The Journey to Sanskar Transformation and Self Transformation | English Video
Video Topic: The Journey to Sanskar Transformation and Self Transformation | How do thoughts arise? | What is thinking? | How are Sanskar formed? | How to change or transform old Sanskar? | Vritti and Sanskar
Content Creator: Waah Drama Waah Team
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Script:
How do thoughts arise? | What is thinking? | How are Sanskar formed? | How to change old Sanskar?
Has it ever happened that you woke up one morning, and something within you whispered to abandon all you had planned for the day, and to drift instead toward the woods or the shore – to ease a mind overwhelmed by the restless thoughts?
When was the last time you paused to ask why we keep repeating the same old patterns of behaviour, reliving the same emotions, that we silently wish to change?
Let me share a little story about two neighbors, John and Tim.
It’s past midnight. On a quiet night and after a long, tiring day on the farm, John is asleep in his cottage, unaware of the world around him.
Yet, in the shadows, some intruders move silently, unseen, slipping into his home.
Finding little of value, they drift to the house next door which belongs to Tim, and where Tim, too, is sound asleep, oblivious to the danger approaching.
As the intruders try to enter, something unexpected happens – a bright light spills across the darkness. The intruders, frozen by the sudden awareness that they are being watched and observed, panic and flee empty-handed.
Now, you might say, “It was the lights that startled them.” And yes, that is true. The simple act of being seen shifted everything.
But consider this: our human mind functions in much the same way.
Just as the intruders fled when confronted with the light, so do our certain thoughts and emotions disperse when we shine the light of our awareness upon them.
Would you like to try this yourself?
Let’s do a quick 10 second exercise.
Sit comfortably. Let your body relax. Take a few slow, deep breaths. Close your eyes.
Now for the next ten seconds, gently try to predict your very next thought.
Were you able to do it?
Perhaps not.
Notice what just occurred.
As your attention turned inward, as you simply watched your mind, it shifted.
Under gentle observation, it paused, even if only for a moment, becoming thoughtless.
You may ask, “What is the purpose of this exercise?”
A rather deeper question arises: “While I watched my mind and tried to anticipate my next thought, who was it within me that was observing, noticing its movement?”
That silent observer, the witness to all thoughts – that is your Awareness.
When was the last time you took a pause to examine your thoughts and your feelings?
Have you ever wondered what thinking really is?
Whether we call it planning, decision-making, analysing, or brainstorming – it’s all thinking.
The fact is we spend much of our life doing exactly this.
We know however that it is the quality of our thinking and the nature of our thoughts, which quietly shape the life we live – the choices we make, the paths we follow, even the people we attract into our lives.
Perhaps it is worth taking a pause to ask: “What is thinking? How do thoughts arise and from where do they emerge?”
Most of us would agree that thinking is a process of examining a thought.
Some might see it unfolding in three steps: First, a thought arises in our mind; Second, we explore it using our mental faculties such as intellect, memory, or reasoning; and Third, we decide whether to let it guide our actions or simply let it pass.
The final step often becomes a test of our determination and will, especially when the mind feels pulled in different directions.
Observe this bowl of water.
The moment an object is dropped into it, ripples form.
And when those ripples touch the walls of the bowl, they return, creating new ripples that move back toward the source.
In the same way, each time one of our senses – eyes, ears, tongue, skin, or nose – comes into contact with a person, object, or situation in the external world, it sends certain information back to the mind.
We can call this the First Contact.
A thought arises when the mind responds to the initial information from the First Contact by attaching a feeling – such as a like or a dislike, pleasure or pain, joy or sorrow etc.
On the contrary, if the mind does not respond, if no feeling is attached to the First Contact, even at the subtlest level, we remain in, what we may call, the Observing State.
However, the instant a thought emerges, the First Contact moves from a state of a ‘Pure Observation’ to an ‘Experience’ tied to that thought, which is then stored in our Memory.
Now if, at any point in the future, our mind receives a First Contact information similar to the one already stored in our memory in form of an experience, it revokes the Thought-Feeling-Action relationship associated with the past experience. At this point, the mind may perform either of the three steps: First, it may choose to consciously explore the old experience again through the lenses of intellect, and may decide to change the feeling associated with the past experience followed by a new action, and thus overwriting the old experience; or second, it may react instinctively and rush to undertake the same action again, influenced by the perceptions it holds; or else third, the mind may choose not to react at all or simply set everything aside for later. All this also happens each time our mind replays its own memories in our imagination.
Each thought leaves its own mark, an imprint on the mind, shaped by the feeling it carries.
These imprints are called Vritti (वृत्ति) which is a Sanskrit word.
The more we dwell on a particular thought, the stronger the connection becomes between the thought, the emotion held within it, and the actions it inspires.
And with time, as this Thought–Feeling–Action embodiment strengthens through repetition, it shapes deep impressions within the mind, forming what we call Saanskar – the subtle yet enduring inner formations that shape both our mind and how we experience the world around us.
By now, you may be wondering about how to interrupt and break free of such Thought–Feeling–Action bonds, the Saanskar, that quietly shape your personality and behaviour – some familiar, others still quietly hidden.
The answer is not to silence or push away a thought, but to watch each ‘Thought’ as it arises, examine it through the calm lenses of ‘Intellect’, and gently change the ‘Feeling’ it has carried since the First Contact.
As you watch a thought and gently shift the feeling it carries, a new and different action naturally follows – forming a new “Thought–Feeling–Action” bond.
With steady repetition, this new Saanskar begins to replace the old.
And as you guide this process with calm Awareness, you take the first step toward loosening the old bond, allowing the Saanskar to slowly dissolve itself.
Recall the 10 second exercise, and the story of John and Tim, both reminding us that Awareness, not resistance, creates change.
After all, we cannot delete our memories, but we can transform our relationship with them and reshape their influence.
You may ask: why certain thoughts naturally evoke specific feelings, while others trigger entirely different emotions?
An easy answer would be: It is only the nature of the thoughts you choose to host within your mind and the emotions you allow to dwell in the quiet chambers of your heart.
It is because each thought carries its own inherent qualities – its own hidden spell.
To illustrate this further, let us explore the four different types of thought:
In the upper realms of the mind the Crown Jewels, the ‘Positive Thoughts’ – the ones that uplift us, glide like beings of light.
Wherever they appear, the air shimmers with our soul’s default emotions: peace, love, bliss, joy, courage, and knowledge.
Their song is said to be the echo of a distant home our soul once knew.
Below the Crown Jewels are the Quiet Ones – the ‘Necessary Thoughts’, quietly guiding the everyday tasks of daily life. They walk through the landscape of the mind like robed sages – silent, steady and performing their tasks with the calm of monks.
Then come the Rowdy Ones – the ‘Wasteful Thoughts’ who dwell closer to earth – restless and noisy that often wander without purpose and leaves behind a trail of distraction, exhaustion and confusion.
Wherever they go, the playful and mischievous nature of The Rowdy Ones attract a shadowy darker tribe known as The Intruders – the ‘Negative Thoughts’, whose sole purpose is to stir and feed their masters – a powerful and ancient serpent clan.
Each member of this clan represents an emotion that dwell in the hidden corners of the mind, with each embodying a primordial force:
First is Maya, the Mother of Illusions, who bends reality by blurring the line between what actually is and what seems, and creates fear and doubt.
Ego, the patriarch, who shapes a fragile and temporary identity based on a false sense of self-importance.
Desire, the Firstborn, whose endless hunger stretches across lifetimes. Also referred to as ‘lust’, its cravings reach into futures not yet imagined.
Anger, the Fire-tongued guardian of the family, who turns clarity to ash with a single breath, each time anyone in the family is refused anything.
Greed, who is always seeking more than the world can give.
Attachment, the youngest among all in the family, tender yet possessive, clings to everything it touches.
Finally, there is Laziness who is always hungry for comfort, and who, by its sheer nature, never limits the active use of the body or undertake any kind of action or work.
You may now see: each thought is sustained by the emotion that nourishes it. And neither the Intruders – the negative thoughts, nor the dark emotions, survive under the light of pure Awareness – which is the inner light that reveals all shadows and illusions for what they are.
So next time you find yourself into the quiet embrace of nature, in the woods or by the shore, pause and notice which birds are singing in your mind, and allow your Awareness to connect with that source of light who’s mere presence keeps all intruders and dark emotions away.