BK STUDY POINT BRAHMAKUMARIES

कम बोलो, धीरे बोलो, मीठा बोलो सोच के बोलो, समझ के बोलो, सत्य बोलो स्वमान में रहो, सम्मान दो निमित्त बनो, निर्मान बनो, निर्मल बोलो निराकारी, निर्विकारी, निरहंकारी बनो शुभ सोचो, शुभ बोलो, शुभ करो, शुभ संकल्प रखो न दुःख दो , न दुःख लो शुक्रिया बाबा शुक्रिया, आपका लाख लाख पद्मगुना शुक्रिया !!!

Contemplation: June 21, 2019: Oasis of Peace

Oasis of Peace

Deep inside our consciousness is an oasis of peace. This is the molten core of the soul, but it is not hot, it is cool. Not passive, but a source of inner power to fuel our mind and intellect, so that we can create powerful thoughts and make accurate decisions. If you can learn to go to this centre, peace will be your companion, positivity your partner, and you will be able to chill out in one second, anywhere, anytime. Returning to the centre of your self is the journey of one second. It is the regular destination of clever souls. And it is the source of your power and peace.

Being a Peacemaker - It's not about winning the Nobel Peace Prize. It is about choosing to be a peacemaker and working towards a win-win solution in every situation.

First, stop being at war with yourself, and when the turbulence in your mind ceases, you can begin to make peace with the world.

Smile

Does a kangaroo wish it were an elephant?
Would a duck desire the life of a hippopotamus?
Does a jellyfish long to be bumblebee?
Would a snake be happier as a giraffe?

How much time and energy do you spend wishing to be someone or something that you're clearly not?

Why not wake up everyday and smile because you're YOU!

Identify The Filters In Your Life

Like different types and different colour filters on a physical level; on a spiritual level, there are many different types of filters that work in our lives e.g. the jealousy filter, hatred filter, attachment filter, fear filter, greed filter, etc. and many more. Due to these filters, we do not see people and things as they are, but as we are, because the filters are our own self-created ones. If we want to see people and things as they are, we need to check which filters are working most in our lives. Each one of us has different filters working to different extents, depending on our personality e.g. someone might have the jealousy filter working more regularly as compared to the fear filter in his/her life.

Because of these filters, everything that we see is not only coloured by the colour of the filter we are using at that time, but our look is also biased as we choose what to see, what to give more importance, what to be affected by more, what to let through the filter etc. and what not to. We have and form a deceptive vision of the things and people that surround us inside our minds. And the longer this deformed vision lasts, the more we will convince ourself that that is the true image of the world, because our filters continue to process new data depending on what they see that make the image stronger. This reinforcing of the incorrect image builds up our database of incorrect beliefs based on different filters and makes them stronger and stronger as we go through our life journey. Beliefs are fixed ways of looking at reality. Thus, the world that we perceive is no longer the real world, but a world created by our own mind. So in a way we become deaf and blind on a spiritual level towards the world. To heal this deafness and blindness, we do not have to remove each filter one after the other, which may become a difficult task; but we have to discover the pure, original internal self and start seeing everything without the filters, based on the pure-self point of view. As a result of that, gradually our incorrect beliefs start dissolving and correct beliefs start setting in based on our clean unfiltered view.

Soul Sustenance

Can Love And Freedom Co-Exist (Exist Together)?

Is it possible to love each other and be free at the same time? Yes. To reach this state in a relationship great wisdom is required. Most people love one another and tie one another down. Thus they lose their freedom. When freedom is lost, happiness goes away, and true wellbeing gives way to unhappiness. Often we look above all for love, a love we believe will change our life. We see it as the recognition of our inner value by another person. However, we trip over ourselves in looking for this love. Necessity is what motivates us and we try to satisfy it with an object or person who matches up to perfection. We have an immense emotional need for love, and the fear of remaining in a state of unsatisfied wanting. In our search to fill our need, we are prepared to deceive ourselves with unsuitable partners. Many people allow the love of another person to define their personality to such a point that, if they are rejected, they lose any sense of who they are and of the purpose they have in life. Often the relationship is colored, through one of the partners or both, by fear.

