Our thoughts have always been part of us. We may even have believed that our thoughts were our conscience, that is, until we started realising that our feelings and our thoughts were intimately connected, and our lives were ruled by both. Our perceptions, our thoughts, our feelings are first shaped by the surroundings we find ourselves in, by our families, by our nation, by our race. So from our childhood, we are all conditioned and indoctrinated by our environment. As we grow older and hopefully a little wiser, we become aware that the life we lead in truth reflects our actions, driven by thoughts and feelings. Further thinking on this, may bring us to the realisation that, since our lives are our thoughts, perhaps in changing our thoughts we can change our lives. This philosophy is certainly one held by Henry Thomas Hamblin, and his books “Right Thinking” and “The Power of Thought” are both very illuminating on the subject.
It’s easy to say though, change your thinking, especially when one has been conditioned for so many years. It takes courage and time to do this. However, the moment we accept that changes are necessary in our lives, the moment we accept that we are responsible for our lives and that our thinking (even though we may hide this from others) will be manifested and responsible for our future, then the first step has already been taken. How we go about this is of course entirely up to each individual. The beauty of it is that it is entirely up to us and under our control. There are many tools and aids in these days to help us. We can use meditation or a number of self-transformation courses so readily available.
Slowly, we travel the spiritual path, taking a stepping-stone at a time. We get to know ourselves better, we may not always like what we see or find, but we accept it as the result of past thoughts, past actions. We learn slowly to unfold those finer soul qualities that we carry within. We learn how to observe our thoughts, our feelings, changing as we go along, learning, falling, picking ourselves up with courage, perseverance, understanding and so many other qualities that we may not even have known we had within. All the time, watching, observing and above all loving ourselves for our human frailties. Without these frailties we may not have known just how many wonderful qualities our soul has carried over many lifetimes.
Along the spiritual path of self-knowledge, there will come a time, a moment, when we realise that beyond the outer thoughts, there is an inner mind, the higher mind as it is often described. This is going through and beyond the human perception. It is both powerful and gentle. It is our own true inner heart speaking through the higher mind. Many will call it intuition but it is actually far more than intuition. Intuition is an inner-knowing. What is beyond thought, beyond feeling just IS. It IS all truth, all peace, all light and all love. It IS the I AM. If we were in tune always with the I AM, there would be no doubts in our hearts nor mind. The I AM dispels fears, doubts, worries, anxieties.
Often this realisation is both scary and awesome at the same time. To find, to discover something so precious within brings with it so much responsibility. How do we deal with it? Perhaps we want to rush out and shout it out to the world. Sometimes it is so awesome that we just go quietly within and wish to withdraw from life for a while. It takes time to adjust, time to understand and time to accept this side of ourselves.
This inner mind, beyond human thought, is greater than ourselves because it brings us the responsibility of looking at life in a much wider way than we have ever done before. It takes it out of the personal to the impersonal. We understand better the needs of the group, or a group, as opposed to the needs of an individual. We can stand back and see the wider picture and realise that our own thoughts are so limited.
Understanding and realising the I AM, doesn’t automatically get rid of human thoughts and feelings. How can it, when we are still in a human body, learning and creating karma as we go along. But it does give us an insight, a longing to be free of the cycle of lifetimes, a desire to truly learn, to truly understand and above all to change ourselves. The best thing though is that we know that within us we have the courage, the will, the love and so many other soul qualities, that will help us go beyond thought, beyond the human needs, and help us to reach and unfold that inner mind, that inner heart.
