Daily Positive Thoughts: July 15, 2016: The Secret of Immeasurable Wealth

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 15, 2016: The Secret of Immeasurable Wealth

The Nobel Prize, first awarded in 1901, was created by the Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, in Oslo, Norway. The tradition continues to this day.

The Secret of Immeasurable Wealth

The secret of immeasurable wealth is to need less. The wealthiest human beings ultimately give away vast amounts of the money that they have spent half their lifetime acquiring; this suggests that the motivation behind all their efforts was not the pursuit of wealth but something else. The need to prove something to oneself, for instance?  Replace need - whether it be at an emotional or physical level - with an unshakeable faith in one's self and in God. Neither will ever let you down, if you hold fast to this faith.

The Three Mirrors For Inner Beauty (Part 4)

The third mirror is the mirror of your own thoughts, words and actions – What you think and feel about yourself and others is invisible to others and only you know what it is. But you radiate your thoughts, feelings, emotions and attitudes through your facial expressions, your eyes, your words, your body language and your actions when you interact with others. That way your words and your actions act as a mirror in which to see yourself. You achieve this when you are a detached observer and you become aware of your responses, your reactions and how you express what arises from within you. This awareness of being an observer needs to be maintained sub-consciously throughout the day and consciously in the night by filling a daily chart before sleeping, on any three personality traits of your choice. Your main weaknesses or strengths you want to enhance should be included in the chart. We have explained the different types of traits that can be covered in a daily chart in our older messages. You could either evaluate these personality traits with a yes or no or perform a percentage wise evaluation like 50% or 80% for e.g. So it is a good practice to look into this mirror once in the night, before sleeping. This mirror will give you a review of the day that has gone by and make you careful for the next day. The daily chart is useful for this purpose. Filling a daily chart does not take more than a few seconds.

Finally and most importantly, always do remember that those who use these three mirrors actively and use them well to ensure that their internal self looks good and beautiful all the time become living mirrors for others. People who come in contact with them are able to see accurately what their internal self looks like. On seeing how beautiful and perfect they are, other people quickly realize their shortcomings or weaknesses and also take inspiration to become as beautiful, clean and virtuous beings as them.

True Compassion

Compassion in action is to stay in a positive emotion whilst understanding where the other person is at.

Compassion in action is to help others move from pain or suffering to joy or happiness, without absorbing their pain.

Message for the day

The power of transformation brings all attainments 

Expression: When there is the ability to transform negative into positive, and waste into useful in a second there is the ability to be useful for the self and others. There would not be just complaints against the situation, but the best would be made out of all situations and move on to the aim set out. 

Experience: When I am able to use the power of transformation to finish negative and waste, I am able to experience being free from obstacles. So I am able to experience contentment under all circumstances for having made the best use of everything available. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 14, 2016: Meditation

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 14, 2016: Meditation

Meditation

Meditation is the process of getting to know yourself completely, both who you are inside and how you react to what is outside. Above all, meditation is enjoying yourself in the literal sense of the word. Through meditation, you discover a very different "me" from perhaps the stressed or troubled person, who may seem superficially to be "me". You realize that your true nature, the real you, is actually very positive. You begin to discover an ocean of peace right on your doorstep.

The Three Mirrors For Inner Beauty (Part 3)

In the last two days’ messages, we have explained the first mirror for inner beauty.

The second mirror is the mirror of meditation – In the silence of meditation which is a connection or the experience of a relationship with the inner self and the Supreme Soul, each day you come close to and dive deep into both of them. When you create powerful, positive thoughts about the self and you also visualize your true spiritual self, you feel and experience your true virtuous being, what you are - radiant and free of all influences. That experience helps you to see yourself as you really are and in contrast to how you are now. Perhaps you feel peaceless, disturbed and dejected today, but by creating thoughts of peace and contentment in meditation you quickly realize that in reality that is your true nature. In that way, it serves as a mirror for self-realization and checking and changing. When you visualize the Supreme Soul during meditation and experience His virtues, it helps you to see and quickly realize yourself in contrast to Him and make the required changes in yourself because the child should reflect the qualities of the Father.

So a good practice then is to look into this mirror and check yourself once in the morning before the day’s activities and once before sleeping for 10 minutes each time. Also, since this is the most powerful mirror, it is extremely vital to carry this mirror with you throughout the day and check yourself in it for one minute after every hour. This may sound too much time given to the inner self to many, but all of us are aware that like an untidy, unkempt external self is not pleasing to the self and does not create a favorable impression on those who come in contact with us, in the same way that applies to the inner self also.  So one minute spent in looking into this mirror and doing some self-introspection and checking and changing will keep us looking good for the next fifty nine minutes and if we do mess up internally during those fifty nine minutes, then corrections can be made quickly in the next one minute break – it’s as simple as that.

(To be continued tomorrow ….)

Be Optimistic

If you have the habit of seeing things from a pessimistic viewpoint, 

then all you need to do is broaden your scope for a moment and step outside of your negative perspective.

View the situation from a different light. See the opportunity in every difficulty, not the difficulty in every opportunity. 

Focus on the possibilities and not the impossibilities.

Be more optimistic and you'll be healthier and less stressed than when you were a pessimist.

Message for the day

To be free from guilt means to ensure quick and easy progress. 
Expression: Blaming oneself for all that happens and taking the mind to extreme levels of guilt takes one to a sense of unworthiness. Such a person loses the strength and is unable to look for solutions in difficult situations. Hence there is nothing new that can be thought of, and the situation doesn't get any better. 

Experience: When I continue to blame myself, I believe that I deserve neither happiness nor love and that the sorrow that I am experiencing is a deserved punishment. So I lose all enthusiasm to improve the situation and have no awareness of the treasures that I have. So I experience no progress in my life. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 13, 2016: Sparks of Purity

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 13, 2016: Sparks of Purity

“The Nightingale and the Wild Rose” Artist : Kitty Grimm

Sparks of Purity

Words! They are all around me! I see them. I use them. Harsh words, soothing words, biting words; words that give pain and sorrow; words that give joy and pleasure. They are vital to communication. When words are spoken there are reactions, negative or positive.  Either thoughts are triggered or emotions fired or actions performed. Words colour our behaviour. And how lovely it is to hear words that are calm and free from rancour and aggression. To hear words that lift the soul and leave it with renewed vigour. Such words are the sparks of purity. It is important to remember that my speech indicates what is in my mind. As the thinking, so the words uttered. Mental calmness makes my words calm. A pure mind makes for pure words. It is said that speech may exalt someone to kingship or send him to the gallows. I should never let myself indulge in false, bitter and vicious speech. My words should reflect my true, inner nature, that of purity and peace. Words, once spoken, can never be recalled. They reverberate all around, beyond our control. Today, as I utter words, what effect will they have on those who hear them? Will they be the words that are poisonous and cause pain? Or will my tongue be like that of the nightingale, sweet and so, so very soothing and lovely to the ear?

The Three Mirrors For Inner Beauty (Part 2)

In yesterday's message, we had discussed the first mirror, the mirror of spiritual knowledge. Elaborating further, this mirror will also show you the Supreme Soul and it will remind you about His virtues and actions which will help you check where you stand in comparison to Him in terms of virtues and actions and will influence you to follow him by imbibing those virtues and performing actions in the similar way. Lastly this mirror will remind you of your relationship with the Supreme and forging a deep and personal connection with Him in different ways which will benefit you and others.

The knowledge read every morning will help you see and realize what mistakes you have committed in the last 24 hours while performing actions and also in maintaining a connection with the Supreme and also see what you have done positively in the same regard during the same time, which will encourage you further to do the same in the future. The mirror of knowledge will also help you remain careful for the day ahead and perform actions and experience a relationship with the Supreme based on what you have read. It is a common experience of a lot of people that the spiritual knowledge read in the morning is always what the need of the moment for them is. The spiritual knowledge read is very commonly an exact reflection of the activities and mental state of your last 24 hours and/or something which you require for the coming day for the self, for your relationships, for facing different types of obstacles in your personal and professional life. This is the Law of Spiritual Attraction that works in each one's life, but to different extents. Our consciousness and inner requirements attract towards us the spiritual knowledge of a similar nature.

(To be continued tomorrow ….)

Willpower is what keeps you on track.

 
Willpower is what stops you from giving in to temptations.

So, strengthen your willpower, not by removing the temptations but by facing them and choosing not to give in!

The next time you find yourself lacking in willpower, refocus on your aim and why you want to achieve it. 

Remind yourself: I am in control of my choices.

 
I am in charge of my behaviour. I am the master of my life.

Message for the day

The ones who see specialities become special. 
Expression: To see specialities and ignore negativity is to take a step ahead by imbibing those specialities. This creates a habit of seeing, taking in and expressing only positive qualities. So whatever the person may be, whatever his qualities may be, there is only a connection of positivity with him. 

Experience: When I am able to relate to everyone in this way with only specialities, I become special. I also find others responding positively to me and using only their speicialities while in contact with me. There are also a lot of good wishes that I receive from others because of my positive attitude. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 12, 2016: A Free Mind

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 12, 2016: A Free Mind

Artist: Claudia Tremblay

 

A Free Mind

A free mind is a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing. Most people spend much of their time looking for reasons to be offended. An open mind is never offended because it is free of any attachments. It is never the self that is offended but always the illusion that the self has of itself that is affected by insult! If you can really understand this, deeply grasp its truth, live it each day, then pain will be no more. Next time you ‘feel’ offended look closely within yourself at yourself and ask yourself what was offended? If you remain aware you will see that it was only an image of yourself which you had become attached to, and that image did not resonate with the image contained in the insult. If you weren’t attached, if you didn’t identify with the wrong image of yourself then there would be no offence taken. You would then remain free and therefore happy.

The Three Mirrors For Inner Beauty (Part 1)

Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? are famous words. To check our external beauty or tidiness, we look into the mirror on the wall each day. But on a mental, emotional and spiritual level, what is the mirror that helps you to see if there is anything wrong with your inner face or self or to realize what is happening to you and what you have to do to maintain your inner fairness or beauty?

There are three types of mirrors, which one can use to see or check the internal self:

The first mirror is the mirror of spiritual knowledge – Spiritual knowledge is the knowledge related to spiritual self-development i.e. of the soul and also of the Supreme Soul. Each day, in the morning, you can look into this mirror for 5 minutes at least. Looking into this mirror means listening to or reading a piece of spiritual knowledge for at least 5 minutes that connects you to your inner essence, increases your emotional and spiritual intelligence as well as reminds you of your true purpose.

You will see yourself very clearly in this mirror as this mirror will show you:
- the knowledge of the original and ideal virtues of the soul like peace, love, bliss, purity, power, joy etc.;
- how these virtues can be imbibed in the self to benefit the self and others;
- the knowledge of the different types of weaknesses that can arise in the soul like anger, greed, ego, hatred, fear, attachment, jealousy, sorrow, etc., the roots of all which lie in mis-identification with the physical self and forgetting the spiritual self and how these weaknesses can harm the self and others;
- the knowledge of overcoming these weaknesses.

All of these things which you see in the mirror will help you to check where you stand in comparison to the right code of conduct for thoughts, feelings, attitudes, emotions, words and actions, where you are going wrong and how you can make the required corrections in the same. On looking into this mirror you will be reminded of the Law of Karma (the Law of Action and Reaction), which will motivate you to make these corrections.

(To be continued tomorrow ….)

To be in the present is to experience the beauty of who I am. 

Life takes place in the present moment; past and future exist only in our imagination right now. So, I need to experience the present moment. Past and future can hold threats or negative experiences. But the present offers only the beauty of this moment. When I experience the joy of this moment, I would be able to experience and express my inner qualities. Today I will spend at least a few minutes to relish the experience of being in the now. I will feel the flow of energy in my body and the beauty of thoughts in my mind. I will relish the joy of being alive, the joy of having the ability to express and experience who I am and what I can do. Just for these few minutes, I will keep aside what happened yesterday and what would happen tomorrow.

Message for the day

To be victorious means to pass obstacles with ease. 

Expression: The ones who aim to become victorious never think of not being faced with obstacles. Instead they look at each obstacle as a chance to use and express their own inner powers. So there is constant progress visible in them. 

Experience: When I am prepared for the inevitable challenges that life brings, I will not experience fear, tension or anxiety but will always be confident and fearless. Apart from actually being victorious in the situation, I also experience winning over my weaknesses and discovering new powers within me. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 11, 2016: The Quality of Mercy

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 11, 2016:  The Quality of Mercy

The Quality of Mercy

A person with the quality of mercy works on such a subtle level that the support given never demeans or implies weakness in the other person.

Going Beyond

If the quality of my thoughts can influence my physical health, the atmosphere around me and my relationships, it will definitely affect my relationship with God. Unlike physics in which dissimilar forces (positive and negative) attract each other, the basic principle of spirituality is that similar forces attract each other. If my mind is caught up in cycles of negativity, the dissimilarity between me and God will create distance between me and Him. With the awareness of being a soul, a being of spiritual energy, spiritual light, I begin to have a certain amount of mastery over my own thoughts and their quality. Also, the process of finishing negativity is accelerated. Just stepping away from the limited consciousness of the body and bodily connections (not leaving them) stops negative thinking in the same way as by just putting a switch on, a light is turned on and darkness finishes.

If explorers had never ventured beyond their home countries, they would have remained firm in the belief that the rest of the world simply didn't exist. In the same way, if I allow myself to stay only within the physical and limited sphere of thinking, then I would declare that there is nothing beyond. It is when I make the effort to go outside the boundaries of my previous thinking, that I have the chance of discovering more. The quest for a source of love, truth and beauty – the Supreme eventually brings me to the necessity of looking beyond not only my own body, but also other human beings and matter itself. Through the practice of seeing the self as an eternal soul and disciplining my mind I create the possibility of discovering the existence and nature of God and having a deep relationship with that One.

Bring about a change

If someone behaves negatively towards you, can you have good wishes for them?  When you get affected by other people's negativity, your positivity depletes.

Try to work on creating good wishes for all (especially for the negative people in your life).  

Your good wishes can help, support and empower the other person to bring about a change for the better.

Best wishes to you!

Message for the day

Concentration develops when the intellect is clean and clear. 

Expression: For the one whose intellect continues to wander, concentration becomes difficult or impossible. On the other hand, for the one who is focused on one thing there are no other distractions at that time and there is easy concentration. 

Experience: When I am able to remain focused, I am not troubled by distractions which lessen my concentration. Instead I am able to increase my discrimination power and am able to decide and judge well. This happens because my intellect becomes clean and gets cleared of waste. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 10, 2016: Grace of an Angel

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 10, 2016: Grace of an Angel

 

 

Grace of an Angel 

Move through the world with the grace of an angel, 

the dignity of a sovereign and the wisdom of a child.

The Gateway To Peace And Happiness (Part 3)

Deep silence filled meditation is the method of filling the self with the sanskaras ofmukti or liberation because the soul in the soul world is completely peaceful and meditation is the method of experiencing peace by connecting oneself with God, the Ocean of Peace. So, the regular practice of experiencing oneself as a soul and visualizing the self or the soul in the company of the Supreme Fountain of peace in the soul world is the method of opening the gate of the soul world for the self. This is a liberated state or an out of body experience by detaching myself from action. That is why it is called liberation and not liberation-in-life. To fill the self with the sanskaras of jeevanmukti or liberation-in-life, we need to bring all the four subjects of a spiritual lifestyle in our life –spiritual knowledge or gyan from God, meditation or yog or a powerful connection with God while performing actions, filling oneself with seven spiritual qualities - peace, joy, love, bliss, purity, power and truth from God, who is an Ocean of these qualities which is also called dharna and sharing God’s knowledge and qualities with others or seva. The combined power of these four subjects increases the soul’s capacity to remain untouched by the ups and downs of life and remain constantly happy under different types of negative situations. This is jeevanmukti or liberation-in-life i.e. while leading my day-to-day life; I am liberated from the influence of the negative circumstances around me, which helps me fill myself with the sanskarasof jeevanmukti. We need to spend many years of our present life in both these experiences – mukti and jeevanmukti and fill ourselves with both these sanskaras as mentioned above.

When the world drama comes to an end shortly, souls, on the basis of their sanskaras ofmukti and jeevanmukti, which they have filled themselves with at the present moment, will go back to the soul world i.e. experience complete mukti and then after staying the soul world for some time, they will come down on Earth to play their part of happiness i.e. complete jeevanmukti i.e. a life without any trace of sorrow. Both these experiences are the birthright of every human soul, which can be taken from God at the present moment.

To understand the importance of something is to do it immediately. 

When I understand that something is important in my life, I need to bring it into action immediately. If I don't do that, it means I haven't fully understood its importance. So, I need to make time for it on a daily basis. When I take little steps towards it, I will be able to slowly get the courage and also the time to do it. Today I will not say I do not have time for what I feel is the right thing to do. I will allocate at least 5 minutes each day to do what I have to. Slowly, I find that the time space available for this activity would automatically increase.

Message for the day

To have tolerance means to be stable. 

Expression: When one is faced with defamation or insult, tolerance gives the power to be stable and cool. And so there is the ability to smile even when there is negativity that comes. Tolerance means to see beyond the insults because of being stable in the stage of self-respect. 

Experience: When faced with criticism, if I am able to be stable in my stage of self-respect, I am able to learn from every negative remark that comes my way. I will never become defensive, but will be able to see clearly what new learning I could take. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 09, 2016: Lightness

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 09, 2016: Lightness

Beehive Geyser is in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park in the United States

Lightness

Lightness is like hitting a spring of water inside. A sudden break out from the dryness of your normal reactions as you begin to express from within, rather than just responding to what you see outside. It usually happens when you come upon a quality that hasn't been destroyed or jaded by time, something very old and inherent in you that has survived. Most qualities and talents are developed through use, but are also in some way diluted and changed. Lightness is touching what makes you unique, because it has never changed.

The Gateway To Peace And Happiness (Part 2)

Remember that the soul world is the home of peace where all souls have stayed before coming down in the world, to take births. It is the place where we stay in complete silence and in our original pure state, a state which is called mukti or liberation. The soul world is a non-physical world of souls which are conscious beings of spiritual energy or non-physical light of consciousness, a light which cannot be seen with the physical eyes. All of us stay in the soul world in a state of silence, without any thoughts, in complete peace and without a physical body. We get the physical body when we come down on Earth. This is why this state is called a state of mukti or liberation. The other state is the state of jeevanmukti or also called liberation-in-life, which is the stage of complete happiness experienced by the soul, when it first comes down on Earth.

To attain mukti or to go to the soul world, we need to visualize God in the soul world and make a meeting with Him at the present moment. Souls, who remember God in this way more, will stay closer to God in the soul world when they go there plus their sparkle or light in the soul world will be higher. Along with mukti, souls who fill themselves with the seven qualities of peace, joy, love, bliss, purity, power and truth from God, much more than the others at the present moment, they will experience a much higher stage of jeevanmukti i.e. they will be happier when they start playing their roles on Earth. Souls who are more full of the seven qualities mentioned above will be happier and for a longer period of time, while playing their roles in the world. Along with the qualities, the soul needs to be absolutely clean of many impure sanskaras which are created in the soul by performing actions under the influence of the five main impure emotions of lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego in their previous births and in the present birth; to experience mukti and jeevanmukti.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Inner Peace

We're surrounded by noise.

Then there's our noisy thought-thinking head that never seems to cease.

Raise your focus out of the noise and float effortlessly above it all!

Rise above the noise to enjoy inner peace.

Message for the day

The one who is able to discriminate well is able to bring about real benefit. 

Expression: Everyone naturally works for the benefit of the self and others. But the one who discriminates well is able to understand the other person's need and give accordingly. So whatever is done naturally brings benefit for others and also for the self.

Experience: When I am able to bring benefit for the right person at the right time with the right thing, I am able to win the trust of the other person. I expect nothing in return, but have the satisfaction of helping at the right time. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris