The Hidden Meaning of “You Become What You Think” — A Spiritual Insight from Buddha
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Themes – Metaphysical, existentialism, mystical, spiritual
Well, you must have heard the saying “you become what you think”, which was quoted by Gautama Buddha. For years it has motivated everyone, especially students and youth admiring success. The quote inspires us to channel our thoughts in a positive direction in order to achieve what one dreams about. And that is what the quote says, that with time, practice and dedication, you become what you think about. Well that’s the general belief, but there is a deeper meaning to the saying, that no one talks about.
Budha was an enlightened person, again it’s something beyond our understanding and experience. But if we follow the spiritual texts that talk about enlightenment, they say an enlightened person doesn’t remain just a person or a being limited to the body and the brain, instead he becomes everything. In enlightenment, a being breaks the limited awareness of the body, brain and ego, and reaches a subtle world hidden within himself, which is the very fundamental unit of the entire creation. With that, he becomes everything he never was, and in that state, he is everywhere, with all knowledge at his access. Well, while that’s a different story, the point of saying this was to bring out Buddha’s mystical depth of perceiving the world, and hence to understand that he didn’t mean what we often summarize from his saying – “you become what you think”. What he actually meant was something timeless, deep and true to the core of existence.
Understanding the depth Buddha had reached, what he meant by the saying was, as you think of something, at that moment, you become that thing or the object of your thought. What it means is that when you think that you’re xyz (which is your name), it’s basically a thought or information in the brain and at that minuscule time when you’re thinking of it, you yourself become that thought, where nothing else remains in your knowledge. I repeat that it’s for that fraction of second until the thought remains when you become the object of your thought and as the thought changes to something like “how can I become my thought and not me”, by that time you have become this new thought and not the previous one.
Hidden Science behind "You become what you think"
Let’s understand this scientifically. When you think of something or perhaps an object, in your awareness and brain, for that fraction of a second, you’re only aware of that thing – that is your thought or the object of your thought. And for that fraction of a second you’re neither aware of your name, your existence, your body and nor of your surroundings. In that moment, all that you’re aware of is the object of your thought.
Moreover it would be wrong to say that you are aware of the object of your thought, as for that fraction of second, you’re not aware of yourself as well. And the moment you become aware of yourself, the object of your awareness and thought shifts to yourself, with nothing else in your awareness.
Hence, when your focus is on an object, all that exists is the awareness of that object or thought, and not even you exist for yourself for that moment. By the way, this is very much under the radar of science, and isn’t just a hoax or some sci-fi imagination.
Spiritual and Metaphysical Interpretations
Well if we see the same through spiritual and metaphysical lens, this happens and is possible – that is you becoming the object of your thought, only because you yourself at the core of your existence aren’t an object, instead you’re the free-flowing consciousness/awareness – that which creates everything and also experiences it. In simpler words, awareness is the only thing or more like the fundamental unit of existence, which creates everything in the creation including the observer and the observation – but still being the same unit at its core.
Hence, you yourself aren’t your body, your thought or any other object of thought, but as per our scriptures, you’re true awareness – that which knows and also becomes. Hence, you being that awareness, as you think, you mold into your object of thought, and then into the experience it creates, and then again back into yourself, where you experience all of this step by step, while all that remains is awareness changing shapes.
While this saying “You become what you think” very much came from our holy land, India, its real meaning has never been talked much. And at the same time, a western interpretation of the same has gained fame and light which says the same philosophy in different words that is – The observer is the observation.
Well it’s not something new when the western countries have picked up philosophies from our thousand year old scriptures and given them fancy names to sell to the world, but here, our point of interest it to emphasize on the real in depth meaning of what Gautama Buddha meant when he said “you become what you think”, unlike superficial meaning that has been fed to us for years
Well what do you think about this observation?
Don’t you think we ourselves should give emphasis to our wise old scriptures that hide science beyond our current knowledge and should give importance to understand the hidden meanings and science in their artistic and philosophical narratives, or shall we just follow the western science that depends more on instruments and materials than imaginative powers? Well even the great scientists like Albert Einstein,
Nikola Tesla and Mendeleev acknowledged the hidden powers of human imagination which is actually mysterious and mystical, or even after having such great scriptures that not only tell stories, but bestow the secrets of our existence through their artistic narratives, we should still follow the colonial footprints?
The choice is perhaps personal.
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