Daily Positive Thoughts: January 10, 2017: Think less

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 10, 2017: Think less

Think less

Economize on your thoughts and you will automatically save your time and words.

Transforming The Other’s Anger

In meditation, when I connect with God, I absorb His spiritual love and peace, which causes my own original qualities, which are present in me, the soul, in my pure state when I begin the playing of roles through physical bodies on the world stage, to come to the forefront or to the surface, to emerge in the conscious from the sub-conscious. As a result, now, where previously there would have been conflict, I have a greater capacity to remain peaceful when another person behaves in an unpleasant way with me. I have the power to stay mentally and emotionally stable when someone provokes or insults me. This power is enormously valuable in life, enabling me to cool heated situations, and even remove another person's anger altogether.

Instead of focusing on the anger on a person's face, I focus my attention to the non-physical, star-like being or soul within the person, which was peaceful and loveful in its original, pure state. This increases my tolerance and acceptance power. Also, through my meditation, I am actively aware of the spiritual bond all human beings share, as souls who have a common home of peace, the incorporeal (non-physical) home, from where all of souls come and a common connection with the One Supreme Father, the Supreme Soul. Through this knowledge, I connect with the goodness in the other soul and my love for the soul is maintained. I realize that this goodness is a deeper reality than the anger. The truth is that if I can hold this soul-conscious vision steady for long enough, I radiate positive energy to the other soul, which works like magic and awakens the goodness within the other person. Then, my tolerance bears fruit and peace really does prevail between the two of us.

Keep Dancing!

A good dancer makes every move look effortless! Yet we know that each step is precise & taken with consideration. But most dancers will tell you, that as soon as you start to doubt or over-think, you make mistakes.

Like a dancer, put consideration into each step you take in life without over-thinking. Be as precise as you can be, keep fine-tuning your technique but know when to be spontaneous. And when you make mistakes, learn to flow into the next step quickly & with ease. Then you'll have fun & enjoy the process.

Message for the day

Greatness lies in being humble.

Expression: A seed grows only when it is mingled with the mud. In the same way, the one who is great is naturally humble. He understands the truth that only when there is humility will there be success. Humility gives the power to bow down without reducing one's own self-respect. 

Experience: When I am humble I am able to be experience my own inner greatness, which naturally keeps me set on the seat of my self-respect. So when the situation demands, I have no problem bowing down. So I am able to allow the situations to work on me, so I am able to strengthen myself from within under all circumstances. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 09, 2017: Meditation

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 09, 2017: Meditation

Meditation

Meditation is not complicated. It is simply a means of teaching your mind to think in the right way.

Attitude Matters (Part 3)

When listening to a piece of information use your third eye or third ear if you like to call it that. We normally use the words third eye or the eye of wisdom. In the same way the ear of wisdom means while you listen to something about a person with your physical ears, use this third ear to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong. What that means is emerge spiritual wisdom of different life situations and the knowledge of Law of Karma (Action) i.e. What you sow you shall reap or Every action on a spiritual level causes a similar reaction or life situation to come back to us. A positive action brings a positive life situation back to us and a negative action brings a negative life situation back to us. The two ears will listen physically but the third ear will listen to the physical information after filtering it with the filter of the Law of Karma. That also means is understand every hidden aspect of the information being shared with you about a particular person and yet keep a positive attitude towards that person. 

At the same time, use the 8 powers in that particular situation like the power to tolerate, power to accommodate, power to face, power to pack up, power to discriminate, power to judge, power to withdraw and power to co-operate to bring about success in that particular situation. What that means do the right thing at the right time – resolve the problem filled situation without harming anyone’s interests on a physical or subtle level of mental energies. Also, keep good wishes for everyone involved, keep yourself free from waste and negative thoughts, maintain the positive environment of the workplace or home, spread good information about everyone including the person who may have committed a mistake or the person who has given you wrong information about that person. Lastly, remember everyone’s original qualities are peace, joy, love, bliss, purity, power and truth. Look at everyone with these spectacles of their original qualities and don’t look with the filters of negativity and weaknesses of different colours. Then everyone will look beautiful. Attitude matters and it is the key to success. So always keep it nice, pure and positive.

To see things as they are is to be free from the influence of my own weaknesses. 

Sometimes I find myself reacting to even small situations. I also find my feelings being dependent on the different situations I face. I do try to change my feelings of negativity, if they do arise. But sometimes I am not able to, either because of my personality or the dominant personality trait working within me at that time. If I have to change my reactions to the different situations that I am faced with, I need to change my vision, i.e I need to change the way I see things. I need to understand the situation as it is and not let it be coloured by my own personality traits. When I see things as they are, I am able to act in situations instead of reacting. 

Message for the day

To be a master means not to be cheated by one's own weaknesses.

Expression: When there is any weakness working within me it means that the internal power is not working at that time. To be a master means there is total control over all the internal powers. Whether it is the power of concentration, or the power to decide or the power to be stable, whatever power is required is used according to the right time. So no weakness is expressed but only inner strength is revealed.

Experience: When I am able to use all my powers at the right time, I experience mastery - over situations and over others. But most of all I find that I am a master of myself and my own feelings and emotions. I am always in control of my emotions, however challenging the situations outside may be. So I find that I am never cheated by my weaknesses.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 08, 2017: Power of Blessings

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 08, 2017: Power of Blessings

Power of Blessings

The power of blessings changes the fire of adverse situations into water.

Attitude Matters (Part 2)

Our attitude towards a person is commonly based a lot on what we listen from others about him or her, as discussed in yesterday’s message. On the other hand a person who is determined to have a positive attitude will not let all that he hears, affect him. He will maintain a balance by knowing everything about a person or what others are saying about the other person, if required and yet remaining the same. This is because sometimes in a particular role, in any sphere of life, it may be important to know everything about a person from others also. That does not mean that we should gossip about the other person and indulge in discussions about him or her. This may be unnecessary at times because sometimes people give incorrect feedback also. But that’s not true every time. Sometimes the feedback may be correct and not so nice. Also it may be important to know that piece of information about a particular person, which you are receiving.

At that time, use your power of discrimination and judgment to know whether what you are hearing is true or not because the other person may be incorrect or may purposely be lying or lying because of his or her own lack of discrimination and judgment power. Also, at times, it may be good to refuse the other person’s piece of information or if that’s not possible, hear it, but not let it affect you negatively. In other words, neither should you be disturbed by that piece of information nor should you share that piece of information with others. Lastly and very importantly your attitude towards that person whose information was shared should remain the same. Otherwise following your attitude change, your behavior towards that person changes and as a result the relationship with that person gets spoilt. How to keep a positive attitude for a person about whom we hear negative information? A little bit about that in tomorrow’s message.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Anticipation & Anxiety

When we are anticipating something it's so easy for the anticipation to turn into anxiety. 

How about turning anticipation into preparation! Recognize what you need to prepare & do it! Then choose to think about it, only when you need to.

Take away the anxiety from the anticipation & you're left with a healthy optimism. You're then able to relish how things happen, even if it's not in the way that you were anticipating.

Message for the day

To work with joy is to be free from tiredness.

Expression: When there is the happiness and joy of doing something, one can go on putting in effort even in the most difficult circumstances. For having done everything with happiness, there will be the inner quality revealed in each and every task. The happiness within will spread around to others too. 

Experience: As I never leave my inner joy, and am constantly in touch with my inner qualities, I am able to enjoy everything that life brings. Nothing will then be experienced as work, but I feel everything to be entertainment. I will be able to enjoy the richness of life even when there is something actually difficult. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 07, 2017: Compassion

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 07, 2017: Compassion

 

Compassion

A compassionate person develops an eye for spotting the qualities that make each person special. Even when others are at their lowest ebb, it is possible to help them restore their self-belief by keeping a firm, clear vision of their goodness and specialities. Taking a gently encouraging approach, I must never give up on anyone.

