Daily Positive Thoughts: May 28, 2017: Humility Reveals Truth

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 28, 2017: Humility Reveals Truth

Humility Reveals Truth

Humility comes from the understanding that the force behind whatever help you give to others comes not from you but from the power of love.

It is not true that if you are humble others will walk all over you. It is when there is no humility that you can easily be influenced by others and things seem difficult.

But when there is humility, there is also the power of truth. You know internally that you will achieve your aim, regardless of what others say or think.

A humble person never feels they are bowing to others. The head is held neither too high nor low - it just faces straight ahead, like an angel. Humility reveals your truth.

Car-Driver Comparison To Aid Self Realization (Part 2)

If a good driver, while driving a car is distracted by the negative and disturbing scenes which he comes across and his attention is pulled in many different directions, he will make his journey unsafe increasing the probability of meeting with accidents.  When the same principles are applied to the soul and the body, I also need to take care that, while traveling on the road of life, I am not distracted by scenes that are not useful to me e.g. when looking out through my eyes and I don’t have to take in all the images, scenes and information along the way, otherwise I may meet with an accident. When listening through my ears, I don’t have to take in all the words and everything that people say, otherwise I may meet with an accident. I can choose to take in what is useful for me, but I do not have to register distracting, negative and harmful images and words. Just like a driver, I see and understand situations, too I keep my eyes and ears open - it would be unsafe to ignore them completely, I need to be aware of them - but I look only for the positive in them, so that I remain focused and am not deflected from my goal of experiencing inner contentment and bliss, while making the journey.

I, as the driver in charge of this vehicle, the body, also need to take care that I do not drive rashly i.e. I learn to monitor the feelings and attitude that are transmitted outwards through my eyes, my words and my complete body language. Driving rashly i.e. transmitting negative energy in this way could harm any co-traveler on the road of life. When these feelings stay positive, filled with sweetness, purity and respect, that too helps to ensure that my journey passes smoothly and enjoyably. When I stay alert and aware in a driver conscious and drive carefully as explained in this and yesterday’s message, my actions bring me closer to my spiritual truth and I am able to share my positivity with others around me. When I lose awareness for even a moment, there's danger either from me to others or vice versa.

Understanding the Mind and Its Functioning 

The mind is a faculty of the soul, the main function of which is to produce thoughts. The thoughts we create are energy. In one day we produce an average of thirty to forty thousand thoughts. How much energy does this represent? What do we do with it? 

The mind works constantly, even when we are sleeping. We cannot separate ourselves from it, it is our inseparable companion. If you study your mind you will see that, as well as thinking, it imagines, remembers, dreams, associates, desires and even produces your feelings. 

If you think about some incident that made you unhappy ten years ago, you will feel that unhappiness again, perhaps even more deeply than before. If you think of something that made you happy, you will also feel that happiness when you repeat the event in your mind. 

If you create positive thoughts about yourself, you will feel good and your self-esteem will be strengthened, and if you create negative thoughts, you will feel depressed, with low self-esteem. The mind opens up the way to the self. By creating the right type of thoughts you can open up your inner potential again, and rediscover that as people we are full of positive qualities. 

Message for the day

Love and cooperation bring success in all tasks. 

Expression: Love is reflected in the love that there is for the person and also for the task. When there is love for the person, there is the ability to give cooperation without any expectations or demands. And when there is love for the task there is the commitment for completing the task, whatever the obstacles that come up in the process of doing things.

Experience: When I am able to have love, I am able to receive hundred percent help and commitment from others too and so I am able to have the satisfaction of moving forward constantly. There is nothing difficult for me and I do everything with great ease. Not only is the task easy but also there is a spread of happiness and joy experienced by all who are involved in the task. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 27, 2017: Mistakes

Mistakes

Expand your awareness a little and mistakes no longer need to make you feel guilty.

For example, if you saw your life as an Actor does his play, you would see one scene unfolding after another.

Each passing scene, having passed is now over. Wisdom says: "This is how to see it"

Letting bygones be bygone is easier if you remember you cannot change the past but you can definitely change the future.

The Car-Driver Comparison To Aid Self Realization (Part 1)

One of the comparisons which help in self-realization i.e. in strengthening the awareness that I, the soul, a non-physical energy am different from this physical body is that of the driver and the car, where the driver represents the spiritual energy and the car represents the body which is controlled by the spiritual energy.  The biggest reason why I do not have the desired control over my physical body, my vehicle, my sense organs today is that I lost the consciousness of being a driver which could control and rule the vehicle. Instead I developed the consciousness that I am this vehicle, this physical body. This consciousness disconnected me from the ability and the power I possessed inside me to control the vehicle.  If I want to achieve the desired control, I need to be in a driver consciousness i.e. in the awareness that I am a soul and my body is a vehicle, through which I experience life. Being in this awareness, in this consciousness awakens me and empowers me to regain the much required control over my body.

The car controls are the gears, brakes, accelerator and steering wheel which can be compared to the sense organs of the soul which are the mind, intellect and sanskars and those of the body which are the eyes, ears, nose, hands and tongue. A good driver is one who remains extremely alert and is able to use the gears, brakes, accelerator and steering wheel effectively and efficiently, in order to be fully in control of the vehicle and avoid any accidents. In the same way, as I move on the road of life, I need to keep my mental and physical sense organs (mentioned above) in complete control. If I do that, they will keep my journey enjoyable and take me to my desired destination of mental peace and happiness safely and successfully. If I don’t do that and let them overpower me, accidents will definitely occur, making me peaceless and sorrowful.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Putting your punctuation in the right place matters, right!  

Do you punctuate the thoughts in your mind?

Insert commas to separate & slow down your thoughts, question marks for contemplation & problem solving, exclamation marks to emphasize & accentuate, & most importantly, apply a full stop.  Put a full stop to end any unnecessary & unproductive thoughts.  Use a full stop to create closure when you go from one conversation, task, situation... to another.

Punctuate your thoughts & you'll develop better mastery over your mind.

Message for the day

To understand the uniqueness of every individual is to love unconditionally. 

Thought to Ponder: Everyone is unique with their own unique set of specialties. When I understand and appreciate the contribution they make, I will be able to value it. My love then becomes unconditional. I don't expect people to behave in a particular way because I know they are right in whatever they are doing according the part that they are playing. 

Point to Practice: Today I will appreciate and love unconditionally. I will think of one person I have been having problems with. I will remember this person and the expression of his qualities through the role that he is playing. I will also appreciate the contribution in my life. It is because of this person that I have learnt some quality or the other (maybe patience, harmonising or any other quality. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 26, 2017: Life Can Begin To Flow

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 26, 2017: Life Can Begin To Flow

Life Can Begin To Flow

As we grow in strength in our spiritual life, we give up the habit of worrying. It serves no purpose other than to make us feel tense and miserable. When I stop fretting about things that are beyond my control and focus instead on generating optimistic and kind thoughts, my life can begin to flow in ever more positive directions. Such a light and easy approach to life enables me to take everything in my stride.

Switching On The Consciousness Of The Soul To Experience Peace  

During the initial stages of meditation many wasteful thoughts do come. This is due to the soul's old habit, since many births, of thinking aimlessly. The mind has been attracted or repelled by everything and everyone. The soul has been pushed around from waves of one experience into another, exposed to different scenes. So, after such a long journey, in the present moment, it finds itself stuck in negative cycles of worry, doubt and confusion, which it must break by recharging itself with its own original characteristics of peace, purity, love and joy. Meditation is this recharging process with which we channel good, constructive and positive thought energy into our moods.

I must make sure the engines of my senses are not burning up the vital fuel of inner peace.  The soul does not grow or diminish but only experiences change in its happiness or unhappiness, peace or peacelessness etc. The very word peaceless suggests that I was at some stage peaceful. I now know that I had peace in the soul world. I can see how peace is the real oxygen for the soul. When I do not have it, I choke and become spiritually breathless and look for it everywhere. I am a soul and I have my own inner store of peace from which I can draw at any time. I do not need to practice complicated breathing exercises or difficult physical postures for the same. I can experience peace by switching on the consciousness of the soul wherever I am, driving, cooking at home or when busy at work. Thus meditation is a continuing experience rather than a static one.

Be a go giver

It's good to be a go getter!  But why not be a go giver as well as a go getter.  Take action and make things happen, but at the same time, give.

Give what you want to give.  Give your time, attention, ideas, knowledge, compassion, smile....  Give through your mind, words, actions, presence....

Just keep going, keep getting things done and keep giving.

Message for the day

The biggest service is to become the one who removes sorrow and gives happiness. 

Thought to Ponder: There can be no greater service than becoming instrumental in giving happiness to someone and removing their sorrow. When I see someone's pain, I need to see what I can do for making them happy. I need to pay attention that I don't experience pain seeing their sorrow. A person, who is unhappy, cannot give happiness to others.

Point to Practice: Today I will lend a helping hand to one person and do something that truly helps him. To help also means to empathize, to give good wishes, to listen non-judgmentally or even to be a support to them in some way without making them dependent on you. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 25, 2017: Listen In

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 25, 2017: Listen In

Listen In

Only when we find the quietness in our own minds can we begin to hear our inner teacher, so that we may receive some in-tuition. Only when we are ready to recognize and value the wisdom that we carry at the core of our being will we turn our attention inwards and 'listen in'.

