About Mind

1. Some people retain good and helpful thoughts, and others retain negative and passive thoughts. Those thoughts that are helpful should be encouraged, and those thoughts that are not helpful should not be encouraged. Suppose a thought comes into the mind that you should slap someone. The faculty of discrimination can tell you that it is not a good thing to do, and then the thought will diminish.

2. You should not fight with your mind; you should have a gentle dialogue with your mind. You will learn many things when you enter into this kind of self-dialogue.

3. Learn to discriminate between pure and impure thoughts, and between helpful and disturbing thoughts. When one learns to remain always aware of ones thoughts and to discriminate between thoughts, the result is that he develops the sense of determination and strengthens his will.

A student knows that impure and disturbing thoughts lead to greater bondage and create obstacles. When the faculty of discrimination is sharpened the student is then able to strengthen those thoughts which are pure and helpful. Thus, he does not allow the seeds of impure or disturbing thoughts to grow within.

4. A good thought is that which makes you peaceful, tranquil, balanced, happy, and joyous. Such a thought should not be allowed to die unexpressed within yourself, nor should it remain asleep or dormant within. It should be expressed through your mind, action, and speech.

5. Samskaras

All your actions leave some impression in your unconscious mind, and those impressions then become your samskaras and control your life.

To make progress, your samskaras need to be purified. There are two known ways to purify your samskaras: fulfill the desire or renounce the desire. When you fulfill your desires by doing actions, you must remember that to do so, you must do your actions with love.

6. You should surrender everywhere else in life, but you should never surrender to your own negative habits; you should go on fighting this battle and continue it your whole life. This is not a one-day battle, and the day that you accept defeat in working with yourself is the day you are really gone from the platform of life.

7. If one particular thought comes and goes, again and again, and if you do not take any action, then it will eventually not continue to come back, because you are not paying it any interest. Those thoughts that are colored by your interest are those that motivate you to do things. Not all thoughts have that power. Not all of your thoughts need expression externally, so allow your thoughts to arise, decide if they are creative or helpful thoughts, and then express those that are useful.