One needs to foster good thoughts
Puttaparthi, Sai Kulwanth Hall (1996 Special Discourses )
Thoughts are the basis for everything. Hence one must foster good thoughts. From where does one get good thoughts? Good thoughts arise from the intellect. A person is called a foolish person and without intellect when he does not entertain good thoughts. So it implies that a person devoid of intellect is foolish. On the other hand the one with intellect cannot be termed as ‘intelligent’ as he is the one with the unison and purity of thought, word and deed. He cannot be termed as ‘intelligent’, as the word refers to the physical world. It relates to the business transactions of the world.
Act on the good thought the moment it rises : Ravana's Message to Humanity00:02:50
Last words of wisdom from Ravana: Good message Ravana fell down after being hit by the arrows of Rama. Many sages came and surrounded Ravana who was about to die in a few moments. All wanted to know the aim of Ravana who was a great scientist; one of penance, and one who had all the power. The sages said, “Ravana, what did you want to achieve in your life? What did you want to do?” Ravana’s sins had been done away with after being hit by Rama’s arrows. He had noble thoughts now. Raising his hands in prostration above his head with great difficulty he said, “O great and noble sages, what shall I say?! I had many plans but I could not fulfil them. But you must realise one thing from my life. You should never procrastinate implementing a good thought, act on it immediately. Never delay a good act. Never take time to do anything good. A good thought and its action must happen simultaneously. On the other hand, ignore a bad thought. Take long to ponder over it. I had planned to convert the sea water around Lanka into sweet water. But postponed acting on it and could not accomplish it. I had planned to alleviate the suffering of people in hell and bring them to heaven. But I postponed acting on my plan. I postponed acting on the good thoughts and now I am about to die unable to accomplish the good tasks. At least you act on the good thought the moment it rises and do good actions without wasting time.
There should be harmony in thoughts, words and deeds: Anecdote of three brothers00:02:38
There are three brothers in a house. There will be peace at home when the three brothers love each other and live in harmony with each other. But, if for any reason, there is hatred and difference of opinion among the brothers, there will be chaos and restlessness in the house. Unity is the basis for peace and happiness. Disunity is the cause for restlessness and lack of happiness. Who are these three brothers and what is this house? “Deho devalayao procto jeevo devah sanatanah!!”- The body is the temple or the residence. There are three brothers in the house called “body” namely- thoughts, “sankalpa”, words, “vaak” and actions, “kriya Shakti”. When there is happiness, unity and harmony among these three then one can be successful in any task. One cannot accomplish any task when thought, words and actions go in separate directions without unity among them. Hence “Trikarana suddhi” refers to the unity among the thoughts, words and deeds. Therefore one must encourage and foster the unity and harmony among these three.
As is the thought, so is the manifestation00:01:35
“Yad bhaavam tadbhavathi”- As is the thought so is the manifestation. A small example: There is a small fire. The fire is made by burning dirty objects and hence the air too that arises from it carries the dirty smells. As is the fire so is the smoke. As is the smoke so is the cloud formed. As is the cloud so is the rain. As is the rain so is the harvest. As is the harvest so is the food. As is the food so is the thinking. Thoughts are based on the type of food taken. Food depends upon the rain. Rain depends on the type of the clouds. Clouds are dependent on the smoke. The inner meaning of conducting ‘Nagar sankeerthan’ and bhajan singing is to make the air sacred with good vibrations from the chanting of the Lord’s name.
Thoughts are passing clouds, do not entertain them00:02:16
All the thoughts that come to a person are like the valueless dolls made of mud. They can be compared to coal. Is it reasonable to waste diamond of divine energy on coal? Is it not foolish to pay in diamonds for coal? The bad qualities like anger, envy, jealousy, ego in man are like the black coal. They are very small, mean and valueless. It is not right to waste the invaluable traits of forgiveness, peace and intellect on the mean, small valueless things. Bhagawan refers to three P’s:- “P”-Purity, “P”- Patience, “P”- Perseverance. One must always protect these three Ps. Purity leads to patience in man. With patience comes peace. With patience and purity man develops perseverance. Everyone must have perseverance. What for is the perseverance? It must be put in good deeds. One must not persevere to harm or hurt others. One must exercise determination and perseverance in helping and in making others happy. One must use determination and perseverance to attain divinity. Perseverance must be developed in such activities.
Understand the power of thoughts00:01:00
One must understand the potential of good thoughts. Thoughts travel from one person to another. When a person thinks ill of another, those bad thoughts reach the other person and cause harm and not only that, the thoughts also cause harm tenfold to the sender of such thoughts. When one indulges in thoughts of downfall and ruin of another, the thoughts come back and harm tenfold. One must very wary of such thoughts and steer clear of them. Always wish for the well being of others and love all.
We need to foster good feelings00:00:23
One must abstain from bad actions, bad thoughts and bad conduct which ruin one’s precious human life. One must strive to inculcate good thoughts, words and deeds.
Good company fosters good thoughts00:04:50
Ratnakara, who was a way layer and a thief, became Sage Valmiki the author of the epic Ramayana on account of his association with the great sages and their teachings. A cruel person like Angulimala too became a noble and ideal person by the company and teachings of Buddha. Similarly Jadayee and Madayee, the two thieves, became noble and good after coming into association with Chaitanya Prabhu and by developing good and noble thoughts. Therefore good association is essential for man. As is the company so are the thoughts and so the saying: “Tell me your company, I shall tell you what you are!” Therefore one must keep company of good people, develop good virtues and habits, and indulge in good activities—the basis for all these is the good thoughts. There are innumerable people, not only in Bharath but also elsewhere, whose lives are examples of transformation into virtuous persons by inculcating good thoughts. Long ago there lived a person in England who earned his livelihood by writing the addresses on envelops. His heart was filled with the continuous remembering of the Lord’s name. Every time he returned the envelope after filling the address he would say, “God bless you!’; and at other times he would say, “God is great!” or “Trust in God!” His life became miserable day by day. His life took good turn and improved overtime as he had always nurtured good thoughts. In due course he became the prime minister of Britain and he is James Mc Donald! There are many such people all around the world. But some do not have the good fortune of even believing in such happenings. Belief too is a kind of good fortune!! Only fortunate ones have faith in such good things. There are people who believe in history as it is written. In today’s world too, there are innumerable people whose lives endorse the fact that good thoughts are basis for noble life.
Man's fortune or misfortune depends on his thoughts00:04:36
Mind is not like the blank white paper. Mind is imprinted with the tendencies and experiences of many past births. The fruits of the many actions performed by the body are also imprinted on the mind. Hence mind can be described as an entity full of thoughts and desires. Even when man is under pressure and in difficulties these desires help him to overcome them. Man is elevated to higher levels when he inculcates good thoughts. The fruit of action originates from the seed of desire. From the seed of action grows the fruit of habit. The seed of habit gives birth to the fruit of character. One gets the fruits of fortune from the seed of character. In order to reap the good fortune one must be of sacred and noble character. To be the one of noble character, one must have good habits and conduct. One must indulge in good actions so as to have good habits and conduct and to indulge in good deeds one has to have good thoughts. All said and done, a man’s fortune, either good or bad, is the outcome of his thoughts. There can be none more fortunate than the one who cultivates good thoughts and for such a man there is no realm, no happiness and no position that is unattainable. On the other hand a person inculcating bad thoughts becomes an evil and wicked person and reaps the consequences of such thoughts and deeds. Hence man’s condition and position in life depend on his thoughts. Good company breeds good thoughts. When one develops good thoughts by keeping good company one can redeem one’s life by the resultant good habits and conduct. But today man gives room to all kinds of thoughts in a haphazard manner without discrimination.
Yad bhavam tad bhavathi00:01:57
In Vedantic parlance it is quoted as “As is the thought, so is the manifestation! (Yad bahavam tat bhavathi)!!” One’s behaviour is dictated by one’s thoughts and feelings. Here is this newspaper. The newspaper as such does not carry any good or foul smell. But when the same newspaper is used to pack jasmine flowers, it smells of jasmines because of the association with the flowers. When the same paper is used to pack fritters or ‘pakodas’, it smells like the fritters. In the same way, if dry fish are wrapped in the newspaper, the paper smells of the dry fish. Likewise human heart is sacred and is like the newspaper without any foul smell. One’s heart takes the form of the thoughts and disciplines that it is subjected to.
Develop positive thoughts00:02:38
Clean, remove all the negative feelings. Develop, grow more and more positive thoughts. As along the way some might criticize you and then you have to transform it. In what way he is calling me? Many have given me many names, and he is calling me bad!This is also the name of my body. If anyone says old man, that is also the name of this body. All are the names given to the body. My parents gave one name, friends gave another name and others gave me nick name too. This body has many names. Don't go by the body. If anyone calls you bad would you be bad? No. If he calls you bad, try to be free from bad quality. If anyone points out a mistake try to be free from that mistake if its there. In this Kali age, when desires are not fulfilled, they start blaming God.This is there in all countries. Don't have such mean, disrespectful, unsacred thoughts. After all you've got your own wickedness, wicked knowledge. So,in times of Thyagaraja he said "God appears in the way you estimate". As you think of Him He manifests. With all good thoughts if you pray to Him, you will find Him. Embodiments of love! Don't hate anybody, don't accuse anybody, to the extent possible love all and if not possible at least don't hate anybody. Bhagawan wants us to develop the spirit of oneness, unity.
Swami on Positive and Negative thoughts00:01:00
These achievements come by God's Grace. It is not merely due to human effort that you get these. Man's efforts can be negative. God's grace is positive. It is the combination of the negative and the positive, of the human and God that brings fruition to everything. Students, youth, girls, don't have negative thoughts. It is these thoughts that bring you trouble. If you don't have positivity but only negativity, what is the use? This mike is negative. What is the use of it if you do not have a positive connection to it? You have got to think positive. Negative is absolutely useless. Therefore, as we think, God rewards us accordingly.
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