Bohdi Sanders Teaches about the Mind

If you allow your emotions to control your thoughts, then there will be times when you are allowing anger, fear, passion, and frustrations to affect your actions. This can get you into some major trouble. The warrior must not allow himself to be controlled by emotions such as these. He has to make sure that his actions are guided by rational thought – not emotions.

Takuan Soho, the 17th century Zen master, pointed out that, “The mind deludes itself. In matters of the mind, you must stay on your guard.” This is very true. It is very easy for your mind to justify things in order to see things as you want them to be, instead of the way things truly are. You have to guard against this and always think rationally, seeing things as they are, instead of the way that you wish they were. As the Roman poet, Horace, explained, “Rule your mind, or it will rule you.”

When you allow your emotions to control your thoughts, you are essentially allowing your mind to rule you instead of you ruling your mind. Emotions can cause strong feelings and thoughts, and they have to be controlled. W. Clement Stone wrote, “When we direct our thoughts properly, we can control our emotions.” This is essential for the warrior. Acting on emotional impulse is seldom a wise choice. If you dwell on certain emotions, your thoughts will sooner or later turn into actions. Lao Tzu warned against this saying, “Be careful of your thoughts; they are the beginning of your acts.”

As you can see, taking control of your thoughts and your mind is not as simple as it may sound. It is easy for self-help gurus to tell people to control their thoughts and manifest what they want in their lives, but it is much harder to do this than these experts make it sound. It takes a lot of effort, concentration, and diligence to cultivate your mind and control your thoughts, but it is worth the effort.

Bohdi Sanders
excerpt from the #1 Bestseller,
MODERN BUSHIDO: Living a Life of Excellence