Daily Positive Thoughts: December 22, 2016: Chasing Limited Desires

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 22, 2016: Chasing Limited Desires

Chasing Limited Desires

If your mind has any limited desires, they will not allow you to become content. When you are walking in the sun, your shadow goes ahead of you and if you try to catch it, you won't be able to. When you turn around, your shadow will follow you. In the same way, desires attract you and make you cry. Let go of them and they will follow you. Those who ask for something can never become full and complete. To chase any limited desire is like trying to catch a mirage.

Wearing The Crown Of Servant Leadership Gracefully (Part 1)

It is commonly stated that perhaps those who are best suited to leadership power are those who never seek it. On the other hand, those who have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, find to their own surprise that they wear it well. This process starts as early as our school life, when we become monitors and prefects and are granted significant responsibilities. We learn leadership at a young age. The type of leadership skills we inculcate at that age are important. 

Importantly, a good leader, starting at an early age, should inspire and not aspire. Personal aspirations that are regardless (irrelevant) to others always convert a humble and successful leader into a failed one.  A good leader should influence, not control - controlling i.e. passing orders, policies, rules, goals, targets, reports, visions and changes to force team members to work the way they believe it should be done; failing to listen or listening with little interest; exhibiting the - Do as I say, not as I do - mentality and providing inadequate support. Negative thoughts, words, actions or inactions expressing emotions like:

Why aren’t they performing better?

What’s wrong with that person?

Why don’t they know their job?

They should know their job!

lead team members to believe that leaders disrespect them and do not care for them at all. It results in failure of an organization or the task in hand.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Life’s Anchor

The more a person depends on a pattern of thinking, a particular person or a particular role, the more there is fear of loss. 

The security created by dependence is illusion. The reality of life is that anything external to ourselves can, at any time, vanish. 

What will we do then? Where is our life's anchor? If it is not within, we will suffer.

Message for the day

To believe in success is to have the power not to give up.

Though to Ponder: The power of determination combined with faith in the vision of success, inspires us to put in relentless efforts. It is these efforts which help us move towards success. Success is first in our minds. When I start with that, I will be undeterred with the little setbacks I face. I will be able to put in the right efforts for success because I believe in it.

Point to Practice: Today I will not run away from problems, but will race towards solutions. For something I have wanted to do and is not happening, I will try one more thing. Today I will try once more, one more new idea. I will not give up till I succeed, because I am destined to succeed. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 21, 2016: Good Feelings

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 21, 2016: Good Feelings

 

Good Feelings

Good feeling for others are like ointments that heal wounds and re-establish friendship and relationships.

Good feelings are generated in the mind, are transmitted through your attitude and are reflected in your eyes and smile.

Smiling opens the heart and a glance can make miracles happen.

Filling Myself And Others With Invisible Treasures (Part 2)

In yesterday’s message, we had explained how soul consciousness provides us access to the ocean of the qualities of peace, love and joy that lie hidden inside our consciousness. An important point worth noting in this regard is that along with quenching my thirst, I must also have a big heart, and pass on to others the qualities that I am receiving from my inner ocean. Otherwise, over a period of time my spirituality reaches a standstill and although I am making an effort to fill myself I do not feel as content and fulfilled as before. This is because; the vessel with which I fill from the ocean can’t be refilled unless I am also prepared to keep emptying it. That doesn’t mean I have to drain myself spiritually.

It is just that each time I give or donate a quality from my inner ocean with a positive intention to someone; it flows from inside me and then gets transmitted to the other. Before the person experiences and benefits from the quality, I experience getting filled with it myself. Also, each time the person benefits from or even remembers the benefit in the future, he or she sends me positive energy, which, according to the Law of Karma fills me with the quality that I had donated, further. Sometimes a person might benefit or remember the benefit after 10-15 years or even more than that. Even after such a long time has elapsed, I keep receiving a return from the pure donation I have made, and keep getting filled, even if I am not specifically or consciously aware of the same.

Eliminate Errors

Good leadership is based on skills which are incognito, like pure feelings, faith and trust. These keep both your frame of mind and the task moving in the right direction. 

It is human to err, but your high hopes for someone can actually eliminate errors. Doubting people exactly has the opposite effect. Believing in someone, extending feelings of trust, never telling people what to do but stepping aside and watching, with faith. This is what enables a task to get done in the right way.

Spiritual Skills like these are cultivated by avoiding complacency, learning to be sensitive and staying alert.

Message for the day

To honor others' identity is to win their cooperation. 
Though to Ponder: True leadership is about conquering the hearts of others with my own humility. Then I can place the honor of others in front. Thus, I can attract blessings and respect from others. Also, with this, I will only have the vision of bringing benefit.

Point to Practice: Today I will look beyond what I see in the present in people. What I may see right now may be negative or not so great. But I look at their potential and what they are capable of becoming. When I do this, I will be able to help them recognize their own potential. They would also then want to use this potential in the task at hand. Your respect also earns their respect and they give full cooperation. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 20, 2016: Patience

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 20, 2016: Patience

Patience

Patience teaches us to sow the seed in the form of right actions and to allow the fruits of those actions to ripen in their own time.

I don't need to think about the future benefits of what I do now, because I know I will receive what I need when the time is right.

If I let go of expectations and allow things to develop in their own time, I will be able to enjoy what I am doing in the present, and the future will automatically become good.

Filling Myself And Others With Invisible Treasures (Part 1)

Soul consciousness or the awareness of the soul is the key to the internal treasures of the original and eternal qualities of the soul.The moment I switch on the awareness of the soul, a spiritual point of subtle light or energy, situated at the centre of the forehead, I start accessing the qualities of peace, love and joy that lie hidden inside my consciousness. Since these are not physical treasures, they are limitless. It’s like suddenly I become an owner of an ocean of these qualities. The ocean is inside me and not anywhere outside.

When we hear the word ocean, the first characteristic that comes to mind is limitless. So suddenly I am the owner of an ocean of peace, love, power and bliss. I can draw and drink as much of these qualities as I want and these qualities will never get over, because an ocean is an unlimited, tireless and big hearted provider or giver, never expecting anything in return. The ocean will never refuse me, but, as stated above, the key to accessing the ocean is the awareness of the soul. It is a common experience of many that the moment we are in the consciousness of the body, we suddenly feel empty of these treasures and we experience emotions of peacelessness or sorrow or hatred or jealousy or powerlessness or fear etc., because in those moments, we have lost access to the ocean.

(To be continued tomorrow...)

Deal with Distractions

Peace is a popular meditation destination.  On the journey to the destination of peace, you may encounter some distractions.  

Think of the distractions as all the traffic on the road.  When you're driving, you can't empty the roads just because you want to get to your destination.  In the same way, rather than focusing on emptying the mind, let all your thoughts come and go, just like the traffic on the road. If you get distracted, it's OK, simply steer your focus towards peace.  And then before you know it, you will have reached your destination.

Message for the day

The one who checks himself constantly is the one who experiences progress. 
Expression: The one who keeps checking himself is also able to bring about a change in himself. Such a person takes each situation as a chance to learn something new and bring about some change for the better. So there is constant improvement in his life.

Experience: When something goes wrong, if I learn to check myself and bring about a change immediately, I will be able to experience constant progress. No situation will make me have negative feelings or make me stop, but I will be able to enjoy everything that comes my way. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 19, 2016: Spiritual Healthcare

Spiritual Healthcare

Silence, happiness, love and blessings are important aspects. Happiness leads to good health. It is only you who can give this medicine to yourself. Some bring illness to themselves through anger, greed, unfulfilled desires, expectations, suppression of feelings and relationships not based on true love. Look in your heart, you will know where your illness comes from. There are three ingredients for a long and healthy life: live with attention but without worry; use time in a worthwhile way; keep your thoughts pure, positive and filled with strength.

Overcoming Fears Connected With Negative Past Experiences (Part 2)

The work with oneself to see what aspects of your past burden you and coming to terms with those aspects, requires silence, reflection and meditation. When you come to terms with your own past, you can let go of it and be free of it, not be afraid that the past will come back to you. If not, sometimes, it is like a shadow that follows you. If your house was robbed once, the shadow follows you that, perhaps, you might be robbed again. If they hurt you, you fear it will happen again. Sometimes that experience presents itself in dreams, in the subconscious or in present attitudes. Reliving the past in your mind, you do not fully enjoy the present. You have to accept the pieces of your past so that they do not continue to generate upsets. Accept that you had to live through them and live the present with a constructive vision of the future.

In the above context, it helps to write letters to God about your experiences. The exercise of sharing them with God in writing brings clarity inside you and helps you to bring the spiritual light and might in your life in order not to be burdened by unnecessary experiences, unhappiness or grief. Have you ever written to God? You could do it at night and tell Him the things that affected you or that you have learned. You can tell Him the things or intimate feelings that other people perhaps wouldn't understand or wouldn't be there to listen to. You could also talk to Him about all that you question, and you do not have an answer to. And the following morning, when you meditate and study a little bit of spiritual knowledge, you often receive answers.

Discontentment

We firstly need to understand discontentment. Discontent is caused by a constant multiplication of desires.

One desire leads to another until there's never a moment when you feel fulfilled.

Desires are like traps. Because of endless desires relationships have become very fragile. There is a lot of irritability and anger due to:

• Selfish attachments (to possessions and people)

• Pride (attachment to a particular image of the self)

When there is discontentment, the heart can never be still because wasteful, negative thoughts destroy peace.

Contentment is the result of spiritual awareness which allows you to recognize negativity. It changes your pattern of thinking. As you tap your huge inner potential, all desires are fulfilled and you regain your peace.

Message for the day

True love brings success in relationships. 

Expression: The one who is loving, likes to be with the others. Such a person will never try to be away even from people who are not loving towards him, but will be able to change the one who is not so loving with his own love. So the one who is loving is always successful in relationships.

Experience: Since I am a loving person, I am able to maintain this love for every person I come into contact with. Whether the other person is able to be loving or not, I find that I never lose my love because of being aware of my true nature. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 18, 2016: Wisdom

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 18, 2016: Wisdom

Wisdom

Reading or listening to something good everyday will keep my mind healthy and happy. Thinking good thoughts over helps me to remember what I have heard. Then I become so healthy that when difficult situations come my way I have the inner strength to face them.

Overcoming Fears Connected With Negative Past Experiences (Part 1)

Some of our fears arise due to the situations we have lived through; for example, if you are driving a car and you have an accident. Then you take some time to drive again, because the memory of the accident awakens the fear of having another one or reliving the one you had. The person that has never had a car accident gets in the car with confidence, because they do not have that scene recorded, since they haven't lived through it.

There are fears that we carry within us that are not of the present. Something happened to us in the dark and we are now afraid of the dark. Fears in relationships: you opened your heart, you fell in love and, after a time, you experienced pain, you felt hurt, misunderstood, manipulated, deceived or mistreated, and now you no longer open your heart for anything; it is closed off with the shields that you yourself have created. To overcome this kind of fear due to experiences you have lived through, you have to come to terms with your past and accept it fully. You cannot change your past; lamenting the past doesn't help you; complaining about the past doesn't benefit you. Those shields brought about by fears do not disappear unless you do a deep cleansing. Begin to heal your experience of the past. Part of the past is healed with forgiveness. Without forgiving, you cannot forget.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Power of Silence

Exercises of silence help you concentrate your mind and intellect, and go within yourself to recover the positive and eternal energies. With the appropriate concentration of the mind and intellect towards your constructive inner forces of peace, love and happiness, you can strengthen yourself. Being strong means staying positive when faced with negative situations, peaceful when everything around you is chaotic: in other words, not being influenced negatively but influencing the situation with your positivity. When you stay calm in your inner power of peace, you can transmit this to others and help them to calm themselves. When you begin exercises of silence, concentrate primarily on peace. This is the basis of the practice, as when there is inner balance and harmony it is easier to build over these the other values love, happiness, truth and sincerity. The experience of deep peace calms you, clarifies you and fills you with energy to think and act positively and achieve your purpose that you have set for yourself.

Message for the day

Cooperation is to give people what they need. 

Thought to Ponder: We tend to give people what we feel they need. In the process, we tend to advice or force our ideas on them. But, what really works is trying to understand what people need. If someone is angry, they lack peace at that time. So, I need to give peace. And of course, I need to be peaceful and patient, in order to give the peace that they need. 

Point to Practice: Today I will really help one person, by giving what he needs. I will try and understand what people around me really need and start giving those qualities. This will help me create a habit of providing the right thing at the right time. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 17, 2016: Peace is simplicity. Simplicity is beauty

Daily Positive Thoughts: December 17, 2016: Peace is simplicity. Simplicity is beauty

Peace is simplicity. Simplicity is beauty.

Choose a day as your day of simplicity.

Speak little, and listen with attention. Do something incognito and nice for a person you are close to. Eat simple and natural food.

Create time periods for not doing anything - just walk, look around, live the moment. Have your mind open to a more profound and silent sensitivity. Appreciate each scene and each person as they are.

Viewing Situations Positively (Part 3)

Feelings of helplessness when faced with difficult situations are something that many people in the world experience. It’s as if life comes to a standstill and you don’t know where to look for help and whom to call out to. Is it so difficult to face situations? Doesn’t God know what we are going through and can’t he be made a part of the situation to cross it. Some say God is a spectator to our problems and he is too far away to hear our voice but is it so? God waits for His help to be taken because you are His spiritual child and you have a right to take His help. Also, God is not very happy if we say that He is insensitive to our troubles. Some people even go the extent of sometimes incorrectly saying that all the happiness and the sorrow in our lives is given by God, which is not true. But, at the same time to get us out of the sorrow is something that even God is always eager to do, but we need to take His help by remaining strong and stable in the negative situation. It is said that one step of courage taken by us brings thousand steps of help from God, who is our Father and taking His help is the first thing that should come in our mind when we are in trouble and not the last as sometimes it happens. We get so over-involved in situations and in thinking how to solve it that we forget that there is someone sitting out there who can be called down by the power of thought and ordered to help us as we would do with our physical father, if we needed his help.

Some people assume that God should help on His own, but there are two pre-conditions to receiving His help – one is courage and the other is remembering Him, which is a way of giving Him respect, who is the Highest of Highest. Remember God is the most humble being that exists. But He will help us when we remember Him much more than if we are disconnected from Him. Taking His help makes it easy for you to face the situation at hand and hence view situations positively.

I need to recognize that like musical notes we are all different. 

Only when I am able to harmonize with others can i create a beautiful tune. 

When I work with other people, I learn to understand them. In the process, I will also learn more about myself and how to use my strengths to support others.

Message for the day

Creating quality thoughts brings happiness and lightness. 

Expression: When there is quality thinking, thoughts are not many, but each thought is special. Quality thoughts are reflected in quality words and quality actions. They reduce tiredness and carelessness as thoughts are fewer in quantity. 

Experience: When I have good quality thoughts, I experience sweetness, happiness and self-respect. I am able to recognize my own greatness and move forward with lightness under all circumstances.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris