our thoughts affect others insofar as they manifest in our actions toward others.

what your family member thinks about you does not affect you; what you think about what your family member thinks about you affects you.

we are not really in control.

This question is how Ho'Oponopono works, it is also how the Evil Eye works both are opposite of course but both are based on thought affects others. Someone's jealousy or envy can affect you, when people believe in you, have you ever notice the confidence you gain? What about when people think oh no he'll just screw it all up, do you have a lot of confidence then?

When you get sick really sick and many people know of this, and they worry and think he's going to die there is nothing the doctors can do, do you think that may affect your outcome?

What about when there are lots of people pulling for you saying those doctors are wrong he is a fighter I know he'll pull through.

Where two or more are gathered this increases the co-creation whether it be for the devil or God depending on is the thought loving, positive, encouraging, healing, or is it condemning, hopeless, discouraging, sickening, and non-loving?

There is a verse in the bible that says "By your words you are justified, by your words you are condemned." Remember the first word is thought long before it is audibly pronounced.

Ho'Oponopono says to the divine I am sorry for co-creating this, please forgive me, I love you, thank you for forgiving me this. It is a form of repentance to God for our poor thought choices that helped co-create something we do not want or like in ourselves, others or the world.

The only power you have over others (including the belief that your thoughts can effect their lives) is the power granted to you by the others ignorance

Thoughts are waves of energy. Energy cannot be destroyed, just transfered. Our thoughts in energy form travel from us to our environment. If there is a person in our environment, they will feel the energy, they might not be aware of it. Or they might be aware of it and get a vibe, but cannot tune in to it to recieve the message, but the vibe gives a sense of a good or bad feeling. Then, some people can tune in to these waves and actually read other people's thoughts. It partly depends on the receiver, if they can tune in or not, and partly on the sender, how clearly their thoughts are being broadcast, or how muddled and confused their thoughts are even to themselves. If the receiver feels bad vibes, they might start feeling uncomfortable and sending back bad vibes, creating a collective bad vibe, maybe even perpetuating more bad vibes. Cats go berzerk, dogs get crazy, you can tell they sense it. The Bible says that if you think about another man's wife, you have already commited adultery and if you are angry with your brother you will be judged (comparing it to actual murder). So these thoughts must be pretty powerful to be judged on our thoughts, not just our manifested thoughts in words and actions. The Bible also says there is nothing new under the sun, yet new inventions are made all the time. So, the ideas must be out there for us to grab, already thought of by God. And the saying As above so below, as below so above, as within so without as witout so within tells me that whatever thoughts are in my head are ouside of my head and therefor outside of your head therefor inside your head and also in the environment affecting the animals and trees and people that don't know it.

This question hits home with me. I've been searching for an article that I read a couple months ago that spoke about how one good, positive thinker has the ability to overpower the negative thoughts of several thousand people. Apparently, negative thinkers bring negative events and catastrophes. Positive thinkers have the ability to ward off these negative events and catastrophe. Not just for themselves, but for everyone; which is why we need more positive thinkers.

If you have ever seen What The Bleep Do We Know, one chapters speaks about how our thoughts never disappear. Every thought that we have ever thought is actually floating around in the Universe somewhere. I don't know whether or not to believe it, but it is definitely worth researching and understanding. I think it all helps to understand the power of our thoughts.

Also, I think Napoleon Hill spoke about "the master mind" in which two heads are better than one when manifesting a dream.

We are talking about feelings, and emotions, and yes to some degree I will be affected by what my family thinks, and what other people think, but in the same token, I am not going to let it control my every thought, and feeling! I will occupy my time with things that I like to do, and keep myself busy, and in that way there is no time for idle negative thoughts!

I believe it depends on a couple of things. 1) I think the nature of the relationship between the two people matters...How close are they, emotionally and psychological? 2) The intensity of the thinker matters---does the thinker have a trained mind? If yes, the thinker has the ability to direct the energy of his or her thoughts to achieve a certain purpose.