How can I let go of a particular thought? How can I stop thinking about a particular thing which keeps coming into my mind?

All too often, the mind has a way of getting stuck on one subject; and consequently, this can take away our peace of mind and cause us to feel unsettled and frustrated within. The more we try to move on, the deeper we sink.

So, let us explore what we can do to help us move on.
Nature of Thoughts

The nature of the mind is to think: the thoughts may be good or bad, beneficial or harmful. But even when you do not want to think, the mind continues to do so.

However, the thoughts are like packets of information that you can choose to ignore or accept.

It is the basic function of mind to inform you, just like a radar does to warn the pilot on a plane. For instance, the radar informs, “Look there is a plane coming towards you, please be careful, otherwise you will get hurt.” Now, whether you choose to pay any heed to it’s information and act upon it is entirely your choice. Similar is the case with your mind too - whether you choose to pay any heed to the information it presents through the medium of thoughts, and act upon it, is entirely your choice!

Thoughts are a direct result of our intents and opinions made in previous life

Every thought that you see or experience in your current life is a result of the opinions or intents we’ve sown in our past life. This is how the mind has come into existence.
However, while these thoughts dissipate, simultaneously, we are creating new ones for our next life. This is done through the new set of intents and the opinions we form in this life. This is how the mind continues its existence.
Like we said, thoughts are clusters of our past life causes. These thoughts are only unfolding today, but on occasions, our mind lingers over a single topic. Therefore, here are a few tips that can help us when this happens.

• Always remember that you do have a choice whether or not to accept the thought. For example, if we have thoughts about dying, in most cases, people push this away, even though death is inevitable. Hence, try conversing with the mind, by saying, ‘I hear what you are saying, but let’s move on. Show me something else.’

• Ask for forgiveness (pratikraman) when some negative thought is persistent. Doing pratikraman sincerely helps reduce the impact of the adverse effect that a negative thought can have on us.

• Visualise an image of an elevated Soul or God, and just meditate upon it. You will feel a sense of detachment from your lingering thoughts and shall thus experience inner peace.

• Divert your mind onto something else, where it is particularly kept busy.

• Practice to live in the present moment. The moment you become aware that the thought has swayed you away, lovingly, bring your mind back to the present moment and make it focus on the task-at-hand.

• Go out and breathe some fresh air. Do something different from your usual routine. This will give you a fresher perspective on things.

• Recite a mantra of your choice, by visualising each letter of the mantra with your closed eyes, for about an hour. Here is a powerful mantra that has been very effective for many - DADA BHAGWAN NA ASEEM JAI JAIKAR HO! You too can try it!

These are some practical and very effective tips, so please give them a go, so that they can help you let go of the thought you’ve happened to cling onto!