How to cultivate right thinking

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HOW TO CULTIVATE RIGHT THINKING

 

by Swami Sivananda

 

Every thought has an image, form, dimension, weight, shape, colour,

etc. Thought is as much matter as a piece of stone. A table is a

mental image plus some external something. Whatever you see outside

has a counterpart in the mind. The pupil is a small round thing in

the eye and the retina is another small structure in the eye. How is

it that the image of a big mountain, seen through that small

aperture, is cast onto the mind? How does the big form of the

mountain enter a tiny hole in the eye? This is a marvel of marvels.

The image of the mountain already exists in the mind. The mind is

like a big, vast sheet of canvas cloth that contains all the pictures

of the objects seen outside.

 

Thought moves and passes from one man to another. Thought readily

influences people. A man with strong thoughts can readily influence

people with weak thought. Telepathy is a branch of occult science

wherein the yogi can transmit messages to any man in any part of the

world.

 

A thought of anger or hatred sends arrows from the mental factory

towards the person aimed at. It harms the individual, sets up discord

and disharmony in the thought world and comes back again to the

sender and harms him also. If one can understand the effect and power

of thought, he will be more careful in the manufacture of his

thoughts in his mental laboratory.

 

Develop the faculty of producing only satvic (pure) thoughts by

protracted mental discipline, dietetic adjustments, repetition of

good hymns with meaning, good company, the study of divine books,

japa (repetition of God's name), meditation, pranayama (yoga

breathing), prayer, etc. A good man can help his friend, even though

he lives a long way away, by good thoughts alone. Do not allow evil

thoughts to enter your mental factory. Always watch your thoughts.

Avoid useless thinking. Conserve your mental energy.

 

To cultivate sublime thoughts always keep yourself occupied in doing

virtuous deeds and in the study of religious books. Destroy random

thinking. Think of only one subject and its different aspects. When

you do this never allow any other thought to enter the conscious

mind. Again and again withdraw the mind to the subject on hand. Then

take up another thought when you have exhausted the previous one.

 

By this practice you will develop organised thinking. The mental

images will gain intense strength and force; they will become clear-

cut and well defined. In ordinary persons the mental images are

undefined.

 

(Source: http://sivanandaonline.org/html/ )