We all wish to build a great destiny for ourselves and
create fabulous circumstances in our life. We long to be happier in our
attitudes, to be more effective at work. But where do we begin this process of
change? What resources do we require for trans- forming ourselves? Where can we
find them? And how much will those life-enhancing assets cost us?
It may surprise you to know that the ingredients for
initiating a hugely successful life cost nothing at all. In fact, we already
mass-produce more than 60,000 of them every day. The problem is that their
quality is appalling and the quantity uncontrolled. If only we could learn to
create them better, and in the right amount, they would enhance every aspect of
our lives.
I am referring to our thoughts. Everything we do and experi-
ence begins with thinking. If our thoughts are virtuous, energetic and joyous,
we perforce develop a noble character and perform heroic actions. Conversely,
when we allow our mind to delve on immoral, abject and bitter emotions, we
unavoidably set our- selves up for a wretched existence.
Very few people in the world pay attention to this sequence
of causation. They grapple with improving their actions, only to see their
developmental efforts undone by impure thoughts. If they had instead focused on
transforming their thinking, even a frac- tion of their efforts would have
yielded incredible results.
The ramifications of our thoughts also extend to our
physical countenance. Wicked and hateful thoughts chisel our face, as ruthless
sculptors, leaving lasting scars for all to see. Likewise, kind and loving
thoughts work as the best possible beauty aids and are completely organic too!
This is the reason behind the old maxim: 'the face is the index of the mind'.
In recent times, the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body
Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital has done ground- breaking research
in scientifically establishing the relationship between thoughts and health.
Their studies have only confirmed what India's holy books of wisdom stated many
millennia ago. Our thoughts generate chemical responses in the body. Thus, re-
sentful, jealous and odious thoughts do not come without a cost. They lower our
vitality and set us up for a variety of physical ail- ments, such as allergies,
autoimmune disorders, diabetes, cardiac issues, irritable bowel syndrome and
ulcers.² Emotions manage- ment is thus an inseparable part of the holistic
approach to health.
