Contemplation: Change

Contemplation: Change

 

 

Change

When there is growth, changes are automatic, if I fear change, how can there be growth?

An Open Mind

When someone corrects or gives any advice or suggestion, there is
usually some amount of resistance and we become unwilling to listen.
When I put in a lot of effort, I normally feel I have done the task to
the utmost perfection and so am not able to listen to any suggestions
from anyone. But this kind of attitude does not help to learn and
progress. I need to keep my mind constantly open to learning in order
to experience constant progress. When I have the attitude of learning I
am able to learn from everything that happens. And thus I will also be
able to bring improvement in each and every task that I do.

Factors That Shape Our Perception (cont.)

If someone believes that Indians are very generous, good-hearted people, and they have this ingrained in their subconscious, this thought will form part of their perception of India. Perhaps not only part of their perception: they may even identify fully with this belief. In other words, the thought becomes a belief and finally one identifies with the belief. The same holds true for any negative belief about anything or anyone.

There are four main criteria that may influence how our perception of reality is distorted or altered (changed). These are:

Mental Positioning
Mental position is the internal position from which we see situations, and may be positive or negative. For example, we are really excited about owning a new car, but after buying it we start worrying about where to park it, if it may be stolen or we might meet with an accident. Another example is that of the professional who has always dreamt of being promoted at work and, when he gets it, starts to fear losing it. According to our mental positioning we experience fear (a negative state of mind) or we feel confident (a positive one). A correct mental positioning broadens our conscience and improves our lives and relationships.

To live in the present in a relaxed way and planning the future with an open and optimistic view, we should be able to free ourselves from preconceived ideas and the influences that dominate our perceptions. To do this, the best mental position is that of being an impartial observer. In this way we can observe, recognize and transform (change) those thoughts, attitudes that cause us pain, anxiety and stress.

(To be continued tomorrow ...)

Soul Sustenance

Practical Ways of Changing Old Habits or Beliefs (Part 1) 

Motivation for Change 

An important factor to start positive change in our lives is for there to be a passion, a powerful force that leads us, a final goal that keeps us motivated. It is important to set yourself goals, to be convinced and to have the confidence and faith that one can reach them, since in this way we will make a daily effort to achieve those goals. There needs to be a clearly defined sense of purpose to your existence, clarifying the values that must guide your life in order to achieve these goals and establish the steps you must take for inculcating these values. If, at a subconscious level, you allow a mistaken purpose to be created, or there is a lack of true purpose in your life, then you will not be motivated to know and change yourself. Many people think that the purpose of their life is to survive and they use the language of survival in this way: "Life is hard out there. You must get whatever you can". They are not aware that they have chosen this purpose, but subconsciously it is what they believe they are here for, and this makes them think that they must accumulate, take, create barriers to protect themselves and compete with others. 

(To be continued tomorrow …..) 

Message for the day

Where there is humility there is the give and take of love. 

Expression: Usually we don't even know when we are working with our ego because it is deeply concealed. Even when someone points out our ego, we don't want to accept it and we continue to work with it. Ego finishes the ability to learn and negatively effects our relationships because there is no give and take of love. 

Experience: The method to overcome ego is to develop humility. Humility means to be strong within yet to be gentle and flexible. This enables us to bend i.e., to bow. When we bow it doesn't mean we are defeated, but reveals our own victory. It is only when we bend and forgive that we will be able to allow the flow of love in relationships. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: Meditation

Contemplation: Meditation

Meditation

Though the mind often asks for what is visible or material, its needs are deeper and cannot be met by anything superficial or short term. Meditation leads to a meeting point with all that is true and eternal.

Smile

When faced with problems it seems very difficult to maintain the inner
cheer and the mind is caught up with more and more negativity, either
fear or worry. Because of this, firstly, the problem looks bigger than
it is and secondly, there is an inability to find solutions and work
constructively to solve the problem. The first step I need to take when I recognise that there is a problem, is to smile to myself. When I make sure I am happy within knowing that every situation will pass away and it surely has something to teach me, I will find solutions quicker and easier.

The Practice Of Meditation - cont.

