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5

Thoughts Are Real Things!

Thoughts are things!” This teaching is so frequently repeated throughout the vast collection of Edgar Cayce’s discourses that it must be covered in some detail for us to fully comprehend how important it is to us. When I first read this teaching, I was virtually a mess for some time after. If only I had known sooner, I could have taken back many of my thoughts, especially the negative ones toward other people. For example, in this first comment Cayce correlates the effect of a thought with the physical sticking of a pin into someone’s hand! Here’s that statement:

“ … thoughts are things! And they have their effect upon individuals, especially those that become supersensitive to outside influences! These are just as physical as sticking a pin in the hand!” (386-2)

Cayce is very intense about this teaching:

“Ever will the entity set this truth before self, and burn same in the innermost recesses of the being. Thoughts are things, and may be miracles or crimes in action. These come that all growth in whatever direction this thought of the mental body, or the spiritual body, may be directed by the attributes of the mental, spiritual or physical body.” (105-2)

In this next one, Cayce states that thoughts project their influence far and wide:

“ … thoughts are things and their vibrations reach those in every sphere and walk of life as related to self and to others.” (1438-2)

Here, he gently warns the person about how their thoughts affect their eventual circumstances:

“There are the laws that are unchangeable, and that are ever creative and constructive in their influence. For, otherwise there are turmoils that overtake those who disregard same—that are unseen and not easily found by material reasoning. For, they are the results of thoughts. Know that thoughts are things, and as their currents run they may become crimes or miracles. Are your thoughts always prompted by the desire to be of help to others? Or are they the more often prompted by the desire to use others as your stepping-stones to better things for yourself? This can only be answered in self—according to what is your ideal. Who is the author of your ideal?” (2419-1) We’ll cover the details of “ideals” in chapter eight.

Again:

“As thoughts are things, and as their currents run into the experience of individuals, they shape lives and activities so that they become miracles or crimes in the experiences of others as they mete [meaning “dispense justice,” and usually with the connotation of “harsh justice”] them in their associations with their fellow men.” (1472-1, my italics)

And once again:

“ … the entity may in the present find a great joy; as well as an outlet for the determining forces or wishes or desires—that are, like thoughts, things; that may grow to be either miracles—those things through which miracles may come into the experience of self and those with whom the associations may be had—or become stumblingstones to self and as mountains in the pathway of those whom the entity may contact.” (1637-1)

In this next explanation, Cayce refers to how thoughts make an impression upon the ethereal record of a person, a record that can be read or seen by another. I was not happy when I first read this, and wished I had been more careful with my thoughts:

“The records of an entity are written upon time and space, as the skein of things. They may be called as images. For thoughts are things, and as they run, so are the impressions made upon what we call time and space.” (1562-1)

The first thing one may wonder is, How does this work? How can our thoughts affect others as profoundly as sticking a pin in their hand? Cayce’s answer is that all thoughts, feelings, words, and actions influence the thread of time and space, and this ethereal yarn can be viewed, as it was by Edgar Cayce. He could see and read the thoughts, feelings, words, and actions of any given soul, and their soul group relationships, even over lifetimes.

This “thoughts are things” idea has often brought to my mind the childhood fairytale of Sleeping Beauty. She weaves her thoughts and desires on the spinning wheel of life until she pricks her finger on the spindle, or her desires cause her to shed blood, as in Original Sin and the curse of Eve. The tale is more than a yarn (pun intended); it is a prophecy concerning the journey of our souls and the misuse of our free will. The original title of this fairytale was La Belle au bois dormant, which in English means, “The Beauty sleeping in the Wood.” The “Beauty” is our deeper, purer self, made in the image of our Creator. And while we live out here in the daylight with our egos and personalities, it sleeps in the depths of the woods, unseen by us, in our unconscious or subconscious mind. The original penalty for misuse of choice was death, and so it was for Sleeping Beauty, but the penalty was reduced to sleep. And Sleeping Beauty slept for 100 years, symbolizing a long time. She is finally awakened by a worthy prince. They marry and proceed to have two children: L’Aurore (Dawn) and Le Jour (Day). These indicate a new opportunity and a new life to live. This was the tale as told by Charles Perrault (1628-1703), who also wrote Le Petit Chaperon rouge (Little Red Riding Hood), Cendrillon (Cinderella), Le Chat Botté (Puss in Boots), and from whom the Brothers Grimm got the ideas for their versions. Walt Disney changed much of this tale in his own version, most notably having Sleeping Beauty sleep only until she was sixteen, and she did not have any children with her savior Prince. Disney also took the name of the first daughter and gave it to Sleeping Beauty, Aurora.

