Cleansing the Mind: Redefining Evil Thoughts

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him." ~ Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. Wow; ponder that for a millennia! Imagine the truth in this statement...what we think begets what we attract into our lives. However, few people think truly evil thoughts. Why then, do so many people have (bad) pain in their lives? Perhaps our definition of "evil thoughts" needs to be broadened. In the story of Buddha, just before Buddha's enlightenment, the demon Māra became afraid of what Buddha's enlightenment would mean. He though it would mean the end of power, the end of his hold over humanity, the end of everything he held dear. So Māra tempted Buddha in many ways. This portion of the story of Buddha helps to explain what an evil thought is. It is not the temptation of beautiful women, as Māra tried to tempt Buddha with his sexually alluring daughters. No, evil thoughts are those that would cause negative impact upon one's self or others. The thought of sex with a sexually alluring woman, or many of them, is not an evil thought in and of itself; forcing oneself upon upon them is, however. Thinking about killing an animal in order to eat and survive is not an evil thought; thinking about torturing it first, however, is. Let us take this a bit further. Thinking about how we can manipulate others into supporting us financially is an evil thought, but acting in the role of a salesperson is not. Unless of course, you are convincing people to buy things they do not need or want. Ah, then this is an evil though process! One may think, “what harm does it do? They have money to spend!” But do they? Are you certain? Could that money be better spent elsewhere? If you have to convince people to buy your product, you may want to have a good look at your motivations and thought processes. It wouldn’t hurt to look at the motivations of the company you are working for as well. This line of thought can be carried more broadly, but I think my point is clear. Imagine if we examined our thoughts with this new definition of "evil thoughts." How many of us would be guilty of evil thoughts with this expanded definition? How many of our thoughts would be considered evil thoughts? What if we made a conscious decision, coupled with continued effort, to think pure thoughts? Although this sounds like a daunting task, it is truly not hard. When we have a thought, analyze it. Does it imply harm to one's self or to another? If so, can it be re-phrased to not imply harm? If so, do it; if not, discard it and think of something in a positive and pure view. Having “evil thoughts” does not make one evil, but work on oneself to remove evil thoughts brings us closer to pure minds, to pure hearts.