Could you expand a bit on what is meant by this?
I read in the Dhammapada (a collection of sayings/teachings attributed to the Buddha) something interesting about out thoughts:
"Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draw it." Chapter 1, verse 1.
It goes on to say:
""He was angry with me, he attacked me, he defeated me, he robbed me" -those who dwell on such thoughts will never be free from hatred."
Because Orthodoxy teaches that parts of the truth can be found outside our Scriptures, I researched our Traditions to see if we had anything that dealt with thoughts and this is what I found;
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy- meditate on these things." St. Paul in Phillipians 4:8
As I researched further, I began to see that negative thoughts affect us negatively. And that if people routinely gravited towards negative thoughts throughout thier lives, it could affect even their health. As an example of constantly thinking negatively, lets say a person who tends to blame others or things for their predicament in life always seems to never get what they want. As a result of these negative thoughts, they never take responsibility for much and rarely ask themselves what part they may have played in the situation. Let's say a person takes an exam and does poorly. If this person tends to gravitate towards negative thoughts and blames othesr, they probably won't admit that they didn't study very hard. Incedentally, this is called an External Locus of Control.
I remembered the book Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives by Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica. One of the things he says throughout the book is:
"Our life depends on the kind of thoughts we nurture. If our thoughts are peaceful, calm, meek and kind, then that is what our life is like. If our attention is turned to the circumstances in which we live, we are drawn into a whirlpool of thoughts and can have neither peace nor tranquility."
In addition, much attention is devoted in Orthodoxy towards negative thoughts known as logismoi and how to combat them.
This whole interest was brought on by another thread and this youtube video with "Acclaimed journalist, author and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich explores the darker side of positive thinking."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo I found myself disagreeing with most of her assertions.