Mental Formations and Their Application

There is an occult tradition that a practitioner of certain arts can create a formation, send it out to act upon another individual, and thereby succeed in achieving his objective with that other person. The stories mostly revolve around sending forces to harm another individual, and they point out clearly that the formation, so developed, goes to do its work, but if it fails and gets rejected by the intended victim, it comes back on the originator with considerable force. It is a cautionary tale on using this type of formation, whether a mental formation or harnessing of a vital force or being, to inflict harm on someone.

There are tales of Tantrics who have carried out certain practices to undermine individuals in a similar manner. A respected elder told the tale how someone decided to take down his company and steal away the business, and in order to do so, the perpetrator hired a tantric practitioner of the black arts to do so. This elder was himself a spiritual practitioner and well-trained and under general protection of his Guru, so he was able to avoid the worst consequences, but nevertheless could feel the pressure involved.

Another individual reported that while he was engaged in a litigation matter with a large corporation, he would go into the courtroom ahead of the proceeding and, with full devotion and concentration, he would pay homage to the Divine Mother and chant the Devi Mahatmyam to create an atmosphere for the truth to come out. In one such instance, he reported that the witness for the other side actually broke down on the witness stand and admitted to the actual facts which the corporation had been hiding. The atmosphere in the room was palpable and the result was clear.

For most people, things do not approach the type of focus and intention that is evidenced in the above examples. Passing thoughts generally have little impact, but if someone becomes angry, or holds a grudge, and decides to focus on inflicting harm to someone, then the formation can be created and when that happens, it moves out into either the mental sphere or the vital sphere (depending on the type of formation) and the vibration is set loose in the world and is at that point, no longer tied to the individual who focused on it, but becomes an independent vibration. We can understand this with the concept of tossing a stone into a pond. Once the stone leaves one’s hand, it is independent and creates whatever ripples may ensue without further involvement or action of the person who released it.

Because there is time and change of focus involved from the moment of the formation being released, and the realisation of its results, and because most people do not see the “cause and effect” relationship of creating a formation that leads to a later result somewhere else with another individual, and because people tend not to fixate for long periods of time on a specific formation going to work, the occult action that takes place behind the scenes is, for the most part, not recognised nor acknowledged, and therefore, not generally consciously wielded, for good or ill. People are mostly oblivious to the power of mental formations as a result, and they do not generally therefore undertake to learn the techniques, make the efforts and practice them until they can manage the formation process in an effective way.

Some people have a natural talent (or perhaps it is the fruit of practice in past lifetimes) to create such formations, and in some cases they use it to either succeed in what they are doing, possibly to help others, and in some cases to exercise power over others, inculcate fear, and dominate their energies. Cult leaders frequently fall into this category. Some individuals who have limited or very little of such power pretend to wield those powers in order to achieve fame or notoriety, and they tend to eventually have their pretense exposed.

Of course, not all formations are negative or hostile, so a similar approach to send blessings or support or healing to others can have a similar result or impact. This is perhaps one of the methods used by those who have the power to bestow blessings or to carry out healing on others. A mental formation may be created that carries healing and protective vibrations to the individual who is the intended recipient, and this shores up the individual and helps him withstand whatever force is trying to disrupt his energy. The Tibetan Buddhist practice of the Kalchakra Mandala involves a collective effort to build both a sand mandala of intricate detail, accompanied by many days of chanting and prayers and the creation of a collective formation that generates considerable force.

The Mother observes: “When you have a thought, a well-made mental formation which goes out of you, it becomes an independent entity and continues on its way and it does that for which it was made. It continues to act independently of you. That is why you must be on your guard. If you have made such a formation and it has gone out, it has gone out to do its work; and after a time you find out that it was perhaps not a very happy thing to have a thought like that, that this formation was not very beneficial; now that it has gone out, it is very difficult for you to get hold of it again. You must have considerable occult knowledge. It has gone out and is moving on its way…. Supposing in a moment of great anger (I do not say that you do so, but still) when you were in quite a rage against someone, you said: ‘Ah! couldn’t some misfortune befall him?’ Your formation has gone on its way. It has gone out and you have no longer any control over it; and it goes and organises some misfortune or other: it is going to do its work. And after sometime the misfortune arrives. Happily, you do not usually have sufficient knowledge to tell yourself: ‘Oh! It is I who am responsible.’, but that is the truth.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Powers Within, Chapter II Power of Thought, pp. 10-11