By Shriram S:
The importance of Will Power cannot be undermined. That is what separates the great from the good. The Great dream! Dreams are naturally occurring steroids that keeps us going forward. Dreams can precipitate thoughts. And thoughts, if strong, can take a physical form.
Science calls it as Thought Form. Such strong recurring thoughts, beyond a certain threshold, manifest themselves through physical identities. I believe God is the best example of Thought Form. God is but a manifestation of our beliefs. Our beliefs are formed over time, influenced by factors such as the way we are brought up, our cultural values and so on. These become stories when passed on from one generation to another.
Over time, such stories (in both oral and written form) become epics and myths. Our human mind constantly sifts through these stories and beliefs by organizing and re-organizing them. This helps our mind create underlying pattern(s) that later becomes a beacon light for us. It formulates the value system that guides us in forming attitude and opinion about myriad things. One such (highly encouraged) side effect is that of our ability to define so many things around us, ranging from the trivial and mundane to the sophisticated.
God is one such definition. These definitions help us lead a life without any cognitive and affective dissonance. So Dreams, I daresay, can spawn the entire fabric of human society by weaving together these solitary thoughts buried within each of us. Going by this definition, I think, God should now be seen as a social entity spawning multiple cultural ‘beliefs’.
So where then is the Dream Factory? Heart or Mind? We’ll look at it at the next article in the series.