The Origin of Thoughts
External & internal psychological factors that give rise to thoughts
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash
Gross Level Factors
The origin of thoughts at a grosser level is attributed to external & self-behavioural factors. Nature produced human beings with minds of enormous capability and the ability to think without any restriction. It can expand to infinity, as proved by our ancient saints and yogis. However, societal rules and norms cage the mind with their man-made restrictions. In an attempt to force every distinct mind under the same mold of society, in its endeavor to drive morality for the sake of being accepted by one another, in its resistance to accept change, in its lethargy to welcome freshness, and in its fear of absolute freedom, has caused the human mind to be trampled under the viable yet unrealizable thoughts.
Other external factors include the culture we are born into, technological aspects of our surroundings, the educational background of the people surrounding us, the emotional aspects of our friends and families, etc, which contribute to a great extent to the origin of our thoughts. The functioning of most of these aspects is such that their existence in nature is independent, and they necessarily don’t exist to grab our attention. But our ignorant mind associates itself an enormous degree of self-importance and gets affected to start inducing thoughts that soon go beyond its control.
And yet, there are many aspects of technological inventions like phones & social media and the materialistic economy that exist only to grab our attention, and there is no surprise our minds fall prey to them. Our minds are continuously fed with information one after the other that doesn’t have any real substance but strongly trains us to be in constant need of newer substances. The mind under its shackles is taught to hop from one thing to the other and thus picks up its habit of being restless. Unnecessary thoughts are the immediate byproduct of these aspects that have been ignored for too long under the shadows of the thrill that everyone is enjoying.
Apart from the external factors, many important internal behavioural aspects contribute to a huge extent to the origin of thoughts. The primary among them is the intellectual. Intelligence is like a drug that addicts us. It makes us feel important not only to ourselves but also to others. Without realising it, we overdo it to bear millions of unnecessary thoughts that keep us away from concentration. The behavioural responses driven by competition give rise to immense thoughts that are unwholesome and distracting. Yet, there are responses dictated by possessiveness and sexual attraction that again result in countless frenzied thoughts.
Subtler Factors that give rise to thoughts
Be it an external or internal aspect, all of them converge in our minds. Our mind is the ultimate subject, which takes input either from an external source or from an internal source and processes it to generate a thought. At the subtler or spiritual level, the origin of thoughts is all internal. Irrespective of whatever the input may be, if the processor is designed to generate a certain form of output, it will do so. If the mind has the internal design to see and hear a person of dark complexion with contempt, then it won’t matter how kindly the person is acting. Let’s try to understand the mechanism of the origin of thoughts from a subtler level, which is completely internal.
The mechanism of the development of thought can be viewed in two components, viz., an origin point and a gradient. Just like the flow of any substance in any direction needs a source of that substance and a gradient(angle) in the direction of flow, thought is also the flow of an idea about a subject(person, another form of being, an inanimate thing, or a conception of no real existence), with an originating theme of pleasantness or unpleasantness, in a direction of time(past or future)towards a destination theme of either wanting it or avoiding it. Gradient gives energy to the substance at the origin point to start flowing in a certain direction towards a destination theme.
The flow of thought in time oscillates between the past and the future. It is hard to identify strict conditions of flow either in the past or the future. For many individuals having anxiety, the direction is usually the future, and for many individuals having depression, the direction is usually the past. But a gradient is a necessary and sufficient condition for enablement of the flow. It can be imagined that the origin point is a ball at the top of the hill, and multiple downhill paths(gradients) are there, which can allow the ball to fall via one of the paths.
We understand origin to be an impression in our memory. The question remains: What defines these gradients? These gradients are dictated by impurities present in our minds. Each impurity establishes one gradient from that origin point. If there are n number of impurities, then there are n number of gradients. The greater the depth of the impurity, the larger the slope that could enable a stronger and faster flow of thought in that direction. Depending upon which impurity is acting at that moment, the subject at the origin takes the corresponding gradient. There are 7 identified impurities acting as the gradient for a thought, namely anger, lust, ego, attachment, jealousy, greed, and fear.
Let’s try to understand this with a few examples. I have an impression/ memory of cheese in my mind from my last meal a couple of hours ago. While I sit relaxed to write about something, there is a pleasant thought of the taste of that cheese and a craving to get some more of it. The impurity of greed provides this gradient for that impression for the flow of this thought. Also, there is another thought of not attending my cousin’s marriage. The impression of the unpleasantness of my last encounter with my cousin’s dad has led to the flow of this thought due to a gradient carved by anger that breaks my concentration.
When we understand that the real reason behind all the thoughts that keep distracting us is the impurities, then we find a base to begin our work on breaking this chain. The path of spirituality passes through our intellect and goes beyond it. Applying our intelligence to properly understand the mechanisms of thoughts would empower us to find ways of getting rid of them. Love, affection & kindness can also be the reason for the flow of thoughts, but they are usually positive, empowering, and voluntary. They aren’t the kind of thoughts that make us suffer. If it feels like love is causing the flow of non-voluntary, unwholesome thoughts, then beware; it is attachment.
Conclusion
A deeper analysis of the inner workings of our minds should reveal the truth that the cause of thoughts(pleasant or unpleasant) is entirely internal. Outside circumstances and conditions become the necessary conditions to trigger certain kinds of thoughts, but they aren’t sufficient to arouse them. The traces of impurities or wholesomeness depict the kind of thoughts that could emerge from those conditions. While the contact and external conditions are not under our control, the internal makeup, however, can be brought under our control with intelligence and practice.