Contemplation: April 09, 2020: Peak and Trough Times

Contemplation: April 09, 2020: Peak and Trough Times

Peak and Trough Times

There are times in the day when you have plenty of energy (peak times) and other times when your energy is at low (trough times). Your focus and attention span ebb and flow.  Do you know your peak and trough times?  Even though each day is different, you'll most likely find you have a consistent rhythm of daily peaks and troughs.  Why not, integrate a variety of tasks according to your energy and focus levels?  So, if you're trying to be productive at the wrong times, it's time to rethink your working habits.  Tackle the 'difficult' and the creative tasks during your peak times.  Use your trough time to do 'easy' and routine tasks.

Increasing The Power Of Discrimination To Improve Actions

Many people feel internally and complain that their intellect is not as clear as they would like. One of the aims of meditation and spiritual knowledge is to make the intellect strong, clear and clean, as a result of which there is an increase in the power of discrimination. An increase in this power helps us maintain a sense of what is right and wrong while performing actions and implement that awareness.

Meditation brings about self-realizations whereby you realize what is happening inside you. Sometimes, while observing someone, we use the phrase: He/she doesn't know what he/she is doing, referring to someone who is acting in an incorrect way. If we are to act in an appropriate way, we need to be aware and be awake to the consequences (results) of our actions. The voice of the conscience brings with it that state of awareness, awakening, realizing and discrimination. This is because, in meditation you feel quiet and you focus your thoughts inwards. In that state, the sound of the voice of the conscience is perceived and heard. It is a voice that is not affected by material worries or a preoccupation about one's image and public appearance. During meditation, you are completely focused on the present moment of spiritual empowerment and not distracted by: karmas which are necessary but unnecessary to be thought of that time, noise, unrelated ideas of the past and the future, mental chatter, etc., basically everything that separates you from your true spiritual self. In this way you can listen to yourself within and as a result ensure to the maximum extent that your karmas are appropriate and accurate.

When things seem complex and complicated, you always have the choice to simplify things.

Clear away any associated memories and unnecessary attitudes that may be colouring your perception.

Make your perception simple and:
- see clearly through the complications of situations and people
- refocus on what really matters
- find the best possible solution and make it easy

Message for the day

When you are full with the treasure of good things that you have imbibed you begin to donate to others too.

Checking: Check if you are expecting either from others or from situations or you are yourself a donor. Where there is any kind of emptiness within there is expectation and you will not be able to give others. 

Practice: Practice looking at your own specialities and see what you can contribute to others from this treasure. When you make the practice of sharing the good things you have, you'll stop expecting from others. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: April 08, 2020: Simplicity and Royalty

Contemplation: April 08, 2020: Simplicity and Royalty

Mother Teresa with Princess Diane in Kolkata

Simplicity and Royalty

There's great beauty in simplicity. It's not plainness; however it is plain in the sense that words and actions are enacted with great royalty, full awareness and with so much significance. Simplicity takes us away from artificialities, it simply accepts and in that acceptance shows us grace and humility in every circumstance.

8 Steps On The Road To Success (Part 3)

The road to success is filled with major changes which we as travelers on it need to be able to adapt to and face, without the changes affecting us negatively. There are people who are very weak at adapting to change because of lack of spiritual strength and the tendency to look at and perceive the changes negatively. It is said at the Brahma Kumaris that the one who moulds becomes real gold or valuable or in other words spiritually pure or powerful. So, the ability to mould or the ability to change as per the different milestones one sees on the road to success is a spiritual power which we need to fill ourselves with. Also, as with traffic signals, also required is the ability to stop on the road to success on passing certain signposts which convey to us that crossing them at that moment of time at the speed at which we are, will cause an accident in the form of an ill physical body or a broken relationship or a stressful mind or a harmed professional or personal role which is being used to reach the destination of success in any sphere of life, and bring the journey to the destination of success to a standstill.