But it's been a long time since we truly listened, so a little practice and patience will be needed. Sit down, be quiet and listen in at some point today and you might be surprised at what you hear. Then do it again tomorrow. All you need to do is remember that you are the listener and not the noise.

Experiencing And Maintaining A State Of Contentment
 

To reach, experience and maintain a state of contentment or fulfillment you have to first realize what true freedom is and then learn how to use it so that it strengthens you and also helps you to achieve the full potential of your individual self. Freedom is the key to contentment. You also need to check what brings you close to the state of fulfillment and what takes you away from it. Fears of different kinds are one of the main obstacles in experiencing contentment. Any weakness, inability to apply any virtue or spiritual power required in any situation, lack of focus, inner instability, etc. will cause a leakage of the energy of positivity that is required to feel content. Free yourself of any personality trait that hinders your progress and does not allow your inner being to manifest itself and express itself with all its potential.  To live in contentment, you should be in charge of your inner mental and emotional world. If not, you will only be able to experience temporary periods of fulfillment. 

To achieve fulfillment you not only have to have inner control, but you also need to check whether there is any door open to allow any weakness to enter the room of your personality. Because if you strengthen yourself on the one hand and on the other you are weakened, you will never reach the desired state of inner power. E.g. you keep a bucket of water under a tap of water. If it has even a single crack, however much water you pour into the bucket, it will never get filled completely. In the same way, this can happen to you. Because of this, you need to check, which cracks are present in your personality through which there are leaks of energy, because of which your efforts to become content do not give you the results you hope for.

When someone is complaining about someone else to you, you can:

- change the subject or try to lighten the mood

- stay quiet & not say anything

- step away graciously from the person complaining, without hurting their feelings

- share something positive to change their perception & feelings for the other person

What makes the difference is realizing that we don't have to engage in the complaining & add fuel to the negativity.  We can positively influence the person complaining.

Message for the day

To appreciate is to use the treasures of life well. 

Thought to Ponder: There can be hundred reasons to complain and there can be of course hundreds of reasons to appreciate. It is up to me whether I want to complain or appreciate. If I continue to find reasons to complain, I will never be happy. In such a state, I cannot use any of the treasures that I have. 

Point to Practice: Today I will not complain. Whatever happens throughout the day, I will find excuses to appreciate rather than complaining. Because when I complain, I will only make myself more and more sorrowful and less and less positive and enthusiastic. So, just for today let me be the one who uplifts the atmosphere rather than just being a victim to it. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 24, 2017: No One Is To Blame

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 24, 2017: No One Is To Blame

No One Is To Blame

"No one is to blame" is an aspect of humility that enables everyone to move forward.

Harmonizing The Mind And The Intellect

The intellect is the faculty of the soul that judges thought and determines its quality, its ethical purity, its truthfulness, its usefulness, its appropriateness, whether it is necessary, right or wrong. The intellect is backed by the conscience. In fact, the conscience expresses itself through the intellect.  If you have a positive thought, the intellect should approve it and allow it to be put into practice. If a feeling of doubt accompanies the positive thought, the intellect should take it into account and remove that doubt, before the thought gets converted into action. When the faculties of the mind and intellect are pure and strong, and they cooperate in harmony; they support one another and there is no inner conflict. If the intellect is weak, the mind feels confused and it will generate many unproductive thoughts. There will be an inner conflict and in the end the intellect will lose, because the power of influence of the intellect is less. Then, the intellect will not have the power to prevent them from going into action. Actions will be performed that are negative or unproductive, in opposition to the conscience, and they will as a result create negative habits.

The intellect is the most important faculty of human consciousness to bring about personality change. If the quality of the intellect is good, the capacity and quality of the intellectual processes through which you perceive and live reality will be higher. If the intellect is clean and pure, you will differentiate what is real and authentic from what is unreal and false. You will be able to judge if a situation is beneficial or wasteful, useful or useless.

Become Tolerant

When someone disbelieves us, we usually argue back and try to prove our point. Yet we find that the more we talk, the less people listen. Unable to convince them, we end up frustrated. 

Instead, when someone challenges the truth of my words, I should think about whether they might be right. Rather than stubbornly clinging to my point of view, I could embrace this as an opportunity to learn. Even if I am correct in my thinking, if I become able to understand someone else's point of view without getting angry or refusing to listen, I become tolerant.

Message for the day

To be in a state of self-respect is to use my specialties. 

Thought to Ponder: It's during challenging situations that I need to use my specialties. Although I do have a lot of qualities that I could use, I find that it is during such challenging times that I am not able to have access to them. A long time practice of remembering and using these qualities will make me access them and use them during such times of need. 

Point to Practice: Today I will remember my specialty. I will remember what my strengths are, what specialties others see in me and rely on me. I will use them throughout the day in whatever I do.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris