Question : Why are some people always full of negativity, or negative thoughts?
Speaker : This is what is happening here right now. This itself is a good demonstration. (Addressing the questioner) Shalini, you got up and just spoke. Right? You got up and just spoke. Every single listener who is sitting here has at least one question on his or her sheet, but they didn’t get up. Now there is nothing wrong with the listeners, or with the question. But there is a thought in their mind, “I will ask later. Why should I be the first one to ask? May be somebody can laugh at me. I am not sure whether the speaker will entertain my question. Is my question good enough? Is my English good enough, or should I later ask in Hindi?”
There are many who have questions to ask, but are thinking this way. This is what is called as ‘negative thought’. What is negative thought?
Remember this: Any thought that takes you away from yourself, and makes you dependent upon others, is a ‘negative thought’.
What is the definition of ‘negative thought’? Any thought that tells you that your self-worth is dependent on what others will think, is a ‘negative thought’.
Now, you all are intelligent people. So tell me,”What is a positive thought?”
Listener 1 : Sir, that which makes you self-dependent.
Speaker : Yes, good.
A thought that tells you, “I am not dependent upon anybody. I am good. I am alright. I do not need to bother what the others will think or say,” is a positive thought. A ‘positive thought’ brings you back to yourself. It brings you closer to yourself.
A ‘negative thought’ takes you away from yourself, and makes you dependent on others.
So what are most of us thinking? We are thinking negative thoughts. We are thinking, “Oh my god! So many listeners are here, what will they think of me if I ask a question? What will the speaker think of me if I ask a question? Is my question good enough?”
Now you have a question, but you are thinking not of yourself but of the crowd, and the speaker. And we are all ‘others’. So this is a ‘negative thought’ because it is making you dependent upon somebody else. You are saying, “If this crowd approves of me, then I am alright. If the speaker approves my question, then my question is alright.” You are not saying, “I know that this question is important. I know this is a valuable question, because this is my question. It is coming from me so it has to be important.” This is what kind of thought?
Listeners : Positive.
Speaker : This is a positive thought. “If others say my question is good, only then my question is good.” This is a…?
Listeners : Negative thought.
Speaker : Negative thought. Are you getting it?
‘Positive thought’ has another characteristic. ‘Positive thought’ leads to quick action, and then disappears. ‘Positive thought’ doesn’t stay for a long time.
We say that ‘positive thought’ is convergent. You understand convergence? It starts and then it diminishes, and ultimately there is silence. So thought goes away and silence remains. This is a characteristic of ‘positive thought’. It does not continue and continue in circles, going on and on and on. You are thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking. Have you seen such people who just keep thinking all the time? They could not be thinking positively.
‘Positive thought’ always reduces itself to a meditative silent state.
‘Negative thought’ on the other hand is divergent. It keeps going on and on and on, and broadening from here and there, from there to somewhere else, and it covers the entire world and comes to no conclusion. It comes to no end. ‘Negative thought’ just perpetuates itself, just keeps going on and on and on, continuously.
‘Positive thought’ stays for a while, and then finishes in silence. And in that silence there is energetic action.
The negative thinker keeps thinking and acts not. He cannot act. Why can’t he act? Because he is trapped in thinking. He is thinking so much that he cannot act. Have you seen this happening that when you think too much, you cannot act? Have you seen this? You are thinking so much that you become confused, and then you cannot act. No action happens, only thinking is happening. Pointless, useless thinking, going on and on and on. This is what kind of thought?
Listeners : Negative thought.
Speaker : And if there is a little bit of thinking, which quickly subsides and then you are free to act with no noise, no clutter, this is which kind of thought ?
Listeners : Positive thought.
Speaker : Is it clear to everybody?
Listeners : Yes, Sir.
Excerpted from a ‘Shabd-Yog’ session. Edited for clarity.