Contemplation: September 14, 2018: True Peace

Contemplation: September 14, 2018: True Peace

True Peace

True peace can be experienced only when we stop giving and taking sorrow. In order not to give sorrow we need a clear heart that has no ill feelings and for not taking sorrow we need a big heart that can tolerate and help other souls to get over their weaknesses.

Vision

Sometimes we find ourselves reacting to even small situations. Our
feelings are also dependent on the different situations we face. We do
try to change our feelings of negativity, if they do arise. But
sometimes we are not able to, either because of our personality as a
whole or the personality trait that we are working with at that time.
If we have to change our reactions to the different situations that we
are faced with, we need to change our vision, i.e we need to change the
way we see things. We need to understand the situation as it is and not
let it be coloured by our own personality traits. When we see things as
they are, we are able to act in situations instead of reacting.

Taking Charge Of  Your Responses In Close Relationships

In relationships with your loved ones, when looking at the other, sometimes positive emotions are generated and sometimes negative. On the one hand, joy, love and happiness is generated on being with them; but then attachment, dependency and expectations are generated. In such situations, you are more focused on others and are always looking at the other person's behavior, you stop seeing yourself and being aware of your reactions and taking the responsibility for the responses that you create. You get frustrated when the other person does not meet your expectations. As you depend on them, if they don't act as you would like, if they don't reach home or call you at the time you would like; all this frustrates you. You radiate this energy to the other: "they are not doing what they should be doing," and so you feel frustrated and discontented.

All the while that you hold the other one responsible for your frustration, you are not in charge of your own reactions, because you have given power to the other to dominate your emotional world. It is there that you lose your freedom. You lose your freedom because you give to the other, in the name of love, power over your own moods. You allow the other's energy to enter your inner world and cause inside you frustration, bad moods, irritation, sorrow and a mental and emotional dependence where you are constantly thinking about where they are, what they have to do, what they have to say, where they have to go, and all this consumes a lot of your mental energy. Wanting to control the other and the frustration that it brings with it uses up a lot of emotional energy.

Soul Sustenance

Open Spaces of Silence

One of the aims of meditation is not to stop your thoughts but to slow them down so that you may find and enter the silence between and behind your thinking. This is a little challenging at first but the more you practice the easier it becomes.

Think of your thoughts as trains, just as in the common saying we sometimes use the phrase, 'train of thoughts'. Each thought is a carriage of the train and in between the thoughts/carriages is a small gap, a space. The train can arrive at different speeds. Our aim is to slow the train down and become aware of the space between the carriages, in other words between our thoughts. You may even be able to increase that space so that there is the experience of no thought. In this moment you reconnect with the silence (and experience it) that exists always between and behind your thoughts. Don't try to hold it, or you will lose it.

Message for the day

The one who has faith is always victorious

Projection: The one who has faith, has total faith in the self and in the progress of the self. The one who has faith is always successful because he gives his best in everything he does. He is never deterred by obstacles but progresses constantly.

Solution: When I have complete faith, I am able to experience lightness even when I am faced with my weaknesses, because I have the faith that I am progressing. I am able to learn and improve from everything that happens.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: September 13, 2018: Hourglass of Patience

Contemplation: September 13, 2018: Hourglass of Patience

Hourglass of Patience

Learn to be patient, like an hourglass. 

Until every grain of sand has trickled from the upper chamber into the lower chamber, we must be patient.

Live fully in the present as you contemplate each grain passing through the narrow neck and into its place below; second by second; moment by moment.

Each task, each project, each lesson, each process
is subject to 'right timing'. Nothing can hurry to interfere with 'right timing'

True Simplicity

Simplicity is mistaken as ordinariness. It is sometimes associated with
lack of colour and variety. So we are not usually so simple in our
words and actions. We tend to try and add on as much colour as we can
in order for them to be attractive or impressive. In the process we
take ourselves away from our original nature. To be simple is to be
like a seed, which is full yet, simple. True simplicity is to discover
and use the qualities that are within. It is to be closer to our true
nature and the true being. Once we allow these qualities to flow out,
others too are able to take inspiration from us. We become an example
for others with our own simplicity.

The Psychosomatic Effects (Effects On The Body) Of Fear

The human being is psychosomatic by nature - what that means is that our health is deeply influenced by our behavior, thoughts, emotions and social relationships. Therefore, in order to experience good health, we should care for our life style, our mental, sentimental, emotional and relational world, as well as our communication. Fear is bad for our health. It manifests itself in the form of anger and promotes coronary diseases. Fear suppressed for a long time ends up producing diseases such as cancer. Apart from cancer and heart attacks, there are other illnesses brought on by fear: addictions, anxiety, arthritis, asthma, irritability, nervous breakdowns, memory loss, gastritis, back pains, baldness, diarrhea, sciatica, crying attacks, alcoholism, constipation, hypertension, cystitis (bladder inflammation), vomiting, palpitations, digestive disorders, ulcers and migraines.

When we get old, our neurons do not die, but rather the connections between them disappear, that is what recent scientific research suggests. The neuronal connections or synapses keep us lively and young. When we have pleasant experiences, such as during meditation or when we are on a holiday or are surrounded by friends or while working in a team, some examples of activities in which we feel happy, the neuronal connections are more fluid. However, the lights go out when we feel fear. It is an emotion that is capable of slowing down and blocking the electrical impulses between the neurons. With fear we are less creative and we get older more quickly. If we do not want to suffer illnesses (or want our illnesses to get worse) we should learn to manage and overcome fear.

Soul Sustenance

Temporary And Permanent Sources Of Peace

It’s a common notion (idea) to think of peace as being closely related to the beauty of nature - the play of waves on a beach, the blowing of wind through a forest, the soaring and swooping of gulls; in short, anything away from the rush and hurry of the city. Alternatively we associate peace with some physical form of relaxation like headphones plugged into soothing music, a hot bath after a hard day, a brisk walk in the park, etc. In meditation we realize peace to be our very essence (nature); we realize very quickly, trying to extract peace from the world around us or even from some physical sensations in our own bodies gives us only a temporary experience of it.

Once we start meditating, we start to see physical relaxation as an escape from tension and not a solution for it; and the beautiful scenes of nature now no longer as sources radiating permanent peace. But in fact it is their mere absence of conflict, their harmony of colours, forms and sounds which appeal to us. There is something in each of us which cries out to be free from conflict. We discover that "small voice" or need is only our true nature demanding to be recognized. We realize that neither the body nor nature can give the peace that the soul was longing for, but it has to be tapped from within. Having found it, it remains constant, whether in the city or countryside, in comfort or discomfort. In the midst of noise and confusion, peace is really our own.

Message for the day

To be free from the influence of the past is to have the ability to fly forward.

Projection: There are so many things of the past that keep coming up in the mind again and again. Insead of being like birds holding on to the branches of the past; the one who looks at the clear sky gets the inspiration to move forward. To look at the clear sky means to look at the present moment and make the best use of it.

Solution: The ability to free myself from the negative influences of the past, enables me to have a vision of equality. I will then not be judging others on what my past experiences with them are. I also find myself experiencing the benefit of each and every moment. So I experience constant progress. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: September 12, 2018: Face Up To Your Weaknesses

Contemplation: September 12, 2018: Face Up To Your Weaknesses

The Wagah border closing 'lowering of the flags' ceremony or The Beating Retreat ceremony is a daily military practice that the security forces of India (Border Security Force) and Pakistan (Pakistan Rangers) have jointly followed ... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATKc65y70hQ

Face Up To Your Weaknesses

For every weakness, every shortcoming in you,
you have an opposing strength. Never run from your weaknesses. Be a warrior and face them with strength.

