Daily Positive Thoughts: February 26, 2016: Full-Stop Mind

Daily Positive Thoughts: February 26, 2016: Full-Stop Mind

Full-Stop Mind

How do you manage the unending stream of thoughts that flow through your mind?  Do you put a comma, an exclamation mark or a queue of questions?  Why not apply a full-stop and begin to master your mind.

Contentment is to be satisfied with what we have & who we are.

This doesn't mean that we have no ambitions or goals. 
It means that we have our eye on the goal, but at the same time, we can be content.

Be content & you'll have the power to achieve & be more.

Resisting False Attractions In Actions

All that glitters (shines) is not gold. Life presents you with many illusionary scenes, scenes in which what may be visible may not be the truth. These scenes cause desires to be born inside you to achieve something unnecessary for your prosperity or other types of fulfillment.  These can be illusions that make you believe that you will gain something from a situation or person, without the same being true. Thus, you waste time going down a path that not only leads you to disappointment; but you also waste the resource of your thoughts and energy and as a result you tire yourself out emotionally and mentally.

If the intellect is polluted, you make incorrect judgments and are easily deceived by situations or people. Thus, you will make incorrect choices, dishonest or illogical decisions. You will justify dishonesty and improper actions and you will be incapable of differentiating between the real and the imaginary. A person with a pure, clear, clean and powerful intellect will act with honesty and sincerity. When your intellect is polluted, you may act against your own conscience or against your better judgment; you also may be insensitive. A person with a doubtful intellect will always justify a dishonest act. Meditation is the process of purifying and cleaning the intellect, because in meditation we connect with the purest intellect, the intellect of the Supreme Soul or God. Meditation is also a process of inner awakening and strengthening of your conscience. Being awake means to realize, and being strong means to act according to what you have realized. 

Soul Sustenance

Life Beyond Life (Part 3) 

What type of mindset and consciousness should one keep on being faced with the death of a beloved relative or a close associate, so that one remains protected from the shock related to such a sudden demise? If, we at the Brahma Kumaris, say that it’s not death but a life beyond life and a shift to a new life existence or reality, you might question and might ask something that we agree with also, but how do I fill the void (emptiness) left in my life and how do I not remember the loved one, with whom I spent millions of minutes, sharing and receiving so much love and happiness, something which have left deep impressions on my heart, which are difficult to erase. On one hand, we at the Brahma Kumaris, on being faced with the death of a close one, conduct group meditation, and pass on the vibrations of peace and power to a departed soul, which help it to go into a life setting with the best of the four pillars of existence - nice sanskaras to be received from the new set of parents, a healthy body, plenty of wealth and beautiful relationships and also adapt easily and in a short period of time to the new environment along with slowly coming to terms with the shift that it is making and also easily forgetting what it has lost. On the other hand, people who lose such loved ones, apart from contributing through vibrations, which help their loved ones in their shift; through a deep loveful relationship with the Supreme which helps them to be strong and reading spiritual wisdom as shared by the Supreme which helps them to become content, get used to the sudden emptiness created in their lives when such events happen. Also love for serving each one whom they meet, with virtues and powers and being absorbed in the Supreme’s task of the present moment of self change and world change helps them rise above the difficult time phase. They do remember the relative they have lost, but from an empowered consciousness.

To end on an empathetic (understanding your feelings) note, we confess that the reality of life beyond life is something that many of us knew or had heard of, even before joining the Brahma Kumaris, but at the same time, we were not empowered enough to accept the reality and live the reality. Spiritual understanding empowered us to do that and we wish from the bottom of our heart that you are able to do the same. All the best.

Message for the day

Become an embodiment of peace and a bestower of peace. 

Expression: People in the world only want peace and happiness. When you experience peace yourself you can give others this experience too. Where there is peace there would naturally be happiness too.

Application: Spend a few moments each day in solitude. Practice stabilising yourself in one powerful thought. Let the experience of peace from you flow to others too. During interactions too, keep your mind free from waste thoughts and you will find that others will be free from them too.
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: February 25, 2016: The Greatest Jewellery

Daily Positive Thoughts: February 25, 2016: The Greatest Jewellery

This Emerald and 101.27 carat Shizuka Diamond Tiara belonged to Swedish Countess Consort Princess Katharina Henckel von Donnersmarck who was known for her rule Ostfriesland as Regent. Sold by Sotheby’s sale of Magnificent Jewels.

Anger finishes all wisdom.

Ego finishes regard.

Worry eats away your life.

Bribery finishes all justice.

Greed finishes all honesty.

Fear eats away a human being.

The greatest jewellery in the world is your own nobility.

Your own best companion in the world is your determined thought.

To respect and value time is to use well the treasures it has to offer. 

When I don't value time, my mind remains cluttered. I am not able to recognize the treasures that time has to offer. Drops of time, of pure silence, on the other hand, allows good things to flow and like a rising sun, brings good things into life. Today I will make time for time. I will make some time for myself (as the most important person in my life is me). I will take some valuable thoughts, those thoughts that add value to what I am doing. When I combine elevated thoughts from time to time, I would have used my time well. Such drops of time help me recognize the value of time and use it well.

  Letting Go Of The Branches Of The Life Tree

A very common habit that has become deeply embedded inside us is the habit of possessing, to which we succumb repeatedly. We come in contact with different people, material comforts, roles, positions, experiences, achievements and of course our own physical body etc. on an external level and our own thoughts, viewpoints, beliefs, memories, etc. on an internal level  etc. throughout our life. All of these are like branches that make up our life tree. Possession is like clinging on to one or the other of these different branches from time to time, as we fly from one branch to another, while covering our life journey.  The spiritual point of view on this habit is clear and very straight forward. It is not possible to possess anything. If we do try to do so, we lose our freedom. To experience the freedom, we need to dare to let go of the branches, which does not mean to lose or leave them because the branches are always going to be there. We can return to any of them to rest or pause whenever we want. But, it is about being aware and alert, because the moment a pause on a branch turns into a stop, the stop turns into a brake and, after that, the brake turns into a blockage. As a result, like the bird whose flying agility degrades on a physical level if it does the same; our intellectual and emotional agility starts to degrade.

When we learn to let go of one branch at a time, we are always welcoming new positive and empowering experiences in our life, one at a time. Like the birds, by letting go of one branch, we are then able to spend the rest of your lives trying and discovering many other branches, one branch at a time, and so we can enjoy the view from each new vantage point. We can choose between a life of flying and soaring or be stuck on one or the other branch, seeing others as they fly past and enjoy a life of freedom where they do visit their life tree from time to time and their life does revolve around the tree but they don't try and possess it or any of its branches.

Soul Sustenance

Life Beyond Life (Part 2) 

A new born child is a new entrant in a new home with new parents. Each day thousands of new-borns get new homes and new parents. These births are accompanied by celebrations and greetings of congratulations to the parents and other family members. But have you ever stopped to wonder that behind the curtains of these celebrations lie tears in the eyes of those family members and dear ones where these souls or spiritual energies leave old physical costumes, what we commonly call death. We, at the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization, call it Life Beyond Life. The concept of birth and re-birth or life beyond life has been a topic of debate since time immemorial. Over the ages, many philosophers, the spiritually inclined, the religious minded, psychologists, the medical fraternity and scientists have talked in favour of this reality, which they believe is embedded in the fabric of life while some have been non-committal or unsure in their approach and some have even expressed disbelief at the idea because of lack of ample evidence. Though today, evidence in its favour has surfaced in various corners of the world through past life regression (hypnosis), near death experiences and case studies by medical journals, accompanied by records of a significant number of people who have remembered their past birth or births, some of whom have even gone back to the families they were once a part of. Some even remember the circumstances accompanying their death in their past life. 

So, living in a world giving ample proof for the concept today, accompanied by deep experiences of the existence of the soul and its immortality (it never dies) by good meditators and people who are strong adherents (followers) of different religions all across the world, one needs to develop strong faith in the fact that my family member or my dear friend, who has left me, has transferred himself/herself to a new reality, a new joy filled and love filled existence, a new Mamma, a new Papa, a new prosperous family, a new healthy body, a new set of positive sanskaras (including the sanskaras of the previous birth) and a new set of friends, relatives and brothers and sisters. So it’s not death but a beautiful new life beyond this life. This is a more positive perception of an event, which for all of us is the most sorrowful and negative of all life events. 

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Message for the day

The power of silence can bring peace to any situation. 

Contemplation: The instruments for the power of silence are pure thoughts and pure feelings. You can give others an experience with the power of your silence. When you understand and experience the power of silence you will become more powerful. You will then be able to experience peace that you will be able to spread to others too. 

Application: When you have to correct someone in any situation remind yourself that words will not work but silence based on pure feelings and love will surely work. When you accept the person as he is with love you will be able to bring about a change in him. Remember that the lesser you talk the more the peace that is created. 
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: February 24, 2016: Listen-ability

Daily Positive Thoughts: February 24, 2016: Listen-ability

Listen-ability

To really listen, we have to filter out both inner and outer distractions to get the WHOLE message.

Self-respect creates inner peace and harmony. 

When I take pride in my own role and have value for the contribution I (can) make, there is self-respect. Self-respect helps me to let go of expecting to be understood, to be considered, to be recognized. It helps me understand that it is my mixed emotions that create dependence, taking away inner peace and harmony. Today I will tell myself that everything cannot always happen as I wish. When something unwanted happens, I know I have to deal with it and am also well equipped to do so. This helps me know what I can do to correct the situation, without losing hope, peace and harmony.

The Psychosomatic Effects (Effects On The Body) Of Fear

The human being is psychosomatic by nature – what that means is that our health is deeply influenced by our behavior, thoughts, emotions and social relationships. Therefore, in order to experience good health, we should care for our life style, our mental, sentimental, emotional and relational world, as well as our communication. Fear is bad for our health. It manifests itself in the form of anger and promotes coronary diseases. Fear suppressed for a long time ends up producing diseases such as cancer. Apart from cancer and heart attacks, there are other illnesses brought on by fear: addictions, anxiety, arthritis, asthma, irritability, nervous breakdowns, memory loss, gastritis, back pains, baldness, diarrhea, sciatica, crying attacks, alcoholism, constipation, hypertension, cystitis (bladder inflammation), vomiting, palpitations, digestive disorders, ulcers and migraines.

When we get old, our neurons do not die, but rather the connections between them disappear,that is what recent scientific research suggests. The neuronal connections or synapses keep us lively and young. When we have pleasant experiences, such as during meditation or when we are on a holiday or are surrounded by friends or while working in a team, some examples of activities in which we feel happy, the neuronal connections are more fluid. However, the lights go out when we feel fear. It is an emotion that is capable of slowing down and blocking the electrical impulses between the neurons. With fear we are less creative and we get older more quickly. If we do not want to suffer illnesses (or want our illnesses to get worse) we should learn to manage and overcome fear.

Soul Sustenance

Life Beyond Life (Part 1) 

Have you ever looked at a new born child and glanced at the expressions on his face? Why is there a magnetic aura about a baby’s features that attracts one and all? The innocence, the sparkling smile, the beautiful eyes, the angelic cheeks, the shining forehead, the round, cherubic (pretty) face and the soft whispering sounds makes one wonder what is so special about the spiritual energy inside such a baby that talks to us and tries to convey so much as to move us and even bring tears in our eyes. Such a spiritual energy is in a state of nirvana or a meditative state or a soul conscious state, a state which we as adults, practice to achieve.

We would like to share with our readers that in the nine month gestation (pregnancy) period of a mother, the spiritual energy which has to own a particular physical costume, enters the womb of a mother and adopts the physical foetus (which is semi-developed) as its own in the fourth or fifth month. A wonder of nature is that a spiritual energy that has been exposed to different types of situations and relationships and played different roles as an adult in its previous life in a state which is not really spiritually self-aware, more of a state which is focused towards the gross or material existence, suddenly forgets all that and becomes a very pure and divine being temporarily as soon as it enters the foetus inside its mother’s womb, a being that is cut off from physicality and almost in a thoughtless state of meditation – here by meditation we mean a state that is self-aware or soul conscious, not in body consciousness. It even forgets its past life almost completely and starts adopting itself to the new environment inside the mother. On one side its physical body continues to receive physical sustenance from the mother as before its entry and on the other side it vibrates its mental energy to its physical body which also helps it grow physically. As the personality of the spiritual energy, so is the energy radiated, resulting in a healthy or unhealthy body. Once the baby is born, a few subtle traces of consciousness or remembrance of the past life do remain inside the spiritual energy, because of which sometimes when these remembrances surface inside the minds of babies, they smile or become sombre (serious) or even cry in their sleep, depending on the type of past remembrance.

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Message for the day

The actions performed with happiness become a means to draw the line of fortune as long as you want. 
Contemplation: The more actions are performed with a feeling of happiness, the more they will bring benefit to yourself and others. Thus it becomes a basis for creating your elevated fortune.

Application: Instead of blaming fate when things go wrong, it is good to remember that to create our line of fortune is in our hands. Take the thought to be happy in whatever you do. This practice will enable you to change your situation into a more positive one.
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: February 23, 2016: Look for Goodness

Daily Positive Thoughts: February 23, 2016: Look for Goodness

Look for Goodness

In everything, goodness is there. Our goal is to find it. In every person, the best is there. Our job is to recognise it. In every situation, the positive is there. Our opportunity is to see it. In every problem, the solution is there. Our responsibility is to provide it. In every setback, the success is there. Our adventure is to discover it. In every crisis, the reason is there. Our challenge is to understand it. By seeing the goodness, we'll be very enthusiastic and our lives will be richer.

Asking the right questions brings learning and progress. 

When I am too focused on answers, I don't find them. I need to ask the right questions and also letting go of the dependency of wanting answers. Right questions are like brooms that sweep the mind clean. Once the mind is clean, answers flow. There is then, learning, growth and progress. Today I will ask questions that help me progress rather than expressing doubt. There need to be more "hows" and "whats" rather than "whys". These questions will lead me a step forward, instead of getting stuck with difficult situations.

Loving The One (Part 3)

Dedicating love to the One whom we have many a times disrespected out of ignorance, not to take away the fact that we have loved Him also, but true love for this sweetest and nicest One in the universe is recognizing Him with the eyes of spiritual wisdom, who He is and what are His virtues and how He uplifts mankind from the claws of impurity and wrong beliefs which continue to bring human instincts to the lowest levels, as we see today in society, where lust and other negative illnesses in the human psyche have brought it down tremendously, which man had not even dreamt of, just 100-150 years ago, all under the garb of advancement and modernity. So let us just stop for a minute and reflect on all the qualities of purity that the world possessed a few thousand years behind, on the world time line, which was the world that the God had made with His own hands, which we spoiled due to our self created beliefs and attachment to physicality. The world lost its sanctity (purity) and that was the time when we had disheartened God and broken our promise to Him, made to Him in our prayers and other forms of worship, to take care of what He had created and not to let it destroy our inner selves, which it did. They say, God is above sorrow and joy but God isn’t unemotional either. He watched the decline in a mode of detachment and He was above it, but at the same time He wasn’t liking it happen. The same world children, who had loved Him and left Him in the soul world, which is above the physical world of 5 elements, when they stayed with Him there, had abused that spirit of love and fallen down.

So, if we were to realize this deeply, we would say – Yes! Today I will give the return to the Spiritual Father of Humanity, the Highest One; I will make myself so pure, as He would like me to be. This would be dedicating my true love to someone who has lived by His word of helping us every time even though we did not keep our word to Him that we would remain the purest and the most virtuous beings and keep His creation – the world in the same light.

Soul Sustenance

Taking Responsibility, Overcoming Guilt (Part 3) 

There is a difference between when we have established our own code of values or beliefs in life, and when we feel obliged (forced) to obey an imposed code of beliefs. It is important for us to accept on an inner level the code by which we think we should be guided and act. When we act out of obligation (compulsion), by following a code of beliefs or behaviors that we feel have been imposed but aren't accepted as our own, we should ask ourselves why we act out of obligation (compulsion), basing ourselves on a code we have not accepted. Are we perhaps afraid that, if we don't do it, we will feel guilty? 

When we violate the codes of belonging to a group, family, social class or community, generally we feel guilty. If this guilt leads us to question ourselves about what is right for our conscience, we progress in our personal growth and improve our clarity. It is necessary to respect ourselves, being clear about what the beliefs are on which we base our life, think, feel and evaluate. This will help us to avoid the gap between what we should and what we want to do. Until the should and the want are joined, we leave an open space for guilt. 

When we act according to how we feel we should, we will feel guilt for not doing what wewant. While we act according to what we want, we will feel guilt for not doing what we should. 
When guilt warns us that there is something to check and correct within us and we are willing to see it, have a dialogue with the self and clarify, we are on the right path. Sometimes guilt acts as an excuse for us to apologize without really taking on the responsibility for what happened; we pass on the responsibility to the established norms, norms that in this case we haven't accepted as our own. In any case, the solution to guilt is to take on self-responsibility.

Message for the day

Happiness comes when there is self-sovereignity. 

Expression: Being a self-sovereign enables you to have total control over yourself. If not, when there are negative or difficult situations, there would be sorrow. When you are in control you will not expect situations to change but you will have the courage to change yourself. 

Application: When things go wrong, instead of worrying or waiting for things to change, tell yourself that you are a self-sovereign and you can bring about a change in yourself. When you work on yourself and change you can be happy. 
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: February 22, 2016: Self-Trust

Daily Positive Thoughts: February 22, 2016: Self-Trust

Self-Trust

When there is respect and love for the self, there is trust.  When you believe in yourself, then you have the courage to maintain your strength even in the face of disappointments and setbacks.

Give Good Wishes

The festive season gives us opportunities to meet up with many more people. 

If you find that you have negative feelings towards certain people, than take a moment to transform your feelings.

Follow your spontaneous instinct to give. The heart gives and is full of grace. So, don't just limit your good feelings to just one or two people.
With an open heart, greet everyone with sincerity and love. Make your heart big and silently give good wishes to everyone you meet.

Loving The One (Part 2)

Remembering God whom we respectfully call the One, because He is unique in the sense that He is the only spiritual energy in the entire Universe who has never experienced lust or anger or ego or hatred. God is faithful to the eternal laws of humanity which state that soul consciousness is the right karmaand body consciousness is the opposite; soul consciousness will give and attract joy and body consciousness will give and attract sorrow.

There have been instances in history when God was mistakenly called omnipresent or present in every molecule (whether pure or impure), although He is a permanent resident of the soul world. This was ridiculing Him in a sense. Also, sometimes God’s status and qualities were given to humans, like the worship of deities, whom we started calling gods and goddesses and founders of religions like Christ and Buddha were worshipped as if they were God, although they all were pure and divine human beings and not the One i.e. God. If that wasn’t enough, some people called lust as the eternal component of the world drama and also went to the extent of saying that lust was God’s creation, which even gave birth to many shastras and essays on lust in India a few hundred years after the time of Christ, although lust did not exist in the pure world, which existed hundreds of years prior to Christ, which God had created. These shastras were given undue importance, instead of being banished (discarded) from society which God would have desired, since they sowed the seeds of sin in the minds of humans and were the cause of the moral degeneration of society. Even deities, who were God’s creation of the past, were shown mistakenly as lustful in some temples of India, which was an indirect insult of God, the purest and the most innocent One, the Supreme Father of humanity. God was also called by us, mistakenly, as the One who gives sorrow as well as happiness, forgetting that it was our own actions which brought us both of them. The worst insult for God was by those people of scientific temper who gave God the status of a man created concept and his fantasy, saying God is an imagination and not a reality. So, God was a detached spectator to these insults, never taking them to His heart, but on the other hand He showered sweet mercy on each one of us through His blessings and sweet vision of love, all that time.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Soul Sustenance

Taking Responsibility, Overcoming Guilt (Part 2) 

If there are people or situations that lead you to fall over the same stone i.e. they lead you to make the same mistake, which was committed earlier, again, perhaps you will have to avoid them for a few days or a time, until you have strengthened yourself and have the inner security that they will not influence you. This is not running away; it is wise knowing your weaknesses and knowing that to get into similar situations with the same people is only to repeat the same errors and to worsen your wellbeing and that of the other. Trust in yourself. You can overcome these mistakes and stop making them. It is a question of loving yourself and living. Out of love, you stop hurting yourself and hurting the other. 

Crying over past mistakes, you don't mend anything. Open yourself to forgiveness. Raise the level of your thoughts so that they don't keep you in a state of sadness and loss of hope. Don't allow your inner judge to sentence (punish) you each time that you act, since that way you won't feel free. Your judge that you carry within makes your life bitter; however, it is you that gives this judge the capacity to exist. If the inner judge is in harmony with our conscience, it is good, because it wants to protect us. On creating guilt it warns us that we have broken a rule of our code of beliefs, values or behaviors. It alerts us to the fact that we are acting against something important of ourselves. At those moments it helps us to observe and question what is real, true, important and even sacred in our life and for us. 

(To be continued tomorrow …) Message for the day

The one who is truly happy knows the importance of taking happiness as much as he knows how to give happiness to others. 

Expression: In order to be fully happy, it is important not to take sorrow from situations or people. Usually we pay attention not to give sorrow but it is now equally important to just take happiness from whatever happens. 

Application: Today take the thought in your mind that you will just give happiness and take happiness from each and every person you meet. Think of something nice to say to every person you meet. Then you will find that you are constantly happy because you are not expecting from them but you are giving. 
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: February 21, 2016: Gently Right

Daily Positive Thoughts: February 21, 2016: Gently Right

Gently Right

Determination makes you sit up straight and love everything, because it's all part of moving forward. Day and night you have the feeling that you only have to seek and can touch the hard core of wisdom that rests inside each moment. You can focus on that, let the toughness be in seeking that and then action is automatically as it should be. Gently right.

Use the present moment well

When the mind continuously dwells on the past, we miss out on the opportunities of the present. 

So, if you're still thinking about something you don't need to be thinking about - stop!

Remind yourself: time is too precious to waste on time-wasting thoughts.

Become present and take the opportunity to use the present moment well.

Loving The One (Part 1)

Discovering the love hidden within every spiritual being for the One who has performed thousands of favours for us from the time we experienced a life devoid of love and happiness goes beyond prayers and hymns, devotional songs, chanting of mantras, reading of scriptures and idol worship. Instead of asking for love, peace and happiness from Him, always called by the male gender, whom we have called out to in many phases of the life and death, birth and rebirth cyclic story, in which we lost our way many times, we need to know a method of connecting with Him in such a way so as to empower our inner selves completely to bring about changes inside us that would fill us with what we were searching. There will always be love for this One since He brings with Him thousands of love filled surprises which the soul does not even believe it can expect from God, but He being the One with the most number of enchanting and pure treasures, will always be remembered as the highest One whom the world looks up to in times of trouble.

If we look back at our present birth, we will remember thousands of times when God has hugged us and taken us beyond sorrowful circumstances and trying problems. We have thanked God so many times that remembering the same brings us into tears and we realize that we owe a lot to this One who goes out of his way to forget his remaining children for that one moment, which we feel is our own personal moment with Him, as we continue to fall in love with His continuous favours that he showers on us and we promise Him again and again to be faithful to Him by sharing all that He brings into our life, with those children of Him who search for Him and are sometimes disheartened when they feel lonely or disappointed, when things are not as pleasurable as they desire.  So let us celebrate our long lasting loving relationship with not only thousands of loveful gratitudes but also by giving humane inspirations to His loving children so that they unite with this One, the amazing One.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Soul Sustenance

Taking Responsibility, Overcoming Guilt (Part 1) 

When you free yourself of guilt, you live in peace within. You take on responsibility and stop sentencing (punishing) yourself internally with feelings of guilt. Taking on responsibility is constructive; it allows all your potential to remain awake and flow. You feel free and unburdened. When you get it wrong, you can find different methods to relieve yourself of the burden that it might imply. For example, being sorry for or feeling sad for something that you have done means that you are aware that you have acted against your own wellbeing or that of another. Realizing it is good; it is the base for any positive change. The important thing is not to sentence (punish) yourself. Learn the lesson. Say sorry, if it is the right thing. Put it right. 

Remember that yesterday has already passed. The past cannot be changed. You can't swallow the words that you said, since you already said them. You can't repeat the scene from yesterday in a different way because it already happened and stayed recorded on the film of this world drama. Therefore, don't repeat the words or the scene in your mind over and over again; doing that, you keep alive something that is dead, since yesterday already stayed behind. Learn from the error and commit yourself to you and to your life, promising to yourself that you will not fall over the same stone again. You will think about it before speaking or acting. 

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Message for the day

Happiness is earned by those whose actions and attitudes are pure and selfless. 

Expression: When the actions are pure and selfless there is no trace of negativity. Where there is no negativity, the mind becomes free from feelings of guilt, fear etc. This automatically ensures constant happiness. 

Application: If there is no happiness, there is definitely some kind of negativity. So check the actions that you perform. Let them be not only for your benefit but also for the benefit of all and you will find that you are able to be in constant happiness. 
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: February 20, 2016: An Ancient Peace

Daily Positive Thoughts: February 20, 2016: An Ancient Peace

An Ancient Peace

There is a silence into which the world cannot intrude. There is an ancient peace you carry in your heart and have not lost. There is a love you have missed for so long and will always come back to.

Focus

Remove the confusion that comes from too many options and too much information by sharpening your focus.
Just as a photographer decides where and what to focus the lens on, we too must select what really matters and what doesn't.
Whilst capturing the overall picture and all the details, put the spotlight of your focus on one particular thing.
And just as a photographer adjusts the camera to each picture they take, know when to redirect and adjust your lens of focus.

The Limitless Mind

If we compare the two entities – mind and matter – the most obvious difference between the two that comes to the forefront is that one is non-physical and the other is physical. Another very important difference between the two is that whereas on one hand, matter has limits, in the sense, that’s its fixed in time and space. The mind, on the other hand, is beyond limits, in terms of physical parameters. It’s not fixed in time and space.

When we take a close look at what is going on in our mind, its power becomes visible to us. Since its not fixed in space, it can link me to a friend in, as far as, Washington or Singapore in less than a second. My mind can even move in many different directions at once. Since the mind is not fixed in time, I can think about yesterday, or about fifteen years ago; about tonight, or the next three years. That’s the reason we can say that the mind is limitless, hence powerful.

Thoughts also have different levels of power. Sometimes they fly past the mind leaving hardly any impact on us. At other times, they are accompanied by such feelings so as to influence our entire perception, even our complete inner mental state. Thinking about a visit to Kashmir I made last year, for e.g., I could find myself carried back mentally into the beautiful experience and its attached emotions. Filled with happiness, I will even radiate this happiness to others nearby, through my thoughts, facial expressions, words and actions. On the other hand, thoughts about the death of my close relative a few years ago will have an opposite impact on me in the present moment.

Soul Sustenance

Being An Observer And An Actor – Maintaining The Balance 
In relation to the other, we have the possibility of observing and intervening (interfering) when we wish to; that is, maintaining the balance between being an observer and acting; playing between forming part of the audience and being the actor. On being actors, sometimes we can lose ourselves in the acting of the other in his or her or their dramas; we get in so deep with what is happening to the other that we lose distance. We get mentally and emotionally involved in the other's stories. When our awareness gets lost in those stories, we stop being the creators of our own life and of our own story. This habit exhausts us; we lose energy; we lose our concentration and control over our thoughts and our emotions. We lose our inner peace and we begin to look for it again. 

We can choose to observe the dance of ideas, images and acts of others, and not get involved in their complications. Only thus will we be at peace with ourselves and with the world. Remember that you create your own story. If you want to live in peace and exercise a positive influence on the people around you, don't try to control or to change the stories of others. In order to enjoy a painting you do not poke your nose onto it; you remain at a certain distance so you see it with greater clarity. The same thing occurs with the painting of life. By learning the art of being a detached observer and then intervening, of keeping a healthy distance, we manage to be connected with what is essential without losing ourselves in the waste and superfluous (excessive). That way, our intervention does not arise out of a reaction which has shades of frustration, anger and negative judgements. We are then the creators of spaces of trust and love in relationships. Message for the day

The method to stay in constant enthusiasm and to keep others enthusiastic is to see specialities in others. 

Contemplation: Many times while I am sincerely working towards my task, I find myself losing my enthusiasm. I also might find people not very happy with me or my work. I do make an attempt to understand their feelings but fail to do so. Such negative responses further reduce my enthusiasm. 

Application: I need to develop the art of looking at specialities in people. The more I am able to see their positive qualities, the more I am able to relate to them with that speciality. This encourages the other person further to use that speciality. This will naturally keep me constantly enthusiastic. 
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris