An affirmation is a statement of truth which one aspires to absorb into his life. It has been said that we are what we eat. It would be truer to say, “We are what we think.” For our minds express, and also influence, the reality of what we are far more than our bodies do. Our thoughts even influence, to a great extent, our physical health.
No real progress in life ever comes haphazardly. A sportsman must work hard to master the techniques he needs: throwing a ball, skiing down a difficult slope, jumping the greatest possible distance. And a pianist must work at least as hard to master the movements of his fingers, to play with ease the most intricate musical passages.
Living, too, is an art. Unfortunately, it is one to which most people devote little energy. They take life as it comes, and wonder why things keep going wrong.
Thoughts are things. Words, which are crystallized thoughts, have immeasurable power, especially when we speak them with concentration. The mere thought of fatigue is enough to sap our energy. To strengthen that thought by the words, “I’m exhausted,” gives definition, and therefore added power, to the thought itself.
The opposite is true also. If one feels exhausted, but suddenly finds his interest drawn to something, his fatigue may vanish altogether! One is what one thinks. If, in addition to that sudden interest, he verbalizes it with the words, “I feel wonderful!” he may find that, instead of only feeling vaguely better, he actually feels as though he had acquired a new self-definition.
The difficulty is that our habits are buried in the subconscious mind. Thus, even when we resolve to change them, we find ourselves being drawn back repeatedly, and quite against our conscious will, into old ways.
Affirmations, on the other hand, when repeated with deep concentration, then carried into the subconscious, can change us on levels of the mind over which most of us have little conscious control.
We are what we think, but we are also far more than what we think consciously. We are the myriad conflicting patterns of feeling, habit, and reaction that we have built up over a lifetime — indeed, over lifetimes — in our subconscious minds. To heal ourselves, we must also set those inner conflicts in order.
Nor is it enough, even, to affirm change on conscious and subconscious levels. For we are part of a much greater reality, with which we must live in harmony also. Behind our human minds is the divine consciousness.
When we try to transform ourselves by self-effort alone, we limit our potential for healing and growth. Affirmation should be lifted from the self-enclosure of the mind into the greater reality of superconsciousness.
To be healed is to “be rid of an imperfection.” To be perfect is to express the superconscious — the source of creativity and solutions. Therefore, in using affirmations for self healing we concentrate on positive qualities which are the solutions to our disease and imperfections.
The superconscious is that level of awareness which is often described as the higher Self. It is from this level, for example, that great inspirations come. It is through the superconscious that divine guidance descends and true healing takes place. Without superconscious attunement, affirmations, like any other merely human attempt at self-upliftment, have only temporary benefits.
Affirmations should be repeated in such a way as to lift the consciousness toward superconsciousness. This they can accomplish when we repeat them with deep concentration at the seat of divine awareness in the human body, the Christ center, which is a point in the forehead midway between the two eyebrows.
Repeat affirmations loudly at first, to command the full attention of your conscious mind. Then repeat them quietly, to absorb more deeply the meaning of the words. Then speak them in a whisper, carrying their meaning down into the subconscious. Repeat them again, silently, to deepen your absorption of them at the subconscious level. Then at last, with rising aspiration, repeat them at the Christ center.
At every level, repeat them several times, absorbing yourself ever-more-deeply in their meaning.
By repeated affirmation you can strengthen, and, later, spiritualize your awareness of any quality you want to develop.
Affirmation is only the first step to self-healing. We must do our human part. Without additional power from God, however, our efforts are forever incomplete. Affirmation, in other words, should end with prayer.
Why should one pray only after repeating the affirmations? Why not before? Prayer is always good, certainly. But if it isn’t uttered with an affirmative consciousness, it can easily become weak and beggarly: a plea that God do all the work, without man’s active participation. Effective prayer is never passive. It is full of faith. It matures in an attitude of affirmation.
To become established in any new quality, it helps first to affirm it, following the sequence that I have described. Then, however, offer that affirmation up in loving prayer to God.
It is at the point of our deepest and most positive attunement with Him that He helps us the most. By divine attunement, our resistance becomes minimized, and our cooperation with His grace becomes fully open, willing, and superconsciously aware.
Below is a sample affirmation to help you get started. You can see more by clicking on the links below or by getting Swami Kriyananda’s Book, Affirmations for Self-Healing.
The Quality of Devotion
One of 52 selections from Swami Kriyananda’s book, Affirmations for Self-Healing
No good end is ever reached without devotion. No true success is achieved unless the heart’s feelings are involved. Will power itself is a combination of energy and feeling, directed toward fulfillment.
In the quest for God, the unfolding of the heart’s natural love, in the form of deep devotion, is the prime requisite for success. Without devotion, not a single step can be taken towards Him. Devotion is no sentiment: It is the deep longing to commune with, and know, the only Reality there is.
Affirmation
With the sword of devotion I sever the heart-strings that tie me to delusion. With the deepest love, I lay my heart at the feet of Omnipresence.
Prayer
Beloved Father, Mother, God: I am Thine alone! Let others seek Thee — or seek Thee not; it matters not to my love for Thee. Through all life’s trials, my prayer is this alone: Reveal Thyself!
More Affirmations for Self Healing
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