To free ourselves of the tendency to depend, we should have a strong heart, without any selfishness; a heart that has nothing to hide and that, as a result, is free and without fear; a heart that does not hold on to closed beliefs, to old negative experiences; a heart that has good feelings and is free of bitterness; a heart filled with the true values of peace, love, freedom and solidarity – which as a result is stronger and fuller.

Message for the day

To use the inner powers is to be a constant success.

Projection: While moving forward I sometimes have doubts about my own power to succeed. So sometimes my powers remain hidden and I am not able to have the confidence or the enthusiasm to work on the situation.

Solution: Whatever the situation I am faced with, I must not forget my own inner powers. I need to recognise and use those powers which will help me overcome the situation. When there is faith within me, my mind will be open to the recognition and the use of these inner powers.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: June 20, 2019: Think Eternity

Artist: Caroline Urbania Naeem - Night on the Magic Carpet

Think Eternity

Life experiences are like sentences - we are always looking for the full stop, the conclusion. It's OK to end a train of thought, but not thought itself. Thoughts are the beginning of our creation and are here to be creative. Thoughts are like the magic carpet on which the soul rides across eternity - in reality, there are no endings, no conclusions. Rest for the spirit (which is what we are) is when we allow only the current of the purest thoughts to flow through our mind - thoughts which carry good wishes and blessings for ourselves and others. This is not so much going with the flow, as being in the flow, and being refreshed by the flow. It is how we refresh ourselves. For when we have powerful, positive thoughts for and about others, who experiences them first?

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Positive thoughts are the best nutrition for the mind

While we know that positive thoughts are the best nutrition for the mind, we need to recognize the source of these thoughts. One good way is to spend quality time with something that acts like a good company- a person, a book or an environment. As is our company, so are our thoughts. Also, it is good to avoid bad company- company that has a subtle influence on our thinking. Today I will spend some quality time with someone or something that will generate positive thoughts. I will spend at least 15 minutes today, which will help me to be positive and help me re-energize, because only the one who has power within is able to maintain positivity even in negative situations.

Identify The Filters In Your Life

Soul Sustenance

Meditation In Action

Meditation is not something we do but rather something we have. It is not that we spend 23 hours in an extrovert state and only one hour in introspective self-effort. In this sense, extroversion means to have the attention drawn by all the goings-on outside the soul. True introversion, also, does not mean to sit in a corner and not speak to anyone; it means to pay attention that all thoughts, words and actions are flowing in the right direction. In this respect, the churning over of points of knowledge throughout our active hours strengthens and maintains the meditative state of mind.

There are five basic points to churn over. Create your own thought commentaries around each point.

Who Am I?
I am a soul. The body is my chariot. All human beings are souls too, my brothers and sisters. I see them with spiritual love. Whilst walking and talking I see others as souls. Maintaining this vision I cross all the barriers of worldly differences.

Whose Child Am I?
Just as I naturally have the awareness of being the child of my physical father, receiving sustenance and a form of inheritance, so too I can have the natural consciousness of being a child of the Supreme Father. I can reflect on the sustenance and inheritance in the form of knowledge, virtues and powers I receive from Him.

(To be continued tomorrow ….)

Message for the day

Humility brings excellence

Projection: Humility means there is no expectation of being perfect always. So whatever is done comes naturally. There is no feeling of threat about others' opinion, but the one who is humble is able to express inner talent without any fear and expectations. So humility takes one forward towards excellence:

Solution: When I am humble, I am able to stabilise myself in my state of self-respect always. This naturally is felt even when I am not able to bring perfection in my actions or even when others are not satisfied with me. Internally there is a feeling of satisfaction, knowing that I am constantly learning and moving forward.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: June 19, 2019: The Key of Optimism

Puerta, San Sebastian, España.

