The Truth: Harnessing the Power of Your Thoughts
The Truth: Harnessing the Power of Your Thoughts
A true story imitates a fictional story, illustrating a life lesson about the power of our thoughts, words, and actions.
I had written a different article for today, initially. Then I ended up in the emergency room Saturday night due to a peanut allergy. Who knew a Mexican restaurant would serve peanuts in an enchilada? As doctors and nurses graciously protected me from anaphylactic shock (they are truly the silent heroes in our lives), I thought about the message this experience held for me. Since I believe that we are guided, I trusted that this experience held meaning. Certainly, it allowed me to practice “Thinking Like a Soul” (the message of my article last Friday), but I also knew the message was more than that.
As I contemplated spiritual guidance in the emergency room, I kept thinking about my book, The Magic Mala. It’s a fictional story that depicts what I learned about life while investigating the afterlife. In that book, I wrote about the main character, Robby, having a peanut allergy. This chapter was based on my own experiences rushing to the ER when I was younger, basically documenting actual details of what that life-threatening crisis can be like. This then had me thinking about the most popular chapter of that book, Chapter Four, where the main character, Robby, meets a person who alters the trajectory of his life.
This is the scene where Tru shows up, an energetic and bubbly character who I thought of as a spirit guide to Robby. This is the first of only two scenes where Tru makes an appearance, yet she turned out to be a favorite character of many readers.
Because of my hospital experience coupled with my thoughts about spiritual guidance, I decided to share with you the meaningful message taught by Tru in this chapter. Even if you’ve read the book, I believe this noteworthy story is deserving of a second look, especially when separated from the rest of the book.
To set up the story, Robby is going through challenging times financially. In his desperation, he’s considering using his father’s mala (prayer beads) that he found in his attic to help his situation. I think of Tru as a spirit guide because she inspires Robby to appreciate the mala due to her enthusiasm and the information she teaches him about malas. In my mind, Robby’s skepticism might have spoiled and subsequently terminated his experiment with the mala if not for Tru’s influence.
In this scene, Robby’s in a library reading a little booklet called the mala manual that was with the mala when he found it. Robby found a table in the Anthropology section and pulled out the manual to begin reading it. Thus begins the story as he begins reading this passage.
Traditionally, the proper way to hold a mala is with your right hand. Beginning with the first bead, pull each bead toward you, one at a time, with your thumb and index finger.
Checking that no one was nearby, Robby pulled the mala beads out of his pocket and tried following the instructions. It took a bit of effort and concentration, but he soon got the hang of moving from bead to bead using just his thumb and index finger. He continued reading.
There are 108 beads plus one extra bead commonly known as the “guru” bead that indicates the beginning and end point of the mala. The significance of the number 108 is that the 1 signifies the Creator and higher truth, the 0 signifies emptiness or the space between our thoughts and breaths, and the 8 signifies infinity, timelessness, and eternity.
Begin by setting an intention for your mala session. What do you wish to communicate to your higher power? Do you wish to communicate an object or outcome you would like to create or attract into your life?
There was a tiny pencil on the table, like the ones golfers use, alongside a sheet of blank paper from the copy machine. Robby turned the sheet of paper over and used the pencil to write his intention on it. He wrote: “I would like to attract more money into my life.” He then read more of the manual.
Turn this intention into a brief mantra, usually only a few words long, which you will use to represent your intention.
Under his intention, Robby wrote:: “Money comes easily to me.” He liked his mantra and thought, I’m good at this. Then he continued reading the manual.
There are many Buddhist and Hindu mantras that you can memorize that have been used for thousands of years. What’s important is that you understand their intentions even if you don’t know the meaning of every word.
The language of Sanskrit is based more on energy than meaning, so each word carries an energy vibration. Therefore, each word grows in power as it vibrates from your vocal cords, attracting to you a frequency match that you project outwardly as you speak it. Here’s a popular Hindu abundance mantra in the Sanskrit language.
Om Shrim Maha Lakshmiyei Swaha.
It is pronounced: Om Shreem maah-hah lahk-shmee-yay swah-hah.
Om is how every mantra begins. Shrim is the seed sound for abundance. Maha means “great,” and in this case it means “a lot of abundance.” Lakshmi is the goddess of abundance and receiving. The “yei” is an activating sound, so chanting “Lakshmi-yei” activates the Lakshmi within us. And swahais like maha but signifies respect, so it means “the Great One” in reference to Lakshmi.
Ultimately the mantra means you are showing deep respect to the goddess of abundance, Lakshmi, for the great quantity of abundance she has sent your way.
Robby liked the idea of using an ancient mantra for abundance. He thought it might have a greater impact because of its powerful energy vibration. It must work because it has been around for thousands of years, Robby thought, then pondered, would people keep using it if it wasn’t effective?
He decided he would use this mantra instead of the one he himself created to begin his mala practice. He liked the way it rolled off his tongue. Although he still felt slightly skeptical, he was desperate enough to open his mind to new possibilities. He continued reading.
Now say your mantra aloud while thinking about its intention for every one of the 108 beads of your mala. In this way, you are repeating and contemplating your intention 108 times, which will take you approximately ten minutes each session, give or take a few minutes.
This exercise is a powerful method for communicating your desires to Creative Intelligence. Few people take the time to do this. Imagine doing this exercise twice daily. Imagine how much creative power twenty-plus minutes of intention setting a day will accomplish.
As he read further in the manual, Robby suddenly became aware of somebody sitting directly across the table from him, a petite blond woman just a little younger than he, and she was staring right at him. He couldn’t ignore the energy of her gaze, so he looked up from reading his mala manual. The woman’s entire face was smiling: her lips, her cheeks, her eyes, her nose, and even her ears seemed to beam with joy. She appeared to have no discomfort staring at a stranger and interrupting his reading.
“I love mala beads,” she began with no formal introduction. She appeared happy and vital and spoke very quickly. “I’ve been using mala beads since I was eight.”