How thoughtful!

‘Close your eyes, take a deep breath and remove all thoughts from your mind for half an hour. See the light burning within you’…so instructed the preceptor. I promptly dozed off, under the preceptor’s meditative gaze. The next time, I took care to catnap before the session; even as I tried to rid my mind of thoughts, like wiping a blackboard clean, I thought I did glimpse the promised light- a much flickering weak one, ready to be put out any moment.
Put out by what?
The winds of Thoughts of course.
The only enlightenment that occurred from this initiation to meditation was that warding off thoughts was more difficult than shooing off sniffing stray dogs.
The mind has been compared to a monkey. I would say the mind is the forest populated with thoughts monkeying about. And just like the agile simians, thoughts leap. I am reading an absorbing article on the nuclear deal; a simple word in the article evokes associated memories, which branch off on their own. While my eyes are scanning the article, I am wondering if my expectant niece will have a baby boy or girl, what she will name her child, whether my advice will be sought in the matter like last time. With a start I wonder how the nuclear deal is related to my niece’s pregnancy. A name, just a name in the article took me through mazes of thoughts before resting on the niece. I had to retrace my steps one at a time to find the connection and was quite amazed by the speed at which thoughts travel. Thoughts demand neither defined form nor content, words nor grammar, passport nor visa, as they navigate effortlessly.
If life is communication, speedier and speedier and the world is more and more connected with and without wires, what about thought power? Telepathy, intuition, scientific discoveries, clairvoyance and spiritual enlightenment are the exalted forms of thought power while gnawing worry, nagging anxiety, obsessive fear and self-destructive thoughts are their equally potent negatives. The in between area is full of the average thought fare-small joys, medium worries, pleasant day dreaming, petty jealousies, ridiculous comparisons, relevant questions, healthy wondering, wild conjectures…like the haphazard traffic in an Indian city, the thought traffic jumps signals, defies discipline and often overspeeds.
As if there is a shortfall of individual thought production, there are spinners of ‘thought for the day’, weavers of thought-provoking bits, Internet dispensers of thoughtful soulbytes, then there are the politicians and the spirituals who direct, divert and dissect thoughts. Even while physically living the today, thoughts roam freely in the immediate or distant past, or fast forward themselves; if tomorrow’s dress code or next year’s holiday plan seem routine enough, thoughts of a happily-everafter-life or fear of a retributive reincarnation spring forth from thought power. Like supplements added to a deficient diet, someone else’s thoughts no doubt tone up a deprived individual’s intellect. He can be influenced, inspired, guided or brain washed by them.
Jumping back to thought-jumping, do thoughts really need to be put in harness all the time? Keep your mind clutter-free and focussed, says a holistic healer; that’s the way to sharpen your intuitive powers. If you desire your cousin in the US to call you just when you are thinking of him, this is the route! And one day you could read the mind in front of you! Or see through a fraudulent business deal before it is too late. One day you could predict futures, look into the past, even make a lucrative business of it…but to reach there, we first need to learn to live the present in the present. Thinking of what to cook for the evening while the neighbour is pouring out her woes will only leave you with an intuitive stump. It could serve your interests better to listen to her story carefully, at least to be able to cut her tale off at the appropriate moment. Don’t we take the present for granted? Think present, live present. A child’s mind focused on play is a worthy example of living the present in the present. A sleeping child’s absolute sleep more so.
A sleeping-or is it sleepless- adult is more prone to lapping thoughts, overlapping thoughts, thrashing about thoughts, tormenting thoughts…it is then that a disciplined mind helps. If one can just order it to shut shop and go to sleep, would one not be amongst the most blessed? Counting sheep, or counting 1 to 100 have been devised as alternatives to sleeping pills. When I try to count sheep, my mind pictures them as white sheep, brown sheep, fluffy sheep, bleating sheep, running sheep, nursing sheep…and 1 to 100 doesn’t remain formless either. Fat figures, long figures, red and black ones…I wish I could bundle them all off into space and instead see the glow of the light burning within me-effortlessly of course.
There are times when freelancing, prancing thoughts are a boon. During a brief lull in a heated fight, it helps to leave the arena, at least mentally, and wander off into neutral terrain. Think of how the TV soap’s next episode will shape; whether the Third Front is viable or whether birds sing, shout or talk…anything to cool the overheated ego. Routine actions, like sweeping and washing go well with creative runaway thoughts . A falling apple and the Eureka bath tub are examples of how productive unbound thought power can be. Drives and walks are ideal times to let thoughts footloose. Instead of plugging in earphones, why not simply unplug the mind? To each one his own, you may say. Multitasking may be your forte; four differently coloured phones on your table ringing simultaneously do not faze you. Perhaps you are at ease to dwell on each word of the spouse’s argument, even while sending your colleague an important text message.
To think or not to think is thus the question…as also, when to think and how to think. Thinking of it, thinking is akin to bodily functions and calls for regulations. Too much thinking could be as congesting to the being as bad cholesterol…
WHAT one thinks is of course another story. ‘we are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.’ said Swami Vivekananda.
Can we give it a thought?