My thoughts from Speaking Tree

Mar 29, 2019 | Source : Speaking Tree

In the process of reprogramming the subconscious mind, you get to know the immense potential of thought, writes SWAMI MUKUNDANANDA

Thoughts are subtle bundles of energy created in the factory of the mind. These are not visible to the naked eye, but fructify into actions. These are the internal seeds from which all actions spring. Hence, good thoughts fructify into good actions and bad thoughts fructify into bad actions. Therefore, “elevate yourself through the power of your mind, and not degrade yourself, for the mind can be the friend and enemy of the self,” advises Krishna, giving insight into the human mind. If we allow resentful, unforgiving, and condemning thoughts to reside in our mind, those will have a debilitating effect on our personality. Such thoughts impede the manifestation of divine grace in us

The subconscious genesis of our attitudes: The mind has two aspects — the conscious and the subconscious. The subconscious mind is a huge memory bank that carries images, experiences, grudges and phobias from the past. It has no particular limit as to how much it can store. These subconscious memories from the past influence our conscious thoughts and attitudes.

For example, if someone was threatened by a ferocious dog in infancy, the incident remains embedded in his subconscious mind, although it is forgotten in conscious memory.

Consequently, that person experiences a phobia for dogs even in adulthood. The phobia disturbs the conscious mind although it has forgotten its origin. The intellect repeatedly tries to explain to the mind that such a phobia is dysfunctional and baseless; yet, the person lacks the ability to break its grip over the mind. This is a case of images and fears embedded deep in the subconscious holding sway over the conscious mind.

This mechanism does not apply only to phobias; it applies to many of our attitudes, likes, and dislikes. The subconscious mind is like a child — it holds memories and creates sentiments, but it cannot logically reason whether they are beneficial or harmful. The conscious mind is aware of these feelings and sentiments affecting it from deep within, but often it does not realise the source from where these arise.

Our subconscious mind is not of just one lifetime; it continues with the soul since innumerable lifetimes. Vedic scriptures explain that in the material realm, each individual soul is bound by three bodies — gross body, subtle body, and causal body. At the time of death, the soul discards its gross body, and departs with the subtle and causal bodies. This is why our nature and attitudes often have their roots in past lives. And that explains why while some people naturally have a diehard optimistic nature, others are plagued by a hopelessly dismal pessimism

This spectrum of human attitude is not the result of mental thought patterns developed in just one life. These are the consequences of images and impressions in the subconscious from many past lifetimes. Now, how can we improve and control such a vast and deep mind?

The significance of positive affirmation: The subconscious stores data and retrieves it to pass it to the conscious .It has the potential of a double-edged sword. It can be our worst foe, crippling our personality with debilitating attitudes, or it can be our foremost benefactor, providing immense inner strength through never-say-die positive attitudes. The predicament is that the subconscious can only create sentiments and feelings, but it cannot reason logically. Hence, it gets us into trouble with illogical fears, likes, and dislikes. To make the subconscious our friend and partner for success in life, we must be very careful of the inputs we consciously allow to pass into it. Therefore, the intellect and the conscious mind have to act like the doorkeeper and trainer of the subconscious, and diligently seed it with positive assertions. This is done through consciously speaking to ourselves within our mind. This self-talk gets passed on to the subconscious. Such kind of self-talk is called positive affirmation, which uses the power of repetition. When a message is reiterated, it goes deep within and is internalised.

Positive affirmation thus moulds our subconscious in the manner we desire, leading to optimism, faith, courage, perseverance, and purpose.Vedic scriptures present positive affirmation in the form of japa — chanting the names of God — which purifies the mind right down to its subconscious roots.

The power of visualisation: An even more powerful technique to transform the mind in the manner we choose, is visualisation. “A picture is worth a thousand words,” goes the popular saying. Visualisation taps the human mind’s nature of thinking in terms of pictures. It is the process of consciously creating images, with eyes open or closed, for producing the desired beneficial effect. In it, the conscious mind visualises images that will create a beneficial impact on the subconscious. Visualisation is applied in the fields of therapeutics, sports, and athletics. The technique of visualisation works well because when images are held in the conscious or subconscious mind, they naturally send signals to the body and mind to work in the manner required to perform a given task. Programming the subconscious can be utilised in the spiritual field, too. During meditation, we can bring the image of the Supreme and make that image as the basis for cleansing the inner being and for attaching the mind to that image. Thus, understanding the efficacy of the subconscious mind and diligently applying the techniques to re-programme it, helps us grow from within to succeed in life and beyond. We can use these techniques either for spiritual progress, or to forge human happiness, prosperity and well-being.