Daily Positive Thoughts: May 22, 2017: Close to Perfection

Close to Perfection

When nothing attractive attracts you, even in your thoughts, you can then be said to be close to perfection.

Keeping The Balance With Ease (Part 2)

How do I keep myself stable and constant when surrounded by lots of actions either in my personal life or my professional work or anything else? As per the knowledge of who I am, what we see about ourselves in the physical mirror is the way we look. Other than that, we know our education, our personality, our skills and even our work or the role we play. This is our physical self. But, inside this physical body and the one which plays its part through the physical body is the inner being or also called the soul. The soul is an energy which is a natural storehouse of all our qualities and powers. If I experience these qualities and powers inside my mind, which is a part of the soul, I will remain at peace and in a content state of mind. But what happens is that when we begin our actions, we lose our connection with the inner self.  We start acting on a physical level, without giving importance to the inner spiritual self.

A very simple method to bring these qualities and powers into my consciousness and then into my actions is reminding myself. Reminding that I am a peaceful soul or I am a loveful soul or even I am a powerful soul. What this will do is make you that. These are called affirmations. The more I bring these qualities and powers into actions, the more my actions will become streamlined and I will not get over-involved with them. At the same time I will perform them accurately, because my mind is focused and full. This is called soul-consciousness and is a higher state of mind than being action-conscious.  

Jealousy doesn't look good or feel good.  

It makes us overreact, misinterpret and assume things.

Every time jealousy emerges, don't look away, acknowledge it.  

Then challenge your feelings of jealousy: What's really making me jealous?  Do I have valid reasons?  Am I being overly controlling, insecure or suspicious?  Why do I feel threatened?

Gain insight from the feeling of jealousy and grow from this insight.

Message for the day

True knowledge is that which comes into practice. 

Expression: To know and not to bring into practice means there is not the accurate understanding of it. It is natural that whenever there is clear understanding change is brought about very naturally and with great ease. 

Experience: When I am able to bring about a change within myself based on understanding, I naturally change with interest and commitment. I don't feel the pressure of the situations or people for me to bring about a change. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 21, 2017: Love is connected to virtues

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 21, 2017: Love is connected to virtues

Love is connected to virtues

Virtues create love both within the self and within others.

When virtues reduce, the quality of love also reduces.

When all virtues are present, there is complete and pure love.

Keeping The Balance With Ease (Part 1)

Living a life which involves different actions, all of which are important in their own way, sometimes requires adjusting to them at every step. E.g. this morning, you have a meeting which is going to last for a couple of hours. After that you have to work on a project, which is pending in your office for a long time. And then, there are some phone calls to complete. This can go on and on every day and for day after day. This is called being action oriented. I work and work very hard every day to bring success in my role. Also, I want to keep love and respect maintained in my relationships and at the same time maintain my peace of mind and contentment. All this, I do, also realizing that my physical body is to be kept healthy and also other different areas of my life are to be maintained. Also, my personal time space in which I just give time to myself is not to be forgotten.

So, a lot of actions filled in a day are tiring us at times. The above is a typical day in the life of a working professional. The day just starts and ends before you know it, with no free time. Also, nowadays, an added dimension in almost everyone’s lives is travel time. Then, there are things to be taken care of like diet, rest and sleep and even taking care of what everyone expects from me, fulfilling their demands and satisfying them. Amongst all this, the one thing that remains constant is I, the inner being. Spirituality teaches the technique of keeping myself stable and rich with my internal treasures like peace, love, joy and power. I need to do that when everything around me is so changeable and constantly moving. Everything moves around me, whereas I remain constant. That means I remain in one positive state of mind constantly. Also, I don’t react, but only respond. I act, but don’t become action oriented. I remain soul conscious, or inner being conscious. 

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Every day we start with a blank page.                                             

In the story of our life, so far, the main characters have been introduced, themes have developed, and events have unfolded. 

And although the previous pages influence the next page in the story, each morning we really do start out with a blank page.

A blank page offers freedom from the way things have been.  Its potential is unlimited because anything can happen now, the story could take a twist, or a whole new chapter could begin.

How will the story unfold?  How will you fill today's blank page?

Message for the day

The one who is humble is always successful.

Expression: The one who is humble is free from desires and is in a state of appreciation and contentment of what he has. So he does not want to prove to himself that he is successful. He only enjoys the process of learning and progressing. He is never deterred by criticism and takes it in the right spirit. 

Expression: Humility enables me to appreciate the effort put in by those around me. I would naturally be able to see the specialities in others and respect them for it. There would be no feeling of envy. So I would naturally be able to have the quality of contributing for the progress of others too. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 20, 2017: Self-Development

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 20, 2017: Self-Development

Self-Development

See every circumstance and situation (particularly those that challenge you) as a tailor-made lesson in your personal plan for self-development.

For example, in a situation where hurtful or angry words were exchanged, why not see it as the chance either to perceive things about your own character which need changing or to rehearse some virtue or quality that you need to put into practice more often? Actually we should be grateful for the opportunity to evaluate ourselves.

In this way you can transform anything into a constructive lesson. Never think that you've learned enough and now can stop. You should love it when people try to correct you or give you advice. It keeps you alert and gives you plenty of opportunity to put your truth into practice. It's a sign of great danger to be unable to accept criticism and instead use your understanding to criticize others. Realize deeply the significance of every moment.

Experiencing A Spiritual Lifestyle Without Renouncing Society

A good meditator is one who has a mental link or union with the internal self and the Supreme Soul or God who is the source of all goodness. This, along with an understanding of the laws of action or the laws of karma, which govern the behavior of souls, means that one does not have to renounce or leave society in order to achieve enlightenment. Rather, the soul filled with spiritual illumination faces society directly with understanding and the generosity to serve it and to elevate (improve) it. 

The soul becomes elevated not by the renunciation of responsibilities or worldly duties but by a renunciation of the negativity that exists within the role being played by it in society. A good meditator does not try to escape social obligations (duties) but rather purifies those duties by becoming filled with light, love, peace and happiness. The stage of self-awareness and God-communication injects a subtle richness into one's life-pattern.

There are those who believe that the elevated state is beyond society and its duties. They find a quiet spot in the jungle or an ashram and contemplate (think about) deeper things. There are others who are stuck in the quicksand of their problems, and believe that those who leave society and take up a spiritual lifestyle are saints. However, holiness and virtue are qualities attained in one's life situations, not in running away from them. The elevated state is not merely a matter of elevated thoughts (which can be experienced in a sanyas), but elevated actions also, for the benefit of the self and the world. We are what we do and not so much what we imagine ourselves to be.

To follow someone else's truth is a trap. 

The best strategy is to know your own truth, face it and live by it.

Others may inspire, guide, give you directions, but ultimately you have to cut your own way through the jungle. 

You could always be asking others where North is, and they will tell you. 

Someone will say North is this way and someone else that North is that other way - and both would have been sincere. But you alone have to find your true North.

Message for the day

Easy nature makes tasks easy.

Expression: The ones with an easy nature constantly think of solutions instead of problems. So such individuals are free from the burden of problems and are constantly contributing to make things easy for themselves and others too. The right environment to bring out the best result is naturally created by them. 

Expression: When I have an easy nature, I am able to put a full stop in a second with great ease. I am not caught with the waste questions and exclamations. So I am able to enjoy everything that comes my way and move forward constantly with lightness. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 19, 2017: The Value of Positive Focus

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 19, 2017: The Value of Positive Focus

The Value of Positive Focus

To change the focus from negative to positive is to create hope. Our normal conversations and interactions are full of negativity, whether we are aware of this or not. So without our conscious knowledge, we develop a negative approach to life. It is important for me to be aware when my conversations with others becomes negative. I need to make a conscious change to start being more positive, and appreciate what life gives me. So much good in my life goes unnoticed. When I focus in the positive it creates an environment of enthusiasm for the future that affects everyone around me.

Overcoming Possessiveness And Complexes In Close Relationships (Part 2)
 

In yesterday's message, we talked about ailments like possessiveness and complexes existing in our family relationships today. Today we explain how meditation can cure these ailments with much ease. As I practice meditation, which is nothing but a practical exercise of experiencing soul consciousness, I carry that experience into my relationships. While interacting with each one of my closest of relations, I start becoming aware of myself as an eternal soul, an actor on the unlimited stage of the world, playing my act through the physical body costume and I see each one with the same consciousness. Also the realization grows that the role I am playing with others now is only one small part of the whole painting of life. I don't know where I was, in which part of the painting and with whom, before I took this birth, nor where I will be afterwards. The same is true for those with whom I am close. Depending on the type of relationship, I do have a particular responsibility towards each one of them whilst we are playing our parts together, but this only lasts a short time within this eternal timeline e.g. as father and child, each has a particular role today, but who knows about yesterday or tomorrow? 

In meditation, I stabilize in the consciousness that I am an eternal soul, and that all human beings are souls, members of a huge spiritual family. Roles will change, but as souls, we only have an unlimited spiritual relation, we are brothers, but have no other permanent physical relation. Becoming aware of this spiritual wisdom  protects me against limited feelings of my mother, my husband, my sister and so on, where such feelings cause possessiveness and a desire to control, rather than pure spiritual love filled with equality. All problems are reduced in relationships, when the personality trait inside me that tries to control others, or is controlled by others, is removed. Both of these are negative behaviors, caused due to lack of inner security, not true responsibility or concern. By knowing myself as a soul, my self-respect returns and by seeing others in the same light, my respect for others returns. From this strong soul-conscious spectator point, there is an inner detachment (but not a lack of love) inside me and I'll no longer feel a need to manipulate others or be manipulated by the other, but instead I will radiate pure feelings of genuine love, care and respect into my relationships. This causes the same energy to come back to me from my relationships.

