How do i get rid of unwanted thoughts?
I am a close follower of Paramahansa Yogananda’s teachings and feel particularly close to Him. I also believe strongly in God and that i shall be guided to the right things in life.
Yet, i do have a tendency to think of unnecessarily thoughts/people/situations which i know will not have any significant impact on my life. But those thoughts keep coming to me and leave the fear of them manifesting.
Please help me as to how i can tackle this issue.
—Nandini, India
Dear Nandini,
You have expressed a problem we all have. We are used to letting our minds run our lives. Please do watch the Sunday Service that was given by Nayaswami Devarshi this last weekend when it is online. He talked a great deal about concentration, determination and energy.
Of many things that you can try to stop these thoughts is immediately when they start coming to deflect them by turning your mind to very positive thoughts, to seeing the guru in your mind, to reading something uplifting, to repeating an affirmation. There are so many things that you can do to keep from thinking about these negative tendencies. The trick is to recognize that you are starting to have them and do something right away that will take you to a positive place. This all takes concentration and determination to succeed.
Another way is to surround yourself with spiritual reading, watching spiritual videos, conversing with spiritual people. Also to absorb and converse with the Ananda group near you. You can find one by looking at the anandaindia.org website and write to them. Get involved in this Sangha and serve with them. Serving others is a great way to keep your mind active in the right way.
Many blessings to you,
Seva
