Daily Positive Thoughts: August 28, 2016: Hope in Myself

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 28, 2016: Hope in Myself

Hope in Myself

If at any time I begin to lose hope in myself, let me simply look inside my heart and see all the good actions I have ever performed, from the smallest to the grandest. When I see how much happiness I have given, I easily remember the purpose of my life.

Living Relationships The Soul Conscious Way (Part 3)

Whenever you want to experience joy in a relationship, learn to love with a big heart. This is something we hear commonly, but what this means is loving without any fixed boundaries of how the other person should be with me. In other words, we tend to create so many fixed images in our mind of the other person’s consciousness, attitude, words and actions about how they should be, that we don’t let the other person be themselves. This happens to the extent that the other person will in some cases stop expressing themselves freely and also sometimes their personality starts going into a cover which has been created by us and they will never come out of that cover for life in some cases. The meaning of that is simple that the other person becomes a puppet in our hands and he or she will do everything that we demand without ever thinking that they are no longer themselves. And who is responsible for that happening? We are. We create a person based on our personality. That’s in short a karma that we become responsible for. This happens in many relationships where people are a mirror image of the person whom they love and who loves them. This is called a conditional love.

On the other hand, a love that is unconditional wants the other person, whom you love, to be themselves and a different person from them with their own personality, their own special strengths, skills and qualities. This happens in such a way that these qualities and skills complement your strengths and the two of you become a beautiful pair of people who keep each other ahead and also at the same time focus on your own qualities and bring them into action. This is true love. Such a love, when brought into action becomes a beautiful foundation for a happiness filled relationship, in which two people enjoy each other’s loveful company without interfering in each other’s personal space.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Renunciation

On the path mapped out by the true spiritual philosophers and pioneers, there is great emphasis placed on the idea and need for renunciation. It is seen as the way to enlightenment, and freedom from the attachments which we misuse as sources of limited happiness and contentment. 

Renunciation does not mean giving everything away, shaving our heads, saying farewell to family and friends and finding a Himalayan mountain top. 

It means seeing our attachments and dependencies, our weaknesses and our evasions, and consciously giving them up. There is no sense of loss. The material necessities still come to us, paradoxically more will come. And when we renounce our own weaknesses and dependencies there is always a strength and a new freedom to be found hiding underneath. Renunciation is a pathway to a simpler life and a highway to spiritual freedom - one of spirit's deepest yearnings in 'the age of accumulation'. 

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Message for the day

To have the right company is to ensure progress

Thought to ponder: The company we keep influences us to a great deal. We might not realize it, but we tend to get subtly influenced by the company we keep. Throughout the day, we do come across a lot of people and situations. We have to face them as part of daily routine or as part of our responsibilities. But we need to also have special attention to spend at least some time throughout the day with some good company.

Point to practice: Today I will go out of my way to find some good company. It could be a person, a book or even a spiritual place. I will spend at least 15 minutes today. This will help me have a different and more powerful attitude to deal with all other circumstances throughout the day.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 27, 2016: Will Power

Will Power

If you believe ‘you can’ and have the strong desire to do so, then despite setbacks, it’s your will power that makes you ‘try, try, try again’. Both ‘will’ and ‘power’ are released when you go from ‘will do’ to ‘doing things willingly’.

Living Relationships The Soul Conscious Way (Part 2)

Loving others without expectations is the love which never gives you any unhappiness at any cost. Loving with desires and fixed demands will make love like a business deal i.e. you give me such and such an emotion or particular word or a certain type of action, which I like and I will give you back what you like. On the other hand, love which does not demand and also love which just exists without the requirement of any fixed conditions to be met is sometimes seen as a love which cannot exist. But it is the love which God is full of and by connecting with Him and seeing each human being as a loveful soul, who is my spiritual brother and a child of God, the ocean of unconditional love; I become a source of giving such a love to others. Also, such a vision for everyone in which love flows to the other person unconditionally because of our eternal relationship of spiritual brotherhood makes life very uncomplicated. In such a relationship you don’t feel tired or pressurized when love is not received and sometimes the other person does not return your love as much as you would like.