Inner Strength

The expression will-power is often used to refer to our ability to put into practice the ideas we know to be for our well-being and to resist actions which are harmful. This is directly related to the soul's intellectual strength. 

When we speak of weakness or strength in the soul we are referring to the intellect. In the case of a weak soul (one with lower will-power) it is almost as if the intellect plays no part in determining which thoughts arise in the mind, but they come as if pushed by the sanskaras (mainly in the form of habits) or are triggered by the atmosphere around or the moods of others. On the contrary, a powerful soul (one with higher will-power) enjoys the experience of its own choice regardless of external stimuli (influence).

Rajyoga meditation develops the intellect to such an extent that this degree of control is possible. A practitioner of Rajyoga meditation can be in the midst of a situation of intense disturbance, yet remain so unshakably calm that the inner strength becomes a shelter and inspiration to others lacking in that strength. The weak soul is like a leaf at the mercy of the storm, the strong one, a rock in the face of a rough sea.

Message for the day

To donate virtues is the greatest donation. 

Expression: To donate virtues means to express virtues through one's own words and actions. There is some or the other value revealed through all words and actions. The ones who constantly have the aim of donating virtues naturally bring benefit to all they come into contact with. No one would go away empty handed from such people.

Expression: When I constantly have the aim of using my virtues I have the satisfaction of giving continuously under all circumstances. I also find my own treasures of virtues increasing and I find myself richer and better than what I was. Thus I experience constant progress in my life.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 18, 2017: A Little Courage and Some Letting Go

Daily Positive Thoughts: May 18, 2017: A Little Courage and Some Letting Go

Illusion : Can you locate 16 faces in this picture?

A Little Courage and Some Letting Go

It takes honesty as well as courage to give ourselves a good shake and see things for what they are, not what we imagine them to be. To see is far better than not to see. Without honest vision we will keep being deceived by illusion and trapped by sorrow and game playing. It is time to set ourselves free – it just takes a little courage and some letting go.

Overcoming Possessiveness And Complexes In Close Relationships (Part 1)

We are all aware and we all experience also that close knit family relationships are a constant source of happiness and love. But these relationships, many a times, also possess the capacity of bringing along with this love and joy, many different negative shades of possessiveness and domination, and complexes and dependencies. These are widespread ailments existing in our family relationships today, but which can be cured. Meditation is a very positive healing process which can cure the causes of these ailments, which exist inside the human souls. Once the causes are cured through meditation, relationships become extremely healthy, which provide the self from others and from the self to others, only and only positivity energy, in the form of positive and empowering thoughts, feelings, words and actions.

A common sign of these diseases is lack of respect for people close to us. As a result of an un-respectful consciousness, we sometimes behave with our nearest and dearest ones, like maybe our spouse or children or siblings (brothers or sisters) or parents, in such an offensive manner which we normally never and would not ever even think of showing towards people with whom we are not very close. It's not just a question of mannerisms, but of inner respect for the other. So often in families, a particular fixed order in relationships, positions of higher and lower, positions of senior and junior, become established, leading to feelings of superiority and inferiority, the effects of which start penetrating  in the relationships e.g. the mother-in-law is very dominating and takes it for granted that she will be listened to by the son and daughter-in-law. Or an older brother or sister orders around a younger sibling, not giving him/her enough space in which to speak his or her own mind and express himself/herself, leading to an inferiority complex in the younger sibling. Or a wife is extremely possessive of the husband, not giving him enough personal freedom. Once established, these behaviors become permanent sanskaras and tend to be carried with us through life, so that even when we have left the original family relationships and circumstances in which these behaviors existed, we bring the same personality traits into our new  relationships and circumstances.

(To be continued tomorrow ...)

Feel Abundant

When times are tough it's easy to feel a sense of lacking, isn't it?  But the feeling of lacking creates unnecessary anxiety.

Instead, consciously choose to feel abundant.  Feeling abundant not only relieves your anxiety but also empowers you to be more resourceful and proactive in how you get through the tough times.

Message for the day

There is victory for the person who opposes the weaknesses instead of the person. 

Expression: Instead of trying to win over a person who displays any negative qualities, one needs to oppose the negativity itself. The one who knows the art of doing this will never do anything to encourage the weakness in the other person but will provide all help to finish it fully.

Expression: Since I am able to look at the weakness only and am trying to finish it, I will be free from negative feelings of dislike and hatred. There would be a genuine feeling of love, which in turn provides the right environment for the other person's growth. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris