Contemplation: Humility

Contemplation:  Humility

Humility

Just as a tree that is full of fruit bows down for others to take the fruit, one who is humble will always live in self respect and offer respect to others.

Free from Desire

When we are free from expectations from others we are also free from
dependency. So we are able to do everything well and to our
satisfaction. We are not bound by the praise that we get from others
but there is fruit in doing the action itself. Then of course praise
follows too. When I do something, I first have to ensure that I am
enjoying it and keep reminding myself of the joy that I am deriving out
of it. Then I am free from the desire for recognition or praise. Then I
will find myself succeeding in the task that I undertake and I will be
appreciated too.

Creating Positive Habits

To overcome a negative habit, we have to ensure that the intellect is strong and stable enough to lead the mind with knowledge and comprehension. In this way, transformation is more deep and lasting, creates satisfaction and fullness, and greatly improves our self-esteem. Our mind, which is under the influence of an old program, must be left in no doubt that "I", the original personality, no longer wants to go down that old road. We must have the strong determination to create a new thought pattern; this will also be recorded on our memory bank. This new register will help us to avoid taking up the old habits the next time something similar happens. For a period of time the two thought patterns, the old and the new, will exist alongside each other. To achieve a long-lasting transformation, we should not suppress our mind and immediately eliminate all the habits or tendencies to which the mind has become accustomed to. If we do this, the mind will begin to cry and make a fuss, and finally, the moment we lower our guard and stop paying attention, the old habits will emerge again and drag our mind towards automatic thoughts and actions so that, almost without us realising, we are once again immersed in our old way of thinking and doing.

We have an alternative: creating thoughts of a greater quality that emerge from a new conscience. In this way, thanks to these positive thoughts, full of love, harmony and creativity, the mind will start to cleanse itself, replacing the old habits and negative tendencies in a totally natural way. The positive thought that preceded the positive action is still conscious, but the more we repeat the positive action the less conscious we are of the thought that created it. The time comes when we don't know why we are doing whatever we are doing: it has become a positive habit.

Soul Sustenance

Improving Your Responses by Moving from A State of ‘Doing’ To ‘Being’ 

This is a meditation exercise which you can practice anytime in the day when you are busy interacting with someone or a group of people. At that time, create the thoughts below, very, very slowly in your mind. Experience the essence of each thought - 

I am a soul and at peace with myself and the world around me... This scene, in which I find myself in, is one of many scenes in which I play a role... Now, I disconnect for a few seconds from what is happening around me... Mentally (not physically), I take a step back and just watch, as an observer, what is happening... I make no judgments - I just observe... As I observe, I see that each soul in the scene is playing their own unique role, according to their capability and understanding, because of which I accept each one completely without any conditions... 

I remain patient in allowing this scene to develop in a natural way... I wait for an invitation to participate - it always comes finally... I have no desires from the situation... But, at the same time, I am happy to contribute towards achieving the most positive and effective result... In the meantime I maintain my peace and share the energy of that peace with all around me as this is the most important contribution that I can make... I realize that simply by observing peacefully I am participating positively in this scene… 

If you dedicate time to consciously practice the above meditation for a few moments in many actions during the day, you will finally find that you move into this state of just being (while yet doing) very, very naturally. 

You are not avoiding life or the world around you. Instead, you are learning to take control of your awareness and involvement, disconnect when you want, be more mentally sharp in understanding (what is visible as well as subtle or non-visible) all that is happening around you and give yourself the time and the personal space to respond accurately and positively. 

Message for the day

The breath of a true life is enthusiasm. 

Expression: To live life, to live each moment with enthusiasm is to really live life. The quality of life, the quality of the work done, the quality of relationships, everything is enriched through enthusiasm. Where there is enthusiasm there is maximum recognition and usage of everything available. Enthusiasm spreads to others too, gives them the courage to do their best and enrich their lives. 

Experience: When I am enthusiastic, I am able to enjoy everything that comes my way. The biggest obstacle seems like a game for me, and I pass it by easily, without experiencing any difficulty. Confidence builds up in me and gives me the courage to be the best in all I do. I slowly increase my own potential and steadily move on towards success. 

