Daily Positive Thoughts: August 11, 2015: Letting Go

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 11, 2015: Letting Go

Letting Go

Whatever has happened is in the past. Do not think about the past. Learn from whatever has happened and be optimistic about the future. The past belongs to the past. Let me let go of it, because it does not belong to me now.

Power On

Each day we all need to recharge our spiritual battery, otherwise the light of our consciousness becomes dim, thoughts become fuzzy, and decisions are impregnated with doubt. Power is available inside and outside. Inside us we have a spiritual centre, at the core of our consciousness, pure radiant spiritual light. This is what we are. However it is now blocked by our attachments, the record of all our life experiences and many learned beliefs and perceptions. Outside us we have the sun of spirit, the source, invisible to our physical eyes but only one second away when we are able to quieten and focus our mind. Meditation connects us to both sources of power - that's why meditation is the way to access the real vitamins and the minerals that spirit craves. The vitamin of pure love and the minerals of truth and wisdom. Take time to empower yourself today. Sit quietly and connect your mind to each source and allow yourself to recharge and renew.
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The Four Phases Or Ages Of Humanity - Part 1

In the stories of history of almost every ancient race, like the Egyptians, Greeks, Hindus, Mayans, lncas and Aborigines, there are many many references to a period, some four or five thousand years ago, when Earth was Paradise. Remembered as the Golden Age, Garden of Eden, Atlantis, Satyug, these stories all talk of a time when the world was beautiful and new - Heaven on Earth. Nearly all ancient peoples and traditions have a common memory of a time when humanity lived a simple yet magical existence in harmony with nature. Our ancestors said that this Golden Age came to an end because of some tragic mistake made by those who lived in that Age - the mistake being  - they fell down from the pedestal of soul consciousness into the dust of body consciousness and succumbed to the five vices of anger, lust, greed, ego and attachment. They said that it was only after the change in the human way of being and living - the fall of the human consciousness - that tragic global calamities (accidents) took place on Earth, whose geological, climatic and mental impact erased the former Golden Age almost completely.

(To be continued tomorrow ...)

Soul Sustenance

Understanding The Birth-Life-Death-Rebirth Cycle (Part 2)

We subconsciously know that we are souls. Birth, life and death are just stages in existence. In fact all natural processes can be found to have a beginning, a middle, an end and a new beginning to continue the cycle. The soul takes a bodily form, gives life to it and after a period of time, long or short, leaves it and takes another suited to the continuation of its role. As long as the soul is in the body, the body grows like a plant from baby to child, youth to maturity. It then begins to decay and finally becomes unusable. The moment the soul leaves the body, the body becomes like a dead log of a tree. It immediately starts to decompose and eventually goes back to dust.

Again the soul moves into a foetus inside the womb of a mother. After time it emerges as a newborn baby and immediately begins to show the sanskars it had developed in its previous life. It is the same soul but in a new physical situation. Thus death is merely the means by which a complete change of circumstances and environment for the soul takes place. Time never kills the soul, but the body, being a part of nature or matter, obeys the law of decay that everything new becomes old and eventually finishes. The molecular components of this body disintegrate only to re-integrate as another form (body) some time later.

The process of birth-life-death-rebirth is also eternal (without a beginning or an end). It has always been going on and will continue. The soul comes into the body, expresses a role and experiences the results of that for a certain time, then leaves it, and the process starts again. Similarly, souls come into this world, remain here as actors for a number of births and then return to the region from which they come, for rest. This process also starts again. The pattern is a cyclic one. This is called the eternal world cycle.

Message for the day

To make thoughts as pure as the actions is to be truly elevated.

Projection: There is usually attention on the self not to perform any negative acts. There is also considerable attention not to speak any words that are harmful or negative. But very rarely is there that attention on the thoughts. Because of this a lot of negative thoughts tend to remain in the intellect causing trouble for me.

Solution: I need to understand the fact that my thoughts form the basis for my words and actions. The more I pay attention to make my thoughts positive, the more it will make a positive impact on my words and actions too. Constant awareness of a positive thought enables me to maintain my own inner positivity.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 10, 2015: Have Faith

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 10, 2015: Have Faith

 World’s most dangerous and beautiful road, Shimla to Manali, Himachal Pradesh , India

Have Faith

Have the faith that, despite appearances, people are doing the best they can.

Believe in Yourself

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!

Overcoming Fears Connected With Negative Past Experiences (cont.)

The work with oneself to see what aspects of your past burden you and coming to terms with those aspects, requires silence, reflection and meditation. When you come to terms with your own past, you can let go of it and be free of it, not be afraid that the past will come back to you. If not, sometimes, it is like a shadow that follows you. If your house was robbed once, the shadow follows you that, perhaps, you might be robbed again. If they hurt you, you fear it will happen again. Sometimes that experience presents itself in dreams, in the subconscious or in present attitudes. Reliving the past in your mind, you do not fully enjoy the present. You have to accept the pieces of your past so that they do not continue to generate upsets. Accept that you had to live through them and live the present with a constructive vision of the future.

In the above context, it helps to write letters to God about your experiences. The exercise of sharing them with God in writing brings clarity inside you and helps you to bring the spiritual light and might in your life in order not to be burdened by unnecessary experiences, unhappiness or grief. Have you ever written to God? You could do it at night and tell Him the things that affected you or that you have learned. You can tell Him the things or intimate feelings that other people perhaps wouldn't understand or wouldn't be there to listen to. You could also talk to Him about all that you question, and you do not have an answer to. And the following morning, when you meditate and study a little bit of spiritual knowledge, you often receive answers.

Soul Sustenance

Understanding The Birth-Life-Death-Rebirth Cycle (Part 1)

The realization of the self as a soul, an eternal (always existing) energy, naturally leads to the following questions:

• Where is the soul before it comes into a physical body?
• Where does the soul go after it leaves it?
• What is the purpose of the world drama?


These are questions that deeply concern human beings, yet until now there isn’t 100% conclusive proof of life after death.

The images of "fires of hell" and a heavenly world beyond the clouds are talked about in the world's religions. Yet to the rational and logical minded, the states of living forever tortured in holes of fire (hell) or on the other hand relaxing in complete happiness in a fairy-tale kingdom (heaven), seem far away from the reality of the present.

Most accept that there is some order to the world creation, but viewing our drama through spectacles of body-consciousness it is impossible to see it, as the soul is imprisoned by bodily needs and sensual desires. In body-consciousness the soul is unable to see anything clearly. Only when we are at the point of death does one think about life after death. At funerals, everyone faces the new absence of a loved person, the departure of the personality and the temporary nature of the physical body. Everyone wishes that the person who has died will go to heaven and not to hell.

(To be continued tomorrow ….) 

Message for the day

To be successful I need to have the balance between the head and the heart.

Projection: In my interactions with others, I sometimes only use my head, i.e., my logic. I am very logical and understand the facts very clearly. But if I keep myself limited only to the facts, I tend to forget to use my heart. I then am not available to the other person and fail to understand him.

Solution: In order to be successful in my interactions with others I need to have the right balance between my head and my heart. I need to see beyond what the facts say and try to listen and understand the other person too. When I do this I will not hurt people with my attitude but will be able to maintain harmonious relationships.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 09, 2015: Vibrations

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 09, 2015: Vibrations

Vibrations

Every thought creates vibrations. Vibrations are like sound waves or radiations. No obstacles, no hurdles can stop them.

Honest Heart

An honest heart is an open heart. If we are dishonest in any way with ourselves or with others, it means we are in hiding. There is a wall, a barrier behind which we conceal something of ourselves. Subtle tension will be our companion, and while most of us learn to live with it, it drains our energy and tightens our muscles. On the other hand don't be too honest with others - feel their pulse - sometimes others are not ready to hear what's in your heart. But know that when you are honest you will experience a level of inner relaxation that you had forgotten was even possible.

Overcoming Fears Connected With Negative Past Experiences

Some of our fears arise due to the situations we have lived through; for example, if you are driving a car and you have an accident. Then you take some time to drive again, because the memory of the accident awakens the fear of having another one or reliving the one you had. The person that has never had a car accident gets in the car with confidence, because they do not have that scene recorded, since they haven't lived through it.

There are fears that we carry within us that are not of the present. Something happened to us in the dark and we are now afraid of the dark. Fears in relationships: you opened your heart, you fell in love and, after a time, you experienced pain, you felt hurt, misunderstood, manipulated, deceived or mistreated, and now you no longer open your heart for anything; it is closed off with the shields that you yourself have created. To overcome this kind of fear due to experiences you have lived through, you have to come to terms with your past and accept it fully. You cannot change your past; lamenting the past doesn't help you; complaining about the past doesn't benefit you. Those shields brought about by fears do not disappear unless you do a deep cleansing. Begin to heal your experience of the past. Part of the past is healed with forgiveness. Without forgiving, you cannot forget.

(To be continued tomorrow ...)

Soul Sustenance

Am I Creating Negative Karma – Guilt As An Indicator (Part 2)

An angerholic (one who gets angry repeatedly) hears the internal voice telling him to stop creating mental unrest, harming his body, hurting others and being addicted to the habit and the hormones that get created inside the body due to the habit, but then ignores the voice or drowns it out. This only adds to the inner disharmony (peacelessness) already present and both self-respect and self-esteem are slowly reduced. Any action we do which springs from forgetfulness (body-consciousness) will trigger this inner, spiritual discomfort. Following the action, we might feel guilty for doing something we internally knew was wrong. Any form of guilt except the one that is caused by another person i.e. except the case when guilt is caused inside you because another person is emotionally blackmailing you, is the voice of our conscience calling to say that we are acting against the essence, something is out of sync. Our level of guilt acts like a thermometer (an indicator). It shows us when and to what extent we are not aligned to truth. If we learn to pay attention, listen closely to this inner discomfort and the message it conveys, we will also hear why and how to make corrections, so that we no longer create negative karma.

Message for the day

The one who fulfills promises with determination is the one who overcome all problems.

Projection: When I see some weakness working within me I usually make a promise to myself with a lot of enthusiasm. But if I face even a little opposition or difficulty in fulfilling this promise, I tend to lose hope and usually give up trying altogether.

Solution: In order to bring about a change in me and fulfill my promise, I need to use the virtue of determination. Every time I find myself becoming careless in it, I need to remind myself strongly of the importance of the promise that I had made. Then I will be able to win over all the obstacles that come my way in bringing my thoughts and words to actions.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 08, 2015: Silence

Silence

Silence is the best language for communication. It helps us understand and realise the eternal truths about the self, God and the world. In silence we are able to comprehend and express sincerely and powerfully the true values of the soul such as peace, love and joy. Silence is not the absence of thoughts but it is a state in which the mind is engaged in pure elevated thoughts that nuture these values within. The power of silence develops all mental and spiritual powers that are needed to tackle various situations successfully.

Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.

Worry is otherwise known as 'fantasized catastrophising' where we create an image of the future and use it to frighten ourselves! Be aware that you are doing it, then stop doing it, otherwise the image will become a self fulfilling prophesy. Imagine only the brightest future, and so it will be. Besides there is nothing to worry about... unless you are under the illusion that your well-being and security are dependent on material things. If they are, then you will have many ways in which you can create worry. Possible loss, damage, separation, uncertainty are but a few. Look, you're killing yourself with worry, all because of the misuse of your imagination. Don't do it. 

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Wearing The Crown Of Servant Leadership Gracefully (cont.)

Very often in a group or team, while moving towards a common goal or objective or purpose, the leader of the group or gathering is required to give his opinion to make the objective of the team possible. Servant leaders are extremely active, positive and authoritative in giving their ideas, when they are required to do so, but are able to keep a relationship of detachment with their ideas. They maintain a right balance of authority (while giving the idea) and humility (while accepting the result of the idea, the result could be rejection or even acceptance of the idea). Also servant leaders are detached when accepting or receiving or listening to ideas from team members. The more the attachment to one's own ideas, the more will be the tendency to resist or reject the others' ideas, which they do not do.

Also, when a leader starts misusing his leadership for his own good and greed, and becomes egoistic, his team members start staying away. Servant leaders, through their humility, become an inspiration for others.  Experiencing power and autonomy is healthy, but when a false sense of ownership sets up in leadership and the leader starts taking his role for granted, it is the time when a leader will experience great downfall in his role as a leader.

Altogether, a good leader is one who uses his mind or law to handle himself and his heart or love to handle others which ultimately brings justice to his role. Such a leader who maintains this balance of love and law wears the crown of servant leadership gracefully through various stages of life, enjoying the respect and earning the good wishes of all whom he comes into contact with.

Soul Sustenance

Am I Creating Negative Karma – Guilt As An Indicator (Part 1)

At the heart of our consciousness, we have a conscience.Our conscience is essentially our basic awareness of truth. From a spiritual point of view, the truth of who we are as spiritual beings is core and eternal truth. If we consider ourselves to be anything other than soul or spirit then we will be thinking and acting against our conscience, against our truth, which is like going against the essence of spirit. We will feel something is not quite right. If one of the pistons in our car engine is out of sync with the others, the engine will sound slightly different from normal. We immediately have it fixed, because we know that if it continues it may destroy the engine. If we do something that is out of sync with the truth, the voice of our conscience speaks to us. But we tend to ignore or suppress it, especially if we are having a seemingly pleasurable experience - we then create the sanskars or habit of ignoring our own conscience. As a result we keep repeating the negative karma and the sanskars of the negative karma are deepened, further ignoring the voice of our conscience. It is a vicious cycle, to come out of which is extremely difficult.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Message for the day

The one who is free from desire is the one who is able to maintain positivity.

