Thoughts continued

In continuing with the previous article, the revelation is – whatever we think (which includes perceiving and conceiving), has an effect on the environment – sooner or later (and this connection is inevitable). Exactly what is the connection and how does thought result into some ‘form’ of situation is extremely hard to predict, however, the connection can’t be denied.

Herein lay two approaches to our lives therefore –

a)      We may remain ignorant of the effect of thought and continue to harbor any kind of thought without conscious reviewing and we lose control over the quality of our life. In such a scenario – everything appears to happen by chance. We live an emotional life probably, and we continue to experience cycles of pain and pleasure without any escape. We keep complaining when there is pain, but don’t consider questioning the cause of pain. More precisely, we don’t take the effort of decoding the pain.

b)      We may become aware of the nature of thoughts and their effect on the environment and then become more aware and disciplined in our approach to thinking. We may realize the complexity of the given situation – out there – and realize that regardless of the situation, it is we who need to consciously decide the quality of our internal thoughts and thereby create an appropriate response. Note that we create a response, for that is all we can do. Once a response is conceived in our mind, we need to act on it. This is engagement. The response is intended to do what needs to be done – and is not supposed to be based on anybody’s perceptions. By being engaged in the purity of action, our mind (series of thoughts) becomes pure. Becoming pure, means to see thoughts in proper perspective….to see the nature of the mind…..to not be afraid by thoughts…..to understand that thoughts are incidental and they need to be channelized….to understand completely that thoughts are an aspect of existence. By being engaged in action, we are training our mind to remain detached from any expectation of ‘fruit’ (bad or good) thereby, reducing any kind of attachment (pleasure or pain). It will be realized that pleasure or pain – are kinds of attachments we create because of a certain type of response. The nature of response needs alteration, if we wish to remain unfazed by fluctuations in situations.

Thus, know the nature of your mind! A practical way would be to visualize good things about one’s self and practice it in action. Thus, the importance of thinking of values, practicing empathy, being kind, speaking kind, expressing gratitude and so on – all these are real stuff!

Hence next time - watch your thoughts! They are more potent than anything else around you!!