Contemplation:
December 27, 2018: Vibrations
Akshardham Temple in
New Delhi, India
Vibrations
With
your own vibrations of peace and happiness, give everyone else the experience
of happiness and comfort.
Thinking is
feeling
Whenever
things don't go the way I want them to, I start thinking
negatively and end up feeling low. The more I think negatively the
worse I feel. The negativity inside me increases and I spread it around
by reacting negatively with other people which in turn gets me
depressed. I need to constantly remind myself that thinking is actually
feeling. All I need to do is to control my negative thoughts and
deliberately induce positive thoughts. This way I will be able to
control the way I feel about a situation or a person and keep out of
the low phases that I otherwise go through.
negatively and end up feeling low. The more I think negatively the
worse I feel. The negativity inside me increases and I spread it around
by reacting negatively with other people which in turn gets me
depressed. I need to constantly remind myself that thinking is actually
feeling. All I need to do is to control my negative thoughts and
deliberately induce positive thoughts. This way I will be able to
control the way I feel about a situation or a person and keep out of
the low phases that I otherwise go through.
Freeing Oneself from Hatred
Rage has many offspring (children), such as hate, anger, intolerance, insistence, irritation, obsession, sarcasm (taunt), envy, the abuse of authority, impatience, the lack of forgiveness. Generally it explodes when we want to control another or when our expectations have not been fulfilled.
Hate destroys your concentration and kills the capacity to act with dignity and excellence. You hate by justifying yourself in the other. You had expectations of them and they have let you down. They have wounded you and broken your heart. You answer this wound with revenge. You have to make them pay for it. You think that way you will do justice. This hate keeps you tied to the person that you hate. Instead of accepting them, forgiving them and letting go of them, you tie yourself to them more, nourishing and increasing the pain and the conflict.
Can hate be justified? Can it improve things? Can hate be healthy in any circumstance? Hate affects your health; it poisons your heart, kills your inner peace and dries you of love and happiness; you stay isolated in your aloneness, filled with that rage.
(To be continued tomorrow ...)
Soul Sustenance
The Power to Face
Situations arise where it may not be enough to tolerate or accommodate, but where I need power to face very unpleasant and perhaps threatening realities. What we are talking about here, in effect, is courage. Meditation helps enormously.
First, the practice of the awareness of myself and others as eternal souls greatly reduces fear of death, an ever-present reality that we spend much time, money and mental and emotional energy trying to avoid. If soul-consciousness is firm enough, I'll have the absolute conviction that when someone dies, it's not that they are no more, just that they have moved further on their eternal journey. This faith makes it much easier to face the departure of someone close to me. It also removes much or all of the fear I might otherwise suffer about leaving my own body. I'll still value my life greatly - probably even more than before, because of having the burden of fear removed. But I won't let concern for the body stop me from facing what I must.
Secondly, meditation makes it easier for me to oppose evil. It does this by allowing me to differentiate clearly between the actor and the action. Spirituality helps me understand that the original qualities of every soul are peace, love, happiness and so I have no hatred in my heart for anyone. This helps me become fearless and stand firm against wrongdoing. With a clean heart, a clear understanding of good and evil, and connection with the divine, I am much more likely to have the faith and courage with which to stand up for what is right.
Thirdly, if the negative behaviour I am opposing activates negative tendencies within my own personality, the fight will soon wear me out and I'm unlikely to be victorious. Power absorbed from the Supreme in meditation helps me remain positive and above negative tendencies and hence face someone’s negative behavior and emerge victorious.
Situations arise where it may not be enough to tolerate or accommodate, but where I need power to face very unpleasant and perhaps threatening realities. What we are talking about here, in effect, is courage. Meditation helps enormously.
First, the practice of the awareness of myself and others as eternal souls greatly reduces fear of death, an ever-present reality that we spend much time, money and mental and emotional energy trying to avoid. If soul-consciousness is firm enough, I'll have the absolute conviction that when someone dies, it's not that they are no more, just that they have moved further on their eternal journey. This faith makes it much easier to face the departure of someone close to me. It also removes much or all of the fear I might otherwise suffer about leaving my own body. I'll still value my life greatly - probably even more than before, because of having the burden of fear removed. But I won't let concern for the body stop me from facing what I must.
Secondly, meditation makes it easier for me to oppose evil. It does this by allowing me to differentiate clearly between the actor and the action. Spirituality helps me understand that the original qualities of every soul are peace, love, happiness and so I have no hatred in my heart for anyone. This helps me become fearless and stand firm against wrongdoing. With a clean heart, a clear understanding of good and evil, and connection with the divine, I am much more likely to have the faith and courage with which to stand up for what is right.
Thirdly, if the negative behaviour I am opposing activates negative tendencies within my own personality, the fight will soon wear me out and I'm unlikely to be victorious. Power absorbed from the Supreme in meditation helps me remain positive and above negative tendencies and hence face someone’s negative behavior and emerge victorious.
Message for the day
There is victory for the person who opposes the weaknesses instead of the person.
Expression: Instead of trying to win over a person who displays any negative qualities, one needs to oppose the negativity itself. The one who knows the art of doing this will never do anything to encourage the weakness in the other person but will provide all help to finish it fully.
Experience: Since I am able to look at the weakness only and am trying to finish it, I will be free from negative feelings of dislike and hatred. There would be a genuine feeling of love, which in turn provides the right environment for the other person's growth.
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris
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