Tao Living Turning Wish into Reality by Derek Lin

December 1999

One important teaching in I-Kuan Tao, derived from its Zen tradition, states that the material world is illusory and only the realm of spirituality is real.

This concept may seem bizarre at first. I mean, come on! The chair I'm sitting on, the house I live in, the car I drive to work - how can you tell me these things are illusions? And how can intangibles like thoughts, feelings and relationships be more real than physical matter?

Even more bizarre, perhaps, is the fact that there are modern thinkers who are thinking along the same lines and leveraging these Taoist principles to create success in life. Two examples are Mike Hernacki, author of The Ultimate Secret to Getting Absolutely Everything You Want and Scott Adams, cartoonist of the wildly popular Dilbert strip.

Hernacki's secret is that in order to achieve something, you must be absolutely willing to do everything it takes, and you must take action with total initiative. If you can do that, you will see your goal rushing to completion, and you end up not having to do all the things you thought you had to after all!

There are some wonderful implications to this principle, but what makes it really work is the fundamental belief that all thoughts have an objective reality and physical existence. This is in complete accordance with Zen and Tao teachings.

There is a chapter from The Dilbert Future, one of Scott Adams' best-selling books, where he discusses the same idea from a different angle. In a complete departure from his usual output of workplace humor, Adams gets serious and talks about his unconventional philosophy of life and the source of his uncommon success.

Adams asserts that existence is far more than the limited reality we can perceive with our limited vision. This is, again, in complete accordance with Zen and Tao teachings. He began suspecting this truth when he went through some personal paranormal experiences. Later on, he was able to prove it to himself via his use of affirmations.

By affirmations I don't mean the kind Stuart Smiley says to himself while looking into a mirror. ("I'm good enough, smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!") What I mean instead is a way to bend reality to your will. You simply decide on a specific goal that you can visualize, and write it down fifteen times a day in the following form: I, Joe Sixpack, get/do/become/whatever something/someone/whatever!

If you can do this consistently, your intangible desire will materialize. The difficult part is the consistency. Most people won't be able to last long enough to see it work, but I know there's some of you out there who have the fortitude to apply this technique successfully.

What's so supernatural about this, you ask? Wouldn't you succeed simply by continuously motivating yourself? That's psychology, not metaphysics!

You can decide on a goal that is just beyond your reach, something that you cannot accomplish by your efforts alone. That way, when your wish comes true you'll be able to tell that the affirmations have played an undeniable role.

Another convincer is that as you practice the affirmations, you will start noticing strange coincidences favorable to your cause. They will pile up to the point where you'll have no choice but to admit that they can't all be explained in terms of physical cause and effect.

When Scott Adams started doing affirmations, his goal was to get rich in the stock market. Because he was skeptical, he missed the boat a couple of times - the first time by not having a brokerage account set up in advance; the second time by selling too soon.

I, too, was skeptical when I started. My goal was to get a better job, since my position at the time really couldn't get me where I wanted to go. Because of the high level of position I sought, I had a feeling the job hunt would not be easy, and I wasn't sure the affirmations would help.

I needed to make my goal specific and just out of reach, so I named a very high salary. I also envisioned a short commute, a more professional setting, and fast Internet access.

Mindful of Hernacki's secret, I started sending out my resume and writing my affirmations diligently. I was committed to doing whatever it would take to land a great new job.

Nothing happened for a few weeks, and then out of the blue some corporate recruiters called. They didn't know I had just started my job hunt. They called because they contacted me a year ago about some possibilities and still remembered me from that occasion.

I did not think of this as an amazing coincidence, nor did I take them seriously, because nothing concrete ever came out of our previous dealings. I sent them my updated resume and thought no more of them.

Other things started happening too, faster than I thought possible. Before I went on vacation I had several interview opportunities. After I returned some offers came in. Soon I accepted one of the offers.

Did the affirmations work? The new employment featured a convenient commute, an excellent top-flight work environment and, yes, fast access to the Internet from my new office.

There's just one nagging detail. The offer I accepted was quite satisfactory, but the dollar amount was not the figure I named in my affirmations. Still, it was a decent increase and I wasn't complaining.

I sent e-mail to the recruiters thanking them for their efforts and letting them know I would not be needing their services in the foreseeable future. A couple of them responded to this by calling me. They said their clients really wanted to interview me. What were the chances that I would reconsider?

I told them that I did wait for them to come up with something, but eventually had to move forward. Now I was honor-bound by my commitment and could not entertain any other possibilities.

They expressed regrets but still persisted. Apparently my resume had been misplaced previously and was now at the right desk; the company was getting into the Internet in a big way; stock options were possible...

None of that made a difference; it was a matter of principle. Each recruiter gave up when he realized I meant what I said. In the last phone call, just before hanging up, I asked: "Just out of curiosity, what kind of salary is your client talking about?"

The gentleman named the exact figure in my affirmations. Chills went up and down my spine. What were the odds? Could it be that I, like Scott Adams, didn't wait long enough for the exact opportunity I envisioned to come true?

Maybe, but I like the job I chose and I believe the affirmations had something to do that too. My skepticism has vanished. I have to concede that the Zen notion about the illusory nature of the material world may not be so bizarre after all.

Sit back for a moment and think about the incredible implications we're talking about. Here is a spiritual concept that you do not need to accept on blind faith. It is something you can prove to your own satisfaction, as many times as you need to. And once you see the truth, it becomes a powerful tool you can use at will for the rest of your life.

This is a challenge to you. If you think this metaphysical stuff is too far-out, or if you think I-Kuan Tao offers nothing materially different from other belief systems, then here's the perfect opportunity to put your preconceptions to the test. It's your turn... to see for yourself just how bizarre reality really is!