Yoga And The Web - Words And Thoughts Caught In The Web Forever?
August 11th, 2008 10:37 pmI had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine just a couple of days ago. Her daughter, who is only 12 years old, wanted her own personal website. After a lot of family discussions it was decided that she was going to have her own site. There would be strict rules attached in regards to the management of the site.
One of the things her mother said to her was: “Remember, once you put something out there onto the web, once it is published, it is out of your control, you cannot take it back, no matter what you do.”
I had never really thought about the web this way. I suppose the word “web” says it all. Think of the spider web - whatever gets trapped in there doesn’t ever get out. If it is not eaten straight away it gets wrapped up and conserved by the resident spider to be consumed another day.
It suddenly dawned on me that removing something from my blog or site does not really remove it from the web or the world. Whatever I write will possibly stay out there forever. Quite a scary thought. What if I change my mind about something? Of course it also depends on how widely read my blog is, but nevertheless an article could circulate in weird and wonderful ways till the end of time. (or till the end of civilisation as we know it!)
The lesson is: only write and publish things that you can live with, that are in harmony with your being, your philosophy, your way of thinking and that do no harm to other beings in any way.
Of course the same goes for thoughts, words and deeds. Once a word is spoken, a thought is thought or you have done something it also cannot be taken back, cannot be undone. You might think that at least words or thoughts are not written and there is no trace left.
Yogic thinking is very different. Everything is energy, also thoughts and words. Very focused thoughts and strong intentions are particularly powerful. Once you send your words and thoughts out into the ether, they take on a life of their own. Beware especially of negative thoughts and words. Don’t put them out there. In a way they are going to be out there forever too, just not as tangible as something that I publish on the web. The energy of those thoughts and words may be changed into something else but in essence energy never gets lost, just transmuted.
Somewhere I once read that it was lucky that most people only had fairly muddled, shallow and scattered thoughts. Those thoughts were out there, floating around and muddying the waters so to speak, but they were not powerful and therefore didn’t do much damage. They never amounted to anything much. In contrast, laser-sharp focus and clear, directed thoughts were extremely powerful and always created tangible results. For this reason you have to be very careful what you wish for….
I heard all this a long time ago, long before it became “fashionable” to think that way. I firmly believe that the mind and the web are very powerful tools for creating all sorts of amazing results. Just use them wisely.
Till next time
Connie
Your Yoga Partner
from
