Contemplation: Sincerity

Contemplation: Sincerity

 

Italy

Sincerity

The practice of silently observing life enables me to understand other people's inner concerns. I become slower to judge and better able to respond openly and thoughtfully.

Patience

What one cannot achieve with pressure on the self can be very easily
achieved with patience. Patience brings a state of calm inside, which
helps in finding the answers that already lie within. It gives courage
to work on the problem in a cool and relaxed way till the solution is
found. It brings creativity into mundane things.

The Soul Body Relationship

Human being means the consciousness, the soul or being (living energy), experiencing life through the physical body, the human (non-living). The body is perishable and temporary, whereas the soul is eternal and without physical dimension.
* The soul is the driver; the body is the car.
* The soul is the actor; the body is its costume.
* The soul is a diamond; the body is the jewelry box.
* The soul is the musician; the body is the instrument.
* The soul is the guest; the body is the hotel.
* The soul is the deity; the body is the temple.

I can use a knife to chop vegetables. I can use the same knife to kill someone. The knife neither decides (outwards) nor experiences (inwards), but can be washed easily under water. Now look at the fingers which held the knife. They neither decide nor experience the actions. They too can be washed under water. It's easy to realize that the knife is an instrument, but it is more difficult to realize that the fingers as well as the arms are instruments too. The legs are instruments for walking, the eyes for seeing, the ears for hearing, the mouth for speaking, the tongue for tasting, the heart for pumping food and oxygen (via blood) around the body, and so on. Even the brain is an instrument used like a computer to express all thought, word and action programs through the body and to experience the results. If every physical part of the body is an instrument, who or what is it that is using this instrument? Very simply it is I, the self, the soul. The soul uses the word I for itself and the word my when referring to the body; my hands, my eyes, my brain, etc. I am different from my body.

Soul Sustenance

Improving The Quality Of Different Areas Of My Karmas (Part 4)

Karmas as spiritual service of others

Service of others can be seen on a very basic level as physical charity but the real service is to uplift the souls of others by inspiring them to re-claim their state of self-respect.

There is the old saying that if I give others chapattis, I feed them for a day. If I teach them how to cook chapattis, I feed them for life. In a spiritual way, this refers to the fact that instead of merely performing a positive karma like the donation of money, food, clothes, etc. if one can show others the understanding of karma and how it works and also teach them the ultimate, pure karma of coming closer to the Supreme on a spiritual level, they can make efforts to change their negative karmic situation and bring happiness, peace and positivity back in their lives.

When there is a change at the mental and emotional level, then changes will begin to show at the physical level too. Over a period of time, due to understanding spiritual knowledge (as a result of which the soul starts performing positive actions) and a deep connection with the Supreme (due to which negative actions or sins performed in the past are burned up), the karmic situation of the soul, which has been served, starts improving.

Message for the day

The one who has the spirit of service is free from wasteful thinking.

Expression: It is usually thought of as an additional burden to think of serving others. The usual thought is to think of first serving oneself and when one is content to think of serving others. But this thought makes one miss out on the fact that both service to oneself and service to others are complementary to each other, one helping the other in a positive way.

Experience: When we take on the responsibility of bringing benefit to others, i.e., when we consider ourselves as a humble server we will be free from wasteful and negative thinking. We will not waste our thoughts and energy on something that is not worthwhile, something that is not going to bring benefit to anyone. So each thought, word and action of ours becomes elevated.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: Response

Contemplation: Response

 

Response
If you can see and accept that you create your own stress according to how you are responding, you will then see that there is something you need to unlearn as well as learn. The old response needs to be unlearned, and a new response needs to be learned.

Chatting with God

One of the best ways to remain light, even in the middle of chaos and
heaviness, is to keep a conversation with God. Chatting with God, whose
responsibilities are unlimited, about trivial matters that are wearing
us down gives us a more entertaining view of life. It requires a
certain stillness of mind to hear His advice, but with practice we
learn to sense His perspective on our minor irritations. Since His mind
radiates lightness and love, the very act of opening ourselves up to
Him enables us to lighten our burdens.

At Peace With Time (cont.)

