Thought for Today

Karmic Debts(...continued)
The second methods of settling our karmic debts and setting ourselves free:

2. Self Transformation
The second way in which we can begin to clear our outstanding debts is by giving back to those souls from whom we have in the past 'taken' and with whom we now have some 'karmic account'. However, this can take time, especially if we imagine all the souls we have interacted with during many births. We are sure to have one or two people in our life right now who seem to have the capacity to cause feelings of discomfort inside us by simply being in our presence. If we are serious about clearing our ‘karmic accounts’, we will not avoid these people, nor will we go looking for them. Instead, we can use these relationships as teachers and opportunities to learn about ourselves. We can ask ourselves, "What is it within me that is reacting to this person in this situation? Why am I creating this discomfort in their presence?" In this way, we will see and understand what we need to change within ourselves. We understand which sanskaras need to be healed and transformed. It will always come down to something connected with our own ego or attachment. Our inner healing will always begin with the 'letting go' of something. When we identify what that is and when we do 'let go', we find it takes the negativity out of our thoughts and actions, thereby breaking the patterns of negative energy exchange with others.

The moment we are aware that our own discomforts in relationships are due to us and not due to others, we are halfway to self-change and the clearing of karmic debts. The next step is to forgive ourselves, for wounding ourselves with our negative thoughts and actions, and to forget the past. When we do this work of inner healing, we automatically change our response to the person or situation previously causing our discomfort. Our new spiritual response is like a new step sequence in our dance with the other person and if we change our step they have to change theirs. Or maybe they are dancing the right steps and we learn to dance the right steps, too. Whatever the case, the saying, "When we change, the world changes', holds true. If they don't change, we will need to strengthen our own capacity to be patient and check that we do not want them to change in a certain way as a result of our own desires and expectations. If we do want them to change, it means we are trying to control them in a subtle way, which means we still have a selfish motive. This always results in frustration and failure as it is not possible to control another human being.

(continued...)
www.brahmakumaris.com
www.bkwsu.org
www.bkinfo.in