Projection: When I put forth my ideas to others I expect them to listen to me. My idea changes to desire and when it is not accepted I then tend to become irritated. And along with it also comes jealousy or dislike for the others and I find myself caught up in negativity.

Solution: I need to make sure that I share my ideas with others but at the same time I need to keep myself free from any selfish motive. When I put forth my idea in a detached way, I too will be open to learning and I will be able to accept any criticism or rejectance that comes my way. Thus I will be free from negativity.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 07, 2015: Character

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 07, 2015: Character

In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang describes how apparently opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.

Character

When you do not upset yourself thinking about how others must change and instead you concentrate on your own change, good things start to happen. First, you will feel better about yourself. Second, you will start to have positive feelings towards others and start to understand them. Third, others start having a more positive attitude towards you.

Tact

Whether you have to decline a request or give critical feedback, it's important to be honest, assertive and direct.  But you don't want to hurt someone's feelings, especially in front of others.

Instead try a tactful approach.  Be appropriately honest, assertive and direct.  Say the right thing, at the right time, in the right place, and you're more likely to get a positive outcome.

Wearing The Crown Of Servant Leadership Gracefully (cont.)

Servant leaders are sacrificial leaders, ready to make the sacrifice when required. We explain with an example -

Jessica and Ruchika were close childhood and school friends. Jessica was the Head Girl of the school. One day there was a home assignment to be completed by the class. Jessica had forgotten to complete her assignment. She was afraid of the consequences and even more of the humiliation that she was not ready to face being in such a respectable post. She was also afraid of Ruchika's assignment as being selected as the best one by the class teacher. Jessica's mind was in a state of turmoil. On one hand was her self identity based on her role of the Head Girl and also the attachment to the same and on the other hand was her friendship and the voice of her conscience. If she chose the former and prevented Ruchika's homework from being selected as the best, she would be seen in the same light as Ruchika and would save herself embarrassment. If she chose the latter and allowed Ruchika's homework from being selected as the best, she would lose, but earn respect in the form of blessings and good wishes of her best friend Ruchika. Finally insecurity and the fear of loss of face in front of the class and the class teacher took grip over her. She chose the former, she harmed Ruchika's homework and prevented Ruchika from submitting it on time and as a result prevented it from being adjudged as the best. She had won. Her 'id' - Head Girl had won. But the servant leader inside her had lost. Her relationship had lost. She did not pay heed to the voice of her conscience and her special relationship with Ruchika. As a result she brought about sorrow to her friend. Later on she repented and realized, that day she had not worn the crown of leadership well enough. She had not heard the voice of the servant leader inside her, a leader who could sacrifice the I and keep her friend ahead of her. She realized her mistake and decided to hear the voice henceforth.

Many times, while playing leadership roles, we are also faced with similar situations as Jessica found herself in, whether it's in school, in the family, in our social circle or at the workplace, when we have to make a choice, when the I has to be sacrificed and the other has to be kept ahead - sometimes we do that easily, sometimes we find it difficult.  There is a servant leader inside each one of us, which favours the sacrifice. We need to awaken that servant leader. Spiritual knowledge helps us in doing the same. 

(To be continued tomorrow ...)

Soul Sustenance

Seven Techniques To Let Go Off The Past (Part 3)

Correction - Memories inside the soul are like imprints or impressions on the soul. Some impressions are deep, some are not. Negative past experiences leave very deep negative impressions or scars on the soul, which sometimes take a lot of time to heal and sometime an entire lifetime can be sent without them getting healed. Negative past experience imprints and negative emotions like anger, hatred, attachment etc. are closely linked. So, correcting the self or incorporating positive sanskars fills the spiritual self with positive impressions. This, over a period of time, nullifies the effect of these negative impressions and as a result, the related negative memories.

Donation - Donation can be simply defined as the distribution of the invisible attainments one has experienced through spiritual self transformation, to others. It helps one receive blessings or positive energy of those whom we donate to and gives life a focused positive purpose, both of which help us immensely in forgetting our past. People who live only for themselves will find it more difficult to forget their past as compared to ones who spend a lot of time for others. Giving happiness to others helps us in forgetting our griefs.

Interaction - The more we interact with and remain in the company of positive minded people and have positive conversations with them, we give and receive positive energy and the more our past gets erased from my consciousness. Spirituality teaches us to look inwards and experience introvertness, which we haven’t experienced for a long time. At the same time, spirituality also teaches us to keep a balance between looking inwards and outwards. Composed and balanced extrovertness and healthy, happy relationships with virtuous people help us remain more in a present consciousness, not giving the mind to drift too much into the past.

Message for the day

The power of positivity helps finish all negativity.

Projection: When I am faced with negativity in people or in situations, I too usually tend to have negative thoughts. When my mind is caught up with negativity of any kind-fear, anger or tension, I cannot think anything positive. I then find myself totally caught up in the situation finding no solution.

Solution: The only way to finish negativity is to work with positivity. I need to make a conscious effort to look at some positive aspect in the situation or person with whom I am facing difficulty. When I do this I can relate to them with this positivity which will slowly make the situation better again.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 06, 2015: Value

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 06, 2015: Value

Clock by Christian, casting Beck, Augsburg, 1640, gold enameled. On a pedestal is a funerary figurine with a laurel wreath. In his left hand, an arrow, the tip of displaying the time

Value

A bar of iron costs $5, made into horseshoes its worth is $12, made into needles its worth is $3500, made into balance springs for watches, it’s worth is $300,000. Your own value is determined also by what you are able to make of yourself.

A Caring Heart

When I express my care and concern by responding to situations with a cool head and to people with a warm heart, if I remain aware that as fellow human beings we are all part of one family, and that even the smallest of gestures can make a difference in people's lives, I am always blessed with a caring heart. 

It takes so little to show that I care yet it can mean so much.

Wearing The Crown Of Servant Leadership Gracefully (cont.)

A good leader, before orchestrating (controlling) his team members will learn to orchestrate (control) his inner orchestra of thoughts, feelings, attitudes, emotions, moods and perceptions to create the desired tune or team result. When leaders become dictators or start orchestrating (controlling) their team members first, the fall of the team gets certain.  A good leader is characterized by the way he makes his fellow members work as a team with him being a part of it. Misuse of leader power has a negative effect on team members' perceptions of the leader's ability and desire to engage in open communication. Because open communication is vital to any project, these perceptions can hurt team performance. These negative effects of leader power can be virtually eliminated simply by clearly communicating the idea that every team member is individually instrumental for any given task at hand.

Traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the "top of the pyramid". By comparison, the servant leader shares power and puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible. Servant leaders spread an energy of trust in the group, which catalyzes higher levels of engagement of team members, greater involvement of their effort and ideas and greater speed in change and creation of the new, which is the objective of every team. As a result, an excellent team culture is developed.

(To be continued tomorrow ...)

Soul Sustenance

Seven Techniques To Let Go Off The Past (Part 2)

Positive Information and Intoxication - The more we listen or read positive and constructive spiritual knowledge, even if it is for 10 minutes daily, and imbibe (absorb) it, the more our negative memories fade into the background. Also the regular input of knowledge lifts our consciousness to a higher level and gives us an experience of intoxication or spiritual bliss, in which the memory of our past sorrows and negative experiences gets dissolved. Even on a physical level, there are lots of people who indulge in some kind of addiction or intoxication only because it temporarily helps them to overcome and forget the negatives in their life.

Karma Realization - Another benefit of spiritual knowledge is that it makes us realize the various shades and details of the Law of Karma and its application in the World Drama, which helps us immensely in letting go of the past and concentrating on our present so that a bright future can be built, irrespective of the quality of the past.

Self and God Realization - One of the most important benefits of meditation, an important aspect of spirituality, is that it makes us realize and experience the spiritual self and the Father of the spiritual self, the Supreme Soul, accurately. This is an experience of liberation, in which there is no room for past repentances. Past repentances are more a reflection of excessive attachment to the physical or material or attachment to incorrect emotions related to body-consciousness, remembering the damage caused by it to the self and experiencing sorrow due to the same.

Connection and Relation - Also, meditation being a deep connection between me and the Supreme Father, it fills me with immense power and it is also an intense relationship, which fills me with love, happiness and peace. In the experience of these attainments, over a period of time, my past ceases to burden my consciousness.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Message for the day

The right kind of support makes people independent.

Projection: When I provide help and support to others, sometimes I find that they become dependent on me. They continue to expect the same kind of support that they had got from me before, when I am not in a position to give. Then my good gesture becomes a bondage or difficulty for me.

Solution: When I am providing help to someone, I need to check the kind of help that I am providing. True help is to provide assistance in such a way that slowly the person learns to rely on his own resources and becomes independent. Then there will be no expectations from me.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris