Contemplation: March 04, 2020: We Are All Responsible
We Are All Responsible
When we look around to examine the state of our environment, which is what we leave behind after developing and exploiting the resources of the planet, many are quick to see pollution and waste. We are not slow in pointing out the damage and the impurities which will be our legacy for the future generations. We are not so quick to spot the impurities which we have allowed to develop and accumulate in our own personal lives. At the level of our thoughts, is every thought a pure and benevolent one, which carries the best wishes for our fellow travelers. Unlikely, as we mostly learn to criticize and complain, attack and blame. At the level of our intentions do we always mean well and want the best for others, or are our intentions sometimes coloured by selfishness or greed? At the level of outcomes do we celebrate the achievements of others as they grow to be all that they can be, or do we stand back in envy or jealousy. Our lives all begin within our own consciousness. The lakes and the landscapes of our mind and intellect are where we all live the most. Do we keep them clean and pure and unspoilt? Can beauty and harmony be found within? No! Then perhaps we need to clean up inside before we condemn others on the outside. Because what is out there is simply a reflection of what is in here! And we are all in it together. Perhaps that is why no one is to blame but we are all responsible.
To understand the importance of time to use it well.
Each second is like a seed which gives rise to a tree. If that moment is used well, there is benefit for a long time. But, if that moment is lost, there is loss. So, the benefit or loss is in multi-folds. Once we understand this, we are able to fully use the treasure of time for our own benefit and that of others. Today I will keep a check on my daily routine to ensure I don't waste any time, but rather use it well. Not to waste time means I enjoy each and every moment, whatever is the task that I am involved in. such use of each moment of time helps me reap a lot of benefit not only for the present but for the future too.
Experiencing A Spiritual Lifestyle Without Renouncing Society
A good meditator is one who has a mental link or union with the internal self and the Supreme Soul or God who is the source of all goodness. This, along with an understanding of the laws of action or the laws of karma, which govern the behavior of souls, means that one does not have to renounce or leave society in order to achieve enlightenment. Rather, the soul filled with spiritual illumination faces society directly with understanding and the generosity to serve it and to elevate (improve) it.
The soul becomes elevated not by the renunciation of responsibilities or worldly duties but by a renunciation of the negativity that exists within the role being played by it in society. A good meditator does not try to escape social obligations (duties) but rather purifies those duties by becoming filled with light, love, peace and happiness. The stage of self-awareness and God-communication injects a subtle richness into one's life-patterns.
There are those who believe that the elevated state is beyond society and its duties. They find a quiet spot in the jungle or an ashram and contemplate (think about) deeper things. There are others who are stuck in the quicksand of their problems, and believe that those who leave society and take up a spiritual lifestyle are saints. However, holiness and virtue are qualities attained in one's life situations, not in running away from them. The elevated state is not merely a matter of elevated thoughts (which can be experienced in a sanyas), but elevated actions also, for the benefit of the self and the world. We are what we do and not so much what we imagine ourselves to be.
Soul Sustenance
Entering into a Land of Forgiveness (Part 2)
We are all very much aware that forgiveness is an antidote (one that neutralizes or heals) to anger. But to forgive, the first and foremost power that is required is the ability to apply a full-stop on my rough emotions when provoked. The control of my emotions, one minute every hour, is like building a dam across the river of emotions which becomes rough, while coming into interactions with a variety set of personalities and while becoming busy in actions, both of which cause an expansion of thoughts. The situation becomes worse when the interaction or action, during the past hour, has been a negative one, filled with conflict. So, every hour, a short one minute meditation, to fill the mind with the power of peace, is the first preparation of the mind to forgive easily. We suggest to you a few thoughts that you can create – “I am a peaceful soul, a beautiful golden-white star situated at the centre of the forehead. I spread the rays of peace to my surroundings. I am the child of the Ocean of peace, the Supreme Soul. All the people in my office or in my family or in the world at large are also children of the Ocean of peace, their nature is inherently (originally) peaceful. We all together, collectively, have to create an atmosphere of peace at our workplace or home or in the complete world, so that we can all proceed into the land of forgiveness. This is our objective and please do not forget - our sweet father’s (God’s) wish and desire from his children.”
Collecting 15 minutes of peace every day (one minute every hour), in this way, is extremely valuable. These 15 minutes are the bricks of the dam that you have to build for yourself inside your mind and keep the rough emotions in check. Try this for one month with an earnest heart, a lot of love for God, for whom this exercise is being done, loyalty to his task and determination to transform the self. This peace-brick building exercise will not only dam (control) your emotions but will also slow down the speed of the flow of the river of emotions by healing the origin or source of the river of emotions, which is your sanskara of anger and transforming it into a sanskara of forgiveness, because thoughts of peace not only fill our emotions with peace in the short term but also make our sanskaraspeaceful in the long term.
(To be continued tomorrow …)
We are all very much aware that forgiveness is an antidote (one that neutralizes or heals) to anger. But to forgive, the first and foremost power that is required is the ability to apply a full-stop on my rough emotions when provoked. The control of my emotions, one minute every hour, is like building a dam across the river of emotions which becomes rough, while coming into interactions with a variety set of personalities and while becoming busy in actions, both of which cause an expansion of thoughts. The situation becomes worse when the interaction or action, during the past hour, has been a negative one, filled with conflict. So, every hour, a short one minute meditation, to fill the mind with the power of peace, is the first preparation of the mind to forgive easily. We suggest to you a few thoughts that you can create – “I am a peaceful soul, a beautiful golden-white star situated at the centre of the forehead. I spread the rays of peace to my surroundings. I am the child of the Ocean of peace, the Supreme Soul. All the people in my office or in my family or in the world at large are also children of the Ocean of peace, their nature is inherently (originally) peaceful. We all together, collectively, have to create an atmosphere of peace at our workplace or home or in the complete world, so that we can all proceed into the land of forgiveness. This is our objective and please do not forget - our sweet father’s (God’s) wish and desire from his children.”
Collecting 15 minutes of peace every day (one minute every hour), in this way, is extremely valuable. These 15 minutes are the bricks of the dam that you have to build for yourself inside your mind and keep the rough emotions in check. Try this for one month with an earnest heart, a lot of love for God, for whom this exercise is being done, loyalty to his task and determination to transform the self. This peace-brick building exercise will not only dam (control) your emotions but will also slow down the speed of the flow of the river of emotions by healing the origin or source of the river of emotions, which is your sanskara of anger and transforming it into a sanskara of forgiveness, because thoughts of peace not only fill our emotions with peace in the short term but also make our sanskaraspeaceful in the long term.
(To be continued tomorrow …)
Message for the day
To consider problems to be a game is to move forward with lightness.
Expression: Even when the most difficult problem comes my way, I am able to give my best when I understand the significance of whatever is happening. Because I never experience being subservient to the problem, I am always a master.
Experience: When I understand that problems are just a game, I am able to play whatever part I have to, externally. But internally I will experience lightness knowing that this is the part I have to play. It would be easy to understand the significance of the part that I am playing and remain happy.
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris
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