Contemplation: June 08, 2019: Happiness

Contemplation: June 08, 2019: Happiness

  

Happiness

It is the art of living, the purpose of our existence. Happiness is the true index of quality of life. Without happiness, life is dry and meaningless. With happiness, life immediately becomes fulfilling and wonderful. Happiness is an infectious feeling that immediately lifts the sagging spirits of people. Happy people keep themselves happy because they know the little ways to appreciate themselves and to see the humour and magic in each moment. 

Humility

Where there is humility and self-respect, it results in selfless
service. When there is a combination of humility and self-respect one
becomes a giver. Humility makes us give respect to others and put
them forward. Thus all actions tend to give happiness to others. When
we are involved in some major task, we need to remind ourselves of our
own specialty and also the specialties of those around us and give
them a chance. When we put others forward we will be able to ensure
our own progress too, along with that of others.

Characteristics Of The World Stage

There are three things that we all have in common:

awareness - of ourselves and others
relationships - the sharing and exchange of energy with others
creativity - the ability to produce thoughts, ideas, concepts and feelings and express them.

The purpose of our life is nothing more than living life itself - to be self-aware (awareness), to be creative, to express ourselves to our highest potential (creativity) and to exchange the energy of love with those around us (relationships). But this cannot happen in the incorporeal, silent home of the soul (commonly called paramdham or shantidham). These characteristics of life require action, a costume (physical body) through which to express ourselves and a stage on which to act. The physical world provides the stage on which we can move, bring to life, create, relate and express all that is within us.  For each of us the possibilities are infinite.  

The moment we take birth in a physical form, we are constantly doing one of three things: acting, reacting, or interacting - sometimes all three together.

  

Soul Sustenance

Fulfilling The Criteria Of Positivity

What is the best way to define positivity? What, for you, is a positive thought, word or action? We could define positivity as something which leads me as well as others towards to a state of truth. A state of truth for me as well as any and every soul is a state in which it is an embodiment of the virtues of peace, love, joy, purity and power i.e. a state in which these virtues exist inside the soul to the fullest extent. As a result, in this state of truth everything that flows out of the soul or everything that it radiates or every thought, feeling, word or action that it creates, speaks or performs, is filled with these qualities. This state of truth is the original state of every soul.

All these qualities are connected with each other. One quality attracts the remaining qualities towards itself automatically. So, when I, through any medium, bring myself and others, whom I interact with, close to this state, to whatever extent, then that is positivity. If my thought, word or action takes me and others away from this state of truth, then that is the opposite i.e. negativity.

(To be continued tomorrow …)
 

Message for the day

Mercy means to give courage.

Projection: The one who is merciful is able to give courage to the ones who are weak, because of the ability to look at the positive qualities in them. The weak ones are never made weaker with negative and discouraging talk, but are encouraged to discover and use the strengths that are hidden within. So real mercy will give the courage to the other person to change too.

Solution: When I have mercy on others, I will never lose hope on anyone, but will continue to have good wishes for everyone. Whatever the kind of person, even with the most negative situation, I will find my stock of good wishes to always be full. So I am able to be free from the expectation from the others to bring about a change immediately.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Contemplation: June 07, 2019: Create Vision

Contemplation: June 07, 2019: Create Vision

Artist: Vladmir Volegov

Create  Vision

Never believe anyone who says we cannot change. Vision is one of the secrets of personal transformation. We are all artists, our mind is the arena of creation and vision is what we are constantly creating. What is your vision of yourself today – patient, relaxed, positive or tense, tight and negative? What do you prefer? So be creative – what does patience look like, feel like, what are you doing that is different when you are patient and you are expressing your power to …wait? Always start with vision not action. See it and you will be it. Be it and you will do it. We don’t ‘get a life’ as some would cynically tell us – we create our life.

Do everything Properly

Even the smallest task that we do can become special when we
understand why we are doing it. It then enables us to have respect
for whatever we do. When we work with this respect we'll
automatically do the best. We need to check what our feelings are in
all the tasks that we are involved in throughout the day. In case we
find any task as unimportant, it is better we don't do it. And every
task we do, we need to do it with love. Let us also tell ourselves at
the beginning of the day that today we will take the time to do
everything properly.

The Flight Of Harmony

There are two faces to one coin; a person who wishes to live fully as a human being needs to understand that the existence of one's unique individuality has to be acknowledged, as well as the existence of the group or collective. One cannot exist without the other. Individuals who are developing spiritually feel a personal sense of value. They clearly recognize their uniqueness and have the feeling that there is the freedom to be whatever they choose to be. At the same time, their sense of personal independence allows them to come close to others and work with them. They do not have selfish independence. They get close to others because they have found fulfillment in their own self. Someone who has truly found the value of the self above and beyond labels, name, fame and approval can effectively cooperate within the collective or group and interact appropriately. Such people not only feel themselves to be a part of the whole but, even more importantly, the group or collective feels them to be a part of the whole.

