Thoughts taken captive

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
–2nd Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, Ch. 10:v. 5
When thoughts arise, then do all things arise. When thoughts vanish, then do all things vanish.
  – Huang Po

Sri Easwaran approaches the topic of thought control from the perspective of taking time off and simply stopping the thought process. He elaborates: “When meditation deepens, and the thinking process slows down, we will find that we don’t have to think all the time. It sounds simple, even scary, but it is a mighty achievement that yields unimaginable peace. Thoughts are no longer compulsive.“

Paul comes at it in subjecting our thinking to the “mind of Christ”. These two perspectives are similar and lend credence to one other. In my understanding, they are quite the same—in that one must allow the Spirit within to control the thoughts that we “employ”. It is the spiritual gift of self control. Sometimes it requires us to simply be quiet. Other times, with the Spirit that says, ‘I can do all things through Christ’, we can capably employ our mind to focus on a topic or project of importance to ourselves and others.

Easwaran elaborates with an analogy: “Just as we turn the key in the ignition of our car when we want to go somewhere, we should be able to find the ignition switch in our own mind. When we want to think constructively we switch the mind on and drive all the way to Los Angeles without any detours or breakdowns. Anger is a breakdown. Resentment is a protracted detour that often makes us forget our original travel plan entirely and then leaves us out of gas in the middle of nowhere. But when we know where to find the ignition switch, we can start the mind out in Seattle on Interstate 5 and drive straight through to Los Angeles. We have a wonderful trip, and when we arrive and our project is completed, we switch the mind off and let it rest. There may be a certain pleasure in letting the mind wander, but for how long? What the spiritual teacher asks us is simple: Don’t you want to decide your destination? And don’t you want to get there with your body still healthy and your mind at peace? “

This analogy of Sri Easwaran is, to me, taking thoughts captive. To the degree that we exercise self control and “put on the mind of Christ”, thereby effecting willpower over what we think, the more we begin to allow Christ’s character to be manifest in our interactions with others.

For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ. I Corinthians 2:16

May Christ so inhabit my heart, mind and soul so that this thought oversight is true more and more as the days he gives on this earth are opened-- as a gift…with thanksgiving.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

You can do it! Yes you can.

Image
I claim to be an average man of less than average ability.I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith. -Mahatma Gandhi So, are you willing to give it your best? In this transformation of the small i's to the Real I, the essence, are you willing? to do the Work? Resolve to awaken to the inner motivations of the small self within. Observe yourself. Put some separation between you and your small self/ego. Observe your own behavior, thoughts, actions, motivations. Let the Spirit filter the way you respond to stresses from outside. For the Word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two edged sword, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart-----------your heart! Who is The Living Word? The logos? You know.
Read more

Baylor has need of Christ’s wisdom

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can not serve both God and Mammon.” We ( Baylor - as a university community which says its follows Christ) have blindly served mammon, with the other schools in Texas…and look where it has taken us. Now money is driving the conference groupings even more than before- in 1995. Where will this lead? Texas—that is the University of Texas at Austin, is the driving force of the ‘we deserve more money’ movement. Fair enough, that is as it probably should be. UT is a dominant force in NCAA athletics. It is a secular school. It has absolutely no ties to the Gospel, other than the Gospel’s influence on our culture. Although far less in influence, the same goes for our militaristic land grant school, and our state’s other outpost, which defies description. But Baylor—why do we follow them? We say we are of Christ . I question that. Especially ...
Read more

Handling God's blessings with care

It is permissible to take life's blessings with both hands provided thou dost know thyself prepared in the opposite event to take them just as gladly. This applies to food and friends and kindred, to anything God gives and takes away. -Meister Eckhart In order to live in freedom, we must learn to accept a temporary disappointment, if necessary, when it is for our permanent well-being. Sometimes, when we want to eat something that appeals to us, or when we want to eat a little more than is necessary, we can't help feeling disappointment as we push away from the table. We cannot help thinking that we could as well have stayed on for five more minutes of pleasure, forgetting that it would probably be followed by five hours of stomachache at night. The right time to get up from the meal is when we want just a little more. This is real artistry, real gourmet judgment: when we find that everything is so good that we would like to have one more helping, we get up and walk away. ~Easwa...
Read more