{"id":1181,"date":"2025-08-07T17:51:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T17:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/?p=1181"},"modified":"2025-08-07T17:53:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T17:53:34","slug":"cultivate-peace-of-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/inspirational\/cultivate-peace-of-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultivate Positive Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a nothing evil in this World. Thinking makes it so.<\/em> – Swami Sivananda<\/p>\n

Every thought has an image, form, dimension, weight, shape, colour, etc.<\/p>\n

Thought is as much matter as a piece of stone.<\/p>\n

Whatever you see outside has a counterpart in the mind. The pupil is a small round thing in the eye and the retina is another small structure in the eye. How is it that the image of a big mountain, seen through that small aperture, is cast onto the mind? How does the big form of the mountain enter a tiny hole in the eye? This is a marvel of marvels. The image of the mountain already exists in the mind. The mind is like a big, vast sheet of canvas that contains all the pictures of the objects seen outside.<\/p>\n

Thought moves and passes from one person to another. Thought readily influences people. A person with strong thoughts can readily influence people with weak thoughts. Telepathy is a branch of occult science wherein the yogi can transmit messages to any person in any part of the world.<\/p>\n

A thought of anger or hatred sends arrows from the mental factory towards the person aimed. It harms the individual, sets up discord and disharmony in the thought world. The key here is that thought returns to the sender and harms them also.<\/p>\n

If one can understand the effect and power of thought, they will be more careful in the manufacture of their thoughts in their mental laboratory.<\/p>\n

Develop positive thinking. Develop only Sattvic (pure) thoughts using mental discipline; eat a Sattvic diet; repeat Sattvic chants with meaning; rest in the company of Sattvic persons; study divine books; exercise Japa – repetition of God’s name; meditate; practice Pranayama – yogic breathing and practice prayer.<\/p>\n

A good person can help their friend by sending good thoughts, even though they live a long way away. Do not allow evil thoughts to enter your mental factory. Always watch your thoughts. Avoid useless random thinking, gossip and opinions – that is the Ego living inside your mind. Conserve your mental energy.<\/p>\n

To cultivate sublime thoughts always keep yourself occupied in doing virtuous deeds and in the study of religious books. Destroy random thinking. Think of only one subject at a time. When you do this, never allow any other thought to enter the conscious mind. Again and again, withdraw the mind to the subject on hand. Then take up another thought when you have exhausted the previous one.<\/p>\n

By this practice you will develop organized thinking. The mental images will gain intense strength and force. They will become clear cut and well defined.<\/p>\n

Positive Aids to Peace of Mind
\n<\/strong>1. Do Not Criticize Anybody or Anything
\n2. Be Humble
\n3. Forget and Forgive
\n4. Do Not Aspire for Worldly Things
\n5. Never Be Jealous
\n6. Purify Yourself
\n7. Become Self Reliant
\n8. Meditate
\n9. Do Something Positive Each Day
\n10. Never Regret
\n11. Make Others Happy
\n12. Introspect to See Right Direction
\n13. Preya And Shreya
\n14. Reduce Your Wants
\n15. Do Not Disturb the Peace of Others
\n16. Grow Spiritually
\n17. Mind Your Own Business
\n18. Never Argue
\n19. Have No Expectation
\n20. Gain God\u2019s Friendship
\n21. Pray to God
\n22. Obey the Will of God
\n23. Believe Utterly in the Unreality of the World<\/p>\n

From the DLS article by Swami Sivananda – How to Cultivate Right Thinking<\/a> and article by Sri N. Ananthanarayanan – Positive Aids to Peace of Mind<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a nothing evil in this World. Thinking makes it so. – Swami Sivananda Every thought has an image, form, dimension, weight, shape, colour, etc. Thought is as much matter as a piece of stone. Whatever you see outside has a counterpart in the mind. The pupil is a small round thing in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1184,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,5,15,12],"tags":[23,20],"class_list":{"0":"post-1181","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-5-points-of-yoga","8":"category-inspirational","9":"category-positive-thinking-meditation","10":"category-proper-diet","11":"tag-sri-n-ananthanarayanan","12":"tag-swami-sivananda"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1181"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1189,"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181\/revisions\/1189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}