The Key of Optimism

Optimism opens a door in difficult or hopeless situations. Optimism knows that there is always a way, no matter how many doors have been shut. Optimism believes that there is always a useful alternative. No matter what the crisis, an optimist maintains the outlook that it is a sign, time for a different way of thinking, or a new way of doing things.

Tolerance

The one who is tolerant is the one who is successful. Tolerance frees
the mind of waste thoughts, as there is no negativity towards anyone.
Also tolerance frees us from questions about things that are going
wrong. When we are free from waste thoughts, we can do our best and
thereby ensure success. When things go wrong or when someone is
creating obstacles in our way, instead of worrying or having questions
about it, we need to accept it with the power of tolerance. We need
to see within ourselves what strength or speciality we have that can
make us face this situation.

The Law of Self Control

The more control we have over ourselves and our lives, the happier and freer we will feel.

We sometimes get angry with other people. Why does this happen? It is probably because they have not met our expectations or we were trying to control them and they have not let us. Sometimes, the simple expectation that a person should behave as we want them to is in itself an attempt to control them. When we try to control another person, which is impossible, we are bound to fail, feel frustrated and stressed.

We are capable of having power over ourselves; we can be more responsible for our thoughts and feelings. We have the capacity to choose how we respond to different situations and people that we come across in our lives. If we do not exercise much control over our thoughts and emotions, we easily fall into the tendency of seeing ourselves as victimized, and we blame others, making them responsible in our own minds for how we feel. When we do this, we are forgetting that we create our own thoughts. When this happens, we are handing over the control of our thoughts to those who influence, criticize, attack or slander us.

If we want to recover the control over our life, we must learn to control our thoughts and feelings and not blame anyone else for them. The more self-control we have over ourselves, the less will we want to control others and our capacity to influence other people positively will be greater.

Soul Sustenance

The Relationship Between My Conscience And Intellect

To act from a state of truth, it is important to realize the relationship between my intellect and conscience and what role these two play in experiencing this state of truth in my thoughts, words and actions. The quality of my thoughts, words and actions is based on the quality of my intellect and conscience. There are three different stages of the intellect conscience relationship.

* The first stage is one in which my conscience and my intellect, both are so pure and transparent that whatever is right and true is naturally brought into my thoughts, words and actions and nothing negative or impure manages to enter into my thoughts, words and actions.

* The second stage is one in which my conscience acknowledges that which is the truth, but the intellect does not have the strength to be able to bring the truth into practical. The conscience tells me one thing, but my intellect pulls me elsewhere, and it overpowers me. I do what I know I shouldn’t.

* The third stage is one in which my conscience is not clean enough or aware enough to acknowledge the truth so the question of it influencing the intellect to bring the truth into practical does not arise. As a result my intellect, which is not at all backed by the conscience in this state, takes complete control of me. I do what I shouldn’t and I am not even aware of it.

When my intellect overpowers my conscience repeatedly, my conscience loses its influence on my intellect. As a result the conscience keeps weakening until its voice is stifled or silenced. As a result of that, I can then no longer discriminate between truth and falsehood. I will feel that there are no fixed ways of defining right and wrong, that each has their own judgment or definition of truth and falsehood. True spiritual knowledge, which gets stored in the intellect, and the experience of meditation, which purifies the intellect as well as my conscience, both together, make me aware of the definition as well as give me an experience of what is the truth and what is false, what is right and what is wrong. As a result of that, I am able to maintain the first stage of the intellect conscience relationship very easily in my day-to-day actions.

Message for the day

To be a well wisher means to think of changing first.

Projection: Being a well wisher just doesn't mean wishing others well. It also means having good wishes for the self and having the pure desire to bring about a change for the better in the self. So whatever the kind of situations, instead of just judging others and what they need to change, the one who is a well-wisher constantly brings about transformation in the self.

Solution: For having worked on myself under all circumstances and having used every situation as a chance for self-progress, I constantly enjoy every thing that comes my way. I have no expectations, but just think of benefit for others and myself. I then never find any situation to be an obstacle, but use it as a step for progress.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: June 18, 2019: Start Early

Image may contain: one or more people, people standing, ocean, sky, outdoor and water

Start Early

The best time to awaken both body and spirit is in the early morning. We are fresh, in solitude, and the vibrations of the world are at their calmest. It is not surprising that you will find all experienced meditators and yogis up with the dawn, inviting the sun of spirit to shine into the heart of their soul. The first half hour of conscious awareness will be the foundation of your day. Make an early start. Meditate, set the switch of your consciousness and calibrate your energy for the day. You'll be surprised the difference it makes.

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Tolerance

Those with the power of tolerance will be content and will make others
content too. When there is tolerance, there is also continuous
improvement. This in turn brings satisfaction for the self and also
enables us to become a source of support for those around too. This
will make them content with themselves and with us too. Let us take a
thought to make it a point to learn at least one thing from all the
suggestions that we get throughout a given day. When we keep this in
mind we will be able to tolerate even negative comments very easily
and we will find ourselves improving.

Role Induced Stress (cont.)

It's not at all wrong to treat what we do seriously, but it's a mistake to believe what we do is extremely extremely important and we are extremely busy people living an extremely busy lifestyle. This kind of consciousness makes us over-serious. A very common sign of this is carrying a lot of thoughts of one role into the other. E.g. Aarti, a young mother, switches roles from a software executive in the corporate sector, a role which she plays in the entire day, to a parent and wife in the evening. If she is over thinking about her day-role while playing her evening-role, it is a sign she is over-identifying with her day role and there is a lack of detachment. As a result she starts becoming over-serious and suffers from 'role induced stress' as a result. There is a deep connection between seriousness and fear. E.g. In this case of Aarti, as a result of attachment to her role, there are lots of fears that she carries regarding her role of software executive - fear of loss of position; loss of love, respect and reputation - either in her company or in general in society, not succeeding, not getting promoted etc. because of which she is over-serious and she carries the role in her head almost all the time, even when she sleeps. That is why so called 'extremely busy' people sometimes complain of sleep problems.

This can happen with us, with any role we play. This kind of stress, just like in the case of the actor (explained yesterday) is generally made up sorrow, anger and fear - one of these three different negative emotions from time to time or more than one at the same time - phases of dejection or feeling low or a lack of enthusiasm or a general disinterest in life events; phases of frustration and experiencing a lack of control of events and people, due to which there are frequent outbursts of anger and phases of immense worry regarding the future, all of which affect our mind, our physical body, relationships and even success of our role; although it is our role itself (our over-identification with it) which is the root cause of this emotional turmoil inside us. So instead of benefitting our role, our over-concern for it starts affecting it adversely.

Soul Sustenance

Accessing Spiritual Power

In the inner depths of the soul there is pure, spiritual power of peace, love, wisdom and un-conditional joy. This power provides us with the inner strength needed to change. But how do we access this power? Meditation is the method – it allows this power to come to the surface of our consciousness and into our minds and influence our thoughts, feelings and personality. In the same way as lava flows from the inner depths of the Earth to the surface through a volcano, we can also create volcanoes of spiritual power when we meditate. Note, though, that we want to use our power in a positive way: we are not seeking the kind of power that is physical in nature and may cause damage, we are seeking spiritual power.

When we get access to our own personal source of the power of peace, love and happiness, we essentially become free of any dependency on external sources for feelings of the same. When we generate our own feelings of love and self-respect, we stop being dependent on others and our addiction to their acceptance and approval reduces and finally disappears. When we generate our own feelings of contentment and joy within ourselves, we become free from the need for substances, places or physical experiences in order to be happy.

Using this inner power in the right way allows us to uproot or remove completely the old negative habits within our personality. Any unwanted habit can be changed and the scars of all the negative habits, which have developed within the soul over a long period of time, during the journey of birth and rebirth, can be healed in a short time span.

Message for the day

The ones who are constantly happy are truly fortunate.

Projection: Whatever the kind of situations needed to be faced, whoever the people and the different kind of personalities they come into contact with, the ones who are fortunate constantly enjoy. They also continue to take benefit and bring benefit to others too. Their fortune lies in their ability to perceive the positive aspect in everything and take benefit accordingly.

Solution: When I am able to be happy under all circumstances, I am able to make the best use of whatever I have with me. I then find myself full of all resources. I don't think of what I don't have but I am aware of and make the best use of what I have. So I find myself to be always lucky. I constantly move forward.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: June 17, 2019: True Diamonds

True Diamonds

Become a true diamond. Eat the nourishment of happiness and never give sorrow to anyone. There is a difference between true and false. True diamonds sparkle from afar.

Tolerance

Tolerance enables one to learn from mistakes. When one is sure of what
he is doing and he is in his stage of self-respect, criticism can be
taken in the right way. This will give the ability to look within
when something goes wrong. Instead of justifying mistakes there will
be the ability to learn from them and improve. When someone criticizes
us, we need to remind ourselves that we have something to learn from
it. Let us ask ourselves if there is at least a small aspect that we
could learn from and incorporate in our life. Let us take this aspect
and leave the rest.

Role Induced Stress

A very common form of stress which has raised its head in recent years is stress induced due to one's role. There was once a famous movie actor, well known as one of the best of all time and he was obviously very much aware of the same. One day as he was shooting for his new film; his director, a very prominent figure in the film-making arena, mentioned to him that there was a general perception spreading in the film industry as well as in the film going audiences that the actor was getting older with time and his performance was dropping and he needed to spruce up his performances if he had to compete with the younger actors. As soon as he heard this, he started taking his acting role and everything related to it over seriously and lost his happiness completely because he had been used to listening only to praises regarding his performances and reputation all his life. He also forgot all that the world had given him all his life, all the love, respect and adulation and became angry, bitter and resentful towards everyone he met, believing that they no longer held those feelings for him as much as before. Also a general sense of fear and nervousness started developed inside him regarding his next performance.

One piece of information had changed him altogether. What had gripped him - 'Role Induced Stress'. His emotion of stress was made of three sub emotions - sorrow, anger and fear (or worry). What was the cause - he over identified with his role. He 'believed' he was an extremely famous hero actor. But was hero actor what he was? It's what he did. But he learned to believe it is what he is. Even we need to remind ourself that we get to play various roles on the world stage of action and that if we over-identify with any of the roles, which a lot of us do, then just like the actor, our creativity, spontaneity and lightness is reduced and we start to take things far too seriously, more than necessary, and as a result get stressed.

(To be continued tomorrow ...)

Soul Sustenance

Understanding Fear

Everyone, when they are young, knows what their destiny is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to wish for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their destiny... There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.

Fear is an energy that puts a brake on you and prevents you from doing what you want and aiming where you want to go. It blocks you in the communication and expression of what you want to say. Fear makes you hide, suppress and not express the most attractive; the most beautiful part of your inner self.

Fear has an influence on our capacity to reason, discriminate and take decisions. It makes us doubt, it makes us indecisive even in the simplest decisions of our lives. Fear does not allow your energy to flow, and that weakens your state of wellbeing and general health. Fear locks you into yourself and makes you become indecisive. It is a shadow over your inner self that prevents you from acting with ease and fluidity. It reduces your capacity of expression, of being yourself, of dealing with life and flowing in it.

Message for the day

Faith in one's progress brings contentment.

Projection: Even when the situation is not according to what is expected, there is contentment for the one who has faith in his own progress. Such a person will not just sit back waiting for things to change nor will he just curse his fate. Instead he'll do his best and use all his resources in bettering the situation.

Solution: The understanding that all life's situations are a training for me, automatically keeps me content in all situations. There is naturally an experience of constant progress and a feeling of having gained something from all situations.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: June 16, 2019: Banish Ego

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The Sphinx-Egypt

Banish Ego

Ego is not just having a big head. Ego is present every time you feel any kind of fear, or hear yourself saying "That's mine!". The truth tells us that nothing is 'mine' or 'yours', we are all trustees, and fear is only present where there is the voice of attachment. So where there is ego, there is attachment, and where there is attachment there is fear, and where there is fear there cannot be love and where there is no love there is misery. This is why there is so much unhappiness in the world. Detach from everything, and you will banish ego, fear will be no more, only then can true love return, and our oldest friend happiness will feel it is then safe to make a reappearance in your life.

Tolerance

Tolerance is to be in the natural stage of self-respect. When there is appreciation for the self there will be self-respect. And where there is true self-respect there will be no ego or arrogance of the special
qualities in oneself. Let us think of one aspect in ourselves which we
think is our speciality. We then need to make the practice of
reminding ourselves of this speciality. When we increase our self-
respect in this way based on our speciality, we'll find our power of
tolerance increasing too.

Valuing The Physical And The Non Physical

When the soul leaves the body, it's not just the body that dies but it's as if all the connections with the world of that individual are simply switched off. Not only the relationships but all specific plans, projects and desires suddenly have no further means (medium) through which they can be expressed or put into practice. The powers of thinking, deciding and the personality traits (sanskaras) connected with the life that is being left behind, stop and get hidden momentarily to emerge again in a new body, a new life. All the material things that belonged to that particular individual are passed on to others.

It's interesting to note that even when the body is sick it can only be treated when the soul is still present. If we take out the soul no one remains to look after the body.

On the other hand, the body is a truly marvelous vehicle for the soul to express itself through. No manufactured machine could hope to compete. For example, it is calculated that in just one day, the brain is able to complete a hundred times more connections than the entire telecommunications system of the planet. Or compare the human eye with any manufactured camera or the heart with any manufactured pump. The body's importance cannot be played down or not taken into account.

Soul Sustenance

The Spiritual Seed And The Human World Tree

Spirituality introduces God or the Supreme Being as a seed, a point of reference, the spiritual Pole Star, remembered by all souls all over the world. But over a period of time, with an experience of linking my mind and intellect with Him, we realize that although He is a seed, a point, He is a not a non-living seed but a living one with a unique personality of his own, a personality which no one can match, a personality of spiritual truth, of beauty, of purity, of generosity, of love, of giving, of peace, of humility, of bliss, of power, of sweetness etc. How is this possible? We normally think of a seed as inactive or dormant, despite the enormous potential that lies within it, due to which it gives rise to a complete tree and bears fruits and other products. God is the seed of the human world tree. When I see virtues around me, whether it be in all human souls including deities, prophets, saints and the founders of the great religions or animals or nature, I know that ultimately this comes from God but God is not all pervasive, i.e. he is not present in all humans or nature or in the divine souls, but everything that is good in them comes from the virtues that are present in God or basically from the personality of God (mentioned above), because the tree is the creation of the seed, so all that is positive in the tree has come from the Source, the seed, perhaps sometime in the past. But, despite the goodness which is visible; today, peacelessness and pain do not seem to have reduced, and have probably increased, if we look behind the false covering of material success. The goodness is only in small patches. So what is the need of our times?

To spiritually uplift myself, I, being a part of the creation, a part of the tree, need to catch the positive energy within God, the creator, the seed. This energy is subtle, in that it is non-physical, but it is also glowing like light, and in meditation I can catch that glow, absorb it and feel its spiritual embrace healing me and making me complete or full. At the present moment, recognizing this need, the Supreme Being is shining the light of His personality through pure thought and vibrations more brightly than ever into the human world tree, inviting us: 'Oh sweet child, come and reclaim for yourselves your birthright, the inheritance of truth, by absorbing the qualities inherent in me through meditation or a spiritual link with me and making them your own.'

Message for the day

To accept advice is to ensure self-progress.

Projection: The natural state of the self is to ensure progress. Everything that is done by the self is for its progress. But the one who rejects advice rejects the progress of the self. To accept advice means to take the chance for whatever benefit that comes my way.

Solution: When someone corrects me or gives me an advice or suggestion, if I accept it in the right spirit, I'll constantly learn from it. This will enable me to experience constant progress. I am also naturally able to give regard to everyone I come into contact with and remain in constant happiness.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: June 15, 2019: Courage

Gladys Roy and Ivan Unger playing tennis on a flying airplane at 1000m altitude. Los Angeles, 1925

Courage

Make courage your companion and you will continue to receive success in every action.

Benefit for others

When there is a balance between easiness and reliability, there will
be benefit for others. When we understand our responsibility we would
understand that what we do effects the lives of others too. So we
will be cautious. Apart from this we will also know to take care of
our own well-being because we would know that others will gain form
our healthy attitude. Let this day be dedicated for removing some
weakness within ourselves that is creating an obstacle for others and
us. When we do this we will not only be helping ourselves but there
will be benefit for others too.

Perfecting The Art Of Detached Involvement In Relationships

Perfecting the art of detachment involvement is a necessity if we are to meditate successfully. But a newcomer to meditation might wonder how can we become detached? Don't we have to run our homes and offices and interact with people even if we are practicing meditation? Then does detachment not mean that we are withdrawing from our relationships and becoming cold?

In almost all spiritual paths right through the passage of time a lot of significance has been given to the practice of detachment. This is simply because one of the deepest habits all souls have developed in the cycle of birth and rebirth is attachment and we don't realize that whatever we become attached to becomes a trap for our consciousness, for the self, which causes the creation of fear inside us.

So then how do we know that we are attached to someone or something? We know that we are attached when we start thinking about someone or something when they are not present with us and when there is no need to think about them. Sometimes realizing and sometimes without us realizing consciously at that time, our mental energy is being drained and we do not have control over our thoughts and feelings. Whenever we become attached to anything, we automatically invite fear to be present, whether it is to people, objects, position, power, money or even an opinion. Any form of attachment means there will be a fear of damage or loss. Fear then takes many forms like worry, anxiety and stress as it hinders our spiritual growth. Where there is fear, love cannot exist. Detachment is the foundation if we are to remain positive, fearless and loving towards others while interacting with them. This is known as detached involvement.

Soul Sustenance

Nurturing My Relationship With Myself

One of the most significant areas of importance in any human’s life is that of relationships. Someone with very good, close, harmonious and loveful relationships with loved ones, friends, colleagues, etc. is normally considered very fortunate or lucky. But of all relationships, the first and most basic one is the one I have with myself. So, how good, close or deep is my relationship with myself? How well do I know myself? Am I my own friend? If I think over the last week or fortnight, how many of my reactions were unexpected or uncontrolled or basically not the right ones? How many reactions left me confused, sad, unenthusiastic, peaceless, depressed, negative in any other way or in short uncomfortable? If there have been several such situations, it is an indication that there are still things deep within me that I do not know.

Normally a friend is someone whose company I enjoy, for whom there is love and from whom there is some benefit. As in any worldly relationship, without knowing a particular person to the core I can never have a deep relationship with that person. As the phrase ‘spiritual knowledge’ implies, it is the knowledge of the spirit or the self. Only by knowing myself completely and having a good relationship with the self, can I channelize my inner potential that I have within myself - just as water from a river, when properly channelized, provides water for various purposes. In any worldly relationship, if enough time and attention is not given to it and it is not nourished, it gets affected negatively. In the same way, though it's obvious that I have to spend a large chunk of each day involved in situations arising from my duties, routine activities, responsibilities and worldly relationships; my relationship with myself should also be given enough time and attention, so that it does not suffer. If I am not careful about that, my worldly life may use up my energy completely and discharge my inner battery. I need to find times in the day when I give time to my relationship with the self and recharge myself. The peace and happiness I long for internally will be obtained by having a good, positive relationship with the self.

Message for the day

The one who has attention on the self is the one who constantly experiences progress.

Expression: Whenever I am faced with a situation, it is very easy to think and talk about others and their mistakes. I hardly have any time to look at and understand myself and my mistakes. I then continue to repeat the same mistakes again and again.

Experience: Whatever the kind of situations I am faced with, I need to remind myself that I am the one who is going to benefit by bringing about a change in myself. So with this thought I need to constantly continue to check myself and bring about a positive change in myself.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

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