Contemplation: Clean
and Tidy
Clean
and Tidy
The most important
places to keep clean and tidy are my mind and heart. If I allow thoughts to
flourish that I wouldn't want to see the light of day, I can never have any
real self-respect. By starting each day in quiet reflection and pouring
positive, loving thoughts into my mind, I gradually clean out cynicism and
unkindness.
Imagination
The power of the imagination is extraordinary. The imagination
is one of our greatest resources. It offers us many options and, with the clarity
of our intuition and the power of our intention, we can use it to bring about
abundance and success in our lives.
It is a matter of using the art of the imagination in a constructive way so that it does not betray us. The imagination should be used for our more healthy and positive intentions.
When the imagination is influenced by our limiting fears and beliefs, our mind begins to imagine the worst; it creates fearful scenes that end up generating phobias and blocking us. Then we turn the imagination into an instrument to create negative fantasies that distance us from what is real. We believe in the fantasies that we have imagined.
The imagination has to used to help us overcome our limitations and not the other way round, which would be when the imagination is influenced by our limiting beliefs and our fears, with which it weakens us and keeps us locked into the cages created by our own mind. From a grain of sand it imagines and creates a great mountain that prevents it from advancing, and this mountain only exists in its own mind.
When the imagination is used in a positive way, it is capable of turning a great mountain, a difficult situation, into a grain of sand. There is nothing too big that the human being cannot overcome.
The Mental Kaleidoscope
A kaleidoscope creates beautiful patterns from chaotic bits and pieces, which are scattered everywhere. When the kaleidoscope is turned, disorder becomes order, chaos becomes beauty and symmetry. The Drama of Life is constantly turning and we are part of its cyclic movement; sometimes this cyclic movement of life is supportive, comprehensible (understandable) and enjoyable and, at other times, it is tense, fearful, stressful and incomprehensible (not understandable). There is confusion and fear because we do not understand what is happening, why it is happening and how it will get better. Things not only appear chaotic but also hopeless. If the intellect is able to go beyond the questions of - Why, What and How and just be still, without judgements, or pressure, for some period of time, then things do work out. To do this requires faith.
The power of faith means that we know that somehow and somewhere right solutions and answers will come in their own time.
(To be continued tomorrow...)
Soul Sustenance
The Four Pillars Of A Spiritual Lifestyle - Achieving A Balance
A balanced and fulfilling spiritual life is like a table. It stands on four legs and if one leg is shorter than the others then both balance and equilibrium will be difficult. The four legs or pillars of a spiritual life are given below in the form of four subjects. If any of the subjects is not a part of our lives or is a part of our life, but not to as great an extent as the others, then the overall balance of our spiritual life will be affected adversely (negatively).
1. Daily spiritual study (knowledge or gyan)
Daily spiritual study provides the right quality of nourishment for our mind and intellect, the two important energies of the soul.
2. Daily meditation (spiritual yoga)
Daily meditation provides the means to explore, discover and reconnect with oneself and with God.
3. The inculcation and development of virtues (dharna)
Giving some time each day to the conscious development of our character (virtue) helps to eliminate any negative sanskars or personality characteristics (vices) arid improves our ability to build positive and harmonious relationships. The quality of our relationships is a mirror reflection of our dharna.
4. The service of others (seva)
A life purpose based on some kind of service is the foundation of personal growth through the practice of giving. Finding appropriate ways to use our increasing spiritual power and understanding (through the three subjects mentioned above) for the benefit of others is the most satisfying way to use our energy today. It also ensures happiness for the present as well as for the future through accumulation of positive energy in the form of blessings of those who are served.
A balanced and fulfilling spiritual life is like a table. It stands on four legs and if one leg is shorter than the others then both balance and equilibrium will be difficult. The four legs or pillars of a spiritual life are given below in the form of four subjects. If any of the subjects is not a part of our lives or is a part of our life, but not to as great an extent as the others, then the overall balance of our spiritual life will be affected adversely (negatively).
1. Daily spiritual study (knowledge or gyan)
Daily spiritual study provides the right quality of nourishment for our mind and intellect, the two important energies of the soul.
2. Daily meditation (spiritual yoga)
Daily meditation provides the means to explore, discover and reconnect with oneself and with God.
3. The inculcation and development of virtues (dharna)
Giving some time each day to the conscious development of our character (virtue) helps to eliminate any negative sanskars or personality characteristics (vices) arid improves our ability to build positive and harmonious relationships. The quality of our relationships is a mirror reflection of our dharna.
4. The service of others (seva)
A life purpose based on some kind of service is the foundation of personal growth through the practice of giving. Finding appropriate ways to use our increasing spiritual power and understanding (through the three subjects mentioned above) for the benefit of others is the most satisfying way to use our energy today. It also ensures happiness for the present as well as for the future through accumulation of positive energy in the form of blessings of those who are served.
Message for the day
The right kind of support makes people independent.
Projection: When we provide help and support to others, sometimes we find that they become dependent on us. They continue to expect the same kind of support that They had got from us before, when we are not in a position to give. Then our good gesture becomes a bondage or difficulty for me.
Solution: When we are providing help to someone,we need to check the kind of help that we are providing. True help is to provide assistance in such a way that slowly the person learns to rely on his own resources and becomes independent. Then there will be no expectations from us.
The right kind of support makes people independent.
Projection: When we provide help and support to others, sometimes we find that they become dependent on us. They continue to expect the same kind of support that They had got from us before, when we are not in a position to give. Then our good gesture becomes a bondage or difficulty for me.
Solution: When we are providing help to someone,we need to check the kind of help that we are providing. True help is to provide assistance in such a way that slowly the person learns to rely on his own resources and becomes independent. Then there will be no expectations from us.
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