Contemplation: Appreciation

Contemplation: Appreciation

Pamukkale, Turkey.

Appreciation

Even if I don't mean to be critical, I often unconsciously home in on others' weaknesses and mistakes. The more I develop the habit of noticing goodness and only holding onto the good in others and in situations, the more my own sense of well-being will rise. When I continually think, "He/she is wrong", I create a barrier that prevents me from reaching my own goodness.

My words are effective when they are spoken with good wishes.

Although I speak with a lot of logic and make the other person understand what I mean to say, I sometimes find that they are not as effective as they

should be. Sometimes my words are also misunderstood and

misinterpreted. What I say is not important, but how and with what

feeling I say is more important. I need to keep myself free from any

kind of attitude, when I have to say something to someone. Thus I find

that my words are filled with good wishes and are effective too.

The Four Pillars Of A Spiritual Lifestyle - Achieving A Balance 

A balanced and fulfilling spiritual life is like a table. It stands on four legs and if one leg is shorter than the others then both balance and equilibrium will be difficult. The four legs or pillars of a spiritual life are given below in the form of four subjects. If any of the subjects is not a part of our lives or is a part of our life, but not to as great an extent as the others, then the overall balance of our spiritual life will be affected adversely (negatively).

1. Daily spiritual study (knowledge or gyan)
Daily spiritual study provides the right quality of nourishment for our mind and intellect, the two important energies of the soul.

2. Daily meditation (spiritual yoga)
Daily meditation provides the means to explore, discover and reconnect with oneself and with God.

3. The inculcation and development of virtues (dharna)
Giving some time each day to the conscious development of our character (virtue) helps to eliminate any negative sanskars or personality characteristics (vices) and improves our ability to build positive and harmonious relationships. The quality of our relationships is a mirror reflection of our dharna.

4. The service of others (seva)
A life purpose based on some kind of service is the foundation of personal growth through the practice of giving. Finding appropriate ways to use our increasing spiritual power and understanding (through the three subjects mentioned above) for the benefit of others is the most satisfying way to use our energy today. It also ensures happiness for the present as well as for the future through accumulation of positive energy in the form of blessings of those who are served.

Soul Sustenance 

A New Journey With A New Personality

Anyone who shows an inclination in getting to know the Supreme Being closely has a fascinating journey in front of them. Spiritual knowledge is the vehicle in which I make this extremely interesting journey full of exploration. Without sitting in the vehicle, I cannot make the journey. As I sit in this vehicle, I am introduced to this new, multi-faced, peaceful, loveful and blissful character in my life, a character who is spiritually rich with treasures of knowledge, virtues, powers, happiness and blessings, a character commonly called God, by everyone.

He is a character who introduces himself as being just a point of conscient light, a form very simple and plain. Yet, hidden beneath that simple light, incognito form is an immense volume of experience, wisdom and depth, such that even a lifetime spent in this journey, in his company, does not bring you to knowing him completely. The more you dive into the ocean of knowledge contained within the light, the more you discover and the more treasures of knowledge and experiences you receive. Every time you make contact with this new found companion called God, there is growth inside you and there is an increase of peace, love, happiness and power inside you. It's just as if after you've begun this journey, you're never quite the same again. However much time you spend in his company during the journey, whether it be in imbibing knowledge from him or remembering him during meditation or even sharing the benefits of this journey to other friends and relatives so that they can also start this journey themselves and experience what you are experiencing; whether you do either of these for a few minutes or an hour, there's always an experience of subtle growth and development inside you.

(To be continued tomorrow...)

Message for the day

True honesty to the self brings the power to bring about change.

Expression: To be honest is not just to be truthful. It is more to be honest with the self. The one who is honest with the self constantly has the aim of bringing about a change for the better. Each situation is used as a chance for the betterment of the self. So there is always the aim not to repeat the mistakes that are committed once.

Experience: When I am honest with myself I am able to feel the constant progress and experience the happiness of moving forward under all circumstances. I have the power to understand the situation, not just from my point of view, but more in a detached way. So I am able to understand and accept whatever the situation holds for me and learn from it humbly.

Contemplation:Good Feelings

Contemplation:Good Feelings

Sunset in Norway

Good Feelings

Good feelings for others are like ointments that heal wounds and re-establish friendships 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.

