Action proceeds from thought. Thought is the source and spring of action. No action is possible without its producing cause, thought, which is a phase of the mind's volition. All our thoughts are impressed on the mind, the moment they form themselves, in condensed pictures. The more powerful a thought, the deeper the impression on the mind. Weak, undeveloped thoughts make superficial impressions and are liable to wear off. The impression of a powerful thought is likewise rubbed off by the force of a strong counter-thought. An angry thought, for instance, prompts us to do a bad action, but before it is reduced to action, our reason sometimes intervenes, argues against it, convinces us of its error which induces repentance. The stronger the counter-thought of repentance, the more quickly and effectively it rubs off the impression. But if the thought is reduced to action, its impression is deep and enduring, and requires the aid of absolutely sincere, burning repentance to destroy that impression. These thought-impressions on the mind are called seeds of Karma. They are exactly like seeds of trees in their potencies and operations. As a seed of a tree, when planted in the soil, germinates, grows, flowers and bears fruit, so does a Karma-impression germinate, grow, flower and bear fruit. As the germ of a seed, in process of development, produces the events called sprouting, putting forth leaves and branches, flowering and fruiting, lo, a man's mental thought-impressions of previous lives, in almost the self-same way, sprout, put forth leaves and branches, flower and fruit in the shape of events, inside and outside of him. The thought-impressions are reflected upon the aura. "Aurā" is a Sanscrit word, its transliterated form being "Arā," from "Ar" which means the spoke of a wheel. "Arā" means full of spoke-like shoots of radiance from any centre. This centre of our aura is our mind. Aura, therefore, is the radiance of, the mind which permeates and envelopes our body in an oval shape and generally extends one cubit outside of our body. The aura and reflections of these thought-impressions on the aura are visible only to the spiritual and psychical sight. The illuminated saints and yogis who have developed this sight, not only see this aura, but also the reflections of the thought-impressions which they can read and interpret as we read and interpret words. These reflections are called the characters of the mind—the Hidden Pictures (Chitra-Gupta) of Human Conduct—which reveal the past, present and future history of a human soul to those who can decipher them.