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“The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.” Luke 6:34

Are you ever disturbed by intruding thoughts? Of course you are! In the North American culture, people pay billions of dollars to intrude our thoughts in the form of advertisements, sound bites, and creating trends. A concept from Eastern Orthodoxy has been very helpful to me in dealing with these things.

The theory of elementals, or “thought forms” is based on the assumption that thoughts and feelings are forms of subtle energy that we constantly produce, affecting others as well as ourselves. Likewise, we are influenced by thought forms or elementals that others, individually or collectively, incessantly produce and which float in the environment…These elementals, positive or negative, affect us constantly as real energies…. page 118 The Mountian of Silence by Kyriacos C. Markides

These are called logismoi in the Eastern Christian tradition. I highly recommend the chapter on “Invisible Intruders” in the above book for a lengthy explanation. For the time being, let me describe how this has helped me.

The moment a negative or destructive thought/suggestion enters my mind, I recognize it as something that has come from outside of my essential self and therefore do not let it have power over me. To quote again from Markides:

“…when human beings are attacked by such logismoi they ought to feel no guilt whatsoever. They are totally innocent and not responsible for these logismoi. The great saints faced legions of negative logismoi …Only the dead are free of logismoi….they have nothing to do with the quality of our soul.”

I have found that the less I allow myself to be bothered by such “thought forms” the less power they have. The practice of prayer without ceasing that becomes second nature as a result of the daily discipline of the Jesus Prayer is the strongest force against these “thought forms.” Obsessing about being a sinner and feeling guilty about such thoughts only makes them grow. Again quoting:

“People are often terrified by the number and nature of the logismoi that attack them, and they become obsessed with questions such as, ‘Why me?’..These obsessive questions are nothing more than an expression of egotism.”

On the other hand, there are destructive attitudes that have taken root within one’s heart over time. The practice of silent meditation will bring these things to the forefront in the form of bursts of anger, anxiety, or disgust. Only the grace of God can root these suckers out – they are like weeds and need to be attacked as such. But not by our own ego – only through the humbling experience of facing the person in the mirror and letting God’s grace uproot these things.

To know the difference between a “thought-form” and a deeply rooted destructive attitude, just notice what sorts of people really and truly annoy you. That which annoys you is most likely a deeply rooted failing of your own. I have found, much to my own embarrassment, that the more upset I am by someone else, the more likely I am facing myself in the mirror of the “other.”