Daily Positive Thoughts: September 04, 2016: Intuitive Intellect

Daily Positive Thoughts: September 04, 2016: Intuitive Intellect

 

Intuitive Intellect

Intuition is the discerning of a refined intellect. We all have the capacity for intuition, but we find it hard to cultivate and exercise this capacity as we are mostly encouraged to keep our awareness focused on the surface events and activities of life around us. Intuition is that voice of innate wisdom which can speak to us at any moment. It is the core of our self, of our consciousness, a touchstone which is always true and trustworthy, as long as the voice is not distracted or disturbed by the many voices of our ego, or others egos, which we allow to reside like ghosts within our consciousness. Learning to listen to and trust our intuition means we must be able to recognize these voices and ruthlessly ignore their deviations and temptations. This is why we need to spend some time each day in some form of contemplative process - call it meditation, reflection or just listening to the self. When we give time to restoring our inner peace and quiet, we will learn to discern the voice of our intuition from the cleverness of our ego. When meditation becomes a regular exercise we rebuild that trust in ourselves to be able to ignore the machinations of ego, and follow the wisdom of our inner tutor. Gradually there comes a time when we never do not know what to do, when every event reveals something deeply significant to our awareness, and we can sense the deeper needs of those around us. These are the inner subtle skills of intuition and the sign of our intuitive intellect at work.

Experiencing Perfection And Success In Role Playing (Part 1)

Spirituality gives me the detached realization of being pure consciousness. This realization not only detaches me from my physical body, but also detaches me from the different roles I play through my physical body (male or female) and the different acts or scenes in each role, in one particular day or one particular lifetime. The roles may be many, the acts and the scenes may be many, but I am the actor playing the different roles and participating in the different acts.

There is great strength in experiencing myself as an actor as compared to the previous existence in which I used to lose myself and forget my spiritual identity completely while playing the different roles, identifying more with the roles and thinking myself to be the role instead of being a spiritual actor.  An actor, even while in the midst of the most dramatic scenes, even whilst getting excited or emotional or angry, knows he is not the part itself, the part is just temporary. He knows he is something more than that, and that when the play is over, the role will not exist anymore. So, even though I play my role, I don’t cut off myself from the role and don’t leave my responsibilities, I need to adopt

the observer or spectator or detached consciousness instead of the player consciousness. A player tends to get over-involved. So, the balance has to be maintained – I play as well as remain detached. Only then the roles will be played to complete perfection and I will experience success in each role.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Know Your Stress

What causes you stress?  Is it your job, a relationship, health, wealth.....?  Or is it a demanding deadline, an overcrowded train, a throwaway comment.....? 

To know your stress, try this:

- Take a piece of paper and divide it into three columns.

- In the first column, list your stressors, for example, presentations.

- In the second column, get specific about exactly why you feel stressed.  So, if you’re giving a presentation, are you stressed about the audience, the use of technology, your performance?

- In the third column, brainstorm the solutions.  Do you need some extra technical training or tips on how to calm your nerves? 

Try this exercise; sometimes it unveils practical solutions and sometimes just knowing your stressors can mean that you don’t react so strongly to them next time.

Message for the day

To be powerful is to be a support for others at all times. 

Thought to ponder: When we face challenges, we may not look for solutions from others, but we definitely tend to look for support from others. Yet, we find that most people today are unable to give support. We then tend to get disappointed, further increasing our negativity. Yet, we need to understand that each one has their own problems and they too are in some way looking for support. We need to be internally so powerful and self-reliant that we can become a support for others, instead of expecting from them.

Point to practice: Today I will create a simple practice for myself. At least 5 times today, I will tell myself "I am powerful and self-reliant. I am the master, the creator and this situation is just a creation. So I the master will find a way to maneuver and change the situation". This practice will help me stop expecting from others, not even support. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: September 03, 2016: The Diet of an Angel

Daily Positive Thoughts: September 03, 2016: The Diet of an Angel

The Diet of an Angel

By feeding your mind a diet of elevated thoughts, you grow up to become an angel.

I Am Peace (Part 3)

Meditation for mental peace is something we commonly hear nowadays and it is something which is being practiced by thousands of families and professionals nowadays to bring peace and calm in their minds as well as in their relationships. Some people do not realize the importance of looking inwards for maintaining peace and also the importance of methods like meditation for achieving that. But remember, a few minutes given to looking after the self everyday will make you powerful to face the growing number of situations which come at you from people in your family and at office. Meditation is not running away from society but is an easy technique of mastering the thought patterns of the mind and keeping them under control.To meditate is to create thoughts related to the self like – Who am I, What is my role in this world, What is my original stage when I came to play my part in the world, Do I perform positive actions throughout the day, Am I a being of peace and love, Do I come into contact with everyone with a positive consciousness, Do I satisfy God with my daily routine, Do I remain stable irrespective of what happens around me, Do I remain pure and peaceful in my interactions with others, etc.

These type of thoughts which are mentioned above and giving answers to the questions asked by the mind is a way of making the mind busy. This is the most basic type of meditation. Of course, as you go ahead with your meditation practice, you have to go from thoughts to pure experience. In pure experience, thoughts stop and the self just exists in a stage full of peace and no longer needs the support of thoughts but can stand on its own feet. The feet are a pure loveful connection with the Supreme or God which gives the self the beauty of experience. Experience means to just be peace and not necessarily create thoughts related to peace.

Open the windows of your mind

You know when you're expecting visitors; you can get the cleaning done in no time at all! 

In the same way, when you're expecting to start something new, quickly clean up your mind.

Open the windows of your mind and create space for your thoughts to breathe. Clear out the clutter and get your mind in order. 

This is a great way to install energy into yourself and bring enthusiasm into your task.

Message for the day

To have the right frame of mind is to bring benefit. 

Thought to ponder: Difficult situations do come to everyone, and it is during these situations that one needs to give their best to tackle them. Yet, we find it is quite the opposite. Negativity comes creating weakness of the mind. So, whatever decisions we take at this time are not appropriate or fruitful. We tend to lose sight of opportunities and there is loss.

Point to practice: Today I will pick out one problem that I have been worrying about. I will take the thought that this problem is there to go. It will surely go one day as nothing is permanent. I will then look for solutions with a positive frame of mind. If I still don't find solutions, I will stop thinking about it, because thinking too much about one thing amounts to worrying. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: September 02, 2016: Contentment

Daily Positive Thoughts: September 02, 2016: Contentment

Artist: Matylda Konecka

Contentment

To make good use of what you have and to let go of what you do not use, is to live in a contented way.

I Am Peace (Part 2)

Peace inside is often reflected to the outside. Very often homes and offices which are more orderly normally have people living and working inside them who are more peaceful. A less orderly place to stay and work in, increases our thought activity. People who are confused easily in difficult situations tend to also ignore their surroundings and prefer living in less orderly environments. So, inner peace and outer peace are connected with each other. Keeping both, the mind and the surroundings full of calmness by using subtle methods for the mind and physical methods for the surroundings makes you stronger inside and increases your ability to keep your thought activity to a minimum. This is required very regularly when there are different types of situations and while coming into contact with people of different personalities. Very often a big group of people in an office can be challenging to work with and can make people even have thoughts of leaving such a group of people permanently when they are not able to cope with different people and their demands. A calm mind, some say in an 8 hour work day at the office, with demanding deadlines and different people with their different ways of working and opinions is next to impossible. At the same time, for some, who have learnt to remain at ease in situations or who have learnt the habit of thinking less irrespective of whatever happens around them prefer working in groups and find it easy to be a part of a group. On the other hand, some lose hope and cannot bear the pressure of that and prefer living alone and with a few people.

A good leader will be good at managing people well but not at the cost of managing the self and coming under mental pressures, which are the main cause of negative thoughts. The positive thought activity of a good leader and his peaceful nature directly influences the quality of mind activity of the people whom the leader leads and makes them peaceful.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Sometimes we can be icy cold, unfriendly and unapproachable.

Sometimes bitter cold winds blow through our words, and people slip and slide on our frosty intentions.

There are times when we shut down and our ability to love freezes over.

Fortunately this state is not permanent. We can defrost our heart by: being more loving to ourselves, making our self-talk kinder and listening to our emotions.

As we start to warm up, our arctic feelings will melt, frosty behaviour will thaw, and love will flow again.

Message for the day

One's interaction with others is the biggest test to know what to check and change. 

Thought to ponder: How people behave with us is a true indication of what our personality is. If most of the people are being negative to me, then definitely I need to check myself. Because, others become a mirror for us to see how we are. Physically too, most people have the habit of checking in the mirror to see if they are alright and if they are not, they bring about a change. In the same way, other people's response becomes an indication for us to know where I need to bring about a change.

Point to practice: Today I will take criticism as an indication of what I need to bring about a change in myself. When someone says something about me, especially if it is repeatedly coming to me from more than one source, I will see what aspect I need to change. I need to first check what really in me is drawing that criticism. Then I need to bring about that change.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: September 01, 2016: Walk Quickly

Daily Positive Thoughts: September 01, 2016: Walk Quickly

Walk Quickly

Walk quickly today, not because you are in a hurry, but because you value the exercise for legs and heart. As you walk, allow your thoughts to visit you, but not stay. Let them come to pass, and you will be surprised how quickly they become positive, and filled with creative ideas. And paradoxically, if you stay internally aware, you may notice that the quicker you walk, the more your thinking slows down and deepens. Walking briskly and positive thinking - that's the simplest way to take care of body and mind. And life was meant to be simple...wasn't it?

I Am Peace (Part 1)

An important feature of lives of successful people is a mind which remains free of questions and always remains solution based. Very often, problems of the world shake up the mind and make you confused, leading to negative results in life’s situations and also harming relationships with people. Ideally, people around us remain content with us when our mind is relaxed and free from any mental disturbances. A very important habit that we should choose to make a part of our personality is the ability to give a brake to our thoughts of fear and anxiety in any type of situation and instead create thoughts of determination and surety of success so that even negative situations bring about positive results. Thoughts increase when negative situations come close to us and have an impact on our minds. So, in such situations, first of all realizing that any such situation has a hidden benefit inside it which we cannot see and also being sure that the hidden benefit will be visible very soon, is the method of remaining peaceful and calm. That means a mind with few thoughts and an intellect free of questions.

Do you know the original state of the soul, when it stayed in the soul world, was completely thoughtless? As it came down in the world and took one birth one after the other, the number of thoughts inside it started increasing. At the same time, the different types of situations surrounding it also increased slowly, showing how a mind without peace attracted peacelessness on an external level. The confusion in the world today is nothing but a reflection of the nature of human minds which are extremely peaceless, to the extent that even a 6-7 hours night of sleep is difficult for some to experience at times.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Smile!

We all know and remember a smiley person – someone whose heart seems to radiate through their teeth.

And when they do, notice how it’s almost impossible not to smile back…unless you are feeling very, very grumpy! So if you don’t feel a smile coming on – why not do it anyway. Not only does it transform your inner chemical production and create ‘happy hormones’, but when people are on the end of your smile, they smile back (well most do). And if you really don’t genuinely feel like smiling at life, the universe and everybody – fake it until you make it!

Message for the day

Creating quality thoughts brings happiness and lightness. 

Thought to ponder: When there is quality thinking, thoughts are not many, but each thought is special. Quality thoughts are reflected in quality words and quality actions. They reduce tiredness and carelessness as thoughts are fewer in quantity. 

Point to practice: When I have good quality thoughts, I experience sweetness, happiness and self-respect. I am able to recognize my own greatness and move forward with lightness under all circumstances. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 31, 2016: Feeling Great

 Feeling Great

Enthusiasm is the master key to feeling great. It keeps the self extremely positive beyond the pull of negativity while simultaneously making others feel uplifted too. To develop enthusiasm, have faith in the goodness of life, and in the original goodness of the self and others.

Living Relationships The Soul Conscious Way (Part 6)

This is the last part of this detailed message series on how to live your relationships in the right manner and in this last part, we explain the method of becoming a good relationship manager. In other words, how do we manage our relationships in a manner that the other person in all our relationships is always full of love and blessings for us in his or her heart? Also we continue to experience that love from them in the form of good wishes which reach us in a way so as to fill us on a spiritual level.

Soul-consciousness is the way of living relationships spiritually. Spirituality teaches us that each and every human being in this world is a soul whose original qualities are peace, love and happiness and each one is originally full of these qualities when they come down in the world to play their roles down in the physical world from the soul world up above. This initial stage of ours is called the soul-conscious stage, in which the soul’s qualities are like a fragrant flower and everyone experiences these qualities from us, in all relationships. It’s when we started coming under the influence of negativity of different forms that the soul started losing its qualities and fragrance and it started looking outwards in need of these qualities. This is when the balance in relationships was spoilt and we starting becoming dependent on others for our love and joy. It is like the famous story of the musk deer, who did not realize that the scent it was searching for was from its own navel. In the same manner as the musk deer, we lost the connection with our inner selves and the method of accessing peace, love and joy by becoming soul conscious and started looking for it from our mother, our father, our child, our brother, our life partner, our friend etc. The right way of restoring the balance is completing the triangle of spirituality, by including God as the one whom I absorb peace, love and joy from. I also become soul-conscious and access these qualities inside myself and increase them. And then I share all these qualities with others, instead of expecting them to give me those qualities of peace, love and joy.

Overthinking

Personal power is within you. But when your power gets depleted, everything becomes more difficult.

Know what drains your personal power. Is it because you 'think' too much or 'emote' too much? Or is it something else?

Know how to recharge your personal power. Sometimes all that's needed is to stop for a minute and just be.

Message for the day

The method to bring about a permanent change is to bring about newness in thinking.

 

Thought to ponder: To bring about a permanent change for the better means getting the mind trained to new ways of looking at the same situation. Only with this new understanding will there be a new response. Trying to bring about change in a superficial way will not bring about a long-lasting change. 

Point to practice: When I train my mind to think creatively I'm able to keep my mind busy. In this way I'm able to free it from thinking negative and waste. Also I find myself enjoying every scene that comes in front of me and I also find myself constantly progressing. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 30, 2016: Words of Peace and Purity

Words of Peace and Purity

A pure mind makes for pure words. It is said that speech may exalt someone to kingship or send him to the gallows. I should never let myself indulge in false, bitter and vicious speech. My words should reflect my true, inner nature, that of purity and peace. Words, once spoken, can never be recalled.

Living Relationships The Soul Conscious Way (Part 5)

Sacrifice in any relationship is an important characteristic or quality that one needs to imbibe to make it successful. Remember the one who only keeps himself or herself ahead without caring for the needs of the other in a relationship is the one who loses respect and also the one who can lead in the relationship with the head but is the loser, when it comes to the heart. The one who gives up the ego to accommodate the needs of the other is the true winner in a relationship of love, which could be relationships involving any two people and in any type of relationship, not necessarily relationships between life partners, which some people think, are the most difficult relationship to play. So, wherever it may be, the one who says I in every dealing is the loser at the level of the heart. That means he or she will lose the blessings of the other, even though he or she may be smarter and more skilled than the other and the other person accepts that also. So respect is gained at the external level by the egoistic role player but love and respect is lost at the internal level.

You must have heard this some time ago that to fear is not to respect, which happens with egoistic people. Egoistic people are sometimes respected out of fear because they are more skilled in many ways and good at doing many things of the world and also good at making things work their way but what they are lacking is humility and the way of winning people’s hearts. Remember, there have been people in the world who have been more successful because they were compassionate and sweet natured and not necessarily best at the ways of the world and being skilled and the best at achieving success on a materialistic level. Humble people are true leaders of people’s hearts and God helps them to achieve big, because of this quality that they possess.  (To be continued tomorrow …)

New Perspectives

Sometimes we can get a little blinded by our own expertise 
and for that reason, it's useful to step out of our comfort zone and seek out new perspectives.

You might want to ask a younger colleague for their advice; they may offer fresh ideas; a simpler approach or a more adventurous one. 

You don't have to follow their advice, but be humble enough to give it your honest consideration.

Message for the day

True decoration lies in using specialties.

Thought to ponder: All of us are bestowed with some or the other qualities. Everyone has the inherent tendency to want to be their best. So we tend to really take care about external appearance. But, in the same way, if we take care of our inner qualities, nurture and help them grow, we would find them decorating our personality in the true sense.

Point to practice: Today I will identify one quality that I feel is unique about me, I will consciously put it into practice and make sure I remind myself about it at least 10 times throughout the day. Even if challenges come to shake that quality, I will still continue with my practice for today. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 29, 2016: Good Relationships

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 29, 2016: Good Relationships

Good Relationships

In order to create good relationships...

- with your mind, think about what you have to learn from others,

- with your eyes, look into good qualities of others,

- with your words, recognize, value and appreciate their accomplishments,

- with your actions, cooperate and do something for others.

Living Relationships The Soul Conscious Way (Part 4)

Loving God in the right manner is also an important aspect of our lives in which God is also just like all our other relationships, although a very important one. Playing a role of child or friend to God also requires certain ways of acting and creating thoughts of love for Him. E.g. To always ask more and more from God and not think of returning enough is also an incorrect way of being God’s close one. Also, changing oneself to become like God is being a true loved one of God. Qualities like love, happiness and contentment and even a clean heart and truthfulness make you worthy of receiving God’s beautiful sustenance and support when you are facing difficult situations in life’s journey and you need God’s help, without which you cannot come out of them.

Another important relationship with God is one of a teacher and a student, in which God helps us become full of divine qualities apart from spiritual knowledge of course. In this relationship, we need to realize the importance of the effort made by God as a Supreme Teacher and how we should return all the energy and time that he spends on us in making us perfect human beings and lifting our spiritual intelligence to high levels which is required to become pure and perform good actions. Another relationship with God which we sometimes forget to play is one in which God is like a child who takes care of us in different ways. He does this in return of all the care that we shower on Him and also all the respect we give Him because He is a like a constant spiritual power canopy on us and His eyes never stop looking upon us and protecting us from all the difficulties that we might face. Also, whenever you remember God as the Supreme guru, it means following all the directions that He gives and also having a stage of purity when coming into contact with others, which is a stage similar to God’s. This makes you worthy of His constant good wishes which keep you light and happy.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Right Direction 

Just as we put the car into neutral gear, in the same way we too can, in between activities, shift our mind into neutral. Just for a moment, bring everything in motion to stillness.

Neutrality brings rest, renewal and balance. 

This empowers us to operate at an optimal level, make clearer decisions and move forward in the right direction.

Message for the day

To be an embodiment of solutions is to be an embodiment of success. 

Thought to ponder: Everyone wants to be successful. But to achieve and feel success all the time, one needs to be an embodiment of solutions. Problems continue to come, but if we go on cursing problems, we will not be able to achieve success. We will only end up spoiling our state of mind. Instead, if we try and find solutions, we will find something somewhere. We will be in the right frame of mind to create solutions.

Point to practice: Today I will only focus on solutions. I will pick out one problem which I have been avoiding or not being able to do anything about. I will then think of some solution, even if it is a small little step that I can take. I will first believe that there is a solution and then find something creative to do. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris