Contemplation: May 18, 2019: Remain Positive

Contemplation: May 18, 2019: Remain Positive

Artist: Kinuko Crafts -Secret Gardens, Beautiful Psych Weeping

Remain Positive

If my mind is still enough, I can see the deeper meaning behind each situation. No matter how bad a problem may seem on the surface, if I remain positive eventually I will see how everything has worked out for the best.

Power of Truth

Truth never needs to be proved. Truth is always revealed at the right
moment and at the right place. You don't need to be concerned about
proving it. You need only to be concerned with being it and living it.
Trying to prove truth reveals stubbornness. When you find that someone
is not believing what you say, ask yourself if you believe in it. If
you do, then you need not be concerned of proving it to others. Only
where there is doubt in yourself you'll want to prove it to everyone.

Super Sensual Bliss

Beyond the limits of this vast expanse of the solar system and galaxies there is a region of non-material (non-physical) light. It is not reached by any physical means e.g. by travelling in a space shuttle, because reaching there is simply not a question of light years or kilometers. It is a region which is beyond the physical plane and therefore can only be experienced through divine vision or by the "third eye" or eye of the mind during the process of meditation. Through deep meditation the soul can travel with its power of visualization to this region and experience the bliss of being free from the limits of anything earthly. This bliss is called super sensual bliss. Sensual bliss is the bliss which is experienced by visualizing, thinking about, seeing, tasting, smelling, hearing or touching something which is physical or in other words something which is made up of the five elements - earth, air, water, fire and space. Super sensual bliss is experienced by visualizing the soul to be completely free and full of bliss in this incorporeal (non-physical) world, in the company of the Supreme Soul or Supreme Father who is also non-physical.

Soul Sustenance

Awakening Your Intuition (Part 2)

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.

Message for the day

To be flexible is to enjoy everything that life brings.

Expression: 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 in the particular situation.

Experience: 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.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Contemplation: May 17, 2019: Help Yourself

Contemplation: May 17, 2019: Help Yourself

Help Yourself

Unfortunately these two words tend to describe the generally selfish and materialistic culture in which most of us live. They result not in self-help but in dependency. Our education and our role models do not encourage us to help ourselves to grow, change and expand our capacities as human beings. Real self-help means recognizing that no one else is responsible for our thoughts and feelings, and that we are only ever victims because we choose to be. Our destiny is always and only in our own hands - despite all apparent evidence which may indicate otherwise. Learning to help ourselves is also a prerequisite to extending a hand of assistance to others. We all need a leg up from time to time, but once there, we are always on our own.

Power of Truth

True courage comes when there is the power of truth within you. When
you are constantly truthful, you will have nothing to fear. In all the
challenges you face everyday you will be able to maintain your courage
because of your power of truth. Make sure your actions are based on
truth and when things go wrong, you will still be able to maintain
your courage. Keep reminding yourself that you have the power of
truth with you and you will be victorious, whatever may be the
challenges that come your way.

Revising My Purpose In The Professional Sphere

A young entrepreneur once thought that, in the corporate world, if you earn this much amount of money successfully in a short span of time, you are considered better than the remaining entrepreneurs and you reach the peak of fame. A time arrived when he said to himself "This is stressful. Is this what I want? Working so hard to reach the top, so that you become famous in the entire country and are known amongst the fastest growing businessmen. No, I want to excel in my career, but in another way, without stress, without fighting to reach and maintain fame and power." He then revised his purpose: "What do I want? Why do I do what I do? For what and for who do I do it? What is the price that I have to pay for this dependence on fame?"

Aspiring to be famous causes continuous stress and anxiety. You participate in a race in which you compete and are comparing yourself constantly. You stop taking care of yourself and nourishing your inner self. You take care of your image but not your inner being. This brings about an inner emptiness and loneliness that, sometimes, is unbearable for us. Reaching fame, financial wealth, the power of a visible position, and reaching it with a broken soul, a broken apart family and a sick body, causes anxiety and depression. We need to look inwards and ask ourselves - does our life's purpose revolve around the search for fame and power? If yes, then we need to revise our purpose suitably by realizing the negative effects that this search can have on our lives.

Soul Sustenance

Awakening Your Intuition (Part 1)

In real life, we are faced with many situations when important decisions have to be taken, a particular path to move ahead has to chosen. At such times, our mind is filled with various different voices or influences like the influence of people surrounding us, who give their different opinions regarding the particular situation; they say something, our mental logic along with knowledge of people and things, says something else, then there is the influence or memory of our past experiences which colour our perception of the present situation differently. Also there is the influence of the outside world in general - all that we see, hear and read. There are also our attachments, selfish desires, fears, mental biases towards a particular person or situation, emotions like jealousy and hatred, beliefs etc. which influence our perception. Our mind is full of all these influences, many of them even conflicting each other, and we experience complete turmoil or indecisiveness inside ourselves, we don't know what to do.
In such cases it is sometimes extremely wise to keep all these influences aside, sit in silence and listen to what our intuition is saying to us. There are many situations, in which after the situation is over, we realize that all the influences mentioned above would have taken us on the wrong path, but it was our intuition, our inner voice of wisdom, alone which gave us the right solution and took us safely to our destination.
(To be continued tomorrow ...)

Message for the day

All desires end when there is the one desire to experience progress.

Expression: It is believed normally that in order to progress one needs to have desires. But desires are not always fulfilled and unhappiness is experienced because of it. Then I am not able to appreciate whatever comes my way.

Experience: I need to replace all my desires with one desire, i.e., the desire to experience progress. With this thought, I will be able to make the best use of what I get in the right way. When I move forward in this way making the best use of everything I will be able to experience constant progress.

Contemplation: May 16, 2019: The Wonder of Silence

Contemplation: May 16, 2019: The Wonder of Silence

The Wonder of Silence

In silence lies the ability to listen; to listen to ourselves, to others and to God. Listening is a lost art. Without it we cannot communicate, we cannot relate to each other and so we cannot live life meaningfully. We need to learn to listen. Sitting in silence allows us to listen to ourselves and to understand. This silence can heal. The worries, the pain can be healed when we listen. Spiritual medicine is ever-present in the soul. Whenever we need it, to whatever extent we need it, we can find it within.

Power of Truth

As the saying goes, 'the boat of truth may rock but it will never
sink.' When you are truthful you might temporarily experience
dissatisfaction, but you will ultimately attain victory. When you are
going through a time that is difficult for you, remind yourself that
the truth within you will ultimately get you victory. This faith will
make you face all situations with a cheerful face.

Changing Your Belief System To Overcome Feelings Of Revenge (cont.)

The urge for revenge and the false taste of victory or happiness related to it can only end when the belief, that others are responsible for what you feel, is seen as a false one. Only when you take full responsibility for whatever thoughts and feelings you create will it be possible to end the anger and the hatred that seeks revenge. When someone hurts me, I create a negative image of myself and the other person in my mind's eye, in different ways. I see myself and the other in a negative light, myself as a victim and the other person as a victimizer. I need to stop doing that and see myself and the other in a positive light, in the same light as before, irrespective of the negativity that the other has radiated to me. When we do that, we will stop pointing the finger at others for whatever hurt we may feel. Only when it is fully seen and accepted that someone can hurt or harm my vehicle, the physical body, but not me, the controller or driver of the vehicle, will rage and the desire for revenge stop existing inside my consciousness.

When I start seeing the person who has committed some negative action which is projected towards me, with an innocent, unbiased, untarnished vision, hatred will be transformed into love and compassion for both, me and the other person. Then it will be possible to be totally free of all judgment, criticism and any desire to seek justice and take pleasure and experience victory when justice is delivered. Only then will it be possible to rediscover true happiness in life, because as long as there is even the slightest trace of an urge to seek revenge for what someone has done to me, and the desire to experience the false happiness which is experienced when such revenge is delivered; both of which, the happiness and the revenge, are forms of subtle violence; true everlasting and deep peace, contentment and happiness can never be experienced.

Soul Sustenance

Resisting From Playing The Blame Game

A very common negative habit that some of us possess is blaming others when required, either in the family or at the workplace, to save face and gain temporary respect, even if it is at the expense of someone loosing face and being disrespected. It is a very common occurrence in offices when an issue arises between people, before the issue is taken up with the head of the particular department or the office, one of the two people involved in the conflict, who is more at fault, will present his case to the head in such a way so as to blame the other and to acquit (free) himself and maintain his reputation in the office and find favour with the head.

We explain this phenomenon on a spiritual level. The person who blames is attached to an image of himself being as being extremely efficient and well-respected at the workplace, who never does anything wrong or incorrectly. He identifies with this image completely and because of that is very attached to it. In the above scenario, if he lets his mistake come out in the open, this internal image, which he carries, would get tarnished (harmed), something which he is in love with. So there is attachment and because of that there is fear of loss or harm to the object to which there is attachment, the image in this case. This image, which is so defined in spiritual language, is called reputation in common language. Also, there is attachment with an internal image of being more successful by getting a possible promotion and progressing at the workplace in the future. This image is also about to get damaged since the job might be lost or a promotion might be stopped. So there is attachment to this second image and fear of harm to this image also. To protect these two images, the person plays the blame game. The Law of Karma, though, does catch up sooner or later with such a person and with such behaviour. Being honest may cause temporary harm to these two internal images or reputation as defined above, but one remains safe according to karmic principles in the long run and the temporary harm, if any, is undone and respect regained.

Message for the day

The power of silence makes the impossible achievable.

Expression: When I am faced with a difficult situation, my mind is flooded with thoughts. I also begin to talk about it a lot, describing the problem to all I meet. Then the problem looks so big that I feel I could do nothing to change it.

Experience: I need learn the art of silence(mental and verbal). Internal silence brings the right solutions because my mind is calm. And when I don't describe the problem too much to people I will know there is a solution and I will be able to find it too.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Contemplation: May 15, 2019: Barriers to Love

Contemplation: May 15, 2019: Barriers to Love

Muralla de Ävila, Spain

Barriers to Love

Whatever is in your heart that is not clean, not true, will ultimately begin to act like a wall, obstructing the natural flow of love. People who say that there is no love in their life, are being blocked by this wall. Actually there is love, but they just cant accept it. Ego is the clearest example of this. Ego limits the flow of love by placing conditions on the love you give and receive. Ego uses love to satisfy its own needs and desires. It produces a love which is deceptive, one which brings only temporary satisfaction. Ego does not allow you to experience true love or share it. If fact, ego is capable of destroying your ability to feel love altogether.

Power of Truth

When you are truthful your words and actions become equal. You will
do what you say and say what you do. Because of this you will
continue to receive love and regard from everyone. Just take up one
thing that you have not been able to fulfill and today take up this
thought that you will do it. Tell yourself that you have the power of
truth within which makes your words and actions equal.

Changing Your Belief System To Overcome Feelings Of Revenge

It's worth wondering, what I need to change inside my belief system so that no feelings of revenge exist inside me for anyone irrespective of what someone has done to me. When someone harms me or insults me in any way, what is the belief that exists inside my inherent belief system that causes feelings of revenge to emerge inside me in the first place? It is the belief that - whenever someone does something negative to me, he hurts me, he is the victimizer and I am a victim. I need to change that to - no one can never hurt me, but it's what I do with someone's negative actions, what shape I give the negative actions inside my mind, that causes me hurt, the choice lies with me.

Two people will do two different things inside their minds with the offensive or negative actions of a particular person - one will create feelings of anger, hatred, sorrow, etc which will give rise to the desire for revenge; the other will create feelings of peace, love and good wishes which will give rise to only forgiveness, with no room for revenge. In other words, two different people will respond in two different ways to the negativity of the so called victimizer, depending on their belief system, their inherent personality or nature, their experience of similar negative actions in the past, either committed by the same person or by other people. All these factors will shape their perception of the other's actions and the self.  One will see the other or perceive the other as the victimizer and himself as a victim and another will not identify the other person with his negative actions, but will instead focus on his inherent positive nature or positive aspects of his current personality and will also remain unaffected himself.

(To be continued tomorrow ...)

Soul Sustenance

Soul Maintenance

In order to take care of the physical body, we give importance to diet, exercise and to proper rest or sleep.

In order to take care of the non-physical self or soul, we need to make sure that we feed our intellect with positive thoughts. Attention needs to be kept on the diet of the intellect. If we keep feeding it with positive thoughts, then automatically it will make us free from any heaviness and we will feel the lightness of our own mind.

The regular practice of meditation for 5-10 minutes every morning is the exercise for the soul. Meditation will help us master our sense organs, think more peacefully and powerfully, maintain our focus of inner attention and therefore remain undisturbed by external events (at the workplace or at home).

The third important thing is to give enough rest to the soul. We sleep to energize the body. We need to give rest to the soul in the form of silence in the mind. Refuse to do anything in this one minute. Just one minute of silence and calmness every hour gives rest to our mind and will empower (strengthen) us for the rest of the hour. So we are able to do our work more efficiently and effectively.

Message for the day

To serve with the heart, with love is to guarantee success.

Expression: When I have to be of help to others, I sometimes find myself doing it with force. I don't seem to be really interested in doing it but situations or people seem to be forcing me to do it. I then don't enjoy what I do and also don't find the benefit of it either to others or to myself.

Experience: I need to consciously make an effort to see what people are benefiting when I am helping them. With this conscious effort I am able to help others with love without feeling the heaviness of what I have to do. Thus I find my actions to be much more fruitful.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: May 14, 2019: Optimistic Outlook

Contemplation: May 14, 2019: Optimistic Outlook

Door of the Upper Courtyard at Dar Jamaï Museum, Meknès, Morocco

Optimistic Outlook

Optimism opens a door in difficult or hopeless situations. No matter what the crisis, an optimist maintains the outlook that it is a sign, time for a different way of thinking, or of doing things. Sometimes the signal has to be very clear even harsh, otherwise we may continue in self-delusion and not wake up. Of course if we lack optimism, instead of taking this signal as a step towards renaissance, complaint, resentment or even desperation will emerge.

Power of Truth

The power of truth within you will enable you to learn from all
situations. When things go wrong you will be able to check yourself
and improve instead of giving excuses to yourself and others. When you
give excuses you will not be able to learn and progress. Take any
situation that went wrong today. Check within yourself what your part
was in the situation because of which things went wrong. Then correct
yourself based on this understanding.

Being Dependent On The Look Of The Other

We have to trust that, being ourselves, we will be well-received and loved by the world. If we are here, why have we been incarnated on Earth? To satisfy the look of the other or to bring what is unique and exceptional in us? We all have two eyes, a nose and a mouth but no face is the same. We are all a being of conscious energy, a soul, but each one has a colour, an art, a creativity and something different to contribute. Let us trust in ourselves and use our talents to bring our difference.

You can be your best friend. Imagine that someone accompanies you in your life, values everything that you do and finds it to be great: what you do, what you say; you are the best; extraordinary; a shining being; a star. Now imagine that you have that person next to you day and night. How do you feel? On top form and you are fine. This happens in relationships. When someone loves you very much, they practically only think about you; they ring you, they send you text messages, maybe they write you letters or emails. You feel unique, special and loved. But this does not last forever and, nowadays, it lasts less and less. The difficulty is that if you depend on the look of the other to feel fine, sometimes you will be fine if the person looking at you does it well, but if not, you won't be fine.

How do you look at yourself? This unconditional friend that loves you so much and that supports you is what you have inside. You can be your best friend. This gives you security and trust. If someone else likes you or doesn't like you and criticizes you, you won't collapse within because to be fine you do not depend on the look of the other.

Soul Sustenance

The Inner Awakening Wave

Our beliefs either put us to sleep or cause us to remain awake. Even if are awake on a physical level, when we are asleep internally, without even realizing most of the time; we don't see others, situations and the world as a whole in their true light. We see, perceive and interpret reality incorrectly, which causes us pain. We perceive any sort of pain on the mental or emotional level to be normal and think that others and circumstances are responsible for the pain. All this, because of the incorrect beliefs that we carry inside us, the most important one being that we are physical bodies and not spiritual energies or souls. Only when the subtle pain becomes intolerable, do we look for a remedy for the same, or think we have to do something about it. Most of us go through life asleep and hence in pain. An inner awakening is one in which we realize the incorrect beliefs and are not scared to challenge them. Once we do that, our pain starts receding. We then very naturally look to wake up others, so that they are relieved from their pain.

The present time in the history of humanity is such that while the sleep of some souls is getting more and more sound and pain increases in the world, on the other hand, an inner awakening wave is taking many souls in its tide as more and more souls are waking up from their deep slumber and waking up others. This is the time when late night and early morning exist side by side. It is the same time, but late night for most and early morning, a time of getting up, for a few. This is happening due to a consciousness shift or shifting of beliefs inside many through spiritual knowledge. Such souls, whose number keeps increasing everyday, are experiencing more and more happiness in their lives. Both these groups of souls have similar circumstances and people in their life but the shifting or correction of beliefs inside the second group is causing souls in the group to remain stable amidst these circumstances, free from spiritual pain, depending on how much the shift is.

Message for the day

Inner satisfaction brings creativity.

Expression: Quite often I find myself trying to keep pace with the things that I have always been doing. I seem to be caught up in the routine to the extent that I experience monotony. I then cannot think of any newness that I can bring in my life.

Experience: It is only with my inner satisfaction that can I bring creativity in my life. For this, while doing the routine jobs that I am involved in throughout the day, I need to make special effort to keep myself content with the things that are going on and also think of new ways of doing what I am already doing. Then I will never experience boredom in my life.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: May 13, 2019: Character

Contemplation: May 13, 2019: Character

Character

Self-control is not about suppressing emotions or tolerating the pressure of circumstances. Self-control is to be the creator of your thoughts and feelings to be creative and find new answers. This helps you to remain calm and cool.

Unselfish Love

When you are constantly having love for everyone, you'll have no
negativity. Your unselfish love will make you have only positive
thoughts and you'll find yourself in constant happiness. Start your
day with thinking of all the people you come into contact with. Then
take a thought in your mind that you have love for all of them. This
thought will help you throughout the day. You'll find yourself
accepting others as they are and having good wishes for them.

Realizing Our Natural Nature Of Peace

If we look at nature, we will notice that everything in nature - plants, flowers, etc. do everything they do peacefully - they grow, flourish, decompose and die in peace. We get an obvious impression from them that peace is their natural nature. Even the five elements - earth, wind, water, fire and sky are mostly peaceful by nature. It's only when we try and exercise control over them and interfere with their balance that they lose their peace. Most of us, irrespective of our age, even in these stressful and hurry filled times, act peacefully and express our peaceful nature in relationships by means of peaceful thoughts, words and actions, unless something is wrong in the relationship. We instinctively like peaceful relationships. If something is wrong in a relationship and it lacks peace even to a small extent, we do not feel good or comfortable about it. All this proves to us that we, like nature, are essentially peaceful by nature. That is our basic personality.

Most of us have, at some time in our lives and even more frequently in the case of many of us, experienced and expressed our peaceful nature. It's so natural, we are not even consciously aware of it. What we are more aware of is when we are distanced from the natural i.e. we are unnatural - worried, scared, irritated etc. But these unnatural phases always pass and we finally return to our peaceful self. There are some people who are permanently grumpy and tight with someone or the other, because of something or the other. On some days we also feel as if we are continuously living on the edge and continuously succumbing to frustration and anger. But even then, away from everyone's eyes; everyone, the compulsive angerholic (one who cannot live without anger) and you also, will, at some stage, look inwards, relax and have an inner personal spiritual retreat in which they will find relief by experiencing their true nature of peace.

Soul Sustenance

Going Beyond …

If the quality of my thoughts can influence my physical health, the atmosphere around me and my relationships, it will definitely affect my relationship with God. Unlike physics in which dissimilar forces (positive and negative) attract each other, the basic principle of spirituality is that similar forces attract each other.If my mind is caught up in cycles of negativity, the dissimilarity between me and God will create distance between me and Him. With the awareness of being a soul, a being of spiritual energy, spiritual light, I begin to have a certain amount of mastery over my own thoughts and their quality. Also, the process of finishing negativity is accelerated. Just stepping away from the limited consciousness of the body and bodily connections (not leaving them) stops negative thinking in the same way as by just putting a switch on, a light is turned on and darkness finishes.

If explorers had never ventured beyond their home countries, they would have remained firm in the belief that the rest of the world simply didn't exist. In the same way, if I allow myself to stay only within the physical and limited sphere of thinking, then I would declare that there is nothing beyond. It is when I make the effort to go outside the boundaries of my previous thinking, that I have the chance of discovering more. The quest for a source of love, truth and beauty – the Supreme eventually brings me to the necessity of looking beyond not only my own body, but also other human beings and matter itself. Through the practice of seeing the self as an eternal soul and disciplining my mind I create the possibility of discovering the existence and nature of God and having a deep relationship with that One.

Message for the day

With the balance of love and discipline, energy can be saved while speaking.

Expression: Throughout the day I find myself having to give explanations or corrections to so many people. When I do this I find that I have to spend a lot of words. In the process I tend to lose a lot of my energy and find myself tired.

Experience: In order to save my energy and to use fewer words I need to have the balance of love and discipline. Discipline will enable me to give the right directions while love will make my directions effective. So I find that just a few words would be enough to get my message across.


In Spiritual Service,

Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/