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 Positive
Methods For Thought Control.
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Thought
Control By Practice Of Concentration.
Silence
the bubbling thoughts. Calm the surging emotions. Concentrate on a concrete
form in the beginning. Concentrate of a flower, on the form of Lord Buddha,
on any dream picture, on the effulgent light of the heart, on the picture
of any saint, or your Ishta Devata.
Have three or four
sittings per day.
When irrelevant thoughts
enter your mind, be indifferent. They will pass away. Do not force them
out or else they will persist and resist. It will tax your will. The will
enter with redoubled force. Just watch the thoughts as you would a flowing
stream, there is no need to interact with them. If negative thoughts persist,
then substitute a more positive thought in its place. Disturbing or irrelevant
thoughts will soon fade away with a gradual and steady practice.
Concentration is
practised for stopping the modification of the mind. Concentration is
holding the mind to one form or object for a long time. To remove the
tossing of the mind and various other obstacles which stand in the way
of one-pointedness, the practice of concentration on one thing is very
helpful.
Concentration is
opposed to sensuous thoughts and desires, bliss to flurry and worry, sustained
thinking to perplexity, applied thinking to sloth and torpor, rapture
to ill-will.
In your sittings
of concentration, you should have only one thought in the mind. The mind
can then assume the form of this thought. All other operations of the
mind should be suspended for the duration of the practice.
Thought Control By
A Positive Attitude.
Try to acquire the
power of closing yourself against detrimental or undesirable thoughts
and influences by making yourself positive by a particular attitude of
the mind. By so doing, you may be receptive to all higher impulses of
the soul within and to all higher forces and influences from without.
Make a suggestion to yourself, "I close myself; I make myself positive
to all things below and open and receptive to all higher influences, to
all things above." By taking this attitude of the mind, consciously, now
and then, it soon becomes a habit. All the lower and undesirable influences
from both the seen and the unseen sides of life are closed out while all
higher influences are invited and, in the degree that they are invited,
they will enter.
In the mind there
is doubt; there is reality also. A doubt arises whether there is a God
or not. This is termed Samsaya-Bhavana. Another doubt crops up whether
I can realise Brahman or not. Then another voice tells: "God or Brahman
is real. He is a solid, concrete Reality as an Amalaka fruit in my hand.
He is a mass of knowledge and Ananda (Prajnanaghana, Chidghana, Anandaghana).
I can realise!"
We have clearly understood
something and these ideas are well-grounded and ingrained. Some ideas
are hazy and not firm. They come and go. We will have to cultivate ideas
and ground them till they are firmly fixed and implanted. Clarification
of ideas will remove perplexity and confusion in the mind. When a doubt
arises, "Whether there is God or not, whether I will succeed in SeIf-realisation
or not," it must be dispelled by well-directed suggestions and affirmations
such as: "It is true; I will succeed. There is no doubt of this." "In
my dictionary, in my vocabulary, there are no such words, as 'can't',
'impossible', 'difficult', etc. Every thing is possible under the sun."
Nothing is difficult
when you strongly make up your mind. Strong determination and firm resolution
will bring sanguine success in every affair or undertaking, and particularly
so in the conquest of mind.
Thought-control
by Non-cooperation
Non-cooperate with
the mind in its evil wanderings. Gradually the mind will come under your
control. Here is the practical method to non-cooperate with the mind.
If the mind says: "I must eat today sweetmeats," say unto the mind: "I
will not cooperate with you today. I will not eat sweetmeats. I will eat
only bread and DaL" If the mind says: "I must go to cinema." say unto
the mind: "I will attend the Satsanga of Swami Ramananda and hear his
discourses on the Upanishads." If the mind says: "I must Wear a silk shirt,"
say unto the mind: "I will not wear in future any silk clothing; I will
wear only Khaddar." This is the method to non-cooperate with the mind.
Non-cooperation with the mind is swimming against the sensual currents.
The mind will be thinned out and gradually it will become your obedient
servant. You will gain mastery over the mind.
The self-controlled
man, moving among the objects with senses under restraint and free from
attraction and repulsion, attains to peace. The mind and the senses are
naturally endowed with the two currents of attraction and repulsion. Therefore,
the mind and the senses like certain objects and dislike certain other
objects. But the disciplined man moves among the sense-objects with a
mind and senses free from attraction and repulsion, mastered by Self,
and attains the peace of the Eternal. The disciplined self has a very
strong will. Therefore, the senses and mind obey his will.
The disciplined self
takes only those objects which are quite necessary for the maintenance
of the body without any love or hatred. He never takes those objects which
are forbidden by the Sastras.
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Art of Thinning
Out.
Thoughts In the rubber
plantations, planters take recourse to the method of thinning out the
rubber trees by cuffing the small surplus trees which stand in the vicinity
of big trees. By so doing they can tap more milk (rubber juice) from the
big trees. Even so, you must thin out the thoughts by destroying them
one by one in order to drink the ambrosial milk or nectar of immortality.
Just as you retain only the good fruits from the basket and discard the
bad ones, so also, keep good thoughts in your mind and reject evil ones.
Just as the warrior chops off the heads of enemies, one by one, when they
come out of a fortress through a trap door, so also, chop off the thoughts,
one by one, when they emerge out through the trap door to the surface
of the mind. When the tail of a lizard is cut, the cut end will flutter
about for sometime as there is still a little residual Prana in the tail.
After one or two minutes all motion will cease. Even so, even after thinning
and reducing the thoughts, some thoughts will move about like the tail
of the lizard. But they are powerless. They cannot do any serious harm.
There is no vitality in'them. Just as the drowning man tries to catch
anything to save himself, so also, these lifeless thoughts try their level
best to come back to their previous state of life and vigour. If you go
on regularly with your daily practice of concentration and meditation,
they will die by themselves like a gheeless lamp. Passion, egoism, jealousy,
pride and hatred are very deep-rooted. If you cut the branches of a tree,
they grow again after sometime. Even so, these thoughts that are suppressed
or thinned out for sometime, manifest again after sometime. They should
be completely rooted out by strenuous efforts, Vichara, meditation, etc.
Thought-control
by Napoleon's Method.
When you think on
one subject, do not allow other thoughts to enter. When you think of a
rose, think of the different kinds of roses only. Do not allow other thoughts
to enter. When you think of mercy, think of mercy and mercy only. Do not
think of forgiveness and tolerance. When you study the Gita, do not think
of tea or a cricket match. Be wholly occupied with the subject on hand.
Napoleon controlled his thoughts in this manner: "When I want to think
of things more pleasant, I close the cupboards of my mind revealing the
more unpleasant things of life, and open up the cupboards containing the
more pleasant thoughts. If I want to sleep, I close up all the cupboards
of mind!"
Arrest the Recurrence
of Evil
Thoughts Suppose
the evil thoughts stay in your mind for twelve hours and recur every third
day. If you can make them stay for ten hours and recur once in a week
by daily practice of concentration and meditation, that is a decided improvement.
If you continue your practice, the period of stay and recurrences will
be gradually lessened. Eventually they will disappear altogether. Compare
your present state of mind with that of last year or year before last.
You will be able to find out your progress. The progress will be very
slow in the beginning. It will be difficult for you to gauge your growth
and progress.
Give the Wrong
Thought No Concession.
At first a wrong
thought enters the mind. Then you entertain a strong imagination. You
take delight in dwelling on that wrong thought. You give consent to its
stay in the mind, and gradually the wrong thought, when it is not resisted,
takes a strong hold in your mind. Then it becomes very difficult to drive
it off. The proverb goes: "Give a rogue an inch and he will take a foot."
This is true of wrong thoughts also.
Nip the Bad Thought
in Its Bud.
Just as you close
your door or gate when a dog or an ass tries to come in, so also, close
your mind before any evil thought can enter and produce an impression
on your physical brain. You will become wise soon and attain eternal,
infinite peace and bliss. Wipe out lust, greed and egoism. Entertain only
pure holy thoughts. This is an uphill task, a difficult task. You will
have to practise it. You will succeed in your attempt after sometime.
Destruction of one badthought will give you strength to annihilate other
thoughts and will develop your soul-force or will-power. Never despair
though you may fail in crushing a bad thought. No pains, no gains. Inner
spiritual strength will gradually manifest in you. You can feel this.
Spiritual Practice
for Elimination of Evil Thoughts.
Your mind will sometimes
shudder when evil thoughts enter your mind. This is a sign of your spiritual
progress. You are growing spiritually. You will be much tormented when
you think of your evil actions committed in the past.
This is also a sign
of your spiritual upheaval. You will not repeat now the same actions.
Your mind will tremble. Your body will quiver whenever a wrong thought
of some evil action urges you to do the same act through force of habit.
Continue your meditation with full vigour and earnestness. All memories
of evil actions, all evil thoughts, all evil promptings of Satan, will
die by themselves. You will be established in perfect purity and peace.
In the beginning
all sorts of evil thoughts will arise in your mind as soon as you sit
for meditation. Why does this happen during meditation, when you attempt
to entertain pure thoughts? Aspirants leave their spiritual practice of
meditation on account of this. If you try to drive a monkey, it attempts
to pounce upon you in vengeance. Even so, the old evil thoughts try to
attack you revengefully and with redoubled force at the time when you
try to raise good. divine thoughts. Your enemy endeavours to resist you
vehemently when you try to eject him out of your house.
There is a law of
resistance in nature. The old evil thoughts assert and say, "O man! Do
not be cruel. You have allowed us to stay in your mental factory from
time immemorial. We have every right to abide here. We have helped you
upto this time in all your evil actions. Why do you want to oust us from
our dwelling place? We will not vacate our abode." Do not be discouraged.
Go on with your practice of meditation regularly. These evil thoughts
will be thinned out.
Eventually they will
all perish. Positive always overcomes negative. This is the law of nature.
Negative evil thoughts cannot stand before positive good thoughts. Courage
overcomes fear. Patience overcomes anger and irritability. Love overcomes
hatred. Purity overcomes lust.
The very fact that
you feel uneasy now when an evil thought comes to the surface of the mind
during meditation indicates that you are growing in spirituality.
In the past you consciously
harboured all sorts of evil thoughts. You welcomed and nourished them.
Persist in your spiritual practices. Be tenacious and diligent. You are
bound to succeed. Even a dull type of aspirant will notice a marvellous
change in him if he keeps up the practice of Japa and meditation for 2
or 3 years in a continuous stream. Now he cannot leave the practice. Even
if he stops his practice of meditation for a day, he will actually feel
that he has lost something on that day. His mind will be quite uneasy.
Best Remedies
for Evil Thoughts.
When the mind is
vacant, evil thoughts try to enter. Evil thinking is the beginning or
starting point of adultery. Through a lustful look only, ydu have already
committed adultery in the heart. Mental actions are the real actions.
Remember this! God judges a man by his motives; worldly people judge a
man by his external physical actions. You will have to look to the motive
of the man. Then you will not be mistaken. Keep the mind fully occupied.
Then evil thoughts will not enter An idle brain is the devil's workshop.
Watch the mind every minute.
Always engage yourself
in some work; stitching, cleaning vessels, sweeping, drawing water, reading,
meditating, counting the beads, singing divine songs, praying, serving
the elders or nursing the sick. Avoid loose talk and gossip. Fill the
mind with sublime thoughts, such as those contained in the Gita, the Upanishads,
the Yogavasishtha, etc.
Daily Discipline
of Thoughts.
The mind is a mischievous
imp. It is like a jumping monkey. It must be disciplined daily. Only then
will it gradually come under your control.
It is only by the
practical training of your mind that you can prevent bad thoughts and
actions from arising and can ward off bad thoughts and actions that have
arisen from recurrence. It is only by practical training of your mind
that you can encourage good thoughts and actions to arise, and can sustain
good thoughts and actions when they have arisen.
Here is a beautiful
daily exercise for mental relaxation. It will pour into you great inspiration
and strength. Close the eyes. Think of anything that is pleasant. This
will relax the mind in a wonderful manner Think of the mighty Himalayas,
the sacred Ganga, the striking scenery in Kashmir, the Taj Mahai, the
Victoria Memorial in Calcutta, a lovely sunset, the vast expanse of ocean
or the infinite blue sky.
Imagine that the
whole world and your body are floating like a straw in this vast ocean
of Spirit. Feel that you are in touch with the Supreme Being. Feel that
the life of the whole world is pulsating, vibrating and throbbing through
you. Feel that Lord Hiranyagarbha, the ocean of Life. is gently rocking
you on His vast bosom. Then open your eyes. You will experience immense
mental peace, vigour and strength. Practise this and feel.
Thoughts and the
Snake-analogy.
Just as fruit is
born of the seed, so also deeds are born of thoughts. Good thoughts generate
good actions. Evil thoughts produce evil actions.
Harbour good thoughts.
Repel evil thoughts. If you cultivate good thoughts by Satsanga, study
of religious books, prayer, etc., evil thoughts will die by themselves.
Just as you remove
at once the pebble in your shoe that troubles you, so also, you must be
able to remove at once any tormenting thought from your mind. Only then
have you gained sufficient strength in the control of thought. Only then
have you attained some real progress in the spiritual path.
When you give a blow
on the head of a snake with a stick and crush its head, it remains absolutely
motionless for sometime. You think it is dead. All of a sudden it raises
its head and runs away. Even so, the thoughts that were once crushed and
suppressed by you regain strength and raise their heads. They must be
destroyed totally beyond resurrection.
World-conquest
by Thought-conquest.
Control the thoughts
or Sankaipas. Avoid imagination or day-dreaming. The mind will be annihilated.
Extinction of Sankalpas alone is Moksha or release The mind is destroyed
when there is no imagination.
The experience of
the world illusion is due to your imagination. It vanishes away when imagination
is completely stopped. Victory over thoughts is really a victory over
all limitations, weakness, ignorance and death. The inner war with the
mind is more terrible than the outer war with the machine-guns. Conquest
of thoughts is more difficult than the conquest of the world by the force
of arms. Conquer your thoughts and you would conquer the world.
Form a Divine
Channel for Thought-force.
Thoughts generally
flow with ease towards external objects. The mind can very easily think
of worldly objects. It is its Svabhava. Mental force can easily flow in
the old grooves and avenues of mundane thoughts. It finds it extremely
difficult to think of God. It's an uphill work for a Samsaric mind of
Vyavahara.
The difficulty in
weaning the mind from worldly thoughts, from external objects, and fixing
it on God is the same as in making the Ganga flow towards Gangotri instead
of its natural flow towards Ganga-Sagar. It is like rowing against the
current of the Yamuna.
Still, through strenuous
efforts and Tyaga it must be trained to flow towards God, much against
its will, if you want to free yourself from birth and death. There is
no other go if you want to escape from worldly miseries and tribulations.
Role of Vigilance
in Thought-control.
It is very difficult
to fix the mind on one thought in the beginning. Diminish the number of
thoughts. Try to think of only one subject.
If you think of rose
you can have all sorts of thoughts connected with rose only. You can think
of different kinds of roses that are grown in different parts of the world.
You can think of the various preparations that are made out of roses and
their uses. You can allow even thoughts of other kinds of flowers to enter;
but do not entertain thoughts of fruits and vegetables.
Check the aimless
wandering state of the mind. Do not have thoughts at random when you think
of rose. Gradually you can fix the mind on one thought only. You will
have to discipline the mind daily Eternal vigilance is needed in thought-control.
Watch and Spiritualise
Your Thoughts.
Watch the thoughts.
Control the thoughts. Be a witness of your thoughts. Rise above thoughts
and dwell in that pure consciousness where there is no thought.
The subtle impressions,
tendencies, desires and passions lying in the depths of the subconscious
have a tremendous effect on your conscious life. They should be purified
and sublimated. They must be given a spiritual turn. Hear what is auspicious.
Behold what is auspicious. Think what is auspicious. Talk what is auspicious.
Meditate what is auspicious. Understand what is auspicious. Know what
is auspicious.
Fear, strong dislike,
buried hatred, prejudice, intolerance, anger, lust, disturb the action
of the subconscious mind. Cultivate virtues. Purify and strengthen the
subconscious mind. Desire, greed. etc., enslave and obscure the mind which
must be freed and restored to its pristine purity, to reflect Truth and
practise meditation. The lower impulses belong to the physical body and
the mental plane.
When the mind does
not function owing to the absence of Vasanas (mental impressions and subtle
desires), then arises the state of Manonasa or annihilation of the mind.
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THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY
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