Satsang 16 : ‘A-3’ autosuggestion technique

Under the personality defect removal process, we have learnt about the ‘A-1’ and ‘A-2’ autosuggestion methods and the precautions to be taken while framing autosuggestions. We are now going to learn about the ‘A-3’ autosuggestion technique.

Principle of the A-3 autosuggestion technique

In the A-3 autosuggestion technique, an individual visualizes that he is dealing successfully with a difficult situation. Due to this, the individual gets a training or rehearsal of facing the situation in his mind and does not get tensed while actually facing the situation in real life.

Many of you might have experienced tension while facing one or the other situation and tried to avoid them as much as possible. For example, some might get tensed while traveling by rail, appearing for exams, going to the bank and doing transactions, talking in an interview, going to functions, speaking in the parent-teachers meet etc.! Do you experience such situations in your daily life? If you are afraid of any such situation, you can overcome such situations with the help of the autosuggestions given by the A-3 technique.

If a person is facing a situation for the first time or if there is fear in his mind thinking about the negative consequences, then it becomes a tendency of that person to avoid such situations. The confidence to perform any action is lost if the mind is full of fear about that particular situation. For example, if there is fear of exam in a student, then he may forget even the things he knows or things that he has studied well. To remove the fear of these situations, A-3 technique is used. It should be noted here that along with giving A-3 autosuggestions, it is also essential to try to learn new things and imbibe qualities in oneself, suited to face the situation. Even though a student’s fear of exam can be overcome by giving A-3 autosuggestion, the student must devote the required time for studies and prepare himself for the exam. Some old people are afraid of using new smartphones. They feel as if ‘something might happen to the cell if the wrong key is pressed’. In such cases, autosuggestion is essential to remove the fear of using smartphones, but along with that, it is essential to learn how to use a smartphone appropriately from someone who has knowledge about it.

For which personality defects should A-3 autosuggestions be given?

This technique should be used to overcome personality defects like lack of perseverance, lack of initiative, keeping quiet and not speaking up, lack of confidence, submissiveness, and inferiority complex. This technique is used to remove the negative impression in the mind that ‘I will not be able to do this work or I don’t know if I will be able to do this work or not’ in a given situation.

Examples and autosuggestions

Let us try to understand this autosuggestion technique with the help of an example.

Incident 1

My husband asked me to go to the bank to withdraw money for the monthly household expenses. I got tensed thinking ‘Will I be able to go to the bank alone to withdraw money’? Therefore, I told him, ‘It is okay even if we pay later for the grocery, but please withdraw the money from the bank yourself’.

The root of this incident lies in the lack of confidence to go to the bank and withdraw money all by oneself. This type of inferiority complex can be overcome by giving A-3 autosuggestions. What we have to do in the A-3 autosuggestion technique is that we have to visualize that we are accomplishing the given task confidently and successfully. The A-3 autosuggestion is framed in the present continuous tense. Unlike the A-1 and A-2 autosuggestions that consist of just 1-2 sentences, the A-3 autosuggestion is an elaborate one. Let us see how the autosuggestion is in the above case of withdrawing money from the bank.

Autosuggestion for Incident 1

Incident 2

Autosuggestion for Incident 2

1. Department head is asking me to do a presentation about a software.

2. I am trying to understand from the department head about the expected duration of the presentation and the topics to be included.

3. I am noting down the points told by the department head in a notebook.

4. Before preparing the slides, I am calmly reading and trying to understand the points told by the department head.

5. I am trying to prepare the slides of the ppt after praying to God.

6. I am checking the prepared slides once again.

7. I am studying the slides and the sequence needed for presentation.

8. Before presenting the topic in front of my colleagues in office, I am going through the topic once again. I am able to remember all the points in the given sequence.

9. I am presenting the topic calmly and sequentially giving apt examples after praying to God.

10. I am able to present all the points well.

11. Since I was able to speak fearlessly throughout the presentation, I felt very happy.

12. I am offering gratitude unto the Holy Feet of God after the presentation.