Analysis of Thoughts

Introspection means examining one's own self. Man's life is along three angles:

 (1) Nature;

(2) Self and

(3) Society.

For a successful and happy life, one has to understand the nature of the three aspects. Introspection is a necessary practice for this enlightenment. 

Introspection is classified into five subjects:

 (1) Analysis of Thought;

(2) Moralization of Desire;

(3) Neutralization of Anger;

(4) Eradication of Worries; and

 (5) Self ‑Realization or "Who Am l?"

ANALYSIS OF THOUGHT 

For any achievement we have to follow a perfect system of approach. Taking up the first subject viz, "Analysis of Thought," we should know there are six sources from which thoughts arise. They are:

(1) Need;

(2) Habit;

(3) Environmental conditions;

(4) Imposition of another person's thought;

(5) Hereditary imprints; and

(6) Divinity.

As action follows thought, all the thoughts that arise in the mind are to be analyzed and introspected for a better pattern of thinking and a better pattern of living.

When a thought arises, you have to catch the thought and identify its root. I will explain this with some examples.

Suppose the thought of taking food arises in you. You put the thought into introspection. Hunger could have given rise to the thought, Here need is the source of the thought. If you find that you are not actually hungry and yet the thought of lunch has come, examine whether habit could have generated it. It is one o'clock say ‑ the usual time for your lunch. Today it so happens that you are not hungry, having had a somewhat heavy breakfast. So you find that the thought of taking food has emerged out of habit.

In another situation, you are neither hungry nor it is your usual lunch‑time. And yet the thought of taking food has come while you are driving past an open‑air cafeteria. Here the thought has come merely at the sight of others plying their fork and spoon. This is an example of environmental conditions generating a thought.

You are attending a Yoga‑meeting for the first time. There all are discussing the science of life and the value and benefit of spiritual development. You, being in that atmosphere, think, " I also should learn the technique of spiritual development. " This thought, again, has emerged from environmental conditions.

You are taking a stroll when you pass by a fruit stall. You have had no intention to make any purchase; yet you retrace you steps and get some grapes from the stall and return home. There you wonder what made you to purchase the grapes, particularly when you have never been fond of them. Well, the reason for the needless purchase was the imposition of the thought of the vendor on your mind. His interests lay in pushing off his goods, you came along with a mind that was disengaged at that moment and so his will to sell got the better of your judgment. This is an example of thought arising due to imposition from others. High‑pressure advertisements for consumer‑goods, on TV and in newspapers, are oriented to have this effect.

You may suddenly get a thought that you should build a school or a hospital in your native village but you do not have the resources to do so. How did this thought come into being? It could be the revival of the suppressed imprints of the thoughts of your parents or grandparents. As every limb, sense and part of one's own body is evolving from the imprints of the physical structure of the parents, any character or desire of theirs will also blossom as a new thought in the offspring. Such thoughts are to be taken as "hereditary imprints." Many of the temperamental moods develop in a person only by the hereditary imprints.

Every person has come through millions of births through the hereditary link, So in addition to the imprints of habit of all the past births, the experience and enlightenment are also developing within everyone. So when the development reaches a stage, one may come to think of realizing the ~elf or to understand the Truth. Such thoughts are the outcome of the evolutionary force of Nature, which means they are thoughts from Divinity.

Now after analyzing the thoughts and finding out the source to be one of the six enumerated by me, what is your mental state? You are coming to Self‑awareness. Wavering of thought decreases in force. You are coming to a calm state of mind, Keeping the thought on thought is a valuable practice to shape up a man into a real man. After finding out the root, you have to continue the introspection: "What will be the result, if I go in action with the thought? Will it be beneficial or otherwise to me or to others, at present and in the future?" Thereby you will have a clarity in visualizing the result of your action. You have to decide whether a particular thought is to be translated into action or to be eliminated in the beginning itself. If you assess the thought is not ‑worthy or could be pain‑resulting, you have to give an autosuggestion that the thought is improper for such and such a reason and that you should not go in action with the thought. Whenever the same thought comes again, you will be able to remember your introspection and decision and you will be protected by being on guard against unnecessary involvement.

If you practice this method of analysis of thought for a week or so, a wonderfully constructive habit will form within you by which you will be able to filter every thought as through a sieve and bring out only the best thoughts in actions. This is the first process of introspection which will help to shape your life to a better personality. This introspection on thought will also assist you in gaining success in the introspection of other aspects starting with Desire,