A Matter of Faith
The subtitle of my memoir The Man Who Sees Tomorrow in His Dreams is With Faith, So Can You. This is not just an afterthought; it is essential to everything I say you can achieve through dreams. First, let’s examine the word faith. The dictionary usually defines it as a strong belief in something without having concrete proof. Now the lack of proof, which scientists require, is what causes some to consider those of faith as weak-minded hoping for something that doesn’t exist. I think this is a misconception of how faith works.
There are laws of cause and effect that govern the universe in which we live. They form the very foundation of physical existence. The concept of causality goes back to Aristotle and extends into all of modern science. Even in religions like Hinduism and Buddhism, we find cause and effect through the Hindu laws of karma and the Buddhist connectivity of all life. However, I am not going to discuss the scientific aspects or even the religious ones. Instead, I would like to focus on some of the metaphysics regarding cause and effect and show how it relates to faith.
Several times in my posts, I have mentioned the book The Law of Psychic Phenomena by Thomson Jay Hudson. This classic work is important because it examines a possible framework for the operation of many phenomena that are not part of hard science, but are recognized by diverse segments of the population. I am referring to paranormal phenomena, which seem to exist, but cannot be adequately explained with current scientific theories. In this realm, I include certain aspects of dreaming such as precognitive and telepathic dreams. I am often asked how such dreams are possible. My answer usually is to the effect that it is the nature of things.
The Law of Psychic Phenomena also explains that it is the nature of things, but it defines and explores the aspects of mind that make such phenomena possible. According to Hudson, there are two aspects of mind: the objective and subjective. The objective is our normal conscious reasoning mind and the subjective is our unconscious or subconscious mind, which is the creative force that maintains and builds the lives we desire. According to Hudson, the subjective mind has abilities our objective minds do not possess such as clairvoyance and telepathy. These powers can be activated in various ways, such as through meditation, hypnosis, and even severe trauma.
Through our daily activities, we are constantly feeding information to the subjective mind. Our constant mind talk is taking our strongest beliefs and impressing them upon our subconscious or subjective mind, which then tries to carry them out. So if you have a strong belief about something, faith in something, your subconscious mind will use all its powers to bring it about. If you are sick and believe you will get well, your subconscious mind will try to restore your health, provided you are not also sending it negative or contradictory thoughts.
If you have faith in the ability to get answers and daily guidance from your dreams, your subconscious mind will try to bring that about, which is easy for it to do since it creates the dreams. My point here is that faith has a real and tangible effect whether it is related to your health, finding a job, or solving some other problem in your life. There is a law of cause and effect, just as real as with normal physical phenomena, only here the initiator is mind. Perhaps the scientists will say it is all still physical, that certain thoughts cause a certain flow of electrons or electromagnetic effects that in turn cause other physical effects related to the subconscious. I don’t intend to argue those points, but I will say that the processes that can be activated in the subconscious include abilities not yet adequately explained by science.
The principle I just described forms the basis of many of the self-help books written in the 20th century. It is integral to the Edgar Cayce philosophy from the readings. At least one reading suggested using repetitive thoughts during pre-sleep to convey requests to the subconscious to correct problems or for dream guidance, since it is easier to reach the subconscious while in that state. Cayce himself used self-induced hypnosis to reach the trance state from which he responded to questions during the readings. The use of suggestion is also prevalent in the Jane Roberts’ books based on channeling through Seth, and belief is central to the suggestions to improve one’s life provided in The Nature of Personal Reality by Jane Roberts.
The principle of faith is used by successful athletes who work to convince themselves that they will achieve a certain result. They must see it as happening so strongly that the subconscious does everything in its power to make them succeed. There can be no doubt, no wavering, no maybe I can. There is only I have succeeded. This same approach applies to true religious faith. If you want a healing or to heal as Christ did, there can be no room for doubt. Doubt just serves to send a contradictory message to the subconscious, and now the subconscious is torn between two different messages. You want an unambiguous message sent to the subconscious so your orders are completely clear. It is a matter of faith.
Some may question how religion enters into this picture at all. In The Law of Psychic Phenomena, Hudson states that he believes the subconscious can apprehend the laws of the universe. In the Cayce view, there is an aspect of mind called the superconscious that never left its source, the Creator. Messages from the superconscious are direct messages from God. Through meditation and in certain dreams, the superconscious can be reached. If your purpose is spiritual and consistent with the Creative or Universal Forces (Cayce Expression), the power of God resonates within you and strengthens your power so anything is possible. Your mind is now operating through the superconscious and is in tune with the Universal.
Now suppose you desire something that is a selfish or harmful goal—one that is best described as unloving toward yourself or others. You can attempt to enlist the power of your subconscious mind to achieve that result, and may even have some success. However, your desire will not be in harmony with the Universal or your superconscious, something your subconscious will recognize, and the results will be ambiguous or may cause mental or physical problems as your subconscious tries to tell you that something is wrong. Your abilities will eventually dry up because they are being misused.
As a simple analogy, suppose someone is pushing a child on a swing. If the force applied to the back of the child is applied at just the right time, the swing will travel farther on each cycle. This is because the applied force is synchronous with the movement of the swing and aids the child’s efforts. Now, if the person applies the force at the wrong time, the swing distance will decrease and the swing movement may become chaotic instead of smooth. If this continues, the swing will stop and may result in the child being thrown to the ground.
There is a second volume to The Law of Psychic Phenomena called Physical Manifestations and Philosophy of Christ. You should read this if you want to understand better the work of Hudson and Christian faith from a metaphysical perspective. For those interested in becoming healers or in receiving a healing, I think you will find this a fascinating read.
Your faith activates the creative force within you. There is a real cause and effect relationship. However, doubt can undo this by sending a conflicting message to your subconscious. Also, any selfish motives will be in opposition to your higher mind and cause conflicts at deep levels within yourself, resulting in eventual disappointment and sorrow. If you want to be certain that your beliefs and desires are the correct ones, find your soul’s purpose. Then bring your desires into alignment with that purpose. Now you are operating in harmony with your higher purpose and cannot fail. You are going with the Creative flow that some call the Holy Spirit and others call the Tao. There are many names for it, but it simply is The Way.
You cannot simply tell yourself that you believe and expect results. The subconscious cannot be commanded in this way. Either you believe or you don’t. The operation of the subconscious remains hidden from the conscious mind and your conscious mind cannot just order it to do something. It operates based on your real beliefs, not your pretended or hoped for beliefs, and possesses its own unique drive toward a loving creativity. Even in hypnosis, when the conductor of the session gives instructions that appear to go directly to the subconscious mind of the person hypnotized, the morality of the individual in trance cannot be overridden. People under hypnosis who believe committing a crime is wrong simply fall out of hypnosis or become very confused if ordered to commit a crime.
Your work with dreams will aid you in understanding yourself and your real beliefs. You can keep beliefs that work for you and are in harmony with your soul’s purpose, and you can change beliefs that don’t work and are limiting you in various ways. As the subtitle of my book states, with faith you too can see tomorrow in your dreams.