As explained yesterday, we regularly and quite easily slip into four main negative habits. So meditation is not only sitting in a quiet corner, and connecting with the self and the Supreme, at a couple of fixed times during the day, but it is also the way to gently remember and remind ourselves, many times in a day, that we as well as others, are souls or spiritual beings not physical beings, by detaching ourselves from actions and also while being involved in actions. These reminders given to the self over a period of time become natural and prevent us from succumbing to these four habits. Given below is a basic meditation, which you could use to remind yourself regularly during the day:

I have a body but this body is not me...
I have thoughts but these thoughts are not me ...
I have feelings but these feelings are not me ...
I have attitudes but these attitudes are not me ...
I have emotions but these emotions are not me ...
I have beliefs but these beliefs are not me ...
I perform many actions through my sense organs, but these sense organs are not me...
I play many roles but I am not my roles...
I experience joy or sorrow through my sense organs, but these experiences are not me ...
I am a soul - a being of energy, which is neither created nor can be destroyed, and my original and true nature is one of peace, love, joy and power...

Soul Sustenance

The Invisible Impressions That Shape Me 

While the mind and intellect are two faculties of the soul which play their role on the surface of our consciousness; at a deeper level, hidden beneath these two faculties, there lies a third faculty commonly called the sanskaras. The sanskaras is not only a store house of personality traits, as we commonly know it to be, but a store house of millions and millions of impressions or imprints. Such a large number of impressions are created by millions of experiences that I go through my sense organs not only in this life but in all my lifetimes. Everything that I hear, see, touch, taste, etc. I process or analyze or summarize in my own unique way; basically I give the experiences a unique form depending on my personality, before this form gets stored in the form of impressions inside me. I even process my subtle experiences, which are in the form of thoughts and feelings. 

This process of experiencing and processing takes place during each and every second of my life including the time I sleep, when my mind may not be experiencing a lot but it is busy processing the physical and subtle experiences of the day that has gone by and storing the processed information in the form of impressions. From this, one can get an idea of the magnitude of the database of impressions stored within me, the being. These imprints which are unique to me, make up my sanskaras, and shape up my unique personality in a cyclic process. My personality shapes what type of impressions are created out of my experiences and the impressions in turn shape my personality, my thoughts, words and actions e.g. if I constantly keep the company of people who gossip, a large number of respective impressions based on the experience of gossiping keep getting stored inside me, which in turn influence my personality, the personality characteristic gets stronger and over a period of time I do not find anything wrong with it and indulge in it more and more. As a result more such impressions get stored. Thus it is a cyclic process. 

Message for the day

The one with true mercy fills hope even in the ones who are hopeless. 

Expression: When we see someone who is in need or who is totally negative, a case that is totally hopeless, there are a lot of feelings aroused within us. What we feel is pity or hatred, which are only negative feelings. Such negative thoughts don't help in anyway and the person remains as he is, unable to take any benefit from us. 

Experience: Instead of having pity or hatred we need to develop true mercy for others. To have mercy means to have good wishes with love - combined with hope for them. It is our hope that enables them to develop faith in themselves too. This is the method to bring progress even in the most hopeless case. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation:Live Fully

Contemplation:Live Fully

 

Artist-Josephine Wall

Live Fully

They say 'only fools live to the full'. Because only fools go where most of us fear to go, only fools do what many of us spend our lives avoiding. You don't have to climb Mount Everest, or cross the world in a hot air balloon to live to the full. Simply enter each day with a commitment not to avoid anything or anybody who comes your way. Then your Everests will come to you, in the form of difficult people and challenging situations, and the only thing you will need to conquer is our own fear and evasions. And when you do conquer, you will know that you have lived fully, for there is nothing more exhilarating than overcoming our own obstacles which, if the truth were known, are always only in our own minds. When you turn to face these inner obstacles and challenges some people call this real courage and you certainly are no fool. 

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Check & Change

Most of the times we do manage to win over our weaknesses and achieve
progress but sometimes we find that we are defeated at the wrong moment
by our own weaknesses and thus experience failure. So instead of
experiencing progress it is sometimes the case that we find ourselves
moving back. In order to bring benefit to others and to ourselves, we
should recognise and remove even the last trace of weakness that is
working within ourselves. For that we need to have a constant checking
about the real cause of the weakness and remove it. Such checking and
changing helps me to overcome my weaknesses.

The Practice Of Meditation

As with anything else, the more we practice meditation, the more we feel the benefit of what we are doing. We do need to practice meditation regularly because the habits of:

i. identifying with our physical form,

ii. succumbing to mental and emotional negativity (in the form of waste and negative thoughts) along with negativity in words and actions,

iii. becoming attached to the physical as well as the non-physical, and

iv. being dependent upon the experience of physical stimulation of any sort (from e.g. food, movies, people, sports etc.) for happiness are extremely deep.

These habits have deepened over a period of many many births, because of repeating them regularly, due to a lack of spiritual awareness. As a result, in the present moment also we regularly and quite easily slip into these four habits.

(To be continued tomorrow...)

Soul Sustenance

Spiritual Education 

Spiritual education leads us back to the understanding and the experience of our holistic existence as human beings, to the knowledge that we are spiritual, as well as physical, mental and emotional beings. 

A true spiritual education could be described as: 
• learning from others
• growing through others
• integrating with others
• contributing to others
When we are genuinely learning, only then can we experience spiritual growth. When we grow, we integrate with others and it is in that integration that there is a natural and mutual contribution to nature and other souls. These four processes of education are constantly at work, but only happen in a way that is enjoyable and meaningful when the spiritual resources of the self like peace, joy and love are activated and creatively used. 

These resources, along with the mind and intellect, enrich the way we see the world, the way we interact with it and the way we individually create our place in it. These resources are the original qualities of the self, which we have not properly used for a long time. By become spiritually aware, we start to harness and use these positive energies. 

Message for the day

True fortune comes to the one who recognises and uses his treasures with an honest heart. 

Expression: Sometimes we might be faced with certain situations where we find that we are not very fortunate. We find ourselves thinking about all those things that we need to have in order for us to be able to bring a positive outcome. Because of this kind of thinking, we tend to miss out on perceiving those treasures that we can make use of. 

Experience: There are a lot of treasures within us that we can use in our practical life. These treasures could be our talents, skills, or some specialities of ours. Under all circumstances we need to have an awareness of these treasures. When we are aware of them we will begin to use them in our daily life instead of just expecting things to happen right. This is what will create a good fortune for us. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: Be Tolerant

Contemplation: Be Tolerant

Artist Shiloh Sophia

Be Tolerant

You have the power to tolerate anyone and any situation. But tolerance is not just suffering in silence. It means going beyond any personal discomfort you may feel, and giving a gift to whomever you would tolerate. Give your time, attention, understanding, compassion, care - all are gifts, which paradoxically, you also receive in the process of giving. And, as you do, you will experience your own self esteem and inner strength grow. In this way you can turn tolerance into strength. 

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Change Desires

Although our understanding of right and wrong is really good, we are
not usually able to be or feel successful. This is because there is a
mismatch between what we know and what we want. So there is an
inability to bring that knowledge into action. A conscious effort needs
to be put in from my side to compare and see which is better for me -
what I know is right or what I feel I want. When I compare in this way,
I will be able to change my desires in keeping with the right thing.
When these two match, I will be able to bring it into action too. So I
experience constant success.

Factors That Shape Our Perception

The factors that contribute to creating our perception (way of looking at the self, situations, people, etc.) are our memories, experiences, beliefs, values, people, places, situations and time. Out of all these factors there are two which are chiefly responsible for creating our perception: our beliefs and our experiences.

The first thing you should do is have a clearer perception of yourself. You should develop the perception of who you really are and what your true identity is. This does not refer to the image you see every day in the mirror. Your external appearance or physical beauty, your age, your gender, your occupation, your status in society should not be the basis for your self-perception. You may live with others or alone, have a family, run a business or have a job, which you undertake with responsibility. What is your conscience, however, while you are doing these tasks? This will lead you to a clear perception of yourself.

We have been brought up and conditioned to have a perception of everything that is external: perception of other people at the workplace or in the family, of other countries, of movies, of the country's cricket team, of what our neighbors are doing, of the government and so on. However, the last thing we have a perception of is ourselves. We thus lose the internal link with our own happiness and our own peace. When we re-establish the perception of our true identity (the correct way of looking at ourselves) based on spiritual knowledge, we are capable of recognizing all the false beliefs about ourselves that have taken root in our inner selves. When we discover these beliefs we are capable of recognizing those sanskars of ourselves we need to change.

In the next few messages, we shall be discussing a few factors that shape our perception.

Soul Sustenance

The Thought-Destiny Cycle 

The process by which we create our own destiny is quite easy to see in theory; however it requires some checking to see how it matches the reality of our practical lives. Here is the process in brief: 

• As our intentions, so will be our thoughts. 
• As our thoughts, so will be our feelings. 
• As our feelings, so will be our attitudes. 
• As our attitudes, so will be our actions. 
• As our actions, so will be our habits. 
• As our habits, so will be our personality. 

As our personality in all our relationships on our journey through life, so will be our destiny. So watch your thoughts! Be aware of your intentions! 

Our intentions are based on our beliefs about who we are, where we are and why we are here. If we believe we are the physical form, our belief will we be that we need to survive as long as possible. This leads to the intention to get what we think we need before others, which leads to competition, which leads to feelings of fear. Our destiny gets shaped accordingly. When you know you are the non-physical and immortal (which is neither created nor can be destroyed) energy, a soul, then survival is no longer an issue and your intention is one to include, connect and co-operate with and enlighten others. The service of others at a spiritual level becomes the highest intention in action. It is fully free from fear and can be seen as an act of love. This is why competition and authentic spirituality can never be found together. 

Message for the day

The one who is detached is the one who is happy. 

Expression: When difficult situations come our way we tend to overreact because of our attachment and expectations. Because of this we experience much more unhappiness than what the situation actually holds. The understanding lacks that it is not the situation, but our own thoughts that are giving us sorrow. 

Experience: We need to look at the situation just as we would watch it happen to someone else - with detachment. When we learn to detach ourselves from the situation in this way and see what it holds for us, we will not experience unhappiness but will be able to remain happy under all circumstances. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: Be Gentle

Contemplation:  Be Gentle

Be Gentle

Non-violence is a very deep philosophy. Not only does it require me to harm no one physically, but also to avoid harming anyone's self-respect. Such an ethic requires tremendous awareness and sensitivity. When I have learned to be gentle with myself, I can be the same with others.

State of Calm

Whenever there is a challenge, which demands my accurate judgment, I
tend to become panicky. A lot of waste thoughts come up in my mind.
Whatever decisions I take with such a state of mind tend to go wrong. I
need to take my mind to a state of calm before I can take any decision
in challenging situations. For this too I need a practice of a long
time to keep my mind calm - even when the situation demands that my
activities increase their speed. Such training over a long period of
time enables the mind to be calm even in challenging situations.

Understanding The Identity Of The Supreme Being

It's not too difficult to understand that out of all the billions of souls, there is One who could be designated as the Supreme (God), because of His perfect love, total truth and absolute beauty. It is reasonable to accept that such an unlimited being is never born from a mother's womb nor undergoes the experience of death. He never passes through the stages of growing up nor gets involved in specific relationships with individuals. Just as every human soul has a mind, intellect and a specific set of 'sanskars' that determine each one's individuality, the Supreme would also be made up of these three energies - each functioning at their most perfect levels. Because He remains beyond the play of things in the physical world, the power and sharpness of these basic capabilities never decrease. His original qualities are neither lost nor reduced. Before coming here from the soul world, we also had qualities similar to those of the Supreme but not to the same unlimited extent.

If we identify ourselves totally with the physical body, the idea that God created human beings in His image may have led us to believe that the human form is God's image. Perhaps that is how we created the figure of an old white-bearded man (as God) sitting up in the heavens, controlling, rewarding and punishing humans as well as nature as He found fit. The contradiction is that such a God appears to have been created in our image, with both our best virtues and our worst defects.

Soul Sustenance

The Original Ingredients Of The Soul 

Our original resources are very simply - peace, love, purity, knowledge and happiness. In Raja Yoga meditation these are called the five original qualities of the soul. When we return our consciousness to these five qualities and remember them, then the following feelings arise in us, which finally get reflected in our actions: 

• Love: I care and I share. 
• Peace: I harmonize and reconcile (adjust). 
• Purity: I respect and I honour. 
• Knowledge: I am and I exist. 
• Happiness: I express and I enjoy. 

