The Power of Thoughts

Certainly, very few topics are as important to the world (and to your life) as this one.

Among all possible reasons we can think of to explain or justify the state of insanity, violence, corruption, and dirtiness of today's world, very few carry the same level of importance as the subject of thoughts and how we relate to them.

If society is made up of people like you and me, doesn't it become an obvious conclusion that if we want to make the world a better place, we have to better ourselves first?

Although it seems obvious, it is indeed a conclusion denied by most of us, sadly especially by those in positions of power in society.

Indeed all major events (on a global level) and all minor events (on a personal level) in the history of mankind started as a thought.

Think of Adolf Hitler's thought of assassinating all Jews. Or the Jew's thought of accepting Hitler's ideology. How about the European bourgeoisie's thought of enslaving black African people? Or the more recent Vladimir Putin's thought of invading Ukraine? Countless are the examples of bad thoughts that have left deep scars in the history of humanity.

But there are also examples of thoughts that have illuminated the human path throughout history. And we could use the same examples above to illustrate the power of human thought. Think of all those Germans (Jews or not) who gave their lives fighting against Hitler's ideology. Or think of all those British bureaucrats such as William Wilberforce who fought against the idea of slavery. There are hundreds of examples of positive thoughts that have shaped our history.

Every event in life starts with a single thought that you rationaly - not consciously - decide to feed and harbor in your mind.

So, in order to properly investigate thoughts, we first have to understand what a thought is. Shall we?

What Are Thoughts?

First of all, let's make it clear that this is not a neuroscience blog, okay?

Here, we consider aspects from both the physical and metaphysical, objective and subjective realities to reach a conclusion that helps us understand ourselves, our decisions, and ultimately, our day-to-day lives. After all, as we know from history, science cannot always provide us with an answer, while philosophy seems not to be enough. Therefore, the truth appears to lie halfway between these two possibilities. That's exactly where we stand. Surely, truth exists where science meets wisdom.

With that in mind, let's investigate what a thought is.

Interestingly, when we study the etymology of the word "thought," we discover that the word "thought" in English originates from the Old English þoht, geþoht, meaning a "process of thinking," from the stem of þencan "to conceive of in the mind, consider," rooted in older Germanic words associated with the verbs "to conceive" or "to represent" (¹).

Now, when we investigate the etymology of the word "pensamento" (thought, in Portuguese), we learn that the word is rooted in the Latin "pensare," which means "to suspend, to hang (from the scales), to weigh something." That meaning evolved to be associated with the idea of "weighing the pros and cons" of something, pondering, examining (²).

And, from a neurological perspective, thoughts are electrochemical signals transmitted between neurons in the brain, forming neural networks and patterns that underlie our mental processes and behaviors. These neural networks are the neurological structure behind your faith, your beliefs, your habit and, most dangerously of all: your mental world. Yes, your religious faith, your beliefs about yourself, your views about your husband of wife, your colleague at work, your neighbor, your belief about your own capacity, your traumas, absolutely anything and everything that dwells in your mind, are nothing more than information being carried from neuron to neuron for years and years forming your "mental self". This "community" of information then grows stronger and stronger each time you remember them and consider them to represent the truth. And everytime you somehow identify yourself with that circuitry of information that moves around your mind (your thoughts) you strengthen them making them more and more solid and irrefutable in your mind. The result of that process is a mindset capable of atrocities such as Auschwitz and 9/11 in the name of the "Truth". But don't be mistaken! The same happens to you and me every single day. We are all, in some sense, our own worst enemies.

In a nutshell then, a "thought" is an electrochemical signal (and the neural networks they form) that happen in the brain every time we re-present something in the mind (autonomously or deliberately) with the goal of examining it.

The Unconscious and Conscious Thoughts

These electrochemical signals can arise organically (automatically) in response to external sensory stimuli and/or as a reaction to internal memory or moral/vibrational stimuli (refer to the article On the Principles of the Ego to understand what I mean by these moral/vibrational stimuli). This means that these thoughts are nothing more than the hormones produced by your endocrine glands or the insulin produced by your pancreas. They are simply the product of your brain.

