Can we have control over our thoughts?

mind over matter... spirit over mind and matter...

I believe you CAN control your thoughts and the mind can be made to work FOR the Spirit...

Originally Posted by supernova

In fact I always want to think positively and live a livelier and merrier life but I feel I have no control over my thoughts and streams of thoughts flood my mind all the time, and most of them are disabling thoughts. My thoughts spring from my memories and they are basically rooted in my childhood and they have been now recursive, some of the abuses I had gone through. To forget them I try to engage in creative acts, pray, write poetry, travel. Every time I remain occupied with those disabling emotions and I feel I will go bust. Love and sex is their and I have a TF to appease me but deep down the thought or the memory of those seminal years are overwhelming me. Of course I have no insomnia and have no dysentery and can love and enjoy love making and socialize but the ghost is always hanging around in my life. I am weary of it and fear that it never leaves me up to the grave. I want to be reborn into a happier life – not in another life but in this life. I have everything but this thing.

Is there a panacea?

Positive yields to negative which inevitably turns positive again, this is Duality. Karmic patterns draw upon this field. How can you be free of it? Only one way..........to embrace the law which transcends Karma into Grace. The quickest way is the path of the hearts intelligence. The heart and brain communicate via chemical messengers, as you effect one so you effect the other. If you choose "Love/Bliss" in place of "vengeance/grievance/retaliation" over and over, this link will become ingrained in consciousness. How? You will "feel" an immediate shift of energy when you choose to Forgive each pain(negative experience) and let go of holding on to the grievance. It is an ART-form in itself.

When you reach the deepest level of forgiveness by facing the darkest moment and changing your mind(changing your choice!); GRACE is reached! You will feel a flood of endorphins and hormones release in the body, but that is not the end....it is a new beginning. You will face challenges to that "new you". If you fall back into old patterns then you merely turn "GRACE" into another peak experience which is of little help. You fall back into the law of Karma again! You have to maintain this higher energy and work within it. IT(GRACE) will begin to cause a shift in your life. Much will dissolve before the new can be resolved! Like a fire burns down the old forest so a new healthier forest can be born.

Your frontal cortex will begin to fire up and burn up the old primitive fear patterns. The average person uses 10-20% of there brain, the other 80% only fires up under the law of GRACE. It is crucial to surrender to "The Higher Self/God/Krishna/Christ Consciousness/The Tao/The Holy Spirit/Self/No Self", ONE BEING ......many terms!

At this point many old relationships get stronger or fall away, this can be a tough part of the transition. Still, it can be no other way!

All that is required of you is a choice. What do you choose?
If you can say "I am going to find my TRUE SELF no matter what I must pass through(not around)" , the process starts. When you refuse to co-operate it is suspended until you decide to go forward again. The choice is ever presented each day, each moment.

[Miss Hepburn]

Can we have control over our thoughts ---It's my life's mission it seems.
I must - I'm like a sentry at my post 24/7.


"Thoughts are like birds flyng over head; you can't control them
but you certainly can control if one makes a nest in your hair!"

Kenneth Hagin.

[Xan]

Originally Posted by supernova

I want something to distract my mind from this thought. I do not know how and something that can grip my mind to keep away from that

You might try a mantra, supernova. There are many to choose from, which you can do out loud or silently in your mind.

I suggest "Om mani padme ung" as a good way to distract yourself from thoughts. It means... "I honor the jewel in the lotus" which is your own inner being.

There's also the Om chant... "Ahhh Ohhh Ummmm" ...which is the voice version of primal sound of all creation.

As you get into a mantra you may begin to feel the vibration in your body as well as hear it, and that's where the real power lies.


Xan

Nightspirit, I am going to have to agree with you about bringing the thoughts forward and working with them. One thing that i have done that has worked very well with my thoughts is when you have a lot going on in your life and these thoughts come up, it is easier to deal with because you have other things around you that can think about and move your thoughts around, but i would also say that it is the best time to think about the thoughts you don't want to think about and will somewhat start a healing process,so in times where you don't have much on your mind and these thoughts come up they will not seem as strong.
I hope i didn't confuse you and i hope i could help

[Emmalevine]

You're already aware of the fact you can't stop thinking and that's the first step. Most people aren't sufficently aware enough to realise! Try catching your thoughts when they happen and then label it 'thinking.' You don't have to take it seriously or act on it. It's just a thought. Eventually your thoughts won't hold such power over you. Meditation of the breath or just watching a candle can also be very powerful. Watch your thoughts come and go like clouds, you don't have to attach anything to them.

Yes, you can absolutely have control over your thoughts.

I encourage you to read up on the Buddhist philosophy of impermanence. It teaches us that each moment is vital and the present is key to taking action and changing our lives. The past and future are not useful to us, even though we carry baggage from the past with us, or we look to the future in order to plan our lives.

Emotions are the same way. The ground state of your mind - its true nature, and who you really are - is a state of loving, inner peace, groundedness, and tranquility. It is the volatile emotions which appear that cloud this positive state of mind, and more importantly, it is your attachment to these feelings which causes suffering. Your refusal to let go, and your continual willingness to identify with these emotions as part of your ongoing "identity", is what makes life feel stagnant and immovable.

