From Emptiness to Fullness* Thought → Attention → Rhythm → Action — the simple path of *As the thought, so the shape*

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Look carefully at the image above. It shows only four steps:

Śūnyatā → Bindu → Rhythm → Form

Emptiness → Point → Rhythm → Form

What follows is the detailed, explanatory version of that picture.

What you saw in the image, you will now read in detail.

Sadguru Shri Vamanrao Pai says:

*As the thought, so the shape* because *it is the natural tendency of thought to move toward form.*

This is not just an inspiring line; it actually works on all three levels — mind, body, and action. Our aim is not to keep this principle in the head, but to bring it into living.

The journey of a thought till it becomes a shape/result is very contemplative, graspable, and illuminating. It goes somewhat like this:

• First there is a state of emptiness — no thought has yet arisen, there is only a quiet inner space.

• In that emptiness, a point appears — that is, a seed-thought shows up.

• That point vibrates — we begin to think that same thought again and again at small intervals.

• Just as, on paper, a line emerges from a point, and many lines together become a shape,

in the same way, repeated thinking catches a rhythm, and

• the moment that rhythm gets connected to action, that thought takes on a concrete form.

In short:

Emptiness (pre-thought state) → Point (intention) → Vibration/Rhythm (repetition) → Action → Form

1) *First Principle: From Śūnyatā to Form*

The ancient utterance “eko’ham bahusyām” — “I am One, and I shall become many” — contains inside it the entire process by which creation takes form.

• Shiva = Emptiness (the ‘not-yet’):

Emptiness is not a void; it is the silent, awake ground of all possibilities — that alert, quiet space before a thought arises.

• Bindu (the first Yes):

The first clear center that rises in that silence.

• Spanda / Vibration (first movement):

The point comes alive; a pulse, a quiver, a first sound happens.

• Rhythm (order/sequence):

The pulse becomes regular; order, measure, and discipline appear.

• Form (name–shape):

On this rhythm, a definite structure becomes visible.

In one line:

*Śūnyatā → Bindu → Spanda → Rhythm → Form*

This is the “inner” process. Now let’s see its daily-life version.

*Daily-Life Version:*

Thought → Doorkeeper (RAS) → Rhythm → Action

Here the “doorkeeper” part is very important.

(a) Thought

Any thought to which we give emotional warmth, and deep down say, “this matters to me,” that thought becomes a point.

(b) Doorkeeper (RAS) – the brain’s filter

Our brain has a door for attention. We cannot experience the whole world at once. So the brain keeps a “doorkeeper” called the Reticular Activating System (RAS).

This doorkeeper works on three things:

1. what you think repeatedly,

2. what you load with emotion, and

3. what you intentionally declare,

those are the things it tags as “important.”

Then, out of the millions of incoming signals, it brings those very things in front of you which match that tag.

That’s why we say:

“RAS will not give you what you want; it will give you what it thinks is important to you.”

The doorkeeper doesn’t serve your wish-list; it serves your most repeated, most emotionally charged, most consciously declared thoughts.

This is exactly the spot where Sadguru’s line “As the thought, so the shape” starts working — because the thought you repeat, the doorkeeper starts showing you evidence, people, events, and opportunities in that very direction.

(c) Rhythm

Once the doorkeeper has set the direction, the body–mind must be given a simple, stable rhythm. Our easy way is:

• 60–90 seconds of gentle humming / “Om” / “Bhala kara”

• 2–3 minutes of breath-focused silent prayer

This calms emotional noise, makes decisions easier, and puts you in an action-ready state.

(d) Action

Now only one small step is left — actual doing:

a phone call, one email, “I walk for 25 minutes daily,” “I write for 25 minutes daily.”

Daily repetition of that = form.

So the full chain is:

Thought (point) → Doorkeeper / RAS (attention) → Rhythm (breath/humming/prayer) → Action (daily step) → Form (result)

*Hands-on Experiment*

To make the “thought-to-form” journey tangible:

1. Take a blank sheet — this blankness = emptiness.

2. Put one dot — this dot = thought/intention.

3. From that dot, draw continuous lines — lines = repeated thought.

4. Arrange the lines at equal distance, with equal length — this = rhythm/discipline in thinking.

5. A shape becomes visible — this = form.

Now ask yourself:

“Just as I drew a shape on paper, what shape am I drawing every day on the paper of my mind?”

