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: April 21, 2020: Expecting Others to Change?

Expecting Others to Change?

Instead of expecting others to change, be compassionate in understanding others and understanding the situation.
Your compassion may inspire the person to change for the better.

A Message From God (Part 1)

We all talk to God … in our prayers … hymns … and rituals. We thank Him for everything He has given us … we praise Him for His powers … we ask Him for help … we ask Him to forgive us for our sins … we talk to Him everyday … but have we paused to listen to what He has to say to us. This message from God can connect you to the one you have been looking for … can give you all that you ever wanted … let’s listen to Him …

- My sweetest children, you have forgotten me, because we haven’t met since a very long time. You have all heard about me, read about me. But now the time has come for me to talk to you directly, to tell you the truth you have been looking for. Before I tell you about myself, let me remind you about yourself. Sweet children, you are not who you think you are – name, religion, profession, relationship … you are not even this body which you see. You are a pure conscient being, a tiny point of light, a soul which uses the body to play many roles. You are a pure, peaceful, loveful, powerful soul.

Around 5000 years ago, you all lived with me in our home … the soul world … a land of complete silence and purity. But you, my sweet children, had to play your role on this earth, for which you left me and your home and came into this world. When you came to this world you were complete, perfect and divine. Each of you got a perfect costume to wear and this world was a perfect world … a world of divinity, love and prosperity, called Paradise, Heaven, Swarg, Jannat, Bahist … When your body would get old, you would just change and wear a new costume and continue to play your role. More and more children from home joined you in this world. You all were enjoying this world of happiness for about 2500 years, called the Golden Age (Satyuga) and Silver Age (Tretayuga).

(To be continued tomorrow …)

The sign of truth is having good manners.

If you have the power of truth, you should never leave your good manners behind. You may prove the truth, but do it with good manners.

The sign of good manners is humility and the sign of a lack of good manners is being stubborn.

When your words and activity are based on good manners, you will receive success.

Message for the day

True courage brings benefit to the self as well as to others.

Expression: When there is fear, there is some kind of danger, either for the self or for others. The one who fears, or the one who doesn't have the courage to accept and face situations, is not able to bring out the best form within himself. Such a person is constantly thinking of excuses and is trying to blame others for the mistakes that happen.

Experience: With courage, if I am able to take up responsibility for every situation that I am faced with, I am able to be free from worry or tension. I will then be in a position to learn and so I find progress at every step in my life. I find others giving me a lot of good wishes for my sincerity. I also become an inspiration for all others too to bring about a positive change.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: April 20, 2020: Inner Sanctuary Retreat

Inner Sanctuary Retreat

“Getting away from it all' is something we all love to do.
Why wait for the holidays! Whenever you need it, make time over the weekend for your very own retreat at home.

Create a sanctuary. Drop the distractions. Take the phone off the hook. Listen to soothing music. Simply enjoy the solitude and some unstructured time.

You can even use this time to review recent events, create new dreams or retreat into your inner space to renovate the soul.

Carrying Feelings Experienced In Meditation Into My Interactions

If I keep close contact with my internal self, to check what my feelings are like and I maintain the meditative awareness at many moments during the day, even if it is for very short periods of time, I will find that the good feelings I have experienced through conscious choice, in meditation, I carry them with me into my interactions with others. Then, in any exchange, although the other person's thoughts, words or actions may not be as I would like them to be, I'll be better equipped to maintain a good feeling towards that individual, and towards myself.

For example, I meditate in the morning and then leave home and find myself in a situation in the office where two of my colleagues are arguing over an issue. When I try and intervene, one of them gets aggressive with me as well, but the feelings of peace I experienced in my meditation a couple of hours ago are still with me, using which I do not reacting angrily or fearfully. In fact, if my peace is powerful enough, it will make the other one also peaceful.

