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Ethical Values And Thought Therapy

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Jun 1, 2004
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by Jasjit Singh Ahluwalia

Thinking about the new millennium brings vision of an information revolution, and how I.T. links the world to form a global village. Geographical barriers have become irrelevant, and human thought can travel with the speed of light to any corner. In this millennium, possibility of human beings not only traveling in space but also in time dimension, cannot be ruled out.

Time travel will enable man to hear Lord Krishna’s discourse of Gita to Arjun, Sermon on the Mount, Prophet Mohammed conveying the message of Allah and Guru Nanak declaring: There is no Hindu no Mussalman. However, when humans are able to travel within, they will envision the Timeless, Formless Truth within themselves. It will help us understand the difference between man and the beast by realising that former has a mind, which is a sum total of the thoughts.

The aphorism, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he”, not only embraces the whole of man’s being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts. Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits, thus a man garners the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry. A noble and God-like character is not a thing of favor or chance but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long cherished association with God-like thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harboring of groveling thoughts.

Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul, which have been restored and brought to light, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than the knowledge that man is the master of thought, the molder of character and the maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny. Man can become master of his conscious by discovering within himself the laws of thought; the discovery of which is totally a matter of application, self-analysis and experience.

A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which can be intelligently cultivated or allowed to remain wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put then abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein and continue to produce their kind. Therefore a man must tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all wrong, useless and impure thoughts and cultivating towards perfecting the flowers and fruits of right, useful and pure thoughts. By pursuing this process, sooner or later, he discovers that he is the master gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also reveals, within himself, the laws of thought and understands, with ever increasing accuracy, how the thought forces and mind elements operate in shaping character, circumstances and destiny.

Thoughts rapidly crystallize into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance. Bestial thoughts crystallise into habits of drunkenness and sensuality, which solidify into circumstances of destitution and disease. On the other hand beautiful thoughts of all kinds crystallise into habits of grace and kindness, which solidify into geniality. We cannot directly choose our circumstances, but we can choose our thoughts and indirectly, yet surely, shape our circumstances. According to G.D. Boardman:

Sow a thought and you reap an act, Sow an act and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character, Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.

The body is the servant of mind. Disease and health like circumstances are rooted in thought. Men will continue to have impure and poisoned blood so long as they propagate unclean thoughts. Out of a clear heart comes a clean life and a clean body. Out of a defiled mind proceeds a defiled life and a corrupt body. There is no physician like cheerful thoughts for dissipating ills; there is no comforter to compare with for dispersing the shadows of grief and sorrow.

Until thought is linked with purpose, there is no intelligent accomplishment. They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to petty worries, fears, troubles and self-pitying, all of which is weakness that leads, just as surely as deliberately planned sins (though by different route) to failure, unhappiness and loss, for weakness cannot persist in a person having conceived of his purpose; a man should mentally mark out a straight pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right nor to the left. Thoughts allied fearlessly to purpose become creative force; he who knows this is ready to become something higher and stronger than a mere bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations; he who does this has become conscious and intelligent wielder of these mental powers.

All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts. A strong man cannot help the weak unless the weak are willing to be helped and even then the weak must become strong of himself or herself; they must, by their own efforts, develop the strength, which they admires in another. None but by themselves can they alter their condition.

A man can only rise, conquer and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak, abject, and miserable by refusing to lift himself by right thoughts. There could be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice, and a man’s worldly success will be in the measure that he sacrifices his confused animal thoughts and fixes his mind on developing plans and the strengthening of his resolution and self-reliance.

Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He who lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts, who dwells upon all that is pure and unselfish will as surely as the sun reaches its zenith and the moon its full, become wise and noble in character, and rises into a position of influence and blessedness. Victories attained by right thought can only be maintained by watchfulness.

For improving character through ethical values, a person should find time, in the morning and evening, to sit alone in peace by himself or herself. Thereafter speak aloud, not shout, a positive thought. With time the thought will be first stored by conscious mind, then subconscious mind and finally in the unconscious mind. Once the thought filters down to the unconscious mind it becomes a part of character. For instance a positive thought like “I am a teetotaler” or “I am honest” or “I am brave” when stored in the subconscious mind by autosuggestion becomes part of character and should help that person live the thought.


Copyright ©2002 Jasjit Singh Ahluwalia
 

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