Thus, at each moment, we can exercise our self-effort to choose the right path for ourselves. At NOJA we educate our students to recognize the better road to travel. Imagine that the mind is made up of soft matter. As each thought passes through it, an impression, like a scratch, is left on it. When similar thoughts are repeated, the small scratch deepens into a canal.
Every subsequent thought has a tendency to flow through that ready-made thought canal.
Thus, if the impression, or canal, was produced by good thoughts, then a good character is maintained and strengthened by the subsequent thoughts flowing irresistibly in that direction. If you have a tendency to get angry and want to overcome that tendency, the first step is to feel regretful about it. Just feeling regretful will dissipate your anger to some extent. However, if you merely suppress the anger, it will burst forth at a later date. But if you are intelligent, you will divert that energy in some other profitable direction.