Attitude Matters (Part 1)

A beautiful aspect of our lives which we sometimes do not give adequate importance to is the need for taking care of our attitude towards everyone and how we look at each one. There was once a businessman who became known as the most successful person in his field because of his hard work and dedication. Thousands of people admired and respected him. Everyone’s attitude was extremely nice and positive towards him. Sometime in the middle of his career he started doing badly and suddenly people began to move away from him. The attitude of many people towards him started becoming negative and the same people who were happy with him, in his success, no longer were there for him, in his failure. The world had turned its back to him. Why did he face such a response from the people around him? Was something lacking in him? Did he commit some mistake? Not at all. But the world was like that for him. Bad. They say your attitude for someone should not only be positive but ever-positive i.e. continuously positive. 

Are we able to always have a positive attitude for everyone? Do you ever wonder what stops us from doing that? Our perception of people changes very easily. There is a small example of two people A and B having a conversation amongst each other. B explained something negative about C to A and went away. Later in the day, C came to A to ask for help and A refused to help because he thought C was not a nice person. Who was responsible for this action? B and his negative feedback about C which he gave to A. This changed A’s attitude towards C. This can happen with us in our social circles or in our offices or even in families. Attitude matters. It is the foundation stone of all relationships. Let’s give it a thought in the next two day’s messages.

 (To be continued tomorrow …)

Transform negative into positive

After a negative interaction, traces of emotions and impressions get left over. 

These shape our future expressions! That's why it's important to wipe the slate clean.

This doesn't mean erasing things completely, no, it means transforming negative into positive.

Here's how in 3 steps:

1) Acknowledge your emotions and understand what triggered them.

2) If you could replay that scene again, how would you do things differently?

3) Create a positive impression about that negative interaction and move on.

Message for the day

To be a giver means to give according to need.

Expression: The one who is a giver 

would be sensitive to the needs of others and will be able to give what the other person needs at the right time, instead of giving what he wants to give. Also such a person is able to give without expecting anything in return. 

Experience: When there is even a little thought to share with others whatever I have, I would naturally be able to perceive my own inner treasures and experience being full. Sharing with others, whatever I can, enables me to get their good wishes also. I thus find myself experiencing the richness of life. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 06, 2017: Emotional Pain

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 06, 2017: Emotional Pain 

Emotional Pain

In a situation of emotional distress, you usually have two options: to face the problem or not. Processing a problem means you are facing it. Suppressing the problem means you are not. There's a big difference between the two. Processing is to the mind what digesting is to the stomach. If your digestive system can't handle certain foods, you have to stop eating them, otherwise you become sick. Similarly, if you find yourself in a situation where you can’t cope, don't just sit there taking it all in. It's better to say something right there and then. To hold things inside will not allow you to have a healthy mind. What you take in will be indigestible and it will be obvious to others that you are having a problem. Our ability to cope is hampered by thinking too much about other people. This causes problems in the mental digestive system. The best mental 'antacid' is in-depth spiritual study. This, plus regular practice of self-awareness, penetrates the mind very deeply, dislodging emotional pain at its roots. Only then can emotion be purified, refined, and ultimately transformed.

The Dynamics Of Greed

Deficiencies inside us bring about a spiritual void or the lack of wholeness (fullness). As we lay the foundation of our lives on deficiencies or weaknesses, the result is suffering, sorrow and peacelessness. If we act in harmony with spiritual virtues and qualities, the result is cooperation, happiness, peace, contentment and finally, wholeness.

A spiritual void leads to selfishness and causes the creation of greed inside us. We want to have more and possess more, which generates a state of expectation and stress. We fill our lives with things and objects to cover up deeper deficiencies. Then we are afraid of losing them. We generate expectations of all kinds, and when they are not fulfilled we react with anger, frustration, fear or disappointment. The inner emptiness makes us become greedy. We fill ourselves with objects, properties, things. We take and consume more than what we can give to the Universe in the form of positive thoughts, feelings, vibrations, actions etc. and this brings about imbalances in the self, in relation to others and with nature.

Something similar happens on a physical level. The body has a capacity to recycle and eliminate waste through different mediums. However, since we consume more toxins than the body can process, it leads to imbalance and we are more prone to feeling physically ill and unfit and developing diseases etc.

Intellectual humility

Just when we think we've mastered something, something else comes along to make us humble again!

It's as if life is saying, 'don't box up your knowledge and think you've got it!' 

Think you have it all figured out and you're deciding that you don't need to know any more; you're closing your mind to new ideas and learning.

Instead be intellectually humble. Have confidence about what you know but keep your knowledge and understanding open - there's much more to come!

Message for the day

The method to finish negativity is to fill with the power of positivity. 

Expression: There are a lot of negative characteristics, which continue to work in one's lives colouring words, actions and behaviour. Such negativity cannot be removed by reminding oneself of it again and again. Instead, a reminder and an excuse to use positivity, helps finish this negativity very naturally. It is when even the tiniest ray of light comes that the darkness begins to disappear. 

Experience: When I start discovering and working with my inner positivity, I am able to easily win over my seemingly strong weaknesses. The lesser attention I give my weaknesses and the more attention I give my strengths, I am able to have an influence over my weaknesses and convert them into strengths. So there is a total experience of positivity, whatever the situation may be. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 05, 2017: Power of Protection

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 05, 2017: Power of Protection

Sunset Point, Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India

Power of Protection

Do you need protection? Are you strong enough to protect yourself? Cultivating self-awareness allows me to see how I have the inner power to choose my feelings regardless of what others say or do.

The Power To Transform Situations (Part 3)

Looking at situations with spectacles of a positive vision means having positive perceptions of negative situations. So, looking at situations with a brave face and not being in awe of the situation is a way of bringing to an end the problem as early as possible. Whereas being in awe of the situation and letting it affect your mind negatively means the problem gets prolonged further and does not go away very easily. So the choice is in our hands. But as some would say this is theory and theory is easy to preach and understand but when it comes to the real test papers of life, we forget this basic truth of life. We tend to easily get caught in the web of negativity which is always there and it gets created because of the habit of perceiving situations negatively.

Do you know that when a powerful consciousness acts on a negative situation on an energy level, it is an interaction between positive and negative forces? The greater our positive consciousness or the power of the positive force, the faster the negative scene which is the negative force, transforms into a positive one. The positive force is the energy of the mind and the negative force is a situation which is of the physical world, either of our physical body, of our wealth, of our relationships or of our role or sometimes of our mind itself. In all the cases except of the mind, it is the non-physical force of our consciousness which is stronger than the physical one because the mind is subtle and possesses greater power than anything physical. The mind can influence matter more than the other way round i.e. matter influencing the mind. Techniques like what we have shared in the previous message i.e. a positive thought diary maintained for the entire week can help you in raising the power of your mind. Keep one positive thought with you every day even if negative situations do not exist in your life and over a period of time you will enjoy a greater success rate in transforming negative situations of all types.

Far from the madding crowd

Want to find just a little bit of quiet far from the madding crowd? Without going away to a sanctuary or a retreat, you can find it right now, right here within yourself.

Here is an accessible exercise:

Slow down the speed of your thoughts, slow it right down & become aware of the spaces in between your thoughts. Focus on the quiet, empty spaces & let it stretch over the mind; & feel the quiet, sinking from the top of your head, right through to the tip of the toes.

Now allow the quiet to expand around you as you sit as quietly as you can. Create this quiet space for yourself & carry it into the madding crowd.

Message for the day

To have love for God means to be protected from weaknesses. 
Expression: To have love for God means to have love for the perfection that is present within each and every individual, which means to be able to recognize and relate to everyone's specialities. When this is done, automatically one remains free from one's own weaknesses and fears and also from looking at the imperfections in others.

Experience: God's love frees me from all worries and concerns. There will be that close connection with God that will enable me to feel light and easy as God takes care of all my worries and troubles. The faith that God is with me frees me from negativity and so I also find my faith making me an instrument to help others to be free from negativity. I am able to give hope and courage to others too. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris