The four great mental powers

“A man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes.” (Mahatma Gandhi)

Enhancing your mind potential, or the potential of your thoughts, implies, above all, reviewing the beliefs your life is based upon. You cannot enjoy a fulfilled life unless you are willing to work with yourself and throw all your misbeliefs overboard. The sad thing is that, however destructive their thoughts may be, many people are stuck in their comfort zone.

According to Swami Sivananda, a famous Hindu monk and yogi who lived in the 20th century in India, there are four essential elements that can help us increase our mind power in a constructive and harmonious manner. Here is what we need:

1. Moral purity. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” is Jesus Christ’s urge to moral and physical purity. Why is purity so important? It is important because only those with a pure heart and soul are able to receive and filter the bright energies. The more open to novelty and to the greater good our souls are, the more we will allow positive energies to flow into our minds and souls.

Moreover, as Swami Sivananda says in his book “Thought Power”, purity can pave the way to supreme wisdom.

“Virtues like truthfulness, earnestness and industry are the best sources of mental power. Purity leads to wisdom and immortality.”

2. Concentration. The more focused your mind is, the easier it will be for you to develop your mind potential. Those who try to focus on several things at the same time will never be able to gather enough mental energy. Enhancing the power of thought requires maximum focus on a single object. “The more concentrated the human mind is the more power is brought to bear on one point. The rays of the mind are scattered in the case of the worldly-minded persons. There is dissipation of mental energy in various directions. For purposes of concentration, these scattered rays have to be gathered by the practice of concentration and then the mind must be made to turn towards God”, Sivananda says to support his theory.

You may also want to read: Improve your concentration with these 9 essential techniques

3. Organized thinking. When you set yourself a goal, it is important to order your thoughts and work out a strategy. You do the same when it comes to enhancing your mental power. You have to remove all random, disorderly thoughts, as they add no benefit to the process. You must focus all your thoughts on one subject. Never allow any distracting thoughts to enter your mind. Organized thinking is clarity. Clarity is power.

4. Will. Will is the key to anything you want to accomplish. Where there is a will, all things fall into place so that everything turns out the way you want it. Sivananda says that will is “the king of mental powers”. When will is involved, all the other powers come together to work for you: “Will is the dynamic soul-force. When it operates, all the mental powers such as the power of judgment, power of memory, power of grasping, power of conversation, reasoning power, power of discrimination, power of reflection and inference – all these come into instant play.”

The most important thing to remember is that the limitlessness of your power resides in the ability to control your thoughts. A chaotic mind is more likely to foster thoughts about disease, poverty, scarcity, and limitation rather than prosperity, health, and success. You can improve your health by using your mind power to become a more optimistic person. When you see the glass half-full, you deal with your problems more efficiently, because you focus on the positive things that happen to you and you do not remain trapped in whatever is not working. This is one reason why those who think positively are happier and live longer.

“Drive away from your mind all unnecessary […] thoughts. Useless thoughts impede your spiritual growth. […] You are away from God when you entertain useless thoughts. […] Entertain only thoughts that are helpful and useful.”

Explore more:
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7 ways to free your mind of negative thoughts

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