To understand and remember these qualities, we need to recognize the heavy deep shadows or personality traits (sanskars) which have blotted them out, or polluted them. Sometimes we don't recognize the pollutants because they have ingrained themselves so deeply into the personality that we say ‘I am this’. True, complete spiritual knowledge, makes us aware of these pollutants and the practice of meditation empowers us to dilute them and get them out of our consciousness. 

Message for the day

True love is felt by all who receive it. 

Expression: Sometimes we do find ourselves in situations where others are not responding to the love we are giving. We are trying to be understanding and accepting as much as possible but others don't seem to be recognising it. In such a situation we begin to blame others and their lack of feelings and concern. 

Experience: Instead of blaming others when our love and concern is not being reciprocated, we need to check the quality of the love that we give. If there is even a trace of selfishness or if it is mixed with expectations, our love will not be able to reach out and touch the hearts of others. So we need to make sure that our love is pure and unselfish. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: Greatness

Contemplation: Greatness

Greatness

To be free from desire for prestige and regard is a sign of true greatness.

Appreciation

When there is regard for each and everyone, others' specialties are
easily visible. There is appreciation o f each one's specialties.
This appreciation creates a good feeling in the other person. And with
every interaction the other person continues to bring transformation. I
am able to see the positivity even when their negativity is being
expressed. This naturally brings transformation in others and of course
I find my intellect too changing to the positive, because of a long
time of practice of seeing positivity.

Restoring The Mind-Body Balance

Many people are under the impression that the focus of spirituality is only on the mind and the soul, and the physical body is neglected. But that's not true. Our physical body is essential to our life and the art of living. It is our vehicle and our home. An appropriate balance of diet, sleep, relaxation and exercise is important for the body. However, when we enter the world of spirituality, the main emphasis is on the mind and the soul. This does not mean that we do not value or take care of our body. Without a healthy body, we would not be able to express ourselves mentally or spiritually. Spiritual progress, which includes the listening/studying and imbibing of spiritual knowledge, the practice of meditation, the inculcation of divine virtues and the spiritual service of others through different means is much easier and better with a healthy body.

Unfortunately, though, we have lost the art or wisdom of balance and for very long we have placed too much emphasis on our physical form, the body; and less emphasis on our spiritual form, the soul, as a result, reducing our spiritual awareness. One of the aims of spirituality is to restore this balance between mind and body so that we can experience well-being and happiness at every level. So while our body and our physical energy are essential, the focus of spirituality is on the mind and the soul, to help regain the balance.

Soul Sustenance

The Subtle Role Play Of Thoughts And Images (Part 2) 

What the quality of a soul’s thoughts and images (or scenes) that it creates, depends on the soul’s sanskaras. Depending on the quality, the soul experiences the various different emotions, whether positive or negative. When the soul first incarnates on the physical world stage from the soul world, the quality of this role play of thoughts and images is high, pure and positive, hence it experiences only positive emotions. As it plays its different roles and comes down in the birth-rebirth cycle, this quality reduces, leading to the experience of emotions like sorrow, peacelessness, etc. 

A point worth noting is that the key to any deep emotional experience, whether positive or negative is the creation of thoughts as well as images related to that particular emotion at the same time e.g. think and visualize at the same time, the death of a close relative that took place ten years ago and you immediately have a deep experience of sorrow. Think and visualize together, a loving hug of your mother that took place in your childhood, and you immediately experience deep happiness. This type of co-ordination between these two subtle processes is true concentration. The key to any type of spiritual upliftment is the upliftment of these two processes. The meditation that is taught at the Brahma Kumaris is nothing but a spiritual thought process accompanied by a spiritual visualization process, whereby thoughts and images of the subtle, spiritual self (or soul) and the Supreme Being (or Supreme Soul) are created together to experience the original qualities of the spiritual self and the eternal qualities of the Supreme Being – purity, peace, love, happiness and power. 

Message for the day

Success comes to the one who understands the importance of time. 

Expression: When we are working at a task, success doesn't come as much as it should because we have not been able to recognise the importance of time. Because of this sometimes carelessness sets in which makes us lose valuable time and interferes in what we are doing. Then we cannot give our best to the task. 

Experience: We need to recognise the importance of time so that we never postpone what we can do now. We will then always have the slogan 'now or never' in our mind. Knowing that what we can do now, we cannot do it as well in the future, we'll give our best to all we do right now. This will enable us to use our time in a fruitful way and success will come very easily to us. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: Clear Vision

Contemplation:  Clear Vision

Clear Vision

If you miss an opportunity, do not cloud your eyes with tears; keep your vision clear so that you will not miss the next one.

Flexibility

When I plan perfectly for the day ahead, I sometimes find that I am not
able to implement all that I had planned for. Things seem to be coming
up unexpectedly spoiling everything for me. I am then not able to be
happy with what is happening and so find it difficult to do my best or
what is required for me to do. It is as important to be flexible in my
thoughts as it is to be particular about my daily schedule. Flexibility
allows me to accommodate the unforeseen situations that come up my way
and enables me to make the best use of everything. And so I enjoy
everything that comes my way.

Awakening Your Intuition (cont.)

Meditation purifies and sharpens our intellect which makes it broader and far-sighted and also makes it free from waste and negativity; very clean and clear, like a mirror. As a result the intellect is able to subconsciously look into the hidden aspects of any situation, sense the underlying thoughts, emotions and feelings of people involved without any of them being visible, also look into the future without it having evolved as yet and sense the right solution. Nothing can remain hidden from a mirror. Even though a mirror is not consciously aware, somehow or the other it will decide correctly. This is only the intuitive capability, the capability of becoming a 'situation doctor', hearing the mental pulse of the situation and coming up with the right cure for it, which is awakened by meditation immensely. If the intellect contains negativity or waste and is not clear, sometimes one or more than one of the many influences which we had mentioned in yesterday's message might be perceived to be the intuition and then we might fail in a particular situation. Its important to note that the intuition, if heard correctly, which is only the case when the intellect is clean, can never be wrong and will always take you in the right direction.

In the above context, for the completely analytical minded, it's significant to understand that the intuitive perception was favoured more by old spiritual traditions and the intellectual perception, is being favoured more by modern science and medicine. Relying only on the intellectual perception is not wise. It alone cannot give us a complete idea of reality. A balance needs to be created between the two different types of perception. People with a balance will be more successful in life and victorious in difficult situations.

Soul Sustenance

The Subtle Role Play Of Thoughts And Images (Part 1) 

The human soul is a subtle (non-physical) stage on which a subtle role play of thoughts and images constantly takes place throughout the day and even while sleeping. We have explained in our older messages how thoughts are of 4 main different types - positive which are based on virtues, necessary related to day-to-day activities, waste which are mainly unnecessary and related to the past and future and negative which are related to vices and other weaknesses. In the same way, we also constantly create images or scenes, which are of the same 4 types, which is why we commonly use the term ‘the eye of the mind’. The mind not only thinks or speaks subtly but visualizes or sees subtly too, almost all the time. 

These two processes function, sometimes independent of each other as well as sometimes dependent on each other i.e. influencing each other e.g. think of peace and that leads to visualizations related to the same. Visualize an unpleasant scene of anger and hatred, and your thoughts are led in that direction. Sometimes these two processes function at the same time and sometimes one at a time. Sometimes neither functions at all, which happens much more frequently while sleeping as compared to when we are awake. This subtle, physically invisible role play is the foundation of the physical role play of words and actions that is visible to the self and everyone else around you. 

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Message for the day

The one who is powerful shows the practical proof of success instead of just talking about it. 

Expression: It is usually very easy for us to talk about how to do things best, it is as much easy to tell others and give directions. But the one who is powerful is not just satisfied with mere words or proving to others about his success. He is more concerned more about being successful. 

Experience: We need to check if we are applying in our life what we are talking about. We need to see to it that whatever we speak about, we must put into practice. Only then will we find improvement and progress in our life. Then there will be no more the need to talk about our success but our life will reveal how successful we are. We will then be an inspiration to many. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/