💭On Controlling and Conditioning Thought

“Train yourself to think only those thoughts such that in answer to the sudden question ‘What is in your mind now?’ you could say with immediate frankness whatever it is, this or that: and so your answer can give direct evidence that all your thoughts are straightforward and kindly, the thoughts of a social being who has no regard for the fancies of pleasure or wider indulgence, for rivalry, malice, suspicion, or anything else that one would blush to admit was in one’s mind.”

— Meditations, Marcus Aurelius

It is hard to accept that we are responsible for the thoughts that we have. But surely, by every means, we will be held accountable by God for every thought that we think. Real and true judgement does not base itself on the action, but on the founding thoughts and beliefs which cause the action.

We will be held accountable for our thoughts because our thoughts mold our reality. Judging and analysing only actions will never lead to true change.

In thinking, there are only two types which occur: constructive, which is goal-focused and truth-seeking; and there is destructive, which is truth-avoiding and desire-focused.

If we think constructively, then we will realise at every moment, and in every thought, that time is a most precious gift; that energy should only be used for attaining meaningful goals; that goal-seeking should not based on or motivated by material desire, but rather by a yearning to become independent from them. For our thoughts to have ‘no regard for the fancies of pleasure’, it must be that the goals and larger aims we have are for the good of those around us. Constructive thinking is love-based, and seeks to uplift both oneself and others.

If we think destructively, the opposite effect will take place. We will have no regard for the gift of time, and thereby seek to squander it: we distract ourselves with the doings of others through jealous, malicious, and obsessive thought; we become lack-focused, thinking about things we don’t have and dramatise difficulties and hardships. Our actions then, being motivated by self-pleasure and indulgence, become coloured with pessimism, doubt and meaninglessness.

The thoughts which occupy our mind is ultimately a choice, and we have given the freedom to choose with every thought.