The Power of Thought

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The Power of Thought     Each moment, our personal world is born with our thoughts.  Accompanying us through our days and nights, the lifelong companion of our mind creates and shapes the world we live in and the degree of happiness and sorrow we experience.  Through our minds we can think our way into success or failure, tragedy or elation.  With our thoughts we ascend to dizzying heights of pleasure through fantasies, romantic dreams, and plans we weave.  Just as quickly we can plunge into the depths of despair as our mind takes us into the darkness of obsession, anxiety, or confusion.  In our thoughts we meet the inner terrorist with its burden of judgment and blame, the endless replaying of the past and the rehearsals of the future.  Equally, we meet the mind as an ally with its capacity for creativity, reflection, and investigation, and its power to communicate compassion, reconciliation, and wisdom.  The Buddha once said, "Who is your enemy?  The mind is your enemy.  Who is your friend?  The mind is your friend."  The mind has been the source of destruction, war, and conflict in our world as well as the source of great healing, reconciliation, and creativity.   The average person is said to have more than 67 thousand thoughts each day, and in this waterfall of thinking we can gasp for ease and simplicity.  The entrancing power of our thoughts takes us into the realms of heaven and hell as we lose ourselves in their webs of complexity.  Our thoughts are embodied and made visible in our words, actions, and choices.   As Marcus Aurelius put it:  "The universe is change:  our life is what our thoughts make it."  The sights, sensations, sounds, and events universal to all of us are weighed, and evaluated, laden with memory, likes and dislikes.  What comforts one person terrorizes another; the event we may view as a disaster may be the greatest teacher to another.  A man living on the border of China cherished his stallion above all else in his life.  One day his horse escaped and was captured by the nomads across the border.  Everyone tried to console him, but his father only said, "What makes you so sure this isn't a blessing?"  Some months later his stallion returned home bringing with him a mate.  The man was overjoyed at his good fortune, but his father only said, "What makes you so sure this isn't a disaster?"  Riding his new horse one day he fell and broke his hip and was once more lost in despair.  His father asked, "What makes you so sure this isn't a blessing?" Soon after, the nomads invaded the village and forced every able-bodied man into their army.  The father and his lame son were spared this fate.   Caught in the tangle of our preferences and judgments, friends and enemies, there is little ease to be found in the world.  We will find simplicity in our lives only when we find it within our own minds.  Just as the mind is the forerunner of confusion and complexity, it is also the forerunner of ease and well-being.         Marcella "People will forget what you said, People will forget what you did, But people will never forget how you made them feel"   If you enjoy my inspirations I encourage you to share my inspirations with your friends; When forwarding my letters, I ask that you keep my name and contact information intact in order for new readers to find their way back here by clicking below. Your honest cooperation will be appreciated.   Marcella's Inspiring Collection To Subscribe, Click Here To view my website Click Here Toronto, Ontario, Canada    Images From Group Shares No Copyright Infringement Intended   Tutorial by Woodrose