For 17,000 years Tibetans have believed ‘You are what you think.’ To this
day, the sages of the mountain kingdom still practise the art of positive
thinking. They call it Bön.
Christopher Hansard is a leading Bön practitioner. He was ‘discovered’ in
his native New Zealand by a travelling Tibetan lama at the age of four. His
parents let him study with the mystic. Part of his initiation involved being
buried underground. Hansard strongly cautions against trying this, but insists that
we all have the power to transform our lives with positive thought.
He says: “To lead a fulfilled and contented life we must distinguish our
life-transforming ‘original’ thoughts from our ‘reactive’ thoughts”.
Mundane reactive thoughts swamp us throughout every day. Such things as,
“Will I be late for work?” “What should I have for lunch?” “What should I wear?”
To allow life-transforming ‘original’ thoughts to surface and influence our
lives, Bon teachers encourage individuals to tune into ‘positive energy’ and
rise above such trivia.
Examples of ‘original’ thoughts are, “I need to change my career” or “I
need to spend more time with my family.”
Focusing on such thoughts is the first step to making them become a reality.
Hansard says: “With skilful application of will and mental intention, our
thinking becomes a communication with the divine. It becomes a direct and powerful tool for influencing the material world.”
Mark Winter