To live at peace with time is to live it with peace, trust and determination. It is different to living it out of conflict and forcing things. In order to live true freedom of being, we have to make friends with time and stop living stressed in time. We have to trust. Trust that you will arrive on time, that you will do it on time and, if not, that a particular problem will be solved. Don't let time be a stress factor. When we live stressed because of time, we lose the best of life. We stop living what is essential and important, and we get lost in the details: I have to go here, I have to finish this, I have to call up someone, and endless amounts of 'I have to...s' that consume our mental energy and make us get lost in the details of the trivial (ordinary). As well, in hurrying, we lose quality. You can do everything, but without losing what is essential; do it with love, with care, with interest, with enthusiasm, with motivation and with focus. That way every small action that you take will have a greater impact, will be more fulfilling and will bear a more positive fruit.

Soul Sustenance

Improving the Quality of Different Areas of My Karmas (Part 3) 

Karmas performed for leisure or entertainment 

When someone says they don't have time for meditation or for their spiritual development, it generally reflects an unwillingness to face the self rather than an actual lack of time. The fact that average T.V. viewing time in many countries runs to more than 15 hours a week tells its own story. To the extent that I value my time, I value my life and make myself valuable. Valuing my time, energy and money is very much a part of the whole karmic story of give and take: what they are used for, how well they are used, whether they are wasted and so on. Difficulties with time, one's own bodily energy and finances are the fruits of past indifference or wastage of these resources (either in this birth or previous births). The world financial crisis is the karmic sum total of all such individual difficulties. Am I using all that I have in a worthwhile way? Am I just wasting it or am I using it for benefit for myself and for others? These questions, answered correctly, often spell the difference between success and failure. 

Message for the day

True service is to spread the light of happiness to all around. 

Expression: In any negative situation, the usual reaction is to feel disheartened and unhappy. With this reaction to the situation, the people around too are affected as the unhappiness spreads around. Focusing this way only on the problem creates such negativity that it doesn't inspire anyone to work for a solution. 

Experience: Instead of spreading unhappiness in a difficult situation by seeing the negative aspect, we need to think of how to bring a solution. Even if we can't, we need to look at some positive aspect in it that will enable us to maintain our own positivity. When we keep ourselves happy in this way, we will be able to spread this happiness to others too. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: Happiness Is Your Property

Contemplation: Happiness Is Your Property

Happiness Is Your Property

No matter what adverse situations come in front of you, no matter how many obstacles come in front of you, your happiness should not disappear. An obstacle that comes will also go away. That obstacle comes and goes away but what belongs to you should not go. So, happiness is your property. Whenever an obstacle comes, just think that it has come to go away. When a guest comes to your home, it isn't that he has come as a guest and will go away having taken everything from your home. So an obstacle has come and it will go away but it should not take away your happiness. Happiness should always remain with you.

Independence

True help gives support in such a way that people become independent.
When there is the right support given to the people in need, there is
the ability to do that, which makes others independent. There is the
ability to give the best, but without expecting anything in return.
Others are able to get in touch with their own specialties and use them
for their own well being and progress. When I am able to provide help
in a detached way, I become a source of support and strength, without
being caught in any kind of bondage. I am free to use my specialties
for everyone's benefit without others being dependent on me. Others
continue to take inspiration from me.

At Peace With Time (cont.)

Not only is your strength reduced by the way that you live the past and project onto the future, but also how you live in this moment. When, for example, you oppose the present and have resistances, these consume your energy and cause you stress. If you accept the present you can flow flexibly without wasting your energy.

Accepting does not mean submitting yourself or feeling a victim of what is happening now. From acceptance, you confront and transform. If we learn to live the dimensions of time in a healthy way we will keep up our vitality, we will heal the past and we will feel at peace with it. Accepting the present and trusting in the future helps us to be well.

Accepting the present means stopping comparing yourself with others; you want what the other has, their money, their talents, their beauty, their personality, their achievements, their virtues, etc. So, instead of being grateful for what you have and accepting yourself as you are, you try to have and be like the other. In this way, you are never satisfied. The dissatisfaction causes you a constant unhappiness that reduces your vitality. When you feel happy and satisfied your energy flows more easily. The most important thing that you should do in this moment is to feel content. Next, what is the most important thing? To be content.

Therefore, the priority, and what is essential, is that whatever happens in the moment, the most important thing is to be content. So, tell your mind, "Oh, mind, be quiet and don't think so much. Oh, mind, kindly trust that everything is and will be fine." Give your mind the basic instructions and the key thoughts with which to be content. Don't let your own mind create the thoughts that trap you. It is we ourselves who create our emotional cages.

