Contemplation : May 21, 2019: Self Acceptance

Contemplation : May 21, 2019: Self Acceptance

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Self Acceptance

Self Acceptance is an agreement with yourself to appreciate, validate and support who you are right now, even those parts you'd like to change. Look at yourself in the mirror. Take a moment to love and accept the person you see looking back at you.

Humility-2

Humility brings learning. Where there is humility there is willingness
to learn. When humility is lacking, ego comes which doesn't let us
learn from all situations and people. The power of humility enables us
to learn and move forward. When I'm faced with criticism, I need to
see what I can learn from it, instead of feeling bad about it. Even
things that go wrong have something to teach me, if I am willing to
learn. With humility I continue to learn.

Negative Control And Positive Influence

The power of influence in relationships is extraordinary, but it practically disappears when we try to exercise control and force.

You can influence anyone positively in many ways:
* encouraging,
* sharing,
* listening,
* communicating in the right way. 

In negative control we generate stress, frustration and anger. In positive influence the energy flows in a relaxed way with harmony and is not threatening, respecting each one for their specialty and allowing each one to be as they are.

In order to influence positively we need the power of discrimination and judgement in relation to what to say and what to do e.g. when you believe that the other person is the problem; generally the problem is not what others say or do, but rather how you perceive them. The way  that you judge is what creates your negative feelings about them. We have the choice to perceive others as a threat, as a problem, or as an opportunity; an opportunity for learning, for change, for dialogue and understanding. We can choose to have compassion (kindness); to feel that the other is a problem indicates a lack of compassion.

Soul Sustenance

Soul Power Over Role Power (Part 2)

Continuing from yesterday’s message, the various components of soul power are:

The power of inner silence or the silence of my mind - Silence is a power. The fewer the thoughts in my mind and the more powerful, positive, peaceful and focused they are, the more my mind will contribute to the success of the role on a subtle level. My silence is regularly tested when faced with negative situations or obstacles. The more successful I am in maintaining this stage in such situations, the more is my treasure of silence collected over a period of time and the more positive the influence of this silence will be on my physical role and the success of various tasks connected with the role.

The power of inner and outer carefreeness, happiness and contentment - Happiness not only inside but also giving others an experience of the same through my face, my eyes, my words and actions full of lightness and enthusiasm, etc. while coming in contact with them. Ensuring I am content with myself and others and also others are content with me. Regular periods of discontentment or unhappiness either within me or in my relationships affect the success of my role adversely.

In tomorrow’s message, we shall explain the remaining components that make up soul power.

Message for the day

When there is determination in my thoughts, the clouds of negative situations will fade away.

Expression: There are a lot of negative situations that come my way, as I am moving along. During the difficult phase I tend to experience a lot of negativity within too, either in the form of fear, anger or pain. At that time the difficulty seems very big and seems to last forever.

Experience: I need to recognize the fact that whatever difficulties I face are like passing clouds. These clouds come at their time and fade away at their time too. I need to develop the determination to work on my problems with this understanding. I will then be able to face the situation with ease.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Contemplation: May 20, 2019: Choose Feelings

Contemplation: May 20, 2019: Choose Feelings

Choose Feelings

If your days seem filled with unwanted negative feelings, there is only one cure. When they come, choose them. Don't ask why, don't wonder how, don't fight them and never put yourself down for having them. But most of all never blame someone else for how you feel. If you do, it means you are still fast asleep and your choice is to be a victim. When the feelings come, even big disturbing emotional feelings say, "I choose this feeling" and know it comes because of something you have thought or done in the past, perhaps a certain belief that you have learned or an attachment that is threatened. Choice does not mean you want the feelings, but it does mean you are taking responsibility for them. And that is the beginning of self mastery. It is the first step to the healing and resolving of your emotions. But only the first step. Try this today and then ask yourself what the next step might be. If you are really interested to know, you will come to know!

Humility-1

True humility comes from self-respect. When we are full and in our
state of self-respect, we will be able to remain humble in all
situations. When there is no self-respect, any comments or criticism
hurts the ego and we tend to lose our humility. When I find myself
getting affected by criticism, I need to check whether I am sure of
what I'm doing. Let me look within myself and see what specialties I
have that I can use in my daily life. So when I increase my own
confidence in this way and do everything with this confidence, I'll be
humble.

Self Empowerment

Your strengths, talents, capabilities and resources are very important as the foundation of your self progress. Having a clear knowledge of them will help to keep you moving forward, and enable you to take up new opportunities when they arise. Our internal strengths create the foundation on which we make our decisions in life, how we relate to others and how we understand ourselves. For most people their strengths are understood but never made very conscious. They lie below the surface and are not openly talked about. Bringing them into our conscious understanding improves our process of self-empowerment. Also assess your areas of weakness or those aspects of life that are holding you back in some way and/or are causing you some sorrow or discomfort.

Exercise: Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses (5 each)

Now create questions (5-6) which will help in your self progress. Looking at your strengths and weakness, judge how effectively you are using these strengths to improve your personal and professional life, and what negative effects are your weaknesses (shortcomings) having on the same. These are some examples of questions that you can ask yourself at the end of each week:

How are my present strengths being used to improve my worth (value) at the workplace (office)? Is any weakness of mine proving to be an obstacle (barrier) in maintaining a healthy relationship with my spouse (partner)? Am I using my strengths in helping others or doing social service? Does any weakness exist inside me, which if removed, would make my relationships harmonious (peaceful) in the family and office?

Soul Sustenance

Soul Power over Role Power (Part 1)

Every act that we are involved in throughout the day is made possible or real by two entities - role and soul working in conjunction with each other. Although, it is a spiritual fact that the soul is the master and makes the role function, without the soul the role cannot function; while playing any role in our day-to-day life we tend to forget this fact and our entire focus falls on the role that is to be played, forgetting that by doing that, we bring down the probability of success of that role in our personal or professional life. Focusing positively on the soul and its components while playing the role fills the role with soul power and focusing on the role and its components while playing the role fills the role with something you could call role power. We need to create a balance between the role and the soul and a balance in using both role and soul power to bring about the success of the role, the role could be of any type. Even a project that you have to work on in the office which is going to last for a month is an example of a temporary role you have to play. There are many other examples of roles - getting your child’s homework done, preparing food for the entire family, doing charity work at the club together, taking part in an extracurricular activity in school or college, etc.

Any such or other role will consist of some or all of these components - various tasks, interaction with people or relationships, mediums like wealth and other objects, time, knowledge of everything connected with the role including the components that make up the role, etc. All these components are physical in nature and make up the role. The power that these components possess makes up what we call role power. Now, what happens is that as soon as we step into the role each day or on a particular day, obviously our aim is to bring about success of the role, but to achieve that, our entire focus falls on using the power of the role, neglecting the immense potential that soul power possesses. We spend our day and night in streamlining the role components for the well being of the role, not realizing that this purpose could be more easily achieved, if the focus is more on using soul power, obviously without neglecting role power (without which the purpose cannot be achieved).

In tomorrow’s message, we shall explain the various components that make up soul power.

Message for the day

The right way of living spreads joy to others.

Expression: When people around me are not happy with me, I usually believe that I am right and they are all wrong. I then cannot check or realise my own mistake. So I rarely make an attempt to change myself and continue to wait for others to change or understand me.

Experience: If people around me are not able to get happiness from me or the way I live, I need to look at my own life in a detached way to see where I could change. Even a slightest change brought by me with sincerity will have a great effect on those around me.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Contemplation : May 19, 2019: Great Donor

Contemplation : May 19, 2019: Great Donor

Great Donor

To enable others to have an experience of peace from your vision, attitude and power of your awareness is to be a great donor.