People have misunderstood the true meaning of the pure emotion of love and given it an impure form by mixing it with attachment, which always brings sorrow with it. Attachment filled love hurts because it comes with many strings or bondages with it and that is why many relationships where attachment is the foundation, tend to break after the initial phase of the relationship is full of happiness and lots of promises. Very soon, people, because they are not perfect, are not able to reach up to the other person’s level of expectations and also are not able to adjust with the other person’s nature and way of thinking and working, whether it is in personal relationships or in professional ones. This is because love is a characteristic which is the key to making any relationship successful and here we are not talking only about relationships involving life partners.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Talk with Love

How do you talk to yourself? Is it a stream of fears, complaints and mindless repetition of old things?

If we spoke to others in that way, we'd have to apologize!

Apologize to yourself and talk to yourself, properly. 

Be supportive, loving, kind, encouraging....

Talk to yourself as you would to a friend, or as a mother would to a child, or like a coach or a cheerleader.

Message for the day

To be free from rust is to get attracted with the power of the magnet. 
Thought to ponder: When I perform any action which is against my true nature of peace, happiness or love, I am actually rusting myself. This rust does not allow me to attract the power of the magnet(goodness/God). The more I free myself from this rust, I automatically find that I am attracting the right things. 

Point to practice: Today I will not do anything that will take me go away from my true self. That is, I will keep myself free from things like anger, greed, sorrow etc. Even if the situation warrants for it, I will not react with the negativity. Instead I will just postpone the reaction. Thus, I will ensure I don't add rust to myself. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 26, 2016: Think Simply

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 26, 2016: Think Simply

Think Simply

Making it simple means making things easy and clear. The magic wand to wave over your life is 'planning and prioritizing'. Make plans, long and short term and then prioritize. Then practice taking one thing at a time, so you can have one thought at a time, with some space before you have to have your next thought. But don't get attached to your plans or priorities. Be flexible (easy) and yet focused (clear) and in this way you can teach yourself to think simply and act simply. One thought at a time. At your own pace… In your own space…. A simple life is a contented life.

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Living Relationships The Soul Conscious Way (Part 1)

We all live in a world where love is the most precious virtue or quality that exists and we are all souls full of love. It’s only when we lose access to our inner treasure of love that we starting expecting love from others and begin searching for it outside, from others and even from the physical world, which we commonly call flora and fauna. Flora refers to plants around us and fauna refers to animals.  It is not wrong to love and be loved by humans and nature. That is not searching for love. Giving love to humans and animals and receiving love from them and also loving plants and nature in general, has existed in the world right from the time the world was a beautiful paradise, full of happiness, love and purity. That world is also called the Garden of Eden or Garden of Allah or Swarg or commonly called the Golden Age or heaven.

There is a difference between receiving love and experiencing happiness because of that and searching for it from others. Also, when we make ourselves dependent on this love for remaining happy, it means there is an emptiness inside us. The love that makes us empty instead of filling us and giving us a feeling of fulfillment is a love based on a physical consciousness. On the other hand, a love based on soul consciousness is a love that does not attach itself to the other person so much, so as to bring about sorrow when it is not received or when the love is no longer available to us i.e. when the other person leaves us or stops talking to us or goes away or does not love us anymore for some reason or the other.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Lighten up!

Take life as it is, full of drama and adventure. Experience the fun and the excitement, if not, it'll turn into melodrama!

So, the next time things get dramatic in your life, add the ingredient of humour and go from feeling heavy to being light.

Lighten up and you'll lighten up the situation; going from melodrama to enjoying the drama of life. 

Message for the day

To appreciate the value of something is to bring it into our own lives. 

Thought to ponder: When we see something nice or someone using good qualities, we tend to appreciate. Sometimes there might be negative feelings like comparison or jealousy. Either way, it is not going to help us. But when we truly appreciate something, we need to see how we can imbibe this in our own lives. If we have the capacity to notice, observe, understand and appreciate something, we surely have the capacity to imbibe it too.

Point to practice: Today I will start practicing something that I have noticed and appreciated. Instead of trying to do it fully immediately, I will start with a small step. When I start doing it, I will surely find it being absorbed into my own life. Bigger changes will come too, slowly but surely.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 25, 2016: Ocean of Peace and Silence

Mo'orea Island, French Polynesia

Ocean of Peace and Silence

It is said that rest is best. Imagine an ocean of peace and silence and plunge into it. Let your mind relax and enjoy moments of tranquility. Free yourself from wasteful thoughts. This is the best type of rest.

Going Back To My Original Nature

Our present personalities are basically the combined habits of this lifetime (birth), built on the combined habits of previous lifetimes (births), all of which have left their mark (sometimes deep and sometimes not so deep) on our consciousness.  It may well be that habits such as becoming angry, upset, anxious, stressed, sorrowful or scared, have been with us for so long that, they feel a natural part of our inner world, so natural that when someone says our true nature is not anger but peace, not fear but love, not aggression but acceptance, not anxiety but calm, it does not feel right.  And even if it did feel right for a moment, we have become so attached to our old habitual moods, emotions and behaviors that we do not really want to change. It may even be the case that we have become so weak that we need help to change. It seems much easier to stay the way we are.
As we begin to meditate and develop our spiritual practice, our views on the above subject will fluctuate. When that does happen, imagine you are having a conversation with yourself and teaching yourself.  Give yourself permission to be peaceful by nature, full of love and joy by nature, naturally content by nature, wherever you are and in whatever you do.  After a while, you won't need to give yourself permission and you will find these states of being are there within you quite naturally at every moment.   They are our original and eternal nature.   Everything else is acquired or learned.  In so many ways introduction to spirituality, like many other approaches to inner awakening, is as much about unlearning (the acquired beliefs) as it is about learning (new beliefs).

Get It?

Some people really "get" you & some just don't! And that's fine, you might not "get" them either!

But do take this opportunity to see if there's something you can improve in yourself.

Try to be friendly & get along better with them but, if they don't reciprocate, then know when to stop trying too hard.

If they want to know you or befriend you, they'll make that choice. 

But between now & then, enjoy being you & keep the warmth of your good feelings flowing towards the other person.

Message for the day

To end waste means to be free from defeat. 

Thought to ponder: The one with faith in the intellect always remains at a distance from waste, whether it is waste thoughts, waste words or waste actions. To move away from waste means to be victorious. The one who is free from waste is busy with the positive and useful. Such a person is constantly searching for solutions and trying to make the best out of the situation. 

Point to practice: It is because of waste that I sometimes experience defeat and sometimes victory. If I am able to finish waste, I am able to finish defeat. Because whatever the situation may be, however challenging it may be, if I am able to finish waste I am able to recognize the benefit that is merged within it and so I am able to experience being constantly victorious. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 24, 2016: Relationships

 

Relationships

A sensible person knows it is a waste of time and energy to get angry. Effort will then have to be made to reconstruct that relationship. It is much more useful to breathe deeply, pay attention to your attitude and answer without rushing. In this way, improve and strengthen your relationships with others.

Understanding What Are Karmic Accounts

We are not individuals acting alone in this world drama; we act in this extraordinary drama or play of life with other actors or souls who (along with us) play their different roles with different physical costumes at different times in the drama. During the process of interaction with other actors (souls) and according to the type of interaction with them, we create accounts of debit or credit that become the basis of our connections with others. The reasons for which a specific relationship goes well or not are in the so called karmic account that I have accumulated with the other person in the past. The past could be in this birth alone or in one or many previous births. The souls that play the parts of parents, children, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, friends, office colleagues and others whom I know form a network for the giving and receiving of happiness and sorrow from accounts established in the past or being created in the present.

The strongest relationships that I have now were established previously. We knew each other in other lives and but in different roles. The daughter of some births ago returns now as the father, the best friend comes back as the sister etc. As long as the account exists, the interchange of actions between two souls continues. When there is nothing more to give or receive, the paths between the two souls separate by death, a break-up, a divorce or simply by the loss of contact. An e.g. of this is our school friends. Many of our friends whom we were close to in our school days, we are not in touch with today. Another e.g. is when we change jobs; we might lose complete contact with our old colleagues.

Be an Alchemist

Like an alchemist, transform something worthless into something precious. The key to alchemy is in your perception.

Look for the limitless possibilities that surround you. 
See the innate value of everything and turn lead into gold.

Focus on the pure gold within each one. You may have to overlook the visible lead to seek the hidden gold!

Message for the day

As is the aim so is the qualification.

Thought to ponder: If I have a high aim, I will set high standards for myself. I will make efforts to reach that aim. So the qualities that I imbibe will be of a great standard too. So, it is important that I constantly set high standards for myself and make my life qualitatively better.

Point to practice: Today I will, in any one aspect, set an aim for myself. I will then check to see if I can do a bit better than what I think I can do right now. I will make sure I will set an aim for myself a bit higher than what I normally do. This will increase my qualities and will automatically keep me prepared for higher things. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 23, 2016: Wise Wealth

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 23, 2016: Wise Wealth

Wise Wealth

There are many words for which we have forgotten the meaning - love is one such word, and wealth is another. When we hear or use the word wealth today we immediately conjure images of huge cheques, large properties, five star holidays and the very best in everything. In fact it is this limited form of wealth, measured and defined essentially by money which blocks the realization and manifestation of true wealth. Every human being is wealthy beyond imagination; but not in their bank accounts. Real wealth is completely intangible, invisible and deeply internal. Every human being is a unique individual spiritual entity. And as such, a source of the most precious energy in the universe. Love is the gold of the soul. We are each that gold at the core of our being. But few of us are aware of it, let alone consciously tapping it and expressing it. No one teaches us that love is what we are, that our purpose in life is to know it, and give it, and that when we do, all other energies, including the material stuff, will come back to us. We are taught instead that love is dead, love is daft, love is for softies, love is sex, loving is losing not winning, love is indulgence, love is about doing deals in our relationships. No wonder we are stressed out. We have a totally distorted view of wealth and an inherited belief system which clouds our view and access to the riches we contain within our heart. No wonder there is spiritual poverty amidst affluence, no wonder the destitute wander streets paved with the riches of their neighbours. No wonder the children in the villages of India have a smile that lights up your soul, while the kids in 'material land' are always miserable with their lot! Are you wealthy, or are you Wealthy?

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The Filtration Process In The Soul

The mind and its creation i.e. thoughts, in these times, in most people, are controlled by three main factors:
i. their habits or sanskaras
ii. their past experiences, and
iii. information which they are exposed to and which they imbibe.

The intellect is like a filter which has the function of discriminating, of judging the thoughts and deciding which ones to put into practice and which ones not to, basically filtering them. Presently the filter of the intellect has become weakened, confused and unsure; it has become blocked by many incorrect beliefs, due to which this filtration does not take place properly – as a result many wrong thoughts get converted into actions. A lot of times during the day, thoughts become actions so fast, that the filter of the intellect does not even come into play i.e. thoughts become actions bypassing the filter.

The beliefs that we have today are related to our cultural, physical, social, religious, political identity associated with our age, gender, occupation, wealth, role etc. of our body. Beliefs connected to materialism, to having rather than being, are living based on the perception of the sense organs, and not on the intuition and the wisdom of the spirit. There are beliefs that block you, or brake you, others break you, they bring about fears in you and a limited perception of reality and of yourself. However much you try to generate positive thoughts, if you do not change these beliefs, their influence on the intellect will be so strong that it is almost impossible to maintain a positive state of mind. Even if you experience it, it will be short-lived and temporary.

Distractions are everywhere. 

No matter how much we try, it's almost impossible to get rid of all the distractions.

How about this: focus despite distractions!

Here are a few tips:

- Have music in the background. Music can tune out the distractions around you & keep you engaged & motivated.

- Be energised. Have enough sleep & stay hydrated. The more energy you have, the less likely you are to get distracted.

- Set email times. Schedule specific times to check & respond to emails.

Message for the day

To be alert is to constantly have an attention to check and change. 

