Wish-fulfillment Daydreams: A pleasurable way to install peace and neutral-positive thinking in oneself.
https://www.figu.org/ch/verein/periodika/bulletin/2013/nr-79/wunschtr%C3%A4ume
1. We have difficulty finding and maintaining a state of peace in ourselves: This is raised in the context of concerns about the effects of electro-smog, negative vibrations from others in built up areas, etc.
2. The power of our thoughts have by far the greatest significance in our ability to maintain a peaceful state of mind than do external factors: As Billy explains in “Macht der Gedanken“, if we learn to actually think correctly then we discover sooner or later that we are masters over the state of our own psyches. Consider the role the power of the thoughts plays in our health: “The fact is that thoughts and feelings exert a monstrous might on the health of the human being and not seldom even determine whether one lives or dies. Angst, gloomy expectations, negative imaginings and worries are – at the very least – just as big a negative factor and risk factor, in regard to physical and psychic health, as are, for example, alcohol, nicotine and pure toxic substances.“ Billy’s Bulletin 71 article, “Die tödliche Macht der Gedanken und Gefühle”, “The Deadly Might of Thoughts and Feelings”. According to U.S. studies, a large number of heart attacks arise merely because the victim fears having one.
3. Learning to concentrate and control the thoughts so that one becomes the forger of one’s own destiny and is master over the state of one’s psyche: Learning correct meditation is the sure way to achieve a peaceful state of mind and a habit of neutral-positive thinking. Behind this is the unavoidable need to learn concentration. Meditation is not learned over night. In general we simply aren’t used to focusing our consciousness in such a controlled and orderly manner. For beginners, it is difficult to concentrate on one object, or entirely on our own consciousness, or on the Creation, or some such thing that we perhaps don’t even really recognize yet in more than a rather vague way.
4. Wish-fulfilment Day Dreams – a pleasurable way to install peace and neutral-positive thinking in oneself. Maintenance of dreams which describe our wishes also requires effort and concentration: For beginners it is easier to focus on already existing pleasant imagery. In “Die Psyche”, Billy writes, that to learn neutral-positive thinking it is only necessary to turn immediately to thoughts of a wish-dream whenever negative thoughts begin to influence the thinking. The wish-dream is about something that we would like to be real or simply something that we simply like to dream about. It is of something we feel is good, beautiful, likable/dear (lieb) and nice – the sort of dreams we may have had in childhood. We must also practice this when problems are not over-burdening us. (see: Daydreaming article here)
5. The need for discipline and control in creating and maintaining wish-dreams. From the book “Arahat Athersata”, p.112. ” 23: The more often a thought is maintained and the more intensively it is nourished, the more strongly it swells and pushes, unrestrainedly, towards realization. 24. Exactly as a corn seed – as a result of receiving constant moisture – swells, germinates, takes root, grows and then unfolds to produce ears.“ So, if you don’t adequately feed your idea, it will die, or at least be stunted or malformed.
6. Gain dream inspiration by paying closer attention to the nature of the consciousness itself: In other words, capture and remember real moments when something has already pleased your consciousness. “Die Art zu Leben/The Way to Live”, p.154. v. 404 “… From time to time one may snatch a fleeting impression of the nature of the consciousness if one turns toward it. Then one may perhaps feel an expanded happiness in oneself, aroused by a beautiful piece of music or by a human being’s love, by a beautiful experience, a nice gesture or simply just because the everyday routine and life are so pleasant. And one may also grasp a moment of happiness which perhaps simply comes about because one sees the snowflakes floating down or a sunbeam which mysteriously spreads its fingers through the forest; it can also be a flower on the edge of the path or a bird and its twittering which please the consciousness. These are moments of peace, of love, of happiness, of spiritual poise and harmony as well as (moments of) turning inwardly and (moments of) insight; moments which take effect deep in the inner realm of the consciousness, bringing the feelings to resonance and pleasing the psyche. And they are moments which, in their peculiarity must be held firm, so that they remain constantly in the memory. …” [try to bring these dreams to mind – my example: iris garden]
7. THINK BIG: (again from “Die Psyche/The Psyche”) “In every regard it is allowed, in the wish-dream, to let the thoughts glide along the most imaginative paths, to build gigantic castles in the sky and to indulge in everything which is able to please the senses: happiness, love, beauty, understanding and everything which elevates the heart and feelings. There are no borders set for the imagining and no attempt should be made to restrict it. However it is most necessary to pay attention that the wish-fulfilment dream is always grasped immediately if even only the smallest negative thought attempts to break into the consciousness.” Don’t think small. Billy, writing in “Arahat Athersata”, p.112. ”36. If a life was rich in good, forwardlooking thoughts and thoughts which were correct for life, the results were just as great and correct for life. 37. To the same extent to which it contained nonsense, despondency, faintheartedness and incorrectness in terms of life, it contained disappointments, deprivations and suffering, and so forth. 38. Only strong, spacious and courageous thinking leads life upwards, while weak, narrow-minded and faint-hearted thinking oppresses everything, smashes it and ultimately annihilates it.”
