The Power of Thoughts

Thoughts are power. They create our reality and shape our future. Unless we take control of our thoughts we are at their mercy as the Bhagavad-Gita tells us, “For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his very mind will be the greatest enemy.” Bhagavad-Gita 6.6.

There are a variety of methods to help us gain control of our mind. Eckard Tolle speaks about living and being in the present, Thich Nhat Hanh similarly talks about mindfulness and being aware of what we do and think 24-7. To me controlling the mind starts by exercising our mind and by realizing that we live in a mystical world and understanding how our thoughts operate in that world.

Spiritual exercises such as meditation give our mind a workout and teach us concentration and focus. Observation of our own thoughts teaches us how our mind works and the games that we play upon ourselves. Knowing how our thoughts work is vital. Here are a few facts you might not know about thoughts

Samskaras the Root of Our Karma

Hindu Vedanta (Vedanta believes all is God and that we do not see the true reality of the mystical world we live in) teaches us that each thought that we have creates an impression in our mind called a samskara. What ever we think about or do is recorded in our mind and remains there as a permanent record. This record stays with us when we die and is carried into our next life or possibly into several future lives. The body dies but the samskaras remain.

Our samskaras in this life will shape our character, personality and personal traits in our next live. They will also determine our karma or what must be paid back or learned in our future lives, so our thoughts today reverberate in our future.

Seed Thoughts

Each thought that we have looks to multiply by having us think or do the same thing again. According Vedanta each thought is like a seed that tries to bear fruit and plant more like-minded thoughts. Who has not had a thought preoccupy their mind to the point that they could not stop thinking about it or even obsessed about it? This occurs because with each thought we plant a seed thought, it tries to multiply and plant more and more seed thoughts, each one bearing fruit. It also makes its samskara, or impression, deeper.

Then there is the law of attraction. As we begin to think about something we start to attract other like-minded thoughts from other people and from the swarms of thoughts circulating in the mental plane. These visiting thoughts add to the seed thought by planting seeds themselves. As the seed thought grows stronger it begins to draw us into situations where we reinforce or act out the thought that we are having. This becomes a reinforcing cycle.

That is why it is so important to think about your first thought, what I call a seed thought, or thought seed. Each thought looks to multiply so we need to nip seed thoughts in the bud before they can begin to bear fruit, otherwise we can get caught in a cycle. Always first and foremost think of love and the divine lest you fall into a rut. That way you will be thinking about and bringing love and the divine into your life. That first thought is so important.