Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan here concluded his lecture on the forms of thought and imagination. The previous post is here.

There is no doubt that the picture of thoughts is made by the impressions of the mind. If the mind has had no impressions, then thoughts will not be clear. For instance, a blind person who has never in his life seen an elephant will not be able to form an idea of an elephant because his mind has no form ready to compose it at the command of his will. For the mind must know it first in order to compose it. Therefore, the mind is a storehouse of all forms that a person has ever seen.

One might ask, ‘Cannot a form be reflected upon a blind person’s mind?’ Yes, but it will remain incomplete. If a thought is projected onto a blind person, he takes only half of it, for he will not have that part that he should give from his own mind and so he only takes the reflection which is projected upon him. Therefore, he has a vague idea of the thing, but he cannot make it clear to himself because his mind has not yet formed that idea.

The form of a thought which the mind holds is reflected upon the brain and made clearer to the inner sense. By inner sense we mean the inner part of the five senses. For it is outwardly that these five organs give us an idea of five senses; but in reality, there is only one sense. Through the five different outer organs, we experience different things, and this gives us the idea that there are five senses.

There are visionary people who have conceptions of the different colors of thoughts, imaginations and feelings. This is symbolical rather than astral. The color of a thought corresponds with the condition of the mind. It shows the element to which the thought belongs. It shows whether the thought belongs to the fire element, to the water element or to the earth element. This means that it is the feeling that is behind the thought that produces its color around it as an atmosphere surrounding it. When such visionary people see the thought-form in the form of color, it is what surrounds the thought, it is the atmosphere of the thought, and this is according to the element belonging to that thought.

A thought connected with earthly gain is of the earth element. A thought of love and affection represents the water element, it is spreading out sympathy. A thought of revenge and destruction, hurt and harm represents fire. A thought of enthusiasm, courage, hope and aspiration represents air. A thought of retirement, solitude, quiet and peace represents ether. These are the predominant characteristics of thought in connection with the five elements.

The form of a thought is also its effect, its effect upon the form and expression of a person, for a thought has a particular language that manifests as a kind of letter, if one could read it. This language can be read in the face and form of a person. Everyone reads this to a certain extent, but it is difficult to define the letters, the alphabet of this language. There is one mystery that opens a door into the thought-language and that is the vibrations – what direction the vibrations take. A thought works upon and around a person’s form and becomes manifest to the eyes upon his visible being. There is a certain law that governs its work, and that law is the law of direction – whether the forces are going to the right or to the left, upward or downward. It is this direction of the vibrations of thought that produces a picture, so that a seer can see this picture as clearly as a letter.

No doubt for a seer it is not necessary to read the thought from the visible form of a person because he cannot be a seer if he is not open to reflection. Every thought is reflected in him, and this makes things even clearer. Besides that, he need not see the picture of the thought on its visible form in order to know it, as the atmosphere tells him. The thought, itself, calls out, ‘I am this thought!’ – whatever it may be, for thought has a language, a voice, a breath and a life.

To be continued…