Well enough of my enchantment with fairytale metaphors, back to Cayce’s teaching.

In this next explanation, Cayce shifts from a skein of thread to “film,” which fits well with the idea of an Akasha, or Akashic Record, akin to our idea of a Book of Life recording each soul’s activity, only this one records thoughts as well as actions. This film reminds me of a theater “scrim” upon which scenes and images may be projected to create special effects of lights or atmosphere. In our study here, this scrim would be an ethereal, four-dimensional film upon which all the feelings and thoughts of souls would be projected, and Cayce could later “see” them when in his trance state. The Akasha is said to be an ethereal essence of all things in the material realm, including thoughts. It was the first element made from the astral plane. On the one side of the Akasha is limited space and time, on the other side is unlimited space and limitless time. We, of course, currently live on the limited side of the Akasha.

Here’s Cayce:

“ … the records are upon the esoteric, or etheric, or akashic forces, as they go along upon the wheels of time, the wings of time … ” (364-6)

Clearly he affirms the existence of an etheric, Akashic recorder upon which our thoughts are inscribed and may be accessed. Now before you go getting all upset, as I did when I first read this, know this: new thoughts overshadow old ones and reveal our growing wisdom. Whew! I finally began to feel much better about the impressions I was leaving on my record. This concept did drive me to be much more mindful of my thoughts and to more quickly change or stop the negative ones.

One of Cayce’s most surprising revelations involves the Akashic records and their relation to our dreams. If someone came to him with a portion of a dream that they wanted him to interpret, he could access the Akashic Record and retrieve the entire dream! Even our dreams are recorded! This always amazed me and challenged me to better recall my dreams. We’ll have more on this in the chapter on dreams and dreaming.

Let’s continue with Cayce’s “thoughts are things”:

“Upon the film of time and space, or that between time and space, makes or carries the records of the activities and thoughts of individuals in their sojourn through any realm of experience. And as to how well the record may be given depends upon how well that which has been made may be interpreted by one who may read such records. As to how true the interpretation is depends upon how strong the desire of such a soul is, or how well those responsible for such an activity of a soul may be in accord or attuned to those realms of experience—or the manner or channel of interpretation.” (559-7)

In this next one he states that the mind is as concrete as anything in this world of ours:

“For thoughts are things; just as the Mind is as concrete as a post or tree or that which has been molded into things of any form. And with their working abilities they may give to each of these purpose and activity that becomes constructive in the experience of all.” (1581-1)

Interestingly, Cayce taught that prior to the evolution of matter, there was a “devolution,” out of spirit or pure energy and into matter. We were once celestial spirits and minds in dimensions beyond this world of form and three dimensions. Back then, we were more minds than bodies! Here’s an example from his collection:

“ … individuals in the beginning were more of thought forms than individual entities with personalities as seen in the present.” (364-10)

My awareness grew when I began to apply this idea in my daily, thinking of myself and those I meet as being more minds and souls inside bodies, and that their personality was more a creation of socialization and experiences in this world. This also opened me to the idea of a collective unconsciousness or universal consciousness to which we were all connected at some subliminal level, resulting in that sense of oneness that is so common in metaphysical philosophies and is a common experience during meditation. Interestingly, even Jesus appeared to affirm this concept when he told Nicodemus that, “No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven…” (John 3:13, WEB) Our truer, deeper being is and was and will be again a heavenly being. This terrestrial life is temporary, but it is purposeful and intentional. Our deeper self wanted to come here and needs this opportunity in order fully grow into its ultimate potential.

As One Thinks, So One Is

The following Cayce discourses are built around a quote from Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” If we use the original Hebrew, the words are literally, “For as he reckons in his soul, so is he.” Both phrases indicate how our mind—thinking or reckoning—affects us, even when we are fooling ourselves with rationalizations or by wandering off into wrong thinking. For Cayce, understanding this was such an important lesson to learn that he repeated it often.

Consider these teachings:

“As the body mind thinks, so becomes the outlook of the individual upon life and its relationships!” (1732-2, his emphasis)

“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he! Not what man says, nor what man even makes out like he does! For we are gradually built to that image created within our own mental being; for, as has been given, the Spirit is the life, the Mind is the active forces that—coordinated with the Spirit, that is of the creative energy, or for God—gives the physical result that is effective in every sense. Get that!” (270-17)

You can feel the intensity with which Cayce delivers these principles. Understanding this and applying it in our lives was important to him.

As the “Father of Holistic Medicine” (a description given to him from an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association), Cayce takes this teaching to the health of our bodies in this next reading and in several others:

“Truly has it been said, as a man thinks within his heart or within his blood supply, within the elements and vibrations that are created within the balance of those forces that course through this active force within a body, so is the response of that body to the creative influence or destructive influence about it. Or, in common parlance, ‘As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.’” (443-2)

From his perspective, knowledge only becomes understanding when we apply what we know in our daily thinking, speaking, and interacting with others. In this next discourse, Cayce gets into doing versus knowing or believing:

“In doing there comes the understanding. Hence, as this has often been given, that do, do, do, would one gain the proper conception of things material, mental, or spiritual.” (900-322) And again, “In the doing does the understanding come.” (1466-1) And in this next one, he uses a quote from a biblical passage with the same instruction: “In doing comes understanding. ‘Be ye doers and not hearers only.’” (1719-1) The Bible passage he is referring to comes from the Epistle of James: “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:22-25, RSV)

In this next one, Cayce gives us some specifics for applying our thoughts in daily life—and it is in relationships with others that our greater opportunities for application often occur:

“As the man thinks in his heart, so is he. Then, if you would not be condemned, condemn not. If you would have faith, show faith. If you would have love, show love. Yea—you say, ‘This I have heard so oft!’ Yes, but what have you done about it?

“You must realize, then, that God is—and your body is the temple of your God! Do you meet Him there? The kingdom of heaven is within. Do you worship there? Not thyself, but your God? Have you made your god fame, fortune, or just to be well spoken of? That alone then may you attain! For when troubles, distresses, heartaches and disappointments come, to whom may you turn? Not to thyself! For this has been expended in the gratifying of your desires—if you have made those things that are temporal your god!

“Only when love, patience, perseverance, longsuffering, and brotherly love are shown may you indeed know upon Whom to rely. For of such is the law of creation, of hope, of faith, of patience. And in patience you possess the knowledge of your soul.” (254-101)

This last line is a reference to Jesus’ teaching in Luke 21:19, found only in the King James Version of the Bible (KJV): “In your patience possess ye your souls.” All modern Bible translations render this verse: “By your endurance you will gain your lives.” The difference here is how one translates the Greek words. The Greek word hupomone can be translated as “endurance” or “patience,” and the word psuche can be translated as “life” or “lives,” but it is more closely associated with our concept of “soul,” since it is derived from the word psucho, which means “breath,” and breath is associated with the “living being,” that rational, sentient, immortal portion of us—as in Genesis: “The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7, my italics) There is more detail on the distinction between spirit and soul in a previous chapter. Cayce and the ancient Egyptians have clear distinctions between spirit (ka in Egyptian) and soul (ba in Egyptian). [Note: Egyptians today are the ancestors of Arabs, and therefore speak Arabic. The Arabs conquered Egypt in 642 AD, long, long after ancient Egyptians were gone.]

Here’s another explanation of “as one thinks, so one is”:

“It is not indicated that there are to be only sanctimonious activities that bespeak only of a promise or an exchange of good in order that self may be exalted in a material manner; but that the hopes, the purposes, the desires are all to be prompted by right because right brings peace, and harmony, in body and in mind.

“For, as is experienced in the very physical forces of the body, when turmoils and distresses arise, even of a material nature, physical conditions become awry. But as the man thinks in his heart, so is he—if he will realize that he is not to attempt to have the Divine or God on his side, but rather to be latently, manifestedly, purposefully, on God’s side! There’s a vast difference, if it will be analyzed in things pertaining to the material choices made. (2440-1)

As You Sow, So Shall You Reap

This next series of Cayce discourses addresses a fundamental law of attraction, of cause and effect, of karma. And given Cayce’s practice of reading the entire Bible every year, it is not surprising that his teachings on this topic are founded on biblical passages. Here are three:

“Those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.” (Job 4:8, RSV)

“The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways.” (Proverbs 14:14, KJV)

“Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” (Galatians 6:7, RSV)

The following are some of Cayce’s lessons on this:

“The law is—as from the beginning—that what you sow you shall reap. The seed, the fruit of every act, of every deed—yea, of every thought is within its own self; unseen, save by the spiritual import that is put in same. Hence the spirit, the truth, the ‘vitale’ [an Italian figure of speech implying “life,” as in linfa vitale, meaning “life blood.”] that is expressed within every activity must bring its own reward. Unless it is from the fruit of the spirit, it must eventually bring its own husks, its own redound, its own doubting, its own fears. For these are the laws that are unalterable; changing only with the desires, the will, the import of that as the entity calls upon and puts the trust in. Rather those sources of strength, power, from which the soul and spirit emanate. As the man thinks (physically) within himself, so is he. (470-11)

Cayce often pointed to the Fruit of the Spirit as powers to transform us from earthly, selfish human nature into our divine nature, as in “To err is human, to forgive divine.” Forgiveness is among the fruits of the Spirit. The Fruit of the Spirit comes from Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. More on this in the chapter on the Fruit of the Spirit.

Here’s another discourse on reaping what one sows:

“Know that they that sow must reap that they have sown. For, in their own selves must come the fruit of that they have watered and planted, whether in material, spiritual or mental things. For, true is it indeed that as a man thinks in his heart so do the fruits of his dealings with his fellow man show forth what have been the thoughts of the soul of that man.

“This is not merely something for an idealist to hold, or one that is in the throes of despair in regard to self or others, but is a living, practical thing in your experience.

“When you speak kindly and gently to your associates, to your own house, to your own neighbors, do you not find that your heart and soul sings for joy because of that you have made in the experience of those to whom you have spoken even though there arise turmoils in the secular things of life?

“So is life. So is your soul growing to the fruition of those good things that may come in your experience by the application of such tenets, experiences, and activities in your own life. Be you not weary in well-doing. He that endures unto the end will wear the crown of joy, of life, of a contented soul.” (531-3)

And again:

“Well that the entity, or all, know that the law of love, or love as law, is cause and effect; or each impulse has its own corresponding reaction in thought, life, mental, physical and material. Not understood by some! This: “As you sow, so shall you reap.” [Galatians 6:7] Each thought, as things, has its seed, and if planted, or when sown in one or another ground, brings its own fruit; for thoughts are things, and as their currents run must bring their own seed.” (288-29)

Further:

“Like begets like. If you would have friends, be friendly. If you would have loving associations, show yourself lovely. And that you sow in mind, in activity, you must reap in your own experience.

“Know that the Lord lives, and manifests in and through thee. And that born of the spirit in your mental self may find expression in the material life. For Mind, in the mental, IS the Builder; and brings forth fruits worthy of that which is held in the inmost self in its relationships of self to things, to conditions, to peoples. For thoughts are things, and as the currents run they become miracles or crimes in the experiences of individual life.” (1035-1)

In this next explanation, Cayce takes us back to our origins:

“As the first law has been given, when manifestation of matter was called into being by the First Cause or God—your seed shall be within itself—or what you sow you reap, or like attracts like. These are oft to the mind but sayings without the consideration of what and how these facts, these truths are the basis of man’s experience not only in material form but in mental and spiritual. Could the entity then imagine a home, whether earthly or spiritual, without a builder or a carpenter? Could the entity imagine a home without its furnishings? These are a part of the whole building. It would be as easy to imagine a tree without roots or without limbs or branches, or without fruit or without the call for the fowls of the air to lodge therein! These are part and parcel, they are the essence—and yet the substance. They are the beginning and the end of—thoughts are things and take form AS they are dwelt upon and are built in the experience of individual souls that seek God.” (1152-4)

In this next reading, Cayce connects our finite mind to the infinite mind, and explains how beneficial this is to our wellbeing:

“‘Like begets like—As he sows, so shall he reap—As the man thinks in the heart, so is he.’ These are all but trite sayings to most of us, even the thinking man; but should the mind of an individual (the finite mind) turn within his own being for the law pertaining to these trite sayings, until the understanding arises, then there is the consciousness in the finite of the infinite moving upon and in the inner self.” (262-52)

Body, Mind, Spirit—Holism

Next we’re going to look at one of Cayce “readings” in a larger extract. And again, we’ll see his body-mind-spirit holism coming into the teaching. He taught that we must learn to coordinate body, mind, and spirit if we are going to grow into our full potential. And though he addresses these parts of us separately, he always brings us to back to how they are one when working well, cooperating harmoniously, each getting its consideration.

In the Cayce readings, the abbreviation “GC” is for Gertrude Cayce, Edgar’s wife, who often acted as the conductor of the readings, and “EC” is for Edgar Cayce speaking from his deep trance-like state. Here follows the reading related to our topic. Notice how Gertrude gives her trance-state husband a clear and specific suggestion in order to get the information desired. Gladys Davis, Cayce’s secretary and stenographer of the readings, takes down everything said, types it up, and then indexes it for later research and easier access.

“GC: You will go over this body carefully, examine it thoroughly, and tell me the conditions you find at the present time; giving the cause of the existing conditions, also suggestions for help and relief of this body…

“EC: There are physical disturbances and there are pathological conditions which have been experienced by the body. There is much more to be obtained from the right mental attitude respecting circumstances of either physical, mental or spiritual than by the use of properties, things or conditions outside of self, unless these are in accord with the attitudes of the body.

“This is not indicating that by a mental attitude malaria may be eliminated from a body who has a quinine conscience, for it will require such [quinine]!

“For this body, however, there are these conditions to be considered: For long periods there has been lack of proper assimilation throughout the body. This upsets the body-forces. For the body is physical, mental and spiritual—that which is constructive or destructive is according to that spirit with which a body entertains its hopes, its fears.

“These, then, acting through the mental body, bring consciousnesses to the activity of the sensory system, to the nerves, to the body, in the activity of heart, lungs, liver and kidneys, and those impressions which are gradually accepted by the brain forces and its reactions either build up or destroy the body.

“There are conditions surrounding the body, just as there have been those suggestions to the body. There may be, just as is indicated in many an individual consciousness, those who can drink coffee and it never hurts them; there are those whose consciousness is such that this if taken late of an evening would prevent sleep. There are those who would not sleep if they didn’t take it, for they would have the headache. For certain properties stimulate certain activities.

“So with the manner in which foods are processed, these bring allergies to the body which activate through the sympathetic nervous system. There are pathological conditions, but there is more psychological. Psychological doesn’t mean that the body is crazy, by any means, but has set ideas.

“Some individuals like to have their own way, irrespective of what anyone thinks. So does the mind if you train the body-mind to accept or reject certain conditions in your experience. These will never accept other suggestions unless the mental self is changed.

“Thus it became necessary that God in His goodness give an ensample, a pattern, by which man might conduct his life, his ideals, his hopes, his fears, all of his idiosyncrasies; a pattern laid out for man. Those who accept same may live in peace and harmony with themselves and with others. Those who reject same continue to find discordant notes between their own associates, and with every activity of life there is continued to be trouble.

“The body has found such in regard to those conditions in which food is prepared. Some it will never hurt to have prepared in aluminum, but in most people it gradually builds something not compatible with the better conditions in the body-forces. This is with certain types of food. Those which are acid will take particles of aluminum into the body.

“But for this particular body we would continue with the present chiropractor. We would ordinarily give that osteopathy is more vital, but there are chiropractors and there are chiropractors. This is a very good one; don’t lose him! He understands this body. These administrations will aid, but in self refrain from those attitudes of saying this or that.

“Follow the principles of the Master in that ‘As you think, as you treat the other fellow, so does it come back to you,’ and you just as well meet it in the present.” (5211-1)

In this next reading, Cayce conveys the concept that the mind needs a diet too!

“Keep an even, normal balance in diet of body, diet of mind, in the use and associations of same in every way; for as a man thinks in his heart (not as he speaks, but as he thinks in his heart) so is he. So, keep the body fit, keep the mind fit. Do not allow little antagonisms of body or mind to undo that you have built in your experience.” (257-136)

Mind’s effect on the body is a reality, whether we know it or not:

“The body easily recuperates when the conditions have a chance when he thinks right, you see, for the effect of mind with this body is above normal forces when correctly guided, but they are not always so.” (4664-1)

The heart and mind work together in this next explanation:

“As the man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Not that thinking takes place in the heart. For thinking is of the mind. Yet the flow, the impulse, the emotions in material things are activative through impulse of nature, of character of purpose, of will.

“Then, as the heart is the seat of life, it is an expression then of a mystical nature, yet very much in the way of the perfect understanding—if it is interpreted aright and not attempted to be seen just literal, but physical, mental and spiritual.” (585-9)

In the next chapter, we discover just how amazing our minds really are!