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Thought-Forms · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  When we examine the question of thought forms,
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  we recognize that people usually want to imply that
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  a thought is able to turn into some kind of physical
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  reality, purely through the power of thought. This
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  however is one element of the question, but not the
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  only element. Thought forms have a variety of
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  mechanisms for being created and effectuated. Whenever
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  we conceive of an idea, a plan, an invention, a
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  creative direction, we are creating thought forms at
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  the mental level, on the mental plane if you will.
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  These forms, in order to be
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  effectuated in the world, can act either purely on
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  the mental level, can influence and create a
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  force on the vital level, or can directly work on
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  creating a physical form. How
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  this happens is really the ultimate question. Most
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  people have a constant array of thoughts, flitting
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  in and out of their mind. They
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  generally have very little focus or power, and tend
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  not to go very far in terms of effectuation or
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  any detailed manifestation. Those
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  who focus on an effort of some sort, such as a
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  scientific, creative, artistic, emotional, vital
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  or physical activity, channel and concentrate
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  specific thought forms to carry out that effort. The
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  action may be developed through a process of
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  externalization, a communication process,
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  whether oral, written, or communicated through some
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  form of visual, tactile, or olfactory, etc. Converting
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  a thought form into any form of actual communication
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  in the external world is one means of effectuating
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  it. The great writers, composers,
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  artists of the world, functioned in this manner.
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  We can actually trace the
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  influence of particular thought forms through
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  history, when we work to identify, for instance, the
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  influence of Plato, the influence of the Vedic
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  Rishis, the influence of Confucius, the influence of
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  Shakespeare, and the influence of Leonardo Da
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  Vinci, Nicola Tesla, Albert Einstein, Shri Orobindo, or
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  any other individual whose work has clearly influenced
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  the development of humanity in a meaningful way.
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  Another method does not involve
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  external action, but rather the focus of the will
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  power, or the innate power of the mind to create
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  vibrations and disseminate them. The
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  action of the silent will is one that many people
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  have experienced through history, and people
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  sometimes remark about the intensity of a certain
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  person or atmosphere as that person is concentrating
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  his force. Certain spiritual traditions, such
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  as Tibetan Buddhism, put a strong emphasis on the
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  training and development of powers of mind, such as
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  through extensive and detailed visualization
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  processes as part of their practice. It
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  is reported that some advanced practitioners are
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  able to create an actual, physically visible or
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  palpable formation in this way. Tibet's
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  great yogi, Milarepa, was reported to have appeared
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  in a physical form and provided a last teaching
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  prior to his death to various disciples in diverse
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  locales, all at the same time appearing in his
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  rainbow body. The use of mantras has been
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  known to create intense thought forms, even when
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  not verbalized, that can influence events in the
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  world simply through the power of the concentrated
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  thought. The entire issue of the power
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  of a curse, or a blessing, on an individual revolves
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  around the power of thought. There
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  are instances recounted in the great scriptural texts
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  of how formations were consciously created to harm
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  another individual. If that individual was able to
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  reject that force, it would rebound upon the center, as
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  it had a power of effectuation that could not
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  be denied. It should be noted that
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  harnessing brain waves for an external result is now
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  an accepted part of Western medical science, as there
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  are advances that harness an individual's brainwaves
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  to operate artificial limbs or operate a computer. As
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  this science develops, it is certain to show that
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  brainwaves, in and of themselves, are powers
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  unseen yet real and effective in the world. A
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  disciple asks, quote, how can human thought create
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  forms, end quote. The mother notes, quote, in the
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  mental world, human thought is constantly creating
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  forms. Human thought is very creative in
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  the mental world. All the time when you are
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  thinking, you are creating forms, and you send them
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  out in the atmosphere and they go and do their work.
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  Constantly, you are surrounded by a
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  heap of small formations. Naturally,
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  there are people who can't even think clearly, so they
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  form nothing at all except faint eddies. But
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  people who think clearly are surrounded by a heap
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  of little forms, which sometimes go out to do
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  some work in others, and when one thinks of them
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  again, they return. And we have instances of people
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  who are troubled by their own formations, which return
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  constantly as though to take possession of them, in
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  which they can't get rid of because they don't know
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  how to undo the formations they have made. There
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  are more cases of this kind than one would think.
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  When they have made a
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  particularly strong formation for themselves, you see
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  relatively, this formation is always tied up with the
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  one who makes it and returns to knock at the
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  brain to receive forces and ends up by truly acting as
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  a necessity. It is a whole world to know
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  when truly lives in ignorance. One
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  has powers one doesn't know about, so naturally one
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  uses them very badly. One uses them somewhat
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  unconsciously and very badly. I
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  don't know if you've ever heard of Madame David Neal,
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  who went to Tibet and has written books on Tibet, and
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  who was a Buddhist, and Buddhists, Buddhists of the
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  strictest tradition, do not believe in the divine, do
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  not believe in his eternity, and do not
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  believe in gods who are truly divine, but they know
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  admirably how to use the mental domain. And
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  Buddhist discipline makes you a good master of the
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  mental instrument and mental domain. We
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  used to discuss many things and once she told me,
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  listen, I made an experiment. She
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  had studied a bit of theosophy also. She
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  said, I formed a Mahatma. With
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  my thought, I formed a Mahatma. And
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  she knew this has been proved that at a given
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  moment mental formations acquire a personal life
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  independent of the fashioner, though they are
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  linked with him, but independent in the sense
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  that they can have their own will. And
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  so she said to me, just imagine, I had made my
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  Mahatma so well that he became a personality
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  independent of me and constantly came to trouble
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  me. He used to come, scold me for
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  one thing, give me advice for another, and he wanted
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  to direct my life. And I could not succeed in
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  getting rid of him. It was extremely difficult. And
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  I didn't know what to do. So
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  I asked her how she tried. She
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  told me how she said he troubles me a lot. My
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  Mahatma is very troublesome. He
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  does not leave me in peace. He
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  disturbs my meditations. He hinders me from working.
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  And yet I know quite well that
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  it is I who created him and I can't get rid of
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  him. Then I said, that's because you
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  don't have the trick. Mother
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  laughs. And I explained to her what
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  she should do. And the next day, I used to
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  see her almost every day in those days, you see,
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  the next day she came and told me, ah, I am freed
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  from my Mahatma. Laughter. She had not cut the
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  connection because that's of no use. One
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  must know how to reabsorb one's creation. That
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  is the only way to swallow up again one's formations.
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  End quote. Reference,
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  Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, the Hidden Forces
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  of Life, Chapter 3, Hidden Forces Around, Pages 67 to
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  69.