In nature, when birds have to fly to a warmer climate in winter, they flock together and start their journey as a group. The success of the journey depends on the group: if an individual bird does not join the group, it cannot reach the destination on its own. Birds fly in a particular formation, with an appropriate space between them as they fly. If they fly too close to each other, their wings get entangled; they lose their balance and fall. If they remain too far from each other, the formation cannot be created properly, and they are not able to ride the currents of air, which help to propel them in their flight. Furthermore, the leader of the formation does not remain the leader throughout the whole flight, but moves back and allows another to take its place. This repositioning continues throughout the flight until the destination is reached, allowing individual birds to contribute to the success of the journey.

The reality of life is that we are individuals within a collective whole. Just like the birds, we are all a part of an unlimited Flight of Harmony.

Soul Sustenance

Tuning The Mind, Intellect And Personality (Sanskars)

The soul, is made up of three faculties - the mind, intellect and personality (sanskars). In order to tune these to the highest degree of subtlety, precision and efficiency; we need to connect with the Supreme Soul, who is also a soul, just like us, but has a perfect mind and intellect along with perfect sanskars:

Mind - The Supreme Being or God is an embodiment of positivity – negative and waste do not find a place in his mind.

Intellect - He is also the purest living energy in the entire universe – he is the innocent Lord; a being of conscious light, who has never taken a body and thus never experienced the five vices – lust, anger, greed, ego and attachment.

Sanskars - God is the ocean of the basic virtues of the soul and of humanity – peace, love, bliss, joy, power and purity.

By this connection, gradually over a period of time, our mind, intellect and sanskars begin to become like his – mind becomes full of positivity; intellect begins to become pure and is able to take correct decisions so that right karmas are performed and sanskars become full of the virtues mentioned above.

Message for the day


The one with humility is the one who can be creative.

Projection: Creativity comes to the extent that the intellect is humble. Such an intellect is able to create something new. Because humility is a form of love, it brings the enthusiasm for creativity and the ability to bring newness in everything that is done.

Solution: Humility gives me an experience of being a master, of being powerful. This power comes from the experience of being a constant learner, because I have no ego of what I already have. This mastery makes me creative, making me bring newness in every thing I do.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Contemplation: June 05, 2019: Theater Of Life

Contemplation: June 05, 2019: Theater Of Life

Theater Of Life

Ignorance makes us believe that life functions haphazardly. Wisdom teaches you that everything that happens in this theatre of life has profound significance. What we see today is not the fruit of chance but a fruit from seeds planted in the past. Plant seeds of peace now and you will create a life of peace in the future.

Passion

To live life with passion is to discover what invigorates and inspires your soul. Make time to identify your passion. 

When you find your passion, it's then possible to find direction and focus to do what you love.

You don't have to focus on just one passion. Why not, do a little bit of everything that you love?

When you live with passion, you gain enthusiasm for life as a whole and as a result you're better able to persist through life's challenges.

Empty Handed We Come And Go Away

There is an old saying that we came empty-handed not only when we entered this particular life but when seen from a broader perspective, also when we entered the world. The same is the case when we leave this life or the world as a whole. Every birth for the soul is a fresh chapter or innings in its journey of life.

Everything that has come to us will definitely go away from us one day. While some may perceive this basic fact of humanity to be unrealistic and not in tune with practical life, but the fact is that attachment or the tendency to possess or cling is a defiance of this law, which leads to a form of fear filled spiritual suicide because the joy and contentment that seems to come from this tendency is only temporary and artificial and between these moments of happiness, there is fear of the loss of the physical or non-physical object that you try and possess, embedded in between and this fear causes the object to start controlling you and you feel suppressed and in bondage. As a result, your inner potential and creativity remains untapped and even starts reducing, without you realizing it consciously. In such a state, you fail to see and accept new ideas, opportunities and people in your life. You inner world becomes closed and chaotic and very difficult to manage and your internal self is weakened and harmed, leading to an internal self suicide. When someone stops clinging to anything, physical or non-physical, they don't become indifferent or cold, but their consciousness just starts becoming broader and functions without any limits, barriers or boundaries.

(To be continued tomorrow ...)

Soul Sustenance

The Triangle Of Spiritual Energy (Part 3)

Referring to the last two days’ messages, all three points of connection (connection with the self, of the self with the Supreme and of the self with others) are necessary for good emotional and spiritual health.

