Skip to main content

Thought on Thoughts

The problem with many of us is that we have given way too much importance to our thoughts.

Just think about it. How many thoughts we have in a day? Hundreds or thousands. How many thoughts we have had in our life up until now? Millions or quadrillions. The irony is that the mind makes us believe that every thought is important and we foolishly subscribe to our mind. 

Just like in an ocean so many waves come and go, similarly we get so many thoughts. The problem is not the thought per se, but our attachment to our thoughts. 



Interesting thing is that thoughts are harmless - they come in awareness and pass away. Just like clouds pass through the clear sky.

Our thoughts can harm us only if we give importance to them and hold on to them.

That's why in the Bhagavad-Gita when Lord Krishna is explaining the flowchart of how a living entity suffers. The first step, He explains is contemplation of sense objects. Contemplation is nothing but holding on to our thoughts longer than required. 

Our reason to come to this material world is that we took our mind's proposal seriously. And if we continue to keep taking our thoughts seriously and strengthening it by giving our attention, we will continue to be enslaved by our mind and continue to suffer in this world. 

As the saying goes - Insanity, is doing the same thing again and again & expecting a different result.

So what to do? We need to snap out of our mental world of imagination to the real, true world of service to Krishna. 

We need to develop the conviction that only thoughts about Lord Krishna and service to Him are worth giving our attention to. Any other thought is not worth our energy....we should  surrender it as soon as it arises. That should be our plan of action.

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE ART OF HEART

"Devotion means attention to details." - Radhanath Swami As I was having my breakfast at our ISKCON-run restaurant at Vrindavan, I saw one lady chef cut a piece of cake, neatly place it on the center of the plate and wipe the excess cake markings very meticulously with a tissue paper. It was then served to the customer with a knife and fork. I very much appreciated the devotion this lady put in her job. No wonder, why people spend so much extra money in going to high-quality restaurants which not only focuses on the quality of the preparation but also on the quality of the presentation of the preparation. When "the giver" puts their heart in something, it is felt in the heart of "the receiver". Eating is not just an activity of filling one's belly and satisfying one's palate, it is also about satisfying one's heart. I took a lesson from this incident. In life, we are all "givers" in some instances and "receivers" i...
1 comment
Read more

TRANQUILITY AMIDST TURBULENCE - The formula to transcend this world

" One cannot solve a problem on the very level of understanding with which it was created. " - Albert Einstein We live in a constantly changing world. The external situations, environments, people, our own body and mind are constantly in flux. The turbulence is all over and it can be quite overwhelming at times. How can we expect to be peaceful in this world of chaos, how can we be tranquil in this world of turbulence is the subject matter of this blog. We can't escape from our present situation and run to a peaceful place to experience peace. And even if we are able to manage to do it still, our constantly changing, restlessly moving and aimlessly wandering mind will accompany us. What is the way out of this matrix? Let's see... Bhagvat-gita starts with Arjuna experiencing a state of great turbulence within his heart. His heart was being torn apart between duty and family attachment. In this state of mental turbulence, he surrendered to Lord Krishna and begged for ...
Post a Comment
Read more

HEROES OF COMPASSION

"To show compassion to others in this world is the greatest way of pleasing the Supreme Lord." - Radhanath Swami. Compassion is one of the core quality of a civilized and a refined person. And for a spiritual practitioner who wants to experience higher levels of consciousness and please the Supreme Consciousness, the quality of compassion is of utmost importance. Compassion is defined in the Oxford dictionary as "a strong feeling of sympathy for people who are suffering and a desire to help them." In the Sanskrit language, compassion is denoted by several words - daya, karuna, kripa. Chankaya Pandit, one of the greatest scholars of India mentions that "the ability to see other's suffering as one's own" (aatmavat manyate jagat) as one of the main characteristics of one in knowledge. In the same mood, the Vaishnava acharyas define a devotee as "one who becomes sad seeing the sadness of others" (para dukha dukhi) . If we study the Vedi...
Post a Comment
Read more