Contemplation: November 09, 2020:Enjoy Everything You Do

 Contemplation: November 09, 2020:Enjoy Everything You Do

The Four Seasons Garden in England, has been coined as one of the most beautiful home gardens in the world, containing over 3,000 plants in 

a small space of 9,900 sq. ft.  

Enjoy Everything You Do

Most of our time goes into pleasing others and making them happy. Often despite our best efforts we find that people do not appreciate what we have done. When we have tried hard to please someone we feel disheartened and upset. Whatever I do is for myself. When I recognize this fact, I will never do anything just to please others. When I am content with the effort I put in, I will never be dependent on others' recognition of what I have done. When I enjoy everything I do, I will be truly happy. The more contented I am, the more others will start appreciating my effort.

The Energy Of Give And Take In Relationships

Love, more than any other virtue, is an extremely positive energy; it is an invisible prime mover and foundation of each one of our lives, a source of motivation and inspiration. People lacking love in their lives are normally lesser motivated and happier than those who have positive and healthy relationships full of love and an immense amount of love in their lives. But when the same energy of love, possessing immense positive potential, is negatively focused and is not used correctly, it leads to many dependencies which are negative in nature. How?

When you love someone, that could be your parents, your spouse, your children, your siblings, your friends, any relationship for that matter; there is a invisible and positive emotional and mental attraction between you and that person which keeps you connected to him/her, but the moment the love turns into attachment and becomes a dependency, that person starts dominating and controlling your inner world of thoughts, feelings and emotions and your mental and emotional freedom is lost. It is as if your inner world succumbs to the influence of the other person and you are no longer yourself. Everything that goes on inside you and that comes out of you has an impression of the other. This kind of love is not empowering, energizing and healing, because in this kind of love, over a period of time, desires, wants and expectations from the other start emerging. All these emotions place you in a mental mode of taking instead of giving.  Also in such a kind of love, where love is mixed with a desire to possess, over a period of time you start wanting to control the other. From this control, you start exercising a power to influence the other. At first you are under their influence. As more attachment builds up, this is followed shortly by your desire to bring them under your submission and influence them. That way, you feel that you have them and that they belong to you. This is love that wants to take and not give. In this kind of relationship of love, there is suffering and sorrow.  Even if joy exists, it is extremely short lived. Unconditional love or love that only wants to give and not take or expect, strengthens and is healing, it never hurts or inflicts pain on the other.

Adjust unreasonable expectations

 

Expectations are important. They define our boundaries & ground rules on how we allow others to treat us.

But often we assume others understand our expectations, so when our expectations are not met, we're hurt & disappointed.

To maintain healthy boundaries, learn to communicate expectations clearly & adjust unreasonable expectations.

 

 

Message for the day

Accuracy brings perfection and speciality in all that is done. 

Expression: To be accurate means to take up full responsibility for every task and do it to the best of one's ability. That means all resources that one has are used in the best possible way for the best result of the task. This naturally brings perfection in everything that is done.

 

Experience: When I am accurate in everything I do I am able to be free from carelessness and negligence. I find myself bringing speciality and uniqueness in what I do. For having done things with accuracy, I also find myself becoming trust-worthy and I am also able to be satisfied with myself. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: November 08, 2020: Trust Yourself

 Contemplation: November 08, 2020: Trust Yourself

Trust Yourself

In any relationship trust is the first thing to leave and the last to return. And if you recognize that the most important relationship is with yourself, then perhaps it's time to start some trust building close to home. Make and keep a promise or a commitment to yourself, however small - in fact, start very small! Make one and keep one today, and then notice the surge of inner power as a result. See how much more you like yourself as a result. Trust is being built.

