Contemplation: March 04, 2020: We Are All Responsible

Contemplation: March 04, 2020: We Are All Responsible

We Are All Responsible

When we look around to examine the state of our environment, which is what we leave behind after developing and exploiting the resources of the planet, many are quick to see pollution and waste. We are not slow in pointing out the damage and the impurities which will be our legacy for the future generations. We are not so quick to spot the impurities which we have allowed to develop and accumulate in our own personal lives. At the level of our thoughts, is every thought a pure and benevolent one, which carries the best wishes for our fellow travelers. Unlikely, as we mostly learn to criticize and complain, attack and blame. At the level of our intentions do we always mean well and want the best for others, or are our intentions sometimes coloured by selfishness or greed? At the level of outcomes do we celebrate the achievements of others as they grow to be all that they can be, or do we stand back in envy or jealousy. Our lives all begin within our own consciousness. The lakes and the landscapes of our mind and intellect are where we all live the most. Do we keep them clean and pure and unspoilt? Can beauty and harmony be found within? No! Then perhaps we need to clean up inside before we condemn others on the outside. Because what is out there is simply a reflection of what is in here! And we are all in it together. Perhaps that is why no one is to blame but we are all responsible.

To understand the importance of time to use it well. 

Each second is like a seed which gives rise to a tree. If that moment is used well, there is benefit for a long time. But, if that moment is lost, there is loss. So, the benefit or loss is in multi-folds. Once we understand this, we are able to fully use the treasure of time for our own benefit and that of others. Today I will keep a check on my daily routine to ensure I don't waste any time, but rather use it well. Not to waste time means I enjoy each and every moment, whatever is the task that I am involved in. such use of each moment of time helps me reap a lot of benefit not only for the present but for the future too.

Experiencing A Spiritual Lifestyle Without Renouncing Society

A good meditator is one who has a mental link or union with the internal self and the Supreme Soul or God who is the source of all goodness. This, along with an understanding of the laws of action or the laws of karma, which govern the behavior of souls, means that one does not have to renounce or leave society in order to achieve enlightenment. Rather, the soul filled with spiritual illumination faces society directly with understanding and the generosity to serve it and to elevate (improve) it.

The soul becomes elevated not by the renunciation of responsibilities or worldly duties but by a renunciation of the negativity that exists within the role being played by it in society. A good meditator does not try to escape social obligations (duties) but rather purifies those duties by becoming filled with light, love, peace and happiness. The stage of self-awareness and God-communication injects a subtle richness into one's life-patterns.

There are those who believe that the elevated state is beyond society and its duties. They find a quiet spot in the jungle or an ashram and contemplate (think about) deeper things. There are others who are stuck in the quicksand of their problems, and believe that those who leave society and take up a spiritual lifestyle are saints. However, holiness and virtue are qualities attained in one's life situations, not in running away from them. The elevated state is not merely a matter of elevated thoughts (which can be experienced in a sanyas), but elevated actions also, for the benefit of the self and the world. We are what we do and not so much what we imagine ourselves to be.

Soul Sustenance

Entering into a Land of Forgiveness (Part 2)

We are all very much aware that forgiveness is an antidote (one that neutralizes or heals) to anger. But to forgive, the first and foremost power that is required is the ability to apply a full-stop on my rough emotions when provoked. The control of my emotions, one minute every hour, is like building a dam across the river of emotions which becomes rough, while coming into interactions with a variety set of personalities and while becoming busy in actions, both of which cause an expansion of thoughts. The situation becomes worse when the interaction or action, during the past hour, has been a negative one, filled with conflict. So, every hour, a short one minute meditation, to fill the mind with the power of peace, is the first preparation of the mind to forgive easily. We suggest to you a few thoughts that you can create – “I am a peaceful soul, a beautiful golden-white star situated at the centre of the forehead. I spread the rays of peace to my surroundings. I am the child of the Ocean of peace, the Supreme Soul. All the people in my office or in my family or in the world at large are also children of the Ocean of peace, their nature is inherently (originally) peaceful. We all together, collectively, have to create an atmosphere of peace at our workplace or home or in the complete world, so that we can all proceed into the land of forgiveness. This is our objective and please do not forget - our sweet father’s (God’s) wish and desire from his children.” 

Collecting 15 minutes of peace every day (one minute every hour), in this way, is extremely valuable. These 15 minutes are the bricks of the dam that you have to build for yourself inside your mind and keep the rough emotions in check. Try this for one month with an earnest heart, a lot of love for God, for whom this exercise is being done, loyalty to his task and determination to transform the self. This peace-brick building exercise will not only dam (control) your emotions but will also slow down the speed of the flow of the river of emotions by healing the origin or source of the river of emotions, which is your sanskara of anger and transforming it into a sanskara of forgiveness, because thoughts of peace not only fill our emotions with peace in the short term but also make our sanskaraspeaceful in the long term. 

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Message for the day

To consider problems to be a game is to move forward with lightness.

Expression: Even when the most difficult problem comes my way, I am able to give my best when I understand the significance of whatever is happening. Because I never experience being subservient to the problem, I am always a master. 

Experience: When I understand that problems are just a game, I am able to play whatever part I have to, externally. But internally I will experience lightness knowing that this is the part I have to play. It would be easy to understand the significance of the part that I am playing and remain happy. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: March 03, 2020: Transform Sorrow

Contemplation: March 03, 2020: Transform Sorrow

Transform Sorrow

If someone causes you sorrow, then don't take it. Your slogan is: Give happiness and receive happiness. Neither cause sorrow nor take sorrow. If someone causes you sorrow, transform it and give that one happiness.

Respect is to recognize and appreciate the unique role of everyone. 

When I find myself having negative thoughts toward anyone, I need to look at the special role this person has to play. 

When I look closely, I will realize how talented they are, and will develop new respect for them. Without this particular person, the drama of life would not be complete.

Harmonizing The Mind And The Intellect

The intellect is the faculty of the soul that judges thought and determines its quality, its ethical purity, its truthfulness, its usefulness, its appropriateness, whether it is necessary, right or wrong. The intellect is backed by the conscience. In fact, the conscience expresses itself through the intellect.  If you have a positive thought, the intellect should approve it and allow it to be put into practice. If a feeling of doubt accompanies the positive thought, the intellect should take it into account and remove that doubt, before the thought gets converted into action. When the faculties of the mind and intellect are pure and strong, and they cooperate in harmony; they support one another and there is no inner conflict. If the intellect is weak, the mind feels confused and it will generate many unproductive thoughts. There will be an inner conflict and in the end the intellect will lose, because the power of influence of the intellect is less. Then, the intellect will not have the power to prevent them from going into action. Actions will be performed that are negative or unproductive, in opposition to the conscience, and they will as a result create negative habits.

The intellect is the most important faculty of human consciousness to bring about personality change. If the quality of the intellect is good, the capacity and quality of the intellectual processes through which you perceive and live reality will be higher. If the intellect is clean and pure, you will differentiate what is real and authentic from what is unreal and false. You will be able to judge if a situation is beneficial or wasteful, useful or useless.

Soul Sustenance

Entering into a Land of Forgiveness (Part 1)

God was once asked - In what light would you like to see the world? He answered - “My deepest wish is to create a land of forgiveness, a land where each one is uncritical and does not keep a stern (strict) eye on others’ mistakes, on others’ shortcomings (weaknesses), a land where there is complete harmony between humans, in spite of their different natures or sanskaras. I want the entire human race to proceed into such a land of forgiveness.” 

Based on the spiritual knowledge and understanding that we have learned at the Brahma Kumaris and with the objective of fulfilling God’s wish, in this message, we are sharing with you seven hearts based on seven different human emotions that are different colours of forgiveness, which you could wear on each day of the week and join us in fulfilling this objective. 

Wear A Generous Heart - Be Forgetful Of Others' Mistakes 
Wear An Open Heart - Accommodate Others 
Wear A Thankful Heart - Give Blessings And Take Blessings 
Wear A Warm Heart - Be Uncritical 
Wear A Tolerant Heart - Keep An Easy Eye On Others’ Weaknesses 
Wear An Accepting Heart - Absorb Others' Virtues 
Wear A Giving Heart - Fill Others With Virtues 

In order to wear these hearts, which means bringing these different colours of the emotion of forgiveness into practice, we need the powers of peace, love and truth. These three powers together make up the healing balm of forgiveness, which heal our anger-filled emotions which in turn heal our peaceless words and actions. 

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Message for the day

To pay attention to every act is to be a hero.

Expression: A hero actor is one who has great attention for every act of his. He makes sure that none of his words or actions are ordinary or waste. He ensures perfection in everything he does. This naturally brings the best out of him. 