If I am only connected inwards, there is a great danger of arrogance and being lost in only myself. If I am only connected to the Supreme Source with little reference to myself, or others, there is the danger of becoming rigid, fanatical and unrealistic. If I am over-focused on others and on my relationships with others, thinking I will receive my happiness and sense of purpose from them, then a dependence is created, which results in conflict and disappointment.

When I do reconnect with the outside world, it can only be done effectively from the point of advantage of connection with the self and with the Supreme Source.

This three-point connection can be depicted in the form of a triangle with the self as a point (A), then the vertical movement upward to the Supreme Point (A to B), then the horizontal connection to others (A to C). Others need to have their own independent and personal connection with the Supreme Point to revitalize and renew their own consciousness (C to B). In this way, the triangle of harmonious energy (ABC) becomes complete.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Message for the day

The one who is selfless is the one who is the best judge.

Projection: When I have to take a decision, either for others or myself, there is some kind of selfishness or greed involved in it. When I think only of my selfish desires, my judgement would not be accurate.

Solution: I need to be detached and see what benefit there is for each one with the choice that I am going to make. The more I think of the benefit of all, the more my judgement is accurate.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Contemplation: June 06, 2019: Look Ahead

Contemplation: June 06, 2019: Look Ahead

Artist : Kinuko Y Craft - Dr. M.S. Swaminathan of India

Look Ahead

Do not look back with shame, nor look up with arrogance, nor look around for blame. Just look ahead with dignity.

Humility

The more respect is measured on the basis of something external, the
greater the desire for recognition from others. The greater the
desire, the more one falls victim to ego and there cannot be humility.
We need to start the day with a thought that brings self-respect. We
need to tell ourselves that we are special and also use this
speciality throughout the day. We will then not dominate or limit the
freedom of anyone but will naturally with humility.

Empty Handed We Come And Go Away (cont.)

Continuing from yesterday's message, a soul who does not cling, is easy natured, who wears the clothes of its roles and responsibilities, but not very tightly, experiences constant happiness and serenity and connects with everyone or everything, but yet can disconnect whenever required. This is true inner freedom.  Such a soul always smiles and coming in contact with such a soul is soothing. Such a soul is a liberated carefree emperor and gives a comfortable feeling of liberation to everyone and everything it touches or comes in contact with. On a lighter note, if you are still not convinced about living a life of detachment, you can start with asking yourself, do you enjoy interacting with someone who likes to possess or cling or control or someone who does not? What is a more empowering and comfortable experience for you? The answer is obvious.

Once we get convinced about the idea, we will be courageous enough to challenge internal pressures like old thought patterns, habits, beliefs, past experiences and external pressures in the form of real life challenging situations, the information that we receive from outside and of course our friends and loved ones who will try and convince us to take the opposite path of attachment in subtle or non-subtle ways.  Along with inner conviction, becoming aware of ourselves as spiritual beings through meditation, which will help us rediscover our real and authentic being, will also assist us immensely in this process and will provide us the power for the same. Meditation helps us empty ourselves of all that is unnecessary or excess waste inside us and discover the essential, which is precious, as a result we feel full and complete inside, and we no longer desire to possess or hold on to anything physical or non-physical. Hence, we very naturally, without much effort, start living our day-day life without depending on the crutches of attachment.

Soul Sustenance

The Triangle Of Spiritual Energy (Part 4)

Referring to yesterday’s message, in the triangle of harmonious energy, all three points (the self, the Supreme and others) need to be equidistant - not too much one way or the other. The equidistant triangle in ancient mathematics was the symbol of harmony. Harmony, peace, order and balance is what is natural in human life and if we wish to return to that condition, we need to realize the importance of equidistant relationships. It requires constant attention to keep the three points in balance and in working order. Otherwise, when we get over-focused on any one of the three, we become inflexible. This inflexibility causes us to go out of balance and the result is disharmony and disunity, which can also be called 'violence', an unnatural condition, or even hell when it reaches an extreme point.

In order to maintain a balance between the three, I need silence: times of introspection when I can check the flow of three of my relationships – with the self, Supreme Source and others. This checking mechanism protects, sustains and develops the qualities of these three points.

Message for the day

Determination is the best companion.

Projection: When things go wrong, the first reaction is of fear. Because of this, I can't put in any effort to better the situation. I start looking for a companion, a support who can provide me help. But I rarely get help from outside.

Solution: When I have to look for something to rely on, the only support I get is from my own determined thought. I need to make it my companion, not letting go of it till I succeed. This will help me overcome my fear and move towards success.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris