Daily Positive Thoughts: August 15, 2017: Mindful Moments

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 15, 2017: Mindful Moments

Mindful Moments

Most of us are of sound mind, but many of us have trouble maintaining a note of harmony and peace. Most of us know how to think, but few of us are able to control our thoughts. We all have the capacity to be creative, to image new ideas, but few of us are able to do it together and co-create in harmony with each other. We could all do with some mental training so that we may use the most powerful energy in the universe, the mind, which is always at our instant disposal. 

We can begin with mindfulness. It's a simple way to gently help our mind go where it is best to go, do what is the best thing to do. It begins by simply being fully aware of what you are doing. Mostly we are not fully aware, as our minds wander into the past and then into possible futures. We spend most of our time watching others and so rarely fully focus on what we are actually doing ourselves.

Next time you sit down to a meal, watch yourself. Be aware of only what you are eating. Every time your mind wants to wander, bring it gently and lovingly back to the action and sensation of eating. Then do the same when cleaning, when writing, when working. The more you do it stronger and more focused and more rational will be your concentration, the more natural will be your actions, the more peaceful you will feel, and the more relaxed you will be, no matter what you are doing.

Absorbing Spiritual Light (Part 1)

Just as darkness is the absence of light, negativity which manifests as vices and weaknesses inside us is merely the absence of spiritual light. Through the influence of negativity, the sense organs waste away the light. The question of vice, or sin, has been of a lot of importance in religion. No matter how much political or religious control has been imposed, nothing has been able to block the internal wasting away of the light of the soul. Light has a source but darkness does not. Darkness is not created by any source but is rather the absence of a source. In the same way, the negative forces do not emerge from the real nature of the self, but are simply symptoms of a lack of spiritual power or light. As spiritual power declines, symptoms of negativity such as anger, greed, ego, attachment, hatred, jealousy and related vices appear. On the other hand, as the soul's power and spiritual light increases through a union (meditation) with the Supreme, the vices automatically disappear. In fact problems are not fundamentally caused by a particular vice, it is a question of the extent of one's power. If I am weak, the sanskars mostly related to vices dominate my experience. If I am strong they do not have a chance to affect me. 

The negative forces have often been personified as Ravana, Maya or Satan but in fact there is no such entity. Maya describes a level of consciousness. There is no outside being whom we can blame. The vices are symptoms of individual ignorance and loss of power, which appeared only when our original creative powers subsided as we came into the process of birth and rebirth. When the soul's power fell below the level necessary to control matter and the senses; then the vices emerged inside the soul. The soul was more and more propelled by them through many births, until today when they appear to be a basic part of our real nature.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Reaction & Response

The usual response to negative stimuli in the environment is to react
negatively. The impact of such stimuli on the sense organs is
negative, which brings out negative behavior too.  The one who is able
to spend a few moments in silence before responding to situations is
to be a master who is free from negativity. When I am a master I am
able to remain stable in all situations.  I have the practice of
calming my mind and looking at the situation in the right perspective.
My mind grows strong in its commitment to peace and truth in action.
I don't allow the sense organs work according to the previous
conditioning. Instead I consciously monitor, giving them right
direction.

Message for the day

A step of courage brings multi fold help. 

Thought to ponder: One step of courage is enough to pave the way for something better. If we get disheartened and stop, we will be worse than what we are. So, whatever the situation may be we need to take one thought of making the situation better. This one thought will help us see the hidden opportunities. Also, we find help coming from others and situations too. 

Point to practice: Today I will take up something that I have given up on, and see where I can start once again. With renewed courage and enthusiasm, I will create a plan and work on it. With the faith that I am going to find a way, I will work on this plan. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 14, 2017: Lotus Life

Lotus Life

The lotus is a symbol of purity; its roots are in the mud, but the flower remains above dirty water. Live a lotus life. Be in the world, but unaffected by impurities.

God’s Help At Every Step (Part 3)

Whenever you begin your day, let the first thought be that God will accompany me the whole day and I will keep Him with me at every step. Then in the whole day, at regular intervals check whether His remembrance is there with you or not. Also, remind others about God too. Don’t some of us feel that those days when God was remembered a lot have gone away? Ask yourself, at a typical day in the office, how much was God remembered or did we remember different people like our loved ones, office colleagues or other public figures more? There used to be a time when this was not the case. 

Why is sorrow increasing and problems are on the rise so much? Are we going in the wrong direction? God is our parent, our friend and our guide as well as our teacher and most beloved one. And that too the best and highest One. So, being that, does He get that much respect from us? Respecting someone means you make Him an integral part of your life and not someone whom you remember only when there is a need. Do you remember your father or mother or husband or wife or for that matter your child or best friend only when you are in sorrow or all the time? So why is God, who is the eternal parent, friend and most beloved one forgotten? Or is He the one whom we remember once in the morning and then the remaining day everyone else is remembered and God is forgotten?  So, let’s from today, remember God throughout the day and thank Him for all the help He provides. Let’s make Him a more important part of our lives and receive His help at every step and make life’s problems easy to overcome and life itself, a smooth and easy journey for ourselves.

Respect

We normally expect respect from others and when others don't behave
according to our expectations, we tend to get disappointed. We only
think about what else the others have to give but things always don't
go according to our expectations. Instead of expecting others to
change according to our wishes and instead of expecting others'
respect, we need to see whether we give respect to the other person or
not. The more we have the practice of accepting and respecting people
for what they are, we are able to keep our mind at peace (with no
waste and negative thoughts). Also people start responding to our
feelings and give us respect too.

Message for the day

Real contentment spreads happiness to others too. 

Expression: When one feels contentment but the others are not able to perceive that contentment, it means that it is not true contentment. Real contentment is visible in such a way that others too are able to feel the happiness that is created. When there is real contentment, all thoughts, words and actions are filled with quality. 

Experience: When I am content, others automatically recognize the contentment within me. They are able to take benefit from my state. Even in the most hopeless state, I find that I become a source of support for those around me. I am able to give hope to the hopeless and help them get back to a state of happiness. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 13, 2017: Tolerance

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 13, 2017: Tolerance

Tolerance

Tolerance means to bounce back even when thrown against a very hard wall. The ability to do this comes from sensing that life is a game and that all things move in cycles.

What is uncomfortable now will soon change. Tolerance is like saying yes to the game and enjoying it.

God’s Help At Every Step (Part 2)

Everyone expects and wants help from God in times of sorrow. But do we ever ask ourselves how much do we remember Him and never ever leave His hand during the entire day while performing actions? This is because the more we remember Him with a clean heart and with honesty and also with strong belief; the more He will be available to us in times of problems. Also, He will be available when things don’t go well for us. They say that God is remembered a lot in negative times and in happiness He is forgotten. But if God is never forgotten, even when things are going well, then He will respond to our request for help when we need it, much more. In fact, He provides the help Himself, without us asking for it. 

Also, a very good characteristic that we should have in ourselves if we are to take His help is love each one with a pure heart. God loves those who not only love Him but love others with a big heart and keep radiating good wishes to each one. On the other hand, the one who spreads negativity in relationships and is filled with anger and ego, does not receive God’s love as much. God is our Father, the Father of the soul. If we are to come close to Him and experience Him at every step, then we have to reach the expectations He has from us. So, never ever think that we are God’s close ones unless you are very very beautiful in character. This is because God helps those more, who are genuinely kind hearted and give respect to each and everyone.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Success

Normally we tend to associate success with what we get, rather than
how much effort we put in. So sometimes when things don't turn out the
way we expect them to, we tend to have negative feelings because of
the thought of being unsuccessful. So we tend to stop putting in
further efforts for success. When we put in accurate efforts for the
success of every task, we naturally try to do the best. Because of our
own contribution, others too help us and contribute whatever they can
to achieve what we set out to do. So there is success in everything.
When we do the right thing, we will be able to experience constant
self-progress, even if the result is not what we have expected.

Message for the day

To receive respect from others comes more with responsibility than as a right. 
Expression: The one who gets respect is the one who becomes worthy of it rather than the one who just expects it. True respect comes from how well a task is done rather than what is done. The more one's speciality is expressed, the more one becomes worthy of respect. 

Experience: When I go on giving my best in whatever is expected of me, I will start receiving respect from those around me. I will then never expect from others but will naturally be able to give respect to all. This further makes me earn their love and regard. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 12, 2017: Transform Obstacles

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 12, 2017: Transform Obstacles

Transform Obstacles

Is life an obstacle course? Sometimes it may feel like it. If you join the military you will be sent around an obstacle course of increasing degrees of difficulty. Why? To increase your strength and stamina and expand your creative capacity under strain. So it is on the course called 'life' - you can choose to perceive people, situations or events as obstacles, or you can choose to use these things to strengthen and expand your capacity to be creative and to find ways round, under, over. The choice lies in your perception. Obstacles are never ever 'out there', they are always in our own minds.

God’s Help At Every Step (Part 1)

We all live our lives looking for perfection in every sphere and always look for ways to achieve that with ease. Also, perfection cannot come unless we have the right path to achieve that. Have you ever given a thought to what God’s mind would think about various actions that we perform in life? What that means is if I have to meet a few of my family members or friends today for a purpose or deciding what should we do for a particular issue and we didn’t know what to do - in this case, could we look upto God for a solution? And how would we take that help from God? Have you ever wondered? How many of us are so close to God that we can take His help in this manner for little actions of life? Have we won God’s heart so that we can just remember Him for a minute in a difficult situation and He would provide us His guidance or the path of what to do? Let’s give it a thought in this message.

First of all, I need to check my mind as to how clean and pure it is? Because the more my mind is transparent and a mirror image of God’s purity and cleanliness, the more help I will receive from God. Some people wonder are there some people in this world who receive more help from God? Or is it only our own actions of the past and present which help us in a difficult situation? It is actually both – the help from God as well as our actions. The important thing is that help from God can be a magic factor in difficult situations, which can be our savior. And if we want to receive it, perform good actions and make yourselves virtuous and full of truth, sweetness, purity and humility, the qualities God likes.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Using Specialities

When we come into interaction with others we are concerned with their
negative aspects. We are aware of where they are going wrong and we
try to correct them too. But usually the other person doesn't realize
his mistake. The more we try to emphasize on negativity, the more
difficult it becomes to make him realize. On one hand we find that he
is not benefited, and on the other, we are filling ourselves with
negativity too. The best business in life is that of seeing
specialties and contributing our own specialties for others' growth.
When we are aware of others specialties, we are able to encourage them
to use them for growth. Also we are free from negativity. Further,
using our own specialties enriches others and us too. These
specialties are easily available for us at the time of need, for
having used them properly.

Message for the day

Greatness lies in revealing one's own speciality. 
Expression: Greatness means recognizing one's own speciality and being a donor with it. It also means being royal and great in what is given to the mind - that means giving the mind only the positive. When there is greatness in this way there is speciality and uniqueness seen in every act of mine. 

Experience: When I am able to perceive my inner greatness, I am able to be content because there are no expectations, but there's only a feeling of being a giver. I find myself to be light and easy and enjoying each moment of my life, slowly moving towards perfection. I am also able to attain the blessings and good wishes from others. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: August 11, 2017: Less Is More

Less Is More

Fear less, hope more;

Eat less, chew more;

Whine less, breathe more;

Hate less, love more

and all good things are yours.

Understanding The Process Of Birth And Death

The leaving of one body and the taking of another is nearly always confusing and soon the details of the old life are erased by the new. Just in one day we forget so much. After having slept for a while, after some injury or shock, or even after a change in place, company or circumstances, many things are forgotten. 

Death of the body is a great shock to the soul, especially if there was great attachment to that body, and the new set of circumstances in the new body is bewildering (confusing). Because the body and brain are not developed, the soul cannot express its memory, so it laughs and cries when it cannot recognize anyone, or when it wishes to express itself. By the time the body is developed, the soul has forgotten its past birth and has become accustomed to the new conditions and the new parents. The prominent sanskaras developed in past lives soon begin to manifest (show) themselves with new details (in the new birth).

True Love

When there is true love, there is an expression of inner growth - not
just for oneself but benefit for others too. When there is true love,
there is the ability to express one's own qualities without being
negatively influenced by others' negative character traits. To love is
to know that what is being given is true. When I have true love for
those around me, I am able to win the hearts of others. Since the
expression of my love is consistent, others are able to return that
love and give me good wishes.  I find myself as a source of support
for others and they are able to use me as a support for their growth.

Message for the day

The method to finish a weakness is to be detached from it. 

Expression: When there is some weakness working within that has to be overcome, it is very essential for one to get detached from it, that means not to identify with the weakness. If there is an identification with the weakness, it is further strengthened and there is the inability to get rid of it. Since it is there in the consciousness, it is visible in the words and actions too. 

Experience: When I am free from the identification with the weakness, I am able to bring about a change very quickly. I find it very easy to stabilize myself in the awareness of my strength and allow that strength to be revealed in all my words and actions. There is no heaviness of the weakness nor is there the feeling of having to give up something, but transformation takes place very easily. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris