Self-contradictory Desires🔗

Desires can be self-contradictory. These fall in two categories.

• 1. Conceptually self-contradictory For example, you want to make a lot of money. For this you have to work day and night. On the other hand, you also have a desire to rest on the beach and relax every evening. Now both the desires are contradictory. If you try to fulfill one, the other one cannot be fulfilled. If you want to become rich, you need to work hard to make money. But at the same time, you cannot live a life of luxury because you need money to afford that life.
• 2. Inherently self-contradictory

For example, you have a deep desire to get rid of your smoking habit. You say, 'I want to get rid of smoking.' Or it could be that you have a headache and you keep telling yourself, 'I want to be free of headache.' Now, every time you say 'smoking' or 'headache', the experience of smoking or headache gets engraved deeper and deeper inside you, it gets strengthened. Instead if you say 'I am healthy', that is a straight desire, not self-contradicting.

Power of Words

The words we speak both outside and inside us, the thoughts that we radiate, are all very powerful. We underestimate the influence they have on us and others.

Let me give you a few examples of the power of words.

In his book The Hidden Messages from Water, the author Dr. Masaru Emoto talks about his novel experiments on water. He collected water samples from different sources and exposed them to various kinds of thoughts. Then he froze the water samples and studied their crystalline structure through a microscope with the help of high-speed photography. Thousands of these crystals were studied under tightly regulated conditions of temperature, cooling time and lighting.

Then he did various experiments on these water samples – playing different types of music to the water, talking to the water, reading out from ancient spiritual teachings, praying with a certain intention etc. He found that when the water samples were exposed to positive energy like healing music, positive words, positive thoughts, scriptural teachings etc, the water crystals that formed were very beautiful and graceful. The water exposed to negative feelings or thoughts did not form crystals but it formed an irregular structure which reflected the emotions of the person handling them.

Imagine, if words, sounds and thoughts can have this effect on water, what effect they have on the human body which is more than seventy percent water! Planet earth is also covered with over seventy percent water. Just imagine the tremendous effect our thoughts, words and intentions have on the planet and us!

This experiment actually inspired many people around the world to experiment with the power of words in many ways. For example, two containers of cooked rice were taken. To one container loving, positive words were spoken, and to the other container hateful, negative words were spoken. It was found that the container to which negative words were spoken grew mold much more quickly and abundantly than the container to which positive words were spoken.

Another real incident from history:

When Bharat was under British rule, the British soldiers found that when they carried water from the river Thames from England to Bharat in their ships, the water got spoiled even while on the ship. But when they carried water from the river Ganga back from Bharat to England, the water not only stayed fresh through the voyage, but also remained fresh until they consumed all of it back in England! When scientists studied this surprising phenomenon, they found that this fresh water from the sacred river Ganga in Calcutta which was worshipped by millions of people from around the world, had the natural properties of neutralizing harmful bacteria and purifying itself.

When ten minutes of speaking to a glass of water can change its very crystalline structure, imagine what will happen when billions of people stand in the river and sincerely pray, in a tradition that has been continuing unbroken for over thousands of years! Naturally they have left their prayerful thoughts as imprints on this water which is so energizing and self-healing. The whole river Ganga has become energized.

Create the Cognitive Shift

uddhared atmanaatmaanam naatmaanam avasaadayet

aatmaiva hy aatmano bandhur aatmaiva ripur aatmanah

In Bhagavad Gita, there is a beautiful sloka,

If you raise yourself by yourself, you are the best friend of yourself. If you don't do that, you are the worst enemy of yourself.

One more thing, even simple things which you change will make a difference in your life. Please understand, you don't know the power of simple changes which you can make. If you change simple things every day, small things every day, within a year or two, you will see great transformation. Suddenly, you will see the cumulative effect of those simple changes. Over a period of time they will cause a huge transformation.

For this cognitive shift to happen, you need to change your understanding. Change your understanding about yourself, the world and your life. You don't need to do anything else. It may appear simple. But when followed it will cause huge transformation. Then the cognitive shift happens effortlessly.