Imagination rules the world, as the saying goes. True, imagination is the source of all visible actions, but it alone is barely sufficient to produce results in the real world.
The thoughts in our minds are our primary actions. They are the starting points of secondary and tertiary actions, which are performed through speech and the external sensory organs, respectively. The latter are the five working organs—hands, feet, genitals, anus, and tongue. We place so much importance on actions performed through the five karmic, senses, but give hardly any significance to the thoughts that run through our minds.
The mind is the seat of emotions and also the soil from which thoughts of all types, varieties, colours, and shades sprout. There are thoughts—deliberate and stray, logical and illogical, moral and immoral, constructive and destructive, progressive and regressive, cheering and depressing—that originate in the mind, and they all affect us. They influence our speech and other actions. After all, thoughts are a flow of energy for which the driving impulse comes from the soul, the master of the physical body. Therefore, thoughts are ascribed to the soul as actions. The human soul—which, in essence, is the human being—has to take responsibility for all thoughts, in both qualitative and quantitative terms. After all, the ego-self, intellect, mind, and senses—both the inner, subtle senses and the outer, gross ones—are appendages of the soul. They are working tools for the soul, enabling it to perform actions and refine itself in its progressive journey.
These days, much is said about the fleeting thoughts that run through the human mind. Psychologists, philosophers, spiritualist, and modern motivational coaches speak about the power of positive thinking. It is true that positive thoughts are positive karmas and trigger beneficial actions but need to be logical, objective, and aligned with the universal principles of progress known as Dharma.
When someone declares that you will become what you think, it is a hyperbolic overstatement. It is far from realistic because it goes against the divine principles that govern human life—the principles called Dharma. For Dharma is supreme, Dharma is divine, and Dharma is eternal. Any thought, however positive, will not manifest on the practical plane unless it is logical, realistic, and in sync with Dharma.
All thoughts are karmas, and these karmas show results in accordance with the immanent divine law of karmic retribution. However, if a thought—even a positive one—is in dissonance with reality and divorced from truth, it will bring a negative retributive effect from the realm of the almighty Creator and Controller.
If a pauper in dire financial straits begins to imagine himself becoming a billionaire, having no regard for his circumstances and conditions, will he become one through mere imagination? His thoughts must be realistic to align with truth, one of the tenets of Dharma. If a laggard student thinks of achieving academic distinction without making commensurate efforts, will he attain it? If a district-level legislator begins to think that he will become the prime minister of his country, will mere thought make him a top-notch leader?
Only thoughts in tune with reality, followed by well-directed karmic efforts, will come to fruition. Wild thoughts, unsupported by logic and removed from reality, are daydreams—and daydreams do not translate into reality.
The so-called and widely propagated ‘law of attraction’ is valid to the extent that positive thoughts emit positive vibrations. However, positive results will accrue to the practitioner of this law only if his actions—including the original thoughts—are in line with the truth of things. This is because the divine Creator, Ishwar, is the power behind the fruition of karmas, and He is just. He rewards those who assiduously follow the divine principles of Dharma, which enjoin one to think and act rationally, persevere and observe honesty and sound moral sense. He will never fail to punish those who are guilty of dereliction of duty or violation of the principles of Dharma.
So let us be practical, realistic and objective in all our karmas, including thoughts. There is no shortcut to success. It comes the hard way. Perseverance is the bedrock of progress.