25 Jul 2020
Shri MRK Sai (USA) asked: When I pray to God, some negative-abusive thoughts come to my mind by force and disturb my concentration on God. How to get rid of such negative thoughts?
Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Do not think about those negative ideas again and again because if you think of them, you are giving unnecessary importance to such ideas. If you care for such ideas, they will come again and again to your mind. If you care for a guest, the guest will visit you again and again. If you do not think about those ideas and neglect them, they will not come to you again. If you neglect a guest, the guest will not come to your house again. The six bad vices present in a human being create such negative thoughts upon interaction with the external world. If you disconnect yourself from the six vices, you are disconnected from the negative thoughts also. If you are not associated with a criminal, no case can be registered against you.
The six vices are your six sons who are criminals and the negative thoughts coming to you are the criminal friends of your sons. Your sons and their friends will be booked for their crimes, but not you. You have given shelter to your sons only because you are their father. Giving shelter to your criminal sons only because you are their parent will not connect you to the crime of your sons and their friends. The six vices dwell in the soul and the soul is linked with them through awareness since the soul itself is awareness and all good and bad qualities are within awareness. But the various individual thoughts and qualities in the awareness can remain disconnected from the vices. The father is linked with his sons only as a parent. But the father, as a person, is separate from his sons. Similarly, the soul is beyond the six vices (Gunebhyaśca paramvetti—Gītā).
The six vices are related to the negative thoughts in your mind just like your sons are related to their criminal friends. The negative thoughts are visiting your soul since the six vices exist with the soul. The criminal friends are visiting your house due to their friendship with your sons and not because of any connection with you (Gunāguneṣu vartante…—Gītā). So, the crime done by your sons and their friends will not bind you in any way.
If you are connected with the vices and their negative thoughts, you will be involved in the actions related to them. If you are disconnected from the vices and the related negative thoughts, not even a trace of sin touches you. The negative thoughts coming to your mind will not bring any punishment to you because those thoughts did not turn into actions, owing to your disconnection from them. Unless the thought turns into action, no physical punishment can be given here or in the hell. Without your willful association with them, the thoughts will not turn into actions. Only action brings physical punishment. For negative thoughts (theoretical sins), the punishments are also in the theoretical phase; in the form of severe warnings in hell. Hence, you need not worry about your six vices and their related negative thoughts, as long as you are not connected with them and they do not lead to the corresponding negative actions. If you are disconnected from them, these negative thoughts will disappear and the six vices also become inactive.
Keywords:
| Shri Datta Swami | Solution To Overcome Negative Thoughts | Gunebhyashcha paramvetti Giita Gunaaguneshu vartante
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