Thought 3: Purity of the mind

Right thinking develops when the mind is pure. Mind becomes tranquil and serene when it is pure. Even if we know the right course of action, the impurities in the mind such as anger, hatred, pride, jealousy, greed, fear, lust etc, “unbalance the mind, overpower the will and hoodwink reason” - and thus prevent us from pursuing the right course of action. Therefore, purity of mind is very important – and good for us in many ways. If we do not purify our minds, we only have one option, which is to use the mind as it is and accept the consequences thereof – even if we know they are bad. Of course, the better option is to purify the mind.

A piece of metal can be purified by heating or treating with mild acids. Clothes can be cleaned by washing in water mixed with a detergent. Teeth can be cleaned by a toothpaste and brush. But how to clean or purify the mind when it becomes dirty? Obviously, we cannot send a brush or detergent inside. When the tyre on the car becomes flat and does not allow us to move forward, for instance, we immediately replace it with a spare tyre. Unfortunately, we do not have a spare mind – to replace the existing dirty mind. Thus, we have no option but to use the same old dirty mind and accept the consequences. This is just like the villagers using the water from the village lake - even when it has become dirty and polluted. What else can they do? They cannot die of thirst.

Hindu Saastras, however, give us a simple technique to purify the mind – which is very efficient and effective too. And this technique consists of constantly chanting the names of God or constantly chanting Mantras such as Ashtaaksharee or Panchaaksharee Mantras. (Karma-Yoga is another very powerful tool to eliminate the Raaga-Dveshas and purify the mind).

The next thought is about “Loads on the mind”.

Right Thinking (continued)

In this world of dualities (heat and cold, pain and pleasure, happiness and sorrow, etc) right thinking alone helps us to distinguish the trivial from the vital, good from evil, right from wrong, real from unreal – and make the right choices. Your life is a sum total of the choices that you make. Right choices alone lead to peace and happiness. There is no problem, which cannot be solved by right thinking. Right thinking prevents confusion - and enhances clarity.

Right thinking is not only efficient but it is also effective. Efficiency is doing a thing right. Effectiveness is doing the right thing. Thinking right is good; it is good for you as well as for others around you. In fact, thinking right is the most important thing in every life; it is more important than we ever understand or realize; it is of the highest priority for every person. The bottom line is that thinking right leads to optimism, enthusiasm, delight, joy, peace and happiness. It is easy to control the right thinking mind – especially, during meditation.

The next thought is on “Purity of mind”.

Right Thinking (Continued)

You are always talking to yourself. This internal dialogue goes on all the time incessantly – and most of the time, you are not even aware of it. This internal conversation is known as self-talk. Self-talk is believed to determine the nature of your behavior and actions. Therefore, it is essential to keep the self-talk positive; positive self-talk leads to self-confidence and self-assurance. Negative self-talk always leads to diffidence and insecurity. Hence, it is very important to be aware of one’s self-talk - and keep it positive at all times.

You may have wealth but this wealth does good to you only when you use it wisely. Right thinking brings in the right attitude and the right attitude alone makes proper use of your material and intellectual wealth. In general, right attitude makes good use of all your assets – such as beauty, wealth, culture, education, generous nature, friendships, position in life, etc.

The next thought also pertains to this topic only.

Right Thinking (Continued)

To think that others are idiots and that you are a genius is a false value – and therefore, wrong. The right thinking persons never feel superior. One may be strong in areas where others are weak – but this does not mean that others have no strengths. Everyone has strengths as well as weaknesses. The right thinking persons never talk to any person in a language that offends him. At the same time, they also do not feel offended by trivial issues. Such persons know that they are not always right. They know that they also commit mistakes – and they are willing to learn from their mistakes.

Positives always add; it is their nature to add, to reinforce, to support, to strengthen and to sustain. Positive thinking adds to your overall well being – which is good for you. Positive thinking builds confidence and optimism. It is the right attitude if you have confidence in yourself and in your god – and think optimistically and positively - that only good will happen to you. To love everyone, to help them to succeed and prosper is positive thinking - and therefore, right; it works for your interests in the long run. To always wish every one well (“Sarvo Jano Sukhino Bhavantu”) is positive thinking - and therefore, right; it promotes your welfare too in the long run.

The next thought also pertains to this topic only.

Thought 2: Right thinking

Thinking is an action. Any thing that we do with our body organs and limbs is an action too. Similarly, speech is also an action (Karma).

We all know instinctively that there is a right way of speaking and a wrong way of speaking. Decent and cultured persons speak in a way that it does not hurt the person to whom the speech is addressed - no matter what the provocation is. This is the right way of speaking. Crude and indecent persons do not bother to observe such niceties; they do not care how their words hurt the other person. Their words could be very brutal and devastating to the person to whom they are addressed. We can abuse a person (because of anger and hatred) in such a way that the person feels extremely distressed. And that is the wrong way of speaking – no matter what the provocation for such a speech may be.

All activity, including speech, is preceded by thoughts. We think first and then only we act - as directed by our thoughts. Therefore, the thought must be correct before we can act wisely. It is impossible for any one to refrain from evil actions without first paying proper attention to his thoughts.

Mind can be pure or impure. Pure or impure, mind can never be idle; its nature is to generate thoughts. If the mind is pure, it generates good thoughts; and if it is impure, it generates bad or evil thoughts. Since, we are what our thoughts make us, it is imperative that we learn to keep the mind pure; which means that it should be kept busy with healthy and creative occupations at all times. If left idle, mind gets into mischief. If left unrestrained, mind tends to go on the wrong track; it runs after lowly things and gets divided and scattered. They say that the idle man’s brain is a devil’s workshop. We should never allow the mind to follow its natural inclinations. A well directed thought can achieve great things in life. Right thinking puts you on the right path in the life’s journey. A wrong thinking person cannot accomplish much in this world. On the other hand, wrong thinking could harm others – and in the long run, it would harm you too.

You cannot build a house without a strong foundation. Similarly, you cannot develop a strong mind without a foundation provided by certain abiding values. The right thinking persons have values - and they are ready to defend those values. It is for this reason alone, right thinking is not going to be easy. Defending values requires courage – moral courage. Not many people can live by morality. Morality and Dharma are not negotiable for the right thinking persons; everything else is negotiable for them. At the same time, the right thinking persons do know how to compromise – in order to move forward. They are willing to compromise only on trivial issues – and never on vital issues. Wrong thinking persons generally do not have values and even if they have some values, they do not hesitate to sidestep them when the going gets tough. As a rule, they tend to compromise on vital values also.

The next thought also pertains to this topic only.

We are all driven by our thoughts (continued)

Have you ever reflected on “How the thoughts arise in your mind”? The thoughts cannot arise from nothing? They cannot also arise all by themselves. Some agency must be there in you, which is capable of generating these thoughts. Thoughts are the effect – and they must necessarily be caused by an agency, which exists in your mind.

Vedaanta (Hindu Philosophy) says that Maayaa (which is the primordial Sakti or power associated with the Hindu Supreme God, Brahman) is this agency, which generates all thoughts in you. Maayaa exists in every mind in the form of three Gunas (which are also known as Gunas of Prakriti) – and they are called Sattva**, Rajas** and Tamas**.

These three Gunas (attributes or qualities), which exist in every mind generate all thoughts. Gunas are Prakriti (Maayaa) - and you have no control over Prakriti (Maayaa). Prakriti keeps on generating thoughts and since you have little control over Prakriti - you will have virtually no control over your thoughts too. On the other hand, Prakriti (Maayaa) constantly tries to control you through your thoughts.

Thoughts are the engines that drive all your actions including your speech (which is also a Karma (action)). Thoughts themselves are Karma. Thus, all your Karma is determined by your thinking. Clearly therefore, you have to be very diligent and choosy in associating yourself with your thoughts. Never come under the sway of thoughts that prompt you to perform bad or evil actions. If you choose to associate yourself with such thoughts, you become a helpless and hapless victim of their consequences, which, most certainly, are going to be inimical to your interests. If you refuse, however, to associate yourself with such thoughts, they will go away quietly - without causing any damage or grief to you.

Thus, thoughts may be powerful, but you also have the power not to associate yourself with them. By not associating with these thoughts, you take away the power from those powerful thoughts. It is like removing the fangs of a cobra, the poisonous snake. And this is the greatest secret for happiness in life.

No one can come in contact with us without getting influenced to a more or less degree by the state of our minds; every one comes under the power of our thoughts when they interact with us. Our thoughts are such a mighty factor in our daily living that one single thought in the early morning can fill our whole day – either with sunshine and joy or gloom and depression. (Swami Paramananda)

This power of thought varies from mind to mind. Just as one sun appears in varying strengths when it shines through clear or clouded glass, so does the power of thought varies in its effulgence when it shines in some minds than in others. (Swami Paramananda)

The next thought is on “Right thinking”.

** More about these Gunas (qualities or attributes) in the later thoughts.

Thought 1: We are all driven by our thoughts

Nothing is more potent than a thought to mould human life. Our life is nothing but an outer manifestation of our inner thoughts. They say that you are what you think (“Yad Bhaavam Tad Bhavati”). The use or abuse of this thought force determines the destiny of man. (Swami Paramananda).

An idea is nothing but a thought in the mind. The idea (thought) is known to change your life in ways never anticipated by you. Ideas change the entire technology and this, in turn, has a great impact on our lives and culture.

Ideas leading to technological innovations make our lives more comfortable, in general. The IC (integrated circuit) technology, for instance, has led to the miniaturization in electronics, which in turn, has changed our lives in ways that we could not have imagined earlier. Now we cannot imagine our lives without the ICs. The ubiquitous IC is contained in over 50 devices that we use daily at home and at the place of work - such as ovens, microwave ovens, food mixers and hand blenders, coffee machines, printers, copiers, cameras, TVs and DVDs, rice cookers, electric kettles and irons, ordinary telephones and mobile telephones, computers, clocks and watches, audio devices, refrigerators and Air conditioners, automobiles (of various types), trains and railway signaling, controls of various types including automation, etc. We can never live comfortably any more without these devices.

Ideas (thoughts) change the culture. In fact, every change in our lives, culture, technology, education, architecture, politics, Defense strategies and tactics, etc is ushered in by ideas (thoughts) only.

The next thought also pertains to this topic only.

Introduction

The grandfather in any family is supposed to be the wisest person – because he has the longest experience in the family about the world and its ways. Usually, he has an uncanny insight into the human nature – especially, into the nature of the children. His body language, unlike that of the parents, beguiles the grandchildren into believing that he is a friend and confidant. He makes it clear to the grandchildren in various obvious and subtle ways that he does not believe, unlike the parents, in disciplining them.

Every grandfather has the skill to reach out unobtrusively into the heart of the grand children – by narrating and entertaining them through all sorts of interesting stories. The grandchildren, in turn, consider the grandfather as a dear old soul with whom they can take certain liberties – which the father never allows. Most of the time, unlike the father, the grandfather tends to spoil the grandchildren in the sense that he displays a greater tolerance to their mischief, to their pranks, to their indifferent efforts at studies and even to their tantrums – than the father. The grandchildren generally enjoy the grandfather’s company and tend to develop a quick rapport with him.

With an amazing skill, the grandfather quickly gains the trust and confidence of the grandchildren. Consequently, the grandchildren pay greater attention to what the grandfather says. Hence, I believe that the children who spend some time in the company of their grandfathers become better persons than those who have had no such advantage.

I have a lot of ideas which I would like to share with as many people and children as possible. My neighbor, Tez Kholi suggested that I should open a blog. This way, many people would have an opportunity to get to know these ideas. He helped me in the preliminary design of this blog. I am ever so thankful to him for this help. Later my nephew Kaushik helped to redesign this blog. Finally, my nephew Vijju had completely redesigned this blog and I am very happy with his suggestions and design. I am now using his design – and I wish him well.. My daughter, Sashikala, my son, Srinath have taken a lot of interest and are continually helping me to send weekly supplements of thoughts to update the blog on a continuous basis.

This blog contains some thoughts, which constitute my advice as a grandfather (aged 81 years) to all grand children. I dedicate this advice to all grandchildren in the world. In fact, the parents are also welcome to use this advice, if it appeals to them. This blog will be updated twice every week – on every wednesday and Sunday.

Some thoughts are written here in the form of somewhat long essays and others are explained briefly in short paragraphs. Length of my explanation does not signify the importance of the thought. All thoughts given here are equally important. Whenever I have taken material from other authors, I tried to acknowledge the source but in some cases, I may have missed to note down the authorship. I m sorry for that if any such omissions are involved; it is purely due to loss of memory.

I tried to avoid repetitions but here and there, it becomes necessary to repeat an idea in order to convey logically what I have in my mind in that thought.

Pandrangi Sri Krishna Prasad (PSK Prasad)

Santhi Soudha Apartments, Erramanzil

Hyderabad, 500 082, India.
(Tel) 91 40 23312299
Cell: 91 9440732032 

e-mail: tatagaru@gmail.com