Creating Beneficial Thought Forms and Their Positive Action

Whenever there is some kind of news headline about a major negative event, such as a school shooting, or a catastrophic earthquake or hurricane, we hear major political leaders express “thoughts and prayers” for the victims and their families. Everyone knows that there is no serious force behind this and it is intended to deflect from actually doing anything. It also makes us doubt the efficacy of ‘thoughts and prayers’ at all. Aside from the deliberate hypocrisy at work here, it is clear that no real force of consciousness and development of a powerful thought form was applied at all. It is merely empty words.

Yet, we can see examples where the creation of a thought-form, whether expressed in words or not, can have a very substantial and beneficial impact on people and circumstances. This can occur when there is a systematic application of effort to develop a formation, or when there is a marrying of a thought with a strong emotion or vital energy to enliven and strengthen it in its action.

Some years ago, the Transcendental Meditation movement developed a program to send a number of meditators to certain “hot spots” for violence to meditate systematically for a period of time. Studies were carried out that showed that in the period following the meditation focus, the violent crime statistics went down meaningfully. Of course, these studies could not be done as “double blind” scientifically validated studies, but looked at statistics reported generally “before and after”. This impact was seen across several decades in a number of such specific incidents, seemingly shoring up the benefit of such ‘quiet action’ on the general populace!

The creation of detailed formations is an important part of many spiritual and occult teachings from around the world, including also healing modalities. For example, the Tibetan yogic practice of the development of the psychic heat has as a preliminary practice the process of detailed visualisation with the practitioner seated and visualising his ‘root guru’ immediately above his head, and the lineage of gurus seated one above the other. He then calls forth the psychic “gift waves’ from the guru, which opens his receptivity to the subtle vibrations sent by the guru to support the disciple. The combination of the visualisation process, the aspiration or call, and the opening or receptivity, creates the condition for the formation to turn the practice into realisation.

The healing modality of Reiki uses a focus on certain symbols to which specific meaning is provided through a process of attunement. The disciple learns how to create the appropriate formation, opening the channel for the flow of the higher energy in and through him, and thereby out to the patient or client who is being treated. Reiki also works at a distance without the physical presence of the client required, through a specific set of formation-actions to transmit the energy to the intended party. It is interesting to note that Reiki works extremely well on animals who do not have the intellectual doubts that plague human beings, but who simply experience and open themselves to the energy, and even at a distance.

A reiki master teacher/practitioner reported her own experience in receiving the initial attunements. When she made the required focus and receptivity she suddenly felt a powerful surge of energy in her chest area. In fact, she had been suffering from pains in that area for several decades prior, but after the attunements, that problem was resolved and the pains were eliminated. She did not consciously try to focus on the area of the pains, but through the visualisation and concentration process, and the creation of receptivity within herself for the energy of Reiki, the blockage, the source and cause of the pain, was eliminated.

Of course, the process of creation of powerful thought forms may also help create an atmosphere where people step forward to help solve situations and support needs. It can help create a “texture of consciousness” that allows changes at the societal level to occur and may even lead to changes in the political dynamic that prevents real positive change from occurring. Such a societal change takes time and persistence but history shows us that such changes can, and do, occur, particularly when there is a serious and focused attention to the creation of positive and progressive thought-forms to move the society forward.

If possible, the thought-formation can be most powerful when combined with a form of outer action that engages the emotional being, the vital force and the physical action. If an individual is not in a position to do all of them, the first step, the creation of the positive thought-formation is a necessary and important aspect. Eventually, as it takes shape, the formation begins to change the outer action for the individual and for the circumstances and the societal setting. Focus on creating positive thought-formations cannot be used as an excuse for refusing to undertake the other steps as they become possible. But random outer action is not as effective as the creation of beneficial forces at the causal level.

The Mother notes: “Note that this power of formation has a great advantage, if one knows how to use it. You can make good formations and if you make them properly, they will act in the same way as the others. You can do a lot of good to people just by sitting quietly in your room, perhaps even more good than by undergoing a lot of trouble externally. if you know how to think correctly, with force and intelligence and kindness, if you love someone and wish him well very sincerely, deeply, with all your heart, that does him much good, much more certainly than you think. I have said this often; for example, to those who are here, who learn that someone in their family is very ill and feel that childish impulse of wanting to rush immediately to the spot to attend to the sick person, I tell you, unless it is an exceptional case and there is nobody to attend on the sick person (and at times even in such a case), if you know how to keep the right attitude and concentrate with affection and good will upon the sick person, if you know how to pray for him and make helpful formations, you will do him much more good than if you go to nurse him, feed him, help him wash himself, indeed all that everybody can do. Anybody can nurse a person. But not everybody can make good formations and send out forces that act for healing.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Powers Within, Chapter II Power of Thought, pp. 11-12