8. All beginnings are difficult: To begin with it will take an enormous amount of effort to concentrate on the wish-dream. The product of the negative thoughts which are habitually associated with one’s imagery will keep arising until new patterns of thought are thoroughly established. This establishing of new thought habits can take only a few minutes under certain circumstances, depending on the difficulty of the case, but it can also even take several months. The power of the consciousness varies from human to human.
9. Details are important: Exactness and clarity of dream ideas lead to exactness and clarity in the outcome. But the process of thinking up dreams is extremely beneficial for other reasons. One has to examine the logical details of it, whether it conforms to the laws and directives of Creation and whether some aspects contradict others. As soon as we think of dreams intended to have a real effect on our real lives, with the increasing understanding that our thoughts have a monstrous constructive or destructive might – we start to question whether we really do want the things we thought we wanted, and whether they are compatible with reality and compatible with our actual real circumstances. (Chapter 4 of “Macht der Gedanken” gives examples of people wishing to change but not wishing for the right changes.) Forming of wish-dreams is an excellent way of examining our thoughts, as we are advised to do in general.
10. The consciousness, like a garden, must be maintained and kept free of weeds: From “Macht der Gedanken/Might of the Thought”: “If good, healthy and neutrally-positive-balanced thoughts are nurtured, then they bring a good harvest in the form of progress, success, love, peace and harmony; if, however, bad, negative thoughts are allowed, then they grow luxuriously like wild, raging weeds which displace everything which is not of its kind and consequently takes the upper hand to such a degree that nothing positive is able to gain ground any more. Therefore the consciousness, and the thoughts which emerge from it, must be cultivated and tended as with a precious garden, which is kept free of weeds and in which flowers bloom, and vegetables as well as fruit grow which, on one hand, bring the human being joy and harmony and, on the other hand, are safe nourishment.”
Homework suggestion:
Create (and tend) a wish-fulfilment daydream about the future of our Australian study group.
Positive thinking, how does one think positively? (from “The Psyche”) p. 85
p.85. Positives Denken, Wie denkt man positiv? (Aus ‹Die Psyche›)
a. Starting in childhood every human being normally has a wish-dream; a wish-dream image of something, which exists in his or her imagination, that he or she would really like to be real, or of something that he or she simply liked, or likes, to dream about.
(Von Kindheit an besitzt jeder Mensch normalerweise einen Wunschtraum; ein in seiner Phantasie existierendes Wunschtraumgebilde von etwas, das er einmal verwirklichen möchte oder von dem er einfach gerne träumte oder träumt.)
b. A wish-dream of something that he or she perceives to be good, beautiful, dear and nice; a wish-dream which can be made reality or which simply represents a figment of the imagination for all times.
(Ein Wunschtraum von irgend etwas, das er als gut, schön, lieb und nett empfindet. Ein Wunschtraum, der verwirklicht werden kann oder der ganz einfach für alle Zeiten ein Phantasiegebilde darstellt.)
c. However, a wish-dream is, in every regard, better if it can one day become reality. But if the knowledge of such a wish-dream has been lost then each person is able to create a new one; a new wishdream in which one can indulge in fantasy.
(In jeder Beziehung ist jedoch ein Wunschtraum besser, wenn er einmal verwirklicht werden kann. Ist aber das Wissen um einen solchen Wunschtraum verlorengegangen, dann vermag sich jede Person einen neuen zu schaffen; einen neuen Wunschtraum, in dem man sich in der Phantasie ergehen kann.)
d. In order to learn neutral-positive thinking it is only necessary to immediately turn towards the thoughts of this old or new wish-dream and to indulge in great fantasy, primarily always whenever negative thoughts begin to influence the thinking; that is to say, when worrying and troubling thoughts, and so on, begin to burden the normal positive thoughts, to impair them and make it a torment.
(Um neutral-positiv denken zu lernen ist es nur notwendig, sich sofort in Gedanken diesem alten oder neuen Wunschtraum zuzuwenden und sich in grosser Phantasie darin zu ergehen, hauptsächlich immer dann, wenn negative Gedanken das Denken zu beeinflussen beginnen, das heisst also, wenn Sorgenund Kummergedanken usw. das normale positive Denken zu belasten beginnen, es beeinträchtigen und zur Qual machen.)
e. But, in the remaining time, it is, however, also recommended that one indulges in fantasy in the wishdream when worrying and troubling thoughts, and so forth, are not so overburdening.
(Es ist jedoch auch empfohlen, sich in der übrigen Zeit, da Sorgen- und Kummergedanken usw. nicht so sehr überlastend sind, im Wunschtraum in Phantasie zu ergehen.)
f. In every regard it is allowed, in the wish-dream, to let the thoughts glide along the most imaginative paths, to build gigantic castles in the sky and to indulge in everything which is able to please the senses: happiness, love, beauty, understanding and everything which elevates the heart and feelings.
(Es ist in jeder Beziehung erlaubt, im Wunschtraum seine Gedanken in die phantasievollsten Bahnen gleiten zu lassen, riesige Luftschlösser zu bauen und sich in all dem zu ergehen, was die Sinne zu erfreuen vermag: Glück, Liebe, Schönheit, Verständnis und alles, was Herz und Gefühle anhebt.)
g. There are no limits set to the fantasy and no attempt should be made to restrict it.
(Der Phantasie sind darin keine Grenzen gesetzt, und es soll auch kein Versuch zu einer Begrenzung unternommen werden.)
h. However it is most necessary to pay attention that the wish-fulfilment dream is always grasped immediately if even only the smallest negative thought attempts to break into the consciousness.
(Jedoch ist mit grösster Notwendigkeit darauf zu achten, dass immer sofort zum Wunschtraum gegriffen wird, wenn auch nur der kleinste negative Gedanke ins Bewusstsein einzubrechen versucht.)
i. All beginnings are very difficult, as is also the learning of neutral-positive thinking.
(Aller Anfang ist sehr schwer, so auch das Erlernen des neutral-positiven Denkens)
j. To begin with it will take an enormous amount of effort to concentrate on the wish-dream, because the negative world of thoughts constantly shoot off their moral-killing arrows.
(Anfangs wird es ungeheuer viel Mühe bereiten, sich auf den Wunschtraum zu konzentrieren, weil die negative Gedankenwelt dauernd ihre moraltötenden Pfeile verschiesst.)
k. Without pause, the subconscious attempts to push the product of the negative thoughts, which have taken the upper hand, into the foreground, whereby a concentration on the wish-dream can only be brought about with a large amount of effort.
(Ohne Unterlass versucht das Unterbewusstsein das überhandgenommene negative Gedankengut in den Vordergrund zu drängen, wodurch eine Konzentration auf den Wunschtraum nur sehr mühevoll zustande gebracht werden kann.)
l. Nevertheless, however, again and again, each thought must be directed onto the wish-dream until the negative advances of the subconscious slowly wane, ultimately entirely disappear, and allow the positive thoughts to take the upper hand and have control.
(Nichtsdestoweniger muss jedoch immer und immer wieder jeder Gedanke auf den Wunschtraum gerichtet werden, bis die negativen Vorstösse des Unterbewusstseins langsam nachlassen, letztendlich ganz verschwinden und dem neutral-positiven Denken die Oberhand und das Herrschen belassen.)
m. This procedure can take only a few minutes under certain circumstances, depending on the difficulty of the case, but it can, however, also even take several months.
(Diese Prozedur kann unter Umständen nur wenige Minuten in Anspruch nehmen, je nach Schwere des Falles jedoch aber sogar mehrere Monate.)
n. Consequently, therefore, in every regard patience must be practiced, because in the first place, a master has never fallen from heaven, and secondly, the power of the consciousness varies from human to human.
(Folglich muss also in jeder Beziehung Geduld geübt werden, denn erstens ist noch nie ein Meister vom Himmel gefallen, und zweitens variiert die Bewusstseins-Kraft von Mensch zu Mensch.)
“Arahat Athersata”, p.112.
23. The more often a thought is maintained and the more intensively it is nourished, the more strongly it swells and pushes, unrestrainedly, to realization.
(23. Je öfter ein Gedanke gepflegt und je intensiver er gehegt wird, desto stärker quillt er auf und drängt unhemmbar zur Verwirklichung.)
24. Exactly as a corn seed – as a result of receiving constant moisture – swells, germinates, takes root, grows and then unfolds to produce ears.
(24. Genauso, wie ein Samenkorn durch die ständige Befeuchtung aufquillt, keimt, Wurzeln schlägt, wächst und sich dann zur Ähre entfaltet.)
…
36. If a life was rich in good, forward-looking thoughts and thoughts which were correct for life, the results were just as great and correct for life.
(36. So reich ein Leben an guten, vorwärtsweisenden und lebensrichtigen Gedanken war, so gross und lebensrichtig waren die Erfolge.)
37. To the same extent to which it contained nonsense, pusillanimity, faintheartedness and incorrectness in terms of life, it contained disappointments, deprivations and affliction, and so forth.
(37. Soviel Unsinn, Verzagtheit, Kleinmut und Lebensunrichtigkeit es enthielt, so reich war es an Enttäuschungen, Entbehrungen und Leid usw.)
38. Only strong, spacious and courageous thinking leads life upwards, while weak, narrow-minded and faint-hearted thinking oppresses everything, smashes it and ultimately annihilates it.”
(38. Nur starkes, weiträumiges und mutiges Denken führt das Leben empor, während schwächliches, engstirniges und verzagtes Denken alles niederdrückt, zerbricht und letztendlich vernichtet.)
“The Way to Live”, p.154 ~ 404
‹Die Art zu Leben›, p.154. v. 404
From time to time, one may snatch a fleeting impression of the nature of the consciousness if one turns toward it.
„... Hin und wieder vermag man einen flüchtigen Eindruck von der Natur des Bewusstseins zu erhaschen, wenn man sich ihm zuwendet.
Then one may perhaps feel an expanded happiness in oneself, aroused by a beautiful piece of music or through a human being’s love, through a beautiful experience, a nice gesture or simply just because the everyday routine and life are so pleasant.
Dann mag man vielleicht ein geweitetes Glück in sich fühlen, angefacht von einem schönen Musikstück oder durch die Liebe eines Menschen, durch ein schönes Erlebnis, eine nette Geste oder einfach dadurch, weil der Alltag und das Leben so schön sind.
And one may also grasp a moment of happiness which perhaps simply comes about because one sees the snowflakes floating down or a sunbeam which mysteriously spreads its fingers through the forest; it can also be a flower on the edge of the path or a bird and its twittering which please the consciousness.
Und man mag auch einen Moment des Frohseins erfassen, das vielleicht einfach dadurch entsteht, weil man die niederschwebenden Schneeflocken sieht oder einen Sonnenstrahl, der geheimnisvoll durch den Wald fingert; es kann aber auch eine Blume am Wegesrand sein oder ein Vogel und dessen Gezwitscher, die das Bewusstsein erfreuen.
These are moments of peace, of love, of happiness, of equalisedness and harmony as well as (moments of) turning inwardly and (moments of) insight; moments which take effect deep in the inner realm of the consciousness, bringing the feelings to resonance and pleasing the psyche. And they are moments which, in their peculiarity must be held firm, so that they remain constantly in the memory. …”
Dies sind Augenblicke des Friedens, der Liebe, des Glücks, der Ausgeglichenheit und Harmonie sowie der Einkehr und Einsicht. Augenblicke, die tief ins Innere des Bewusstseins wirken, die Gefühle zum Klingen bringen und die Psyche erfreuen. Und es sind Augenblicke, die in ihrer Eigenartigkeit festgehalten werden müssen, damit sie in steter Erinnerung bleiben. …”
“Might of the Thought”
‹Macht der Gedanken›, Chapter 3, p.15.
“If good, healthy and neutrally-positive-balanced thoughts are nurtured, then they bring a good harvest in the form of progress, success, love, peace and harmony; if, however, bad, negative thoughts are allowed, then they grow luxuriously like wild, raging weeds which displace everything which is not of its kind and consequently takes the upper hand to such a degree that nothing positive is able to gain ground any more.”
When a person lays out a garden, it is certain that some form of plant life will be produced in it, regardless of whether the piece of land is cultivated and tended or grossly neglected. It is the same with Consciousness, for depending on whether it is intelligently tended or neglected, it will produce rich, healthy and neutral-positive-balanced, powerful thoughts that are creative and progressive, or powerful wild-growing negative thoughts that are confusing and destructive. If no useful seeds are sown in a garden, but only weeds, or if everything is left to chance, then only weeds and the like will grow, with the possibility that a meagre flower may sprout in between. If, however, useful seeds are sown and useful plants are planted, then plants that are useful to man will also grow from them. The same applies to consciousness, which can be equated with a garden. If good, healthy and neutral-positive-balanced thoughts are cultivated, then they bring a good harvest in the form of progress, success, love, peace and harmony; if, however, bad, negative thoughts are allowed, then they grow lushly like wild weeds that suppress everything that is not of their kind and consequently become so rampant that nothing positive can gain space.
(Legt ein Mensch einen Garten an, dann ist es sicher, dass darin irgendwelche pflanzliche Lebensformen hervorgebracht werden, ganz egal, ob das Stück Land kultiviert und gepflegt oder grob vernachlässigt wird. Genauso ist es auch mit dem Bewusstsein, denn je nachdem, ob es intelligent gepflegt oder ob es vernachlässigt wird, bringt es reiche, gesunde und neutral-positiv-ausgeglichene, machtvolle Gedanken hervor, die kreativ und fortschrittlich sind, oder machtvolle wildwüchsige Negativgedanken, die verwirrend und zerstörend wirken. Werden in einem Garten keine nützliche Samen, sondern nur Unkräuter ausgebracht oder wird alles der Fügung überlassen, dann wächst nur Unkraut und dergleichen, mit der Möglichkeit, dass dazwischen vielleicht einmal eine magere Blume spriesst. Wird jedoch nützliche Saat ausgebracht und werden nutzvolle Pflanzen gesetzt, dann werden daraus auch Pflanzen entstehen, die dem Menschen nutzvoll sind. Gleichermassen gilt dies für das Bewusstsein, das einem Garten gleichgesetzt werden kann. Werden gute, gesunde und neutral-positiv-ausgeglichene Gedanken gepflegt, dann bringen sie eine gute Ernte in Form von Fortschritt, Erfolg, Liebe, Frieden und Harmonie; werden jedoch schlechte, negative Gedanken zugelassen, dann wuchern sie üppig wie wildwüchsiges Unkraut, das alles verdrängt, was nicht seiner Art ist und folglich derart überhandnimmt, dass nichts Positives mehr Platz zu gewinnen vermag.)
Therefore the consciousness, and the thoughts which emerge from it, must be cultivated and tended as (with) a precious garden, which is kept free of weeds and in which flowers bloom and vegetables as well as fruit grow which, on one hand, bring the human being joy and harmony and on the other hand, are safe nourishment.
(Also müssen das Bewusstsein und die aus ihm entstehenden Gedanken kultiviert und gepflegt werden wie ein kostbarer Garten, der frei von Unkraut gehalten wird und in dem Blumen blühen und Gemüse sowie Früchte wachsen, die dem Menschen Freude und Harmonie bringen einerseits und ihm andererseits sichere Nahrung sind.)
And just as a garden is cultivated and nurtured and cared for according to man's wishes, so consciousness must be nurtured and cared for in such a way that all wrong, useless, negative and impure thoughts are eliminated in order to provide the necessary space for useful, pure, neutral-positive-balanced, correct and cultivated thoughts.
(Und so wie ein Garten nach den Wünschen des Menschen angebaut und gehegt und gepflegt wird, so muss auch das Bewusstsein gehegt und gepflegt werden, und zwar in der Form, dass alle falschen, nutzlosen, negativen und unreinen Gedanken eliminiert werden, um den nützlichen, reinen, neutralpositiv-ausgeglichenen, richtigen und kultivierten Gedanken den notwendigen Raum zu verschaffen.)
[Talk – Australian, informal FIGU study group – 11th September 2010 – by Vivienne Legg]