Mold like Gold

We find ourselves getting very easily influenced with the negativity
outside. Every incident and interaction has an impact on us, specially
the negative ones. To get influenced is to take in lot of impurity
from outside. This is like mixing alloy in gold and when we are
coloured with the negativity within, we are not able to get molded
easily. We need to keep ourselves free from the negativity that comes
from situations and people. For this we need to develop our own inner
positivity. It is like building a strong defense system from inside to
protect a fort from being attacked. When we are able to maintain our
own inner purity and positivity, we find ourselves becoming moldable.

Switching On The Consciousness Of The Soul To Experience Peace

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

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

Soul Sustenance

Temporary And Permanent Sources Of Peace

It’s a common notion (idea) to think of peace as being closely related to the beauty of nature - the play of waves on a beach, the blowing of wind through a forest, the soaring and swooping of gulls; in short, anything away from the rush and hurry of the city. Alternatively we associate peace with some physical form of relaxation like headphones plugged into soothing music, a hot bath after a hard day, a brisk walk in the park, etc. In meditation we realize peace to be our very essence (nature); we realize very quickly, trying to extract peace from the world around us or even from some physical sensations in our own bodies gives us only a temporary experience of it.

Once we start meditating, we start to see physical relaxation as an escape from tension and not a solution for it; and the beautiful scenes of nature now no longer as sources radiating permanent peace. But in fact it is their mere absence of conflict, their harmony of colours, forms and sounds which appeal to us. There is something in each of us which cries out to be free from conflict. We discover that "small voice" or need is only our true nature demanding to be recognized. We realize that neither the body nor nature can give the peace that the soul was longing for, but it has to be tapped from within. Having found it, it remains constant, whether in the city or countryside, in comfort or discomfort. In the midst of noise and confusion, peace is really our own. 

Message for the day

Creating quality thoughts brings happiness and lightness.

Projection: When there is quality thinking, thoughts are not many, but each thought is special. Quality thoughts are reflected in quality words and quality actions. They reduce tiredness and carelessness as thoughts are fewer in quantity.

Solution: When I have good quality thoughts, I experience sweetness, happiness and self-respect. I am able to recognise my own greatness and move forward with lightness under all circumstances. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: September 11, 2018: Pause, Think, Act

Contemplation: September 11, 2018: Pause, Think, Act

215 Foot Tower in Elektrostal, Moscow

Pause, Think, Act

For all the times you've found yourself in a sticky situation because you didn't think before you acted.... here's the antidote: PAUSE, THINK and then ACT. Insert a pause - a space. Then think. Look Before You Leap.
Be aware of the consequences of your action and then act.

Make the Most of the Present

We usually blame our fortune when something goes wrong. We either feel
it to be unjust or we tend to curse our past actions, which have
brought us this fate. To curse past actions is to lose the present
moment too. Instead of cursing our past actions, we need to make the
most of the present. Whatever we do today, we get the fruit of it right
now and for the future too. So we need to pay attention to do the right
actions always and create the best fortune for ourselves.

Are You Directing Your Inner Orchestra Well (cont.)?

You can direct your orchestra well, which means that you can:

* Achieve what you want.
* Reach where you want.
* Be who you are.
* Stop being who you are not.
* Feel what you want to feel.
* Stop feeling what you do not want to feel.
* Be. You can be in your space.
* Do. You can do what gives meaning to your life.
* You can stop doing what lowers you, is ordinary and you do not want to do.
* You can reach excellence by crossing inner mental barriers.
* Let go of that which you have clung on to.
* Free yourself and fly.

If you believe that you can, you can. You have to harmonize your inner voices. Listen to those that allow you power, strengthen you and accompany you. Silence the voices that suppress you, judge you badly and limit you.

Soul Sustenance

Observing My Mind and Its Creation

Let us experience creating positive thoughts about ourselves and see how long we can maintain them. We must learn to become our own best friend. A positive thought is imagining oneself as a being of peace. Peace is considered as the power and original quality of human beings.

In order to be able to concentrate, let's imagine a point of light, a small star like point of energy in the centre of the forehead... Let's focus our attention on this point and begin to create these thoughts: Who am I? Who am I really?

I turn towards my inner self in order to know myself... I am going to observe the screen of my mind for a few moments...

I become aware of the thoughts and images I see on the screen of my mind, but I do not let myself be influenced by them... I simply observe them, and I am gradually going to let them flow... I let go of them, I let them drift away...

I create a space between me and my thoughts, between me and my stream of feelings... I feel at peace and calm, I can choose what I think... The feeling of being able to choose makes me feel stronger...

I am strong, peaceful and calm... I am positive energy... I am a peaceful, calm being: peace is harmony and balance... 

Message for the day

True love brings success in relationships.

Projection: The one who is loving, likes to be with the others. Such a person will never try to be away even from people who are not loving towards him, but will be able to change the one who is not so loving with his own love. So the one who is loving is always successful in relationships.

Solution: Since I am a loving person, I am able to maintain this love for every person I come into contact with. Whether the other person is able to be loving or not, I find that I never lose my love because of being aware of my true nature.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: September 10, 2018: Get Past Your Past

Contemplation: September 10, 2018: Get Past Your Past

Artist Shiloh Sophia

Get Past Your Past

Let the past be the past - both my past and the past of others.
There's no need to keep repeating the past in my head.
Think: Whatever happened, happened, it's OK for me to move on. Let me be supportive and make it easy, not difficult - for myself and others.
When I stay in the present, everything is pleasant.

Helping Others

We usually want to do a lot to help others or serve them in some way or

the other, but sometimes we find that we don't find the right
opportunity. At other times even we do find such opportunities we
don't real find that they are according to our desire. We need to
keep the thought in our mind constantly to be of help to others. Then
we will not just wait for bigger situations or things to provide help
to others. Instead we will be able to extend our help to others in
little ways. Even such help provided in little ways will get us the
opportunity to serve in bigger ways.

Are You Directing Your Inner Orchestra Well?

Our inner orchestra is made up of different music instruments - the different instruments are: our memories, desires, tendencies, mind, beliefs, emotions, feelings, fears, intuition, judgements, creativity, our imagination...

When you direct your inner orchestra well, you can remain unaffected by external influences without succumbing to them. When the orchestra directs you, you dance from one side to another without a clear direction and with a music that is not very harmonious or sweet; it is noisy and you suffer. Who is the director of this orchestra? You. Who are you? You - the consciousness, you - the soul, you - the being. When your consciousness is in charge, you make the orchestra play according to the inner voice of your being, according to your purest intentions and values. You can. You simply have to be awake, alert and attentive. If the director of the orchestra closes his eyes for a few moments and covers up his ears, what happens to the orchestra? You have to keep the eyes of your inner spiritual vision open; what is called the third eye. And listen with your heart, not with your physical heart but with the heart of your being. If your orchestra rules over you, and you - the director - are stiff, without flexibility, asleep, un-sympathetic, you will not be able to achieve your dreams or arrive at the destiny that you would like to reach. And, to make things worse, when your orchestra dominates you, you are more vulnerable to being dominated by the orchestra of others. Or you will allow someone else to direct your inner orchestra. This is the ideal road on which to get trapped and suffer. Is this what you want?

(To be continued tomorrow ...)

Soul Sustenance

Taking Responsibility, Overcoming Guilt (cont.)

There is a difference between when we have established our own code of values or beliefs in life, and when we feel obliged (forced) to obey an imposed code of beliefs. It is important for us to accept on an inner level the code by which we think we should be guided and act. When we act out of obligation (compulsion), by following a code of beliefs or behaviors that we feel have been imposed but aren't accepted as our own, we should ask ourselves why we act out of obligation (compulsion), basing ourselves on a code we have not accepted. Are we perhaps afraid that, if we don't do it, we will feel guilty?

When we violate the codes of belonging to a group, family, social class or community, generally we feel guilty. If this guilt leads us to question ourselves about what is right for our conscience, we progress in our personal growth and improve our clarity. It is necessary to respect ourselves, being clear about what the beliefs are on which we base our life, think, feel and evaluate. This will help us to avoid the gap between what we should and what we want to do. Until the should and the want are joined, we leave an open space for guilt.

When we act according to how we feel we should, we will feel guilt for not doing what we want. While we act according to what we want, we will feel guilt for not doing what we should.
When guilt warns us that there is something to check and correct within us and we are willing to see it, have a dialogue with the self and clarify, we are on the right path. Sometimes guilt acts as an excuse for us to apologize without really taking on the responsibility for what happened; we pass on the responsibility to the established norms, norms that in this case we haven't accepted as our own. In any case, the solution to guilt is to take on self-responsibility.



Message for the day

The one who checks himself constantly is the one who experiences progress.

Projection: The one who keeps checking himself is also able to bring about a change in himself. Such a person takes each situation as a chance to learn something new and bring about some change for the better. So there is constant improvement in his life.

Solution: When something goes wrong, if I learn to check myself and bring about a change immediately, I will be able to experience constant progress. No situation will make me have negative feelings or make me stop, but I will be able to enjoy everything that comes my way.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: September 09, 2018: Quality Spotting

Contemplation: September 09, 2018: Quality Spotting

Quality Spotting

A compassionate person develops an eye for spotting the qualities that make each person special. Even when others are at their lowest ebb, it is possible to help them restore their self-belief by keeping a firm, clear vision of their goodness and specialties. Taking a gently encouraging approach, I must never give up on anyone.

A Free Bird

When everything is going on well there is enthusiasm and interest to
move forward. But when even a little thing goes wrong, we lose all
enthusiasm to do anything else. This creates bondage and there is
difficulty or inability to put in effort to move forward. I need to
remind myself that to be enthusiastic in all situations is to be like a
free bird reaching great heights. That means no situation makes me
like a caged bird, which has all the opportunities but does not know or
does not believe in using them. When I am able to experience this inner
freedom at good times and appreciate this joy constantly, I am able to
sustain this even when things go wrong.

Meditation Commentary For Good Health

Given below is a simple meditation commentary which can be used to heal the physical body. Think slowly and visualize side by side each positive thought given below before moving on:

I sit quietly and turn inwards........
I visualize a pinpoint of light, a sparkling star, the source of pure energy that I am........
located in the center of my forehead........
In this awareness, white rays of the divine light of purity from me extend into my entire physical body in the form of a laser beam........
These vibrations of purity soothe, heal and energize my physical system........
The impurities, toxins and illnesses in the body are being washed away and thrown out from the extremities (corners) of the body........
The body starts experiencing its original inner beauty........
It returns to a state of harmony (peace), to a state of good health......

Soul Sustenance

Taking Responsibility, Overcoming Guilt (cont.)

If there are people or situations that lead you to fall over the same stone i.e. they lead you to make the same mistake, which was committed earlier, again, perhaps you will have to avoid them for a few days or a time, until you have strengthened yourself and have the inner security that they will not influence you. This is not running away; it is wise knowing your weaknesses and knowing that to get into similar situations with the same people is only to repeat the same errors and to worsen your wellbeing and that of the other. Trust in yourself. You can overcome these mistakes and stop making them. It is a question of loving yourself and living. Out of love, you stop hurting yourself and hurting the other.

Crying over past mistakes, you don't mend anything. Open yourself to forgiveness. Raise the level of your thoughts so that they don't keep you in a state of sadness and loss of hope. Don't allow your inner judge to sentence (punish) you each time that you act, since that way you won't feel free. Your judge that you carry within makes your life bitter; however, it is you that gives this judge the capacity to exist. If the inner judge is in harmony with our conscience, it is good, because it wants to protect us. On creating guilt it warns us that we have broken a rule of our code of beliefs, values or behaviors. It alerts us to the fact that we are acting against something important of ourselves. At those moments it helps us to observe and question what is real, true, important and even sacred in our life and for us.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Message for the day

To stamp every thought with the stamp of determination is to be victorious.

Projection: When there is determination in thoughts, there is naturally the ability to give the best in spite of all the obstacles. Situations will not deter such a person from achieving what he set out to. And so there is naturally constant victory for the one who is always determined.

Solution: When there is determination in my thoughts, I am never afraid, whatever happens. In fact obstacles only serve to strengthen determination. I never give up what I have started. It is determination that enables me to add power to my thoughts and make them practical.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: September 08, 2018: Within Me

Contemplation: September 08, 2018: Within Me

Within Me

Even in today's world, beauty and truth can still be found and the first place to start looking is within my own self.

Palace of Silence

One who lives in a palace of silence and peace has the power to send
positive vibrations outside, yet prevent the negative vibrations from
outside from reaching inside. If you move yourself into your personal
'Palace of Silence' and create beautiful feelings in your palace, these
will become lovely vibrations which spread outwards. Sound travels
like an echo and comes back. But when you have the power of positivity
or the attitude of silence, it does not work like an echo which comes
back; it travels very far away. It goes to a very subtle place.
Otherwise the atmosphere or upheaval outside affects you very quickly.

Practical Ways of Changing Old Habits or Beliefs (cont.)

Exercises of Silence

Exercises of silence help you concentrate your mind and intellect, and go within yourself to recover the positive and eternal energies. With the appropriate concentration of the mind and intellect towards your constructive inner forces of peace, love and happiness, you can strengthen yourself. Being strong means staying positive when faced with negative situations, peaceful when everything around you is chaotic: in other words, not being influenced negatively but influencing the situation with your positivity. When you stay calm in your inner power of peace, you can transmit this to others and help them to calm themselves. When you begin exercises of silence, concentrate primarily on peace. This is the basis of the practice, as when there is inner balance and harmony it is easier to build over these the other values love, happiness, truth and sincerity. The experience of deep peace calms you, clarifies you and fills you with energy to think and act positively and achieve your purpose that you have set for yourself.

Soul Sustenance

Taking Responsibility, Overcoming Guilt

When you free yourself of guilt, you live in peace within. You take on responsibility and stop sentencing (punishing) yourself internally with feelings of guilt. Taking on responsibility is constructive; it allows all your potential to remain awake and flow. You feel free and unburdened. When you get it wrong, you can find different methods to relieve yourself of the burden that it might imply. For example, being sorry for or feeling sad for something that you have done means that you are aware that you have acted against your own wellbeing or that of another. Realizing it is good; it is the base for any positive change. The important thing is not to sentence (punish) yourself. Learn the lesson. Say sorry, if it is the right thing. Put it right.

Remember that yesterday has already passed. The past cannot be changed. You can't swallow the words that you said, since you already said them. You can't repeat the scene from yesterday in a different way because it already happened and stayed recorded on the film of this world drama. Therefore, don't repeat the words or the scene in your mind over and over again; doing that, you keep alive something that is dead, since yesterday already stayed behind. Learn from the error and commit yourself to you and to your life, promising to yourself that you will not fall over the same stone again. You will think about it before speaking or acting.

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Message for the day

To be free from wants is to be free from waste.

Projection: The one who is free from wants is the one who is free from expectations. When there are no expectations, there is not too much thought about what is not there or what should be there. Since the mind is free from all these kind of waste thoughts, whatever is done is the best.

Solution: When I am free from wants or desires, I am able to always remain content. I can then appreciate and enjoy everything that comes my way, and do not expect anything both from situations and people. So the mind is free from waste thoughts and questions.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/