Contemplation: Good Wishes

Contemplation: Good Wishes

 

Tulip Fields, Amsterdam, Netherlands

By planting seeds of peace deep in the heart, you create a garden of good wishes.

Adjusting

Each day we face new situations - nothing remains the same. When we
learn to adapt we are happy, whatever the situation may be. If we don't
think too much we are able to experience the pleasure of adjusting
ourselves. Where we have a rigid nature, we will not be happy. When
things change demanding us to adapt and adjust, we need to make sure
that we enjoy that too. We need not ask what happened or why it
happened, but just enjoy the change which has something new to teach.

Negative Control And Positive Influence

The power of influence in relationships is extraordinary, but it practically disappears when we try to exercise control and force.

You can influence anyone positively in many ways:
* encouraging,
* sharing,
* listening,
* communicating in the right way.

In 'negative control' we generate stress, frustration and anger. In 'positive influence' the energy flows in a relaxed way with harmony and is not threatening, respecting each one for their specialty and allowing each one to be as they are.

In order to influence positively we need the power of discrimination and judgement in relation to what to say and what to do e.g. when you believe that the other person is the problem; generally the problem is not what others say or do, but rather how you perceive them.

The way that you judge is what creates your negative feelings about them. We have the choice to perceive others as a threat, as a problem, or as an opportunity; an opportunity for learning, for change, for dialogue and understanding. We can choose to have compassion (kindness); to feel that the other is a problem indicates a lack of compassion.

Soul Sustenance

Important Understandings on Reincarnation (Part 1) 

1. The soul has a separate identity from any of the bodies it adopts.

2. The human soul does not take a birth/body of any animal species, just as a lemon seed does not grow into a mango tree. The human soul always takes a human body e.g. if the soul of a cow was to take the birth of a human, wouldn’t it carrysanskars of performing all actions like a cow into its human birth – how would it then function through the human body.

3. The various lives or births of a soul are like different episodes of a television serial, all different, yet connected with each other.

4. The cycle of action and reaction is never-ending. The soul must continue to play its entire role until all it has received the fruits for all its actions. This may require more than one body.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Message for the day

To finish excuses is to take up full responsibility.

Expression: To take up responsibility means to be ready to bear the consequences of the action done. The one who is responsible will never give excuses, but will be able to take the responsibility of correcting the situation. Under all circumstances, such a person will be able to give his best without situations hindering his output.

Experience: When I am responsible, it is not important for me why a mistake happened, but it is more important for me to find a method so that I am able to rectify what has gone wrong.  So when I am responsible I am neither worried nor concerned too much for whatever has happened.  On the other hand I am able work with lightness to improve the situation. 

Contemplation: Creative Life

Contemplation: Creative Life

Creative Life

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.

Fulfilling  Responsibilities

While fulfilling our responsibilities we need not feel heavy but need
to be light within. This lightness will be reflected in our thoughts,
speech, actions and relationships which will be light too. We will then
be able to mould ourselves according to the situation. When we take up
any responsibility, we need to remind ourselves that we have taken on this
responsibility and we will fulfill it to the best of our ability. We
will do our best but will be prepared for whatever outcome it brings.
We can then be able to adapt to the variety of situations that life
brings.

The Step Of Donation In Silence

Donating is the final step of silence. We have filled the self with a particular quality and it starts flowing out of us. We allow this quality to touch the atmosphere around us and consciously donate this vibration to the world, enabling those in need to feel it and to absorb it.

This is the ultimate step of a true meditator, often referred to as the lighthouse stage. A lighthouse stands still and stable in one position in the rough sea and beams the light all around so that ships are shown the way. We are able to bring an original quality of the self into our consciousness, fill our self with it and then, very naturally, let it radiate from the mind.

One of the most important aspects in this step of silence is the link with the Supreme Energy. We make this link with the Supreme Source, we absorb from that Source, we fill the self from that Source and then donate all that the Source has given us.

This is called angelic or instrument consciousness. It is said that an angel is a human soul who has fallen so deeply in love with that Source of Light that it has transformed completely. It is totally filled with Light and Peace and its task is only to serve, to share Divine Love and Peace with others.

