What is positive imaging

Manasa Vacha Karmana

According to the definition of “Manasa, vaacha, karmana” the three Sanskrit words paint  a picture of an individual who sticks to manasa means the mind, vaachaa means to speech, and karmanaa means to actions.

This is the dream of every one of us. But how many of us are able to realize their dreams? Very few. Why? Did you ever think of the reason why many fail to realize their cherished dreams and a very few are able to realize their dreams?

Here is the answer.

Lack of positive imaging is attributed to a plethora of problems. It paves path to ill health. It plays a pivotal role in playing spoil sport in any of your efforts to achieve success. Simply put, it leaves you as living corpse in all respects.

Positive imaging in detail.

Image means a picture. Imaging is the process of creating a picture. In real life, we have seen how an artist creates a picture with a brush over a canvas using different hues and colors. Here in the present context, in order to lead a successful life, one has to create a series of picture on his mental canvas. And it goes without saying the picture is all about one’s goals and objectives. 

An example will illustrate. Suppose I want to become an artist. My mental picture consists of an artist, sitting before his easel and painting over the canvas. The artist is surrounded by bottles and tubes of different colors and a brush stand. Yes, this is the mental picture to be painted by a prospective artist.

What next ?

The mental image you painted is now in your conscious mind. Is that all? No , it’s not all. You should  hold that picture in your conscious mind until that time, that enables the mental picture to get absorbed by your Sub-conscious mind.

Why the mental image should be absorbed by Sub conscious mind?

We perform day in and day out innumerable tasks. We write articles. We go to the office and perform some more tasks. We attend to departmental meetings. Run behind the deadlines. Meet the customers. Attend to the needs of the children and family so on and so forth. While your conscious mind is busy performing its chores, sub conscious mind relieves the conscious mind some of its burden in order to enable it to attend some other important tasks. Which is why sub conscious mind stores in its shelves some vital aspects automatically.

Sub conscious mind is an amazing powerhouse of the brain. It preserves your mental images you painted and supplies your hitherto unearthed potentialities. Sub conscious works more efficiently if it is supported by strong self esteem or a strong faith in your abilities.

A well applied image will boost your personal traits and shapes you personality. And it leads to success in any of your cherished fields.

Hence imaging is the most effective tool that works unfailingly to achieve your cherished goals. But, remember that the mental image should be held in your conscious mind. Inability to hold your mental image will not yield the desired results.

How positive thinking is different from Positive imaging.

Positive thinking is limited to thinking. Whereas Positive imaging is making mental pictures which ultimately makes the person believe due to the images absorbed by the subconscious mind. Its effect is more profound than positive thinking. In imaging, a person will not be satisfied with thinking, but sees the images more intensely. Conscious mind clearly sees the vividness of the imaging and transfers the images to the subconscious mind. This in turn increases and strengthens the will power of the person who practices imaging.

Here is a real life story to show the strength of positive imaging.

Raman is a boy of 13 years from an ordinary family. He had a neighbor Krishnan, who works as a gate-man in a cinema hall.

Any movie comes with its propaganda material like posters and banners to be utilized by the cinema hall owner. But sometimes, especially, when the movie runs for a long time, the owner of the cinema hall has to request the distributor for the extra propaganda material for the movie. When the propaganda material gets delayed due to some reason or other, the cinema hall owner has to make his posters from the local artists.

The owner of the cinema hall gets some old used news papers and asks Krishnan to make posters with cheap powdered colors mixed with water. This is the practice since a long time.

Raman, one day, while coming from the school has seen Krishnan, writing matter on a used news paper. Raman was spell bound by the writing skills of Krishnan in the most beautiful and artistic way with water colors. This has made a deep impression on the tender heart of Raman. Raman, then and there decided to become an artist like Krishnan.

Every day, after school hours Raman used to sit by the side of Krishnan and keenly observe the hands of Krishnan. He was mesmerized by Krishnan’s skill in creating gracious letters in a jiffy.

Since then Raman started thinking, eating, breathing his dream of becoming an artist. This in turn created a strong positive image on his conscious mind. The positive image was so vivid and clear that it sank deeply in to the subconscious mind.

In the days that followed, Raman was awakened by the magical powers of unconscious mind. As a result, Raman started utilizing all the opportunities that came on his way and shaped himself in to a seasoned artist.

His efforts paid him rich dividends. He was noticed by all. As a child artist, Raman won many national and international art competitions. Each success made him more determined to reach the peaks. 

In the midst of his success, he never forgot his studies. He has shown promise in his education too thatwon him acclaim. This has drawn the attention of state and central education authorities. Raman won scholarships both in education and art studies. The icing on the cake was he was allowed to study both academics and art.

By 21, Raman has become the most sought-after individual in the Advertising field.

Multiple benefits of Positive Imaging.

The benefits of Positive imaging is not just restricted to achieving major goals of life. Positive Imaging can sort out a plethora of several day to day life inadequacies.

Take for example the case of my friend, Mohan Rao .

Mohan Rao is a professional  flower arranger. His expertise in arrangement of cut flowers, leaves and stems made him the market leader in ' Ikebana',the art of flower arrangement. He earned a lot . He had everything that anyone longs to have in life. But, he was afflicted by insomnia. Poor fellow, he tried all the ways but in vain.

We met once after a pretty long time in a common friend's house warming ceremony. After the usual pleasantries , I asked Mohan Rao, how he was coping up with his insomnia. He laughed and said, "I got rid of it."

Astonished by his reply," How come? Who's the doctor ? What's the medicine he prescribed  and......"

He gestured with his hand to stop and said coolly, "No doctor or medicine. Just positive imaging. Yes, positive imaging is a kind of creating mental images vividly pertaining to our goals and objectives and retaining it so that it enters our sub conscious mind, which in its turn releases our hitherto untapped powers. That's all. You will solve your own problem.

"Mohan, why don't you give me full details?"

"First, I visualized my ornate flower vase", Mohan started. "Then I visualized a rose with its tall stem lying by its side. I picked it and inserted carefully in to the flower vase. Then I continued the with six long stemmed roses. Each time I finished with one rose, I go a few steps back and check the arrangement . There were 24 long stemmed roses to be inserted in the flower vase. Then, I don't know what happened."

"why?, I asked Mohan with a concerned voice.

"Because, I slept away." Mohan's laughter reverberated in the room.

Mohan said, "Don't think I got the result on the very first attempt . I visualized this dream consistently for about a week. In time, as my positive imaging was becoming more and more vivid and as the visualizations were absorbed in to my sub conscious, My objective started materializing . 

When a two dimensional chalk drawing turned in to three dimensional realty.

He was an artist of repute, but poor. He married. But she was also from a poor family. Both dreamt of a beautiful house of their own. But the poverty did not dampen their spirits. He, being an artist used to draw furniture with a piece of chalk on the floor with a hope to have the furniture someday. The couple made those drawings more vivid by adding every detail to the furniture drawings. Those drawings, drawn with minutest details were the realistic dreams of the newlyweds.

This vivid image was immediately grabbed by their subconscious minds. Their  conscious minds plunged in to action. Their subconscious minds started sending messages from time to time the strength, will power, drive and confidence needed to achieve their cherished goals.

 I need not say that their once two dimensional drawings turned in to three dimensional furniture in time. The artist was James Whistler, the great American painter.

Positive imaging- saved their lives.

He was an actor  struggling to achieve stardom. 31 years ago, in a film shooting in Bangalore, Amitabh Bachchan, the matinee idol of India  met with an accident. The movie was ‘Coolie’ and the director was Manmohan Desai. Desai, while recounting the details of the accident on August 1982, says, according to the shooting schedule, shooting was to be done on a fight sequence with the villain Puneet Issar had to hit a punch on Amitabh Bachchan  and Amitabh Bachchan had to fall on a nearby table. The scene went well. But Amitabh Bachchan while falling on the table fell a bit awkwardly. The sharp edge of the steel table ruptured Amitabh Bachchan’s spleen and he started bleeding profusely from his stomach. Everything has come standstill. He was immediately rushed to Breach candy hospital in Mumbai. The doctors immediately operated on him.

All attempts to save Amitabh Bachchan went in vain. Amitabh Bachchan went in to coma and recovered after a week on August 2. During his critical stage, the entire nation prayed for his recovery. Amitabh Bachchan recovered due to the prayers of nation.

But, the doctors said in their medical bulletin, ‘the reason for his miraculous recovery was his strong will to survive .

The strong will of Amitabh Bachchan is attributed to the positive imaging.

Lew Miller was more dead than alive, when he reached the hospital.

A young American soldier was fatally injured at the fag-end of World War II. He was taken to a military hospital almost in a dead condition than alive.  Weeks and months passed without any sign of recovery. He was unable to stand even. But the Brave heart did not give up. He fought valiantly with death which was already knocking on his door. 

In that dreary condition Lew Miller found only one way to cheer himself. He constantly recalled his happiest moments of life which were plenty in his life. He used to recall those athletic achievements when he was given a standing ovation. He used to go back in to his life and visit those glorious moments when he used to relish those deafening clapping of the audience on his brilliant achievements. He tried to visualize those happy moments as vividly as possible. This activity of positive imaging made him forget the agonizing moments of pain and despair in the hospital. Its not just visualizing his happy moments. Lew Miller had done. But, he held those moments consistently, This in turn percolated in to his subconscious mind that bestowed him the required strength and stamina to face the most tortuous and agonizing moments of his life.

What the Medical sciences say?

In a brochure named ‘ Guided imagery and the Body-mind approach to optimum health by Jeanne Archerterberg  Ph.D., and G .Frank Lawlis, Ph.D stated:

“ Imagery has been the golden thread running through effective medical practice for over 300 years. Imagery appears to be the bridge between psyche and soma; it is central to biofeedback… and may be the basis for understanding and increasing the power of the placebo effect. As such, imagery may well prove to be the single most important technique for modern health care.”

Dr. Arnold A Hutschnecker an authority on psychosomatic medicine said , in illness of any kind, emotional stress plays a part.

Is positive imaging a short cut to achieve what all you dreamed of?

No. It’s not a shortcut to achieve what all you wanted to achieve in life. But certainly forms a solid base to build your images in to reality. Remember life is not an instant coffee.  The aspect to be remembered is, a vividly conceived positive image will go in to the sub conscious mind’s terrain.  Then the sub conscious mind lends its helping hand by offering invaluable lessons stored in it based on your own strengths from time to time.

Bear it in mind. It’s ultimately you. You and you alone should plunge in to action.