50 pages • 1 hour read
Dr. Joseph MurphyThe Power Of Your Subconscious Mind
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1963A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Religious and Historical Perspectives on the Subconscious Mind
Murphy’s central theme is that the power to change one’s life lies within oneself and that this power is rooted in the subconscious and is a part of the universal mind of God. He believes that every person’s experiences, actions, and circumstances are “but the reflections and reactions to [one’s] own thought” (50), and he asserts that the power of the subconscious can be tapped by a transfer of a conscious suggestion to the subconscious under certain ideal conditions. The suggestion is then manifested, or turned into reality, by the subconscious.
He argues that great people of all ages knew and used this secret to tapping into the power of the subconscious, and he believes that every major religion and philosophy shows that what people think and believe affects their lives. These arguments are often supported by quotes from the King James Bible, which Murphy uses to establish a level of credibility with Christian readers as he builds his central premise. Each chapter of the book then presents a specific aspect of this central theme, and he outlines how the process works, how to harness it for self-improvement, and how it can bring happiness or heal the body and mind. He also explains how these techniques can help others as well as aid in personal goals, and he focuses on concrete ways to use his techniques to bring wealth and success, make discoveries, and remove mental blocks, addictions, and phobias.
Because he claims such a widespread array of applications for his philosophy, Murphy makes it a point to illustrate his theme in several ways, particularly through the creative use of metaphor. He frequently compares the power of the subconscious to other processes, such as gardening; he asserts that faith is like a seed that must be planted in the mind and watered “with expectancy” in order to bring about results. He also offers the example of the captain of a ship. The conscious mind is the captain who gives the orders; the subconscious is their crew, who takes the orders and turns them into reality. In another metaphor, he compares the conscious mind to a camera and the subconscious mind to a “plate on which he registered […] the picture” (177).
To further buttress his argument with concrete, real-world examples, he also cites the experiences of numerous people who have healed their bodies, minds, or relationships by tapping the powers of the subconscious. While there is no one central mentor or philosopher whose work he promotes, he points to experiments and healing therapies conducted by various doctors throughout history and around the world to support his premise.
The universal mind—or intelligence—of God is also woven throughout this theme. Murphy says that there is only one omnipresent and universal mind that flows through all living things. He gives this force different names besides the “mind of God” in order to appeal to an audience beyond Christians (35). To this end, he creates synonyms and more generalized phrases such as “infinite intelligence” (1), “Creative Intelligence,” “infinite life principle” (49), and “infinite mind” (66). He also asserts that regardless of its name, this power created people’s bodies and organs and therefore controls all the body’s vital functions. People’s goal in life, in addition to expressing talents and serving others, is to “reveal more and more of God’s wisdom, truth, and beauty” to humanity (161). Murphy returns to this idea repeatedly when he explains how the subconscious works, particularly with regard to healing, stating that because the power of the subconscious, which he equates to God, has created everyone’s bodies, the subconscious also knows the perfect pattern for each body part and can therefore utilize conscious suggestions to heal it.
The Psychology of Prayer, Belief, and Faith
Murphy talks extensively about the dynamics of prayer and its broader functions. Fundamentally, he believes that prayers are answered because the subconscious mind is the “principle,” which he defines as “the way a thing works” (79). In the case of the subconscious mind, the principle, or explanation for how something works, is belief. He stresses the importance of having faith and defines this form of belief in two ways. First, it means “accepting as true what your reason and senses deny” (40). Second, it means “a knowledge of the working of your conscious and subconscious mind” (57). He often quotes the New Testament writers and the words of Jesus to support his discussions of both faith and belief, and a prime example occurs when he cites the story of Jesus healing blind men by saying, “According to your faith be it unto you” (Matt. 9:29). Murphy quotes this passage again in his discussion of success to illustrate the idea that “thought fused with feeling becomes a subjective faith or belief” (107).
Murphy also asserts that people must not believe in rituals or formulas but “in belief itself” because the belief or thought in the mind creates the result (4). This idea is especially true when it comes to prayer, according to Murphy. It is important to choose a certain mental picture or plan for the desired goal and have faith that the prayer will be answered. He gives the example of seemingly miraculous faith healings to support his construct of how prayer works, asserting that the patient’s belief in the cure brings about the healing, not the cure itself. Because he believes that there is only one universal, creative mind that resides in the subconscious and brings about healing, he also claims that one person can as easily heal another person through prayer; no time or space is involved because the infinite mind—one of Murphy’s terms for the mind of God—is omnipresent.
Murphy also says that prayers can be answered for mental healing along with physical healing, including healing emotions toward others such as anger and jealousy. Here, again, Murphy compares the process to a scientific one of “law and order” but says that the laws in motion are spiritual ones (59). Faith and belief must be in play; the “science” behind the process is the fundamental response of the subconscious to a conscious thought. In Murphy’s view, the answer to a prayer does not always take a concrete form. In his discussion of success, Murphy says that the answer might come as a feeling, hunch, or tendency, but it will come clearly. In his discussion of real estate, Murphy says the answer could be in the form of an ad or a suggestion from a friend. But with the twin factors of faith and belief, the answer will always come.
Tapping the Subconscious to Achieve Personal Goals
Murphy offers numerous techniques for tapping the subconscious to achieve personal goals, whether those goals are to find happiness; to heal oneself or others; to achieve a form of wealth, success, or discovery; to solve marital problems; to improve relationships; or to overcome fears or addictions. There are certain constants about this process, which Murphy calls “scientific prayer.” Whatever the goal might be, one must banish negative thoughts and instead select thoughts that “bless, heal, inspire, and fill [one’s] soul with joy” (14). This is because the subconscious is indifferent and cannot distinguish between positive and negative suggestions. Therefore, every technique he provides requires making positive affirmations, and he stresses that the mental pictures one transmits to the subconscious through affirmations should be clear and consistent. Breakthroughs will then come in small increments, in the form of “intuitions, impulses, hunches, intimations, urges, and ideas” (75). He also specifies that mental pictures and desires must be ethical.
Although Murphy makes it a point to provide actionable suggestions, his techniques differ depending on the intended goal. For healing—whether it is physical or mental—he states that belief and faith are key. He also differentiates belief from faith by stating that faith is a form of belief that is open to miracles. He advocates this approach because healing is brought about through prayer. As Murphy says, “[Y]ou must ask believing if you are to receive” (61).
Murphy’s techniques for acquiring wealth also differ in some ways from his advice for other areas of life. In part, this stems from the secular nature of Chapters 9 and 10, which—unlike most of the rest of the book—do not rely on biblical quotations or examples for support. Murphy’s attitude toward wealth—that people have a right to be rich and that poverty is a mental disease—actually contradicts many biblical writings.
In discussing techniques for success, Murphy dwells heavily on the idea of finding the right vocation and excelling at it. His techniques focus first on using the subconscious to find that vocation. Only then can a person proceed with the steps common to all of Murphy’s techniques. For some goals, Murphy stresses that the processes are transactional. For buying and selling, he introduces the concept that the subconscious mind actually attracts the other partner in the transaction. With marital issues, he states that prayers must reflect on the other person’s (or potential spouse’s) positive qualities and characteristics and radiate “love, peace, and good will” (139).
When discussing the topics of removing fears and addictions, Murphy turns to techniques developed in the 1950s in a form of structured talk therapy called rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). REBT, which was used to treat mental health challenges such as anxiety and substance use, focuses on identifying automatic negative thoughts and learning new beliefs. REBT in its modern form, cognitive behavioral therapy, is still widely used today.
