Contemplation: April 15, 2020: Aim High

Contemplation: April 15, 2020: Aim High

Aim High

Each one of us is capable of so much more than we currently believe possible.  Every day, create an aim for yourself.

Rather than aiming at what you know you can do, challenge yourself to aim higher than where you are at right now.

Go on, aim high and set yourself a high standard.  Stretch, and make effort to reach that aim.

Accept Change, Don’t Resist It (Part 1)

Change resistance or the inability to adopt to change is the most common reason for the life stresses that all of us are faced with. There used to be a time when change was not so sudden as it is now, but modern lifestyles have made change so sudden that we have reached a point where change resistance has almost become like a syndrome or illness. There was once a businessman named Mr. Rai (name changed), who was very successful in everything he did, whether it be his profession, relationships, earning wealth, earning a name for himself and with a superb personality. It was all great going until one day came when suddenly the government’s policies bought the stock market crashing down and his company, which he headed – its stocks (shares) took a dip and at the same time the fall in his professional stature saw an egoistic life partner turn away from him out of dissatisfaction. These two downs in his life saw his self esteem nosedive (fall down) to its lowest. Life was not the same again. His teenaged children developed bad habits because of a rocked marriage and Mr. Rai was struggling with the sudden changes in his life so much that he took to drinking excessively and even resort to gambling, causing emotional instability and depression.

This can happen to any of us, a sudden change of fortunes, where suddenly one single negative event, only a single change, can rock your life boat and cause it to become unstable in the life ocean and even sink. What should have Mr. Rai done so that he could have prevented a downslide in his fortunes – from extremely successful, one of the wealthiest and the very best to be seen as unsuccessful. A change of perception you would say. That’s what all self-help books talk about. But how? And here we also throw light on the golden principle of acceptance, which follows the change of perception and also cannot take place without the perception change and is an opposite emotion than the one which we commonly experience – that of resistance, when faced with a difficult situation.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Like a lighthouse, stay stable through the storms of life.

The storms of life may trouble or affect others, but if you maintain hope and light, then your stability provides direction and encouragement to others to move forward.

Message for the day

Fulfill your promise instead of just keeping it in a file and you'll find progress. 

Expression: In all that you do throughout the day, check to what extent you are able to fulfill the promises that you make to yourself. Also check the reason for not being able to fulfill some promise that you have made recently. 

Experience: Think of that promise that you had made to yourself recently that you had not been able to fulfill and think of the reason why you had made that promise and how important it is for you to fulfill that promise. When you practice in this way you'll find yourself getting enthusiastic to fulfill that promise. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: April 03, 2020: Self-Talk

Contemplation: April 03, 2020: Self-Talk

Artist: Saswati Chaudhuri

Self-Talk

Everyone talks to themselves.  At times it's a conversation that runs continuously in the background of our mind. So, don't allow negative self-talk to creep in and sap your confidence.  Increase your self-worth by choosing to talk to yourself with complete respect.  No criticism or judgement allowed! Give yourself credit for everything you try to do.  And when you catch yourself expecting perfection, remind yourself that you are doing your best. Just believe in yourself and remember that you're worth it!

Receiving The Gifts Of God (Part 3)

A very significant aspect of life with the Brahma Kumaris, whether surrendered in the organization or staying at home and performing a homemaker’s or/and professional role and following all the principles of the Brahma Kumaris is listening to a four page spiritual lesson at any of the Brahma Kumaris official centres everyday. The lesson is a common one i.e. the same on a particular day at all centres all over the world in around 110 countries, which is read by an experienced teacher of the meditation and spiritual wisdom as shared by the Brahma Kumaris. It is called murli or the flute of knowledge by us. It is conducted in the mornings at around 7 a.m. at the centres and is held after early morning meditation and following the morning duties dedicated to the physical body and some light house work. All members of the organization have experienced drastic transformation in their personality and also an immense increase in their happiness levels and a capacity to remain empowered amidst difficult worldly situations by receiving this morning gift for even a few months from God.

