Affirmations a Handy Tool

Affirmations can be used to persuade your subconscious
to accept some personal quality to which you aspire,
enabling that quality to become a reality. This is
achieved by repeating some concise affirming words
that embody your aspiration. For example, if you want
to be clearer in speech because even mildly stressful
situations cause you to stammer to little, you might
repeat an affirmation such as: "My throat and chest
are relaxed; my speech is clear and precise."

Such affirmation work better if they are repeated
three times, three times per day at regular times. For
example, you could say to yourself: " my throat and
chest are relaxed…" three times to waking, three times
after lunch and then three times before you go to bed.
In this way, the affirmation is repeated nine times
per day. You can choose whether to say it aloud, say
it in your head, or write it down. Occasionally
writing your affirmations down, then burning then,
with the clear intention that the affirmation is
released into the 'ether' or the 'void', can work
well. Must of us believe that we need to give in order
to receive. Therefore, in order to manifest the full
fruit of you aspiration through affirmation, it is
good to offer something back to return. Consequently,
if you add "… I give that I shall receive" or "I give
so that this is so" after each affirmation, it will
remind you to do useful and generous things more often
than you would otherwise have done. It is amazing what
a difference this makes, and the spin- off is that you
become a more generous and thoughtful person.

In the context of spiritual practice, affirmations are
useful for reminding yourself of your spiritual
aspirations, which are to manifest the highest virtues
within yourself. For example, you might say to
yourself "I shed my ignorance and emerge into the
light" or "I speak only the truth." Remember to add "I
give so that is so".

The concept of affirmations is incredibly simple, yet
amazingly effective. In many spiritual disciplines the
reciting of mantras is practiced partly because they
are making subtle affirmations to the subconscious (
see mantras on pages 106-i29). For example, in the
Vedantic yoga tradition, the word 'Siva' ( pronounced
sheeva) is considered the allegorical embodiment with
positive the qualities necessary for the destruction
of negative traits, to make way for their replacement
with positive traits.

To the Hindu, the same word is the name of lord Siva,
a deity who embodies the same qualities. So repetition
of the Sanskrit mantra " OM Namah sivaya" invokes an
affirmation for the destruction of negativity within
oneself.

Affirmation can also therefore be a tool for
reiterating your connection with deities or other
aspirants whom you trust will support you in your
spiritual quest. In that role they become a type of
player. A good example of this is when Buddhist say" I
take refuge in the Buddha, the dharma and the Sangha."
With these words they are affirming their connection
with, and their aspiration to be like, the Buddha, to
understand and live to the Buddhist teachings( the
dharma), and to affirm their support for the work and
aspirations of the custodians of those teaching( the
sangha).

Aspirations are also an affective way of reminding
yourself why you are on your chosen spiritual path.
For example, you might be drawn to the Mahayana
Buddhist concept of donating the ' merits' of your
practice as a catalyst for helping others to become
enlightened, or at least to become as free from
suffering as possible. On that path you would
frequently say to yourself some thing like: " The
purpose of my life is to free all living brings from
all their problems and causes of their problems…..,"
to which you could also add"….. and to bring all
beings peace and happiness."