Mark: You know that phrase, "Seeing is believing"? It’s one of the most fundamental assumptions we live by. Michelle: Of course. I need to see the evidence, see the results, and then I'll believe it's true. That’s just rational. Mark: Well, today, we’re exploring a book that argues the exact opposite. It claims that's a backward-facing, reality-limiting lie. The real power, it says, is that believing is seeing. And it delivers this message through one of the most controversial methods imaginable. Michelle: Oh, I have a feeling I know where this is going. This isn't just any self-help book, is it? Mark: Not even close. We're diving into Ask and It Is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks. This book is a giant in the spiritual self-help world, highly-rated by millions of readers and a major inspiration for the cultural phenomenon that was The Secret. Michelle: But the origin story is what gets me. Esther Hicks wasn't some lifelong guru; her background was in bookkeeping. And she claims these profound teachings on creating your own reality come directly from a non-physical group consciousness named 'Abraham' that she channels. Mark: Exactly. It's a wild premise that's both fascinating to લોકો and, for many, a huge red flag. It’s a book that asks you to suspend your disbelief from page one. Michelle: And yet, it became this massive bestseller. People were clearly hungry for this message, channeled or not. It really hit a nerve in the early 2000s, tapping into that growing desire for personal empowerment. Mark: It did. And what's so compelling is that Esther herself started out as the biggest skeptic of all. Her journey into this is almost as interesting as the teachings themselves.

Michelle: Okay, you have to start there. How does a bookkeeper from Utah end up claiming to be a spokesperson for a group of ancient, non-physical beings? Mark: It’s a fantastic story. In the mid-1980s, her husband Jerry, who was a successful businessman and a big fan of Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, gets curious about channeling. He drags a very reluctant Esther to see a channeler in Arizona named Sheila. Michelle: And Esther was not on board with this? Mark: Not at all. She was terrified. She had this deep-seated fear of the occult, of evil spirits, all from her Sunday-school upbringing. She went into that meeting expecting something sinister. But instead, the entity channeled through Sheila, who called itself 'Theo,' was just… loving. Incredibly loving. Jerry fired off questions, and Esther just sat there as her fear melted away, replaced by this profound sense of well-being she’d never felt before. Michelle: Wow. So the experience itself won her over, not the logic of it. Mark: Precisely. It was the feeling. They went back the next day, and Esther asked Theo how they could achieve their goals more effectively. The answer was simple: "Meditation and affirmations." So, they started meditating for 15 minutes a day. For months, nothing happened. Esther just felt numb. Michelle: I can relate to that. Meditation can feel like you’re just… sitting there. Mark: Right. But then, one day, something bizarre happened. Her head started moving on its own. Then, a few days later, during meditation, she felt her nose start tracing letters in the air. Jerry grabbed a notepad and started writing them down. Michelle: Her nose was spelling out words? You're kidding. How did Jerry even react to that? Mark: He was fascinated! The message slowly spelled out: "I AM ABRAHAM. I AM YOUR SPIRITUAL GUIDE." That was the moment it all began. The communication evolved from nose-spelling to her hands typing on a keyboard, and eventually, to her speaking the words directly. Michelle: That is one of the wildest 'how I wrote this book' stories I have ever heard. But it brings us to the core concept. What is this 'Source Energy' that Abraham talks about? Is it just another word for God? Mark: It’s a bit different. Abraham describes it as a universal, non-physical Stream of Well-Being. It’s the fundamental energy of the universe, and it’s always flowing to us and through us. They say we are all physical extensions of this Source Energy. We came from it, and we are still connected to it. Michelle: Okay, so the core idea is we're all like radios, constantly broadcasting a signal based on our thoughts and feelings. And our emotions are the feedback telling us what station we're tuned into. Mark: That's the perfect analogy. Abraham calls it our Emotional Guidance System. When you feel good—joy, love, appreciation—you're tuned into that Stream of Well-Being. You're in alignment. When you feel bad—fear, anger, despair—you've tuned to a different frequency. You're resisting that natural flow. Michelle: So your feelings aren't just random reactions to life. They're a literal GPS, telling you if you're heading toward what you want or away from it. Mark: Exactly. Your emotions are vibrational interpreters. They're not judging you; they're just giving you data on your current point of attraction. And that's the foundation for everything else in the book.

Michelle: That GPS analogy is really helpful. It makes the idea of emotions feel less like something that happens to you and more like a tool you can use. Which brings us to the actual 'how-to' of this. If our feelings are the guide, what's the destination? This is where the book's three big laws come in, right? Mark: Yes, and this is where it gets incredibly practical. Abraham lays out a simple, three-step Creative Process. Step one is: You Ask. Michelle: Which we all do, all the time. "I want a better job." "I wish I had more money." "I want to feel healthy." Mark: Right. And the book says this is an automatic and natural part of life. The contrast of life—the things you don't like—makes you launch these "rockets of desire" for what you do want. So, step one is easy. We're all experts at asking. Michelle: Okay, what's step two? Mark: Step two is: The Universe Answers. Abraham's term for this is "It is given." They say the moment you ask, Source Energy immediately becomes the vibrational equivalent of your desire and answers it. No exceptions. It’s not your job to make it happen; that's the Universe's job. Michelle: That sounds a little too good to be true. If every desire is instantly answered, why isn't everyone living their dream life? Where's the catch? Mark: The catch is Step Three: You must Allow it. This is the step where we all fail. Allowing means getting into vibrational harmony with your desire. You have to tune your radio to the frequency of what you've asked for. Michelle: And how do we fail at that? Mark: By focusing on the opposite. The book gives this brilliant analogy of the old car versus the new car. You're driving your clunker, it's rattling, the paint is peeling, and you launch a desire: "I want a beautiful, reliable new car!" Step one, done. The universe immediately creates the vibrational reality of that new car for you. Step two, done. But then what do you do? Michelle: You get in your clunker the next day and say, "Ugh, this piece of junk. I hate this car. I'll never be able to afford a new one." Mark: Exactly! You're focused on the absence of the new car. Your vibration is tuned to "broken-down car," not "shiny new car." You are actively holding yourself out of alignment with the very thing you asked for. You're blocking the delivery. Michelle: This is where it gets tricky for me, though, and where the book has faced criticism for 'victim blaming.' If someone is sick, or in poverty, or in a terrible situation, is it really because they're not 'allowing' well-being? That feels incredibly harsh. Mark: It's a really important point, and the book's perspective is subtle. It's not about blame; it's about empowerment. The argument isn't that you are to blame for your circumstances, but that your power to change them lies in your point of focus. If you are sick, focusing on the sickness, talking about the sickness, worrying about the sickness—that keeps your vibration tuned to 'sickness.' Michelle: So the work isn't to ignore the reality of the sickness, but to shift your focus to the feeling of wellness, even for a few moments a day? To find thoughts that feel even slightly better? Mark: That's the whole key. It's about finding relief. You can't jump from despair to joy. But you can move from despair to anger, which is a higher vibration. Then from anger to blame, then to frustration, then to hope, and eventually to belief. It’s about deliberately climbing the emotional scale, one better-feeling thought at a time. The power isn't in changing the world outside; it's in changing the focus inside.

Mark: And that's exactly why they don't just leave you with the theory. They know it's hard to just 'think better thoughts.' So they provide this whole toolkit of what they call 'processes,' which are basically games to help you shift your focus. Michelle: Games? I like the sound of that. It feels less like heavy 'self-help work' and more like an experiment. Mark: It's entirely meant to be playful. They introduce this idea called the "17-second rule." They claim that when you hold a pure, focused thought for just 17 seconds, the Law of Attraction brings another thought of the same vibration to it. It's like a magnetic spark. If you can hold that pure focus for 68 seconds—four times 17—the thought has enough momentum that manifestation begins. Michelle: Sixty-eight seconds of pure, uncontradicted thought. That actually sounds incredibly difficult. My mind wanders every five seconds. Mark: It is! Which is why the games are so useful. They give your mind a track to run on. One of the most famous is the "Magical Creation Box." Esther tells this amazing story about it. She got a beautiful box and started cutting out pictures from magazines of things she wanted—a nice hotel, a beautiful outfit, anything that felt good. Michelle: So you're literally curating your reality like a Pinterest board? Mark: Exactly. One day, before a flight, she's flipping through a magazine and sees a picture of this stunning Oriental rug. She tears it out and puts it in her box, thinking, "Whatever is in this box, IS." They fly home, and waiting for them in the mail is a postcard from a brand-new rug store in their city. And the picture on the postcard? Michelle: No way. It was the same rug. Mark: The exact same rug. It had manifested in her physical reality within hours of her putting it in the box with pure, unresisted desire. Michelle: Okay, a 'Magical Creation Box' sounds way more fun than just writing affirmations. What about something for a more common struggle, like money? Mark: For that, there's the "Prosperity Game." You create an imaginary checkbook. On day one, you get a deposit of $1,000. You have to spend it all, in your mind. Write out the checks. Day two, you get $2,000. Day three, $3,000, and so on. By the end of a year, you're spending over $66 million dollars. Michelle: Is the goal just to fantasize about being rich? Mark: The goal is to practice the feeling of abundance. When you're "spending" hundreds of thousands of dollars a day, you stop thinking from a place of lack. You're not worried about paying the bills; you're thinking about what wonderful things you can do with this endless flow of money. You are deliberately training your vibration away from scarcity and toward prosperity. You're lowering your resistance to abundance. Michelle: It’s like a workout for your imagination. You're building the muscle of what it feels like to have what you want, so when opportunities show up in the real world, your vibration is already a match. Mark: You've got it. The processes are all designed to do one thing: help you find a thought that feels better. And by doing that, you begin to deliberately, joyously, create.

Michelle: So, when you strip it all down, whether you buy into the whole 'Abraham' channeling thing or not, the psychological engine here is incredibly powerful. It’s about the deliberate training of your attention. Mark: That’s the heart of it. You can't always control the events of the world, but you can, with practice, control your focus. And this book argues that your focus is the only control that truly matters. Michelle: It reframes your entire relationship with your own mind. Your thoughts aren't just random noise; they are creative instructions you're sending out to the universe. And your emotions are the confirmation receipt, telling you what instructions you just sent. Mark: Perfectly said. The ultimate question it leaves you with is this: Are you an observer of your life, passively reacting to whatever happens? Or are you a visionary, actively focusing on what you want to create, regardless of your current circumstances? Michelle: It’s a choice between being a thermometer, just reflecting the temperature of the room, or being a thermostat, setting the temperature you want. Mark: And the book's big, bold promise is that being the thermostat is not only possible, it's your natural state. We’ve just forgotten how to do it. Michelle: It’s a provocative and deeply empowering idea, but I can see how it could also feel daunting. We'd love to know what you think. Does this framework feel empowering or problematic? Let us know your thoughts on our social channels. Mark: We're always curious to hear your take. This is Aibrary, signing off.