(To be continued tomorrow ...)

Soul Sustenance

Improving  the Quality Of Different Areas Of My Karmas (Part 2) 

Karmas performed for the self

If I, the soul, am the master of my body, then I have to look after its upkeep. The consciousness with which I feed and take care of the body has to be such that my actions don't bring me into further attachment to it. They have to be of such quality that they bring me closer to God and help to reduce my bodily ego or the pull towards physical desires. I have to work, cook, feed and wash the body but these activities can be done in such a way that they bring me closer to my destination of perfection, of freedom and of liberation. 

Karmas in our relationships

There is specific energy that drives all relationships - that of credit and debit, give and take. These are the so called karmic accounts that have been created in the past (either in this birth or previous births) and which now determine the quality and quantity of all our interactions and their results, in terms of joy or sorrow, in all our relationships. It's not necessary to find out exactly what the karmic root cause of a problem in a relationship may have been. A very simple guideline to improve the quality of our interactions is: 

Rather than take, let me give, so there won't be any further debts. Whether it is colleagues at work, family relationships or friends, let me see if there is a way in which I can fulfill my responsibility with integrity and honesty. If I am not doing that, if I am moving away from my responsibilities, I am adding to my karmic burden. In what way can I give or serve, so that there is no longer conflict, tension and struggle but just sweetness and respect in my relationships? 

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Message for the day

Real positivity is being positive even in negative situations. 

Expression: It seems very difficult, if not impossible, to maintain positive thoughts when we are faced with a negative situation. Even with a strong intention to be positive, challenges come in the form of relationships, physical illness, difficult circumstances etc and we find ourselves weakening. 

Experience: A long time of practice of maintaining inner self-respect is what will help us in a difficult situation. To maintain self-respect means to understand and appreciate our own uniqueness. With this practice of self-respect we will not be dependent on the external situation but will find the strength within. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: Easiness

Contemplation: Easiness

 

River of Flowers in Keukenhof, Holland

Easiness

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.

Clear Aim

When the aim is clear, constant effort is put in to fulfill this aim.
There is an ability to learn from the obstacles, adjust to them or
ignore them in order to move forward. There is the understanding and
the faith that even the worst situation will take one forward. So the
one who understands this doesn't stop with any kind of difficult or
challenging situation, but is able to recognize and use one's own
treasures.

At Peace With Time

To live in freedom you have to live at peace (harmony) with time; live the dimension of time as a creator of time and not a slave of time; live without being either a prisoner or victim of time. To live at peace with time is to live in harmony with nature, beginning with your inner nature. When you plant a sapling today, you cannot accelerate the process so that the next day you have a tree. When it is summer, you cannot make the earth revolve around the sun quicker or slower for winter to arrive before or later. Everything has its rhythm in nature. We have distanced ourselves from the natural rhythm and our accelerated mind exercises pressure, creates stress and causes anxiety. We plan the future, we are stuck in the past and the present escapes us.

Many worries have to do with how we live time: the past, the present and the future. Worrying about what might happen (future), when the moment has not yet come for it to happen, takes away from us the necessary energy to deal with it when it finally arrives. Living in memories drains our energy; the past already happened and no longer exists, except in our memory. We feed memories, not realizing that emerging the memory in our mind distracts us from the present and weakens us. It is like being a plug that connects to a socket with no current passing through. We lose our energy. We want to relive an experience that already happened, and in the end we feel disappointed, feeling a mental and emotional waste.

(To be continued tomorrow ...)

Soul Sustenance

Improving the Quality of Different Areas of My Karmas (Part 1) 

Karma yoga (experiencing meditation in practical life situations) functions in two ways: 

• By filling the self with power, the transformation of action is possible. This in turn brings about change in my sanskars. 
• By absorbing the qualities of the Supreme Being my sanskars change. 
It's necessary to experiment with this to discover its validity. On one level, whatever I have done, I have to receive the return for that but, on another level, just simply pure love for God is the factor that purifies, cleanses and forgives. Whatever my past karma may have been, the fire of God's love, the fire of a powerful connection with Supreme is able to resolve it and remove its impact from within the soul itself, in terms of negative personality sanskars and also in terms of negative karmic effects in real life situations. Thus it can be seen why yoga or the union of love with God is so crucial. 

If one looks at the whole pattern of human life, there are four areas of karma which need to be improved: 

• Karma that I perform for myself, for my own sustenance and upkeep. 
• Karma that I perform with or for others in terms of relationships. 
• Karma that I perform, not out of need or necessity, but for leisure or entertainment. 
• Karma that I perform as service of others. 

In the next three messages, we shall explain how we can improve these four areas of karma. 

Message for the day

The one with the vision of perfection constantly experiences progress. 

Expression: Many times, as we are moving ahead in the path of our life, we find ourselves stagnating. There seems to be no progress at all in any aspect of our life. We try to bring about a few changes that work for sometime. But after sometime we find ourselves dissatisfied and we stop trying. 

Experience: We need to have the vision of perfection constantly in front of our eyes. We need to ask ourselves what is it that we expect out of ourselves, to be a source of joy to others, to keep learning.... it could be anything that inspires us to constantly move ahead while appreciating all that life brings. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: Progress

Contemplation: Progress

 

Progress

You are your own greatest asset. Put your time and energy into training, improving and encouraging yourself. Then there will be progress. Self progress can take place when you use all of your existing resources to enable self change.

I am

Neither say "I am nothing" or "I am everything"
Instead say "I am what I am because the One who is making me is with
me"

Personality Radiation

Each thought that we create, every word we speak and every action we perform is responsible for the radiation of non-physical energy or vibration into the universe; towards other people, to the surroundings or the atmosphere as well as to physical nature.

A very important aspect of our consciousness which influences the quality of this vibration is the intention or hidden meaning behind each thought, word and action. When the intention is pure, positive and unconditional, positive packets of the energy of peace, love, good wishes, happiness and truth get transmitted.

People who experience this positive energy from us are reminded of their personal positive qualities, even if these qualities are different from ours, and get inspired to imbibe the same and put them into practice, although this may not even be our conscious intention in the first place, but we just have a general pure, positive, intention towards everything and everyone around us. But this giving off inspiration happens automatically. On the other hand, when the intention is negative and impure, it is as if we bring other people, surroundings and nature down i.e. in a way we absorb positive energy from these entities, instead of filling them.

People, without realizing, will come down from their positive personality state on receiving this energy and become inclined to thinking and speaking against their basic, positive nature; thus it is a negative inspiration. Both are energy exchanges, but one is positive and the other is negative.

The above process happens even when we are quiet, not creating any thoughts and not speaking or performing any actions. Depending on the kind of nature or personality we have, those type of vibrations keep getting emitted from us all the time. The higher the quality of the activity inside the mind and intellect during the day and in general in our life, even if they are inactive at a particular point of time, the higher the quality of the energy radiated at that time. It's as if we are constant spiritual energy radiators and radiate our personality all the time, even while we sleep. The purer our personality, the purer this radiation is.

Soul Sustenance

Saying Goodbye to Anger 

'I expect' is the great illusion, which converts itself into demanding rights without due respect for others. 

Anger in all its forms is a direct result of an expectation not being fulfilled and brings cries (although sometimes silent ones) of “They should have done this, Why did this happen? or Don't you know better?” Disappointment, accusations and demands are violent energies, which we throw around very naturally and easily in our daily life when our expectations are not fulfilled. They are like a burning fire that eats away at our original spiritual qualities, turning them to a dust that pollutes the self and others. 

Instead, let us continue to practise returning our thoughts to the self and remembering our original source of peace. In that experience of deep, natural peace, we will find balance and clarity and the ability to tolerate and adjust to the unexpected. 

One of the keys of meditation practice is to quickly gather our thought energy and take it inside to connect to our original qualities, no matter what may be happening outside, or even inside! 

Let me disconnect from the external and plug in to the internal energies that support me and then I will be able to say goodbye to anger very easily. 

Message for the day

Where there is honesty there is flexibility. 

Expression: When someone challenges the truth of what we are saying we generally tend to argue and prove our point in order to prove ourselves right. When we argue in this way, it only shows our own stubbornness and doesn't help in anyway to reveal the truth. Where silence doesn't help in revealing the truth, argument never will because the other person is not in a position to listen to us at that moment. 

Experience: We need to realise the fact that when the other person is not able to recognise the truth, our arguing will not help in any way. When the truth is with us we need not argue but we only need to wait for the right opportunity to talk what we have to say. When we try to talk when the other person is not in a position to listen to us, it only reveals our lack of flexibility. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: Letting go

Contemplation: Letting go

 

Letting go is simply making a decision to no longer allow something from the past to influence your life in the present moment or to reduce your inner sense of peace and well-being.  It is when we hold on to things or to the past that we prevent ourselves from growing. Like a bird, we have to find the courage to let go of a branch in order to fly and discover the true exhilaration of soaring to our highest potential. The less you carry, the further you go. So let go!

Live in the Present

Usually the present is lost in thinking about the past. The past keeps
coming back again and again in the mind, influencing the present too.
So there can be nothing done to enjoy the present. All words and
actions then are totally colored by the past. On the other hand, the
one who is able to free himself from the influence of the past is able
to move positively towards the future. To be free from the influence of
the past it is important to have a powerful consciousness of the
present. It means to forget the past, because the past is no more.
Also there is no worry about the future. When I am able to learn to
live in the present I am able to discover how full it is of peaceful
moments. I am able to experience my own inner potential.

To Be Aware But Not Judgmental

On the path of Raja Yoga meditation (taught by the Brahma Kumaris) there is a saying, "See, but don't see! Hear, but don't hear!" which means to remain aware of all realities, including the negative, but not to focus on them. We get caught up in the negative because we react and the reactions are expressed in the form of judgments, accusations, criticism, or labeling. As soon as we judge or criticize, we put everything into convenient boxes and, just as convenience foods are not always so healthy, such conveniences at the mental and attitudinal level are a great danger, because we mentally seal (close) the fate (destiny) of the person or situation: they are like this and so must be treated accordingly. Unfortunately, this is often done in an unconscious way, which is why Raja Yoga meditation is used to bring such attitudes and behaviors to the surface, conscious awareness.

When our vision and attitude remain judgmental or critical, they do so because there is no input of positivity from the self to encourage or allow a positive change. There cannot be a positive output when there is a negative input.

We often work in this way, wanting others to be better in some way, but, instead of helping them, or having faith in them and seeing their good qualities, we hinder (obstruct) them by concentrating on their past, their weaknesses and their mistakes. Our focus is completely negative, but still we expect them to change for the better!

When our awareness is more detached, rather than focusing on what is wrong, we look at how we can put something right by contributing a positive feeling, or attitude. This anonymous (not known to anyone) contribution is a generous act, which offers a solution, instead of the usual complaints by critical and judgmental people.

Soul Sustenance

The Pledge Of Responsibility 

A very important aspect of progress in the self and my relationships, which we all desire is restoring a sense of responsibility in my inner world, so that by doing that, I and others around me are benefitted. Even on a physical or non-spiritual level, someone who is responsible while playing his/her role or performing his/her duties either in the family, at the workplace or in some other setting e.g. a club group or a team in a particular sport or a social service group, not only feels content with his/her actions himself/herself but spreads ripples of contentment to others and receives similar energy from each one he/she is involved with. In the same way on an emotional or spiritual level, when I start my day I need to remind myself of my responsibility towards myself. I need to remind myself that I am responsible for the choices I make in my life which influence and color everyone around me. So do my thoughts, feelings, the way my personality functions internally and externally the whole day and my responses to people and situations, for all of which I am responsible. 

It is like taking a pledge of responsibility with the self in the morning that today I will not create a single thought, word or action which is against the texture of my innate, positive nature i.e. irresponsible. And what will provide my pledge the much required strength of determination? An injection of positive thoughts, emotions and sanskaras within me in the morning, using a suitable technique of self empowerment like meditation or spiritual study or some other. By taking such a pledge of responsibility and by watering it with the energy of my attention from time to time during the day, I am able to implement it and can make a difference to not only the people around me, but to a lot more than that. In this way, as I change, the world around me changes, because the energy I create in my inner world starts flowing into my circumstances, my interactions, my sphere of karmas, etc. to make them positive, which benefits me in return in the form of a cyclic process. As I take this pledge and abide by it for a few days, I start realizing the immense potential that it possesses. 

Message for the day

Determination enables elevated thoughts to become practical. 

Expression: When we have an aim in our life and are working for it, we sometimes are not able to bring into practice all that we plan to do. We then tend to become disheartened and give up after trying for some time. Thus we lose out on the benefit that our thoughts can bring in our life. 

Experience: In order to put into practice the good thoughts that we get i.e., in order to make our thoughts practical we need to stamp it with determination. Our words should never be 'I'll try', but must always be 'I will do it'. Where there is determination there is victory. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/