Another spiritual ability is the ability to inculcate new creative and constructive sanskaras as per the demands of what side-scenes (which may sometimes be surprising for many) are seen on the road to success. The type of sanskaras which may be required to be inculcated at that moment of time could be simple like remaining egoless, keeping love maintained with someone with whom things get rough, avoiding the negatives of someone and also not spreading them, not getting frustrated or tired and remaining patient, not creating thoughts of failure, accepting each one’s role with ease, emerging the power to discriminate between wrong and right or remaining economical in using resources like money, time and energy etc. Also, just like any other journey, sometimes it is also important not to get stuck in these side scenes but to ignore or let go of them and carry on with determination on the road to success with our complete focus on the destination of success which our whole journey is dedicated to.

Be smart and understand how your state of mind affects the food you eat.

If you're angry or anxious while cooking then that's the energy you're putting into the food. Instead, nourish and enrich your meals with positive energy!

Plan your meals, shop, prepare, cook and eat with a positive attitude. And most of all enjoy the process. Your mind and body will thank you for it.

Message for the day

Become the ones who make efforts continuously and experience constant self-progress.

Checking: Check if there is any doubt within you whether you'll succeed or not. If there is any such doubt it means that your effort is not continuous. Where there is constant effort you experience constant progress. 

Practice: Each day remind yourself of at least one thing that you have achieved for the day. When you make a habit in this way, you will be able to notice and experience the fruit of the effort that you put in. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: April 07, 2020: Word Power

Contemplation: April 07, 2020: Word Power

Shivani Verma conducts motivational courses through public seminars and television programs. In 2014, she was honored with Women of the Decade Achievers Award by ALL Ladies League for Excellence in Empowering Spiritual Consciousness.

Word Power

There's a powerful connection between the words we use and the results we get. Poor chosen words can kill enthusiasm.  Well-chosen words can motivate, offer hope and consequently alter results. To enhance and empower others, harness your word power to work for you, not against you!

8 Steps On The Road To Success (Part 2)

Just for a minute stop what you are thinking and ask yourself is a goal or an achievement so significant that you do not mind losing some of the beautiful relationships of love of your life, an emotion that is most cherished when in its pure and selfless form. Also, what use is an achieved mission if in the process I suffer sleep disorders or my digestive system is weakened or I suffer from high blood pressure or diabetes or even mental illnesses like depression or sometimes even an end result of attempting suicide when the same purpose of life can be achieved without losing mental peace, even if that means the achievement of the purpose takes place at a date later than the one intended?

So, the first step on the road to success is revising your purpose to one that can be achieved at a slower speed than the speed we might see others working at. Of course, it’s needless to say that the wrong energy with which we are working that is giving us hurry and worry sickness is nothing but competition. Competition is not at all an un-required energy in mainstream society but when competition is accompanied by or mixed with comparisons, it becomes negative or self-harming. So compete, competition is healthy but do not compare, comparisons are unhealthy.  Also, ensure that while moving towards the destination of success it is important to set smaller goals to be achieved instead of targeting directly at the bigger cause. This is important because this keeps us extremely light in our journey and keeps us on the road to success and does not let us become tired when the going gets difficult at times. This is a way of unburdening oneself while travelling on the road to success which can be long at times. Another important feature of a relaxed journey to success is satisfying people who are a part of the journey and not developing cold relations with them. Very often, people are so obsessed with work or professional targets that a 14 hour day at the workplace is a common practice with busy professionals with no time for their family members causing distancing and differences between them and also very often children and life partners being affected negatively by this and remaining dissatisfied.

 (To be continued tomorrow …)

There is an old story about two types of birds. 

The crow is the type that is attracted to dirt and filth. Wherever there is rubbish, I find the crow feasting noisily. 

Then there is the swan. It sees only goodness and things of value. If there are pearls and pebbles, the swan easily discerns and selects the pearls.

To gossip, to lie, to use bad language is to have crow-like characteristics. 

To see only the good in everything and everyone, to hear only what is

uplifting is to have swan-like characteristics.

Message for the day

You can remain stable when you learn to apply a full-stop. 

Checking: In any difficult situation, check if you are having thoughts like, "why do things happen with me like this or why is this person behaving in this way" etc. you can never remain stable when you have such questions. 

Practice: Tell yourself that it is much easier to put a full-stop(.) than putting a question mark(?). understand the difference between worrying and finding solutions and worrying. If there is a solution, find it, if there isn't let things take care of themselves and put a full-stop. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: April 06, 2020: Divine Help

Contemplation: April 06, 2020: Divine Help

Divine Help

Many times people report the feeling of divine help and strength when they come close to breaking point. Actually divine help is always there, but I am usually so busy doing things in my own little way that I only look for it when I face absolute defeat. The tranquil nature of enlightened souls comes from their ability to take God's help constantly. A state of true surrender will lead to the feeling of victory in everything I do.

8 Steps On The Road To Success (Part 1)

We all live a life which is filled with ambition based actions which we perform from the morning to the night i.e. every karma either in the personal, professional, social or financial sphere is filled with the energy of an intention or a pure desire that I have to achieve what I aspire or aim for. But things go wrong when the ambition starts becoming  an obsession and it starts affecting our relationships, health and mind sometimes individually and sometimes all together. With some people, the desire to succeed is so immense and so obsessive that it tends to influence their thoughts to such an extent that they lose interest in performing any karma which takes them away from this aim.

They say success for some comes at a price – a broken soul, a stressful mind, an unhealthy body and harmed relationships. For some, life is like a continuous challenge to be overcome. Challenges are good; they bring out the inner powers and help in tapping the hidden potential inside you but a life which eats, sleeps and breathes challenges and goals is the wrong road to success. A main cause of professional burn out at a young age, which is even causing a lot of people to become severely depressive and unenthusiastic, unenergetic and disinterested after a certain period of time in their careers and in other pursuits of life especially in their family lives, is an obsession to achieve and dream big. Many people are taking to meditation and relaxation techniques because they lost the balance at sometime in their lives and left the right road to success with the destination of success remaining away from them instead of coming towards them.

In the next two days’ messages, we shall explain 8 different steps one needs to take on an emotional level so that success is achieved but without any of the side effects in the form of love lost in relationships and physical and mental illnesses, in short the steps on the road to success.

When life hands you a challenge, welcome it!

View the challenge as an opportunity to:
- push yourself out of your comfort zone
- stretch out to gain more skills, more insights and more confidence

Message for the day

Continuously fill your intellect with good things and it will be empty of waste.

Checking: Each day check how much of good things you are giving your intellect as food. Also check if you find yourself thinking of waste, of things that are not necessary. 

Practice: Each day take out some time for yourself and make it a point to read and think of good things. When you continue to fill your intellect with good food in this way, there will no place for anything waste and it will remain healthy. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: April 05, 2020: Sparkle of Spiritual Wealth

Contemplation: April 05, 2020: Sparkle of Spiritual Wealth

Sparkle of Spiritual Wealth

Every frown line is a sign of the  attitude we bring to our relations with the world and those around us. I will let my face express my spiritual attainments today - my peace, happiness, knowledge and joy. When the sparkle of all this spiritual wealth is visible to all, everyone benefits.

A New Journey With A New Personality (Part 2)

Famous personalities are constantly sought after, in demand and remembered by many due to their specialties, may they be actors, gurus, sportsmen, politicians, founders of religions etc. Even in our daily lives, we tend to remember people with more specialties much more than the rest. God is the most complete and perfect personality that exists, but not a physical personality, a spiritual one. There is no one who is more specialty and virtue-filled than him. That is the reason he is an entity or living energy or personality who is remembered the most by each and every one all over the world.

The above types of personalities mentioned are physical personalities and are remembered by some or many but not remembered by the rest and along with their specialties, they definitely have shortcomings. Also, you might find it difficult getting to meet them even for a few minutes. God is one personality without any weaknesses and he is my constant friend, once I start my journey. He is one who, although being the highest personality, can be available to thousands making a similar journey at the same time, not because he is omnipresent (present everywhere) but because he is omnipotent (the most powerful) and the only being possessing this capability. So, a specialty of this journey is that the more I progress on it and the more time I spend with this new personality accompanying me in my new journey, I constantly see new facets of this new personality being revealed in my life, which keeps the journey constantly refreshing. This also keeps me wondering what is going to be revealed next. So, once this journey of exploration and discovery has started, there's no reason to stop even for a second and there is immense amount of motivation to continue and keep smiling!

What if something goes right?" 

How often do you worry, "what if something goes wrong?" It's good to be aware of what could go wrong, so that you can have back up plans or even be prepared to do things differently.

However, needless worrying about something that may never happen is just a waste of energy. It causes you to miss out on enjoying the present moments. Why concentrate on just the negative?

Today, try shifting, "what if something goes wrong?" to, what if something goes right?" 

Message for the day

Be enthusiastic and make the best use of your fortune.

Checking: When things go wrong, check if you ever have the thought, "It's my fate that is stopping me from progressing." If there is any such thought you are stopping your progress. 

Practice: Each day start the day with a thought, "I will make the best use of everything that comes my way. The future is in my hands and I will make the best use of the present to make the best fortune for myself." 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: April 04, 2020: Getting on with it...

Contemplation: April 04, 2020: Getting on with it...

 Getting on with it…

Worrying about how everything will get done or whether I am capable of doing it limits my ability to respond to challenges considerably. The less I think about doing something and the faster I just get on with it, the fewer problems I cause myself. Good planning is always helpful, but time spent fretting and procrastinating is a major drain on my energy. The more willing I am to respond positively to opportunities, the more my capacity will grow.

A New Journey With A New Personality (Part 1)

Anyone who shows an inclination in getting to know the Supreme Being closely has a fascinating journey in front of them. Spiritual knowledge is the vehicle in which I make this extremely interesting journey full of exploration. Without sitting in the vehicle, I cannot make the journey. As I sit in this vehicle, I am introduced to this new, multi-faced, peaceful, loveful and blissful character in my life, a character who is spiritually rich with treasures of knowledge, virtues, powers, happiness and blessings, a character commonly called God, by everyone.

He is a character who introduces himself as being just a point of conscient light, a form very simple and plain. Yet, hidden beneath that simple light, incognito form is an immense volume of experience, wisdom and depth, such that even a lifetime spent in this journey, in his company, does not bring you to knowing him completely. The more you dive into the ocean of knowledge contained within the light, the more you discover and the more treasures of knowledge and experiences you receive. Every time you make contact with this new found companion called God, there is growth inside you and there is an increase of peace, love, happiness and power inside you. It's just as if after you've begun this journey, you're never quite the same again. However much time you spend in his company during the journey, whether it be in imbibing knowledge from him or remembering him during meditation or even sharing the benefits of this journey to other friends and relatives so that they can also start this journey themselves and experience what you are experiencing; whether you do either of these for a few minutes or an hour, there's always an experience of subtle growth and development inside you.

(To be continued tomorrow...)

You'll be able to do your best when you have respect for the tasks that you are involved in. 

Even the smallest task that you do becomes special when you understand why you are doing it. It then enables you to have respect for whatever you do. When you work with this respect you'll automatically do the best. Check what your feelings are in all the tasks that you are involved in throughout the day. In case you find any task as unimportant don't do it. Also tell yourself at the beginning of the day that today you will take the time to do everything properly.

Message for the day

To have learnt means to bring about a practical change.

Projection: From all that happens, I usually understand a lot of things and take important lessons. But sometimes I find myself making the same mistakes again and again. So I am not able to bring about real change. 

Solution: Once I realize and learn from a mistake that has happened, I need to spend some time in understanding it even further. I need to ensure I don't ever repeat the same mistake. This will enable me to bring about real change. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

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/