Daily Positive Thoughts: November 29, 2016: Self-confidence

Daily Positive Thoughts: November 29, 2016: Self-confidence

Self-confidence

Self-confidence is to know your way around yourself so instinctively that you always have a strength to draw on. Somewhere inside, from the stillness, you always find something that can meet your need.

God And I - The Relationship We Share (Part 2)

Taking God with you to your office, having Him with you while having lunch, sleeping in His lap, talking to Him when faced with a challenge, putting your head on His shoulder when in trouble and taking support, are some of the common experiences of God and His children here at the Brahma Kumaris. These are the same experiences which you might also have gone through even if you are not attached to a particular spiritual organization. But the one important thing that we would like to share with you is that even we, in our journey with the Brahma Kumaris, define being with God in a different way as we spend more and more time with Him. So say 5-6 years ago, we used the same words – we love God and enjoy being with Him throughout the day, but the same words mean a lot more now than what they meant 5-6 years ago. Today we experience God much closely than we did say a few years ago, even though we were with a spiritual organization like this one at that time also. God keeps revealing Himself more and more as we become cleaner and purer even at the most subtle level of the consciousness.

So it’s the same God and it’s the same me but our consciousness has changed in say 5 years because of which God is inspired to fill us more and more with His divine experiences and a walk with God with His hand in our hand today means something much more beautiful than what it meant at that time. Also don’t forget the same experience will be much more deeper after the next 3-4 years. So God does not change but because He reveals different characteristics of His personality from time to time we grow closer and closer to Him and a companionship with God at all levels of thought, word and action takes a newer meaning every day. Based on this type of spiritual life which keeps becoming more and more beautiful every day, we welcome you to the centers of the Brahma Kumaris to learn meditation and join us in these life changing experiences of seeing God as closely as what you might ever be able to imagine.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Tired?

Tiredness can often be like a cloud of feelings that we just need to push & move through. 

Disperse the clouds of tiredness with rejuvenating thoughts. 

Let the current of your rejuvenating thoughts pass through your mind, like a rocket; leaving you feeling revived & alert.

But if you're feeling tired all the time, then you might want to examine your current lifestyle. Catch the culprit & make easy changes to improve your energy levels.

Message for the day

To fill the ones who are hopeless with hope is the greatest service. 

Expression: To have faith by seeing the positive qualities even in the most negative person is to fill them with hope. Also to fill hope means to encourage others to move forward in the most negative situation. When this is done they are able to use their potentials for a positive purpose and slowly bring about a change for the better.

Experience: When I am able to see positivity under all circumstances, I am able to have the courage and enthusiasm to make the best out of every situation. This also naturally makes me an inspiration for those around me too and makes me an image of support for those who want to make effort. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: November 28, 2016: Talking to the Self

Daily Positive Thoughts: November 28, 2016: Talking to the Self

Talking to the Self

When you talk to yourself in your mind, which self do you address? And how? Usually people do not talk to their divinity, but to the most superficial aspects of their everyday personality. And often it’s a stream of fears, complaints and mindless repetition of old things. If we talked that way to another human being, we would have to apologize. Learning to talk properly to the self is a spiritual endeavour. Thoughts from the past and worries about the future do not create good conversation. Instead learn to talk to your mind as if it were a child. Talk to it with love. If you just force a child to sit down, he won't. A good mother knows how to prompt her child into doing what she wants. Be a good mother to your mind, teach it good, positive thoughts so that when you tell it to sit quietly, it will. Love your mind. Stay happy.

God And I - The Relationship We Share (Part 1)

A beautiful lesson which we learn at the Brahma Kumaris is to keep God with us in every action throughout the day. The type of remembrance varies according to the action we are performing and also changes depending on the setting we are in, like whom we are talking to, whether we are silent or our mind is busy in something. Also whether the action we are performing at that time is something we have to give a lot of mental attention to like driving a car or is it an action like taking a walk in the park which allows us time to give ourselves mentally to. The energies of our mind and intellect are used in remembrance and we have to keep that in mind and decide how we will invest that particular time wisely and also how we will keep God as a companion with us. There are various different methods of keeping a positive consciousness through the direct or indirect remembrance of God. They say God resides in clean temples only – that means if our mind is absolutely clean, we can experience God extremely closely. Do you know that there are some people in the world, amongst us, for whom God is an extremely close friend who will tell them everything that is required to experience success in every sphere of life? A sweet conversation with God in which He can give clear and absolutely true instructions for the required moment based on the scenes which He can see from above, of which we are completely unaware since they are hidden from our physical eyes.

Very often we are so busy in performing actions, that our subtle connection with the Supreme or God is cut off and we do not realize it. What is the right type of positive type of mindset with a pure connection with God, our spiritual Father and Mother, throughout the day, in different actions, is something that God has shared with us at the Brahma Kumaris. This has made us rich with His power filled company. Our every action needs to be filled with the love filled company of the Highest of Highest and the most beautiful being that exists, whom we have given the name – God.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Transform the word:

- Pickle to Pick. Instead of feeling stuck, empower yourself by remembering that you can pick and choose how you want to feel.

- Harm to Harmony. When there's a disagreement, rather than holding onto hurt feelings, explore how you can create more harmony.

- Tar to Star. When you stumble, trip up or fall, instead of looking down at the tar on the road, look up and reach for the stars.

Just add or remove a couple of letters and transform the meaning of a word. Today, play with words and discover what a difference it makes!

Message for the day

To have power means to enjoy the variety of life. 

Expression: When there is the inner strength there is enthusiasm to give the best and also to learn and improve with every obstacle. To work with inner power is to be like a skilled player whose focus is on enjoying the match too rather than just on winning.

Experience: When I have learned the art of focusing on my strengths, I am able to enjoy the variety scenes that life brings for me. I would enjoy dealing with all these different scenes in a natural and easy way, and also be naturally victorious. And so I have the benefit of double enjoyment. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: November 27, 2016: Shake Hands

Daily Positive Thoughts: November 27, 2016: Shake Hands

 

Shake Hands

In the moment of shaking the hand of another, not only are we participating in a universal greeting, but we are acknowledging we are all connected in the game of life together. For what is life but a series of meetings, a gentle sequence of connectings! The touch of hands is a reminder of our unity, the squeeze of a hand says we care, and the shaking of hands says we are celebrating being together. What are we saying when our touch is too cold, our squeeze too firm or too soft, or our shake too limp? Sometimes words are inadequate, or just too difficult. Which is why we can always say with our hand what is in our heart. If you are not ready to look directly into your heart, but you'd like an idea of what's there, be aware of your hand when you next put it forward for a shake!

Try this experiment today. Enter the office with a straight face (not too straight). As you meet others who have a similar kind of straightness on their face, force yourself to smile. Then watch the other person return the smile - perhaps not to the same extent or for so long, or absolutely immediately - but it will return. This is the absolute and often instant proof of the 'ripple and reflect effect'. You get back whatever you put out. We know this, but we forget, and then wonder why everyone seems to give us a straight face, even a grumpy face, on a regular basis. Now learn to make the smile more real, deeper, smilier! Where does a real smile begin? From the heart. Can you smile at will from the heart? Why not? You need to find out soon, because you will live an unsmiling life if you don't find out what is stopping your heart reaching your face! No one else is responsible - there's only you in there! So don't go blaming others if you are not radiating from head and heart. What's blocking it? Take your time. Look in, listen in and see. You'll be surprised. You'll probably laugh, and say "How silly!"

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Making The Journey With The Right Realization

It’s so easy to become caught up in my physical role - my name, physical personality and looks; the social setup or  family I’ve been born into, my friend circle, the school I went to, the person I married, the organization in which I work, the various material objects I own or possess. I forget my true identity, the spiritual being, and that it is me, the spirit or soul, who is experiencing life through this physical body and surrounding circumstances. The physical, human side is essential, but it’s the spirit, the being, the energy, which makes the journey. The physical body is the vehicle through which the journey is made. The people who exist in my life are also energies making their journeys through their respective vehicles. Looking at myself and others, when I realize who is making the journey and I remember this and maintain this spiritual consciousness throughout the day, I'm able to access spiritual treasures of peace, of power, of love and joy and see the same in others. It is because of not remaining in this remembrance; I remember and identify with the vehicle and experience my false identity. That is why we find ourselves empty of these treasures today. As a result there is a tremendous increase in interest in meditation throughout the world. Unlike in the past when this interest was seen primarily in the East, today relaxation and meditation is a blooming industry in the Western countries.

The more I become trapped by a materialistic consciousness, and the more I lose contact with my inner self, the less freedom I experience. The search of happiness through the physical senses brings temporary, short-lived gains. My life lacks depth when the only things I know, realize and feel are related to the loads of information I receive from the physical sense organs, and I become disconnected from the spiritual dimension.

