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Make Your Dreams Come True – The Art of Wish-Practice

Imagine it were true that there is a wish-fulfilling jewel that could grant us all of our wishes. Wouldn't that be wonderful? 'Yes', you might say, 'that would be wonderful but probably dangerous as well.' Let's first look at the wonderful side.

The good news is that we all possess such a wish-fulfilling jewel already.

It is a power that is inherent in our own heart and mind. By skilfully using this power we can bring things into existence that we thought were entirely impossible before.

I am not talking from theory because my own life is proof of what I am saying. For example, when I was in my early thirties I fervently wished – like so many other women of that age – for a husband. However, my general attitude towards men was so bad ('all stupid egotists') that I found it hard even to imagine a loving and inspiring man. Therefore I concentrated on a lovely house instead in which I wanted us to live. This house was so fantastic that it would have been utterly out of reach for a poor German girl like myself. But I didn't let that bother me and visualized a large house with big French windows overlooking a park, a lake and in the distance some beautiful hills. I practised in that way for four years while trying not to panic about my advancing age and while trying to dismantle my negative attitude towards men at the same time.

Then I met my future husband. We fell in love at first sight and shortly afterwards he tried to buy a house for us to live in (he knew nothing of my visualization). When I visited him in England he showed me the house and I had a shock – it was exactly the house from my dreams! The park, the lake and the distant hills were all exactly as my visualization. Even small details like a white tiled balcony with a white banister and cream coloured carpets were there.

Ever since I moved into this house my sense of what is 'reality' has fundamentally changed. Over the years I have used this insight to make many more of my 'outrageous' dreams come true (for example, getting published despite having a very limited grasp of the English language). However, some people have asked me if I simply had a premonition of this house. The answer is as simple as it is fascinating: wish-practice and premonitions are basically the same! In other words, we can all choose our premonitions and then see them come true. But how does it work?

The Difference Between Wish-Practice and Visualization

Sometimes I get e-mails from people asking me how my method compares with the standard visualization techniques in many self-help books. I always feel a bit overwhelmed by this question because I had to write virtually my whole book in response to answer it properly. I will nevertheless attempt to answer this question in this article.

The most important difference between wish-practice and standard visualization techniques is to work only with wishes that will definitely bring happiness to everybody involved once they are fulfilled. Many people naively assume that all of their wishes will make them happy, but unfortunately that is far from true. We all have probably had experiences when we really wanted something only to find that it didn't suit us at all once we got it. So, what are these wishes that will always bring genuine happiness?

The answer is that only those wishes which contain altruistic love for others will make us happy in the long term. For example, if we wish for a soulmate and focus only on ourselves and our partner there will be a great risk of picking the wrong person (again!). But if we focus on how we want to benefit the whole world through the love and happiness we will generate in our relationship, our personal happiness will be an almost guaranteed by-product.

The art of wish-practice is the skill of bringing this altruistic love into all of our wishes. For example, if we wish to buy a house we can focus on all the people who will be happy there, and if we wish to lose weight we can focus on how we will teach our weight-loss secret to all our friends. When we pursue our personal wishes in this way we will erase any danger that might be associated with possessing a wish-fulfilling jewel. If altruistic love is part of the package it will be impossible to exploit this method for egotistical or even aggressive desires.

Another question I am asked is this: "How can you propagate pursuing wishes when you are a Buddhist, and the Buddha said that desire is the root of all suffering?" The answer is that the Buddha didn't say wishes bring suffering, but greed and cravings do. This brings me to the other topic that is often neglected in standard visualization books: it is of greatest importance that we learn to let go of any craving and greed while we pursue our wish.

Every time we succumb to frustration and depression that we 'still haven't got what we want' we will weaken our wish-power and we will suffer – exactly as the Buddha pointed out 2500 years ago.

Therefore, if we can combine our wishes with a genuine altruistic motivation while letting go of our craving, we will be able to use our desire energy to grow in love and move forward on our spiritual path. As a bonus we will simultaneously receive everything we want. I personally find this a very handy method. Exactly as my Buddhist teachers predicted, it has brought me happiness that goes far beyond just getting what I want.

In my own trials to make wish-practice work I found that there are eight steps necessary and one-pointed visualization is just one of them.

Visualization is easy and most people will not have big problems with it.

In most cases it is one of the other seven steps where they may stumble.

For example, some people's biggest obstacle is to work in an organized and effective way for their wish. Unfortunately, it is usually not enough to sit on our snuggly sofa and make powerful declarations and cast enchanting spells. We often have to go out and do for our wish what common sense dictates as well. Step three of wish-practice will be of help for anybody who has trouble working for the fulfilment of a wish in a consistent and organized way.

Other major obstacles are feelings of resentment and guilt. It may seem puzzling, but if we feel strong grudges against only one single person in our life, it will hinder us from moving forward in almost all areas and certainly stand in the way of working successfully with wish-practice.

Grudges and other strong negative emotions need to be removed before we can become successful with this method.

Another typical stumbling block is dealing with setbacks. Sadly, many people are quick to believe that their wish 'is not meant to be' once they encounter a few major setbacks. Unfortunately, they don't realize that it is they themselves who are in charge of what is meant to be or not.

Wish-practice utilizes the knowledge that we all possess the divine power to create things 'from nowhere' and if we delegate this power to any other force other than ourselves we will greatly weaken our creative strength.

Another problem for almost everybody is the waiting time. I see our wishes as seeds and there is a natural time lag before they germinate and grow into luscious plants. Unfortunately, in real life we often don't appreciate this cycle and succumb to feelings of frustration and hopelessness if we can't get what we want fast enough. Luckily, the more successes we have with wish-practice the easier it will be to be patient because our confidence and trust will grow with each fulfilled dream.

Last but not least I will tell you what is by far the biggest obstacle that keeps most people from fulfilling their dreams. This obstacle is not to wish for what you want in the first place. People have a myriad of reasons for holding back, ranging from common laziness and hopelessness to confusion about who is in charge in their life ('I only do what my guide says although I am not quite clear what he wants me to do'). Some people even think it is spiritually wrong to have wishes. Unfortunately, all these people are missing out on using one of their greatest and most fascinating powers that will move them forward in their spiritual development.

Wish-practice tells us that we all have the divine power to create what we want and that we should use this power wisely and with love in order to create genuine happiness for everybody.