Experience: Since I pay constant attention to everything I do, I find that I am able to give my best. I am then satisfied with whatever is happening since I know what I do is not as important as how well I do it. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: March 02, 2020: Beyond Judgement

Contemplation: March 02, 2020: Beyond Judgement

 Beyond Judgement

If I've done nothing wrong, and my attitude is well-meaning, a difficult situation is just a test for my ability to remain beyond the judgement of others.

Gut Feelings

When faced with decisions, most of us experience a gut feeling. Your gut feeling 'knows' what you need and what to do. But sometimes gut feelings can be wrong.

To make better decisions, listen to your gut feelings, but verify it with logic and data.

The Gender Of God

In a large number of religious traditions, all over the world, God is always referred to as a male entity. But, just as the soul does not have a gender and is neither masculine nor feminine, God’s i.e. the Supreme Soul’s gender is neither male nor female specifically. Therefore, as a soul, a spiritual child of God, I can come close to God without any inhibitions or difficulty, which I may experience in any relationship in the physical world, due to the gender of the body I am occupying.

We need to take a look at the Supreme Being or God closely. The Supreme Being is the Supreme Mother who provides spiritual sustenance and whose love is full of unconditional acceptance. No matter what has happened, how my nature or personality may be, I experience unconditional acceptance from God. It's a love that strengthens me, as well as it purifies me. At the same time, God is also the Supreme Father, a very powerful entity, who provides protection and fills the soul with the inheritance of divine qualities and powers. It's a question of just being an innocent child and claiming that inheritance. These are the first two relationships that have to be experienced with God. The Supreme is a balance of being feminine, having the qualities of caring, giving and full of good wishes and masculine at the same time, having the qualities of power, authority and fearlessness. He is She and She is He. These two relationships with God, whereby God plays both the roles of both parents are the basis of my spiritual development. Spirituality introduces to us the concept of taking a new spiritual birth to the Supreme Father and Mother. This birth is based on a change of consciousness. One needs to let go of the negative, impure and sorrowful past and develop a new consciousness, based on the present introduction to spirituality, which is positive, pure and blissful. The awareness of the self as a soul changes my way of looking at things immensely, but the consciousness of being a child of God, who is the Mother as well as the Father and seeing others with that vision brings respect and love for myself. Then all these qualities start showing in my actions and interactions as well.

Soul Sustenance

Role Induced Stress (Part 2)

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 be benefitting our role, our over-concern for it starts affecting it adversely. 

Message for the day

Understanding brings happiness. 

Expression: Happiness lies in understanding the secret of whatever is happening. When one is able to remain happy in this way, he is able to spread this happiness to those around too, influencing the lives of all. 

Experience: When I am able to remain happy under all circumstances, I am able to be free from the influence of others' negativity. Instead I will be able to become a major source of positive influence to those around me. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: March 01, 2020: Spaces Of Silence

Contemplation: March 01, 2020: Spaces Of Silence

 

Spaces Of Silence

Push yourself like a machine and you will eventually run low on energy. Love your mind by allowing it spaces of silence and it will serve you tirelessly.

NEWS

As you read or listen to the news, do you find yourself muttering, "Oh no!", "What?", "That's dreadful!"

Does this help the situation in anyway?
It does, when your justified indignation is channeled into action, but armchair indignation generally doesn't.

Even if you can't take action, you can always take a few seconds to send peaceful and compassionate thoughts out to the situation or to the troubled spots around the world.

Understanding What Is Aura

The mind is the thinking energy of the soul (negative or positive). It is the mental energy, which makes the aura (subtle body) of a person. The soul, situated in the brain, radiates its mental energy to all the brain centers e.g.: hypothalamus (thinking centre), limbic system (centre of emotions and attitudes), frontal cortex (memory centre), respiratory centre, speech centre, visual centre etc., in maximum concentration as these centres are located near the soul. In fact the soul radiates the mental energy to each cell of the physical body. This radiated mental energy which exists inside the whole body is of the same shape as the physical body, which is nothing but the aura.

Now the aura of a person can be photographed by Kirlian photography. If a person most of the time thinks negative, the aura around him has various shades of white light e.g.: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red or can be black if there is no flow of mental energy. If a person thinks positive most of the time then aura around him is made up of silvery white light. Such a person is liked by all and radiates all the innate qualities of the soul e.g.: purity, peace, love, bliss, power around him. Other people coming in contact with him can feel the soothing effect of these qualities. Good meditators normally have clear white auras.

Kirlian photography has been proving useful in diagnosis of disease in a particular part of body and organ system before the disease becomes clinically visible in the form of signs and symptoms.

Soul Sustenance

Role Induced Stress (Part 1)

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 …) 
 

Message for the day

The one desire for perfection ends all other desires.

Expression: The desire for perfection brings the capacity to keep on learning from all situations. There is something new to learn and so there are no other desires. Since the mind is busy with bringing about perfection, there is no time for waste and negative. There is the ability to transform negative to positive. 

Experience: Love for perfection makes me experience constant progress. I have no thought about what I have to get, but continue to attain from each moment and each situation. I am then naturally free from all other desires. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: February 29, 2020: Creating Thoughts of Benefit

Contemplation: February 29, 2020: Creating Thoughts of Benefit

Creating Thoughts of Benefit

Acts of virtue emerge from deep within, from an inner sanctuary of silence from which inspiration flows. Every action has its seed in a thought and every thought is a creation of the thinker, the soul. I choose what thoughts I want to create and as is my thinking so are my actions and also my experience in life. Going within, I touch the stillness and pure love that lie at the core of my being and every thought that I create is of benefit to myself and of benefit to humanity.

Boredom

Boredom can be a result of routine. Do the same thing everyday and you're likely to switch into auto-pilot mode and get lazy in your thinking.

Try to relieve boredom by doing the same thing, differently. Maybe take a different route to work or change the time when you do the laundry. Just get interested, get creative and add a bit of fun to the routine tasks.

Cooking A Meal – Subtle Energies At Work (Part 3)!

The low subtle energy of certain foods like meat, fish, chicken, eggs, onions, garlic, etc. and also alcohol is a deterrent in the purification of the soul, which is carried out by any wise person as a life objective and they also affect the body negatively on an energy level although you might vouch for their physical benefits, which may even be correct. So excessive consumption of such foods should be avoided, in fact completely avoided. This is a spiritual principle and given significance by the spiritual minded, based on their experiences, because these foods cause the minds to become agitated and lustful, even subservient (under the influence of) to other negative emotions like greed, attachment, ego and jealousy. On a lighter note, you might say, then why not purify these foods by meditation and then consume them but these are foods that come in the tamsic category and giving them pure emotional energies in the form of subtle vibrations does not transform their inherent tamsic or impure nature so much so as to not have a negative effect on the mind and the body.

Also, along with being selective about your meal menu ingredients, taking into consideration their different natures, it’s important to maintain a higher spiritual consciousness while cooking and having meals. This can be done by mothers by creating positive and peaceful thoughts or by playing a few songs of the spiritual type or even playing soothing meditation tunes which performing the cooking karma. Also, before consuming any food item or even water, spend a few seconds in creating a powerful thought of spiritual self-respect and focus your vision or drishti on the item. In this way, the food or liquid item will be charged with positive vibrations through your eyes and its negative nature, both on a physical as well as spiritual level, will be healed. This is in short a spiritual perspective of cooking and consumption of meals and the intention of the message is not to prevent you from having tasty meals and delicious dishes which you are addicted to.

Soul Sustenance

Healing Of Wounds Inside The Soul Through Meditation 

Our connection with the Supreme Soul, through meditation, is the best way of healing the inner wounds and negative traces, inside the soul, which have been left by the negative karmas of the past. Given below is a meditation commentary that will help you to absorb the positive healing energy of the Supreme in order to do the same: 

I become aware of myself as a tiny sparkling star of light, situated just above the eyebrows – a soul... In soul consciousness, I experience the beauty of the many qualities like peace, love and bliss; of the spiritual being that I am... Now I turn my mind to the soul world… Over there, I visualize, in front of me – a sparkling Sun of golden light - God, the Father and Mother of me, the soul... He radiates immense spiritual energy... I turn my mind and intellect to his light... I feel the warmth of His presence and the light of His love for me gently healing the wounds of the past that are buried deep inside me, the soul... wounds left by ego, fear, sorrow, jealousy, hatred, anger… 

While I sit and absorb this healing energy from the Source, I also transmit that light and positive energy out into the world... This light touches everyone I know and have ever known... It is a light which also heals my negative vision of them... I now recognize everyone around me as brother souls, playing their own unique roles... With this new soul-conscious vision, I experience unconditional love for each soul and all negative memories and past hurts associated with each of my relationships is consciously released... The past is forgotten, resulting in a deep feeling of freedom inside me... 

The beauty of the Law of Karma is realizing that when our consciousness is filled with happiness, peace and love for others today; and we transmit that positivity to others through our words and actions, the energy received back from each of our relationships, as a result of doing that; ensures that our own future will be bright. 

Message for the day

Creativity comes when there is happiness. 

Contemplation: Happiness touches the heart and enables the creativity to come from within. The one who is happy doesn't wait for the right opportunity to be creative, but uses each moment as a chance for using creativity - for bringing newness. 

Application: When I am happy I am able to enjoy and make the best use of each and every moment of my life. I will want to do something new, unique and different. So I also have the satisfaction of having done my best. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: February 28, 2020: Completionist

Contemplation: February 28, 2020: Completionist

Completionist

A task left undone remains undone in two places, the actual location and inside your head.  Incomplete tasks, in your head, consume the energy of your attention as they gnaw at your conscience.
Are you delaying because you're a perfectionist?  Maybe, try being a completionist.

To recognize weaknesses is to have the ability to transform them. 

We do try to work on weaknesses to remove them, but most times we are not able to understand what is the real cause for them. So, we do not find any marked difference, i.e., we are not able to bring about much of a change. The method to find the real weakness is to keep introspecting as to why the weakness is working. This needs honesty in the heart and clarity in the intellect. Today I will pick out one weakness of mine and check what is the real cause of that weakness. When I try and understand, I find that I am much more easily able to work on removing my weaknesses. I then don't have guilt or negativity but am able to work on it with confidence.

Cooking A Meal – Subtle Energies At Work (Part 2)!

When cooking a meal, switch on the role of a beautiful creator of the divine sustenance for the mind and body, a loving God Mother and switch off the role of a hard-working homemaker, say to yourself - I love making a meal using the creations of nature, the ingredients that are given to me by the wonders of nature, the elements of nature, so pure in their original state, that they are also given the status of different Gods or deities actually (although being non-living), like Vayu Devta (the god of wind), Surya Devta (the sun god), Indra Devta (the rain god), Agni Devta (the god of fire), Prithvi Devta (the earth god) etc. Nature is also commonly called Mother Nature or Dharti Mata , which reflects its purity, gentleness and softness. These elements reflect all that nature has to offer us through different sources.

So making a meal is respecting and loving these elements to the fullest. Also, although nature’s elements are eternal, it is important to know that when nature loses its sanctity (purity), it’s the Supreme Power of the Universe, incorporeal (non-physical) God who purifies them and returns them to their original state. That is why God is mistakenly called the creator of nature, which he is not per se (exactly), although he is a transformer of nature. So the nature’s elements also, when in their pure state, giving pure energy to the soul and its temple, the physical body. But, today as we all know, these elements have lost their purity on a physical level i.e. because of causes like pollution, emission of poisonous gases from manufacturing units, deforestation, depletion of the ozone layer, global warming and other man created issues like the use of improper materials to grow vegetables and fruits that are harmful to the physical body; and they have also deteriorated on a subtle energy level, the spiritual energy level. So it’s important to purify your meal ingredients through meditation before their consumption.

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Soul Sustenance

 Understanding The Inner Mechanism Of Anger 

If we think, speak and act in an angry way, we leave an impression or memory of anger within our own consciousness which results in sanskara of anger to be born. Within the sanskara is the recorded emotion and experience of our expression towards the object of our anger. The object is a particular person or situation. If we encounter the object of our anger the next day, it will trigger the emergence the recorded anger from within the sanskara. We then deepen the sanskara as we express more anger, even if we only think anger. The emergence of this emotional energy from within our consciousness then stops us from interacting in a positive way. It clouds our mind and confuses our intellect, weakening and distorting our thoughts, decisions and behaviour. This often explains why we find it harder to connect and communicate with certain people in our life. Essentially we are carrying a negative image of the other person within our sanskara from a previous interaction with them. And when we see them again it emerges the energy within the sanskara, which then influences our ability to respond to them.

Message for the day

Where there is faith there is victory 

Expression: When someone has faith there are no doubts or questions about the self, others or situations. Faith also enables a person to see and understand simple things in life with a new understanding. It shows direction and courage to go on. 

Experience: When I have faith, I experience myself to be lucky and thus receive cooperation from many others. I would also be able to experience success at every step. There is then no worry for me and am troubled less by aspects that keep changing around me. My thoughts then would always be positive and I experience victory. 

In Spiritual Service,

Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/