Is thought a bait ?

 There was a fisherman who used to catch a lot of fish from an ocean. He used to throw a fistful of bait in the water. The fishes used to rush to the surface water to get the bait and the fisherman used to throw the net over them. A lot of fish were being taken away from the ocean. The fishes in the ocean were deeply upset because daily they used to lose their near and dear to the net of the fisherman. The helpless fishes finally went to a turtle at the bottom of the sea telling them about their problem and requested it to save them. The wise turtle who is well acquainted with the human beings reassured them and gave them an idea. 

One fine morning the fisherman came in his vessel for fishing. The fishes started executing their plan. The first shoal of small fish appeared in front of the fisherman even before he threw the bait. The fisherman was happy to throw the net and he captured them. He felt this catch is enough to fulfil his hunger for the day. He thought of returning and meanwhile a shoal of big fish appeared at a distance. He thought this catch will get him a lot of money to keep me happy for many days. He followed them into the deep sea. He threw the net again and caught them.  While he was about to return another shoal of colourful and attractive fish appeared in front of him at a distance. The fisherman thought that catching these fishes not only make him rich but also make him feel special in the market and among his friends. He rushed his vessel chasing them further into the deep sea. While he was trying to catch the fishes, he overlooked that his boat got into the whirlpool. The boat got trapped in the whirlpool and finally was wrecked. All the fishes escaped into the water. The fishes got rid of the fisherman by executing their plan.

 We try to sail into the meditation or relaxation just like this fisherman. Even before we relax for a minute, a thought comes into our focus. We try to fight with it or follow it. Meanwhile, another connecting thought takes over. The series starts with an internal dialogue, then a connecting visual image follows, then a series of vivid images follow which finally leads to an emotion. We try to evaluate, enjoy or fight with this series of thoughts and emotions. This is the start of the motivation and the end of relaxation.  

Imagine a boy trying to relax and a thought of examination strikes his mind.

 

The first shoal of the fish is like the thought which captures our attention and initiates the thought process. The second shoal comprising of large fish is like the imagery which makes attracts us more make us feel real about our thinking. The third shoal of the colourful and attractive fish is like the complex thinking and ideas to which we totally associate and gets entangled in the thought process. The emotion is like the whirlpool which finally takes over. The final objective of the shoals of the fish is to direct the boat towards the whirlpool. In the same way, emotion (pain or fulfilment) is the final endpoint of thinking.

Desire and Thought:

 The fishes asked the turtle "how did you make this happen?". The turtle said " The primary element which worked here is the never-ending desire of the fisherman. The desire of the fisherman drove the boat behind the fishes. Once his search for hunger is over the search for long term security started. When that is also fulfilled desire for social importance started. Without his greed, the fishes would not have been entertained by the fisherman. However, the series of shoals of fish are important in directing the boat to the whirlpool”. In the same way, desire is the driving force that entertains thoughts. If we sit in meditation without any desire, our focus does not encounter any thoughts. However, if we sit to meditate with a strong desire or fear for something. We encounter hundreds of series of thoughts and strong emotions. Our focus gets carried away by the shoals of thoughts and strikes repeatedly the whirlpool of emotions. We can say the desire is the driving force and the thought series is the directing channel. 

The fisherman would have been safe if he would have overcome the new desires driving him into the sea, or if he could have considered the possibility of the fishes deceiving him. A wise fisherman always keeps the track of the lighthouse he had left behind till he returns back to the shore. Always being conscious of the ephemeral nature of our body, relationships, pleasures, targets keep us in line with our source of creation. This consciousness like a light house to our transcendental journey.

The Buddhist philosophy proposes that the desire is the root cause for the emotion and suffering. Yogic philosophy emphasizes the unreal and deceptive nature of the thoughts, instincts, emotions. The process of the mind getting deflected by each thought is called "Vikshepa".  If a person has a strong desire, automatically he tends to attract the thoughts which serve to fulfil his desire. In the same way, if we take thought seriously, we tend to chase the thought and get trapped in the thought-emotion loop.

A fisherman in one or two attempts may understand that the fish didn't come for the bait but they themselves came as bait to distract him.  However, most of us regularly get distracted by the thinking process chase the thoughts, fall in the "thought- emotion loop” and experience one or other emotion striking our body and mind. This chase is never-ending and continues throughout life even after thousand experiences. Yogic sciences mention an entity that prevents us understanding the trap laid by a "desire" at one end and "thought- emotion loop" on the other end. It is called Avidya or Ignorance