‘a man is literally what as the forefather of all inspirational writ-
he thinks, his character being the complete ers and self-help authors, and the inventor
sum of all his thoughts. As the plant springs of autosuggestion. A hypnotist, he had his
from, and could not be without, the seed, patients repeat the affirmation, “Every day
so every act of a man springs from the hid- in every way I am getting better and better,”
den seeds of thought, and could not have 20 times, using a string with 20 knots to
appeared without them.’ tick off the repetitions. He called the mind
As a Man Thinketh, is written in old style a sublime instrument to decide a person’s
English, and it may take some time to absorb destiny. It is said with just these words, he
its message, but patience will pay. was able to cure those patients, who had lost
The Science of Getting Rich, by Wallace all hope from medical science.
Delois Wattles, is a classic that remains in In the 1950s, several authors provided
the forefront of motivation and success lit- a Christian version of positive thinking.
26 life positive june 2009

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Foremost in this field was the Rev. Norman
Vincent Peale (1898-1993), founder of
Guideposts magazine. Peale called his best-sell-
ing 1952 book, The Power of Positive Thinking.
Although positive thinking is usually secular in
nature, Peale created a Christian version of the
new thought philosophy.
Though of a religious bent, overall it is an
excellent book, highlighting the basic concept
and methodology of changing your life for the
better. In addition to this, there are a series of
other books, which too are correlated with the
same concept. Some of his other books have
elaborated on the various techniques to cultivate
positive thought, such as imaging for instance.
the write work
T he book and movie, The Se-
cret, sparked off my journey
into positive thinking. On reading
how peoples’ lives had changed by
changing their thought patterns, I
too was inspired to try it out.
It worked! I will be taking up the job of my
dreams in a month’s time. I had a very strong de-
sire to do something spiritual, and I discovered
that I was good at writing. During the last two
months I kept visualising myself doing spiritual
writing. I even wrote a resignation letter to my
boss and colleagues in my present job as engineer
(although I didn’t send it to them!). I went for all
the workshops I could get my hands on, energy
workshops, meditations, even Vipassana. Then I
started writing short articles, so that I could get a
job if someone liked them. The path unfolded itself
slowly. One thing led to another, and just yester-
day I got a confirmation, and will be joining Life
Positive as a journalist.
Two very important requirements are intensity of
desire and trust in the Divine. Don’t expect things
to happen on their own. Opportunities will come up
but you will need to catch and then pursue them.
Sharukh Vazifdar
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A good amount of positive literature, he founded the Self-Realisation Fellowship
which came to the forefront between the (SRF) in Los Angeles in 1920. SRF pub-
later 1800s and early 1950s, had its roots in lished a series of booklets on positive think-
Indian philosophy. In fact, even the modern ing and related new thought topics drawn
positive thinking gurus of today, have freely from Yogananda’s lectures. His famous,
borrowed it and some of them have even all-time favourite book, The Autobiography
accepted it, in their acknowledgements. of a Yogi, has various examples that
Hinduism and other Indian religions highlight the power of thought and positive
have always given importance to the power mental attitude.
of thought in defining your life and des- The Vedas have also acknowledged the
tiny. Here is what the Bhagavad Gita has to power of mind and thought. Thought has
say on the subject: “The last thought of a the potency of creating or undoing the
man governs his future destiny. It is the last world in the twinkling of an eye. Mind cre-
thought of a man that determines his future ates the world according to its own ‘sank-
birth.” And again, “Whosoever at the end alpa’ or thought. It is the mind that creates
abandoneth the body, thinking upon any this universe, say the Vedas. ‘Manomatram
being, to that being only he goeth.” jagat; manahkalpitam jagat’ and also
Paramahansa Yogananda carried forward ‘yad bhavam tad bhavathi’, you become
Indian philosophy in a new avatar when what you think.
The thought manifests as the word.
dreaming up a job The word manifests as the deed. The deed
I got married a year ago and shifted into an area where I knew no develops into habit. And the habit hardens
one. Always interested in working with children, I gave my resume into character. So watch the thought and its
to several neighbouring schools and nurseries. However, nothing ways with care.
worked out. Yet, I kept the faith. I even set a target that in one year’s Swami Vivekananda articulated that seed
time I would reach out to hundred children, directly or indirectly. I thought when he declared: “Whatever you
didn’t ‘hope’ for it to happen, I ‘knew’ it would happen. think, that you will be, if you think your-
I had stopped over at a workshop in Lonavla for a couple of hours. selves strong, strong you will be. If you think
While walking in the rain with other participants towards lunch, a yourselves weak, weak you will be.”
woman holding an umbrella in her hands, urged me to share it with
her. The walk to the dining room was just two minutes but the right Towards positive thinking
conversation unfolded. I asked her what she did. She replied, “I am The momentum to bring positive think-
the principal of a school.” Enthused, I told her I loved working with ing out of the religious world and into the
children. She asked where I stayed. She looked surprised, her school secular started right around 1900. The man
was in the same area – in fact, it was the only international school who is known as the bridge between new
in the area and just 10 minutes away from my house. I asked her if thought and positive thinking is Orison
there was an opening. She too seemed surprised at the coincidence Swett Marden (1850-1924), founder of
of it all and responded, “As a matter of fact there is. One of my teach-
Success magazine. Success, first published
ers handed in her resignation only last week.” The rest, as always, is
in 1891, offered a lightly religious version
history. I went in for my interview and conducted a demonstration
of new thought for an audience of main-
class and I got chosen. The biggest surprise came to me when I found
stream businessmen. The magazine had
out that the number of children in the school was about hundred!
a unique stable of writers, including Napoleon
Megha Bajaj
Hill and others who had best-selling books.
28 life positive june 2009

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been there in mind ,
and hence , in life
I t all started in July 2008, when I had this epiphany
on how rotten my life really was. I was broke, in
debt, trapped in a hellish job that made me feel like
a worker and not a human being; my partner and I
were at each other’s throat all the time... in short, it
was where I never wanted to be.
Just then, like a prayer answered, a friend intro-
duced me to audio books. I begged, borrowed and
stole and got my hands on The Secret and Anthony
Robbins’ Awaken the Giant Within. It was like being
woken up by a bucket of ice-cold water! For two
whole days I devoured The Secret. I listened to it
over and over and over, and I just knew I’d struck
gold! I decided I was going to go on a challenge of
the mind – two weeks of manifesting a big, fat juicy
order for my partner, one that was going to make
us enough money to cover our debts, and then
some. I daydreamed all the time. Sure, it didn’t take
two weeks, it took a month... but not only did we
get that order, we also received a payment of Rs.
30,000 that we’d painfully written off as bad debt!!
For the first time in two years, we were debt-free...
and, we could afford a weekend out of town.
Shriyansi Jain
Success is still published and the editors published
a book about Orison Swett Marden in 1999.
The first positive thinking audio recording
came along in 1956, when Columbia Records
released, The Strangest Secret. Earl Nightingale
(1921-1989), which is in demand even today.
The strangest secret is, “We become what we
think about.” Through word of mouth, the
recording sold a million copies and won a Gold
Record for the first recording of its kind. It made
Nightingale the most recognised voice in
America for his daily radio programme.
In the second half of the 20th century, Jane
Roberts is believed to be the person who brought
the concept of ‘thought power’, again in the
open. Though she is relatively less known this
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beyond the half - full glass
there are limits to positive thinking
S o you are manifesting ob-
jects of desire to the right
of you and to the left of you.
on – become aware of them and accept them. Not only will
we then know ourselves intimately, but we will have come
to terms with who we are. We will befriend our shadow side,
Magic seems to be spraying embrace our pain. Thus the dichotomy within us will heal
from your mind wherever you and our positivity will be solid, unshakeable.
turn. Your life is finally coming Secondly, not all dreams manifest. There is such a thing
under your control and you are as karmic entitlement. Only that which is meant to come
racing along the fast lane of success and happiness. That’s our way will; what is not meant to will not. So if despite
wonderful, but look out for these speed breakers. your best efforts something does not manifest, console
It’s not that the Law of Attraction does not work. Of course yourself with the thought that it was never meant to be.
it does. But the fact is that positive thinking can sometimes And who knows, perhaps it is in your best interests that
be a trap. None of us (save the sages) are going to think you didn’t get your way.
positive all the time. There will be times when despair takes Which brings us to the zone beyond manifesting your de-
over. Or anger, pain, sadness and fear. If we have bought too sires. There comes a time on the path when you no longer
deeply into the positive thinking mindset, we will actively re- want your ego to drive you. You recognise more and more
sist these feelings. The more we resist them the greater their clearly that the Supreme Power has your interests at heart
power, and very soon our positivity will be in shambles. In much more than you ever could and you actively start to pre-
one of his books, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar narrated the case of a fer what He has in mind for you rather than what you want.
woman whose son had just died, and yet she kept repeating “Thy will be done” becomes your mantra. You joyously re-
how positive she felt. Her need to be upbeat prevented her ceive all that comes your way, using it as an instrument of
from getting in touch with her pain. your growth. Instead of attracting things to you, you simply
What is the way out? Nothing except solid hard inner surrender and allow life to bring you what you are meant to
work. Positive thinking needs to be made a state of mind – a receive. The paradox is that with all resistance gone, your
natural extension of ourselves and not something we think path will be strewn even thicker with magic but none of it is
ourselves into. For this we need to go deep into our mindstuff of your making. You are simply one with the Universe.
– thoughts, feelings, belief systems, fantasies, fears and so Suma Varughese
side of the world, her books are famous in thought teaching, he is still comparatively
the west, especially The Seth Material, and little known or read, chiefly on account
Thus Spoke Seth. Jane Roberts was a natural of the high price of the six volumes known
psychic and an excellent medium. She was as The White Cross Library, a compilation
able to translate and speak the thoughts of of his essays.
a spiritual entity called Seth, who transmit- Stephen R. Covey’s The Seven Habits of
ted loads of information especially on the Highly Effective People (1990) is a brilliant
power of thought. The essence of the mes- example of a modern positive thinking
sage was, we create our own reality, and our book. Covey was a business counsellor and
point of power is the present. teacher who conducted effectiveness semi-
One more noted personality was Prentice nars for large corporations. Other stars on
Mulford and his famous book, Thoughts the positive thinking constellation include
are Things. Although Prentice Mulford Bob Procter, Oprah, from the Oprah Winfrey
was one of the earliest pioneers of the new Show, Brain Tracy, Famous for books like
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Maximum Achievement, Eat That Frog, and manifesting negativity
Goal, Abraham Hicks’ publications, famous
for a plethora of seminars and books, most
popular Ask and it is given etc.
O ur house construction had
started. Based on some ear-
ly experiences with the builder, I
Let us end as we have begun, with Australian came to believe that he was not
Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret. She happened to be trusted to deliver a good
upon the ‘secret’ of positive thinking or product and it was upto me to
‘law of attraction’ as she puts it when going supervise and crosscheck. I was
through a low phase and business trouble. constantly looking out for errors,
Amazed to find that it was indeed possible to and as one can imagine, there were plenty. It even extended to the
control one’s destiny, and fired with a mis- other vendors I interacted with for the house construction. For exam-
sionary zeal to spread the word, she brought ple, while the marble slabs were being delivered to our house, two
together a team of film-makers, taught them slabs got broken! After the staircase steps were laid the third time,
the philosophy, waited until they had ingested (for some reason, the experienced workers could not get it right in
it and then set out to make the path-breaking my house alone…), there was a mishap and two steps were broken
video. She used it herself to lose excess weight by the workers! I seemed to be exuding an aura of negative energy.
and to get her eyesight back to normal. And I had a veritable war of words with everyone I dealt with for two
with the shekels pouring in through the phe- years. Finally, I had to go abroad on a business visit for five months.
nomenal success of the book and the video, And during my absence, things went smoothly! Everyone seemed
her business troubles, one imagines, are to be doing their part very well, without any supervision. The house
well behind her. was ready for me!
I realised that what I had constantly thought about was what hap-
pened in reality for me. Now I know better. Murphy’s Law manifests
Thinking positive
now and then, but so what? I look for the silver lining in the cloud.
So how can one use the principles of posi-
Believe it or not, the builder and I are good friends today. And I
tive thinking in one’s life?
have not replaced the broken steps since they symbolise a great
The philosophy behind this concept is
learning for me. ..
that everything in this universe is made up Akila Jaikumar
of energy or vibrations. Every part of the
universe, even the rocks and minerals, is like-minded people (similar vibrations). We
basically energy that has been transformed. are basically living magnets who are trans-
Similarly, our thoughts and words are also mitting our ‘thoughts (thought vibrations)’
subtle energies or vibrations. into the universe and also attracting ‘similar
Quantum Physics confirms that anything vibrations’ to us, constantly. It is because
and everything in the physical universe is of vibrations, that for no logical reason, we
the result of varying degrees of vibration. are sometimes immediately attracted to
Secondly, similar vibrations and energy some persons and also repelled to some
are attracted to each other. This is a univer- people, though we are meeting them for
sal law that is applicable to all things, called the first time.
the ‘Law of Attraction’. Whatever we think about, good or bad,
The simplest definition of this law is ‘like is transmitted into the universe, in the
attracts like.’ All forms of matter and ener- form of thought energy or vibrations. The
gy are attracted to that which is of a like stronger our thought or the more often
vibration. For instance, you are drawn to we think about a particular thought, the
life positive june 2009 31

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a streetcar named desire vibration. The universe returns what you
have given freely a thousand times over.
A fter I learnt driving and was confident on the roads, I
developed a fancy for a Honda City. And when one of
my friends said that ladies could not drive the Honda, I was
What you sow is what you reap. In order
to receive you must give. If you wish some-
one to have more blessings and love, you
sure I wanted to have it, but we could not afford it. Just then
will receive blessings and love a thousand
my husband Santosh joined an MNC and the package
times more. If you wish someone illness and
included a car.
misfortune, you will receive bad luck and
But when the actual package was worked out the allotment
misfortunes a thousand times more. I am
towards the car fell short of a Honda City. If we still wanted it,
sure you have noticed that when you are
we would have to shell out Rs 4,000 from our pockets every
month. I could not get over it. I wanted a Honda City and that was
in a good mood, everything seems to fall
that. My resolve became even stronger. To my immense surprise the into place. However, when you are angry
very next day there was an email from his office saying the car al- or depressed a string of bad luck seems to
lowance has been increased as the taxes are higher in Mumbai. And follow you all the more.
there came our Honda City without anything extra from our pocket. When you think about anything very
Aruna Joshi strongly with emotions, it becomes your
dominant vibration, which is being sent to
stronger become its vibrations. We are the universe. Based on the Law of Attraction,
all radiating that which we are; we are all the universe then creates such circumstanc-
giving and receiving vibration signals on es, which will bring that particular thing or
many different levels. What you are seeking event in your life. There could be a delay in
to be or do in this life has a vibrational pat- manifestation of that thing, but if you are
tern to match. consistent in your thought, it will come. It
Everything you have ever dreamt, wheth- is said that our work is to throw our desires
er spoken or unspoken has been transmit- and goals to the universe. How it manifests
ted by you on one level or another. Your in your life, is the work of the universe. The
consistent thoughts and feelings about any more clear and consistent you are in your
particular subject are being brought into desire, the quicker that particular thing will
your experience whether you intend them manifest in your life. It could be a material-
or not. istic thing, a relationship, a particular self-
Thoughts, feelings, and mental images improvement, anything for that matter. In
are made of matter, just a very subtle kind addition, for the universe there is no differ-
of matter. This subtle kind of matter, is ence in manifesting Rs 100 or Rs 1 crore.
the soil of the universe. When you focus The difference is in the extent of our faith
your thoughts, feeling and mental images or, in our own self-worth.
(some also call this a mental hologram), This universal law is working in your life
you launch your creations into this soil right now, whether you are aware of it or
of the universe. not. You are attracting the people, situa-
NapoleoN Hill If you know how the law of attraction tions, jobs and every other circumstance of
A pioneer in the field of works, you know that you get what you your life. Once you are aware of this law and
positi�e thinking and the vibrate. Your vibration is based on your how it works, you can use it to attract what
power of thought
thoughts, since thoughts drive feelings, you want into your life.
 and feelings are what comprise your How do you create your desires using the
32 life positive june 2009

10. lead ~ story
powerful law?
• Be very clear about what you want
• Visualise and raise your vibration
• Start feeling good about it, just as you would
feel if it is already with you.
You must be very clear on exactly what your
desire is. Focus on it. Give it all your positive
energy. Feel good!
A major factor behind this universal law is the
energy and vibrations of our emotions and feel-
ings. Any thought you might have, when com-
bined with emotion, vibrates out from you to the
universe, and will attract back what you want.
It’s also important to take the necessary action
to make your dreams come true.
Now all you have to do is allow it. Sounds easy,
right? This can be the most difficult part to do.
Be doubt-free. All you need to do is expect it. Act
like you already have it. Be grateful.
To get it right be very careful about some factors.
First is ‘right speech’. Avoid negative language, for
negativity will attract negativity in your life. Be care-
ful about what you say, either about yourself or oth-
ers. At the same time do not get paranoid. We will
almost never be able to be positive all the time, for
many of our thinking patterns are unconscious. Stop
worrying if you have been running yourself down or
someone else. It’s okay. Simply use the opportunity
to recommit yourself to the goal of self-awareness.
Secondly, use the power of affirmations and
visualise your object of desire vividly, as if you
already have it. Visualise or imaging it in detail
with colour and feelings, as much as you can.
Never forget your focus. Even if it takes time, you
will finally get it.
Oh yes, terrorism. If we focus on insecurity,
fear, terrorism, and recession, we indirectly
attract terrorism in the world. So use the law of
attraction to draw a happy, peaceful and loving
world around us. Voila! Problem solved. [
Dilpreet Singh is a trainer, with a leading life insurance company, in New Delhi.
Contact: dilpreet111@gmail.com,
Mobile: 9873552617
We welcome your comments and suggestions on this article.
Mail us at editor@lifepositive.net
life positive june 2009 33