Contemplation: January 01, 2018: Self-respect - Happy New Year

Contemplation: January 01, 2018: Self-respect - Happy New Year

 

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.

Wishing you all a very Happy, Peaceful, Prosperous, Powerful and Pure New Year

Invaluable Golden Godly Gifts for Self-Progress

01. Make your thoughts absolutely pure. In that purity there is peace.
Not just positive but extremely pure.

02. Whenever you are smiling there is no difficulty. If you find it
difficult to smile then difficulty comes. So this is the only solution.

Let me live while smiling and when I die, I will be smiling.

03. Don't think about others and don't think about the past. Don't even
come backward and look at the past, whether it is yours or others'.
Past is past. Be forever in front of Baba (God - Father) and Baba will
be present in front of you.

04. To be healthy means to have lots of courage. Wealthy means a
generous heart. Happy means one who does everything with cooperation.

05. Baba has pulled me and made me belong to Him. If I don't have that
pull now, what is the reason? Intellect is either towards people or
object.

Topics For Meditation Thought Commentaries

As you start your meditation practice, you need to have in mind some simple topics for your thought commentaries on which you base your meditation. Repeat them gently. Doing that will give you enough time to experience the feelings hidden inside them. Realization of thought commentaries will help your thoughts to develop and your thoughts will slowly expand as you now guide yourself in your meditation. Take up a few simple topics or phrases as the foundation for your meditation. Initially, listening to a guided meditation commentary on an audio cassette or CD, which is available at any Brahma Kumaris center will be extremely helpful. As you get an idea about what thought commentaries are all about, you can gradually start creating your own powerful, positive, thought commentaries. These will ultimately have more meaning for you because they have been created by you and you will easily be able to relate to them. You can continue to take the help of recorded commentaries, though, from time to time. Given below are a few topics for your thought commentaries, which you would find helpful and which you can explore.
* I am a subtle (non-physical) point of consciousness, which resides within this body (situated at the center of the forehead), I am the energy which brings this body to life every day. I am the energy which uses this body to see, to speak, to touch and to hear. I am the energy which experiences everything via the body. But I am not this body.

* I am a soul, a being of light, situated at the center of the forehead, radiating pure light into my body, out towards others close to me and the world. As I turn within and remember who I am, I experience my own capacity to have pure love for all others. It is a generous (kind) love that neither wants nor needs anything in return.

(To be continued tomorrow...)

Soul Sustenance

Characteristics Of The World Stage 

There are three things that we all have in common; 

awareness - of ourselves and others
relationships - the sharing and exchange of energy with others 
creativity - the ability to produce thoughts, ideas, concepts and feelings and express them.

The purpose of our life is nothing more than living life itself - to be self-aware (awareness), to be creative, to express ourselves to our highest potential (creativity) and to exchange the energy of love with those around us (relationships). But this cannot happen in the incorporeal, silent home of the soul (commonly called paramdham or shantidham). These characteristics of life require action, a costume (physical body) through which to express ourselves and a stage on which to act. The physical world provides the stage on which we can move, bring to life, create, relate and express all that is within us. For each of us the possibilities are infinite. 

The moment we take birth in a physical form, we are constantly doing one of three things: acting, reacting, or interacting - sometimes all three together. 

Message for the day

To have a positive outlook is to remain in peace. 

Expression: The more one hears and talks about positive things, the more one is able to be free from negative influences. The environment today doesn't give much of a chance for hearing to positivity because of the continuous flow of news about conflict and violence. But changing the theme of conversation and talking about what life gives is to change the responses to the world in a more positive way. 

Experience: When I have a positive outlook, it creates in me hope and enthusiasm for the future. I also have a more positive view of the present reality. I remain in peace, whatever the challenges or negative situations I may have to face. I am able to be in touch with the inner peace and maintain this state of mind under all circumstances. 

Contemplation: Save the Sinking Boat

Contemplation: Save the Sinking Boat

Veneza, Italia

Save the Sinking Boat

Do good and forget about it. Do not have grudges in your mind for anyone. Save the sinking boat with the anchor of your pure thoughts. The greatest art is to bring your mind onto this auspicious path. Think good .... Do good.

A Strong Heart

It is so important to experience God's mercy and forge a strong
relationship with God as our Mother. Knowing that a heart that has
been hurt becomes hard, we understand God is the only One who can heal
our hearts. Each one should ask him or herself : "What can I do to
make my heart softer?" There is such a need of mercy. We have to make
our hearts softer and stronger, because a strong heart doesn't
experience pain and we know that if we experience sorrow, we cannot
serve God.

Mental Clarity Or Focus

To strengthen yourself you need to have mental clarity or focus. That is possible if there is not so much of excessive thought, so as to generate clouds of unhappiness, suffering, grief, indecision, doubts and negativity - thoughts that your mind produces, thoughts that are weak, useless or wasteful. All of these thoughts cloud your own clarity. Mental focus means to think less, think concretely, concentrate, think in an elevated way, and your thought will have an energy of clarity and inner strength that will help you to put it into practice with greater success. You should strengthen yourself to achieve a state of self-control. For this, you need to study yourself, know yourself and understand yourself. You need inner silence, for there not to be so much mental chatter (noise) from thinking, thinking, thinking and thinking.

On top of that, other people influence you and so you generate even more thoughts. There are so many influences and inner voices that speak to you. With all of that there cannot be clarity. There is the voice of your fears, of your ego, that of desires and greed, there are influences of the past, thoughts emerging from your values, influences of your neighbors, your children, your husband or wife, your mother or father, the influence of your office colleague's opinion, or your best friend, your doctor, your guru, etc. You can listen to many inner and outer voices and, if you are not strong, your mind weakens under so many influences, which has negative effects on your clarity of mind. Because of all of this you have to strengthen your mind, which means, think less; think slower, concentrated and clear thought; with sense and meaning; of quality, based on a healthy and positive motivation. These thoughts are then like arrows, which have positive strength and clarity.

Soul Sustenance

Crossing Negative Circumstances/Situations (Part 3) 

In order to have a wider perception and not to drown in any negative situation i.e. not to get affected by it, you can position yourself in a positive way. 

Instead of losing respect for the self and developing a negative consciousness, if you make your consciousness positive and stabilize yourself in respect towards yourself, in maintaining your positive and powerful self-esteem and a healthy distance (not necessarily physical distance, but rather by not letting the situation absorb you), you will be able to have an eagle's vision. From above, everything looks smaller. It is easier to get over something small. You can. “I am a victorious soul” or “I am a destroyer of obstacles” are examples of positive consciousness. 

Whatever happens, it is important to always be aware that you create your thoughts and you allow the situations to have greater or lesser impact inside you, according to how you see them. 

Learn to create thoughts full of courage, trust and determination. Spirituality and the practice of meditation helps you do just that. Those thoughts, charged with positive energy, will help you to allow each situation to pass; to really overcome it and leave it behind; for it not to remain alive in your thoughts or in your memory. With the power of a mind that creates thoughts full of good energy, wherever you go, you will create a pleasant atmosphere. 

Your vibrations will create spaces full of beauty, love, trust and peacefulness; spaces where all those who enter will remove their masks and will connect again with their true self. 

Message for the day

To change means to experience progress. 

Expression: Whenever there is a desire to bring about a change, there is also a simultaneous intense feeling to find a change instantly – and fully. Yet this does not always happen. However, true change is that in which there is at least a little change. When there is constant effort put in to be better and to do better, then naturally the best results are visible, even if there is not perfection seen overnight. 

Experience: When I bring about a change constantly, in whatever little way I can, I am able to experience constant progress. I do not have great expectations, but will be satisfied with the little changes that I make and will have the confidence to go on putting in effort. Even with the little results that I attain I will be able to take encouragement constantly. I am thus able to move on towards perfection. 

Contemplation: Real Honesty

Contemplation: Real Honesty

Real Honesty
Real honesty means being true to the best that is within you. This is more honest than simply speaking your mind.