Soul Sustenance

Playing My Part as a Hero Actor (Part 3) 

In yesterday’s message we had discussed how some of us believe that our life script has been written by God and we do not play any role in the same. In this regard, it is very important to state that respecting, thanking and remembering God in good as well as bad times is obviously very very good and the right karma but submitting ourselves blindly to God’s will is an inactive response which prevents each of us from using our free will to make any choice at any moment and shape our future. 

While there is a master plan which is being played out on the stage of the world, a part of the plan is that we each have free will and an opportunity to decide our actions and responses. We need to realize that each one of us possesses an intellect, which absorbs the capacity to discriminate right from wrong, good from bad, from God and decides how to act on the world stage. 

In this regard, there are two aspects. The first aspect is – God writes my life script completely for me without me playing any role in the same. The other aspect is - I perform actions and create my responses, based on God’s knowledge of good and bad karmas which he has given me, so as to shape my destiny and write my life script accordingly. There is a fine difference between these two aspects, the second aspect being the correct one. This knowledge given to me by God is stored in my intellect; I am the master of it and can decide how to use it to play my part. 

Message for the day

To be strong is to be free from the influence of the body. 

Expression: To allow the body to influence the mind is to be doubly ill. The one who allows himself to be doubly ill is not able to deal with the illness of the body. On the other hand, the one who is powerful in the mind is able to maintain the inner strength in spite of the disease and so has the power to put in effort to finish it. 

Experience: Instead of being conscious of the disease of the body, all I need to do is to maintain the consciousness of being powerful internally. Then I would not be afraid of the disease of the body but will have the courage to deal with it. I am able to see the disease as something temporary and will soon find myself rid of the illness, as I am powerful within. 

Contemplation:Never Give Up

Contemplation:Never Give Up

Never Give Up

Even when others are at their lowest ebb, it is possible to help them restore their self-belief by keeping a firm, clear vision of their goodness and specialities. Taking a gently encouraging approach, I must never give up on anyone.

Attractive Soul

People spend a lot of time and energy developing their bodies and
making it attractive for other people, but, is there ever a thought of
developing the soul and making it attractive for God?  The body is a
physical matter, which will change, age and die. If you have a
beautiful body today there is no guarantee that it will remain as such
in the future. The soul is an eternal, immortal point of spiritual
light. Within the soul there are impressions that form my personality.
If I take steps to develop and feed it with spiritual knowledge, my
character, my personality will become rich and beautiful. Developing
the soul allows us to have full control of the power of thought. The
quality of our thoughts determine our own personal degree of happiness.

The Law of Self Control

The more control we have over ourselves and our lives, the happier and freer we will feel.

We sometimes get angry with other people. Why does this happen? It is probably because they have not met our expectations or we were trying to control them and they have not let us. Sometimes, the simple expectation that a person should behave as we want them to is in itself an attempt to control them. When we try to control another person, which is impossible, we are bound to fail, feel frustrated and stressed.

We are capable of having power over ourselves; we can be more responsible for our thoughts and feelings. We have the capacity to choose how we respond to different situations and people that we come across in our lives. If we do not exercise much control over our thoughts and emotions, we easily fall into the tendency of seeing ourselves as victimized, and we blame others, making them responsible in our own minds for how we feel. When we do this, we are forgetting that we create our own thoughts. When this happens, we are handing over the control of our thoughts to those who influence, criticize, attack or slander us.

If we want to recover the control over our life, we must learn to control our thoughts and feelings and not blame anyone else for them. The more self-control we have over ourselves, the less will we want to control others and our capacity to influence other people positively will be greater.

Soul Sustenance

Playing My Part as a Hero Actor (Part 2) 

In yesterday’s message we had discussed how we possess the potential in our hands to write the scripts of our lives, our destinies. Some of us do not like this idea because we have been taught since we were small that life is all about luck, but this incorrect belief does not let us realize the immense internal power or potential that we possess of shaping up our destiny, our future. 

By resigning ourselves to a life of luck, we do not use our potential and conveniently avoid doing the inner work of becoming awake and aware of who we are as spiritual beings and the masters of our own destiny. This is why waking up from the sleep of this wrong belief is the first step towards empowering ourselves, towards taking responsibility for our life, for our present, our future. 

Also there are some of us who hold the belief that the course taken by each one of our lives is not written by luck but is decided by God, so it is egoistic on our part if we believe that we can write our own scripts, interfering with the plan that God has in his mind for us. So in times of challenges in our lives, although it is not wrong to pray to God at those times, we commonly use words like ‘if God would like it, I shall overcome this obstacle or I will be successful in this particular task or my health will get okay or I will pass this exam etc.’

In times of happiness, although it’s not wrong to thank God at those times, we completely submit ourselves to God’s will, thinking that it is he and he alone responsible for what good that is happening in my life. In the case of the sorrow we forget that although God can help us to some extent, whether we will surpass the sorrow or not is very largely dependent on our past actions which are influencing the present situation. In the case of the happiness, we forget that though God’s blessings do help and work, our past actions are a very important dominant factor which is creating situations of positivity in our present lives. 

Message for the day

To have knowledge means to remain cheerful. 

Expression: The one who has the right understanding based on accurate knowledge is the one who is able to remain content even during difficult situations. Since there is a clear understanding about situations and the people around, there is no difficulty in giving the best under all circumstances. Such a person uses all challenges to enrich his own capabilities. 

Experience: When I am able to use knowledge as a weapon in a positive way, I am able to understand everything that happens. I understand that there is a reason for whatever happens and there is something to learn from every situation. So I am not upset with the varied situations I am faced with, but am able to remain cheerful enjoying everything that comes my way. 

Contemplation:Radiate Light

Contemplation:Radiate Light

 

Crepuscular rays

Radiate Light

Each one of us is a walking radiator. Mostly we radiate thoughts and attitudes. From deep within we radiate our state of being, and the essential, original and eternal state of every being is peaceful and loving. But we block and distort this energy with our attachments. Attachments turn love into fear, peace into anger and then distort our attitudes and actions towards others. This is neither relaxing for ourselves, or for those around us. Which is why detachment is the secret to living lightly and lovingly. To be a radiator that people come to for real warmth, what do you need to detach from today? If you don't detach then you will stay attached, and then you will see others and life itself as a threat, and your tension will keep them away. But they cannot threaten you. Only your dependency on a thing, or an idea, or an opinion can be threatened.
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Consciousness

There are two different basic levels of consciousness; I am a body (which is illusory (false)) or I am a soul, (which is real). When the feeling is I am a body, the thought process is trapped in the limitations, problems and vision of the physical identity. Its reaction to others is on the same level.

Given below is an awareness-thought-decision-action-result cycle in the case of a typical father-son relationship. You will notice the difference consciousness can make to the cycle.

Awareness
Body Consciousness: I am the father. I know the most.
Soul Consciousness: I am a soul. My natural state is love and peace.

Thought
Body Consciousness: My son should listen to me as he is my own flesh and blood.
Soul Consciousness: My son is a soul too. As a soul he is my brother.

Decision
Body Consciousness: I will teach him a lesson.
Soul Consciousness: I will respect his idea also.

Action
Body Consciousness: Father argues with son.
Soul Consciousness: Father and son discuss with respect.

Result
Body Consciousness: Ill feeling between father and son.
Soul Consciousness: Respect maintained.

Strength

When we think of our weaknesses as 'our' nature, we will feel bound by
them. When there is the feeling of 'mine' there is a feeling of
belonging, and naturally we feel a right to use that weakness. When we
work with any weakness we will not be able to experience freedom. When
we are confronted with our weakness, we need to develop the
consciousness that we are the master, this weakness is not ours and we
don't come under the influence of that which we have taken on from
outside. We need to understand that our nature is not that of weakness,
but of strength. Practicing in this way enables us to become free from
the bondage of the weakness.

Soul Sustenance

Playing My Part As A Hero Actor (Part 1) 

While just as beings we reside in the soul world, as human beings we play our many roles through many physical bodies in this beautiful world drama on this amazing, colorful and round stage called planet Earth. Each day is filled with multi-million scenes in different locations on this very big stage. Some scenes are directly related to us, some indirectly and a lot many aren’t related at all. Each scene that we are directly involved is an opportunity to not only play our role in the best possible way but also as a result shape the role in the most appropriate way possible. Therefore, we are all hero actors who by playing our roles as well as possible, create the script of our own life i.e. create our own destiny.

Do remember doing this has a positive influence on others’ scripts also, which rebounds back to us and in return helps us in our making our scripts better. While we have been given a role to live the entire birth right from childhood to old age, we possess the power, the remote control to dictate and control as to how exactly we will live the day, the year and each year of our present birth, our present role.

