‘it is highly important that the thought the mind entertains be useful to the thinker and produce useful influence for the whole creation, both present and future.’
—Maharishi

Useful and creative thought—thought that has constructive purpose
by Global Good News staff writer
29 January 2010

In his book The Science of Being and Art of Living, Maharishi explains many different areas of life in the light of the knowledge and experience of Being, Transcendental Consciousness, our own unbounded Self.  

In this third article covering the ‘Art of Thinking,’ Maharishi speaks about useful and creative thought. He explains that in the process of its origin and development, every thought needs life energy. Life energy is consumed while the thought is created, and as it develops, the thought is appreciated at the conscious level of the mind. ‘If the thought is not useful, life energy consumed is wasted,’ Maharishi said. 

He explains that because some energy has been consumed, it must produce an influence in the surroundings. ‘If this influence is not useful and creative, it will be useless or even harmful.’ 

Maharishi describes daydreamers as those who ‘continuously think, often having a long chain of thoughts which has no bearing upon practical life and only serves to exhaust the mind.’ Daydreamers are left to become impractical and wasteful thinkers, ‘who lose precision and the power of decision in life, to remain in that state of indefiniteness which is a total waste of life energy. 

‘Therefore,’ Maharishi continues, ‘it is highly important that the thought the mind entertains be useful to the thinker and produce useful influence for the whole creation, both present and future.’  

Thus, when we become aware of the scale of influence of our thoughts, it is even more important that our thinking is both useful and creative—that it has a constructive purpose rather than holding us in the boundaries of non-achievement or even damaging influence both for ourselves and others. 

A useful thought means that it should be creative and have a constructive purpose in life. ‘A thought is entertained by the mind in order that it may be developed and made use of in the fulfilment of some desire,’ Maharishi states.  

He also points out that thought is only an earlier state of action. ‘If the thought is useful, then the action will be useful and there will be a positive gain from it.’ 

It would be far more beneficial for the mind ‘to remain contented in the bliss of its own Being rather than to entertain useless thoughts,’ Maharishi continues. If the mind is established in the state of contentment in the field of Being, through practice of Transcendental Meditation, ‘then the thought that is right and useful, either for the thinker or the surroundings, will naturally arise in the mind.’ 

To have one such useful thought is ‘far more valuable than to waste mental energy in entertaining innumerable useless thoughts one after the other.’ 

The art of such thinking lies in the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation, which cultivates the state of Being in the very nature of the mind ‘so that it is always contented in the bliss consciousness of absolute Being.’ 

Remaining thus contented, the mind only entertains useful thought, Maharishi concludes—‘thoughts that will spring to fulfil the need of the hour for the doer and for all in the surroundings—thoughts that will fulfil the purpose of evolution of the doer and of the entire cosmic life.’

© Copyright 2010 Global Good News®