A good analogy is that your true mind is like the blue sky. It is perfectly clear and endless. It is neither good or bad, it just is; and it is content to be that way. Clouds are like emotions, whether they are good or bad, they float in, and then pass on. When we look up at the sky, we tend to not fixate on individual clouds and watch them float off into the distance, do we? Yet with our emotions, we tend to cling to past feelings, refusing to acknowledge that we are dynamic individuals who are continually changing, and that those feelings no longer suit us. We form attachment. One meditation exercise you can do is to sit still, in silence, and simply observe your mind. Observe the emotions that come and go. Don't cling to them, and don't beat yourself up about them, just watch them, like you would clouds in the sky. It is through learning to do this that you can take a step back from the way that it is you feel, and take another course of action.

Even the cells in your body completely replace themselves every seven years. Biologically and physically, you are not even the same person as you were seven years ago. Your body has changed, your mind has changed, your experience and wisdom have changed. It is time to let go of past feelings and acknowledge that they no longer suit you.

You can cultivate a sense of love and interconnectedness in your life starting with just you. Too often we think about grandios things like saving the world and bettering all of humanity, but it always starts with just us. Start by being kind to yourself each day. Do one kind act. Maybe it's running yourself a luxurious bath with salts, cooking a nice meal, watching your favourite movie, or going for a walk somewhere scenic that you have always enjoyed. Whatever it is, it will cultivate a sense of kindness and compassion in yourself. As you do this each day, your sense of self-love will grow, and in turn you will gain strength to let go of past feelings or regrets.

The past should never be forgotten, but it should always be transformed. Even the worst things that happened to you were lessons that you can bring forward in order to enrich your own life, and to help others. We are dynamic beings who are here to learn, grow, and create. This is our creation, our "workshop" for what we are here to do. Everything that has happened to you has happened correctly. Wherever you are now and whatever it is you are doing or feeling, it is all RIGHT and CORRECT. So do not worry too much about doing the "wrong thing". There is no wrong course of action since any course will bring learning and expansion.

Trust me in this. I have gone through a lot myself, and I know what I'm talking about. And I know that no person is beyond help, as long as they have a desire to reach for it. I know you can do it!! :)

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by TheDivine

Yes, you can absolutely have control over your thoughts.

I encourage you to read up on the Buddhist philosophy of impermanence. It teaches us that each moment is vital and the present is key to taking action and changing our lives. The past and future are not useful to us, even though we carry baggage from the past with us, or we look to the future in order to plan our lives.

Emotions are the same way. The ground state of your mind - its true nature, and who you really are - is a state of loving, inner peace, groundedness, and tranquility. It is the volatile emotions which appear that cloud this positive state of mind, and more importantly, it is your attachment to these feelings which causes suffering. Your refusal to let go, and your continual willingness to identify with these emotions as part of your ongoing "identity", is what makes life feel stagnant and immovable.

A good analogy is that your true mind is like the blue sky. It is perfectly clear and endless. It is neither good or bad, it just is; and it is content to be that way. Clouds are like emotions, whether they are good or bad, they float in, and then pass on. When we look up at the sky, we tend to not fixate on individual clouds and watch them float off into the distance, do we? Yet with our emotions, we tend to cling to past feelings, refusing to acknowledge that we are dynamic individuals who are continually changing, and that those feelings no longer suit us. We form attachment. One meditation exercise you can do is to sit still, in silence, and simply observe your mind. Observe the emotions that come and go. Don't cling to them, and don't beat yourself up about them, just watch them, like you would clouds in the sky. It is through learning to do this that you can take a step back from the way that it is you feel, and take another course of action.

Even the cells in your body completely replace themselves every seven years. Biologically and physically, you are not even the same person as you were seven years ago. Your body has changed, your mind has changed, your experience and wisdom have changed. It is time to let go of past feelings and acknowledge that they no longer suit you.

You can cultivate a sense of love and interconnectedness in your life starting with just you. Too often we think about grandios things like saving the world and bettering all of humanity, but it always starts with just us. Start by being kind to yourself each day. Do one kind act. Maybe it's running yourself a luxurious bath with salts, cooking a nice meal, watching your favourite movie, or going for a walk somewhere scenic that you have always enjoyed. Whatever it is, it will cultivate a sense of kindness and compassion in yourself. As you do this each day, your sense of self-love will grow, and in turn you will gain strength to let go of past feelings or regrets.

The past should never be forgotten, but it should always be transformed. Even the worst things that happened to you were lessons that you can bring forward in order to enrich your own life, and to help others. We are dynamic beings who are here to learn, grow, and create. This is our creation, our "workshop" for what we are here to do. Everything that has happened to you has happened correctly. Wherever you are now and whatever it is you are doing or feeling, it is all RIGHT and CORRECT. So do not worry too much about doing the "wrong thing". There is no wrong course of action since any course will bring learning and expansion.

Trust me in this. I have gone through a lot myself, and I know what I'm talking about. And I know that no person is beyond help, as long as they have a desire to reach for it. I know you can do it!! :)

Wow, big welcome here, TheDivine

I'm not the same person --- how incredible to be reminded of that and to ask myself - "And so what did remain - what is that"?

Miss Hepburn

If you can accept that life is a school for souls to experience and evolve, you can dispel any negativity. If you can accept that some souls took demanding experiences to facilitate learning, you can forgive and let go. If you can accept that you, according to your soul plan, agreed to take part in these demanding experiences, you can look at yourself in the mirror, smile and say to yourself: "What a magnificent Being of Light I am to accept such a challenge."
In the big picture all is well and we are all perfect, no matter how it seems.
*Namaste*