Each day offers us multiple options as to not only how we act but also how we respond to the world around us and our script or destiny gets shaped up according to the options we make. Our destiny is decided not by what happens to us or around us, but by (i) how we act (sometimes the actions are responses to external events and sometimes they are not) and (ii) how we respond to a million events and circumstances which we encounter as we make this complete journey of life.

Message for the day

Even the impossible becomes possible with determination and there is sure success. 

Expression: The one who is determined is the one who never gives up in adverse situations.  He is able to use all the challenges as a means for self-progress.  He is never deterred with situations which seem difficult to handle, but is able to creatively bring out new ideas that help him to cross over the obstacles with ease.

Experience: Determination brings confidence in me and in my ability to achieve what I set out to achieve.  I am able to remain confident and sure of my own success.  This confidence gives me the encouragement not to let go half way through, but to do something till the end.  With each obstacle that comes my way that seems to deter me from my path, I find myself improving and progressing, making myself better and better.  So I am able to experience success constantly.
 

Contemplation: Faith

Contemplation: Faith

 

Waterspout, Tampa, Florida

Faith

When I am continuously being battered by the storms of life, and my very spirit is ebbing away, then all I need to do is hang onto that gift called 'Faith', that one support which will weather the storms. Faith does not depend on a clever head, only belief: belief in the self and the strength that lies within. Faith is the seed of victory and the foundation of making the impossible possible.

Special Quality

When challenging situations come our way, we are not able to be free
from the use of our own negative habits and traits. We are then not
able to give our best to the situation. Then there is both internal and
external chaos. On the other hand working with our specialties help us
experience freedom from negativity. We need a long time of practice of
being in a state of peace for being able to experience it naturally
during the challenging time. So let us practice having an experience of
some special quality of ours.

Using Creativity and Positive Thinking To Overcome Dependencies

The correct use of creativity and positive thinking helps us to overcome any type of dependencies or negative tendencies that we may have. Often we live under the illusion (false belief) that we can only be happy thanks to objects, people and places, but happiness is something that we experience when we put our heart into something, and our intention is of giving and not of taking. In the creative activity that we experience greatest enjoyment in, our happiness comes from within and expresses itself outwards, and not from the outside in. Creative personal development helps us to overcome laziness. On overcoming it, we recover the inner strength necessary to free ourselves of certain dependencies, such as the dependency on the creativity of others to entertain us e.g. watching a movie in which actors entertain the viewers. It is fine to enjoy entertainment, but the important thing is that you are capable of spending a good amount of time being creative yourself, overcoming laziness, boredom and the wasting away of our own inner creative capacity.

Also, let us learn to create thoughts which are positive and creative. They arise out of the spiritual knowledge of the inner self or soul. In this way, thanks to those higher quality creative thoughts, full of peace, harmony, love and happiness, the mind gets strengthened and is able to overcome old habits and negative tendencies which we hold on to or are dependent on.

Soul Sustenance

Revising My Purpose In The Professional Sphere 

A young entrepreneur once thought that, in the corporate world, if you earn this much amount of money successfully in a short span of time, you are considered better than the remaining entrepreneurs and you reach the peak of fame. A time arrived when he said to himself "This is stressful. Is this what I want? Working so hard to reach the top, so that you become famous in the entire country and are known amongst the fastest growing businessmen. No, I want to excel in my career, but in another way, without stress, without fighting to reach and maintain fame and power." He then revised his purpose: "What do I want? Why do I do what I do? For what and for who do I do it? What is the price that I have to pay for this dependence on fame?" 

Aspiring to be famous causes continuous stress and anxiety. You participate in a race in which you compete and are comparing yourself constantly. You stop taking care of yourself and nourishing your inner self. You take care of your image but not your inner being. This brings about an inner emptiness and loneliness that, sometimes, is unbearable for us. Reaching fame, financial wealth, the power of a visible position, and reaching it with a broken soul, a broken apart family and a sick body, causes anxiety and depression. We need to look inwards and ask ourselves – does our life’s purpose revolve around the search for fame and power? If yes, then we need to revise our purpose suitably by realizing the negative effects that this search can have on our lives. 

Message for the day

To be strong is to be free from the influence of the body. 