This is where the doorkeeper (RAS) comes in — the pattern you trace every day, the RAS brings that same pattern back to you from the world.

*The “Black Spot” — how the doorkeeper fools us*

The wall is 99% white; only 1% is a black spot.

But the doorkeeper says: “This is important.”

Our attention stays there.

To reverse it, we must give the doorkeeper a new order:

• 3 deep breaths

• “Now I will see 5 white/beautiful things”

• 30–40 seconds humming

• actually spot those 5 things

In a few days the doorkeeper makes a new list.

This is what we called correcting perception / changing the frame.

*Śrīyantra — a map of thought → rhythm → form*

We have all seen the Śrīyantra. Many people keep it at home and worship it — that is very auspicious, devotional work.

But that is not our purpose here.

Our purpose is:

“Let us look at the Śrīyantra as a map of the thought-process.

How one point (intention) is held, how it vibrates, how it settles into the harmonious balance of Shiva–Shakti, and how from that balance a complex yet coherent structure (form) emerges — this is what we want to learn from the Śrīyantra.”**

So:

• Worship = the path of devotion

• Observation / contemplation = the path of understanding

Right now we are on the second path.

The part of Śrīyantra we need:

• Central point (Bindu) = the first “Yes” that arises out of emptiness — the seed-thought

• Upward triangle = Shiva — direction, light, awareness, clarity of thought

• Downward triangle = Shakti — energy, expression, action

• Their balanced union = Rhythm — repeated, stable, life-giving pattern

• Ever-widening outer patterns = Form — thought taking visible shape, life getting lived

Why are we even doing this?

Because we want a daily takeaway:

“One clear thought gives us Shiva-like calm awareness; and when that thought gets Shakti-like action, life takes shape.”

So it is necessary to say it clearly:

“The mention of Śrīyantra here is not for telling people to keep it at home as a sacred object; we are looking at it as a live model of the science ‘thought → rhythm → form’.”

*A short quantum analogy*

In the double-slit experiment:

when the context/observation changes, the pattern on the screen changes.

In life:

when the meaning of an event changes, the experience of it changes.

Your doorkeeper (RAS) allows only those meanings to fully enter which you have marked as important.

So: as you see, so it becomes.

(We are not claiming “thoughts directly push particles”; we are using it as a bridge-analogy.)

*The science behind “Thought, Energy, and Form*

• Thought is energy with direction.

• Energy with direction becomes action.

• Repeated action becomes habit.

• The outer imprint of habit is form.

So we can safely say:

Thought → (neural/electrochemical pattern) → body rhythm/emotion → behavior/action → habit → outer result.

*Daily 10-minute practice*

1. Emptiness – pre-thought

3 deep breaths; “calm–bright”; universal prayer.

2. Bindu – one-sentence intention

“May everyone be blessed.

I walk for 55 minutes every day.”

3. Rhythm – 60–90 seconds

Repeat the intention + “Bhala kara” (do good) practice.

4. Form – action

Do one step right now — call/mail/walk/write.

5. Reflection – 30 seconds at night

“What happened today? What is tomorrow’s one step?”

The doorkeeper (RAS) needs a fresh list every day; this is that list.

*Pūrnamidam*

ॐ pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇamudacyate

pūrṇasya pūrṇamādāya pūrṇamevāvaśiṣyate ॥

ॐ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ ॥

The quiet inner emptiness itself is the beginning of fullness — we only give it a point, a rhythm, and an action.

Quiet emptiness → clear point → alert doorkeeper (attention) → soft rhythm → today’s step = a form moving toward fullness.

May a point arise from emptiness,

may the doorkeeper honour it,

may vibration become rhythm,

may today’s step appear outside.

From Śūnyatā to Pūrṇatā — as the thought, so the shape of life.

*Jayant Joshi*