Om Shanti
Om Shanti
कम बोलो, धीरे बोलो, मीठा बोलो            सोच के बोलो, समझ के बोलो, सत्य बोलो            स्वमान में रहो, सम्मान दो             निमित्त बनो, निर्मान बनो, निर्मल बोलो             निराकारी, निर्विकारी, निरहंकारी बनो      शुभ सोचो, शुभ बोलो, शुभ करो, शुभ संकल्प रखो          न दुःख दो , न दुःख लो          शुक्रिया बाबा शुक्रिया, आपका लाख लाख पद्मगुना शुक्रिया !!! 

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 02, 2015: Good Wishes

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 02, 2015: Good Wishes





Good Wishes

Giving good wishes to others acts like sunlight, filtering into the dark corners of their mind and lightening their burdens.




To order whilst being seated on the seat is to ensure obedience. 

Before I expect obedience from others, I need to check if my own mind and sense organs are obedient. For this, I need to be seated on the seat of my own self-respect (of the qualities I have). Thus seated, like a king, when I order, I find that orders are obeyed. Today I will practice a point of self-respect. I will recognize and appreciate one quality in myself. I will remind myself of this quality, from time to time, throughout the day. If I find my mind wandering or my sense organs disobedient, I will give orders with the same consciousness of self-respect. Then, I will find positive results. 


Love And Suffering (Part 1)

There are two things that touch or move us in life: pain and pleasureBoth create addiction. We feel pain in the body, and sometimes it is even emotional. But suffering arises in the mind. The suffering in the mind arises from thinking negatively towards the self, towards others, looking at them with a vision or attitude that causes grief, sorrow and suffering. Both extremes, pain and pleasure, can create addiction. On creating addiction it can start to form part of someone's identity. Later if one tries to stop the addiction of pain or suffering, it can almost feel like a threat towards the self, and towards one's own identity as one perceives it, because suffering is identified with. It is too hard to see oneself as no longer suffering.

An e.g. in this regard is that of a mother, with three children, who was undergoing a meditation course at one of the Brahma Kumaris centers. Her daughter had learned to meditate and became very happy and joyful. Seeing her happiness the mother came to learn to meditate. With a few sessions she felt much more at peace and had very good experiences, but all of a sudden she decide to stop the meditation practice and leave the course because she was starting experiencing a positive detachment, which she perceived as negative. Now, she was no longer feeling afraid of what might happen to her children. The meditation was awakening in her a love free from fears, but it brought on in her an inner clash of beliefs between the old and new beliefs. Her old belief was that to love someone is to suffer about them or create pain related to them.

(To be continued tomorrow ...)



Soul Sustenance

The Relationship Between Anger And Attachment (Part 1) 

Most of us logically understand that all forms of anger are worthlessness emotions, but when we enter into the field of practical actions, we tend to argue that there are some situations where the weapon of anger has to be used and where it is justified or allowable. When someone tries to harm me personally, like giving sorrow to a friend or loved one, send a complaint about my work to the higher ups in the office or simply insult me or bang into my car at the street crossing for that matter, it would seem that our anger is justified, on such occasions. But the basic principle is the same in all these cases. We are, in our own mind, trying to control and change what we cannot change - the past or other people or events.

In all the above cases above we suffer a lot when these things that are close to us are changed or lost. So why does that happen? It is because we keep all these things too close to us or in other words we are over attached to them.
 When someone tries to bring me down at the workplace, or in other words tries to harm my position in the office and I suffer because of the same, it is because I identify with my role in the office, I think I am the role. When someone bangs into my car, the emotion of anger emerges inside me, because I identify with the car, I think I am the car! This is the deepest mistake. It is the deepest cause of the negative suffering called anger. We are not aware of this of course, but if we were to take a moment and see what we do in our minds, we would see we emerge the image of our role or our car on the screen of our mind. We have then gone into that image in our mind, and we have lost our spiritual identity or individuality in that image. In effect we have identified completely with the role or the car or are too attached to them. So if the role or the car is harmed in any way, it feels like it is happening to us and, as a result, we become disturbed or angry.

(To be continued tomorrow…)

Message for the day

Use the power of your thought and you will find negative situations changing into positive.

Checking: When things are going wrong, check what kind of thoughts you are having - are your thoughts positive in spite of the negative situation or are they negative. The more you have negative thoughts, the situation will only worsen.

Practice: When things are going wrong, take a thought that it is not the thing itself that is going wrong but it is your perception that makes it look negative. Also remind yourself that you have the power to transform negative into positive. When your thought changes,  the situation changes too.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris


Daily Positive Thoughts: December 01, 2015: Say 'I'm Sorry' and mean it

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 01, 2015: Say 'I'm Sorry' and mean it






Say 'I'm Sorry' and mean it

Is simply saying 'sorry' enough?
To make your apology sincere and authentic:
Make a commitment to change yourself and resolve the issue for the future;
Have a determined thought, 'I am not going to do this again'.



True Independence

Liberate yourself from the bondages of the mind. It is wasteful thoughts that won’t allow you to attain true freedom. 
True Independence is to be, in dependence of only GOD.


A Spiritual Perspective Of True Love

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.


Soul Sustenance

Detached Observation – A Spiritual Skill 

Detachment is the basis of our ability to be positive and affectionate with others while we interact with them. This is what is known as commitment and the relationship of detachment and it begins with what is known as a spiritual skill: the skill of being a detached observer. 

On needs to be a detached observer in two dimensions: one within and one outside: 
The inner art of detached observation is the ability of separating ourselves from our own thoughts, emotions, attitudes and behavior. On the external level, the art of detached observation is the art of being witness to the scenes that take place around us. While we detach ourselves and observe how the game of life develops, without being active participants, we are able to see the "big picture" with greater clarity. That makes it easier to see clearly what role we have to play and where our contribution lies. We are creators, and our thoughts, emotions and attitudes are our own work. 

In reality, detached observation is the first step towards personal strengthening. If we don't manage to detach ourselves from our thoughts and emotions, they will turn into our owners and will consume our energy. 

For the practice of meditation it is essential that you act as a witness of everything you think and feel, and, once some time has passed, you will find that the practice simultaneously frees you and offers power. 
Message for the day

The one who does not wait for others to change to bring a change in the self is the one who really brings benefit to others. 

Checking: Think of all the things you would like to change but are not able to. Now ask yourself why you are not able to bring about a change - is it because you are waiting for others to change before you change yourself. 

Practice: Take any one thing that you would like to change and tell yourself, “I will change and seeing me the others will change too. I am the leader who inspires others to change, I will not wait for others." 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris


Daily Positive Thoughts: November 30, 2015: Determination



Daily Positive Thoughts: November 30, 2015: Determination



Artemisia, the first lady navigator, the commander of Acheamenid navy (Persian)


Determination

Determination is an unbroken line, a backbone. 
Without determination life becomes scattered. 
Determination makes you sit up straight and love everything.


The Practice of Meditation

The root of all needs and expectations is an unfulfilled spiritual desire. 
Satisfy your spiritual desires through the practice of meditation and you'll be able to interact successfully with anyone. 
No longer needy, you will enter into relationships simply to share and enjoy. 
There'll be no strings attached in the way you give of yourself; your love will be unconditional.

The Physical And The Non-Physical

In life many happenings cannot be explained only in material or physical terms. At certain points of crisis (negative) or inspiration (positive), there are deep emotional and spiritual experiences which separate us from the world around. We look inwards at such times; we look into religious or philosophical books, into rituals or symbols, in order to understand these experiences.

We are subject to a continuous commentary on life around us from our own thoughts, feelings and deductions.  These faculties of thinking and forming ideas, desiring and deciding (and all the different aspects which constitute our individual personality) are non-physical, yet nevertheless real - we cannot deny their existence. Indeed, anything perceivable to us comes from two sources; that which is detected by the physical senses and that which arises from impressions recorded on these subtle (non-physical) faculties (mentioned above). The things that we can see, taste, hear, smell and feel, as well as the body itself are formed of matter. But the subtle faculties of mind, intellect and personality make up what we call "consciousness".

Soul Sustenance

Spiritual Vision

A simple definition of spiritual vision is that I see the best in others. A parameter of proving to myself that I have a spiritual vision and I am seeing the best in others is that I naturally thank and praise rather than criticize those with whom I interact at home or at the workplace on a daily basis – even though I may see obvious negative characteristics in them and experience negative behavior from them. Keep a daily chart of the three points, for three people close to you, below for one week. Every night, fill this chart up for the day that’s just gone by.

1. Name of person and relationship
2. How did I thank or praise him/her?
3. What was this person's response?

Remember that although you may be constantly positive with others, constantly seeing their original spiritual qualities, it may take time for your positive energy to transform them and for them to start transmitting positive energy back to you and start behaving positively with you. At the end of the week, check what benefits did you and others experience from this exercise.

Message for the day

Become a true well-wisher who transforms others' attitude with your good wishes.

Checking: In your interactions throughout the day, check if your feelings towards someone are negative. Also check if you are expecting someone to change his or her attitude or behaviour.

Practice: Tell yourself each day, "Just as a powerful bulb when switched on transforms darkness into light in a second, there's so much power in my good wishes that they can transform others' negative attitude into positive in one second."


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris




Daily Positive Thoughts: November 29, 2015: Happiness Is Your Property


Daily Positive Thoughts: November 29, 2015: Happiness Is Your Property







Happiness Is Your Property


No matter what adverse situations come in front of you, no matter how many obstacles come in front of you, your happiness should not disappear. An obstacle that comes will also go away. That obstacle comes and goes away but what belongs to you should not go. So, happiness is your property. Whenever an obstacle comes, just think that it has come to go away. When a guest comes to your home, it isn't that he has come as a guest and will go away having taken everything from your home. So an obstacle has come and it will go away but it should not take away your happiness. Happiness should always remain with you.



Quiet Time


Life is full of noise and activity.
Plan some quiet time, whenever it's possible.
If you can, have a one full day of quiet.

To create the quiet space, turn off the TV, radio, phones, computer. And in that quiet time, do simple things.
Write, reflect and read. Read something inspirational, but don't read too much. Go for a walk and enjoy nature.

Stay connected with yourself as you go about your day. Appreciate each scene and each person as they are. Interact with others but at the same time stay quiet.


Motivation

The example of an iceberg shows the need to see under people's surface behaviour; the need of a deeper insight.

Only 10% of an iceberg is visible on the surface, 90% is under the waterline, invisible, but yet prominent.  If there is a wind coming from left to right, just by seeing the visible mass, we think it will move the iceberg to towards the right.  If, against all expectations, the iceberg moves in the opposite direction (left), it is because, under the waterline, there is a strong current running towards the left.

Sometimes you, as a leader, try to move people in a certain direction by giving them orders, instructions, explanations and encouragement, but you do it on the basis of what you see above the surface. The visible part represents what is at the surface such as appearance, behaviour, manners etc.  You do not see what moves them under the surface so you become surprised and maybe frustrated seeing them move in the opposite direction.  The main part, which is the 90% not visible, is within the subconscious.  Under the surface (subconscious) you will find emotions, fears, attitudes, deeply held values etc.

If you want to move people, if you want to motivate others for a project or even just to reach others, you need to be aware of these kinds of things that you find under the surface. The key to understanding others better is to be more aware of your own feelings and under-currents, because, at a deep level, we are very much alike. If you understand your own fears and strong motivators, you will understand others much better.


Soul Sustenance

Effect of Food On The Mind (Part 2)

Three categories of foods are defined corresponding to the particular energy that exists in them.

The first is Satwik or sentient food (explained earlier).

The second group is Rajasik or mutative food - it contains a mutative energy of restlessness, constant movement or change. When this force is consumed, the mind and body become agitated and nervous, unable to calm down and relax. These foods include caffeinated drinks such as coffee and many teas, hot spices, fermented foods and some medicinal drugs.

The third group is Tamasik or static food - this type of food has a static force of dullness, inertia, intoxication, and attraction towards sensuality (body-consciousness), decay and death. Death occurs when the other two energies (sentient and mutative) are spent and the static force is the only dominant force. Static foods include meat, fish, eggs, alcohol, mushrooms, onions and garlic.

Message for the day

To be successful is to be able to fly over the clouds of situations.

Checking: When there is any obstacle that comes up in your way check if you are afraid of it or if you are able to see it only as an obstacle that you must overcome.

Practice: Each day take a thought in your mind, "All these obstacles that I am faced with are like clouds that come in the journey of my life. I have to go on flying and not stop in the clouds of situations."


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris


Daily Positive Thoughts: November 28, 2015: Barriers to Love

Daily Positive Thoughts: November 28, 2015: Barriers to Love




Painting by Todd Abbot Winters


Barriers to Love


Whatever is in your heart that is not clean, not true, will ultimately begin to act like a wall, obstructing the natural flow of love. People who say that there is no love in their life, are being blocked by this wall. Actually there is love, but they just cant accept it. Ego is the clearest example of this. Ego limits the flow of love by placing conditions on the love you give and receive. Ego uses love to satisfy its own needs and desires. It produces a love which is deceptive, one which brings only temporary satisfaction. Ego does not allow you to experience true love or share it. If fact, ego is capable of destroying your ability to feel love altogether.



Repetition of positive thoughts lead to powerful thoughts. 

When ordinary and waste thoughts are repeated, they can become harmful and negative thoughts. On the other hand, when positive thoughts are repeated, they become powerful thoughts. When I take a simple positive thought and practice with it, I find myself becoming more and more powerful. Today I will take a simple positive thought and practice with it. This simple thought could be "I am happy today" or "I appreciate the people in my life". This will help me reinforce this thought and make it powerful. Such powerful thoughts are available with me, specially at a time when things are not so right.



Symptoms Of Stress

When we feel stressed our difficulty tends to be reflected in certain physiological (physical) and psychological (mental) symptoms, whose importance we may not fully understand. These are normal signs that we should re-check our priorities - our body, or our state of mind, is telling us that something in our lives needs to change. Listed here are some common signs:

1. Restlessness - We could have difficulty sitting still for even short periods of time and we may play with our hands, play with our thumbs or play with the rings on our fingers.
2. Impatience And Short-temperedness - We could find ourselves becoming angry at any moment for simple reasons; or we may snap at people, too quick to assume that they are accusing us.
3. Obsessive Working - Overworking can be a stress symptom, although stress can also cause some people to work very little.
4. Loss Of Appetite - Food doesn't interest us anymore. Either we don't eat, or we over-eat junk food.
5. Fear Of Silence - Silence may cause us discomfort, so that we over-talk when with other people or leave on the television or music player when alone. Sometimes we may not tolerate noise at all.


Soul Sustenance

Effect of Food On The Mind (Part 1) 

All foods have their own subtle (non-physical) vibrations or energy levels. Food feeds more than the stomach; it not only affects the working of the body but its subtle energy influences the mind. Consumption of food allows the energy levels to have an effect on our system, for better or worse.

Experimenting with the effects of different foods, three categories were defined corresponding to the particular energy that existed in them.

The first is Satwik or sentient food – this type of food if filled with vibrations of purity, self-awareness, love, peace and joy. This category of food includes fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, grains, milk and dairy products. It helps our emotions and mind to remain in a stable and peaceful state. This in turn affects our thoughts, attitudes and behaviour. 


(To be continued tomorrow .... ) 
Message for the day

Where there is determination there is success. 
Checking: Think of all that you wanted to achieve in the past few days. Now check if you have achieved it or are still trying for it. Check if you have left anything midway.

Practice: Pick out one of the things that you wanted to achieve or create an aim for yourself and think, "I am the one who is victorious and I will achieve whatever I set out to. I will not leave any task unfinished."
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: November 27, 2015: Mistakes


Daily Positive Thoughts: November 27, 2015: Mistakes




Mistakes


When you make a mistake, learn from it, resolve not to repeat it and then forget about it. You will feel better again. Do the same with others, instead of making their mistakes bigger, dissolve them in your mind and help them also to forget about them. A sensible person does not criticise the mistakes of others, instead, he learns from them for the future.



Courage
Courage means facing your fear. Instead of 'Forget Everything And Run', face FEAR by, 'Face, Explore, Accept and Respond.'

Look at your fear and decide if you want to step out of your comfort zone and take action in spite of the fear.

Maintain your courage. Courage gives you the strength to go beyond and overcome your fears.




Transforming Anger


In meditation, when I connect with God, I absorb His spiritual love and peace, which causes my own original qualities, which are present in me, the soul, in my pure state when I begin the playing of roles through physical bodies on the world stage, to come to the forefront or to the surface, to emerge in the conscious from the sub-conscious. As a result, now, where previously there would have been conflict, I have a greater capacity to remain peaceful when another person behaves in an unpleasant way with me. I have the power to stay mentally and emotionally stable when someone provokes or insults me. This power is enormously valuable in life, enabling me to cool heated situations, and even remove another person's anger altogether.

Instead of focusing on the anger on a person's face, I focus my attention to the non-physical, star-like being or soul within the person, which was peaceful and loveful in its original, pure state. This increases my tolerance and acceptance power. Also, through my meditation, I am actively aware of the spiritual bond all human beings share, as souls who have a common home of peace, the incorporeal (non-physical) home, from where all of souls come and a common connection with the One Supreme Father, the Supreme Soul. Through this knowledge, I connect with the goodness in the other soul and my love for the soul is maintained. I realize that this goodness is a deeper reality than the anger. The truth is that if I can hold this soul-conscious vision steady for long enough, I radiate positive energy to the other soul, which works like magic and awakens the goodness within the other person. Then, my tolerance bears fruit and peace really does prevail between the two of us.



Soul Sustenance


The Power Of The 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.





Message for the day


Where there is the faith that everything happens for the best, you will remain happy and cheerful.

Checking: When things are going wrong, check your thoughts to see if there is any kind of fear or negative feeling. When there is either fear or disappointment you cannot remain happy.

Practice: Each day pick out one thing that didn't happen in the right way and see what good has come from that. Make the practice in such a way that you will automatically see the good out of each and every situation. Even if you can't, there'll at least be the faith that things will turn out to be the best.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

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