עברית
Faith
Thought Creates Reality
Question
Dear Rabbi, hello! I enjoyed watching the lecture by Rabbi Zamir Cohen and Rabbi Yitzhak Gabay on the film "The Secret," but I have a dilemma. I found statements from Judaism that contradict what they explain about the book "The Secret" and the power they ascribe to thought. It is indeed healthier to think that what they are claiming is reality, but here is what I found, and I would appreciate an explanation. Human thought broadcasts to the environment, and even plants feel it. Our sages already said thousands of years ago in Tractate Sanhedrin (26b): "Thought is effective – even in matters of Torah." The righteous Rabbi Nachman of Breslov zt"l explains this gemara in an amazing way (Igrot Maharal, section 62): "Know that there are great potentials in human beings, for they can act by means of their thoughts as they think. Even negative things, G-d forbid, come from human thoughts. Because when the thought is completely focused and attached to one thing being so, without confusion and inclination towards other thoughts – through this it will necessarily be so as they think. These statements have greatly troubled me, as they give rise to two confusions that I would like help resolving: 1. We are human; we sometimes think negatively. Can our negative thoughts harm others or our lives? Or conversely, can a group of people thinking negatively about us cause their thoughts to manifest? 2. According to Rabbi Yitzhak Gabay, thought is not a metaphysical force that broadcasts things to the environment, but from this statement that I brought, a different understanding is implied. (And also some of the studies presented by the authors of "The Secret" have scientific evidence for this.) Thank you very much.
Answer
To the questioner,
See all the words of Igrot Maharal in section 62:
"When the thought is entirely focused and attached to one thing that it should be so, meaning that all the aspects present in the thought, when they are all united and focused to think that it should be so, without confusion and inclination to other thoughts, through this they will necessarily accomplish what they think - and also that the thought will be specifically regarding particulars, not in general terms - for example, to think that if it should be so, it will be this way and that in particulars; however, when one thinks in general terms, it is like the aspect of raw vessels, and one can err, like the case of a seed that sees fire coming out, etc. And also, regarding the study, this is beneficial, if his thought is strong enough as mentioned, certainly it will be so, provided that the thought is strong and firmly attached to it as mentioned. That is to say, for example, one should think in his mind that he should merit to learn and complete all four poskim with all the great explanations, and think and envision in his mind how he will learn them and in how much time, for example, that he should merit to learn five pages in one day, until he merits to complete them all in one year, and he should firmly set his thoughts well in this matter with a great strength until the thought is strong and firmly attached to this, and similarly in other studies of the holy Torah, such as Shas with the Rif and the Rosh and Turim, and so on, and he should desire and yearn and think about this greatly with great strength, then he will merit it being so."
Here the Igrot Maharal explicitly states that we are indeed discussing a specific mindset toward a specific goal with all its details, and not just a vague or general thought.
When a person organizes his thoughts to include the goal with all the details, he will necessarily arrange it in his mind in such a way that it can realistically exist according to the time and effort required - as exemplified there in relation to learning all four poskim.
On the other hand, vague thought, which is like "raw vessels" does not help.
As I understand it, his holy intention there is to show the strength of the will inherent in the root of thought; therefore, when a person arouses his thought regarding all the details of his actions and infuses all his willpower into that thought - and as he wrote, "and he should desire and yearn and think about this greatly with great strength," then the matter will manifest because he pulled it with his willpower into realization in his thought.
Therefore, regarding your questions:
1. Of course, it is possible for people to think negatively; however, not every wish will lead to manifesting that negativity, and the reason is that fundamentally, every person truly wants to do only what is good and right, as the Rambam wrote in Hilchot Gitin, chapter 2, law 20: "Therefore, one who does not want to divorce, since he wants to be of Israel, he wants to do all the mitzvot and distance himself from the transgressions, and it is his nature that has overwhelmed him;" see there; and the commentators said on this that in his root inclination a person wants to do only the will of Hashem and to be good and straight, and anything he does or thinks negatively and in opposition is only from the yetzer that covers up the true inner will. Therefore, it is only in positive desires and the fulfillment of the will of Hashem that such a desire can lead to actual consolidation of thought.
2. Likewise, as clarified above, the power of thought does not act as a metaphysical force automatically in every situation - rather it serves as a revelation of the will, specifically when it is arranged according to physical reality, as outlined above.
Best regards,
Rabbi Nachum