Relationship with the Unconditional Source 

There is one point of being in the universe who is not conditioned by any need, want or desire. Since He does not want anything, everything belongs t0 Him, but not in the sense of owning and controlling. Rather, all things naturally are attracted to the Unconditional Source (God) simply because pure love is given freely to all who come close. They feel that He selflessly serves, sharing all that He is, all that He has. Like a radiant Magnet beyond the limits of time and matter, beyond give and take and beyond measurement and calculation, the Source attracts all because nothing is desired and all is given. 

The love of the Unconditional Source is like spiritual sunlight. It is selfless, complete in itself: it always adds and never subtracts. What is unconditional is always cherished to the point of worship, which is why the entity God is respected and idolized in all parts of the world. Spiritual light from the Source reveals to us our forgotten realities, our hidden potential and our original goodness. It reveals our true selves. Then, if we wish, we can nourish and develop that awareness, but only if we maintain an open channel of communication with the Source. Otherwise, the current either short circuits, cuts, blocks, or discharges in other directions and, after a while, there is a blackout!

Message for the day

To see only problems is to become the one who only takes service. 

Expression: When there is the practice of seeing only problems in all situations there is the inability to find solutions and act effectively. All the resources that could be used for the benefit of the self and others remain hidden. Such a person becomes dependent on others for finding solutions and a source of pity. 

Experience: When I am caught up with problems and not able to see anything else, I am unable to experience progress. I find myself moving backward losing a lot of things I have. I would not be able to retain my self-confidence and would become dependent on others.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: November 26, 2016: Need Nothing

Daily Positive Thoughts: November 26, 2016: Need Nothing

Need Nothing

Everyone thinks they need to get something. But the truth is we don't need anything. We already have what we need. Trouble arises when we think we have to keep what we receive. It's the keeping that sustains our neediness. But whatever comes to us is not for keeping, it is for giving. And when you give, you get. Deep down we all know this eternal truth. It's one of those cast iron laws of the universe. But we are conditioned to think the opposite. No wonder there is a poverty of faith. Not religious faith, but the faith that the universe will bring us whatever we need, at the right moment in the right way. So start today - give, give, give - time, energy, assistance, care, and co-operation. On how many levels do you see the opportunity to give? It's good to be a 'just do it' person. Even better to be a 'just give it' person. And the paradox will make itself known - when you give you will realize you already have everything you need.

Resolving The Inner Identity Crisis (Part 2)

In yesterday’s message we had explained how the confusions, complications and problems that exist in our world today and the state of human relationships all over the world, are simply a reflection of our lack of inner clarity about who we are, what we are and where we are heading i.e. a lack of true self-identity. So how do we resolve this internal and external turmoil? There is an original, beautiful self, with characteristics of peace, love and happiness that exists within each one of us, the self from which we have been distanced since a very long time. This is a centre full of the spiritual resources of all virtues and powers. Reaching it is a journey of only one second and no distance. By identifying with this inner center, a center which is imperishable, unchangeable, constant and even eternal, my self-identity becomes strong and stable, as compared to many false identities based on external realities like position, wealth and material possessions which are all perishable and subject to various ups and downs even in one single day, and if we over identify with them, we are bound to experience constant pain and discontentment.

This process of true self-identification is not a renunciation or avoidance of the way the outer world is but it is a healing process for your inner world. It is an internal correction process of identification, whereby you rediscover your true self as a complete being full of positive emotions that you always were and you start identifying with it, doing which very easily helps you let go of the wrong identifications. This process is commonly called meditation, the foundation of which is spiritual wisdom. Once this inner work is done, the outer world starts taking the shape of a reflection of that. Resolving the identity crisis first changes the way our internal and external world looks to us, as a result changing the way it works.

Surprise!

Sometimes in the rush of life, we forget to look for opportunities to do something for others. At times we only do what we have to do and not more. 

Yet when we do something for others without being asked, not only does it brighten our day but it also builds stronger connections and creates a lovely surprise. And unlike some surprises, it doesn't have to be expensive or on special occasions!

All it requires is an interest in what matters to others. So, no matter how busy you are, pay attention and take the initiative to surprise the people in your life.

Message for the day

To have a balance between being a master and a child is to ensure success. 

Expression: To be in the consciousness of being a master means to have confidence in whatever has to be done and in the ideas that have to be put forth. Along with this if there is the consciousness of being a child, there is learning and improvement, because criticism is taken in the right spirit. 

Experience: When I am able to be open to criticism as a child, I am able to learn from it. I am able to gain further mastery without being troubled by ego. My learning would never be blocked by what other people think or feel. Instead I am able to experience constant progress and sure success. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: November 25, 2016: Everything's Fine

Daily Positive Thoughts: November 25, 2016: Everything's Fine

Hamilton: An American Musical about the life of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton,

Everything's Fine

To a truly contented and enlightened soul everything in the world, which means the way the world is right now, is just fine. To the unenlightened and discontented soul this will sound like a massive avoidance. But think about it. Does the masterful actor go to the theatre for their evening performance, and on entering the stage start shifting the backdrop, altering the scenery and moving the props around? Of course not, they are totally concentrated on the role they need to create and play to the best of their ability. And so it is with the world. The backdrop to our life is the way things are at this moment in time. The props are exactly where they are meant to be at this moment in time. Many people spend their whole lives trying to change the backdrop and move the props around, little realizing the futility of the exercise. Yes they may succeed in altering an angle here, a minute part of the picture there. But all at the cost of the focus and the energy needed to put on their best performance. Little did they realize that if they had fully focused on their performance and achieved their own highest standards of excellence, not only would those around them be immensely enriched, but the backdrop and the props of their life would have changed automatically, as the invitations roll in to perform their life elsewhere.  Excellence is a much more powerful influence in the world than discontent. So everything is fine out there. No one said it's perfect. But it is exactly the way it should be ...at this moment. So here is the paradox of effective change - if you want to influence change for the better, then the most effective way to begin is with contentment with the way things are. The way things are, are the way things are meant to be!

Resolving The Inner Identity Crisis (Part 1)

At the present moment in human history, almost every individual has lost the awareness of its real or true self. This has happened very gradually as each individual has progressed in its journey of birth-rebirth and has kept on attaching itself to various different things and as a result losing its sense of self in things that it is not i.e. identifying with things that it is not. In a way it can be said that this took the self far away from itself. This personal, internal identity crisis has led to a universal, external identity crisis, which has resulted in an emotional crisis resulting in peacelessness and sorrow in our inner world as well as in the outer world.

This inner identity crisis is the root cause of the multitude of deformed emotions that exist inside us like anger, ego, lust, fear, comparison with others, greed, hatred, low self-esteem, dependencies etc. all of which have brought us and keep on bringing us pain. We explain this with an example – suppose you have just constructed a new apartment. While making it and once its ready and you are using it, you have become excessively attached to it i.e. you have started identifying with it. Due to this false identification, the first emotion that gets created inside you is ego. If someone were to criticize the apartment even slightly, you would react immediately with anger. You constantly fear any sort of harm to the apartment. You even compare it with apartments that others possess. You also start looking down at people whose apartment is not as good as yours i.e. you create emotions of hatred for them. If something negative were to happen it, it affects your mental state immediately i.e. your happiness has become dependent on the material possession. Your temporary success along with the recognition that it brings you from others leads to the desire of more success of a similar type i.e. possess some more things - bigger and better, which is nothing but greed etc. The seed of all these incorrect emotions is my over-identification with this newly acquired possession. All of these wouldn’t exist inside me, if my relationship with was one of detachment with it. In this way, we identify with various objects and people in the whole day, which leads to the creation of such emotions inside us.   

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Be Cool!

Become a goddess of coolness and make all your physical senses cool and peaceful. Those who are masters of the self cannot be deceived by any of their physical senses. 

A goddess of coolness can never get angry. Some say that they don't have anger, but that they do have to have a little bossiness. 

However, even bossiness is a trace of anger. So, you are gods and goddesses of coolness, therefore traits of anger or bossiness cannot emerge even in your dreams.

Message for the day

It is on the basis of actions that praise is received.

Expression: The one who only talks but is not able to put his talk into practice does not become worthy of praise. On the other hand, the one who is able to bring his good thoughts and words into action becomes worthy of praise. Such a person's actions become inspirational for others and encourage them to follow him. 

Experience: When I am able to act according to my thoughts and words, I am able to take inspiration to do more. For every positive action that I do, I experience support and good wishes from others which encourage me constantly. My account of positivity is always full and it takes me further to a cycle of positivity making it a habit. So I find that I don't have to work hard for performing positive actions. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris