“Strive. Strive to realize God.
This is the purpose of the human birth.
The perfection of the realization of absolute knowledge, supreme bliss and immortality
is the one and only goal in human life.
Release from the round of births and life in eternity is the goal of man.
Finish your task—God realization in this life itself; do not postpone it.
Just as food is necessary for the body so also daily meditation and prayer are necessary for the soul.”
—Swami Sivananda
Q: Do our thoughts, prayers and wishes influence reality or is it objective?
Satchidananda: Your thoughts are the prayers and the other wishes too. You are what you think. You can make yourself by thinking the right thoughts, or you can break yourself by thinking wrong thoughts. Make a habit of developing good thoughts. Think thrice before you think a thought. Then, speak it out. Then, do it. Thoughts, words, and deeds. Perseverance and regularity. Think well. Think well. Think well. Influence reality. Then your thoughts become everything. You are what you think; even the entire outside world reacts to your thoughts. If you always very serious. They think that such a person can’t have fun, can’t laugh. That is no kind of life. Life means being always joyful, always happy—jubilant. Every minute should be a celebration. Every minute should be a festivity. That is possible only if you keep your mind in good shape and don’t allow it to get into mischief. Be conscious of all your actions. Before you do anything, question yourself: “What am I doing it for? To be happy, to have fun. Okay, will it be fun always or will it only be fun for a little while and then start creating problems? Will anyone be hurt by it? How long can I be happy? Will there be an end? What is the price I have to pay?” After all this analysis, if your answer is, “Yes. I will always be happy. It will never bind or bother me,” then go ahead. Remember, our intention is to enjoy life, to be happy always—nothing less than that.
THOUGHT-POWER AND PRACTICAL IDEALISM
Wash off the baser thoughts with the help of higher thoughts and when the washing is effected, cling to neither of them. The present state of your experience is due to the thinking, feeling and acting of incalculable past lives. It cannot be easily gotten rid of without prolonged process of thinking of and practice. Thought is ancestor of action. If you want to improve your actions, purify your thoughts. Become a staunch believer in self-reliance and self-effort. You can determine your fate by force of thoughts. As clouds are the main source of rain, so the control of one’s own thoughts is the source of durable prosperity. You are yourself your own friend or enemy. If you will not save yourself by cherishing good thoughts, there is no other remedy.
Mind is the only creator. Everything is created through the mind. It is absolutely free in creating a world for itself. Whenever the mind is referred to as the creator of external objects, it must be considered as the cosmic mind and a part of Isvara Srishti. Whenever the mind is referred to in relation to psychological functions such as love and hatred, etc., it must be considered as the individual mind and as a part of Jiva Srishti. O man! The real God lives in your heart and the only way to worship the real God residing within the temple of your body is by your own sublime thoughts. Stop the psychological functions of your mind and see value only in sublime thoughts.
The nature of things around you is as you think it to be. Your life is what you make it by your thoughts. Thoughts are the bricks by which you have built the building of your personality. Thought determines destiny. The world around you is the reflex of your thoughts. You experience as you think. Your own imagination plays havoc with you. You have made yourself timid by entertaining the thoughts of fear. Do not become liberal in imagination. You are affected by things only in accordance with your idea about them. The mind sees value only in that in which it has intense faith. Though all of you see the same object, everyone of you attach to it different values. According to your mental propensities you think.
Thought is a creative instrument, and man becomes what he thinks upon. Character is thought-formed. You are born with what you have thought upon, and your present character is an index of your previous thoughts. You create your future by your thoughts now; if you think nobly, you will be noble in conduct. If you think basely, no environment will make you different. Thus, thoughts and actions are interdependent. Be vigilant and allow only good thoughts in your mental field. Every one of you has a different conception of duty, value, enjoyment and liberation in accordance with your different convictions. You strive after your own ideal.
You work in accordance with your long-standing and intensified thought and belief. You accomplish and achieve the object of your own desire. Do not let your mind become denser and denser by allowing it to be engrossed in gross forms. Follow the abstractive process by cherishing the thoughts of virtue. Your present life has three aspects, physical, mental and spiritual. You are tenaciously attached to the physical aspect. Be above physical sensations and other appetites by cherishing the thoughts that you are not body alone, that you are residing in the temple of a body for a short period only. Be above mental titillations. Subjective action functions in the world of thought.
Send out a steady stream of thought and goodwill to all creation. The energizing motive behind every thought should be service and friendliness. Stand united with your higher thoughts. You will achieve that goal which is bought by many failures. Become a non-seeker of personal ends and glory. Death will not easily come near you, if you will not wear on your heart the necklace of vicious thoughts. The bliss that accrues from the culture of mind surpasses even the prosperity of the three worlds, or possession of all kinds of jewels, or acquisition of high office. Your mind is omnipotent. It is capable of accomplishing everything. As you imagine within your mind, so things happen forthwith. Whatever is intensely thought by your mind, that comes to be materialized and effected. Creative power is the privilege of every mind. Your own efforts guided by your aspiration are the warp and woof of your destiny. Do not possess a dissipated mind by cherishing weak thoughts. Superficial mind cannot acquire depth of insight. Control the roving mind by entertaining one flow of thought. All that is intensely thought by you, will come to you early or late, in accordance with the effort you have put in to acquire it. It is by thought alone that you get into delusion, undergo the experience of birth and death, are bound in the world and become released from it. Pierce through the steel-armor of biased thoughts, and try to see the divinity in every object.
“Right action in the
present moment is the
most powerful force in
the universe.“
—Yoga Vasishtha
(from the February 2006 IYTA Newsletter)