Daily Positive Thoughts: January 27, 2016: Point of Entry
Point of Entry
Each of us has a special path into quiet space. One of us might pick up a musical instrument; another will go out for a walk in the woods or along the beach. Become aware of your personal entry into silence.
Cooking With Love (..continued)
When the subtle, spiritual aspect of cooking is taken into consideration, the role of the cook extends from simply creating tasty, nourishing meals with fresh ingredients, to including a spiritual connection with those who will be eating that food. The aim will be to touch and fill the heart as well as the palate and stomach. The love of the cook, and his or her motivation to offer sustenance, will nourish as much as the chemical components of each dish. Food cooked by a person who is angry, depressed or full of arrogance or hatred will have a different effect from food cooked with feelings of love, peace and the pure desire to serve. In other words, we are what we eat but also the thoughts and attitudes that go into what we are eating. Even in today's demanding society, when there seems to be hardly enough time to cook, let alone do so peacefully and caringly, it is therefore definitely beneficial to develop a positive attitude towards cooking. Before undertaking any food preparation, remind yourself that the project at hand can and should be an enjoyable, creative activity, rather than an unpleasant, time-consuming activity. A good practice, then, is to meditate before cooking and then to let preparing the meal itself be a creative, meditative experience which yields a balanced, health-promoting diet for the body as a temple for the soul. Food always tastes better when it has been flavoured with love and happiness.
Having prepared food with attention, the Brahma Kumaris' practice is then to offer the freshly-prepared meal to the Supreme Soul (we call it offering bhog to the Supreme Father). Expressing gratitude in this way serves to increase the spiritual quality of the food and deepen the individual's personal relationship with the Divine, while also creating a powerful, shared spiritual experience. On a very practical level, it will also help the body to prepare itself to receive and digest food. Of course, the last step is to eat, and this, too, is best done in a peaceful, unhurried and harmonious state of mind and environment: we are what we eat and also how we eat.
The information which we have shared in this and the last two days messages does not pretend to be a complete guide to cooking with a spiritual touch. However, whether you are a new, aspiring or trained cook, we hope that the information, with its emphasis on the soul as well as the body, will bring an added dimension to your kitchen and dining table. Cooking, and eating, should be a joyful and significant experience. So cook and enjoy!
The information which we have shared in this and the last two days messages does not pretend to be a complete guide to cooking with a spiritual touch. However, whether you are a new, aspiring or trained cook, we hope that the information, with its emphasis on the soul as well as the body, will bring an added dimension to your kitchen and dining table. Cooking, and eating, should be a joyful and significant experience. So cook and enjoy!
The Two Close Companions Of Peace
(Meditation)
(Meditation)
Sit comfortably and relax... Remind yourself of your spiritual form as a soul - a point of subtle light (non-physical light), a sparkling star, situated between the two eyebrows... Now visualize your star-like form and emerge the feelings of peace looking at this form with your mind's eye... experience stability and contentment in this inner value of peace, peace is your own treasure... Fully let go off all your concerns, tensions and worries and allow all of yourself to become deeply peaceful... Now, feel the vibrations (energy waves) of your peaceful light form radiating outwards into the world... Be aware that the vibration of your peaceful form is like a gift... Consciously transmit this gift of peace with the pure desire of calming and relieving the stress and peacelessness of others...
As you radiate the power of your peace into the world, you do so with great love... As you give the gift of peace, with love, you are aware that you are able to serve others, reach out to others, in this invisible but extremely significant way... This awareness brings about a new sense of meaning in your life and you experience deep feelings of happiness within your heart... It is a happiness which takes the form of bliss, a bliss or satisfaction experienced as an invisible fruit received in return of unconditional serving... You realize that your peace does not live alone... True peace is that which is shared with others... it always has with it its closest companions... an experience of love and a feeling of pure happiness...
Our basic spiritual characteristics of peace, love and happiness are values that can be compared to the primary colors of the soul. While the soul can experience these values, it is only when they are mixed together (to give different shades) that they emerge though our attitudes and behaviors as virtue. Virtuous thoughts, words and actions restore balance and harmony to our inner life and to our external relationships.
Soul Sustenance
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…)
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…)
Message for the day
The one way to change others is to deal with them with love.
Expression: When you have love for others, you will have good wishes for them. Your desire to change them will then be for their good and not for your own selfishness. Others will quickly respond to your unselfish love and you'll find them changing.
Experience: Think of one person you want to bring about a change in. Before you think of changing that person let there be a lot of love for that person in your mind. Also make sure the change you want in the other person is for his own good and not for your own selfish reason.
In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris
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