The one who listens is the one who is listened to.

When I say something I usually expect people to follow my suggestions.

Yet I sometimes find that my words are not so effective. I either find

that I need to use lot more words than necessary or others don't

listen to me at all. I need to be able to listen to others as much as

or even more than what I tell them. When I listen I am able to take in

new ideas and learn. Also, only when I am able to have the openness to

learn will others learn from whatever I say.

The Art Of Forgetting In Relationships

Sometimes, someone says something in two minutes that makes you feel really bad - they said it in two minutes but it is still there inside the register of your mind two months or even two years later. How could they! Who do they think they are! Something happened in two minutes and you remember it, you repeat it again in your mind and in your words during interactions with others. You keep replaying the scene repeatedly in your mind. Just like an action replay of a cricket match, you see the replays from different angles and judge the scene in many different and negative ways and come to different conclusions, most of which are negative in nature. With this you strengthen that experience in your mental register. Memories and the experiences associated with the memories replayed continuously in the conscious mind enter your sub-conscious, so that even after a long period of time you remember what they said to you. The other person unburdened themselves and forgot it straightaway.

It's like your neighbour who takes out rubbish, throws it outside his house, into your compound and forgets about it and you allow that rubbish to remain there, without thinking of getting it cleaned. Someone throws a few words at you and they forget, but not only do you not forget but you repeat them in your mind to such a point that at times these action replays do not even let you sleep. We need to learn the art of forgetting memories that generate shadows of hurt or pain in our present. The past has already gone and what you have now is the present moment.

Soul Sustenance 


Self Realization (cont.)

People affected by anger lose their temper and become excited at the slightest provocation. Yet, when the event is over they find peace in going back to their normal nature. The same applies to all the other vices (greed, ego, lust and attachment), which are at the root of all emotional disturbances, strains, tensions and imbalances. This indicates that the vices are not the original nature of the soul.

If the soul thinks about its original nature and does everything with the realization "I am a soul, not a body," its original qualities reappear naturally. They are its basic values. It is worthless seeking them externally. It is like the musk deer running after the sweet smell of musk, unaware that it is coming from its own navel. Peace of mind is the soul’s property. It automatically flows from within it once it is soul-conscious.

The soul only has to let its original sanskaras become thoughts and keep them flowing. Whatever thoughts are in its mind that is the state it experiences. Soul-conscious thoughts bring peace of mind. Body-conscious thoughts disturb the soul. It is the soul who decides what state of mind to experience. It can either be peaceful, or in peacelessness. It is the soul who has the power of decision. The situation should not dictate to the soul.


Message for the day 


True service is to be free and make others free from obstacles. 
Projection: When we are involved in a task, we totally think about ourselves irrespective of what effect it has on others. Such an attitude sometimes takes on the form of selfishness to the extent that we become an obstacle for others.

Solution: We need to check ourselves whenever we are involved in a task if what we are doing is effecting others positively or negatively. Whatever we do, only if there is benefit for us as well as for others, can we call it truly successful.

Contemplation:Create Vision

Contemplation:Create Vision

Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan

Create Vision

Never believe anyone who says we cannot change. Vision is one of the secrets of personal transformation. We are all artists, our mind is the arena of creation and vision is what we are constantly creating. What is your vision of yourself today – patient, relaxed, positive or tense, tight and negative? What do you prefer? So be creative – what does patience look like, feel like, what are you doing that is different when you are patient and you are expressing your power to …wait? Always start with vision not action. See it and you will be it. Be it and you will do it. We don’t ‘get a life’ as some would cynically tell us – we create our life.

The one who is constantly a giver experiences constant happiness.

Happiness is usually associated with acquiring. When I get something I
am happy and when I am deprived of something I lose my happiness. So
happiness is always short-lived depending totally on what I get. True
joy lies in recognising and giving what people want. I constantly need
to have one aim, let no one go away from me empty-handed. When I have
this aim I'll able to give something which will give me long lasting
happiness.

Understanding The Process Of Birth And Death

The leaving of one body and the taking of another is nearly always confusing and soon the details of the old life are erased by the new. Just in one day we forget so much. After having slept for a while, after some injury or shock, or even after a change in place, company or circumstances, many things are forgotten.

Death of the body is a great shock to the soul, especially if there was great attachment to that body, and the new set of circumstances in the new body is bewildering (confusing). Because the body and brain are not developed, the soul cannot express its memory, so it laughs and cries when it cannot recognize anyone, or when it wishes to express itself. By the time the body is developed, the soul has forgotten its past birth and has become accustomed to the new conditions and the new parents. The prominent sanskaras developed in past lives soon begin to manifest (show) themselves with new details (in the new birth).

Soul Sustenance 


Self Realization

The soul, originally a star-like living energy point of perfect peace and purity, twinkling in the soul world is fully charged with spiritual energy, which it naturally displays as love, joy, peace and purity in its actions when it first comes into this physical world. Gradually by taking many births, it becomes attached to the sense organs and the various physical objects and it forgets its original values. Then it becomes a slave to five basic negative forces; anger, greed, ego, lust and attachment. These forces have their roots in body-consciousness, or the false belief that existence is entirely physical. Any time it suffers disappointment, worry or anxiety, it is due to the effect of anyone of these negative influences.

The soul forgets the heights of spiritual attainment and the delights of super-sensuous joy (joy which is not experienced through the sense organs) thinking itself to be a body and it searches for peace and happiness through the sense organs. It mistakenly pursues worldly pleasures in an effort to regain its former state. It forgets its true identity, nature, home and Supreme Father.

While controlled by these negative forces, the soul cannot come back to its normal state of peace, happiness and bliss.

These vices are unwelcome intruders (entrants) into the soul’s original texture of purity. Until the vices have control over the soul, it will never restore its original qualities of peace, bliss, love, purity and knowledge.

(To be continued tomorrow ….)

Message for the day 

Where everything is done according to the right method there is success.

Projection: When we don't achieve success we sometimes do get tempted to opt for a short cut method, which might bring us temporary success, too. But in the long run we find that it isn't be so beneficial after all.

Solution: Whenever we are involved in a task specially if it is a difficult one we need to make sure that we are following the right method. Whatever is done according to the right system will surely be successful.

Contemplation: Useful Things

Contemplation: Useful Things

Leshan Giant Buddha in Sichuan China

Useful Things

Remember only useful things and there will be no need to even think about forgetting anything painful.

The method to stay in constant enthusiasm and to keep others
enthusiastic is to see specialities in others.
Many times while I am sincerely working towards my task, I find myself
losing my enthusiasm. I also might find people not very happy with me
or my work. I do make an attempt to understand their feelings but fail
to do so Such negative responses further reduce my enthusiasm. I need
to develop the art of looking at specialities in people. The more I am
able to see their positive qualities, the more I am able to relate to
them with that speciality. This encourages the other person further to
use that speciality. This will naturally keep me constantly
enthusiastic.

Serving Though The Subtle Body Of Light

Apart from our physical form (body), each one of us also has a form of light - a subtle light body. It is referred to as the aura, and can be seen by some sensitive souls. All of us might not be able to see it, but we can become aware of the aura of others' through the vibrations they emit. The purity of our subtle, light form is dependent on the purity of our thoughts or mental vibrations.Given below are some thoughts for a meditation to help experience your subtle form and serve through it. Think and visualize each thought alongside:

I become detached from my physical surroundings... I consciously create only the purest thoughts... Now I visualize my true form... I am a subtle being of pure spiritual light, a sparkling star situated at the center of the forehead... Gradually, I become aware of my subtle body of pure, white light surrounding any physical form... In my body of light, I, the soul, the sparkling energy, consciously stand up and step away from my physical form, which remains seated... I, the soul, inside my subtle body, observe my physical body in a detached way... Now I slowly fly outside the room I am in... I visualize myself, in the subtle form, suspended in the sky... White rays of spiritual light radiate from me, the soul, and my body of light into the world... like that of an angel... In this pure awareness of myself in my form of light, I realize that the greatest gifts I can share with those around me are the light of love, peace and truth.

Sitting anywhere, this meditation exercise can be done to visualize oneself in a hospital, on the site of a natural calamity, accident, next to a friend or relative in pain etc., basically anywhere where vibrations of positivity, peace and happiness are required - the location of visualizing yourself can be hundreds of miles from where you may physically be. As you practice the art of being aware of your subtle body, you will begin to sense how you can have a positive effect on others simply radiating good wishes, pure thoughts and pure feelings.

Soul Sustenance 


Anger Management

Creating Your Inner Peace Room (Visualization)

To overcome anger, visualize a house and in that house there is a peace room. See the room as an empty space. Then, step by step decorate and finish the room with the colours and objects, which symbolize peace to you. See the sun streaming into the room, filling the room with light. Then see yourself sitting in the room and filling the room with your vibrations of peace.

This is now your inner peace room. Whenever you see yourself experiencing emotions like anger, irritation, frustration etc. - you can go visit this room using the power of your mind and intellect (visualization) - it takes only a second - and peace awaits you. To keep it fresh in your mind write a description of your peace room.

Message for the day 

To contribute selflessly is to move forward with the blessings of all.

Projection: Many times weI find ourselves in situations where there is a problem, where we seem to be part of the problem too. We try defending ourselves but people do not always understand. At such times there is no solution to be found, and we find ourselves talking again and again about the problem.

Solution: We need to become part of the solution instead of just being part of the problem and talking about it. To be part of the solution means to make some contribution in order to better the situation. When we do whatever little we can, we continue to receive blessings from those around us.

Contemplation:Practice Gratitude

Contemplation:Practice Gratitude

 

Swallow's Nest Castle, Yalta, Ukraine

Practice Gratitude

The intention and the action of gratitude is the inner symphony of the heart. It opens to sing with thanks for the smallest of things. To hear a bird sing, to see a child laugh, to receive a friend's affection - are all invitations to practise the attitude of gratitude. Gratitude is the kind of loving thanks which touches another's heart in a place where they will allow you to reside for a long time.

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Consider yourself on the world stage and your every act will become special.

Check all the actions that you perform throughout the day. Are your actions such that others will be inspired by you or are they just wasteful and ordinary? Make the practice firm, " I am on this world stage, each and every action that I perform is being watched by many and will inspire them." when you have this practice you will have attention on your actions and they will become special.

Anger Management And Prevention

As you increase your self-awareness, you will also see how your anger begins with a moment of irritation towards a person or situation. If you then give attention to that irritation by replaying or revising the event in your mind, which is like giving water to a plant, it will grow into frustration. And if you water the frustration, it will grow into anger, which, in turn, will develop into rage.

Don't suppress and don't express your anger. What's left? Transform (change). The transformation of anger requires you to realize the root cause of your emotional pain. The realization comes by understanding deeply the self or the soul. When you see the cause it gives you a choice a) to stop creating it or b) continue creating it. Unfortunately, although many see why they cause their own anger and acknowledge responsibility for their creation, they continue to keep getting angry. They find many ways of justifying their anger. They have an 'anger addiction'. They are angerholics.

Are you ready to see the root cause? Do you want to make new choices? Isn't it time to break your emotional addiction?

Soul Sustenance 

Pure Cooking (cont.)

1. First, it is essential to develop a positive attitude towards cooking. Before undertaking any food preparation, ask yourself. 'Do you consider the project at hand to be an enjoyable, creative activity or an unpleasant time-consuming boring, repetitive karma?’ Find a way of enjoying it, by playing spiritual songs or trying new recipes and having deep meditation while cooking.

2. Before cooking, make sure the kitchen is clean and in order. Take out all the things you will need to make the meal and place them where they will be used. This makes the process of cooking more smooth and enjoyable.

3. While cooking avoid doing other work in between. You will actually be saving time and the food will definitely turn out better.

4. As much as possible, remain in silence, paying attention to the quality of the thoughts you have. Try to have pure and peaceful thoughts. This creates a powerful atmosphere that fills the food with pure vibrations and brings personal benefits as well.

Message for the day 

To be obedient to God means to have a right to His inheritance.

Projection: We sometimes find ourselves feeling low and unenthusiastic. We tend to blame the situations and the people around which makes us feel even more dull. At such times we expect and seek God's help and power but experience no help from him.

Solution: We need to realise that we don't have to ask God for power or blessings but have a right to them. Before we perform any task we need to ask ourselves if God will like what we are doing. If we do everything according to God's wishes that means we are obedient. Such obedience will get us the inheritance of peace and happiness from God.

Contemplation: Talking to the Self

Contemplation: Talking to the Self

Talking to the Self

When you talk to yourself in your mind, which self do you address? And how? Usually people do not talk to their divinity, but to the most superficial aspects of their everyday personality. And often its a stream of fears, complaints and mindless repetition of old things. If we talked that way to another human being, we would have to apologise. Learning to talk properly to the self is a spiritual endeavour. Thoughts from the past and worries about the future do not create good conversation. Instead learn to talk to your mind as if it were a child. Talk to it with love. If you just force a child to sit down, he won't. A good mother knows how to prompt her child into doing what she wants. Be a good mother to your mind, teach it good, positive thoughts so that when you tell it to sit quietly, it will. Love your mind. Stay happy.

The method for easy progress is to claim the blessings of all.

Sometimes we find ourselves making a lot of effort and putting in a

lot of energy for getting something done. Yet we find that the results

are not according to the efforts that we have put in. We then begin to

wonder it happens so. To be able to give happiness to those around is

to increase the speed of my progress. For this I need to pay special

attention to keep giving happiness and not giving sorrow to those

around me. This brings me their blessings and these subtle wishes

bring me happiness and success easily.

Seeing Yourself In A Positive Light 

Sit down in silence, relax, breathe deeply and create a space within you... Now feel yourself looking at your inner being, with your third eye, in a different light... Instead of focusing on your weaknesses, failures, what you lack inside, what is lacking in your life, look out for what beautiful treasures, your qualities, specialties, talents, etc. you have inside you, look at the positive aspects of your life and bring them into your conscious awareness... Becoming 'self-aware' in this way, realize, you have so much to offer, so much to give to others...

Now, create a beautiful image of yourself where you see yourself as free... free of negative feelings for yourself and others, with a pure heart and a peaceful mind... Feel and see your inner greatness, discover that you are special and unique... Come back to being your own friend... Love yourself, accept yourself and respect yourself... Appreciate and value the qualities of others...

Feel fine being yourself, in that space, in that room that there is within you, where you are secure and safe, where you can enjoy the marvelous thing that is your own company, the company of a positive being...

Be awake and full of life... you are happy... at peace... feeling peace... sharing peace... feeling free... Having seen yourself in a positive light, prepare yourself to enter into action, maintaining your stage of self-esteem...

Soul Sustenance

Emotional Joy And Emotional Sorrow

We commonly become emotional, either in times of sorrow e.g. at being separated from a loved one, at experiencing failure in an external event, on hearing a negative news, etc. or in times of joy e.g. when our child or spouse or even pet performs a warm act, while watching a movie, etc. While we have always believed that it is absolutely normal or natural to become emotional and some of us even believe that it is good to let go of our emotions and crying once in a while makes us lighter and stronger; on a spiritual level, becoming emotional comes under the realm of dependencies and dependencies always weaken us. This is because when we become emotional, instead of influencing our self on our own, we allow something or someone outside our self to influence us. We bring that something or someone or some event outside our self, inside, in front of the eye of our mind, attach our self to it, and lose our self in it i.e. we let the image hijack our internal world in a way, as we become subservient to it. As a result our thoughts, feelings, emotions, words, actions are influenced in a big way by the image. This is a spiritual definition of becoming emotional. Passing on the remote control of my internal world to the outer world in this way is a sign of a not so strong internal self.

So what does one do instead? Instead of creating images of external events and people inside our minds and being influenced by them, we still watch these scenes, but instead of losing our self in them and taking from them, we contribute to them by giving them our internal energy, but at the same time make sure that while doing that, we are detached from them and not over-involved emotionally. Internal energy is given in the form of appreciation and love if it’s a positive scene and power, compassion and co-operation if it’s a negative scene, so as to help the scene to be corrected or resurrected. This is influencing instead of being influenced. This is a more empowering experience. In this way we regain the control over our inner world and rise above such emotional dependencies.

Message for the day

To be seated on the seat of self-respect is to use virtues in life.

Expression: It usually seems very difficult to use the virtues within us when the people around are not doing so. At such times using negativity seems much easier. In spite of not having that particular weakness predominantly, say of anger, when there is provocation from the outside we tend to react with that weakness.

Experience: In order to free ourselves from weaknesses and work with the virtues within us we need to make sure we are seated on the seat of self-respect. For this we need to recognise and appreciate some speciality within us. When we are in the awareness of this speciality of ours, we will be able to stabilize ourselves in the state of our self-respect. 

Contemplation: Mind Matters

Contemplation: Mind Matters

Mind Matters

The most important part of you is your mind (not your brain - the brain is the hardware and the mind creates the software). Care for your mind, make friends with it, always feed it healthy food, engage it in positive activity, exercise it with knowledge and wisdom. Like a garden returns fragrance and beauty according to the care invested, so your mind will repay you with thoughts, ideas and visions of great beauty when tended and invested with care. Your mind is not made of matter but it does matter what you give it and what you create with it. Where your mind goes, you go. What your mind creates becomes your destiny.

To be free from negative thoughts is to be free from punishment.

Whenever there is a negative situation I tend to react very negatively

to it. I tend to have a lot of negative thoughts and experience a lot

of difficulty at that time. I then begin to blame the situation and

feel that I am facing punishment because of it. I need to understand

the fact that the biggest punishment I experience is through my own

negative thoughts. The more I can free myself from these kind of

negative thoughts I can free myself from experiencing any kind of

punishment.

Unloading Your Pressure Baggage (cont.)

Sometimes the pressure we are carrying is related to the situation we are in, sometimes we even carry a pressure of one situation in another situation i.e. it is unrelated pressure. All this continues throughout the day, day after day. What all this pressure does is increase the quantity of thoughts that we carry in our mind, which in turn reduces our efficiency and discriminating and judging power. The words and actions coming out from such a state of mind are improper and lacking in power, conviction and clarity. To ensure that we do not carry pressure baggage on our emotional back, as per our pressure equation (shared in the first message of this series), we need to change the incorrect beliefs that we carry, which are the root cause of our pressure and at the same time increase our ability to bear the different life forces. We carry thoughts that are determined by our belief of what success is and what failure is, what winning is and what losing is. Although we perceive such beliefs to be true, they are not true; they are like a facade that influence our perception of reality and generate in us feelings of pressure. The truth, on the other hand, is deeper than beliefs.

While meditation will serve as an important tool to increase our inner power to tolerate or resist life forces; spiritual knowledge, understanding and wisdom will serve as an immensely important tool which will help us in correcting our beliefs. So in times of pressure, stopping yourself for a minute and assessing your thoughts, then going backwards, and checking the beliefs which are the root cause of the thoughts at that particular moment and then changing them requires strength and clarity, which we will obtain through the medium of spiritual wisdom. Once the beliefs are corrected, the thought patterns will change. Thoughts like - * Maybe I won't arrive on time, * If I don't finish this assignment successfully, I will lose my next promotion, * If I lose my money in this financial investment, my family will stop appreciating me etc. which we create all the time - will be replaced by more positive thoughts of security, fearlessness, patience, peace, faith, determination, certainty etc.

Soul Sustenance 


The Faculties Of The Soul (cont.)

The intellect is used to assess thoughts. This is the faculty (energy) of the soul used for understanding and decision-making which stands out as the most crucial faculty of the three. With the deepening and broadening of the intellect, clear understanding and realization of knowledge becomes natural, and the power to decide and reason becomes clear. It is the intellect which remembers, discriminates, judges and exercises its power in the form of will-power.

Sanskaras is a Hindi word which best describes what we could call impressions. They are the record of all the soul's past experiences and actions. Sanskaras can take the forms of habits, talents, nature, personality traits, beliefs, values or instincts. Every action performed by a soul either creates a sanskar (this is how a habit begins) or reinforces an old one. Whatever impression is etched in the soul remains within the soul, forming a complete collection of all the experiences that the soul has had. When we speak of defects, specialties or virtues we are referring to the sanskaras. The sanskaras are the basis of the soul's individuality.


Message for the day 

To be a master is to be able to experience freedom.

Projection: Usually whenever things go wrong we find ourselves caught up with our own weaknesses. We give in to them and find ourselves totally bound. This, in turn, makes us feel heavy as we feel helpless. Then we will never be able to overcome them.

Solution: We need to remind ourselves of our own powers and the fact that our weakness is our creation and we are the master. The more we remind ourselves of this, the more we will be able to experience freedom and use these powers.