Power of Truth

Truth brings simplicity. When you have the power of truth, you are
simple. When there is a connection with falsehood, there is
artificiality and complications. If you have the power of truth
within you and you are living with it, you will never want to show
off, nor would you be dependent on the compliments of others. So life
becomes simple and easy. If you ever find yourself having waste
thoughts because of your expectations from others, ask yourself what
you expect from them that you don't have within yourself. The more
you learn the art of connecting to your own innate truth, the easier
it becomes to keep your life free from complications.

The Energy Of Give And Take In Relationships

Love, more than any other virtue, is an extremely positive energy; it is an invisible prime mover and foundation of each one of our lives, a source of motivation and inspiration. People lacking love in their lives are normally lesser motivated and happier than those who have positive and healthy relationships full of love and an immense amount of love in their lives. But when the same energy of love, possessing immense positive potential, is negatively focused and is not used correctly, it leads to many dependencies which are negative in nature. How?

When you love someone, that could be your parents, your spouse, your children, your siblings, your friends, any relationship for that matter; there is a invisible and positive emotional and mental attraction between you and that person which keeps you connected to him/her, but the moment the love turns into attachment and becomes a dependency, that person starts dominating and controlling your inner world of thoughts, feelings and emotions and your mental and emotional freedom is lost. It is as if your inner world succumbs to the influence of the other person and you are no longer yourself. Everything that goes on inside you and that comes out of you has an impression of the other. This kind of love is not empowering, energizing and healing, because in this kind of love, over a period of time, desires, wants and expectations from the other start emerging. All these emotions place you in a mental mode of taking instead of giving.  Also in such a kind of love, where love is mixed with a desire to possess, over a period of time you start wanting to control the other. From this control, you start exercising a power to influence the other. At first you are under their influence. As more attachment builds up, this is followed shortly by your desire to bring them under your submission and influence them. That way, you feel that you have them and that they belong to you. This is love that wants to take and not give. In this kind of relationship of love, there is suffering and sorrow.  Even if joy exists, it is extremely short lived. Unconditional love or love that only wants to give and not take or expect, strengthens and is healing, it never hurts or inflicts pain on the other.

Soul Sustenance

Going Beyond Others’ Perception Of Us

Watch how many things you do during the day are dependent on how you imagine the other sees you: your husband, your friend, your child, your cousin, your aunt, your boss, the secretary or whoever. You imagine how they are going to look at you and, as a result, you mould yourself accordingly. If you depend on the look of the other, inwardly you will always feel fear. You want to please the other so that they continue to see you as you want.

Because of the dependence that we have on the other to appreciate us, value us and not to reject us, we want to please them. If, in spite of doing everything possible, they do not appreciate us or are not happy, how do we feel? Cheated. After having done everything out of wanting to please them! Inside, you want to please them because you want them to keep on loving you, or you don't want them to sack you from your job, or you are afraid of being different or not being accepted. That kind of dependency takes us away from our true authenticity. If you look at yourself well, in the end, others will look at you well and the one who does not look at you well will perhaps teach you something, but your value and self-esteem do not depend on the look of the other. In this state, you are open because you trust yourself and you have personal security.

The other entity can also be the Supreme Soul (God). We are afraid that God might judge us for being sinners or not. If I think God looks at me with that vision of whether I am a sinner, whether I am this or something else, I distance myself from Him. A judge like that does not help me to live with wholeness. In general, in society, there has been a distancing from the relationship and experience with God, because we have learned that He is a strict being and a judge. Actually, God is love; God looks at me well and sees my potential and my beauty (which reflects His), God embraces me and, in this embrace, He frees me: He does not allow me to depend on Him?

Message for the day

Where there is peace there is patience.

Expression: My usual reactions to the stimuli around me are programmed, so I tend to be impulsive or react quickly to situations, I don't give myself time to think or understand. Because of this lack of patience I lose out on many things and I don't realize that I am losing out too.

Experience: At all times I need to make a conscious effort to keep my mind peaceful and calm, more so when there is a difficult situation. With this state of mind I am able to deal with situations patiently because peace brings power which in turn brings patience.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

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.