Contemplation: Original Peace

Contemplation:  Original Peace

Original Peace

It is not necessary to search for peace. It is within. Your original state is one of peace. External situations will pull you away from your peace. If, that is, you let them. Internal feelings can also pull you away. Tiredness, for example, leads to irritability. Learn to be in charge of yourself and maintain your peace: centre your awareness on your spiritual form - a tiny star-like point of light, seated in the middle of your forehead. Really experience the difference between You the Sparkling Star, and your body, the physical vehicle. Learn to detach yourself from the vehicle. Even a few moments of this practice, if done regularly, will return you to your natural state of peace. Tiredness will vanish. Irritability too. And your actions will be filled with love - for the self and others.

Our Resources

The one who is able to fulfill all responsibilities in the right way is
the one who wins the trust of those around him. So when we are using
all the resources available with us in the right way, we are further
given the space to use these resources. We need to make sure we are
making proper use of the resources that we have, including the resource
of our time, our virtues, our knowledge etc. When we use these
resources properly we will be able to win the trust of others and get
the freedom and space for ourselves in our work and relationships.

Topics For Meditation Thought Commentaries (cont.)

Here are a few thoughts or themes for meditation to help you:

* I am a point of pure spiritual energy, a point of pure light, situated at the center of the forehead. While the world around me is always changing, various different scenes come and go in my life, while even thoughts, feelings, emotions come and go, I the soul remain here at the centre of everything, at the centre of even myself, stationary, unchanging and totally stable. In this inner space of stillness, I experience pure peace and silence.

Repeat as well as expand the thoughts explained over the last couple of days gently to yourself, experience them deeply, allowing them to take root in your mind while enjoying the beautiful feelings of detachment they bring. This will help you reconnect with your spiritual center with ease.

Remember, the final aim of meditation is to go beyond thoughts into the actual experience. Thoughts are the steps which take you to your final destination of experience. The stage of experience is one which does not contain any thoughts. But you cannot make this happen forcefully. Use the thoughts to gently guide you there. They will slowly dissolve on their own and, when the time is right, instead of thinking about peace you will feel peace and reside (stay) in peace - the peace which always resides (stays) within you.

Soul Sustenance

Understanding Attachment 

Entertainment industries publicize the illusion (false belief) that in order to be happy we must acquire "things" and form relationships of attachment to them; that in order to find love we must possess or be attached to the other person. This confusion between love and attachment has entered into all our relationships in a number of ways. 

To our conditioned minds it appears to be a contradiction (error), but it is a basic spiritual truth - to be loving it is necessary to be detached. Attachment is the root of fear and fear and love cannot exist together just as day and night, winter and summer cannot. The idea and the practice of detachment are found in almost all the paths of wisdom, over the centuries.

This is so because attachment is one of the deepest habits that we learn to develop, and we do not realize that anything we attach ourselves to turns into a trap for our consciousness, for the self, the being. We know we are attached when we begin to think about someone or something when they are not present and there is no need to think about them. Our mental energy exhausts itself and we have the sensation that we lack control over our thoughts and feelings. 

Each time that we automatically cling (hold on) to something, we invoke (call for or attract) the presence of fear - whether it be of people, position, power, money or even opinion, any form of attachment means that we will fear harm or loss. Fear takes on many faces (worry, anxiety, and tension); it prevents our spiritual growth and frightens us away from or blocks us from love. 

Message for the day

The biggest gift is the gift of virtues. 

Expression: Through out the day, each individual is involved in a series of activities. A simple thought to give the gift of virtues makes even ordinary actions special. Each act becomes special and the fragrance of this speciality spreads around and touches the lives of others too. Such an individual is able to contribute to every task with his own speciality and bring success in the task too. 

Experience: When I am able to express and give the gift of my virtues, I am able to attain satisfaction with whatever I get to do. This satisfaction brings in me the inner urge to contribute some more. I achieve success outwardly too since I have actually been able to experience inner success. My relations with others are also harmonious and whatever task I do along with the others brings a productive result. 

Contemplation: Heal Yourself

Contemplation:  Heal Yourself

Karijini National Park in Western Australia

Heal Yourself

The deepest wounds we all carry are locked in our subconscious (out of our awareness). Deep memories and subtle impressions, from unfinished experience, rooted in the past. The pain from those wounds comes to revisit, to block and paralyse us in the moment called now. We all know it comes without warning - "Why am I feeling this way, I didn't mean to do that, I don't know what made me say that." Healing does not mean finding and treating every single inner scar which send it message to haunt us. It means going even deeper, past those wounds, beyond those distant memories and recording of unfinished business, to the core of our self, to the heart of our spirit, where we find the light and warmth of our own core qualities of love and peace. They are eternally present within us they are what we need to heal all our inner wounds. That's why this kind of deep healing is called spirituality and not therapy.  

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Inner Power

When we are under the influence of our weaknesses and tend to use them
during pressurizing situations, we are not able to experience freedom.
We feel bound by the difficult situation and so are not able to express
all the positive qualities that we have. We need to make a practice of
connecting to our own inner power constantly. For this we need to keep
reminding ourselves again and again of this power. Then during
difficult times, these qualities will be available for us in order to
be free from the influence of situation and to have a positive
influence.

Topics For Meditation Thought Commentaries (cont.)

Here are a few thoughts or themes for meditation to help you:

* Like stars shine to bring light during the night, I am a spiritual being of radiant light, like a star in the night sky, reflecting and radiating spiritual light in the present spiritual darkness of the world night. The, light, which emanates from the heart of me is peaceful and loving. It touches each and every being in the world. It is my gift to the world.

* I am just a tiny point of pure energy, of light, situated at the center of the forehead. And within that tiny point lie all my thoughts, feelings, emotions, attitudes, beliefs and my personality traits. Within the point of light that I am, lie all the qualities of spirit that I have - I am a source of love, peace, power and wisdom for others.

* I am a conscient, miniscule point of energy, at the center of the forehead and I am instrumental in making this body work. This body may be heavy and big as compared to me, but I the soul am so light, and free that I can almost fly. I experience bliss as the soul releases itself from the bondage of matter.

(To be continued tomorrow...)

Soul Sustenance

What Is True Love? (A Spiritual Perspective) 

Emotional love can flower into true love when the fire of emotions cools down and is substituted by a wiser and more mature relationship. True love needs a fresh and renewing atmosphere, without fears. When you feel spiritually full, you feel flowing over with pleasure, happiness, wellbeing, and that state helps you to accept the one whom you love as they are, because from your fullness you give and share and you don't need or expect anything from the other.

While you need something that you want the other to satisfy, you will have expectations and the fear that those needs might not be satisfied, and you will get frustrated more easily. When you feel like a being of peace, a being of love, a tranquil being, a being that is spiritually full and satisfied, your relationship with others is a relationship of sharing on a level on which fear is not generated. You are not asking for or taking anything from the other. An elevated sharing of love, of happiness, of knowledge, of wisdom takes place, in which you do not generate a dependency on the other. 

Attachments and dependencies, fears and insecurity, block our experience of love, of peace, serenity, freedom, happiness. When you have a feeling of love that takes you to a state of joy, to wholeness, but then you attach yourself to the object of your love, be it a person, or a property, automatically the feeling changes into fear: you fear to lose the object of your love and, instead of feeling wholeness and enjoyment, you feel fear.

Over time that attachment turns into a dependency and you start to become inwardly empty: that is, your energy level goes down. Love in its purest form is a like a spring that pours forth for the benefit of others. Learn the art of loving, being free and allowing to be. Pure, true, love is an unconditional love that flows freely. Do not cling (hold on to). Love does not cling. 

Message for the day

Cooperation creates space for learning and growth. 

Expression: The one who cooperates and inspires cooperation is able to create a conducive environment for the progress of all. To inspire cooperation means to be able to relate to the positivity in those around. Relating to the positive aspect naturally inspires others to use their specialities for the success of the task. Their good wishes for the task too emerge very naturally. 

Experience: Since I am able to relate to others' positivity, I find myself enriched with it. I subconsciously imbibe what I perceive. I get a chance and a space to learn and progress. The journey towards success in itself is a joyful experience and there is harmony in working with others. Thus I find success too easy to achieve as there is the contribution of each one's speciality for the task. 

Contemplation: January 01, 2018: Self-respect - Happy New Year

Contemplation: January 01, 2018: Self-respect - Happy New Year

 

Self-respect

Self-respect is not a matter of what you are doing in your life, but rather of how you are doing it. It requires that you bring quality and virtue into each action, whatever that action may be.

Wishing you all a very Happy, Peaceful, Prosperous, Powerful and Pure New Year

Invaluable Golden Godly Gifts for Self-Progress

01. Make your thoughts absolutely pure. In that purity there is peace.
Not just positive but extremely pure.

02. Whenever you are smiling there is no difficulty. If you find it
difficult to smile then difficulty comes. So this is the only solution.

Let me live while smiling and when I die, I will be smiling.

03. Don't think about others and don't think about the past. Don't even
come backward and look at the past, whether it is yours or others'.
Past is past. Be forever in front of Baba (God - Father) and Baba will
be present in front of you.

04. To be healthy means to have lots of courage. Wealthy means a
generous heart. Happy means one who does everything with cooperation.

05. Baba has pulled me and made me belong to Him. If I don't have that
pull now, what is the reason? Intellect is either towards people or
object.

Topics For Meditation Thought Commentaries

As you start your meditation practice, you need to have in mind some simple topics for your thought commentaries on which you base your meditation. Repeat them gently. Doing that will give you enough time to experience the feelings hidden inside them. Realization of thought commentaries will help your thoughts to develop and your thoughts will slowly expand as you now guide yourself in your meditation. Take up a few simple topics or phrases as the foundation for your meditation. Initially, listening to a guided meditation commentary on an audio cassette or CD, which is available at any Brahma Kumaris center will be extremely helpful. As you get an idea about what thought commentaries are all about, you can gradually start creating your own powerful, positive, thought commentaries. These will ultimately have more meaning for you because they have been created by you and you will easily be able to relate to them. You can continue to take the help of recorded commentaries, though, from time to time. Given below are a few topics for your thought commentaries, which you would find helpful and which you can explore.
* I am a subtle (non-physical) point of consciousness, which resides within this body (situated at the center of the forehead), I am the energy which brings this body to life every day. I am the energy which uses this body to see, to speak, to touch and to hear. I am the energy which experiences everything via the body. But I am not this body.

* I am a soul, a being of light, situated at the center of the forehead, radiating pure light into my body, out towards others close to me and the world. As I turn within and remember who I am, I experience my own capacity to have pure love for all others. It is a generous (kind) love that neither wants nor needs anything in return.

(To be continued tomorrow...)

Soul Sustenance

Characteristics Of The World Stage 

There are three things that we all have in common; 

awareness - of ourselves and others
relationships - the sharing and exchange of energy with others 
creativity - the ability to produce thoughts, ideas, concepts and feelings and express them.

The purpose of our life is nothing more than living life itself - to be self-aware (awareness), to be creative, to express ourselves to our highest potential (creativity) and to exchange the energy of love with those around us (relationships). But this cannot happen in the incorporeal, silent home of the soul (commonly called paramdham or shantidham). These characteristics of life require action, a costume (physical body) through which to express ourselves and a stage on which to act. The physical world provides the stage on which we can move, bring to life, create, relate and express all that is within us. For each of us the possibilities are infinite. 

The moment we take birth in a physical form, we are constantly doing one of three things: acting, reacting, or interacting - sometimes all three together. 

Message for the day

To have a positive outlook is to remain in peace. 

Expression: The more one hears and talks about positive things, the more one is able to be free from negative influences. The environment today doesn't give much of a chance for hearing to positivity because of the continuous flow of news about conflict and violence. But changing the theme of conversation and talking about what life gives is to change the responses to the world in a more positive way. 

Experience: When I have a positive outlook, it creates in me hope and enthusiasm for the future. I also have a more positive view of the present reality. I remain in peace, whatever the challenges or negative situations I may have to face. I am able to be in touch with the inner peace and maintain this state of mind under all circumstances. 

