Thought for Today 28-02-2013

The art of getting along well with others is to create harmony. 

To be good to people who are good to us is very easy. But the real beauty of life lies in knowing how to get along well with one and all. That means, I need to know how to empower my interactions so that I am able to get along well even with someone who is not so good to us. Just like notes of music which are different, I need to understand that everyone is different and I need to create beautiful music even in the worst conditions. Today I will see what I can do to get along well with one person whom I wasn't comfortable with. It could be some quality that I need to work on. It could be assertiveness or love or any other quality which will help me get along well with the person.

Soul Sustenance

Self Transformation (Change) (Part 6) 

Here are some practical reminders and steps we can take to grow spiritually and bring out transformation (change) in ourselves: 

Develop a spiritual lifestyle 
The daily practice of meditation will be aided (helped) if we change those aspects of our life that affect, or weaken our ability to control the mind and live in a state of peace e.g. taking mind-altering substances (substances which affect the mind negatively) like alcohol and drugs, watching violent films or performing other negative actions that strengthen old patterns of behaviour and sanskars that take us away from our true self. 

Many changes happen easily and naturally as we begin to experience the benefits of meditation. Our desires for material objects beyond those that are necessary for daily living reduce as we seek to live a simpler, quieter life. We gain a deeper respect for nature and loose the desire to eat animal flesh, and we become more selective about the company we keep and the things we talk about, realizing that everything we say and do has an impact on us and the world around us. 

As our self-esteem and confidence subsequently grow, we feel ourselves drawn to help others, to share the benefits we have learned from our own inner journey. Life becomes filled with greater meaning and purpose and we want to do our best for the spiritual upliftment for ourselves, for our families and for our communities. 

(To be continued tomorrow….) 

Message for the day

To be strong is to watch situations with detachment. 

Projection: When a difficult situation comes our way, we think it is permanent. We do try to bring about change, but very soon give up when we don't find any change. We lose patience to work on the situation and we feel tensed and stressed. 

Solution: In order to pass in any situation we need to recognize and understand the fact that all situations will surely pass by when the time comes. But we don't have to get stuck with it at that time. We need to do what we can and just wait for the time to pass by. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought for Today 27-02-2013

Just as we pay attention to our bank balance, we also need to check the account of our thoughts. Thoughts are like currency. Think positively & you'll increase your 'bank' balance.

How do you spend your thoughts? Check how many thoughts are wasted & how many are used constructively. Invest your thoughts on the things you want to develop.

Soul Sustenance

Self Transformation (Change) (Part 5) 

Here are some practical reminders and steps we can take to grow spiritually and bring out transformation (change) in ourselves: 

Meditate with others 
Another great help in maintaining a stable base on the path of meditation is collective practice (practicing together). Through personal practice, I keep my sense of responsibility intact and remain independent. However, without losing these, I can also get together with others at the meditation centre, valuing and learning from their experiences and perceptions (ways of looking at situations) - the group energy brings us to another level of experience, a space of mutual (shared) experience and learning. We learn from everyone, everywhere, all the time; it depends on our willingness to accept certain realities. 

Often we live too much in the past, or future, and so do not realize that the present is the bridge to moving away from the negativity of the past and to creating a confident future. We do not cross this bridge because we live by, or are too influenced by, the other two time zones (past and future). 

Remember that NOW is the opportunity where newness on any level can be created and for that getting together regularly with people who are on the spiritual path is very important. 

(To be continued tomorrow….) 

Message for the day

To be free is to be free from the influence of time. 

Projection: Usually we allow time to change us. We are time conscious and we normally wait for the time to bring about a change in our situation. Then we say only if a particular thing happens can we do something else that we need to do. To wait in this way for time is to set limits on ourselves. 

Solution: We need to free ourselves from the influence of time. When we remind ourselves again and again that we are the creator and time our creation we will be able to change ourselves. This will automatically bring change in the situations too. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought for Today 26-02-2013

Situations are a reminder to bring out positive qualities. 

