Our life is a reflection of our thoughts

The reflection of the sun in a vessel of water is dependent on the status of the water. If the water is still, the image is also still. If the water is disturbed, then the image also shakes. If the water is turbid, then the image is also hazy and unclear.

All these different states of water have no effect on the sun whatsoever. The sun remains as it always is - effulgent and clear. The state of the reflected image depends upon the state of the reflecting medium -- water.

Similarly with the human consciousness. Even when the mind is filled with evil and negative thoughts, the indwelling divinity - the soul remains unaffected. It is man’s thoughts that are either positive or negative.

This is the pithy explanation by revered Swami Chinmayananda for a verse in the Gnana Yoga Chapter of the Bhagavad Geeta. The soul or ‘Atman’ in philosophical parlance is always free, unblemished, still and the witness to all of man’s actions.

In everyday usage, we say ‘he is by nature evil and crooked’. It is not man who is evil by nature, because man’s innate nature is divine and blissful. It is his thoughts that make him evil, dishonest, arrogant, egoistic and vain. We mistakenly ascribe the wrongful mental aberrations to the inner soul which is always pure and unsullied. When we sit in the train and travel, we are actually motionless. It is the train that is moving. But we ascribe the motion of the train to our bodies, which by itself is sitting still. Understanding this subtle difference between our innate nature and our external thought processes and behavioural characteristics is vital from the standpoint of cultivating positive thoughts which in turn positively impact our attitudes and behaviour.

There are many ways of developing positive thoughts like interacting with learned and spiritually advanced souls, reading uplifting and ennobling books and so on. As the Geeta goes on to say, such an approach enables man to carry out his duties with dedication, helping him to understand that “I am not the doer, but it is the higher power within me that is driving me. Harnessing this power to my benefit or to my downfall is within me”. This is the secret of Karma Yoga. The Yogis of yore followed this path and attained to divinity. Follow their example, develop inwardly and better your life, says the Geeta.