In the early 20th century, a couple traveling by car on a rural road discovered that they were about to run out of gasoline.

At that time, gas stations were few and far between unless you lived in a city.

One could travel for miles without seeing a house, and telephone service in rural areas was spotty at best.

The situation they faced was thus fairly serious.

They decided to practice what they had learned in lessons offered by a metaphysical school to the effect that “Thoughts held in mind produce after their kind.”

They held steadily to the thought that “Divine order is at work in our lives, bringing forth perfect results in perfect timing.”

They drove on. And on and on. The gas gauge reached empty.

It stayed there.

As we say, the car was running on fumes, and continued to do so long after anyone could reasonably believe there was still gasoline in the fuel tank.

Eventually they reached a gas station and weren’t surprised to find that their fuel tank was empty.

Having refilled their tank, they finished their journey, resolving to tell their metaphysical school teacher about their successful demonstration of the power of right thought.

The teacher smiled, was silent for a moment, and then asked, “Why did you stop?”

The couple had an experience of higher consciousness.

For a time they were free of the limitations of mortal thought regarding quantities and values.

The sight of the gas station triggered their old beliefs and habits of thought, and they jumped right back to a lower level of consciousness.

Anyone sincerely walking a spiritual path will sooner or later have experiences of higher consciousness.

This is only to be expected.

The trick is to become stable in that higher consciousness.

“Excellence is not a gift given but a skill perfected. The key is self-discipline.”

Quotation from a motivational poster seen in a variety store

In various ways, in eleven previous installments, Reality Check (1st through 11th), I’ve discussed what I know of the power of thought, and for a time I toyed with the notion of moving on to other topics. But truth to tell, I’m drawn to this topic repeatedly.

It’s long been said that the power of thought was known to some of our truly ancient ancestors for at least 5,000 years.

Usually, such knowledge was passed from mind to mind in deep secrecy.

Why the secrecy—the usual mix of human frailties ?

Or perhaps a “socially responsible” desire to keep great power from people too unevolved to use it wisely, much like parents locking firearms in a gun safe to keep them from the hands of a naive four-year-old?  I really don’t know.

I do know that humanity is experiencing a rebirth of awareness of the power of disciplined thought, and, however slowly it may be seeping into the mass awareness, rate of penetration is accelerating and seemingly unstoppable.

Curiously, the usual interest groups just don’t exist to be tracked by any who might find this universalisation of personal power inconvenient for the maintenance of their own selfish agendas.¹

Usual interest groups?

Members of a typical interest group have more than one common interest / characteristic—they’re some combination of ingredients: rich, poor, white, Black, Native American, oriental, christian, atheist, republican, democrat, veteran, skilled crafts-person, alcoholic, divorced, thin, fat, hypochondriac, healthy athletic, computer nerd, conservationist, industrialist, anarchist, optimist, pessimist, cop, robber, “…doctor, lawyer, Indian chief…”  The list could go on forever.

Groups investigating the power of thought are all too often, with the sole exception of this interest, heterogeneous.

Members gather for study / encouragement then go their separate ways, returning to their usual settings, for the most part having nothing else to do with each other.

These groups are not here today, gone tomorrow.  They’re stable.

My conclusion?  Anytime something cuts across racial, ethnic, political, and socioeconomic class lines in such a fashion you can bet the farm it’s touching people in a deep way.

This “something” is evidently worth more to them than the exercise of their typical group prejudices.

Some sharp inner hunger is being fed?

Are these folks reconnecting with a long-forgotten aspect of true human nature and, perhaps, for the sake of this benefit they’re motivated to suspend usual reactions to certain groups? ²

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¹ For example, as more and more of us learn to heal ourselves through the power of disciplined thought, will stockholders in “big pharma” rejoice?

² Animals do something similar during forest fires.  Prey and predator alike race for water, taking refuge, side by side, on any convenient island, sand bar, or rock pile.  The prey / predator game is suspended for the duration.

While cleaning out old files I chanced upon a letter I sent many years ago to a third degree Wiccan high priestess regarding a health issue she had mentioned on her coven’s web page. ¹

As I reread it, it occurred to me that it might be of interest to those who are following my Reality Check series, because it touches directly on the power of thought.

With names and addresses omitted, here it is.

Respectful greetings, (name),

On (your website) you mention having hereditary grand mal seizures.  Please consider the following line of reasoning which may prove helpful in eliminating this challenge from your life.

The primordial All-Mother /  All-Father may be thought of as: life, love, intelligence, substance, omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence.  No combination of these properties will produce disease. The primordial All-Mother /  All-Father is our true heredity parentage.  Therefore we cannot inherit disease.

The subconscious mind has a powerful “lifeward thrust”, which it makes manifest in our lives, subject to the limitations of mortal thought accepted as true by the conscious mind.

The subconscious mind never argues with the conscious mind, so whatever we believe to be true is what the subconscious mind makes manifest in our lives.

It is always fully aware of what we really believe.

It contains the perfect blueprint for our physical bodies, and can regenerate or recalibrate any parts or processes at any time, at any speed, in the teeth of any so-called insurmountable obstacles.

The subconscious mind can instantly heal, provided that such healing is not inhibited by the limitations of mortal thought regarding what is/is not possible, (such as false beliefs about the immutability of hereditary conditions).

There is no limit to what the subconscious mind can make manifest in our lives, although getting out of its way may take patience and persistence if a false belief has become deeply rooted.

In view of the foregoing, logically, our mental diet is one of the most important aspects of our lives.

The limitations of mortal thought cannot bind us without our consent.

Our freedom exactly matches that of our true heredity parentage, our primordial All-Mother /  All-Father.

Blesséd be!

(signature added)

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¹ At the time of writing, this was a private letter (to a complete stranger).  I didn’t include footnotes, but now, having published it on a blog anyone can read, I feel compelled to do so.

However, I’m having difficulty remembering just what I was reading so many years ago. After much consideration the sketchy list below is, for now, the best I can do.

Sources:  Joseph Murphy, Ph.D., D.D.

Emmet Fox

Unity Institute.  

As noted in Reality Check (9th), Masaru Emoto, a Japanese alternative healer, once decided to speak a specific word or short phrase into a container of distilled water, freeze a drop of it, then photograph the resulting ice crystal.

This week we note the equally creative things he did with cooked rice. ¹

I quote:  “…we put cooked rice in three glass jars, and to one of the jars we said “Fool!”  To another we said “Thank you.”  And we simply ignored the rice in the third jar.  The rice that was told “Fool!” darkened and rotted.  The rice that was told “Thank you” fermented and had quite a nice fragrance.  The rice that was ignored turned black and emitted a highly repugnant smell.“

“However, that’s not the end of the story.  I took these same jars of rice to an elementary school, and the students said Thank you” to the rice in all three containers.  It wasn’t long before the rice in all three containers fermented and started to emit a pleasant smell—even the rice that had spoiled.“

His conclusion:  “This indicates that even that which is dying and decaying can be brought back to life by caring attention, kind words, and positive thoughts.”  ¹

Care to experiment on yourself ?

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¹ Masaru Emoto in The Secret Life of Water  ISBN 978-1-4165-2218-8

Masaru Emoto, a Japanese alternative healer, once decided to speak a specific word or short phrase to a container of distilled water, freeze a drop of it, then photograph the resulting ice crystal. ¹

If this sounds bizaare, consider the results.

Into separate containers he spoke a word or short phrase.

Words such as love, happiness, peace, or a phrase such as thank you, (this one in several languages, by the way), produced beautifully symmetrical ice crystals.

Words such as hate, war, or phrases such as you idiot produced unbalanced or even grotesquely misshapen crystals.

Apparently the energy of specific words is absorbed and held by water.

Our bodies are 70% water.

A recording of our voices sounds different from what we hear naturally. The recording device “hears” what’s transmitted through the air. Our ears, on the other hand, hear a blend of vibrations transmitted internally through our skulls as well as through the air.

If the energy of our speech vibrates through our skulls, it’s certain it vibrates in some of the water of our bodies. If retained, with what effect on our health, sanity, and longevity?

Draw your own conclusions.

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¹  Masaru Emoto in The Secret Life of Water, ISBN 978-1-4165-2218-8