So the key is to emerge and collect positive feelings through meditation at regular intervals during the day. And then become a donor of positive feelings to negative situations as discussed above is an invaluable achievement. It is good for my own well being, and for contributing to the creation of a peaceful atmosphere wherever I am, whenever required.

To have faith is to have the ability to bring solutions.

Faith enables me to see the positive aspect both in myself and in fate. Whatever happens, it is surely for my benefit and I only need to work at adopting that benefit into my life. Faith makes me free from worry. And a mind that doesn't worry is a mind that is powerful. I can then surely bring solutions even in the biggest problem. Today I will pick up a problem that has been bothering me from a long time. First I will tell myself that I am sure there is a solution for this problem. I will also believe that I have the ability to bring about the solution. After talking to myself in this way, I will try and find at least one thing that I can do to change the situation. It need not be a full solution but at least a step towards a change for the better.

Message for the day

The one with zeal and enthusiasm is constantly tireless.

Expression: Zeal and enthusiasm brings the willingness to move forward under all circumstances. Never are there are any excuses given, whatever the difficult situations or challenges that one might be faced with. Instead whatever has to be done is done without any tiredness. Also the best is made out of all situations.

Experience: When I am able to be enthusiastic under all circumstances, I am able to be tireless. This tirelessness gives me the courage to move on and experience constant success. I become aware of my own resources and make the best use of them. So I also experience internal progress, constantly.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: April 19, 2020: The Secret of Good Health

The Secret of Good Health

The secret of good health is good nourishment and exercise. We need daily nourishing food and exercise to maintain a healthy body and it takes care and attention to fulfil this responsibility. Making the effort underlines our value and importance as a human being. However, the human spirit needs the same attention in the form of the thoughts we have and how the mind puts them to use. Feeding both body and mind with nourishing food gives a powerful and consistent message to respect and co-operate with one another. This is holistic good health.

Going Beyond False Identifications

The more I identify with the physical factors of my life, the more I become a prisoner to my destiny or the various up and downs of my life. E.g. if my self-respect is attached to my beautiful new car, how will I feel about myself when the car becomes old and its beauty and shine reduce? Or if I my car is stolen or gets immensely damaged in a road accident? Then, I shall find myself in an identity crisis. The same will be true if my business or job is everything to me. If one day, I am in a good financial state and I enjoy a very respectable and dominant position, and the next day I find myself in a dispute in my profession and I suddenly lose all of that, and nobody wants to know me, I will feel as if I have lost my soul and have almost died. The problem is sometimes so great that people do, literally, lose their desire to live. It happens, too, in relationships, when your partner leaves you either due to a separation, a divorce or even death - a partner in whom you have invested all your love and emotions. Or if my identity is tied to my back balance or property, and suddenly I am broke.

All of these are actually false identifications, and the crazy part of living this way is that I can never be satisfied, even if I succeed in maintaining my false identity. These kind of false identifications do not keep me placed stably on my seat of self-respect and either bring about an inferiority complex or a superiority complex - both of which are false, so both bring insecurity. Even while I am externally successful, having my identity based on that success means I am a slave to them. I've handed over my self-esteem to them. I become addicted to it.

To experience power I need to experience inner silence.

During conflicts, there is a tendency to either get very vocal or to become silent. Both really don't work, because just to be silent and not speak anything is not sufficient, but it is more important for the mind to be silent. Otherwise, there would be no power in that. So, I need to work on making my mind silent. So, today let me sit for a minute in silence and practice feeling the stillness within. Let me repeat this practice 3 times at least. If there is chaos within, how can I expect calm and peace outside?

Message for the day

The method to finish a weakness is to be detached from it.

Expression: When there is some weakness working within that has to be overcome, it is very essential for one to get detached from it that means not to identify with the weakness. If there is identification with the weakness, it is further strengthened and there is the inability to get rid of it. Since it is there in the consciousness, it is visible in the words and actions too.

Experience: When I am free from the identification with the weakness, I am able to bring about a change very quickly. I find it very easy to stabilize myself in the awareness of my strength and allow that strength to be revealed in all my words and actions. There is no heaviness of the weakness nor is there the feeling of having to give up something, but transformation takes place very easily.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: April 18, 2020: Conflict Resolution

Mikhail Gorbachev, President of USSR and Ronald Reagan, President of USA -1986

Conflict Resolution

Do you feel resentment towards another?
Are you willing to resolve this conflict?

What attitudes are preventing you from making peace?
Do you want to teach them a lesson? Or do you think that they started it, so they should resolve the conflict?

Why not be the one who takes the first step towards peace and consider resolving a conflict. Just remember, there is always a solution, if you really want to find one.

Enjoying My Stay Inside The Physical Body

An interesting comparison to understand clearly the relationship between the soul and the body is that the soul is the resident of a house or an apartment which is the physical body. It's the awareness of who is the resident living, which is separate from where he is living. I need to realize, that like a resident of a house cannot be the house; he does not and cannot identify with the place in which he resides; in much the same way, I am not my body, the place in which I reside, but I am a resident. A resident of a physical house may or may not stay in the house for 24 hours, depending on his/her role. But I, as a spiritual resident of this physical body spend all my time inside it, in fact a complete lifetime, then I move in to another house or apartment. Since I spend so much time inside it, I need to maintain the body, take care of its upkeep and the kind of physical and spiritual atmosphere that exists inside it. When I keep it clean, fresh and vibrant, only then can I live in it comfortably.

Do not forget, there's plenty of rubbish and dirt waiting to enter the apartment. My apartment's windows are my eyes and ears, through which rubbish can come in. This rubbish can be in the form of negative information, scenes, images and words. Rubbish dirties the resident, in this case my consciousness, taking me away from my true, positive, spiritual state. My nose, facing outwards, is like the front door of my apartment: it's the first part of me that faces the world. If harsh winds of difficult circumstances blow, and I don’t know how to protect myself, I will catch a cold or fall sick i.e. my front door will be harmed and I’ll become vulnerable. The living room of the apartment is my tongue which makes the first impression on anyone, whether it be positive or negative. There will be constant attacks on our windows, doors, living room, etc. But if I am aware and alert, I will keep my house in order. If any rubbish does get in, I need to soon clean it out again, so that the atmosphere inside the house remains positive and I, the resident can enjoy my stay in it.

To experience power I need to experience inner silence.

Message for the day

Greatness lies in revealing one's own speciality.

Expression: Greatness means recognizing one's own speciality and being a donor with it. It also means being royal and great in what is given to the mind - that means giving the mind only the positive. When there is greatness in this way there is speciality and uniqueness seen in every act of mine.

Experience: When I am able to perceive my inner greatness, I am able to be content because there are no expectations, but there's only a feeling of being a giver. I find myself to be light and easy and enjoying each moment of my life, slowly moving towards perfection. I am also able to attain the blessings and good wishes from others.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: April 17, 2020: Say Goodbye

Say Goodbye

The most powerful anchor on our potential to soar high in life is the past. The past contains the dead weight of experience, learned beliefs and all our mistakes. Life cannot truly begin until we are able to say goodbye to the legacies of yesterday at will. Like a filing cabinet, the past is a resource of information for learning, but it is not a place to live. When you go to work do you spend your day in the filing cabinet? How often will you/did you live in the past today? Say goodbye and make it final. Saying farewell to yesterday, last month and last year is the sign of a person who wants to live for today and is truly alive to all the possibilities of “the moment”, while fully aware that all they think, say and do right now, creates tomorrow.

Accept Change, Don’t Resist It (Part 3)

The third power shared by the Brahma Kumaris to Mr. Rai was the power to let go of all the memories of the negative events that he had been exposed to, since childhood, by taking out time to indulge in pure service in his corporate circle - share all that he had learnt at the Brahma Kumaris with one person everyday. He made a principle of his life called Each One Teach One Each Day. This became his hobby and all the negative incidents that were negating (reducing) his ability to perceive positively a negative situation and as a result accepting it were pushed in the backgrounds of his consciousness and he became a new person, from one with a cupboard full of files of a negative past to one with an unfilled cupboard eager to fill new positive experiences in itself, which would help him in crossing an uncertain present and constructing a positive future.

Also, another power to achieve success in the change of perception and then accept was the power to think correctly based on beliefs based on spiritual truths e.g. the belief - I will be unable to emerge victorious over this negative event in my life was replaced by – Every negative situation is a boon or blessing to achieve significant transformation in the self and to bring about progress on a spiritual level, which is not possible without the existence of the negative event. These spiritual truths were a part of the complete spiritual knowledge of the Brahma Kumaris which is in the form of a week-long, an hour per day, introductory study course, which Mr. Rai undertook.

The last power was the power of an everyday morning input of holistic and pure knowledge after the week-long introductory course was undertaken, at the nearest centre of the Brahma Kumaris, which as discussed earlier went a long way in creating an environment inside Mr. Rai’s spiritual self, where positive perceptions surface inside the conscious mind and also settle in the sub-conscious mind and getting over the sorrow connected with the worst of circumstances became easy.

The Five Senses

Sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch are the five senses.
Your senses are connected to your mind.

Anything negative they pick up or generate will disturb the mind's workings. Your senses can over-stimulate, over-load and over-tire your mind.

To maintain peace of mind, use your five senses more sensibly!

Message for the day

To receive respect from others comes more with responsibility than as a right.

Expression: The one who gets respect is the one who becomes worthy of it rather than the one who just expects it. True respect comes from how well a task is done rather than what is done. The more one's speciality is expressed, the more one becomes worthy of respect.

Experience: When I go on giving my best in whatever is expected of me, I will start receiving respect from those around me. I will then never expect from others but will naturally be able to give respect to all. This further makes me earn their love and regard.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: April 16, 2020 Traffic Control Your Mind

Traffic jams of Mumbai

Traffic Control Your Mind

The mind thinks many thoughts, leading us in different directions. No wonder there is so much chaos in the mind, creating traffic jams and even a few accidents!

Now imagine the state of the roads if we didn't have any traffic controlling mechanisms! So, what's needed is a traffic control system for our mind.

At regular intervals throughout the day, stop and control the traffic of your mind. Change negative to positive. Where there are waste thoughts, put a full stop and let it go.

Accept Change, Don’t Resist It (Part 2)

Taking the message further from yesterday’s example of Mr. Rai, who resisted change, accepting a difficult situation wasn’t easy in his case, which is a real case of a person who was impressed by the teachings of the Brahma Kumaris. He was given a five point spiritual power formula by one of the sisters of the Brahma Kumaris, who was playing a role of spiritual service at one of the Brahma Kumaris centres. Mr. Rai later shared his experience as to how the five powers had helped him reshape his perception into a positive one and as a result accept a life-strangling situation.

The first power was the power to transform one’s thoughts as per one’s own desires using the power of meditation, which at the Brahma Kumaris, is a connection between two minds – your own mind and the mind of a higher potent (powerful) force – the fountain of spiritual strength – God. This connection is commonly called manmanabhav in the Gita, which means connect your mind to me, where me refers to God, the Supreme Being of spiritual light and might, invisible to the physical eyes but visible to the eye of spiritual wisdom or what we call third eye. This connection causes spiritual energy in its purest form harnessed (taken) from God and flows into one’s sanskaras and works on the sanskara of thinking too much, when faced with a difficult situation. All the spiritual wisdom in the world, which can be found in thousands of books of the famous authors on self-management of our times, cannot change our way of thinking, what a few seconds of powerful manmanabhav can do.

The second power was the power to discriminate between negative and positive information that one is exposed to throughout the day. Very often a negative piece of information received from the daily newspaper can flood the mental perception of a negative and tight situation with confusion and a lack of clarity and cause us to become emotionally disabled or weakened. So, Mr. Rai was given a simple advice – read the newspaper during mid-day or in the evening and not the first thing in the morning; when the mind is not so fresh and the absorption capability of the sub-conscious mind is lower than what it is during the morning.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Tackle your worries effectively, instead of pushing them to the back of your mind.

Check in with your worries: What am I anticipating?
Can I do something about it?

If you can't do anything about it, then remind yourself that you'll find a way to handle things when they happen.

If there is something you can do, then do it!

If you're worried it's going to rain today, then pack an umbrella. If you're worried about a meeting, then plan and prepare well. Do something and stop worrying.

Message for the day

Your humility enables people to realize their mistakes and correct themselves.

Expression: Real humility results in so much power of truth that you don't need to say anything at all in words. The very power of your inner state of being will make the other person realize the error of their ways.

Experience: When you are giving directions or corrections to someone, check your own attitude, remind yourself of the humility within and then say whatever you have to say. With humility your words will be for their benefit and this will enable them to learn.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: April 14, 2020:In the library of your mind

Library at St. Florian Monastery in the town of Sankt Florian, Austria

In the library of your mind

Have you ever wondered why libraries have special atmospheres? They are places where many congregate but where silence is the code. Quietness in an atmosphere means there is the presence of quiet minds, and quiet minds are not only relaxed, they can concentrate easily and create more freely.

Imagine you are in the library of your mind, browsing the accumulated wisdom on the shelves of your life - listen to the silence, be aware of the stillness. Now you can really listen. Now you can really hear. Now you can really think. Now you can create. And behold, you are an artist. Did you not know that silence and creativity are lovers?

Adopting A Wiser Perception

Depending on my choice of perception, I may see life as a battleground, where I face a constant battle from morning to night. The constant to and fro between family and work may tire me emotionally and mentally. If I let it and see it that way, life can also itself become the cause or source of my tensions. It may even seem as if the path of life is scattered with rocks blocking my way. Instead of stepping around or over them, I perceive them as being obstacles. The thoughts may come easily to my mind - If it was not for so-and-so or such-and-such, I would be able to.... I may mention the same to my loved ones. Instead of bringing me any benefit, these complaints take me away from the power that I, the soul, have within of changing anything. I simply pass on my capacity to change, to persons or objects over whom or which I obviously have no control.

If I am fortunate to have a wiser perception which spirituality can give me, life can become a great place to learn and grow. Behind seemingly difficult situations are my major lessons. Disguised in routine tasks are the sign boards that point me back towards truth. Relationships that bring with them repeated scenes of negativity with the same person and for the same reasons show me the weaknesses I have to work on. Indeed, until I work on the eradication of my weaknesses, I keep repeating them. Challenges do come, but they help to bring out the best in me. If I have the subtle eyes to see and the courage to go forward... life is a constant experience of reminders and benefits to progress along the road to my highest consciousness.

Do you find yourself apologizing, a little too often?

Over-apologizing can reflect a lack of self-confidence and, as a result, lower your impact and influence.

Cut down on unnecessary apologies. Express yourself assertively and politely, without devaluing yourself.

Apologizing is important. Know when it's appropriate to apologize, and make your apology sincere by not repeating similar mistakes in the future.

Message for the day

The one who is responsible is the one who is always light.

Expression: To be responsible means to do everything with the best of one's ability. It comes with the recognition and the understanding of the importance of the task. No action is wasted, but everything meaningfully connects to the fulfillment of the task. So there are not even ordinary actions, but only those that are meaningful.

Experience: When I take up every task that I need to do with full responsibility, I am able to give my best. Then I will be able to be light having done my task well and in time. There is never the pressure of work, but there is plenty of time for the self and for others. I also find my inner resources being used to the fullest extent.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

LinkWithin