The General Action of Thoughts and Our Need to Observe and Manage Them

Every thought, every idea, every imagination, every focus, represents electrical impulses that are formed and projected into the general mental atmosphere, whether expressed verbally or in writing, or simply formulated in one’s mind. Each such formation is either weaker or stronger depending on its development in the mind, and whether, and to what extent, it is linked to the will or the emotions to provide it additional impetus.

Once it is formulated, it goes out into the world and either begins to dissipate and disperse if it is not strongly projected, or else, it begins to make itself felt in the mental atmosphere where it can gain further strength through joining with similar thought forms, or be weakened through interaction with conflicting thought-forms.

This process can be generally compared to the formation of major storms in the weather pattern of the world. Major cyclones (also known variously as hurricanes or typhoons) form in generally warm waters in one of the oceans of the world. Depending on the atmospheric flow and pattern of warm and cold air, and humidity present, the storm will strengthen. It moves across the ocean (similar to a thought form going out into the mental atmosphere) where it meets with changing conditions of ocean temperature, air temperature, inversion of cool air over warm air (the cool air attempting to descend, the warm air attempting to rise), and the flow of the atmospheric winds which either support the storm building up strength, or , with wind shear, will begin to tear apart the formation, dissipating the storm’s energy.

Much of this interplay runs through our minds and we are constantly bombarded with thoughts of all sorts that distract us and continually shift our focus so that it is difficult to achieve anything of note or value. Because this tends to occur automatically and even unconsciously, we just let this play of forces take place in our minds, unless we develop a form of discipline to observe the thoughts, to quiet the mind, and to train our ability to keep a specific focus without distraction.

The Mother notes: “And now, to come down to a more ordinary level, everyone has in him, in a greater or lesser measure, the power to give form to his mental activity and use this form either in his ordinary activity or to create and realise something. We are all the time, always, creating images, creating forms. We send them into the atmosphere without even knowing that we are doing so — they go roaming about, pass from one person to another, meet companions, sometimes join together and get on happily, sometimes create conflicts, and there are battles; for often, very often, in these mental imaginations there is a small element of will which tries to realise itself, and then everyone tries to send out his formation so that it can act, so that things can happen as he wants and, as everyone does this, it creates a general confusion. If our eyes were open to the vision of all these forms in the atmosphere, we would see very amazing things: battlefields, waves, onsets, retreats of a crowd of small mental entities which are constantly thrown out into the air and always try to realise themselves. All these formations have a common tendency to want to materialise and realise themselves physically, and as they are countless — they are far too many for there to be room enough on earth to manifest them — they jostle and elbow one another, they try to push back those which do not agree with them or even form armies in good order, always to take up the available room both in time and space — it is only a very small space compared with the countless number of creations.”

“So, individually, this is what happens. Some people do all that without knowing it — perhaps everybody — and they are constantly tossed from one thing to another, and hope, wish, desire, are disappointed, sometimes happy, sometimes in despair, for they don’t have any control or mastery over these things. But the beginning of wisdom is to look at ourselves thinking and to see this phenomenon, become aware of this constant projection into the atmosphere of small living entities which are trying to manifest. All this comes out of the mental atmosphere which we carry within ourselves. Once we see and observe, we can begin to sort them out, that is, to push back what is not in conformity with our highest will or aspiration and allow to move towards manifestation only the formations which can help us to progress and develop normally.”

“This is the control of active thought, and that was what I meant the other day.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Powers Within, Chapter III Imagination, pp. 27-29