"Positive thinking was born out of a certain Christian sect in America which was called Christian Science. To avoid the word Christian, so others can also be allured to it, they slowly dropped that old label and simply started talking about the philosophy of positive thinking.

"Christian Science – which is the original source – proposed that anything that happens in your life is nothing but a thought projection. If you want to be rich, think and grow rich. It is by thinking positively that you are rich, that you are getting richer, that dollars will start coming towards you.

"I am reminded of an anecdote. A young man met an old lady on the road. The old lady asked, 'What happened to your father? He is not coming to our weekly meetings of Christian Scientists – and he is our oldest member, almost the founder of our society.'

"The young man said, 'He is sick and feeling very weak.'

"The woman laughed. She said, 'It is just his thought and nothing else. He is thinking he is sick – he is not sick. And he is thinking he is weak – he is not weak. Life is made of thoughts; the way you think, you become. Just tell him to remember his own ideology that he has been preaching to us. Tell him to think healthy; tell him to think full of vigor.'

"The young man said, 'I will give the message.'

"After eight or ten days the young man met the woman again, and she asked, 'What happened? Didn't you give the message? – because he is still not coming to the weekly meeting.'

"The boy said, 'I gave the message, madam, but now he thinks he is dead. And not only does he think he is dead, my whole neighborhood, my family, even I myself think he is dead. And he is no longer living with us; he has gone to the graveyard!'

"Christian Science was a superficial way…it may help in a few things; particularly those things which are really created by your thought can be changed. But your whole life is not created by your thought.

"Positive thinking came out of Christian Science."