Expression: To allow the body to influence the mind is to be doubly ill. The one who allows himself to be doubly ill is not able to deal with the illness of the body. On the other hand, the one who is powerful in the mind is able to maintain the inner strength in spite of the disease and so has the power to put in effort to finish it. 

Experience: Instead of being conscious of the disease of the body, all I need to do is to maintain the consciousness of being powerful internally. Then I would not be afraid of the disease of the body but will have the courage to deal with it. I am able to see the disease as something temporary and will soon find myself rid of the illness, as I am powerful within. 

Contemplation: Be Content

Contemplation: Be Content

Be Content

Wherever I am is wherever I am meant to be, whatever I am doing is whatever I am meant to be doing and whatever everyone else is doing is exactly what they are meant to be doing - this is contentment. If you do want to change where you are, or what you are doing, the first thing is to be content with wherever you are and whatever you are doing right now! Paradoxically that's what attracts opportunities and invitations to be somewhere else! Why? Because you are a living magnet and contentment is one of your most attractive qualities. And the law of attraction says that according to your dominant thoughts so you will attract the people and circumstances into your life. Being content right now attracts the best possible future.
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Loyalty

It is said that the mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy.
At every moment we have the opportunity to choose our company; thoughts which bring oxygen to the spirit or those who bring pain. If I am
loyal to myself, I will continually strive to go back to my inner core
of positivity, again and again. I will be patient and loving, and
increasingly my mind will reside in this positive inner truth. When I
am able to be loving and loyal to myself, I can then help others in
this same unconditional manner.

Resolving The Inner Identity Crisis (cont.)

In yesterday's message we had explained how the confusions, complications and problems that exist in our world today and the state of human relationships all over the world, are simply a reflection of our lack of inner clarity about who we are, what we are and where we are heading i.e. a lack of true self-identity. So how do we resolve this internal and external turmoil? There is an original, beautiful self, with characteristics of peace, love and happiness that exists within each one of us, the self from which we have been distanced since a very long time. This is a centre full of the spiritual resources of all virtues and powers. Reaching it is a journey of only one second and no distance. By identifying with this inner centre, a centre which is imperishable, unchangeable, constant and even eternal, my self identity becomes strong and stable, as compared to many false identities based on external realities like position, wealth and material possessions which are all perishable and subject to various ups and downs even in one single day, and if we over identify with them, we are bound to experience constant pain and discontentment.

This process of true self-identification is not a renunciation or avoidance of the way the outer world is but it is a healing process for your inner world. It is an internal correction process of identification, whereby you rediscover your true self as a complete being full of positive emotions that you always were and you start identifying with it, doing which very easily helps you let go of the wrong identifications. This process is commonly called meditation, the foundation of which is spiritual wisdom. Once this inner work is done, the outer world starts taking the shape of a reflection of that. Resolving the identity crisis first changes the way our internal and external world looks to us, as a result changing the way it works.

Soul Sustenance

Observing But Not Absorbing 

To observe means we take a new, appropriate mental position in whatever situation, or in whatever relationship, we find ourselves.Observation is a silent skill — a skill we need to learn if we are to assess clearly what positive changes are needed to be made in the self in a particular situation or relationship. 

If we fail to learn this art of observing, we are likely to react and absorb ourselves in the negativity of the person, or event. We get lost in the quicksand of 'what's wrong?' which prevents us from putting things right. As we absorb and fill ourselves with negative emotion, we become heavy and remain helplessly rooted to the ground. The gravity of overload does not allow us to rise above a situation and to understand the reality of what is happening. As a result, we lose perspective and overreact. 

If we wish to understand how the mental position of observation gives us the power of perspective, we can look at the example of the bird and the ant. The ant, extremely busy, running here and there, scrambling over everything in its rush to find and collect food, will see only what is in front of its nose. The bird, on the other hand, leaves the earth and, as it flies higher and higher, starts to see the bigger picture, compared to when it was on the ground, or on the branch of a tree. Seeing the whole picture, it has a completely different perspective. It is only then that it can truly see where to go and what to do. When we get absorbed in a situation or relationship, we lose perspective, we are like the ant, we get too involved in the details, missing the 'obvious', and cannot imagine, or think of other possibilities. 

Message for the day

To be free from the identification with negativity is to be always light. 

Expression: The one who identifies with his negative traits is always thinking about it. There is a trace of this negativity that is seen in everything he does or talks. He is not able to be free from this negativity because with each passing day the identification with it becomes stronger. Slowly others too start perceiving him in the same way. 

Experience: When I am able to be free from the identification with my negativity, I am able to be constantly light. There might be situations or people who might provoke my negativity, but I am able to maintain my inner positivity. This is because I have managed to finish my identification with the negativity. 

Contemplation:Self Awareness

Contemplation:Self Awareness

Self Awareness

A beautiful state of being is soul-consciousness, where your whole sense of self is shifted from a physical identity to a spiritual one. In soul-consciousness, you no longer feel yourself to be male or female, black or white. No worldly achievement forms your self-esteem. Instead self-esteem is shaped by a deep, abiding experience of your intrinsic worth as a child of God. A lack of soul-consciousness puts your well-being at the mercy of your environment - you become a slave to the influences of the people and situations around you - feeling happy and good only when outside events warrant it. This kind of dependency leaves the soul weak and confused. Soul-consciousness, on the other hand, frees you from external influences, allowing you to create an inner well being which is totally independent.

Dadi Janki

Energy Loss

In the normal course of the day, do we know where are thoughts are
going? Do we have the strength to focus and direct them where we want
them to go? We are normally unaware of the amount of energy that is
contained in each and every thought. If we were aware we would pay
attention to conserve and utilize it in a beneficial manner. At a time
when the world's resources is the lowest we are throwing away
enormous quantities of thought by having negative and waste thoughts.
Just like the body gets tired when we use up the physical energy, the
mind gets fatigued giving rise to frustration, boredom and tension. We
need to examine the self and see how our energy is lost.

Resolving The Inner Identity Crisis

At the present moment in human history, almost every individual has lost the awareness of its real or true self. This has happened very gradually as each individual has progressed in its journey of birth-rebirth and has kept on attaching itself to various different things and as a result losing its sense of self in things that it is not i.e. identifying with things that it is not. In a way it can be said that this took the self far away from itself.

This personal, internal identity crisis has led to a universal, external identity crisis, which has resulted in an emotional crisis resulting in peacelessness and sorrow in our inner world as well as in the outer world.

This inner identity crisis is the root cause of the multitude of deformed emotions that exist inside us like anger, ego, lust, fear, comparison with others, greed, hatred, low self esteem, dependencies etc. all of which have brought us and keep on bringing us pain.

We explain this with an example - suppose you have just constructed a new apartment. While making it and once its ready and you are using it, you have become excessively attached to it i.e. you have started identifying with it. Due to this false identification, the first emotion that gets created inside you is ego. If someone were to criticize the apartment even slightly, you would react immediately with anger. You constantly fear any sort of harm to the apartment. You even compare it with apartments that others possess. You also start looking down at people whose apartment is not as good as yours i.e. you create emotions of hatred for them.

If something negative were to happen it, it affects your mental state immediately i.e. your happiness has become dependent on the material possession. Your temporary success along with the recognition that it brings you from others leads to the desire of more success of a similar type i.e. possess some more things - bigger and better, which is nothing but greed etc. The seed of all these incorrect emotions is my over-identification with this newly acquired possession. All of these wouldn't exist inside me, if my relationship with was one of detachment with it. In this way, we identify with various objects and people in the whole day, which leads to the creation of such emotions inside us.

(To be continued tomorrow ...)

Soul Sustenance

The Power To Decide 

Sometimes, there are certain situations where I'm not so much faced with a choice between truth and falsehood where the power to discern (discriminate) is required, but I have to balance competing aims or priorities in deciding on a course of action. There's great value in getting this right, because poor judgment can entangle me in consequences from which it might take years to recover. If I'm deflected because of my attachments or desires, I'll lose my ability to decide accurately. 

Understanding myself as a soul, and keeping my heart full and free through my relationship with the Supreme Soul (meditation) makes my mind free from waste thoughts. Having a clean, clear and concentrated mind helps me remain in the best possible position to judge correctly. I'll be like the Statue of Justice, wearing a blindfold as she carefully weighs the evidence: free from prejudice (bias) arising from superficial appearances, above the influence of situations and the emotions and opinions of others, perfectly centered, she is optimally placed to sense the right way forward. 

Message for the day

To be a leader is to lead by one's own example. 

Expression: Everyone knows what is right and what is not. But the one who is able to live by what is right, and shows the same in his words and actions is the one who is able to inspire others to bring about a change. There is then no need to speak a lot of words to inspire others. 

Experience: When every action of mine is qualitative, I find that people look up to me for guidance and support. When people look up to me and take inspiration from me, I am able to keep attention on my words and actions so that whatever I speak and do is beneficial for myself and others. 

Contemplation: Silence

Contemplation:  Silence

Silence

Behind all creation is silence. Silence is the essential condition, the vital ingredient for all creation and all that is created. It is a power in its own right. The artist starts with a blank canvas - silence. The composer places it between and behind the notes. The very ground of your being, out of which come all your thoughts is silence. The way to silence is through meditation. When you arrive in your own silence you will know true freedom and real power. Stop, take a minute, and listen to the silence within you today.

Checking Myself On The Stage Of Action

Once we become aware of the possible types of thoughts that the mind creates at different times in the span of a particular day, then we are in a position to keep a check on our thoughts and understand where our energy is being wasted. Once we realize that there are patterns of waste and negative thinking at some times during the day, which are usually triggered by certain situations or people, we can apply a brake on the pattern of habitual negative thinking, thereby transforming this energy wastage into something more positive.

It does happen, that when we are informed about the benefits of meditation for the first time, perhaps in a course or a presentation either in the office, in a center of a spiritual organization or elsewhere; we realize the need for the same but we also feel that, in order to get the house of our minds in order, we need to leave our busy city lifestyles behind and head for the hills. There, we think, we will find the time and the physical and spiritual environment to practice meditation and get our mental state in order, but this is absolutely untrue.

While going on an occasional spiritual retreat is certainly useful and recommended for the development of the spiritual self, the real workshop is life itself. Even if I am able to maintain a positive and powerful state of mind in a retreat, it is in our daily actions and relationships with others where the challenge lies, it is on the stage of action or karma kshetra that we have to check whether we can remain soul-conscious i.e. in the awareness of our spiritual identity. It is here where we have to see whether we can apply the brakes on patterns of negative thinking, establish and maintain patterns of positive thinking and test whether we have reached the stage where, no person or situation, however negative, can disturb our state of mind.

Purity

To be pure is to become an instrument to spread positivity. The one who
is pure and clean inside is the one who reflects his purity through his
words and actions. Such a person's thoughts are powerful having a
positive impact on the thoughts of others too. There is such clarity
inside that others are able to take inspiration from him to do what is
right. When I am honest with myself, I become more and more pure and
clear inside. This purity reveals the power of truth and I get all the
more powerful. I don't allow anything negative to influence me and
take away my inner purity. This purity becomes a source of powerful
inspiration for everyone around.

Soul Sustenance

The Law of Cause and Effect 

To imagine how the law of karma works, consider what happens when we throw a stone into a lake: it causes ripples that spread out towards the shoreline, before returning to the centre point. 

Human beings constantly emit energy. We create thoughts, emotions and feelings that transmit vibrations. There are people who tend to radiate energy and others who tend to absorb it. The energy we give off hits other people and rebounds back to us. From this law we should understand that if people send us energy that is not very pleasant, perhaps it is because on another occasion we sent out this type of energy, although it may have taken a long time to come back to us. 

If we make an effort to give off positive energy, with love and respect for others, this energy will also come back to us. Positive energy creates a higher vibration than negative energy. Radiating positive energy produces an aura around us that protects us from negativity or from feeling hurt or humiliated. Our ego, which causes the radiation of negative energy, makes us susceptible to criticism, lack of respect and slander. If our ego does not take over, the negativity will not touch our inner selves. 

Message for the day

The best comparison is the comparison with oneself. 

Expression: The one who is comparing oneself with what he was and seeing how he can improve or how he has improved is the one who is constantly bringing about progress in his own life. On the contrary the one who is comparing himself with others is the one who is constantly finding excuses and leaving behind the opportunities that he gets for bringing about a change. 

Experience: When I am free from excuses and free from comparison with others, I am able to be light even in the most challenging circumstances. I am not caught up with my own mistakes or those of others, but am able to constantly add on to my treasure store of experiences and be richer and richer with every new challenge faced.