Positive Thought Based Living (Part 3)

A very easy technique of radiating good wishes at the level of the mind is looking at others as a spiritual being of light i.e. looking at the spiritual form of others. We all know from our previous messages that the soul is a spiritual energy which constantly radiates energy to the world. When I look at the star like form of others which is the form of the soul at the centre of the forehead, which is the same as my spiritual form, I radiate my original qualities of peace, love, purity and joy to others. It’s like empowering others with my vision. This again is to be done in complete humility and remembering that the other person is my soul brother and we are children of one Father - God and we share a common bond with Him. Also since we are children of the one Father, we have the same original sanskaras or qualities mentioned above. Every day you meet so many people. Look at them as soul brothers at the centre of the forehead – the sparkling star of spiritual energy, full of pure qualities. This way they will return what you share with them through your vision. God looks at all of us with this type of vision. God has the knowledge of your physical body or role but always looks at your star like spiritual form or the soul, which is your eternal form. The physical costume which we call the human body and the role we play is temporary and keeps changing.
Lastly, never think negative for any person. The busier we become, the more negative we get at times for others because we do not have time for introspection or looking inwards. Very often, we have got into the habit of having a negative mindset especially when we talk to our loved ones or close ones about others. We commonly say such and such person is not so nice and we mention some negative personality characteristic or weakness of the other person or a certain negative way in which he or she has behaved. It is so common.. You come home from office and talk to your family members about all the negative things that took place in your office and all the negative behaviors of everyone there. And all that you talk or discuss far away from the other person on a physical level but it all travels to others on a non-physical level, which creates barriers in relationships. So think positive and think good, spread the energy of positivity to others all the time and enjoy what we call positive thought based living.

Feel Light

 

When your mind feels heavy, give yourself a moment to let go. 

Like a bird, use the wings of your thoughts to take off, letting go of the branch, the things of the past, the way you thought yesterday...

Rise up into open space and notice the weightlessness of the moment. Notice how seconds don't weigh much as you enjoy the weightlessness and the lightness of your being.

Feeling light, slowly bring your thoughts back down to your surroundings and return your mind to the task at hand.

 

Message for the day

Contentment brings discipline in life.

 

Thought to Ponder: To be content is to appreciate everything that is in my life. When I life live well, I will make use of everything that I have. At the same time, I will be open to new things without getting overly ambitious. This will ensure that I respect everything I do. This automatically sets a pattern and a discipline in my life and within this pattern itself there will be margin for new things. 

Point to Practice: Today I will set up my routine for the day. While I set up a routine for the physical tasks that I do, I will also set up a routine for the mind. I will ensure that internally I appreciate everything that I do. That means, I am clear about the significance of the task and what quality I need to use while doing it. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

 

Contemplation: November 06, 2020: Understanding

 Contemplation: November 06, 2020: Understanding

A Procession of Nuns, Rangoon, Burma, 1994. Photographer: Steve McCurry

 

Understanding

 

A big-hearted soul does not sentence others on the basis of a single act, but appreciates others through understanding their entire journey.

Positive Thought Based Living (Part 1)

Living in a world of high speed and action in our everyday lives, we need to spend a few minutes every day looking at how much time we spent in the day in giving and spreading the fragrance of our specialties and loving each one whom we meet, with a big heart. Always see and check whether each action of yours is dedicated to the benefit of others and not only for benefiting the self. We all know and realize that the day to day routine includes work tasks of different types but life is also about giving and receiving from others all that’s beautiful in life like peace, love and happiness. It’s fine to be over involved with work but even in that work there are some people who are more in touch with their inner goodness. Some will make it a point to share good things with others in the form of good words while talking to them and good gestures while interacting with them. Some people will make it a point to share with others, something good over email or on the phone before starting their daily routine at office or even the regular work at home if they are not working.

So life isn’t all about working hard for a living but living a value based life and spreading the fragrance of values to others. Values are not to be kept within you but shared with others and distributed with a big heart. There are some people who will put up a good thought every day, in their homes or on their computers screens or at some place in their office where everyone can read it, take inspiration from it, bring it into practice and also inspire others with it. This is called positive thought based living and not just plain living which most of us indulge in. Live life to the fullest and enjoy it but not at the cost of giving up values. Let every person whom you come in contact with, feel you are different not only in terms of personality and skills but also in terms of your basic nature and the virtues or qualities you possess. Then the world will become a beautiful place to live in and we will be like one big family closely knit together in a bond of pure love and happiness.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

 

Emotional Turmoil

When you find yourself in a stormy emotional outburst, with thunderous words, flashes of lightning and tears of rain... retreat to the eye of the storm!

From this point of calm, look at your emotional turmoil: 

What are you really feeling? 

The storm has been brewing for a while: 
Why did you let it build to this intensity?

Get your emotions under control, then handle the aftermath of your emotional outburst and figure out how to resolve your deeper issues.

 

 

Message for the day

To be mature is to understand the importance of the task in hand. 

Thought to Ponder: The one who is mature would know what his duty is, according to the time. If an adult plays with toys, it would not be right. In the same way, the one who is mature would not get distracted with tasks that are waste or unnecessary. He would do the right thing at the right time. 

Point to Practice: Today I will keep a check on my actions. I will check if I am wasting any time in matters that are not useful. I will make sure that I will do the required tasks according to the need and time. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/

Contemplation: November 11, 2020: Unshakable

 Contemplation: November 11, 2020: Unshakable

Mount Pinatubo eruption in the PHILIPPINES, 1991

Unshakable

If we face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity, these adverse situations that look like they could bury us, have within them the very real potential to make us unshakable.

The Spiritual Concept Of Becoming A Trustee (Part 2)

While it’s important to realize that the treasures mentioned in yesterday’s message are my treasures and they possess immense potential since they help me grow spiritually by their right use, it is also important to maintain a relationship of detachment with them, because we live with these treasures all the time and it is very easy to get caught up with them and become attached to them. Where there is attachment, there develops ego and the treasures start getting misused. An important concept in this regard is that of trusteeship. The Supreme Being while sharing the knowledge of these treasures and the method of using them, also shares, that for our benefit, once we realize what these treasures are, we should surrender these treasures to Him. This is an invisible or non-physical surrender, not a physical or visible one.

 

Once these treasures are surrendered to Him, unlike worldly surrenders, the treasures don’t remain with Him, because being an Unlimited Donor and being Incorporeal (bodiless), the Supreme doesn’t keep them with Himself and returns them back to us. Anyways, the surrender is deep but is on a mental level and not on a physical one. But, while returning the treasures back, the Supreme Being presents a condition in front of us. He says that since these treasures now no longer belong to us, we need to remove any sense of ownership over them and become a trustee while taking care of and using these treasures only for the purpose instructed by Him, the purpose of bringing the self and others closer to a state of truth (as explained in yesterday’s message). The word trustee comes from the word trust. In this case the Supreme Being says that He wishes and hopes that we keep His trust and don’t breach it at any cost, at any point of time, in taking care of and using His treasures, because don’t forget, although the treasures are with us, there are no longer ours.

 

(To be continued tomorrow…)

 

 

To recognize my own uniqueness is to bring beauty to all I do. 

 

Each one is unique and special and so am I. when I recognize the beauty of who I am, and what I can contribute, I will be able to appreciate myself. This is not ego, but it is talking positively to the self, encouraging and motivating to discover further specialties. When I learn to appreciate myself, I will also have the humility to learn from everything that happens in life. Today I will appreciate myself. I believe I am like a jewel. No matter where I am, whether in a box or in a gold ornament, my worth remains the same. So, today I will recognize my own worth and make time to appreciate it in all I do.

 

Message for the day

True honesty to the self brings the power to bring about change. 

Expression: To be honest is not just to be truthful. It is more to be honest with the self. The one who is honest with the self constantly has the aim of bringing about a change for the better. Each situation is used as a chance for the betterment of the self. So there is always the aim not to repeat the mistakes that are committed once. 

Experience: When I am honest with myself I am able to feel the constant progress and experience the happiness of moving forward under all circumstances. I have the power to understand the situation, not just from my point of view, but more in a detached way. So I am able to understand and accept whatever the situation holds for me and learn from it humbly. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

https://astudypoint.blogspot.com/