Manifestation: What It Really Means

The origin of the word ‘manifestation’ can be traced back to the 15th century – its meaning, “something existing or happening”. Through the centuries, the word has evolved into a modern, spiritual practice that involves turning ideas into reality. A catchphrase for the new-age industry that promotes success, happiness, and peace of mind through the power of positive thinking – endorsement by high profile celebrities from Oprah Winfrey, Jim Carrey and Simone Biles to Alia Bhatt and Virat Kohli have further amplified the appeal and impact of manifestation.

Take the example of one of the most famous manifestation stories about the actor Jim Carrey. He once wrote himself a cheque for $10 million dollars for “acting services rendered”, dated Thanksgiving 1995. He always carried the cheque in his wallet as a symbol of future success – this was in the early 1990s before he got his big break. . Then in 1994, just before the date he’d written – he got a film that earned him exactly $10 million dollars for his role.

Manifestation, like a lot of concepts that take a hold of people’s imagination, has gone into an overdrive. It has acquired new connotations in the hands of influencers, motivational speakers, and spiritual masters. It’s no longer a simple mental technique that reinforces our resolve and facilitates the process of turning dreams into reality. Instead, buried under fanciful conceptual layers, it is often perceived as mystical – something that is above and beyond common logic. The reality, however, is far from this.

The history of manifestation goes back thousands of years with minor variations in different cultures and geographies. In yoga and meditation, the concept of sankalpa is highly valued for creating a vision of inner and outer transformation. While the Egyptians used visualisation in rituals to pray for a prosperous and safe life, native American tribes used vision quest, involving solitary fasting and prayer to look inward, and seek divine guidance and protection.

In modern times, the New Thought Movement and self-help books have reignited people’s interest in manifestation. Author Paulo Coelho’s quote in The Alchemist drew global attention, “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”. The American essayist and philosopher R.W. Emerson’s words written almost a century ago look uncannily similar. He said, “once you make a decision the universe conspires to make it happen”. It was Rhonda Bryne’s book, The Secret, which advanced the notion of the “Law of Attraction”, providing a huge fillip to this idea. Her basic premise is, thoughts have energy, and energies similar in nature are naturally attracted towards one another.

While the notion of energies attracting identical energies and the role played by the universe in shaping our lives is quite fascinating – the question remains whether anybody has the wisdom or resources to know how and to what extent the universe plays an active part?

In my humble opinion, the universe doesn’t intervene. It is indifferent to human joy or suffering. Instead of being an active agent, the universe is only metaphorically present in the manifestation equation. Manifesting is a psychological concept, which convinces a person’s mind that infinite possibilities exist in the universe, and if they have faith in their potential and put it to proper use, the sky is the limit.

Though manifestation is sometimes confused with prayer, wish, or hope, these are markedly different. Prayer involves surrender to a divine power in the belief that the higher power ruling our destiny will take care of our problems and needs. It is a delegation of power and responsibility to some external agency and, in the process, it frees the person from their obligations.

Wish and hope too cannot compare with manifestation because they are passive in nature. The moment you say something like this: “I hope that I could live a healthy life”, it implies a lack of conviction. As if your health doesn’t depend on what you eat, how you exercise, and how mindfully you live, but on a chance factor. It is true that in some cases things go wrong in spite of caution, care, and healthy habits, but what appears to be a random act of nature is, in fact, the missing link we haven’t been able to decipher yet. Good health depends on genes, environment, sensible living, and so on, but decidedly not on some miracles we pray for.

Manifestation is about self-empowerment through focused thoughts, affirmations, commitment, visualisation, and concerted actions. The universe reciprocates the kind of energy you radiate. For manifestation to work, one needs to have a clear vision of how one visualises their life unfolding in the future. It gets activated if one declares one’s intent to the universe in the belief that it will actively support their vision and aspirations. This belief strengthens one’s resolve, invigorates the mind and helps align thoughts, energy, and actions to one’s deepest desires.

Manifestation is rooted in the belief system that no goal is impossible if one perseveres with tenacity – you just need to believe that what you are seeking is already a part of your consciousness and life.

Vision board is one of the several techniques used in manifesting. It is a way to have a visual representation of how one imagines one’s life in the near or distant future. A vision board is a collage of images, words, ideas, or quotes that acts as a motivational tool. It’s a constant reminder of one’s goals, aspirations, and dreams. It’s an effective way to give our abstract goals a concrete visual shape, so that whenever a dip occurs in our level of motivation, we can just have a look at the board and bounce back. For instance, if you encounter multiple challenges and feel frustrated after repeated failures, a quote like this may help change your perspective – “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.” Motivating quotes, pictures, affirmations, etc. on one’s vision board can be enormously uplifting.

Don Miguel Ruiz, a Mexican author and spiritual guide, puts it beautifully, “Your life is the manifestation of your dream; it is an art. And you can change your life any time if you aren’t enjoying the dream.” This is nothing but a bold declaration that complete control over one’s life is possible. The way you switch a channel if you don’t like a documentary or a movie, you can change your life if you don’t like your life’s script. For that you will need to work on your subconscious, and reprogramme it in such a way that it aligns with your dreams and goals. No manifestation is possible if one is assailed by self-doubt. Doubts get imprinted on the subconscious. Self-doubt kills possibilities, weakens one’s resolve, blunts one’s actions, fills the mind with negative thoughts, and often leads to failure.

Manifestation need not be viewed as mystical, incomprehensible, or divinely ordained. It is a practical tool that is effectively employed by high achievers. Many people fail to realise their potential either because they don’t believe in it or don’t care to commit themselves to anything worthwhile. Some fear failure, so they don’t aim high. They clog their minds with negative stories and see failure lurking in some corner, ready to jump in and spoil their plans. But those who dispel self-doubt and work doggedly at aligning their inner vision with the outer realities, invariably succeed. Once the inner and outer frequencies match, resonance happens, resulting in extraordinary accomplishments. When the forces of the mind, heart and soul work in tandem, manifestation happens. Simply put, dreams finding their destination is manifestation.

In Wayne Dyer’s words that get to the core of manifestation, “You create your thoughts, your thoughts create your intention, and your intentions create your reality.”

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