“They also noticed that negative thoughts like anger or hatred, or thoughts of vice like promiscuity, lust, etc, disrupted the smooth flow of breathing: the breath grew ragged, heavy and uneven. Moreover, thoughts also triggered physical sensations on the surface of the skin that matched the thought. If one reacted to the sensations by scratching or acting on the sensation, then the sensations would increase and support that thought. “Similarly, as a reaction to an external stimulant, let’s say a word, the sense of hearing would come into play and then the subconscious mind would interpret it with the conditioning of the society. If the word was pleasant, the sensations generated would be pleasant and if it were an abuse, the sensations would be unpleasant and so on. The immediate reaction of a ‘normal’ person would be to retaliate with an equally offensive word. But the rishis realized that if they merely observed the sensation, it would eventually go away and the thought associated with the reaction, weakened. Over a period of time, the reactive thoughts would completely die out and one would rationally respond to a situation. Most importantly, this resulted in inner peace.” PeaceBreathVipassana Book:Lost Wisdom of the Swastika Source: Lost Wisdom of the Swastika