Contemplation: May 24, 2019: Look Inwards

Contemplation: May 24, 2019: Look Inwards

Look Inwards

We all have three eyes. Two for looking out and one for looking in. Why would we want to look in when everything is happening 'out there'? Because the treasure we seek is inside, not outside. What is treasure? Beauty, truth, peace, happiness. You already have what you seek. You already are stunningly beautiful. You are already peaceful and loving. How come you don't know this? Simple, you never look inwards, beyond superficial memories or recent experiences, so you never see your own riches. Take a moment to stop, look in and see. Don't rush. Don't search. Just look. And be aware.

Humility-5

Where there is humility, there is benefit to many. Just as the tree
laden with fruit bows down, the one who is full is the one who is
humble. Such a person can bring benefit to all those around. Humility
makes us a giver in all situations, also making it easy for others to
take what we have to offer. In all my interactions with others, It is
more important to see what I can give them, instead of just expecting
from them. Then, even when I have to follow others' directions there
would be no difficulty. Humility helps me to bow very easily.

The Five Spiritual And Five Physical Elements (cont.)

There are three entities around which the whole World Drama revolves - the Supreme Soul, the human souls and nature. Nature includes everything non-living like mountains, rivers, seas etc. and living things like plants, trees etc. It also includes living beings like animals, birds, insects etc. which are souls with a lesser evolved intellect than human ones. The human body also comes under the category of nature. These three entities are in the form of a hierarchy, the Supreme Soul is the most powerful at the top of the hierarchy, in the middle are the human souls and at the bottom of the hierarchy is nature. The Supreme Soul always remains an Ocean of the five virtues peace, purity, wisdom, love and joy and is the only entity in which the balance of these virtues is always maintained right through eternity.

In human souls, as explained yesterday, in the beginning of the world cycle, in the Golden Age, these virtues are in balance. As human souls come down in the birth-rebirth cycle and start becoming influenced by body-consciousness or the five vices - anger, ego, greed, attachment and lust, all spiritual building blocks or virtues - peace, purity, wisdom, love and joy start getting depleted. In each soul, some virtues get depleted more, some less. In each and every soul the depletion is different depending on its actions e.g. in some soul the depletion of peace is immense compared to the other because of picking up sanskaras of anger on its journey and bringing them into actions or in some soul the depletion of joy is immense because of picking up a lot of attachment on the way etc. This depletion of the five spiritual elements or virtues upsets the balance between them. This depletion and imbalance causes negative spiritual energy waves or vibrations of sorrow, anger, impurity, hatred, fear etc. from human souls to spread in nature and starts having a negative influence on the five physical elements earth, air, water, fire and sky and even the five spiritual elements peace, purity, wisdom, love and joy in the souls of animals, birds, insects, etc. upsetting the balance of both. This is because nature (as defined in the above paragraph) is lowest in the hierarchy, lesser powerful and easily influenced by the energy that human souls transmit or radiate. This double imbalance of spiritual and physical elements results in peacelessness, sorrow, illness, poverty, natural calamities, accidents, ecological imbalances etc.  When all of these reach their maximum extent, that Age is called the Iron Age. This is an interesting principle which needs to be understood clearly.

How do we restore the balance of the spiritual and physical elements? We shall explain that in tomorrow's message.

Soul Sustenance

Meditation – Experiencing My Original Home (Part 2)

Along with reading over the following words slowly and silently, make a sincere effort to create images of them in the eye of your mind:

I focus myself on the self, the soul, a golden point of light........
I stay between the eyebrows in the middle of the forehead........
I radiate golden rays of peace, purity and love in all directions........
In this awareness of I the soul, with the power of my mind I can travel beyond the limits of my physical organs........
I visualize myself gradually going out from this physical body........
I, the sparkling star like energy, fly into the night sky........
I see myself floating above thousands of buildings and lights........
Slowly I rise higher and higher to enter space........
I am surrounded by millions of stars and planets........
Slowly I see myself flying beyond the world of five elements........
I, the golden star, enter another world, a soft golden-red light world........
A world of sweet silence and peace........
full of peaceful light stretching very very far away........
I feel pure warmth here, surrounded by light........
I the point of light shine in this sixth element........
I am free of all tensions, extremely light.........
This is where I belong,
This is my home........
I recognize this place........
I had forgotten it, but now I have rediscovered it........
Spend a few minutes in this positive experience and then gradually come downwards to take your seat back in the physical body.

Message for the day

The one who is constantly flying with zeal and enthusiasm brings progress in others too.

Expression: Whenever problems come my way, I tend to feel heavy with waste and negative thoughts. At that time I am not able to feel free and light. When there is heaviness in my mind, I can't move forward with enthusiasm and thereby find it difficult to contribute for others' progress too.

Experience: Whatever the circumstances I am faced with, I need to make special effort not to reduce my enthusiasm in any way. The more I am able to be enthusiastic, the more I am able to contribute to the progress of others too along with my own progress.

Contemplation: May 23, 2019: Lasting Happiness

Contemplation: May 23, 2019: Lasting Happiness

Lasting Happiness

The real reason why we sometimes experience a lack of real, deep lasting happiness in our lives is dependency. We are taught to make our happiness dependent on some event, condition, person, object etc. This is why we keep delaying our happiness until things are just right in our life. We think we will be happy in the future and then wonder why we are not happy now. But life is never just right, and the future never comes – there is only now! And that's why, in order to be happy we must make our happiness a decision and not a dependency. This may seem slightly difficult in the beginning, because we have just spent our life being dependent on acquiring something or someone, or seeing the result we desired, or wanting some pain to go away, before we allow ourselves to be happy.

Humility-4

Humility comes from an open and clean heart. Humility needs a good
home to dwell in. When the mind is filled with negative feelings or
biased ideas towards anyone, we cannot use humility. So we need to
fill our mind with positive thoughts towards everyone. If I have
negative thoughts towards anyone, I need to make an attempt to remove
them. I need to tell myself that what I don't like about a person is
just one particular aspect and not the person himself. In this way I
will be able to change my own attitude and also will help the other
person also to bring about change.

The Five Spiritual And Five Physical Elements

There are various ancient teachings in the East including India which describe the five physical elements - earth, air, water, fire and sky as the five pillars of Creation or the building blocks of Creation. These teachings suggest that every particle of the physical Creation is made of these building blocks. The human body is also made of these five primary elements. These elements need to remain in balance for the Universe to stay in order and the human body to stay in order or good health. Bad health generally means one or more of these elements is out of place. There are various techniques mentioned in these teachings which are used to create this balance, including ancient Indian mantras. The popular ancient Indian Vedic 'Vaastu' science, used by many to build homes even today, also works on creating a balance between these five physical elements.

According to spiritual principles given by the Supreme Being or the Supreme Soul, in the same way, on a spiritual level, the soul also comprises of five original constituent qualities or building blocks or elements- peace, purity, wisdom (or truth), love and joy. When the soul first comes down from the soul world and starts playing its part on the physical world, there is a complete balance of these five qualities in its personality. This is the reason that at the beginning of the world cycle, in the period that we commonly call the Golden Age or Paradise or Satyuga , there is complete happiness, love and peace within the self and even in relationships. The balance of the spiritual elements in the souls, causes the five physical elements earth, air, water, fire and sky also to remain in complete balance; hence in the Golden Age, there is complete physical prosperity and richness; there is no trace of illnesses and natural calamities like earthquakes, floods, etc. Due to the double balance, nature is not only in order but very very beautiful. Even the physical bodies are not only healthy but very beautiful. Even the animals and birds are completely full of all virtues and live in absolute love and harmony with each other. So the balance of the five virtues in souls reflects itself not only on a subtle level i.e. in the personalities and interactions but also on a physical level i.e. in the physical bodies, flora (plants) and fauna (animals), nature in general, etc.

In tomorrow's message, we shall explain the reason for this.

Soul Sustenance

Meditation – Experiencing My Original Home (Part 1)

In meditation, I focus my mind and intellect on that region which is called by names like soul world, paramdham, nirvandham, shantidham and so on. In fact, this is the region where the soul stays, when it has no body. Here the soul stays in the form of a star-like point of light, untouched by matter (five elements including the body). In this world, there exists neither thought, word nor action; just complete stillness, sweet silence and peace. When I first take a physical body, it is from here that I the soul come down into the material world i.e. the earth, which is the field of action.

With the practice of meditation, my third eye (eye of the mind) opens; and I see and experience my original home as an infinite (very large, unmeasurable) world of very subtle (light) golden-red light, situated beyond the physical world of five elements, beyond the sun, moon and stars.

(To be continued tomorrow .... )

Message for the day

The one who recognizes the needs of others is the one who gives real happiness.

Expression: I usually make a lot of effort to give in some way or the other to those around me. Yet I sometimes find that people are not able to be happy with me. What I give is usually based on what I feel the other person needs. I continue to give in this way and begin to expect from others too, and find myself disappointed when I am not appreciated.

Experience: I need to be a giver in the true sense. Before I think of giving, I need to recognize the needs of others. The more I keep myself tuned to this I will enjoy what I am giving and the impact of it will be there on the others too. I will then find that others are pleased with me too.

Contemplation: May 22, 2019: Faith in Life

Contemplation: May 22, 2019: Faith in Life

Faith in Life

To limit your faith to one set of beliefs or an institutional belief system is to commit intellectual suicide. We shut down the possibility of being enlightened and enriched by others' experiences, which may be derived from their beliefs. We build a barrier between ourselves and our fellow travelers and then feel threatened, even in small and subtle ways, by someone of a different faith. The deepest faith is the intuitive conviction that all is as it should be, despite appearances, and that every human being is intrinsically good, despite appearances. This reminds us to keep our minds open, not take the law into our own hands, and look out for the best in others, regardless of what they say or do. This is faith in life, not faith in a set of learned or inherited beliefs. Have you ever noticed how people don't go to war over their faith in life?

Humility-3

Humility enables people to realize their mistakes and correct
themselves. Real humility results in so much power of truth that we
don't need to say anything at all in words. The very power of our
inner state of being will make the other person realize the error of
their ways. While giving directions or corrections to someone, I need
to check my own attitude, reminding myself of the humility within and
only then say what I have to say. With humility my words will be for
their benefit and this will enable them to learn.

Experiencing Soul Consciousness

Read over the following words slowly and silently. Using the power of visualization, aim to experience them in your mind:

I withdraw my attention away from the physical limbs and sense organs........
I focus on myself........
I am listening through these ears........
I am looking through these eyes........
This instrument of mine, the physical body, is a precious vehicle........
a valuable instrument, a medium........
But, that which is more valuable and more precious is the being (soul) making this instrument function........
Within this assembly of bones and muscles and amazing organs is a being of light........
In the centre of the forehead is a point of light ......
I am this being of light........
I the being of light express myself through this body........
But the body is not I........
I am light........
I spread rays of peace in all directions........
I become aware of the power within this point of light........
Within I the being of light is everything that I am and everything that I have........
Within my own being are my qualities, my powers, my talents........
In the awareness of who I am I radiate this light within........
and in the awareness of this inner light........
I hold my head held high in self-respect........

Soul Sustenance

Soul Power Over Role Power (Part 3)

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

The power of good wishes, desires and feelings full of love for others, while coming in contact with them. These type of feelings will bring good wishes in return from the other to you, which will not only empower you, but will also assist your physical role on a subtle level.

The power of complete purity and cleanliness in thoughts, words and actions - A state where one is not under the influence of vices like anger, ego, attachment, greed, hatred, jealousy etc.

The 8 main powers - the power to tolerate, accommodate, face, pack up, discriminate (or discern), judge (or decide), withdraw and co-operate – their implementation on an internal and external level i.e. not only in words and actions, but also on a thought level. Where there is lack of any of the above powers inside me, there will definitely be waste and you will be weakened, which reduces the probability of success of your role.

The power of truth or spiritual wisdom - A state where the self has deeply realized and understood eternal truths of the soul, the Supreme and the Law of Karma and has drawn immense amount of power and experience from that knowledge. The power of physical knowledge would fall under role power, which has been explained earlier.

By focusing on each of the above components of soul power and those explained in yesterday’s message, by giving them more weightage and using them along with the components of the role, which were mentioned in the message before that, one can experience the desired success in any role in any sphere of life very easily without much effort.

Message for the day

To be free from waste questions is to save time.

Expression: When difficult situations come my way I usually have a lot of questions in my mind about it. I continue to ask myself why the situation has come and have no answers. These questions usually bring me no solution for the problems at hand but I continue to have waste thoughts.

Experience: I need to understand the importance of the time that is in my hands. When I recognize the value of my time I will not waste time in unnecessary thoughts but will try to find a solution for the problem. If there is no solution for the problem I at least just stop thinking unnecessarily and just accept it.

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