Page 162 - Courage Redifined

to some thoughts related to our scriptures or start chanting
Navkar Mantra to stop such unwanted thought process. With
such efforts, he will change to good acts and thus, stop the
sinful acts exercised by him.

Haven’t you experienced this ?
You happen to glance upon a beautiful lady wearing revealing
clothes and get carried away in wrong thoughts for a moment.
But then if you make right efforts and direct your mind
thinking that, “Why did I get lost in such unwanted thoughts ?
Am I an evil and wicked man ?” It can stop your sinful
thoughts and acts. Who stopped these unwanted thoughts ?
If Karma was actually responsible for the emergence of
the sinful thoughts and acts, then how can it stop them ?
It was the soul’s purushartha which stopped the sinful act.
This proves that karma leads to the desire for exercising sins
but purushartha is responsible for the thoughts, action and
speech in that direction. Purushartha is dependent solely on
an individual. Hence, if an individual makes right efforts, then
it will lead to pure acts, thoughts and speech, while if one
makes wrong efforts, then it will give rise to sinful thoughts,
acts and speech.

Now one can counter argue that,
Though the development of thoughts related to religion are
dependent on purushartha, but the sinful thoughts are dependent
on karmas. Is it ? No, it is also dependent on purushartha.

What are thoughts ? The activity of the mind. Just as speech
is the action of the tongue and behaviour is the action of the
body, thoughts are the acts of the mind. How does karma
function here ? Karma provided a body to perform a task,
a tongue to speak well and a mind that can think. Now to
engage the body, tongue and mind in the right direction is
the work of the soul.

152 Courage Redefined