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The Power Of Thought
Have you ever made New Years resolutions with such zeal and enthusiasm on the 31st of December only to have broken each one by January 7th (or sooner)? Why is this? I know many souls who upon asking them, what is your resolution this year, reply glibly, “The same one I made last year!” Hopelessly and with expectance we watch each resolve fade and break away, such that by this point, most of us barely hold on to the possibility of effecting change in our lives at all...
The Power of Thought
by BK Bhavna
Have you ever made New Years resolutions with such zeal and enthusiasm on the 31st of December only to have broken each one by January 7th (or sooner)? Why is this? I know many souls who upon asking them, what is your resolution this year, reply glibly, “The same one I made last year!” Hopelessly and with expectance we watch each resolve fade and break away, such that by this point, most of us barely hold on to the possibility of effecting change in our lives at all. Often we believe we are incapable of keeping a promise. We have broken so many in the past. Perhaps we wish to lose weight, or stop smoking, or be kinder, less reactive to things beyond our control; other people, circumstances or events, thereby building a stress-free life complete with happiness, peace and improved health.
Whatever the change in behavior I wish to see in my life, I must first begin to realize that thoughts are like seeds. Whatever my thoughts, so will be my attitude and behavior. So the emphasis needs to shift, not so much on the behavior, as the thinking which creates it. Your thoughts can be your own best friend or your own worst enemy.
Where does your experience of happiness or sorrow take place? … in your mind. The person or event etc. to whom we have assigned “blame” for our experience of sorrow or stress etc. is not in my mind. I control my own thinking. Do you not think your own thoughts? Yes, there are many things out there that will try to influence the way I feel, but I decide how I think, and how I feel. I choose what things I will let in, and what things I will leave out. We are careful not to ingest poisonous food for the body and yet often we allow the mind to “eat” whatever poisonous thoughts are offered to us. If you keep a diet of “junk” food or spoiled and rotten foods you will get an upset stomach and your physical health will deteriorate. In the same way if you permit yourself to think negative, sad or worrisome thoughts, you can expect to have an upset mind, to suffer the illness of sorrow, peacelessness and stress. My mental heath will begin to deteriorate as well. If on the other hand I imbibe only those thoughts which will feed my mind in a healthy way, I will begin to have control of my mind to such an extent that I am free from the common stresses and sorrows of this life. I begin to enjoy a life of constant happiness, peace and well-being.
When I am not in the practice of checking the quality of my thoughts throughout the day, my mind will begin to race and I will react sensitively to little things. I become vulnerable to the opinions of others as well as my own limited way of understanding.
You are what you think. Love, peace, wisdom, happiness … the more you think of these things, the more you will become them. When you build a house, every brick counts. When you build character, every thought counts. Whatever I wish to achieve … nothing happens until I first think about it. Thought precedes everything, so make your thoughts strong and happy and so will be your experience.
A very wise friend (Dadi Janki) once said “When you talk to yourself in your mind, which self do you address, and how do you speak to yourself? Usually, most do not speak to their divinity, but to the most superficial aspects of their every day personality. Often it’s a stream of fears, complaints, and a mindless repetition of old things. If we talked that way to others, we would have to apologize.”
“Learning to talk properly to the self is a spiritual endeavor. Thoughts from the past and worries about the future do no make good conversation. Instead, learn to talk to your mind as if it were a child. Talk to it with love. If you just force a child to sit down … he won’t. A good mother knows how to prompt a child into doing what she wants. Be a good mother to your mind. Teach it good, positive thoughts so that when you tell it to sit quietly, it will.”
Would you like to get rid of 2/3 of your sorrow right now? It’s very easy. So easy, you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it years ago. … Don’t think of the past or future.
You have enough to deal with; just with what’s happening in the present, don’t you? The past is finished, nothing I can do about it. I have no connection with it. No matter how much I cry or complain not a single moment of the past can be changed. Once the photo has been taken, there’s nothing I can change in it. I can complain that I wish I had worn a different color lipstick, or my hair was different, but no matter how I complain, that picture has already been shot! I can learn for the future picture that blue lipstick really doesn’t look very good on me … but that picture; there is nothing I can do about.
The future is equally elusive. When does the future come? … tomorrow? When tomorrow comes, that’s today! I have nothing but now … right this moment. Thinking of the past or the future is what we call waste thoughts. No benefit can come from this way of thinking. But as we have experienced for ourselves, what can and does come from this way of thinking is sorrow, stress and anxiety. I need to be aware of how much damage is being caused by negative thoughts. Negative, wasteful thinking over a long period of time will drag me down so low that I, out of self preservation, begin to call it “up”! I must first change myself, and then I can change the world.
If I want to see peace in the world, for example, I must be that peace. What is the world made up of after all? ….. People! Not governments, communities or organizations … but people, and people are made up of their thinking! I wish to see peace between countries that don’t speak the same language, have different features and customs and yet I can’t make peace in my own country … because there isn’t even peace in a state …. or peace in one city …. or even in one neighborhood …. or even in my own family, my own household …. Because there isn’t even peace within my own self!!!
So the first thing I must do is change my attitude and behavior. Then, as I change it will have an impact, and be an inspiration for others to change as well.
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