Contemplation: Save the Sinking Boat

Contemplation: Save the Sinking Boat

Veneza, Italia

Save the Sinking Boat

Do good and forget about it. Do not have grudges in your mind for anyone. Save the sinking boat with the anchor of your pure thoughts. The greatest art is to bring your mind onto this auspicious path. Think good .... Do good.

A Strong Heart

It is so important to experience God's mercy and forge a strong
relationship with God as our Mother. Knowing that a heart that has
been hurt becomes hard, we understand God is the only One who can heal
our hearts. Each one should ask him or herself : "What can I do to
make my heart softer?" There is such a need of mercy. We have to make
our hearts softer and stronger, because a strong heart doesn't
experience pain and we know that if we experience sorrow, we cannot
serve God.

Mental Clarity Or Focus

To strengthen yourself you need to have mental clarity or focus. That is possible if there is not so much of excessive thought, so as to generate clouds of unhappiness, suffering, grief, indecision, doubts and negativity - thoughts that your mind produces, thoughts that are weak, useless or wasteful. All of these thoughts cloud your own clarity. Mental focus means to think less, think concretely, concentrate, think in an elevated way, and your thought will have an energy of clarity and inner strength that will help you to put it into practice with greater success. You should strengthen yourself to achieve a state of self-control. For this, you need to study yourself, know yourself and understand yourself. You need inner silence, for there not to be so much mental chatter (noise) from thinking, thinking, thinking and thinking.

On top of that, other people influence you and so you generate even more thoughts. There are so many influences and inner voices that speak to you. With all of that there cannot be clarity. There is the voice of your fears, of your ego, that of desires and greed, there are influences of the past, thoughts emerging from your values, influences of your neighbors, your children, your husband or wife, your mother or father, the influence of your office colleague's opinion, or your best friend, your doctor, your guru, etc. You can listen to many inner and outer voices and, if you are not strong, your mind weakens under so many influences, which has negative effects on your clarity of mind. Because of all of this you have to strengthen your mind, which means, think less; think slower, concentrated and clear thought; with sense and meaning; of quality, based on a healthy and positive motivation. These thoughts are then like arrows, which have positive strength and clarity.

Soul Sustenance

Crossing Negative Circumstances/Situations (Part 3) 

In order to have a wider perception and not to drown in any negative situation i.e. not to get affected by it, you can position yourself in a positive way. 

Instead of losing respect for the self and developing a negative consciousness, if you make your consciousness positive and stabilize yourself in respect towards yourself, in maintaining your positive and powerful self-esteem and a healthy distance (not necessarily physical distance, but rather by not letting the situation absorb you), you will be able to have an eagle's vision. From above, everything looks smaller. It is easier to get over something small. You can. “I am a victorious soul” or “I am a destroyer of obstacles” are examples of positive consciousness. 

Whatever happens, it is important to always be aware that you create your thoughts and you allow the situations to have greater or lesser impact inside you, according to how you see them. 

Learn to create thoughts full of courage, trust and determination. Spirituality and the practice of meditation helps you do just that. Those thoughts, charged with positive energy, will help you to allow each situation to pass; to really overcome it and leave it behind; for it not to remain alive in your thoughts or in your memory. With the power of a mind that creates thoughts full of good energy, wherever you go, you will create a pleasant atmosphere. 

Your vibrations will create spaces full of beauty, love, trust and peacefulness; spaces where all those who enter will remove their masks and will connect again with their true self. 

Message for the day

To change means to experience progress. 

Expression: Whenever there is a desire to bring about a change, there is also a simultaneous intense feeling to find a change instantly – and fully. Yet this does not always happen. However, true change is that in which there is at least a little change. When there is constant effort put in to be better and to do better, then naturally the best results are visible, even if there is not perfection seen overnight. 

Experience: When I bring about a change constantly, in whatever little way I can, I am able to experience constant progress. I do not have great expectations, but will be satisfied with the little changes that I make and will have the confidence to go on putting in effort. Even with the little results that I attain I will be able to take encouragement constantly. I am thus able to move on towards perfection.