I refer to these types of thoughts as non-constructive thoughts. Nothing is more alarming than realizing that they account for 99.99% of the thoughts of 99.99% of the human population. These thoughts are the foundation of all rational madness that underlies all wars and crimes committed by humans against their own species and other species.

However, there is another category of thought that arises through deliberate and intentional reflection by the individual on external and internal inputs. These thoughts are of a refined quality, produced through discernment and complete detachment of the individual from the emotions triggered by external inputs. I refer to these thoughts as "constructive" thoughts, and they are produced by the superior observative mind, capable of monitoring thoughts and the associated emotions. The superior observative mind is the mastermind behind all acts of justice, empathy, courage, love, and righteousness that humans can produce. It is the divine spark within humanity that strives to imitate the perfection and harmony of the gods.

So, for now, hold onto this conclusion, for it might be enough to change your life:

"99.99% of the thoughts that pass through your mind daily are NOTHING MORE than the organic and physiological product of a fully operational brain. They are the result of a complex system that occurs in the mind regardless of your desires!"

The Mind Chaos

So, as you have seen, thoughts are just like the hormones produced by your glands or the acids produced by your stomach. They are not YOU; they are just a tiny aspect of you. They do not reflect who you are.

However, when we compare our thoughts to any other physiological product (hormones, energy, blood, tissues, etc.) of our body, we learn that thoughts have a very differentiating component: we are aware of them!

And here is where the fun (and the problems) begin.

Are you aware of the blood flowing through your veins right now?

Are you aware of the energy being produced by your cells right now?

Are you aware of your hormones being released in your blood stream?

Surely you are not.

It's only because we are aware of our thoughts (unlike any other product of our body), we tend to identify ourselves with them. Only because we perceive our thoughts, we tend to assume that they are not only part of us but actually, they are us! We tend to think that our thoughts represent us. Indeed nothing could be more disastrous to human life.

The complex interplay of all the components of the thoughts acting organically in the brain creates the perfect scenario for the construction of several disturbances that ultimately affect human life, both in the individual and in the collective way. Identification with thought is the underlying cause of all problems of society. From killings to diseases, robbery, rape, political corruption, world wars, drug addiction, family disruption, and even those minor mistakes that you and I make almost every day, such as misjudging people and circumstances, these are all results of an ungoverned mind.

This is precisely what the Old Testament author referred to in the book of Genesis in 1:27:

"So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."

In saying that God created man in "his own image," the author testifies to man's ability to CREATE.

Look around where you are now. Observe that absolutely everything you see around you now was created FIRST in the mind of its creator. The computer, the mobile phone, the bed, the chair, the car, the light bulb, the window, anything.

Have you ever thought that you were a creator, just like God?

But what does it have to do with everything we are investigating here today?

Well, that testifies to the truth that I described at the beginning of this article: thoughts are the very first stage of every creation and of every experience of life. And what defines if the creation of your thoughts is going to bring you pleasant and joyful experiences or sorrowful moments is the level of awareness you have of them.

The more aware you are of your thoughts, the more capable you are of monitoring them, the higher the probability of you experiencing pleasant life situations. The higher your ability to identify your thoughts as "non-constructive" or "constructive", the higher the degree of joy you will experience.

But that is the topic for another chapter of our journey.

For now, keep monitoring your thoughts. Seek to connect to yourself in such depth that you are unable to make any choice whatsoever without your previous conscious consent. At any moment, under all circumstances, challenge your thoughts by asking:

"Is this thought I'm having bringing forth harmony for myself and for all involved?"

"Is this thought I'm having causing me peace and joy?"

"Is this thought I'm having going to cause harm to anybody?"

"Is this thought I'm having reflecting what I desire for myself?"

By reasoning over these questions and challenging your own thoughts, you are able to experience right here and now that which Buddhists spend their entire life seeking in meditation: enlightenment, the end of suffering.

Afterall, even though thoughts seem to be a hard thing to control, in fact they are not, they cannot exist without you wanting them to exist. It might take some time for certain thoughts to disappear completely, but that's ok. All journeys start with a single step.

Keep working.

If you need help understanding your thoughts and learning to control then, we are one click away ;)

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Take care,

Augusto.