Thought to ponder: When someone is recording something, there is a constant attention to do the best. After a bit is recorded, they would recheck and see if everything is ok or if it can be better. In life too, we are trying to record the best. For each and everything that happens, when I have attention on myself, I can make it better each time. I just have to have the attention to check and then bring about the required change.

Point to practice: Today I will pay special attention to the actions that I do. After the action, I will look back and see if I could have done it in a better way. Also, at the end of the day, before I go to sleep, I will look back at the day and review all that happened. This practice of checking and changing helps me to be prepared to face everything that comes my way. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 22, 2016: As Without, So Within

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 22, 2016: As Without, So Within

As Without, So Within

We live in the age of ‘busy’ Busy people not only do a lot, they think a lot. The origins of ‘busy’ are mental. Mental tiredness is a symptom of the self going against the grain of the truth about the self. Being lost in thought, thinking constantly about things to do, what’s been done, what could have been done, what was done wrong, what should have been done but wasn’t, what others did, are doing, should do, must do, is not only tiring and a brilliant way to waste energy, If you would learn to meditate and thereby turn the eye of your attention and awareness within, if you would let your mind be quiet and allow your being to be still, you would rediscover, ‘as without, so within’. You would realize outer space is but a reflection of inner space. Both are vast and infinite spaciousness.

Discovering God (Part 3)

I love God a lot, Thank you God, O God please help me, O God please forgive me, O God where are you, O God please make me healthy, O God please grant me a child, O God please make my mind peaceful, O God please shower my life with success and prosperity, etc. are some of our common cries in God's name. We say and they all reach Him, but do we ever wonder how much God loves us, how much He is ready to help us and grant us all of these desires or help us in bringing them in our lives? Does God help each one of us equally? We know He is impartial and loves each one of us equally but at the same time He is a parent who also knows which children of His are more full of qualities than the others. Also, He knows which children of His from amongst the world population have performed higher karmas or actions in their complete journey of birth and rebirth and who are very very pure and humble, not only in the present but also who have been like that in many many lives. Also, how much do we remember God with a clean heart in our present and how much have we remembered Him in our past births? God knows our present as well as our past equally correctly, on the basis of which He sees us.

There are two sides of God's personality. On the one hand He is loveful and so His love and respect for all His children is equal. On the other side and at the same time, while being lawful, He chooses to be more loveful and respectful for a few, based on all the things He knows about us. It is two sides of the same coin. Both sides are a part of the coin and it is only a Supreme Being like God who can keep a balance of both these sides so beautifully. You might question this, but God is commonly a strict being with some souls who are lacking in qualities or whose actions are of a low quality, under the influence of the five vices - lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego, which are like Ravana's ten heads. These ten heads are a symbolic representation of five vices in men and five vices in women. Remember Ravana was Ram's enemy, where Ram is a symbolic representation of God. So, if you want your mind to be blessed with the presence of God or Ram inside it, make sure Ravana or the five vices mentioned above are no longer a part of your personality.

Remain Peaceful

We have to develop this hobby of going into the depths of silence. Practice this, make it your hobby and see how much you then enjoy it. 

The tiredness of the soul will then be removed. We will feel that we are able to remain carefree and restful. 

When the soul is tired it is restless and there is a lot of worry; we think I have to do this, that and so we cannot feel restful. 

All actually I have to do is to remain peaceful and there will be the feeling that everything will be ok...

Message for the day

To see and relate to virtues is the best form of diplomacy. 

Thought to ponder: It is said that we need to be diplomatic while dealing with people. Yet, many feel that being diplomatic, equals to not being honest or truthful. However, the easiest way to be diplomatic is to see and relate to virtues. When I am able to see others' virtues, I am only relating to them with that. There might be weaknesses, but I don't highlight them during my interaction with them. So they too are more comfortable with me. 

Point to practice: Today I will look for virtues. Out of all the people, I interact with; I will pay special attention to list out the virtues or specialties of at least three people. Every time I interact with them, I will remind myself of these qualities at least once during the interaction. This practice will help me create a habit of picking virtues. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris