Jesus said, "As a man thinketh, so is he." You may not be religious (I'm really not that religious, either...); but the truth does not stand or fall because of the reputation of the speaker. Truth is always truth. This saying isn't true because Jesus said it; Jesus was quoting when he said this -- these words appear in the Old Testament, and in every other religion on the planet. Buddha said, "What we think, we become," for example; and Gandhi (who was neither a Jew, Christian, nor a Buddhist) expressed the exact sentiment thusly, "A man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes." What a gift this is! I wonder why so few use it...
It doesn't matter what we think; thoughts are the seeds and we need only think (plant) them in order for them to grow into something. And we reap in our bodies and lives the physical fruits of those thoughts we sow and cultivate in our minds. Unfortunately, most people simply don't think -- they memorize and repeat things. If your opinions, for instance, match those of a "talking head" on any national television news show, what makes you think those are your opinions? "Opinion," said John Erskine, "is that exercise of the human will which helps us to make a decision without information." H.L. Mencken wrote, in 1925, "The average man never really thinks from end to end of his life. The mental activity of such people is only a mouthing of cliches."
If you think for yourself, you can do anything; indeed, "all things are possible." Gandhi said, "Those who know how to think need no teachers." Could this have been what Jesus was referring to when He said, "I have access to all knowledge." He didn't say, "I know everything...;" He said that He had "access" -- He knew where and how to get it. Consider that prayer is focused thinking; and it is often used to ask questions from a higher power or source. Voltaire wrote, "No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking;" and, when asked how he discovered the Laws of Gravity, Sir Isaac Newton replied, "I thought about it all the time."
Of course, most people believe they are thinking. Alas, mentally reciting the thoughts and words of others is not thinking. When people think their own thoughts, they ca5B4n do anything; when people think the thoughts of another, they can be made to do anything. A king wrote, "Now the people are as one and nothing will be restrained from them that they seek to do." Later kings discovered that power could be harnessed by directing the thoughts of those "unified" people. Through laws, religions, and mass media, people are told what to think from cradle to grave -- people who do not find a way to think for themselves, that is.
And we believe what we are told for many reasons. People can be made to not kill each other, for instance, by telling them God said not to do it, or that something bad will happen to them if they do; and those same people can then be made to kill people by telling them it is their legal, moral, or patriotic obligation to do so. The common denominator: Being told what to do and believing you have to.
Wisdom teachings protect us from such traps -- if we have been taught, of course. Following the teaching to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," could keep you from "doing unto others what someone else told you to do to them." Listen to your heart; this is where true wisdom lives. Anthony De Mello once wrote, "People mistakenly assume that their thinking is done by their head; it is actually done by the heart which first dictates the conclusion, then commands the head to provide the reasoning that will defend it." Think for yourself an56Ad follow the guidance of your heart. Much of your stress and illness will disappear when you figure out how to do this.
When you think for yourself, you can easily discern your thoughts and desires from someone else's agenda and control. We all have the power to do this; our ability to choose our thoughts, in fact, is our only true free-will. This is our birthright and most people simply hand theirs over to those they perceive to be "smarter," or more powerful. When you can make a bunch of people believe what you say, you can direct a tremendous amount of energy. Buckminster Fuller said of belief, "Belief is when someone else does the thinking." Belief is actually an energy that people put into thoughts in order to make them happen. If you don't think for yourself, others can convince you to give them that greatest of all human powers -- your belief. "What luck for rulers," said Adolf Hitler, "that men do not think."
Think about that.
Pete Koerner, author of The Belief Formula
http://www.ExploreExpandEvolve.com
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