It is clear to me that through intent, we can change the physical world as we know it.  I have had small but real success in this area.  But how far can that effect go?  We all have access to a template of universal essence that we can access when we are quiet.  We can make requests, demands, and use absolute intent.  This must also work in accordance to universal law.  Tapping into this essence is, I believe what magicians and shamans have done for centuries when they have done things that others had witnessed. 

Now consider that we all are constantly writing our own scripts and subconsciously or consciously accessing this template of the universe that our thoughts write on.  There are therefore complex interactions between us and others here in C1 reality.  If two acquaintences have opposite intentions do they cancel each other out in the real world.  Does the person who is spiritually more "in tune," have a greater effect on the real world than one who is self centered and not "in line."

Taken in a bigger context, we have terrorists, islamo-fascism with beheadings which many feel are loathesome.  This ideology clashes with Western ideology.  On a subconscious levels, people from both groups are trying to change physical reality.  Since thought creates reality, and there are billions of people on the planet, whose reality is it? 

Just some musings.  Man does not act in a vacuum, but in society with others.  Thus the interactions are always complex.

Matthew

Matthew,

The question you pose is one of life's most important mysteries.   I want to approach it from a Christian perpective.   The biblical teaching that at Creation God brought order out of chaos is well known.  Less well known is the biblical teaching that God never took complete control of the forces of chaos: e.g,,

"The fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle.  The wise are often poor, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy.  And those who are educated do not always lead successful lives.  BUT ALL ARE VICTIMS OF TIME AND CHANCE, BY BEING AT THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME (Ecclesiastes 9:11). "

But the Bible also teaches that through dynamic faith and prayer we can alter fate and even in some sense change God's mind.  So it is a mistake to blame God for natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina.  The more important issue is the extent to which we can bypass the limitations of Nature's known laws and create our own experience. Perhaps this potential is part of what it really means to be created in God's image.

Several double-blind scientific studies of Christian prayer prove the prayer makes a big difference in the curative process of serious illness.    But often it is a matter not of an outright cure, but of fewer symptoms and a speedier and smoother healing process.  And cancer remissions occasionally seem to occur spontaneously without prayer.   The placebo effect can be quite potent.

These studies typically focus on ordinary Christian prayer groups, not on gifted prayer adepts.   Jesus' miracles are occasionally but rarely duplicated by extraordinarily gifted prayer adepts and occasionally ordinary people receive mind-boggling answers to prayer.   For example, my female cousin's eye was badly damaged in a collision and required immediate surgery.  A group of her friends for Oral Roberts University prayed for her healing and a miracle occurred.  As her surgeon put it, "You've been given a brand new baby eye!"  [She and her Oral Roberts roommates teased me into consuming my first bottle of alcohol--whiskey!] My Sunday school teacher accidentally cut a piece of his finger off with a power saw.  In shock, he simply picked it up and put it back on his hand "in the name of Jesus."   It immediately healed with a small scar.  I was a young boy at the time, but was awestruck by his excitement at God's grace and power.  Though immediately inspiring, such miracles are ultimately frustrating because they up the ante on what is possible and raise expectations, perhaps unrealistically.

Let me give you recent example from my own experience.  I was recently asked to lead a prayer service for a woman who had been given two months to live because of a particularly virulent metasthetized cancer.   After the moving service, she went to the Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York City for a second opinion.   My mood is both expectant and apprehensive because of the stakes.  Her family really needs her.   I was wondering exactly when she was going to New York when I went to a hospital for my own blood test.  I wanted information about her current mindset.  After my checkup, I wanted to eat in an outside restaurant but something  told me to eat in the hospital cafeteria instead.  So I did.  When I left, I ran into the woman's male friend at the front desk.  He was seeking her X-rays and other test results, so she could bring them with her to New York.  I only go to that hospital once every 6 months and that boyfriend is almost never there.  How likely is it that  I would run into him like that?  
I have had many synchronistic encounters like this in times of intense need.   Our longings seem to contribute to more reality creation than we realize.  
If we could expand our understanding of the limits and extent to which reality can be created by our own efforts, we would be much more energized and motivated to serve our fellow humans in need.
I eagerly await my lady friend's new test results.

Don

No Brendan, you have been hoodwinked by a crude caricature of Christianity that is excessively dependent on a Greek way of thinking.  I don't want to hi-jack this thread in a biblical direction.  So Let give simply offer you 4 crucial points to ponder.

(1) In the Old Testament God often expresses regret for what He and others have done.   How can you regret something for which you yourself are responsible?  The nature of divine omniscience is a mystery which cannot simply be reduced to a Greek conception. 

(2)  God often allows Hebrew prophets to argue or negotiate with Him and changes His announced plan in deference to this prophetic critique.  In other words, He allows His will to be shaped in concert with the best instincts of the righteous.

(3) The future is not fixed for a biblical prophet.  For example, God often announces an impending judgment as inrrevocable, but then suspends the judgment if the people reform. 

(4) As for God transcending time, the Bible never actually makes this claim, though you might claim it is implicit.   In any case, divine foreknowledge precedes any sense of predestination, not vice versa (see Romans 8:29).  In other words,  God foreknows what we will do with our free will and fits this into His plan.  But this does not mean that He always approves of our decisions.   We remain free to make a mess of our world if we so choose. 

Several academic books have been written on a new branch of Christian theology called Process Theology.    Process Theology contends that God in some sense evolves in reaction to the decisions of His creatures.  When the Bible claims that God does not change, it is referring to His faithfulness and loving nature.  Otherwise, why would God bother to create new worlds?

Don

Quote:


Are you ready to teach this to your patients/clients?

To put things back on track, this thread is mostly about the ability of our conscious minds to alter reality by making an intention and connecting with our subconscious or the all that is.

If we are all constantly interacting in this way, then reality as we know it is constantly being created by all of us, but the interactions are complex.

I do think that all stated religions, some magic, suggestion, voodoo all deal with this interaction of absolute intent with a higher power.

M

Matthew,

Imagine this impudent question from a casual acquaintance: "Do you love your wife?"  The guy immediately and indignantly replies: "Of course, I love my wife!"   It might be said that his knee-jerk reaction stems from his belief that he loves his wife.  His anger prevented him from taking the time to examine his experience and see how it really is for him right now.   I think the same problem applies to the role of intent in creating our own reality.  In other words, I may tell myself that I intend to do something when in fact I merely have a belief in that intention.  A certain intensity and focus of desire might be necessary to create an intention that transcends my belief in my intention.

For example, I may believe that I want someone to be healed and may pray for that result.  But perhaps I also need to take the time to imagine that person and his (her) need and intensely linger on my longing for that person to be healed.  Focused visualization might be an important part of that emotional focus.  So I appreciate the earlier long thread on that issue. 

Don

Bets,

I think intent has a direct effect and that whether we are aware of it or not we are always manifesting some aspects of our reality.

What is more "spiritually in tune," however?

That is the most difficult question for each of us. What determines correctness and what is a correct path? When each of our paths cross, who has the right of way? How do we make the way clear for each other? Is that even possible?

blink

Bets,

I agree.  I haven't said it much, but Blink seems like one of the kindest, most in tune people on the board.  As far as being more in tune, I'm not sure.

I am more and more convinced that all of our deepest and innermost beliefs, good or bad are manifest into reality in one way or another.  By this system, then, the terrorists may realize their evil ends, but achieving a single thought-goal, will not lead to any enlightenment or help for the rest of humanity.

You can see many examples of people succeeding in one area or another (The Donald Trumps, multi million dollar rap stars, etc.) who may have achieved an inner goal, but be materialistic and unenlightened in other ways.

I have been experimenting with thought umbrellas of protection though, for a while now, mostly for my young children.  My youngest I picture an energy shield around him when I am in meditaiton, and put it together with the words safety and protect.  I think a bunch of us should visualize these thing for major cities as tools against the madness. 


M