Three magic words

I was reading through the works of Dr. Wayne Dyer when in the book “Wishes Fulfilled” I came across several quotations from the book “Three Magic Words” by U. S. Anderson. Curious, I read the later book only to read it five or ten times, for it is one of the fines non fictional books I have ever come across.

It consists of 200 or so pages arranged in 12 chapters covering a variety of topics from positive thinking, the validity of evil, intuition, faith, love, health, wealth, immortality and one’s true identity. The overarching motive is the powerful universal subconscious mind and its place in the Universe as a bedrock force from which all things stem from. In this respect the book is similar to other “classics” on the topic like “The Power of the Subconscious Mind” or “As a Man Thinkenth”. The gist of such books boils down to a direct and powerful relation between thinking, the subconscious mind and reality, under a certain lag of time. Something like the following:

(Your Thoughts → The Subconscious Mind → Reality) (Lag of time)

This process shows the path but does not really answer the question of traversing it. For instance, it is a hard thing to access the subconscious mind. So, a variety of techniques can be found in books or on courses that pack and parcel suggestions to the subconscious mind. Techniques such as relaxation, meditation, recorded suggestions listened to, during, just before or just after sleep. As diverse as the flowers in the field are the methods out there to surpass the door of the subconscious mind. Some of them might work, nay all of them might work but there are other bottle necks to consider. What about the lag of time? How do you keep faith when a suggestion if implanted may take anything from a day to years in order for it to reach reality? Any discouragement during this stage would impede or even block the started manifestation. 

There is an even greater conundrum to consider. For instance, if you could access the subconscious mind and get anything you want, how would you know what you want? The more you ponder on this query the more difficult it becomes to answer it. As Alan Watts bluntly suggest you cannot answer the question “What I want?” because you do not know what is this I that wants. The question is insolvable.

Last but not least there is the issue of arrogance. As if there is a distinct separation between all the people that know this power and the poor majority of humanity that does not understand it. It is easy to become assertive and worse arrogant when advocating the law of positive thinking, which of course creates resistance in your target public.

The subject is prone to skepticism on its purest premise, but add the notion of blame that you are not operating properly in life and people become even more skeptic. More so self-help authors start to attack each other promoting one method at the cost of pushing others aside and criticizing them, which leads to even more divides. A famous Henry Ford quote, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right”, is truthful, but arrogant as well. If you are practicing the principle of this quotation then you are in the Exclusive manifestor club, but if not then you are a dope that has their back turned to the sun, or so you might think.

How does “Three Magic Words” stand out?

Well firstly Andersen writes with great care and compassion about the topic, acknowledging again and again the resistance of the subconscious mind to new ideas and suggestions, especially if the suggestions counter to one’s immediate reality. This resistance comes from the conscious mind and our ego in the form of prompters and pain remembrances that structure our beliefs and might determine our life’s fully if we are not conscious of them.

When we are met with failure, we might convince ourselves that trying again equals failing again, or when we reached for love we find rejection and might believe that reaching for love leads to rejection. Such conclusions, especially if conceived of at an early age can define ourselves and the notion of ourselves. They are the source of instruction for the subconscious mind, they offer suggestion after suggestion, while we remain totally unaware of their presence. This is what is referred in “Three Magic Words” as the prompters, which are like automation set ups that send instructions to your subconscious mind.

Another form of resistance comes from our logical doubting and lack of faith. As it turns out faith is often more important than intelligent understanding as Andersen suggests “Knowledge without faith is like a ship without a sea; it may be beautiful to behold, but it does very little good.” For the nature of the subconscious mind is to be receptive to any suggestion and affirmation. So, if you think or more accurately if you are convinced that you are poor, this is read as the order “Create poverty” by the subconscious mind.

The writer does warn the reader that this by no way means that your job is purely to extend an effort of will, frantically and obsessively thinking of the positive. Rather the goal is to put yourself in a humble yet faithful position, where you are able to “Let go and let God” exercising control over the thoughts you accept as valid and true, not so much controlling your thoughts, rather controlling your attitude towards your thoughts.   

The topic of resistance is just as important, nay more important, then that of creation via the subconscious mind. For there is a great body of information in literature, philosophy and religion, either dressed in parable or in literal instructions on how to access and create with the subconscious mind. Any fun story has a good antagonist, and the antagonist here is the logical, reasoning, practical conscious mind, the ego, which has hard, usually narrow convictions and is commonly doubtful to the thinking → reality connection. Hence the most common and human-natured thing to do is ignore the body of evidence on this because “It does not make sense to the rational mind”. So, the fact that our thoughts are at the cornerstone of creation is “The strangest secret in the world” as Earl Nightingale put it.

Not only a secret but a twice or tries denied secret, not just hidden, but hard to accept and process even when it is presented in plain sight. U. S. Andersen is especially attentive of this and has structured his book much like a story, a meticulous unraveling of an entangled ball of yarn very gently, very patiently dethroning false notions and offering valuable insights instead. The resistance towards understanding once divine nature is termed the Lock by the author and at the end of “Three Magic Words” you will find the titular metaphasic secret, which is called the Key to power that removes the Lock. It is very well that Andersen first takes you through the body of information about it, offering tools and suggestions to how you may better know yourself, the Lock and the world about you.

Self-knowledge is the main reward

Usually, the validity in working with the subconscious mind is in bettering your mental and physical health, your wealth, happiness and well-being. In other words, you do certain methods and gain a prize. But Andersen takes this to the next level, surpassing many other authors on the subject. The value is not in the methods understood or in the progress gain but rather in the adventurous act of understanding how you tick and how life unfolds about you. He suggests that in this practice you will “Embark upon the most productive and happy and vital years of your life. And you are not likely to ever again meet with such high adventure as you study and experiment with your own divine nature, as you discover for yourself the great source of power and wisdom that exists within you.”

The topic is not on methods or gain, for they fall secondary, but rather on our own identity and placement in the Universe. Much has been written about the metaphysical identity of human beings, at the same time it is a very hard thing for us to KNOW this knowledge, to get it, to feel it in your bones and in the way we live our lives. Here it seems that in his inquiries Andersen came to the same conclusion as Alan Watts did in The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are, possibly independently.

From his writing it is safe to assume that, much like Alan Watts, U. S. Andersen is a very erudite writer quoting the Dhammapada, Upanishads, also the Bible, psychology, contemporary physics, mathematics, poetry, historical records etc. He also writes beautifully with rapture and vigor, including poetic and powerful words, magic words. At the same time Andersen is very methodical supplying a review at the end of each chapter, recommended reading and a meditation to be practiced. His meditations fall under the category of affirmative suggestions (see the article The odd thing about meditation), but again the focus is not so much on gaining merits like health, success or well-being, but rather on solidifying the understanding of how the mind works and who you really are.

As mentioned, the issue with working with the subconscious mind is that when someone is caught up in detestable circumstances a bluntly offered suggestion in the form of a motivational quote would only irritate the struggling individual, maybe further strengthening his or her conviction of the detestable situation. Anderson acknowledges from the very start that the problem of working with your mind is not simple and is conscious and compassionate of the struggles and doubts of his readers. He does not impose anything on them.

Once in a lecture the spiritual teacher Ram Dass said “There is no rush, we got infinity” meaning that since the soul of a struggling person is immortal it does not have to understand everything in one incarnation. It will get it eventually, if things get worse karma will be generated to account for this, but ultimately it is a fool proof system in which everything will come to unity at the end. Andersen takes an interesting turn on this in the eleventh chapter on Immortality, one which I dare not spoil for you. But indeed, there is no rush, no urgency, because only when you understand this you are able to let go, calm down and reach a greater plateau of understanding.

A point in the journey

Viewing where “Three Magic Words” stands in my own journey of understanding I have to say that it is a work that prompts you to go on and expand your knowledge. It is in the lead of its topic as I mentioned earlier, but it falls short of being all-inclusive (frankly no one book can be such) and it does not drain out the topic it strives to explain. Andersen seems to be conscious of this as he offers recommended reading and numerous quotations throughout his book. I have read much before coming to “Three Magic Words” and much after it.

This makes sense because the core problem that is addressed in “Three Magic Words” is that of unlocking potential. It is a common trap to assume that the problems of our lives can be elevated by a process of collection. If you are poor you need to collect money, if you are ignorant you need to collect knowledge, if you want a prestigious powerful job you need to collect connections, experience, leverage, or for health you need to collect a good and long streak of exercise and proper feeding habits.

These are all important but they indisputably fall secondary to your will and steadfastness in doing them. And you may have the steadfastness and stable drive only if you unlock your potential. Like a car fast and sturdy, with a full tank of gas, but on a cold morning it is hard to start it off, the battery is low, you need to jump start it.

That is the main issue we face, we need a jump start, we need sufficient activation energy, just enough to get the chemical reaction going. So, what do we do about it? We read, write, look about, listen, watch, seeking the spark, the floating electron that we need to get the cascade going and to maintain it. Zen monks used to be great travelers, wondering from monastery to monastery looking for the thing that would spark their enlightenment, often a small indifferent thing when view from the side.

So, “Three Magic Words” in my view is a great source of such sparks. I cannot of course guarantee that this book is precisely what will unlock your potential, dear reader, but it will at least be another steppingstone on your journey. It gives a great richness of knowledge and insight and I always find something new in returning to it. However, the book (if I may personify it) prompts you to practice. Practice affirmation, consciousness, meditation, look in life for that which is related in words. Knowledge simply is not enough, although it is safer then practice, it does little good on its own as suggested by U. S. Andersen.

Who should read “Three Magic Words”?

Obviously, this meager review falls far short of the real thing so go and read “Three Magic Words”. If you are already interested in motivation, positive thinking or in methods of success then this book fits your interests. Also, anyone drawn to religious, esoteric and/or metaphysical treaties can find value in “Three Magic Words”. Andersen’s work is attentive and compassionate to the “naysayer”, so maybe if you are indeed skeptical, I may perhaps offer a friendly challenge for you to read the book and see again if your skepticism holds.

Ultimately, this is a book I would offer to anyone for it covers a topic that any human being would be interested in (although for many this interest is dormant and unconscious). At the end of it, U. S. Andersen is right when stating that there is really no greater adventure then that of understanding and experimenting with your own divine nature. This brings a new dimension of life, that massively shifts the whole picture. Words do not give it justice really, but practice illustrates it completely and beautifully.

Make the effort to expand your practice and enjoy yourself, for life should not be a drag but a joyful adventure. To quote Andersen one last time “Refuse to accept melancholy or sadness. The Universe sings and dances”.