To end on a note dedicated to our love for the Supreme, we would like to share our warm feelings with you by reminding you that our hearts have longed for a life in the canopy of God over thousands of years and it is our personal wish that when God is offering the treasures of his divine company to his soul-children, we do not miss the amazing opportunity of filling our hands full with these treasures and distributing the same to each and every human being whom we meet and bringing smiles back on their faces in demanding times of busy schedules and tight deadlines combined with difficulties in all spheres of our lifestyles including inner pressures due to various reasons. So let us awaken and come together under one umbrella of God’s spiritual love and a common bond between all of us – one of spiritual brotherhood and join hands together and make the most benefit of the present moments. There will come a time in the near future when these precious moments will no longer be available and easy to savour (enjoy) as the cycle of time turns further and time enters a phase of unexpectedness with the world atmosphere deteriorating and sorrow in human hearts increasing and God becoming difficult to remember and even God taking up a stance of detachment, due to the same and not offering his love in the same way.

Love

The love of the Unconditional Source is like spiritual sunlight.

It is selfless, complete in itself: it always adds and never subtracts.

Message for the day

The ability to find solutions comes when I know the art of listening.

Projection: I normally get to hear a lot of things and tend to get coloured by all that I hear. The more I hear about negative things, the more difficult it becomes to maintain my own positivity. Yet I can do nothing to ignore the things that make me feel negative.

Solution: I need to know to listen to people rather than just hearing them. To know to listen means the ability to transform negative into positive. Just as a doctor listens to all the negative aspects about the disease etc and still knows only to give the medicine, I too need to listen in order to give what is required. 

In Spiritual Service,

Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: April 02, 2020: Contentment

Contemplation: April 02, 2020: Contentment

The King of the Jungle reposing with child

Contentment

Contentment does not come to those whose means are great, but to those whose needs are few.

Receiving The Gifts Of God (Part 2)

From our experience, the most beautiful gift of the present time, is the start of our daily routine, which begins in the lap of love of the Supreme Father (whom we all have experienced to be a subtle being of light, full of spiritual love) either as a point source of magnetic spiritual light, someone whose aura is so supremely charged that it envelopes the being of light or soul or the inner me completely or in the angelic form, through which we experience the multifarious (different types of) human relationships which we play on the physical world stage, but in their most perfect and pristine (pure) form. We normally rise up very early at around 3.30 a.m., which is also calledAmritvela or the sweet nectar time, when a rising song is played and after freshening up; perform the meeting with this Supreme Light in both the forms (explained above) from 4 a.m. to 4.45 a.m. The meeting is a visualization process, because the meeting is not visible to the physical eyes. The posture of the meeting is a simple one, just sitting cross-legged or on a chair comfortably, with the eyes open and soft red light illuminating the room, where the relaxation exercise is performed. Gentle flute like music or of a similar type is normally played in the background and a soothing song is normally played at the start and just before the end of the beautiful meeting of hearts of the soul and its father, its mother, its beloved, its best friend, its teacher and its guru all submerged into a single entity – the Supreme Ocean of Love, the Father of Fathers, commonly called God.          

Love for both forms of remembrance of God – the point form and the angelic form is an integral part of the life at the Brahma Kumaris. Even during the day, five times, a short song is played amidst actions where we transfer our consciousness from action and connect through both these mediums (also called mind traffic control), thereby maintaining the love filled connection constantly. The point form is a powerful connection which strengthens the inner being or soul, purifies it immensely and fills it with the seven primary virtues whereas the angelic meeting is a loveful soft union with the Supreme, where the soul not only gets cleansed but can eat, sleep and play with the Supreme; hold his hands, relax with and sit in his lap and also experience his warm touch and absorb his spiritual energy through his angelic vision or drishti and be face-to-face with him, just like making a meeting similar to one we make in the physical world.
(To be continued tomorrow …)

Being Soul Conscious

Every moment of every day is an opportunity to strengthen your ability to be soul conscious. The practical application of meditation means that you can move into this “soul awareness” wherever you are – while cooking, during a journey, in the middle of a conversation, while working in the office etc. These are the basic steps to practice moving into a state of stillness and focusing your awareness.

Sit in a comfortable but alert position wherever you are right now... Imagine your whole body is surrounded by an envelope of subtle light... See the light draw itself up to a point of focus above and behind your physical eyes... Be aware that you are that point of focus...

Just as you might stand absolutely still as you look through the windows of your home to see the street or garden outside... look through your eyes now as if they were windows... Be aware that you are not your eyes... you are the still point of awareness, a tiny sparkling star, the soul, looking through your eyes seeing the world 'out there'... Remain still inside...

As you watch people and life moving around you, remain completely still... just watching without thinking about what you see... Then, in one split second ‘narrow’ your awareness to one small detail in the scene that you see... Hold that detail for a moment... Be free of any judgment or assessment of the detail… Just watch...just be aware... Then ‘expand’ your awareness to the entire scene once again... Remind yourself of who you are...the soul looking out through the windows of the eyes...completely still....focused...fully aware.

Message for the day

Trust comes when there is mutual respect. 

Projection: It is normally experienced that it is difficult to trust people around me. I do want to but the negative experiences do not let me do so. I add up to this negative experience with each incident that happens, which further breaks my trust for people. 

Solution: The only way to trust and gain people's trust is by having respect for them. Respect makes me look at the specialities in everyone and I am able to relate to these specialities. The more I look at the positive aspect in others, the more I am able to encourage others to use these specialities and relate to my own specialities too. This is the only way that trust comes. 


In Spiritual Service,

Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: April 01, 2020: Overcoming Obstacles

Contemplation: April 01, 2020: Overcoming Obstacles

Overcoming Obstacles

Obstacles are like mountains.  When you look up at the mountain from the valley, it seems so big and difficult to climb.

Instead of looking at obstacles from below, try taking an eagle's eye view.  

From this viewpoint, you can take in the whole picture, see where you are and come up with a strategy to overcome the obstacle.

Don't be overwhelmed by the mountains, just remember obstacles are hurdles for you to fly over.

Receiving The Gifts Of God (Part 1)

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to come face-to-face with the highest authority in the universe, to have a meeting of a few seconds or a few minutes or a few hours with God, the ocean of knowledge, the ocean of love, the ocean of power and the ocean of bliss? In this message series, we would like to present in front of you, with a humble heart, an attitude of obedient service and a sweet, pure intention of sharing, our collective experiences of such meetings in our daily lives.

Have you ever imagined that you can tie God with the strings of love to your heart i.e. you were to come so close to him whereby he would be just like any other person in your life, someone with whom you can discuss just about anything that you wished, someone whom you could confide in, someone whom you can give your heart to, someone from whom you can receive helpful friendly responses when you are faced with difficulties, someone whom you can call out to with the voice of your heart and receive the gift of his company in less than a second, someone whom you can receive sustenance from just like physical parents give to their children, someone from whom you can receive secrets of living life the right way and be free from confusion, someone whom you can dance in joy with when he showers your life with success, someone who fills your intellect and nature with thousands of virtues and powers, someone whose angelic hands you experience on your head while performing the most routine actions of the day, someone who offers you the fortune to help him in his task of world transformation?

This is the beautiful blessing to the present moments in the history of humanity, also called the most auspicious and most valuable Confluence Age (or Sangamyuga), between the Iron Age (or Kaliyuga) and the future Golden Age (or Satyuga), when God is distributing the gifts of his beautiful company and offering the canopy of his love to all his children, the lucky soul-stars of the Earth.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Where there is true respect there is humility. 

The more respect is measured on the basis of something external, the greater the desire for recognition from others. The greater the desire, the more one falls victim to ego and there cannot be humility. Start the day with a thought that brings self-respect. Tell yourself that you are special and you will use your speciality throughout the day. You will not dominate or limit the freedom of anyone. 

Message for the day

To do what is right for all is to remain happy. 

Expression: The one who is always concerned for others is the one who can do right for others. There is constant benefit for others merged in every action of such a person. Because of having given without expectation, there is happiness in everything that is done. There is also uniqueness and speciality revealed in every action. 

Experience: I experience double benefit, because there is happiness in the effort as well as in the result of that effort. There is constant success experienced by me. I am also able to receive the good wishes and blessings from others and I further get encouraged to use my speciality. So I constantly experience progress in my life. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/ 

Contemplation: March 31, 2020: Think No Evil

Contemplation: March 31, 2020: Think No Evil

Think No Evil

"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." 

We have heard of this and seen picture the three monkeys.

On the subtle level, think no evil… thoughts become words, and words become actions…repeated actions become habits…thus, on the phy

sical level, you will do no evil…

YOU ARE WHAT YOU THINK !

The one who is constantly full of enthusiasm inspires others. 

Whenever problems come our way, we tend to feel weighed down by negative thoughts. Heaviness in the mind prevents us from moving forward with enthusiasm and makes it tricky for us to inspire others. Whenever I encounter a difficult situation, I need to make a special effort to remain free and light. The more enthusiastic I am, the more progress I will make. My attitude will inspire others, too.

Returning To The Inner Seat Of Mental Comfort And Peace

At the end of a busy and hurry filled and many a times even peaceless day at office, everyone goes home, to do what? Even a housewife, who has had a busy day in the kitchen and with the children, will yearn to do want at the end of the day? Sit, lie down, relax and experience peace. Just as each one of us returns home or to the comfort of the bedroom at the end of each day; each time we experience any of the various forms of anger in our words or actions or even in our thoughts, sooner or later, we will try to return to what we instinctively and intuitively know is the truth, what is right and good, to the inner seat of our own mental comfort and peace, which is our original and basic sanskara, peacelessness being an acquired one. It's as if we know when we are set on this seat that we have access to our inner power. It's as if we know that we can only be comfortable, powerful, blissful and content when we are first peaceful.

Sitting on this seat also provides us with the ability and the power to influence others. A proof of the fact is that all of us have, sometime or the other, known someone who lived their life peacefully but assertively (not weakly or timidly). They expressed themselves peacefully and interacted with others free of any traces of anger in their personality, and they stayed, more or less, positively peaceful and peacefully positive. We remember that person for much longer than the one who is always finding an excuse to use the weapon of anger when things or people do not go his way or get things or people to be as he would want. The peaceful nature of another makes a deeper and more lasting impression on our hearts than the angry nature of another.  And when we are in the presence of such a peaceful person, we always allow them into our lives much more and for longer periods of time. In the same way, when we function from our inner seat of mental peace, we are able to influence others and make a lasting impression on others much more.

Soul Sustenance

The Negative Shade of Respect in Relationships (Part 2) 

In yesterday's message, we had looked at the incorrect and negative side of respect (the energy of fear) in relationships. Today we look at this kind of relationship from that person's perspective from whom respect is demanded. When the boss or the parent or the spouse (please refer to yesterday's message) tries to induce respect inside you for him or her, in return you fear him or her, most of the time thinking it is respect. But, at that point, you need to remember it is impossible to give respect to another if we, at the back of our own minds, fear them. If you are scared of someone or something, it means there is an absence of self -respect, there is a lack of a true realization of your own value, your specialties, your skills and the virtues and powers that you possess. And if you do not respect yourself, you cannot truly respect another. It is only when you are firmly established in your own self-respect that you have no fear of others and are then capable of giving genuine respect to others. Sometimes we are not comfortable with being seen as fearful, because our image will take a beating, so we try to avoid admitting we fear someone by saying we respect them, but internally we are in awe of that person and being in awe is not respecting him or her. 

Many a times, two prominent people e.g. two actors or politicians or sportsmen are not on good terms. They accuse and bring down each other publicly and are known enemies in the press. While they do that, they also carry a subtle fear of each other, a fear that the other will outperform them; the other will be more popular, the other will be more powerful etc. This normally happens because of a lack of self-respect. They both will probably hide that and will pretend that they are confident and established in their self-respect. But if their self-respect were genuine, they would not be scared of each other, and they would have the courage and the patience to talk and work with each other and listen to and offer the hand of friendship to each other, whom they perceive to be an enemy. But when they don't have the strength of their own self-respect and when they are unaware of their lack of self-respect, subtle fear for the other creeps in, which they don't realize and if they realize, they do not admit the same. And that's why the restoration of self-respect is only possible when the ego is recognized and no longer nourished. Because, fear always comes from the ego and ego is nothing but an excessive attachment to one's false image. 

Message for the day

You will be truly successful when you are loving and detached with the ones you come into contact with. 

Expression: With all the people that you come into contact with throughout the day, check if you are able to have a balance between being loving and detached. Detachment doesn't mean to stay away from people, but to be with them and yet be detached. 

Experience: Make the practice of seeing only specialities, your own and that of others. This will enable you to maintain your self-respect and you will be able to find yourself both loving and detached. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: March 30, 2020: Flexibility

Contemplation: March 30, 2020: Flexibility

Participants for the International Yoga Day practice among the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat

Flexibility

With humility and love, flexibility becomes natural. When I come across someone who is not being co-operative I need to become humble and try to understand what the other person is communicating, if not through words at least through actions. When I am able to listen with love and understanding, I will not be rigid anymore but will be able to adapt to communicate and co-operate with others.

Talents

There are some very smart people out there, people who have more natural talent than others!
Even though natural talent still counts, talent is much more than a natural aptitude.

Talent is to work hard towards a goal, consistently.
Hard work is the key to success.

Simply, work hard and make hard work, easy and enjoyable.

Seeing With Spiritual Eyes

My eyes are the most powerful medium through which I, the soul, not only absorb information from the outside to the inside but also express myself to others from the inside to outside. All that the soul possesses inside it or is made up of in the form of thoughts, feelings, attitudes, positive virtues, even weaknesses, in fact all personality traits, are expressed through my eyes to others and shared with others. As I look towards others, my eyes can be used to shower others with pure love, peace, joy, power etc. and the same eyes, if not used appropriately, can shower others with anger, jealousy, criticism, hatred etc. My eyes also express whatever wisdom or knowledge I possess inside.

When I stay in the awareness that I am a soul, a spiritual being of subtle light, situated at the center of my forehead, my eyes are used to see others in the same way with a spiritual vision. This leads to my spiritual upliftment. When I stay in the awareness that I am a body, my eyes are used to see others in the same way with a non-spiritual or a body-conscious vision. This brings me down on a spiritual level. A spiritual vision helps me see others with a sense of equality, instead of with feelings of comparison or competitiveness. Usually, on a physical level, I create all sorts of impressions of another person from just one glance through my eyes, about their age, gender, looks, position in society, job, how rich they are, their dressing sense, caste, nationality etc. and many a times, very commonly, I make various assumptions about their personality or behaviour. In the state of soul-consciousness, that changes. Looking out I see souls, and I see them as my brothers, on exactly the same level as me, neither higher, nor lower. A spiritual vision reminds me of the original, positive qualities of each soul, instead of their present personality. It also reminds me that each soul has incarnated from the soul world to play its various roles through different physical costumes in this unlimited drama on the world stage. Age, gender, appearances, status etc. which are visible to me today are just temporary ones. The same soul has been in the past and will be in the future in different physical costumes or roles, where all these have been and will be different and the same applies to me too. This makes me rise above comparisons and I am no longer judgmental about the other.

Soul Sustenance

The Negative Shade Of Respect In Relationships (Part 1) 

Many a times in offices, we find the dominating boss who wants everyone in the office to fear him or her. The boss may not necessarily be a person with a negative personality, but this desire exists inside the boss because he or she holds a negative belief that people fearing him is the same as respecting him and respect is something that any boss would naturally yearn for. This can happen in homes also, with a dominating father or a dominating mother doing the same with the other members of the family. 

The main reason why this happens is because the boss or the father or the mother is normally lacking in self-respect, although he or she is unaware of it. Due to this, he or she, without realizing again, is looking for it from others and in fact over a period of time, as the need builds up or increases, he or she will start demanding the same from others, which takes a form of the negative energy of fear in the relationship. The boss or the father or the mother starts feeling that the sign that he or she is successful in achieving in getting the respect he or she wants, would be the other fearing him or her. Simply getting someone's attention or the other being in awe of him or her or the other being under his or her negative influence which are all subtle forms of fear is then mistaken for being respected, and if he or she does not receive respect in this incorrect manner, he or she will even try and bring about the creation of respect in the other and try and pull it from the other using various methods which are violent in a subtle way, harming the relationship in a big way. 

In tomorrow's message, we shall look at this type of relationship from the other's i.e. the employee's perspective or the perspective of the other people in the family in the case of the father or mother. 

Message for the day

The right solution is found by the mind which is free from worry. 

Expression: No matter how hard one worries about a problem, there can be no solution found. When the mind is free from worry, it is able to be calm. Then there will be no struggle but very naturally the right decision is made, which would be for the benefit of the self and that of others too. On the contrary, a mind that is worried would make decisions that are harmful, even after a lot of thinking and rethinking. 

Experience: When I keep the mind free from worry in the most difficult situation, I am able to experience inner calm, in-spite of the outer disturbance, because there is no disturbance in my natural thinking process. There is a lot of peace within, which enables me to be free from negative feelings for everyone. I also naturally have good wishes for myself and others, so whatever I do would be for everyone's benefit. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/