Thought-Forms

The phrase of Thought-Forms was developed by Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater in their 1901 book Thought Forms, although the concept was present in early Theosophical literature.

Thought-Forms in the Mahatma Letters

In one of his letters to A. P. Sinnett, Mahatma K. H. writes:

Thoughts are things — have tenacity, coherence, and life, — that they are real entities.

This concept is further developed by the Master in a letter to A. O. Hume:

Every thought of man upon being evolved passes into the inner world and becomes an active entity by associating itself — coalescing, we might term it — with an elemental; that is to say with one of the semi-intelligent forces of the kingdoms. It survives as an active intelligence, a creature of the mind's begetting, for a longer or shorter period proportionate with the original intensity of the cerebral action which generated it. Thus, a good thought is perpetuated as an active beneficent power; an evil one as a maleficent demon. And so man is continually peopling his current in space with a world of his own, crowded with the offsprings of his fancies, desires, impulses, and passions, a current which reacts upon any sensitive or and nervous organisation which comes in contact with it in proportion to its dynamic intensity.

General description

Author Gus diZerega wrote,

I have tried to make the case that ideas are more important than we usually acknowledge. They are more than just fleeting flights of subjectivity that pass through our minds and are gone. Thought forms are ideas on steroids.

They are also our creations, though I suspect they have other sources as well.

Thought forms are dependent on the people who generate the mental energy empowering them. Good or bad, they are expressions of human creativity. Take away our energy and focus, and they weaken. Some are positive influences in our lives, and their relationship with us is symbiotic. Others are negative, and the relationship is parasitic because they depend on our anger and fear for their power; anger and fear ultimately weaken us mentally, physically, and spiritually.

According to Bulgarian philosopher Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov:

If there is one thing that is important for you to know, it is that every thought, even the most insignificant, is a living reality. Thoughts can even be seen, there are people who can see them. Of course on the physical plane, a thought is invisible and intangible, but it is no less real: in its own region and with its own subtle matter, it is a living, active being.

Rachel Goodwin adds,

Thoughtforms can be described as energetic patterns that exist within our aura, and they are created by our own thoughts. So if you have the thought, "I have all the energy I need, I have all the energy I need," with enough conviction and belief, you'll create a thought form who makes this so, and this newly created thoughtform will then live happily inside your aura.

This thoughtform will help you draw towards you all the circumstances you need to make it so...

You could say that thoughtforms are the spiritual equivalent to computer programs, and sub-routines, as they will keep running the same programme until the time where an intent and focus is made (by you) to change them.

Image from Thought Forms band website

Popular usage of the term

Thought Forms is also the name of a 3-piece band from Wiltshire, England, with albums released on Invada Records. An illustration from the book (Figure 17, Response to Devotion) appears on their website.

See also

• Elementals and thoughts
• Thought Forms (book)

Additional resources

Articles

• Thought Forms at Theosopedia.
• Thought-Forms (Their Limitations) by Hugh Shearman.
• Thought Forms by Samuel Hatfield.

Books

• Thought Forms by Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater
• Thought Power - Its Control and Culture by Annie Besant