Does it sound strange that a great saint once said something  like this that "Never allow outside factors to control  your thoughts, feelings and actions". These words were said by none but the great Gautam Buddha himself. How can anyone else control our thoughts, feelings and actions? As, if you ask anyone that who is controlling your thoughts, feelings and actions and the answer could be obvious that the person himself. Everyone is responsible for his actions and is treated accordingly. Every one is responsible for the thoughts generated in his mind. Everyone is responsible for feelings he is experiencing and that may make them feel good or bad accordingly.
       Then what does it mean  when it is said that outside factors are directing  someone's thoughts, feelings and actions.

       There are 3 steps of the process that reign over our whole being. The first step is cultivation of a thought in our mind and it can be negative thought or positive and After a thought is generated, we feel positive or negative accordingly. The feeling whether negative or positive is accompanied by an action or a behavior which will be dependent on the nature  of our feeling i.e., if we feel happy then we may smile and if we feel angry we may fight. So these three steps basically control the whole being of a human.
       For example if a boss scolds his subordinate,this may develop a negative thought in the mind of his subordinate and that thought may lead to a negative feeling of anxiety or sadness. This feeling could be accompanied by an actions like crying or anything like this. But what if the subordinate will not let his boss to control his thoughts and after getting scolded, if the mind forces him to think negative but still he presides over his thoughts and thinks positively then will results be the same?Obviously, now the results will be totally different because controlling ones thoughts and not allowing negative thoughts to be generated, one will feel positive and then one may take positive actions as well.Like taking the criticism productive and then working in a way that may lead to a good feeling.
        if someone abuses or misbehaves with a person then why that person gets angry? Does his angryness a choice made by him or the person made him to behave angrily by abusing/misbehaving with him? When the person was abused,he might have got a negative thought and then that thought may have resulted in a feeling of angriness  and due to this feeling he may abuse  him back or do somethingelse.   

       It is said that one day while Guatam Buddha was sitting with his students, a person came and started abbusing him. But Guatam Buddha did nothing. The man kept on abusing and after a while the man left as he didnt get any reaction.One of the students asked Buddha that why he kept silent when the person was abusing him? He replied that the man came here and started abusing him because he was intended to make him angry. He abused him so that he could put a negative thought in Buddha's mind and then he would  control his feelings and after that Buddha would have reacted because he would have controlled Buddha's actions. But Buddha  didn't allow him to control his thoughts so he was unsuccessful in his aims. But if Buddha would have reacted then he would have been successful as he was able to control him.So he sent him back unsuccessful.

       Besides consciousness thoughts, there are unconscious  and subconscious forces that operate our mind  and then they control our feelings and due to which we take specific  actions. How these unconscious and subconscious motives are developed in the mind of a person?
        According to psychology, a person since childhood learns different things and observes its outside circumstances and these all things result in his unconsciousness and subconsciousness in future. Where, he may not remember what he was indoctrinated  for years but that things will be influencing his behavior.
      
       Most of the problems occurring in the world are because  the individuals are not able to control their minds and consciousness. They are indoctrined and they believe what they are made to believe by some elements and their thoughts are simultaneously controlled and they feel what they are supposed  to feel due to which majority of the humans behave how they are made to behave.
       The growing rate of terrorism in the world is because somehow the factors which want the world peace to be disturbed, are trying to indoctrinate the minds of common people with hatred against each other and also create an illusion where everyone considers oneself superior from others in terms of caste, color and religion. This has resulted in chaos in the world and if the people are not educated enough to realise the fact and then to overcome this indoctrination, then the world will be facing more chaos in future.
       We all are humans then why we hate others just because they are from different religions, castes and races. It is because, those having political benefits due to these differences are indoctrinating humans and imposing specific thoughts in our minds against others so that when we see each other, we feel hatred and then behave inappropriately.
       Being a human we need to accept the fact that somehow  we are indoctrinated  and after accepting this fact we may not be able to master our minds but  we will be able see the difference between what is real and what is just an illusion.Then we can think freely without any boundaries,without any hatred and this is how we can reach the highest levels of consciousness.


Asif Muhammad Hasni

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