Daily Positive Thoughts: July 26, 2017: Garden of your Mind

 

Garden of your Mind

The most important part of you is your mind. Care for your mind, make friends with it, always feed it healthy food, engage it in positive activity, and exercise it with knowledge and wisdom.

Like a garden returns fragrance and beauty according to the care invested, so your mind will repay you with thoughts, ideas and visions of great beauty when tended and invested with care.

The Method Of Realizing Your Purpose (Part 2)

A question that can help you to find the purpose for your self is: when you feel absolutely on top of the world, very much content and full of enthusiasm, what is there in you? Who are you at that moment? What is the energy inside you at that time? What do you give to your surroundings and to others? This stage is something that you want to reach all the time and keep with you. Ask yourself that question. Visualize that moment, which at some time in life you must have experienced. If not, visualize what you would like to experience.

Second question to find your purpose related to the world: What is it that you want to radiate to others? What is it that you want to give? That is, what do you want to devote yourself to? This isn't limited to your job or a hobby or a sport for e.g., but rather applies to what you offer and radiate in the whole day, in relationships, with people through your thoughts, words and actions - in the family, at work, in the market, friends, acquaintances and even strangers.

To carry out this inner inquiry (in both the cases above) you need to go to its deepest part. What is your purpose? Not your purpose for this weekend you want to go for the club meeting or not, or that in the holidays you want to visit a hill station; all these are short term purposes. Your life purpose refers to what it is that you really want to reach. If you clarify it, it will help you to make decisions with clarity and determination in your life.

Hero Actor

Normally it is understood that to get the best role is to be a hero
actor.  So we are more inclined towards a role where we can get
people's praise.  If people praise us we feel good about it and if
they don't we are disappointed.  We are usually dependent on people's
appreciation. Yet it doesn't come by so consistently.  We can be a
hero actor at all times when we have attention on every act of ours.
We make sure that none of our words or actions are ordinary or waste.
Since we pay constant attention to everything we do, we find that we
are able to give our best.  We are then satisfied with whatever is
happening since we know what we do is not as important as how well we
do it.

Message for the day

Success comes to the one who absorbs only the good and positive aspects. 

Expression: The one who has the power to absorb, naturally absorbs only the positive aspects of everything he comes into contact with. So the response too is always positive. Never is there reactions towards difficult situations or people, but there is the natural ability to absorb all that is good and respond positively accordingly. 

Experience: Once I instill the habit of seeing only the positive aspect in everything, I find myself getting free from negativity. It is like filling in fresh water into a pail of dirty water. When there is a continuous flow of fresh water into even the dirtiest water, gradually the water getting purified. So too I find myself getting internally cleansed of all negativity with a continuous flow of positivity. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 25, 2017: Think In a New Way

 

A Whale in Venice?

 

Think In a New Way

Your thoughts guide you to your destiny. If you always think the same you will always get to the same place. Think in a new way and you will be a new person. Give happiness to all and you will live in peace. Create peace in your mind and you will create a world of peace around you.

The Method Of Realizing Your Purpose (Part 1) 

Throughout our daily routine right from the time we wake up till we go to sleep at night, we all always have something to think about, to say and/or something to do. We are occupied and are busy. The question is whether everything that we do forms part of our life purpose or whether we are simply occupying time spaces and using our mental, verbal and physical energy in activities, tasks and conversations that do not lead us to anything substantial or whole. We simply pass time doing and talking, but without a sense of purpose. Although the things we do and/or speak about are necessary to be done, if they do not make up part of our life purpose, they will tire us. We will feel an inner emptiness and dissatisfaction, as if we are missing something.

The most authentic purpose is that of fulfilling our ideal, our dream in life. What happens is that, sometimes, we haven't worked out what our true purpose or life dream is. We have to ask ourselves what our true purpose is. There are two purposes – one is a purpose related to the self and the other related to what we want to offer to the world. During the day we are exchanging energy - each one of us is different and can give something to the world during this exchange; each of us can play our musical note in order to contribute to the orchestra of the Universe.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Have the Consciousness of Giving

Normally there is a tendency to think of what we need and what we have
to acquire. So we tend to think of ourselves alone. We think of
sharing with others only when we have sufficient for ourselves. This
creates expectations from others and there is disappointment when
these expectations are not fulfilled. There are lots of resources in
our lives that we can share with others. The more there is the
consciousness of giving there is the ability to give and share these
inner resources with others. We discover new treasures and use them
for the benefit of all and also for the self. Then there is constant
satisfaction in our lives. There are also constant good wishes that we
receive from others.

Message for the day

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

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

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumar

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 24, 2017: Introspection

 

Introspection

Introspection is the attitude of going inside when it's necessary. It is especially applicable before a task or a busy day. The result of going inside is peace and calmness, which gives clarity to the intellect for making right decisions. Introspection does not mean avoiding the world, it means going inside and getting empowered to act along with others.

Meditating With Open Eyes

It is advised to practice meditation with eyes open.  When we sit to meditate, if we close our eyes, what we do is that we send a signal to our mind, intellect and our physical body that sleep is close and that signal, in turn, induces sleep. That is the last thing we want to induce inside ourselves, while meditating. Meditation is a way to wake up and stay awake, not only physically, but in terms of being conscious and alert about what is happening internally and externally. It is therefore good to practice with eyes open, so that during your meditation, you can become used to going beyond the physical inputs of what you see, hear, feel and smell and at the same time, remain exposed to these inputs. 

By practicing with open or semi-open eyes, it becomes easier to create the accurate state of consciousness while still being faintly aware of our surroundings.   This will be essential in day to day activities when we want to stay connected to our inner peace while others around us may not necessarily be very peaceful.   It will also help us to move deeply into our peaceful consciousness during conversations which at the same time, require alertness to go into the depth of ideas and concepts.    When we are established in our peaceful, spiritual state (as a result of meditating), it is as if we are keeping our third eye, the eye of our intellect, open, which gives us the ability to see, in actions and interactions, what is true and false, and to make the right decisions without being influenced by others or our own emotions. All the above abilities are required many times during the day. We obviously can’t keep closing our eyes to meditate each time any of these abilities are required.

Focused Concentration

Most of us are of sound mind, but many of us have trouble maintaining
a note of harmony and peace. Most of us know how to think, but few of
us are able to control our thoughts. We all have the capacity to be
creative, to image new ideas, but few of us are able to do it together
and co-create in harmony with each other. We could all do with some
mental training so that we may use the most powerful energy in the
universe, the mind, which is always at our instant disposal. We can
begin with mindfulness. It's a simple way to gently help our mind go
where it is best to go, do what is the best thing to do. It begins by
simply being fully aware of what you are doing. Mostly we are not
fully aware, as our minds wander into the past and then into possible
futures. We spend most of our time watching others and so rarely fully
focus on what we are actually doing ourselves. Next time you sit down
to a meal, watch yourself. Be aware of only what you are eating.
Every time your mind wants to wander, bring it gently and lovingly
back to the action and sensation of eating. Then do the same when
cleaning, when writing, when working. The more you do it stronger and
more focused and more rational will be your concentration, the more
natural will be your actions, the more peaceful you will feel, and the
more relaxed you will be, no matter what you.

 relax7

Message for the day

The ones who are constantly happy are truly fortunate. 

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

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

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 23, 2017: Speak Sweetly and Touch Hearts

 

Speak Sweetly and Touch Hearts

 

When speaking to others we usually speak from our head, or intellect. Words spoken from the head rarely touch the hearts of others. This means they don't create any impact and are soon forgotten. The solution lies in touching the hearts of others when I speak. To do that, I need to speak with my heart as well as my head and fill my words with love.

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.

Criticism

When there is criticism that comes one's way, there is a tendency to
ignore or to defend oneself. Naturally we then lose the power to
listen. We then find that we are not able to correct our mistakes and
so they repeat. We thus find that we are not able to experience
progress. We need to carefully analyze to see if there is any truth in
any criticism that comes our way. If there is, correction can be made
accordingly. When we listen to others with honesty, we are able to
discover even the most negligible aspect in our behaviour which we can
change. So we find ourselves constantly improving and progressing and
moving on towards success. So having brought about a change, even the
criticism that comes our way stops.

Message for the day

Faith in one's progress brings contentment.

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

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

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 22, 2017: Ego Destroys Love

Ego Destroys Love

The difficulty with ego is that it is deeply concealed. Most of us don’t even know we have it. Ego destroys love. It destroys the ability to learn, so there is no more give and take. No more love. We go through many kinds of situations all day long so we should make sure we don’t stop exchanging love. Ego can be overcome by developing humility. If we don't know how to bow, love finishes.

The Relationship Between Virtues And Vices

When we are internally strong, our nature characteristics and skills are reflected, from inside us to the outside, to everyone we interact in, in the form of virtues. If we are internally weak, those same traits emerge and radiate as vices. Vices are just qualities or virtues that have lost their focus and strength. For e.g. if we take the quality of love - when a strong soul radiates love, it is unlimited and without any conditions. Such a soul respects and has good wishes for everything and everyone and under all circumstances, irrespective of whether love and respect is coming from the other side or not. When a weak soul radiates love, he/she tends to restrict the love to limits e.g. the love would vary from person to person and from situation to situation. In a sense, if spiritual might (strength) and spiritual light (understanding or knowledge) are taken away from the virtues, they get transformed into the six vices, which make us spiritually unhealthy or weak: 

Ego - developing an image of the self that is false, temporary or imaginary.
Greed - finding short term fulfillment by acquiring material goods, a role in society or money or through the physical senses – eyes, tongue, ears, etc.
Attachment - finding security by developing a feeling of possessiveness over loved ones and material objects.
Lust - using excessive satisfaction through the senses as a means of fulfillment.
Anger - the feeling of hatred and revenge when any of the other vices are threatened or being taken away from us

Laziness - becoming inactive on a spiritual, physical or mental level.

How fast can life become?

How much can we do in the corporeal amount  of time we have. There is only 24 hours in the day, but we're trying to fit 26 hours into it. If we could watch a movie of our average day we'd probably be amazed at all the things we try to do. And then there is the exact opposite. Some of us spend our lives watching others doing and achieving, and from these images we build such high expectations of our own life, and then sit around feeling utterly powerless in our attempts to meet these expectations. That 
powerlessness becomes hopelessness and hopelessness becomes 
depression. If we can just see this process and release these expectations. If we can at least be detached from any expectations, we will get back some of our inner power and self-motivation. It helps to stop watching others and their lifestyles, especially in the media, and then comparing yourself to them. It helps to eliminate all but one 'I wish' from your mind. There is only one valid and useful 'I wish' and it is simply "I wish to be me". For that is all you can ever be. It is all you can ever have. It is all that you are. And when you know it, you will be free of all expectation and desire, and able to enter the most relaxed state of being, at will.relax7

Message for the day

To recognize my own uniqueness is to bring beauty to all I do. 

Thought to Ponder: Each one is unique and special and so am I. when I recognize the beauty of who I am, and what I can contribute, I will be able to appreciate myself. This is not ego, but it is talking positively to the self, encouraging and motivating to discover further specialties. When I learn to appreciate myself, I will also have the humility to learn from everything that happens in life. 

Point to Practice: Today I will appreciate myself. I believe I am like a jewel. No matter where I am, whether in a box or in a gold ornament, my worth remains the same. So, today I will recognize my own worth and make time to appreciate it in all I do. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumari