Featured Newsletter Article
On the Power of Thoughts
By Ahmed Gaballa
Originally published in the Fall 2011 issue.
Tao Te Ching #16
Empty your mind of all thoughts.
Let your heart be at peace.
Watch the turmoil of beings,
but contemplate their return.
Our minds are our greatest tools to live but can be our greatest enemy if not tamed properly. An interesting book that I came across is named The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne. It was interesting both watching the movie and reading the book; many other books and programs came after that covered the same subject of how positive thinking affects our lives. The question that presented itself to me was "Does this really work? Is this really enough?" Later when I started Sun Do I wanted to explore how this fits with our practice. The principle of thought affecting matter is all over Asian philosophy and Taoist teachings.
So let us take a quick dive into how our minds function and different behavior patterns. I will touch on the main points quickly, as this subject needs to be covered in a book, not just in an essay. The mind works around the clock to find solutions for situations that we face on a daily basis. When there are no problems to solve, our mind starts creating complex scenarios for any situation we are going though. Imagine someone having a hard time at work: that person starts thinking, "What happens if I lose my job? I will not be able to feed my family, my children will not get proper education, they will hate me for that the rest of their lives, and I will die alone." So as you can see, this thinking can create a lot of pressure on that person, leading him to behave irrationally out of despair. Taoist traditions have realized this effect long ago and referred to it as "monkey mind". Taoists have realized the bad effect this behavior of the mind can have on our quality of life and level of energy.
Tao Te Ching #12:
Colors blind the eye.
Sounds deafen the ear.
Flavors numb the taste.
Thoughts weaken the mind.
Desires wither the heart.
The way Sun Do treats this problem is by getting the student to start focusing on the breathing, without forcing, and by letting the mind settle. As the student's focus grows, the connection between the conscious and subconscious gets stronger. When the teacher feels that the student is ready, she starts introducing the different visualization techniques, improving that connection. In addition, each posture focuses on opening certain meridians and activating pressure points, gradually helping the student improve the connection between conscious and subconscious.
Power of thoughts and power of intention
Most people don't realize how much power their thoughts have. Each thought starts as a small idea, and as we start thinking about that idea, it starts growing and gaining power. As we start putting intention into that thought, it starts manifesting as a reality. Let's look at the example of a person realizing that he is overweight. As the person starts thinking about this, he starts thinking about ways to resolve that problem, and as he finds a way that he likes, he starts the process of controlling the problem by applying power of intention. If the person does not have enough will and intention power, then the thought of losing weight will not manifest. It is important to realize the difference between thought power and intention power as they complete each other in order to manifest ideas.
Difference between positive thinking and power of intention
This is a tricky point, since many people mix positive thinking with power of intention. Positive thinking is practiced by looking at the bright side of each situation and believing that what is happening is for the best. While there is nothing wrong with practicing positive thinking, it shouldn't be confused with the power of intention. Power of intention is different in that it in requires that you consciously and unconsciously believe in your goal, which puts you in sync with the universe in achieving that goal. If we review the history of successful people (Edison, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, etc.) who made changes to the world, all of them have in common a belief in their ideas, even though no one else shared that belief, and it was through that belief that they were able to achieve their goals.
Relation between inner world and outer world
Tao Te Ching #5
The Tao doesn't take sides;
it gives birth to both good and evil
The Master doesn't take sides;
she welcomes both saints and sinners.
Joy, happiness, good, bad, sadness, or sorrow are all internal feelings generated by how we perceive events that happen to us. How we perceive events is affected by our mood, emotions, location, subconscious, and age. We create filters that events pass though to our inner world, so we really see events through our own set of glasses (our filters). These same events in the outer world are neutral; they are neither good nor bad. They just exist. Therefore, it is up to us to decide how to react to the events that happen in our lives.
Ways to deal with negative thoughts
Negative thoughts have power over you when you react to them, so here are few ways to deal with negative thoughts as they come up:
- Cut them off. As soon as you realize that your mind is thinking a negative thought, stop it; don't get entangled with that thought.
- Become the observer. Observe the negative thought as if it is a movie that you are watching; look for how it unfolds itself, but don't take it personally. It is very important not to get emotionally involved while watching a negative thought, since you can easily get into the monkey mind situation.
- Counteract the negative with the exact opposite. If a negative thought presents itself, start thinking about the exact opposite of it; for example, a negative thought about losing job can be countered by the idea that as a result of losing the job, you will get a better job. Sometimes when dealing with different negative thoughts, it becomes important to utilize multiple techniques.
Sun Do's utilization of intention power and its effect on our inner and outer worlds
Sun Do utilizes a unique way of preparing the student mentally, physically, and spiritually. As the student practices on a regular basis, he starts gaining a better mental perspective as the mind connection between conscious and subconscious grows. Also, as the physical side improves due to the activation of the energy flow in the body, the mental side gets better. At that point, the physical improvement starts helping the subconscious to realize the benefits of the training. Let us look at the Sun Do chant that we listen to as we practice and how all the previously discussed points and more are included in it:
Sun Do Joo
(Prayer or mantra)
Jung Gak Do Won
May all beings be aware of the ultimate Tao
Chi Ji Che Nung
Attain wisdom, consciousness, and ability through discipline.
Bool Do Il Hwa
Having united Dharma and Tao into harmony
Goo Hwal Chang Sang
Save and enlighten all sentient beings.
How does this all fit together?
We can just take a leap of faith and call it a day. (Just kidding.) We know that everything in our bodies and the universe consists of positive and negative charges, Yin and Yang as referred to in Taoist philosophy, that keep rotating around each other, creating a magnetic field. That magnetic field has its own vibration. We also know that our thoughts affect how we see things and react to them; thus, it will not be hard to see how this fits together. The vibration that we emit attracts or repels people and events from the universe to us or from us. If you believe in something strongly enough, you align yourself with the universe and let it help you.
Sun Do Taoist masters realized that fact long time ago; as the student reaches the level of Sam Hap Dan Bup (black belt), she is warned about the need to be careful with thinking, attitudes, and behavior. Master Kim has included that warning in the Sun Do Mountain Taoism introductory booklet (page 16). This doesn't mean, however, that you shouldn't be careful until you reach that level in Sun Do, since Master Kim indicates also that progress in Sun Do isn't always linear, moving from one step to the next. Rather, it is also a process that depends on the individual's openness to the Tao, so some levels will open to you as soon as you are ready.
Let us take a look at the Sun Do five precepts:
Jung Shim:
True mind, genuine mind of heavens.
Jung Shi:
True seeing, observing correctly all things in the universe.
Jung Gak:
True awakening, perceiving and acquiring accurately the real truth.
Jung Do:
True path to the way of honestly living and obeying the laws of universe.
Jung Heng:
True behavior, without standing against the laws of nature, acting properly.
Let me know what you think — dragon2ag@gmail.com. If opportunity allows, I plan to use this essay as the basis of a workshop at one of the Sun Do retreats to try to gain a better perspective from different points of view.
Ahmed Gaballa practices in Florida.
© 2011 SunDo Mountain Taoism International SunDo Association SunDo is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization.