Daily Positive Thoughts: January 23, 2017: Go Giver

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 23, 2017: Go Giver

Go Giver

It’s been said that you cannot give away what you do not have. One of the most spiritual important insights or secrets in life is that you already have, and always have had, what you need to give away! If you impart the message that ‘I am not worthy’ the universe will send it straight back in many shapes, forms and circumstances. When we say ‘give me’ we are imparting this message. We are saying we think we need to get something to complete ourselves or prove our worth. Most of us are taught to live a life of gimmie gimmie gimmie – always striving, desiring, wanting, struggling. We do so only because we think that when we get what we want we will be fulfilled and esteemed by others. But it’s an illusion. We are all already complete and worthy but we cannot know it and experience it, until we give it away! Only giving allows us to know what we are and what we have within. Ask the question – how can I serve? The intention to serve will point you towards what you need to give. If the intention is real it also generates the will. The most successful people in life are not go getters, but go givers!

The Role Of My Intentions In Shaping My Future

The word karma has been given many negative meanings. In common language, most people almost always relate it to suffering, but the simplest meaning of karma is action. Newton's Third Law of Physics (every action has an equal and opposite reaction) is a physical law of motion. The Law of Karma is the metaphysical (non-physical) equivalent of the Newton's Third Law - it refers to action and its result (fruit) or, simply, cause and effect. The quality of my actions, thoughts more specifically determines my personal level of happiness. Our natures today are the result of everything we have thought; they are formed by our thoughts. It's not so much the act that determines the return or fruit but the quality of the motive or intention behind it e.g. in the simple task of buying a new car, the intention can be different in the case of three different people:

- I need to buy a good car; it’s an urgent need of my family (concern).
- What if I am not able to buy that car model which my wife so badly wants (worry)?
- With me at the wheel of the brand new car, which I will be buying soon, I will be the talk of the town, my office colleagues will really be jealous of me (ego)!

Although the action is the same in each case, each of these attitudes will lead to a different result. This role of intentions become clear when analyzing the difference in guilt between an army officer who kills another while protecting his country and another person who plans for months to commit a murder out of personal enmity and hatred. The karma of taking the life of someone is the same in both cases, but the return or fruit of the karma depends on the intention.

The importance of work is by its quality and not by its quantity. 

When I want to work well I think of putting in a lot of effort in terms of quantity. I try and fit in as much as possible in one day, yet I do not find as much satisfaction as I should by the end of the day. I need to concentrate more on the quality of work I do rather than thinking about how much I do. Each action of mine should be with a value and should never be just ordinary. When I concentrate on this, I can contribute for quality work.

Message for the day

To be special is to do ordinary things in a special way. 

Thought to Ponder: If I want to be special, I don't really have to do something special and spectacular. Probably, the opportunities for doing such things are also very rare. But we surely have plenty of opportunity to do each and everything in a special way. That means, I value the contribution I make and I value the action itself. 

Point to Practice: Today I will bring specialty to my actions. Before I start any action, I will remind myself of the contribution I have to make and also understand the significance of the task itself. I will then start the action. This will bring specialty to all I do.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 22, 2017: Spiritual Language

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 22, 2017: Spiritual Language

Spiritual Language

To create the future we desire we need a spiritual language; we must speak from the heart and in the language of the soul - a language of trust, faith and higher values, of inner growth, love and listening.

Radiating The Right Energy (Part 3)

The beautiful aspect of each one of our lives is that we all know what is good and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong but when it comes to implementing that in actual action, we find it difficult. What stops us from living according to what we know is lack of spiritual power, which is hidden inside us. So whenever you are about to perform an action, think twice whether you should perform the action or not. The same applies to your thoughts and words also. Don’t perform the action without thinking about the result of the action. After all, everything you do will come back to you one day, whether negative or positive. Also, remember that we not only send out energy to others, but we also receive energy from others. Here we are not talking about physical energy, but the non-physical energy which our mind radiates. The energy that we receive from others is largely dependent on what we have sent to others over many births and it keeps getting accumulated. All the energy, whether positive or negative, which we have radiated to others, does not come back to us at one time. It can take many years, even many births of our birth-rebirth cycle. Karma keeps getting accumulated and keeps coming back and there is no end to this invisible process. Creating positive or negative karma is in our hands.

The beautiful thing about life though is that we get a chance from God at the end of the world time cycle, to improve our karma, based on the understanding that He gives us. And this change in destiny that we experience goes with us in the complete cycle after that. It’s not that we cannot improve our destiny during the world cycle. But the knowledge to create positive karma is given by God once and this knowledge has immense power that it can destroy all our negative karmas of the past and also help us create positive karma for the future. And that time in the world cycle is now, when the Golden Age of complete happiness is being established by God. In the Golden Age everyone enjoys a positive destiny based on the good karmas performed now when God is amongst us and is giving us the knowledge of good and bad karma.

Real love is like a tiny diamond:

it is not flashy and it is without a single flaw.

The problem nowadays is that love is interpreted on a gross level. Just as many people are attracted to the size and glitter of a fake diamond, so are they swayed by false, superficial love. There is no value in either. A real diamond is often quite small, but it is flawless. That is where it's value lies. 

Real love is one hundred percent pure. There is nothing artificial mixed into it. It is clean. There are no ulterior motives in real love.

Message for the day

To know what I want is to work for it.

Thought to Ponder: When something happens that I don't like or don't want, I tend to wish for it to go away. I may even pray to God that it should be over. At such times, instead of thinking of what I don't want, it is more important to think of what I want. This will give me a clarity of where I want to go and use my resources constructively. 

Point to Practice: Today I will think of one thing that I really want to bring in my life. I will do something constructively for making it happen. When I work on what should be there, it would automatically help me get rid of the heaviness of what I don't want. Eventually, the situation will change anyways. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 21, 2017: Character

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 21, 2017: Character

Character

Humility dismisses nothing; rather, it takes even small things into consideration. It recognizes that whatever life presents, needs to be respected. Small things are easily found in something big, but inside little things there is often greatness.

Radiating The Right Energy (Part 2)

Whenever we perform an action, we carry an intention, which is behind the action. This intention as well as the action itself decides what the result of the action will be. E.g. You are on a train journey and you meet five different people on the journey and with everyone you have a different experience. It’s like we pass positive or negative energy to them and they take the energy with them even after the journey is over. In the same way, we come across different people in all our lives in different births. Some people we spend more time with and some people we just meet for a few minutes and after that we don’t even see them. All of them receive a certain quality of energy from us which gets stored in their consciousness. Even if they change physical bodies they do not forget what they have received from you on a sub-conscious level and at some point of time they will return what you have given them. This is the law of karma which applies to all our births.

No one can run away from this law and it does not require God’s intervention also. God is a silent spectator to this law. But what He does do is teach us how to live life and perform good actions and it is upto us as to how much we follow what He teaches. A basic and fundamental principle of what God teaches is that we are all souls and our original qualities are of peace, love, happiness, purity and power. All actions performed in the consciousness of the soul and by being full of these original qualities are positive actions. On the other hand, negative actions are actions performed in the consciousness of the body and under the influence of the many vices and weaknesses that arise out of body consciousness like anger, ego, lust, greed and attachment.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Your inner wisdom is your best guide.

It comes from three places; experience, learning & intuition. 

Experience comes from engaging with life, 

Learning comes from observing, & 

Intuition comes from listening to ourselves.

Take the opportunity at the end of the day to gather all three. Ask yourself: What was my life experience, today? What did I learn from others? What did my intuition say?

Tune into your inner wisdom & listen to gain valuable feedback, (note it down if you want) & recalibrate for the next day.

Message for the day

Methods of self-progress bring harmony with people.

Thought to Ponder: It is normally believed that people who spend time with meditation or prayer or any means of self-progress tend to cut off from others. In reality, it is just the opposite. Someone who really works for self-progress would want to contribute from what he has, to others too. Also, it would bring the ability to deal with others in the right way, bringing harmony.

Point to Practice: Today I will spend a few minutes with one thought "I am peace", spreading peace to the place and the people around me. I will remind myself of this from time to time. I will then observe my interaction with others. A small little change that I observe is enough to encourage me to continue with my efforts. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 20, 2017: Self-respect

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 20, 2017: Self-respect

Self-respect

Self-respect is not a matter of what you are doing in your life, but rather of how you are doing it. It requires that you bring quality and virtue into each action, whatever that action may be.

Radiating The Right Energy (Part 1)

A very important feature of our life is building a strong relationship with God, in such a way so as to be able to live our life complete with trust and understanding and without any doubts in the help that God is ready to give us. God is awake every moment of our complete 24 hour day ready to provide us protection and care. All we need to do is remain connected with Him on a subtle level and never leave His protection of love and power. The moment we lack trust in God, God also distances himself from us and becomes unavailable to us. So it is up to us to reach out to God in a natural way throughout the day by talking to Him and keeping Him in a powerful bond with us and not letting Him go away at any moment. Although God can help us even if we do not keep Him with us in every action of the day, but this is not how God works and this is not His personality. He is the one Father and we are all His children and if He wants He can be with each one of us at one time. But the law of the world and its Father (God) is that if I remember Him, He offers help in return. 

That does not mean God is not unconditional but we have to understand that God is our parent and for a parent, all children are equal but He also observes their actions and how much are they like His actions and then offers His help. This is the reason why so many souls in the world are in pain today and yet God is not always helping them or removing the sorrow from their life. A beggar on the street is also God’s child, but he is in sorrow. So can’t God send someone for his help and bring lots of money to the beggar, so that he could live life in happiness. Why does the beggar continue to be in sorrow? Because he has performed some negative actions in this or a previous life and as a result of the actions, today he is in sorrow. But if in the present, he remembered God a lot and continued to perform good actions, slowly over a period of time, God would help him and he would overcome the sorrow in his life. Also, by remembering God and performing positive actions, the influence of his past actions on his present would be reduced, so as to bring a positive change of events on his life which would make him happier. This is true for all of us.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Stop feeling terrified, start feeling terrific!

Often when we feel unsure about ourselves & are unwilling to do something different, we slip into feeling terrified.

Each day decide to feel terrific & have a terrific time.

Feel comfortable in your own skin & give yourself the permission to feel confident & feel great. Then you'll be ready to seize the moment & be terrific.

Message for the day

True introspection is realization of our inner qualities. 

Thought to Ponder: Realizing one's own mistakes and making amendments is usually associated with negative feelings. But true introspection lies in realizing one's own positive qualities. It is to see ourselves with "real eyes" and see the hidden potential and strengths. When we truly realize, there is change and that mistake would never be repeated. 

Point to Practice: Today I will see a strength of mine. This is some quality that I really like about me. In whatever I do today, I will keep awareness of this specialty as a background. This will help me bring quality to whatever I do. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 19, 2017: Don't lose Today

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 19, 2017: Don't lose Today

 

Don't lose Today

If yesterday was lost in grief, don't lose today and tomorrow by keeping it in your memory.

Self Conversations And Their Significance

A very important subtle activity that we all indulge in for a lot of time in the day is having conversations with the self, sometimes consciously and a large number of times without even being conscious of it. We need to be extremely careful about what the quality of our conversations are because self-conversations very strongly influence our perception i.e. the way we see ourselves, others, situations as well as our personalities and also mould them. If channeled properly, they can be constructive i.e. ones that empower the self; if not, they can be destructive i.e. ones that bring the self down or weaken it in some way or the other. They possess immense potential, both positive and negative, if we want we can use them to liberate us or they can even limit us.  We can judge, criticize and threaten ourselves or praise and encourage the self in a positive way. It's important to create thoughts of acceptance, respect and approval for ourselves, even if situations don't go the way we desire or expect. Such positive conversations help rise above the dependence on what how people see us and what they think and talk about us, making the self extremely powerful.

Positive self-conversations are not fantasies or disconnecting from reality and a few minutes given to the activity do a lot of benefit and no harm at all. They can be done by detaching oneself from actions when we have an emerged conversation and our complete focus is on the conversation and we do nothing else at that time or whilst being involved in actions. Some actions like going on a drive, cooking, having a meal or simply taking a walk or going on a jog allow self-conversations to take place alongside. At these times we give less mental energy or attention to the conversations i.e. we can have a merged conversation so that the respective action is not affected adversely in any way. We can choose how much mental energy to give to the activity, depending on the karma alongside.

Simplify simple

Simple means: making things easy; having priorities organized; keeping things short and sweet; maintaining a clear focus.

Living a simple life is a nice idea, but not so simple in a world that's complicated & complex.

So let's simplify simple. Take one small area of your life today, for example, your email inbox, kitchen shelf, your handbag... Simplify one small thing and expand from there. What will you simplify tomorrow?

Message for the day

A personality of royalty lies in being constantly cheerful. 
Thought to Ponder: When we see someone with positive qualities, even during negative situations, we really admire their positivity. It could be patience, wisdom or any other positive quality that comes across. But much more than that, it is the happiness or contentment that is visible in the form of a cheerful face. This is the true personality of royalty that we too need to make an attempt to imbibe. 


Point to Practice: Today I will smile at whatever happens. Even if something goes wrong, I will find something to learn from it or something positive and be happy for it. Even if I can't find it right away, I'll at least take the thought that this has happened for a reason, because I know whatever happens, happens for the best. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 18, 2017: Balance in Life

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 18, 2017: Balance in Life

Balance in Life

The indication of balance in life is a sense of well-being, optimism and a clear conscience. The foundation for achieving this is to look after myself spiritually - making my mind peaceful, loving and thoughtful at all times. Then I will instinctively know how much to spend on my own well-being and how much on fulfilling other responsibilities. I can only give my best to others when I am myself at my best.

Changing My Thought Patterns

Why is it that we can't change the pattern of our thoughts so easily? Imagine a bird being so comfortable in its nest that, though perhaps sometimes it stands on the branch of the tree to inflate its chest and adjust its feathers, it never wants to fly and does not even realize it could fly. It never knows the blissful freedom of flight, never feels the wind through its wings.  It thinks the other birds that are flying around are unwise or foolish.  In much the same way, we never really leave our nests of old thought patterns. Our habitual thoughts become our comfort zone and each repetitive thought pattern is like a twig in the nest, which makes the nest stronger and our stay in the nest seemingly comfortable and permanent.  We never experience our true spiritual freedom or flight or feel the breeze of our inner beautiful nature.  Even the thought, I am a soul has to be realized eventually, so that we can actually experience its deepest truth.

In the world of spirituality, thoughts are like the map, but they are not the territory nor the reality of the experience.  Thinking I am a peaceful soul or I am a loveful soul or I am a powerful soul is not being soul-conscious, it is only theory or knowledge, but it is definitely an essential start.  Maps are important and necessary, until we know the way home to experience. Reaching this final destination of experience makes it easier for us and empowers us to transform or change our old thought patterns.

To have focus on the self is to become praise-worthy. 

I normally try to do things for others - to seek their recognition or appreciation. So I am busy trying to prove myself to others as being special and different. I then am not able to appreciate my own inner qualities. Instead of trying to prove things to others and trying to get their appreciation (which I don't always get anyway), I need to focus on myself. I need to make my actions such that I am proud of myself. This will automatically bring speciality in my actions and I become praise-worthy.

Message for the day

The power of determination makes possible, even what is impossible. 

Thought to ponder: Determination is to keep on trying till what I want to achieve, happens. If I am caught up in a maze, I need to try every way there is to come out. If I try one or two ways and give up, there is a likely chance that I will never find my way out. Determination brings the power to make things happen, even those things which seem impossible.

Point to practice: Today I will make a firm promise to myself to take up something that I had always wanted to do. I will tell myself repeatedly that I can do it and will achieve. I will continue to sustain this with the waters of my determination till I see the fruit of it - even if it is one small result. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris