Let us continue with our examination of the different types of thought forms. We will start with hypnotism, which provides examples of the objectivity of thought forms. It is well known that the thought form of an idea may be projected onto a blank piece of paper and become visible to a hypnotised person. It may also be made so objective that the hypnotised person will see and feel it as though it were an actual physical object.
Many thought forms exist, more or less permanently, of characters from history, drama, fiction, etc. For example, popular imagination has strongly depicted characters and scenes from Shakespeare’s plays, Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, and fairy stories such as Cinderella and Aladdin’s Lamp. These thought forms are collective, having coalesced from the products of the imagination of countless individuals.
Children have vivid and capable imaginations, so books read by them are often well-represented in the world of thought forms. There are many excellent portraits that exist of characters like Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Winni the Pooh, and many others.
The thought forms evoked by today’s novels are not as clear as those from our ancestors’ works, such as Robinson Crusoe and Shakespeare’s plays. This is because people today tend to read more superficially and with less serious attention than before.
Now, let’s consider the effects of these thought forms on their creators and others.
As a person goes through life, they produce three classes of thought forms:
1. Those that are not centred around the thinker or aimed at any specific person but are left behind as a trail marking the person’s route.
2. Those that are centred around the thinker and follow them wherever they go.
3. Those that shoot straight out from the thinker, aiming at a specific object.
A thought form of Class I, being neither definitely personal nor especially aimed at someone else, simply floats detached in the atmosphere, all the time radiating vibrations similar to those originally sent forth by its creator. If the form does not come in contact with any other mental body, the radiation gradually exhausts its store of energy, and in that case, the form falls to pieces. But if it succeeds in awakening sympathetic vibrations in any mental body near at hand, an attraction is set up, and the thought form is usually absorbed by that mental body.
At the present stage of evolution, the majority of the thoughts of humanity are usually self-centred, even when they are not actively selfish. Such self-centred thoughts hang about the thinker. Most people, in fact, surround their mental bodies with a shell of such thoughts. They hover ceaselessly about them and constantly react on them. Their tendency is to reproduce themselves – that is, to stir up in the person a repetition of the thoughts which they had previously entertained. Many people feel this pressure upon them from within, this constant suggestion of certain thoughts, especially when they are resting after their labours, and there is no definite thought in their mind. If the thoughts are evil, they frequently think of them as tempting demons goading them into sin. Yet they are nonetheless entirely their own creation; people are their own tempters.
The constant repetition of certain thoughts plays a significant role in determining a person’s Prarabda or “ripe” karma. Continuously thinking about the same thing, such as seeking revenge, can lead a person to a point similar to that of a saturated solution. Just as adding more of the same substance to a solution causes it to solidify, a slight additional impulse can result in the commission of a crime. Similarly, persistently thinking about helping others may lead to an act of heroism when the opportunity arises.
A person may be astounded by their own actions, whether committing a crime or performing a selfless act, without realising that their repeated thoughts made these actions almost inevitable. Understanding these facts helps explain the age-old debate between free will and destiny.
Moreover, a person’s thought forms tend to attract similar thought forms from others. This can lead a person to draw in a substantial amount of energy from outside, and it is up to the individual to determine whether this energy is positive or negative.
Typically, each distinct thought creates a new thought form. However, under certain circumstances, a new thought on the same subject can merge with and strengthen an existing thought form. Prolonged dwelling on the same subject can result in the creation of a thought form with tremendous power. If the thought is negative, this thought form can become a harmful influence lasting for many years, resembling a real living entity.
A self-centred mindset tends to cloud our judgment and lead to prejudices. This mental filter affects how we see the world, distorting our perceptions. Until we have full control over our thoughts and emotions, we are unable to see things as they truly are. Our observations are coloured by the thought patterns we’ve created.
Aryasangha, also known as the Master Djwal Kul, DK to you and me, mentioned in The Voice of the Silence that the mind is “the great slayer of the real,” highlighting how our perceptions are influenced by the thought forms we create rather than the actual objects themselves. Some philosophers contend that there is no such thing as reality; life is subjective. If everything is composed of monadic matter, those monads are real to themselves, regardless of how you happen to perceive them.
When we think about others without any emotional involvement, our thoughts usually don’t have a noticeable impact on them. However, if there is a feeling, like affection, associated with our thoughts, these thought forms can extend from our mental bodies and attach themselves to the object of our feelings.
The thought is compared to a Leyden jar, with the elemental essence corresponding to the jar’s form and the thought energy to the jar’s charge of electricity.
If a person is currently in a passive state, or if they have active vibrations within them that are in harmony with those of the thought form, the thought form will immediately discharge itself upon them and, in doing so, will cease to exist. This has the effect of creating a similar vibration if none exists already or intensifying an existing one.
If the person’s mind is so preoccupied with other matters that there is no room for the vibration to enter, the thought form will linger around the person, waiting for an opportunity to discharge itself.
The sending of a thought form from one person to another involves the actual transfer of a certain amount of both force and matter from the sender to the recipient.
The difference between the effect of a thought wave and a thought form is that a thought wave does not produce a definite complete idea but tends to produce a thought of the same character as itself. A thought wave is much less definite in its action but reaches a wider audience. A thought form, on the other hand, conveys a definite, complete idea, transferring the exact nature of the thought to those prepared to receive it, but it can only reach one person at a time.
Thus, a thought wave is adaptable; for example, a wave of devotion would tend to arouse devotion in the recipient, although the object of the devotion might be different for the sender and the receiver. But a thought form would give rise to a precise image of the being for whom the devotion was originally felt.
If the thought is strong, distance makes no difference to the thought form. However, the thought of an ordinary person is usually weak and diffused and is, therefore, not effective outside a limited area.
“A thought form, such as love or a desire to protect, when strongly directed towards another person, goes to the person’s aura and remains there as a shielding and protecting agent. It will seek all opportunities to serve and defend, not through conscious action, but by blindly following the impulse impressed upon it. This thought form will strengthen friendly forces and weaken unfriendly ones that impinge on the aura. In this way, veritable guardian angels are created and maintained around those we love. Many a mother’s ‘prayer’ for a distant child works in this manner, circling around the child and acting as described.
Knowing these facts should make us aware of the enormous power placed in our hands. It’s possible that there may be cases where we might not be able to do anything for someone on the physical plane. However, we can still affect the person’s mental and emotional bodies, which are often more easily influenced than the physical body. Therefore, it’s always open to us to affect someone’s mental or emotional body through helpful thoughts and affectionate feelings. Given the laws of thought, it’s certain that results will occur, even though no obvious consequence may follow on the physical plane.
The student will understand that a thought form can only affect another person if that person’s aura contains materials capable of responding to the vibration of the thought form. If the vibrations of the thought form are beyond the limits of the person’s aura, the thought form will bounce off with a force proportional to the energy with which it is impacted. This is why it is said that having a pure mind and heart is the best defence against harmful attacks. A pure mind and heart will create mental and emotional bodies made of fine and subtle materials, which cannot respond to vibrations that require coarse and dense matter. This is the best way to repulse negative practices such as voodoo. If, on the other hand, you are convinced these practices will harm you, you set your vibrations in sympathy with the attaching thought form and it can discharge itself in your emotional and mental envelopes.
This is the positive half of the equation. In the next presentation, we will start by looking at the negative half.