Our Life is Shaped by our Mind

In the opening verse of the Buddhist text the Dhammapada, Buddha declares with authority that 'Our life is shaped by our mind, we become what we think'. This quote, more than two thousand years after it was proclaimed is still, if not more relevant to our modern world.

This simple sentence is able to cross over the boundaries of ancient religion and philosophy to modern mental health and well being. To control the mind is one of the most challenging and most rewarding of humans tasks. Mahatma Ghandi one said; 'undertaking this kind of training requires the patience of someone trying to empty the sea with a teacup'.

There is no doubt that this statement is true, as I hope to demonstrate through this post. What I would add, something which modern psychology has uncovered, is that our upbringing and childhood environment has a very big part to play in bringing us to our present state of mind. The type of people our parent were, the neighbourhood we grew up in, our experience in the school system. All of these factors would have had an impact on our current state of mind.

So we need to inquire introspectively about this. Did our mind create the world, or did our world create our mind? One thing that we can be reassured by is that once we become aware of a truth like this, that our life is shaped by our mind, we must grab hold of the reins and start to take back control and responsibility for our thoughts and actions.

How we see the world determines the world we live in. If we see the world a a horrible place, we will be defensive and negative, wanting to attack before we are attacked. There is an ancient Hindu fable that paints a beautiful picture of what I am trying to say.

There were two men, one high-minded and generous, the other very selfish, who were sent to foreign lands and asked to tell what kind of people they found there. The first reported that he found people basically good at heart, not very different from those at home. The second man felt envious hearing this, for in the place he visited everyone was very selfish, scheming and cruel. Both, of course, were in the same land. We see as we are!

The full quote, as it appears in the opening verses of the Dhammapada is:

'Our life is shaped by our mind, we become what we think.
Suffering follows and evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draw it.
Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.'

When we go about changing ourselves and embarking on self-development, we have already begun to change the world. The Buddha says; 'Little by little we make ourselves good, as a bucket fills with water drop by drop'.

I hope this initial post of mine has given you some food for thought. A simple question to ask ourselves is how is my life? But a more important question would be, how is my mind?