Greetings of peace, light and love from the inner heart.

Wishing everyone a Spiritual Christmas and Blessed New Year.

We needn't rule out the exchange of useful, thoughtful gifts at
Christmas, but when we expect something in return, it is not a gift,
but a contract. Using this strict definition, we might wonder if all
of those packages under the Christmas tree are really gifts.

Rather than giving expensive, perhaps not really useful gifts, there
are so many more meaningful things that all of us can give. If you have
been a smoker, you can give it up -- not as an act of self-denial, but
as a loving gift to your family. It will be a most precious, most
treasured gift. If you have been drinking heavily, you can give up
alcohol as an act of love. It is a gift that will keep on giving. If
you have been overeating, you can start eating nutritious food in
temperate quantities, and exercising regularly. It's a beautiful gift
for everybody in the family. These are real gifts. - "Words to Live By"

Experiencing Perfection And Success In Role Playing (cont.)

While playing my different roles, another important ability (a few abilities were mentioned in yesterday's message) that I need to possess is to become victorious over the different scenes that I play. What does that mean? I need to remember that every scene, every act, whether positive or negative, in every role, shall pass.

No scene or act is permanent. What happens is that, in a bodily consciousness, each time I am part of a positive scene in my life; I tend to become attached to it and want to hold on it and keep it with me permanently, which is not possible. And each time I am part of a negative scene, I tend to become impatient and want it to get over as soon as possible, which again is not possible all the time.

As if a few minutes or few days of the scene or act are difficult for me to pass or bear. Positive scenes bring me into a strong, temporary wave of happiness or excitement and negative scenes into a wave of deep sorrow, both of which are incorrect emotions. To make sure that I don't get takenin by both these waves, which is becoming victorious over scenes, I need to remain detached while playing different roles in different scenes. I will be able to become a master at this detachment, again when I am established completely as my spiritual self.

Separating role and actor increases opportunities for seeing what my role actually demands, and reduces the chances of being unduly influenced by others. Stepping away from the stage, even for a moment, I'll see more clearly how the other actors in that particular scene are behaving, and what is required of me. So, in this regard, it's a good practice that at different times of the day, I step back for a few seconds and detach myself from the role that I am playing and remind myself that I am a pure being of consciousness, a sparkling star like energy full of peace, love and happiness and nothing else. This is my spiritual identity.

Soul Sustenance

Crossing Negative Circumstances/Situations (Part 2) 

The challenge lies in knowing what the strategy is to learn to live through negative situations without allowing them to influence our emotional and mental state. 

In order to achieve that, in the first place, we should change our interpretation. Instead of interpreting the situation as an obstruction, interference or barrier to our path, we need to change our perception. We can ask ourselves questions like: What has this situation taught me? What does it say to me? Remain detached, observe and listen before reacting immediately. From detachment, observation and listening we can have a more practical and wider perception.

We are the creators of our realities. Reality, in itself, does not create for us stress, pain or unhappiness. It is our way of looking and interpretation of reality that brings about these reactions. Therefore, we have to review how we perceive situations and with what beliefs we interpret and judge them. Reinterpreting the situation, the concrete reality, implies allowing the old perception to die in order to make room for a new vision. Without the old dying, the new cannot be built correctly. Instead of seeing people or situations as obstacles on the path, we can see them as opportunities to practice patience and tolerance, to know how to listen, thank and love. They allow us to widen our capacity to co-operate and enlarge our heart so that we might be more generous. 

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Message for the day

To be fully responsible is to inspire responsibility in others. 

Expression: When there is true responsibility, there will be freedom given to others too to be responsible. Ones ideas are not forced on to others but there is full freedom for others to make their own choice. Support and guidance of course are given and people are able to become independent and responsible. 

Experience: When I have learnt to take up the responsibility of my own life, I am able to become self-sufficient and independent and also constantly be available for those around me to become independent and responsible too. There are enough resources in me for those around to take benefit from.