Most of your thoughts don’t originate within you. They’re part of a tempestuous ocean of thought-forms that constantly swirl around us. By understanding how they infiltrate into your mind, you can keep your attention where you want it!
You’re made up of several overlaid bodies, like Russian dolls. Your physical body is at the center. Beyond that are your emotional, mental and spiritual bodies.
First Contact
When a thought-form engages you, it first tickles your mental body. You aren’t responsible for the thoughts that initially arise in your awareness, since they pop in like uninvited guests. But you are responsible for what you do with them once they’ve gained your attention.
When a thought arises, decide if engaging with it at that time would make your life more wonderful. If so, feel free to play with it! If not, put your attention elsewhere. One approach is to focus on a different life-enhancing thought, such as the negative thought’s positive opposite.
Or you can choose a non-mental focus. These include passive breath awareness, or resting in the peacefulness of your heart.
As I was once vividly shown in an ayahuasca ceremony, each thought-form is a living etheric being. It wants to root itself within you and feed on your vital energy. If possible, it wants to use you to manifest its thought into physical reality.
Any engagement with a thought feeds it. This includes resisting it or trying to change it. What you resist persists! But if you shift your focus elsewhere, most thought-forms will soon leave for greener pastures.
Emotional Infiltration
Once you mentally engage with a thought-form, its next strategy will be to engage your emotional body. Any emotion will do, positive or negative. Once this happens, the thought-form has penetrated one level deeper, into your emotional body. It’s putting down roots.
The stronger your emotional reaction, the more energy you give the thought-form. If you feed it enough emotional energy, it can even take root in your physical body.
These thoughts can eventually become the basis of painful maladies. If a toxic thought festers long enough, its effects can even be fatal. On the other hand, a persistently cultivated life-affirming thought can help you live a longer, more joyful life!
To be an effective gatekeeper of incoming thoughts, you have to be able to hold witness consciousness. To do this, you have to be at a basic level of spiritual awakening.
Until then, your mental chatter will be beyond your control. You’ll feel swarmed, and won’t be able to consistently choose which thoughts hold sway in your mind. My Heal and Awaken Invocations have helped many people maintain this level of mindfulness.
Selective Focus
The quality of consciousness I hold on a daily basis has become very important to me. I’m now very selective about the stimuli I choose. I’m much more picky about music, movies, TV shows and websites. The same goes for the places I visit in person.
Far from making me feel deprived or limited, this way of living has tremendously enriched my life. The principle of “as within, so without” states that whatever consciousness I hold within me shows up in my physical experience. I’ve verified the truth of this for years, both in my life and in my clients’ life stories.
My thoughts profoundly influence my emotions and my body. Maintaining a routine, relaxed awareness over the thoughts I cultivate has helped me enjoy more harmony, ease and flow. I wish the same for you!
Hi Benjamin,
You really saved me a few years ago when I wrote to you for help with a difficult transit (Uranus conjunct moon and opposite sun). Now I am experiencing pluto square sun and moon as well as my chiron return.
Yes, I am one of the Uranus conjunct pluto generation born in ’65 and my life has been (still is) at times traumatising.
I have Neptune, Pluto/Uranus quincunx my moon and I have always picked up on energies that did not belong to me, but only realised it a few years ago when I wrote to you. As advised, I started to study Jungian Psychology on individuation. I was already reading about Astrology and found a local Hatha Yoga centre and began meditating. During this time I experienced some frightening numinous experiences (completely sober) and a swamiji quickly picked up on my energy and tried to guide me. In the end I had to leave because it all became too much and decided to go back to my catholic church (after many years) where I felt safe again and with a new understanding of my religion.
Anyway, what I have to add to your wonderfully helpful article on thought filtration is that in my experience these thoughts not only arrive from “the outside”, but also can be inherent within us and are passed on. That is they are intergenerational family emotions, embedded in our DNA. This is what I discovered when I studied my birth wheel (moon apex of quincunx in 4th house) of my birth chart. Some tribal people believe that trauma can be passed down through the generations and this is what I believe I have experienced.
Now that I have an awareness of my situation, I can manage my feelings, instead of being in denial, or use distractions or toxins to mask them. I have spent years living in solitude trying to find answers and I have come to some understanding, but still have a long way to go.
Thank you once again for sharing your love and wisdom.
Stumbled on your podcast and was pleasantly surprised. While I don’t usually use Chiron, Vesta, Ceres, I was able to keep up with you. Just think that the 10 planets and 12 houses plus aspects are enough to digest …to each his own. I studied with Isabel Hickey, in the late 60s and 70s. Her approach was spiritual and she let us know that the stars don’t control us, only influence us. Thank you for what you do and sharing your gifts with me and others. Love & Light, Ayesha