Chapter 24 - The power of thoughts

The perception of our life existence in the world is indeed a reflection of what is inside us.

The power of thoughts is greater than what we can imagine. It is molding the world of perception for each individual. A positive mind perceives the world positively and contributes to a positive world. While a negative mind perceives the world negatively and contributes to a negative world.

That’s why although everyone is living in the same world, but everyone has a different perception of their own world, and encounter different happenings in their lives. There are people who are in peace free from misery, and there are people who are not in peace being miserable, while living in the same world under the same condition and situation. The positive mind perceives all kinds of experiences positively and so thus the negative mind perceives everything negatively, while the truth of all and everything are merely being what they are, neither positive nor negative.

If we can change ourselves and our mentality, we will see the changes in our life accordingly. The thoughts in the mind that turn into actions and reactions in life are the key to our own destiny. We create our own cause and effect. We are responsible for the changes in our life, what we are now and what we are becoming.

The thoughts are powerful, especially when the mind is under the influence of ignorance, and has no self-awareness and self-control to be unattached towards the selfless thought activities, where the mind is identifying and associating with the modifications of the mind, and is being determined and influenced by the thought activities to act and react, generating intentional or random actions and reactions that bring along the consequences of action and reaction. The mind appears to be not free, as it is being over-powered and conditioned by the ceaseless thought activities or modification of the mind, and is being determined or disturbed by the perceived names and forms that the mind likes and dislikes, agrees and disagrees with, desires and doesn't desire.

The thoughts are powerless, if the mind is free from ignorance, and has self-awareness and self-control to be unattached towards the thought activities, without identification or association with the modification of the mind, and is not being determined or influenced by the thought activities to act and react wittingly and unwittingly, and eventually, through the realization of selflessness upon the annihilation of the idea of 'I' as well as silencing the selfless modification of the mind or thought activities, transcending the restlessness of ceaseless births and deaths of the different states of the mind arising and passing away, and transcending all kinds of pleasant and unpleasant life experiences influenced by the karma seeds (actions and consequences of actions) that were being planted by oneself.

From the surface, it looks like we are being conditioned and limited by the law of nature, where everything is impermanently and selflessly changing restlessly. It is not wrong. But when we look deeper into ‘where does suffering come from’, we will find out that actually we are being conditioned and limited by the ignorance in our own mind of how the mind ceaselessly reacts ignorantly towards the mind perception of names and forms that gives rise to restlessness, disturbs and suffering.

If the mind can be free from being conditioned or determined by the perception of duality deriving from ignorance and egoism in the mind, this mind will be free from ignorance and egoism that give rise to egoistic likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements, or the desires of craving and aversion, which give rise to all kinds of suffering, of restlessness, disturbs, dissatisfaction, disappointment, pride, anger, hatred, hurts, offensiveness, defensiveness, violence, jealousy, fear and worry within the modification of the ignorant mind reacting upon the absence of desirable objects and the presence of undesirable objects, as well as losing the desirable objects. The mind that is void of ignorance and egoism will be peaceful as it is, being undetermined by all the pleasant and unpleasant or desirable and undesirable experiences. The world that seemed like imperfect will now is merely being what it is, as it is, being impermanent and selfless, even though there might be many things in the world are not necessarily being the way that the mind would like it to be. The world is neither something suffering nor not suffering, neither positive nor negative, neither peaceful nor peaceless.

It's the aversion towards the presence of selfless changes, decay, old age, illness and death, or the craving towards the absence of selfless changes, decay, old age, illness and death that give rise to suffering. For the mind that is free from ignorance and egoism, being free from the desire of craving and aversion, it is okay for everything to be what they are, as they are, and everything is impermanent, constantly changing.

Suffering exists when there is an idea of 'I' in the mind attaching towards the selfless mind perception of an impermanent worldly selfless life existence, and identifying with the body and the modification of the mind as an individual being, and the state of the mind is constantly changing from good to bad, from bad to good, and this phenomena of impermanence ceaselessly happening with or without awareness. The mind is in a state of continuous restlessness. That restlessness is an inevitable suffering, if there's an idea of 'I' attaching towards and identifying with the restless states of mind. The mind is free from suffering, if it stands as a witness towards the restless states of mind without attachment or identification.

Via the practice of Yoga Asana, Pranayama, concentration and meditation combining with the practice of renunciation and dispassion, it can help the mind to develop sharper awareness or higher consciousness, eradicate impurities, quite the modification of the mind, and reduce the thought activities, so that the mind can observe the modification of the mind, of thoughts, feelings and sensations more easily, and the mind can have certain control over the modification of the mind and influence the state of the mind, to render it from negative to positive, from positive to purity, and eventually, from purity to non-duality, non-separateness, attributelessness, namelessness and formlessness.

Such like learning how to perform headstand (Sirshasan) can help us to let go the fear in us and other negative thinking, and develop courage and go beyond what the mind thinks is possible and impossible.

The more positive thinking, action and speech we developed, the more positive consequences there are. The more negative thinking, action and speech we developed, the more negative consequences there are.

Imagine when a group of people are having negative thoughts at the same time together and how powerful that can be, creating so much tension and fear in the atmosphere even though nobody is doing anything physically, but just by thinking of it mentally?

All the teachings from the saints and sages emphasized on the purification of the mind, which begins with developing positive thinking to counter negative thinking, stop doing bad and do more good, practice detachment and non-attachment, and being at the present moment, until the mind is free from being conditioned by the past memories and the future imaginations, and be free from being conditioned by the perception of duality, where everything is just what it is, neither positive nor negative, neither good nor bad.

It's pointless if we are trying to practice yoga to purify and quiet the mind, but at the same time we are full of passionate desires and worldly aspirations occupying and stimulating the mind ceaselessly. It's like a container that is not clean will contaminate any clean thing that we put in it.