While walking down a crowded street in London many years ago, I noticed a window display devoted to the English poet William Blake. There was a quotation on a sign in the window that I read over and over. The words seemed to touch my soul, and I was prompted by an internal calling to write those words on the back of an envelope. Blake’s 200-year-old words resonated strongly with me. I had a curious knowing that I’d one day be writing about what he’d had to say.

Fast-forward some 10 years later to the day I began writing this chapter about that most mysterious function of our human lives—our imagination. During the morning before settling in to write, I was searching for some tax records in a desk drawer. Unsought, the Blake quote scribbled on the back of an envelope, which had long ago been misplaced, appeared. As I grabbed the 10-year-old envelope, I pondered for a moment how Divine synchronicity is always working, moving the pieces around while our ego believes we are in charge. Here I was, ready to begin writing a chapter on how to use your imagination, and today of all days, these scribbles reappeared after a decade of being ‘lost.’ How could I ignore this synchronicity?

So I share these words with you from my spiritual mentor back in the 18th century:

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a Green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all Ridicule and Deformity…  and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the Man of Imagination, Nature is Imagination itself.”

The power within

The greatest gift you were ever given was the gift of your imagination. Within your magical inner realm is the capacity to have all of your wishes fulfilled. Here in your imagination lies the greatest power you will ever know. It is your domain for creating the life that you desire, and the best part of it is that you are the monarch with all of the inherent powers to rule your world as you desire.

The essence of this great gift is found within another observation made by William Blake, the intuitive poet who lived at the time of the American Revolution. Writing in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, he made this wry comment that is the great secret for living a life of creative manifestation: “What is now proved was once only imagin’d.” Allow yourself to contemplate this. As this one line of great wisdom sinks into your consciousness, your imagination will then begin to take over.

Look around you. Everything that you can experience with your senses was once in someone’s imagination. This is the great truth that you must come to realise for yourself. In order for something to get into this world where things exist and are proved, as Blake says, they must first be placed firmly into your imagination. Without your imagination as the reason for future creations, the process of creativity is halted. You have this great power within you. It is a power that is virtually unlimited, and it has been given to you as your birthright.

Form comes from the formless

Before putting this gift to work, it is crucial for you to know that virtually all spiritual teachings have spoken of the power that Blake comments on in that insightful sentence, “What is now proved was once only imagin’d.” In the year that I spent researching and living the Tao for my book Change Your Thoughts—Change Your Life, this truth jumped out at me in the lines of the 40th verse of the Tao Te Ching. “Being is born of nonbeing” was Lao-Tzu’s observation 2,500 years ago. The visible world of being originates in nonbeing. Some 500 years later Jesus would tell his followers, “It is the Spirit who gives life” [John 6:63]. I could go on through all of the great spiritual traditions and offer you quote upon quote that states that it is in the invisible formless realm that the originating spark of life begins.

Today, the world of quantum physics confirms that the universe is made of formless [spirit] energy, and that particles [that is, things] do not originate from particles [things]. Everything springs from something that is akin to your imagination. You can’t touch, taste, see, hear or smell it. It has no boundaries. You can’t prove it with mathematical formulas or scientific verification. Yet we all know that it exists. These invisible thoughts that you have—these ideas that continue to percolate within you, these fanciful images that are always with you—are beyond the scope of science to prove or disprove.

Channel your imagination

I love this observation made by Max Planck, the father of quantum theory: “Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature and, therefore, part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.” You simply know that you have an imagination, and that this imagination is the Source of all being. It is up to you to channel and use this magnificent endowment to work in the creation of all that you choose to place in that imagination.

Excerpted with permission from the book Wishes Fulfilled by Dr. Wayne Dyer; published by Hay House

This was first published in the August 2014 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

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One day at a cocktail party which had many other writers attending, Isaac Asimov asked someone, “When will you be publishing your next book, Miss Coolidge?” “When,” Miss Coolidge wryly replied, “will you not be publishing your next book, Mr. Asimov?”

Asimov was an eminent scholar and one of the most published authors of the 20^th century. Although he is renowned for his great repertoire of sci-fi writings, he authored well-written books in almost all the categories of Dewey Decimal System of library classification—from religion and languages to pure sciences and even arts. He also wrote about 90,000 letters and postcards in his lifetime. He received tremendous recognition and his works won him several prestigious awards including many lifetime achievement awards.

How could he write so much so well and on so many varied subjects? What was the source of energy and ideas of this prolific writer? What was his secret? I believe what kept Asimov going right till the end of his life was his enthusiasm.

Everything that anyone has ever done well can be attributed to his or her enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is a power; we can use this power to achieve whatever we imagine for ourselves. Inspirational keynote speaker and Hall of Fame broadcaster Sonny Melendrez tells you how to access this power in this month’s cover story.

Using examples from his own life and of others, he illustrates how enthusiasm takes you from dreaming about a good life to living it. “When you truly believe in what you see, your vision begins to take on a life of its own. People, resources and circumstances will begin to appear,” he says as he shares the six elements that unleash the full force of fervour. He suggests ways in which you can bring enthusiasm into your everyday life and also offers advice on how to enthuse your team members.

The story is lucid and packed with wisdom. But words only inspire; action is up to you. And unless you use the insights and put into practise the author’s suggestions, your life will not change. As 2015 comes to an end, how about stocking up on the vibrant power of enthusiasm so that when the New Year arrives, you march into it with the confidence to achieve your most cherished goals?

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I reckon most people would subscribe to this view. But, in my view, blaming power for corruption is like blaming the kitchen knife a criminal uses for committing homicide, for the deed. The same knife, say in the hands of a loving mother, aids in making a nourishing meal for her children. So, the knife does not provoke the murder—it only facilitates the inherent intent of the murderer.

Does Power Really Corrupt?

Contemplate a bit and you’ll realize that people who appear to have become corrupt after gaining power, were actually corrupt by nature. Power merely provided them an opportunity to bring their corrupt core to the fore.

Neither corruption, nor honesty is an acquired trait—it’s our disposition. Power simply reveals it. Exploitation of power is common, so it may be logical to blame power for corruption. Yet, power is innocent. In the hands of inherently bad people it becomes evil. Likewise, in the hands of the conscientious, it becomes an effective means of doing good.

The True Meaning of Power

That brings me to the meaning of power. To common folks, power appears to be in the hands of a chosen few: politicians, celebrities, businessmen, sports stars and the like. But are such people really powerful?

Being able to control or influence others is not power—perhaps the correct word is strength. With strength you may control, influence, persuade or even force others. With power you can influence and control your own thoughts. So, authentic power is about being able to exercise control on self rather than on others. In other words, it’s about your character, not your strength.

Only those who are able to resist the temptation to abuse their strength are truly powerful. The rest may have the muscle, but possess weak character.

This means that as long as your character is sound, you are powerful, regardless of how much strength or authority you have at your disposal. On the other hand, if you have at your disposal all the wealth, fame, authority or command in the world, but don’t have the power over your own thoughts, are you truly powerful?

I leave you to contemplate the words of Lao Tzu: “He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty.”

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