Every situation is an excuse to bring out qualities from us, good or bad. It is upto us what we want to use. If we continue to blame situations to bring out anger, ego or any other negative trait, it will continue to increase. On the other hand, if we use the positive qualities, we find them increasing. So, in any situation it is important for us to remind what positive traits we have and use them. Today I will learn from one situation. I will check if I am able to maintain a positive state of mind or not. I will create a thought, based on a learning from the situation, making my mind positive. I will then be able to add power to the situation, instead of losing my own power.

Soul Sustenance

Self Transformation (Change) (Part 4) 

Here are some practical reminders and steps we can take to grow spiritually and bring out transformation (change) in ourselves: 

Attend a meditation centre 
The starting point is knowledge, or understanding. It is not possible to begin this journey without some kind of route map (directions). There are Brahma Kumaris centers of Raja Yoga meditation throughout the world that provide these maps and help a person begin his, or her, practice of meditation. At these centers, information is shared on how the mind functions, the power of positivity, spiritual values and the art of effective concentration. All of these maps help us to know ourselves better and, when translated into our personal daily life, give us strength in the form of self-respect and happiness. 

A Raja Yoga meditation centre is a spiritual school, where we can learn the original arts of true living; it is a spiritual clinic, where we receive the understanding of how to apply the healing medicines of peace, trust and respect in our relationships; it is a spiritual family, where we realize that each member has a uniqueness and goodness that needs to be appreciated and genuinely accepted, and where we pay attention to avoiding the trap of focusing on weaknesses and the roles of others. 

(To be continued tomorrow….) 

Message for the day

To use the treasures within is to increase them. 

Projection: Whenever there is a difficult situation, we always expect others to listen and understand. And so we feel helpless as the situation seems beyond our control and we don't feel we can do anything to change it. Then we don't make any attempt and the situation remains as it is. 

Solution: Instead of looking at others we need to look within and we'll find a lot of treasures that we can use to change the situation. These treasures, our own inner powers and virtues are such that the as we continue to use them in situations, we find them increasing. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought for Today 25-02-2013

To be unaffected in the mind is true detachment. 

Sometimes due to situations, we tend to move away physically from someone or something. We tend to avoid that person or situation. But that is not the solution. Because, the aspect that is being challenged continues to be there in my mind. It is more important to find a solution to it by understanding it fully. Only then can I do away with that thought. Today I will analyze one situation that went wrong and take a learning from it. I will then tell myself that everything happens for the best and I am richer because of this experience. This attitude would make me detached from that particular situation.

Soul Sustenance

Self Transformation (Change) (Part 3) 

Here are some practical reminders and steps we can take to grow spiritually and bring out transformation (change) in ourselves: 

Use 'traffic control' 
To remember our original peaceful state during certain moments of the day creates a space for us to recharge and to be released from accumulated negativities, which have influenced our mind without our realizing it. 

'Traffic control', is a method to check and control the flow and type of thoughts that we create. Are our thoughts wasteful or are they useful, necessary, positive, and peaceful? By stopping for a minute every hour, we can step inside, apply a brake to the flow of thoughts and instead focus on the experience “I am a peaceful being (soul)”. This practice has an immediate cooling effect on the mind, and if done regularly, has a very positive impact on our daily lives. 

(To be continued tomorrow….) 

Message for the day

Where there is constant checking there is progress. 

Projection: Sometimes we find our mood fluctuating seemingly without any reason. At such times we do not understand why it is happening so. We try to change our mood at that time by doing something else. We do find temporary relief but the feeling reemerges after sometime. 

Solution: What we need to do is to first check the cause of our fluctuation in mood. Particularly we need to check what weakness is working within us. Once we discover this we would find it easy to change our thoughts and feelings. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought for Today 24-02-2013

Make consistency your routine. 
It creates a pattern of discipline, a steady coherent order in your life which will give you peace of mind. 

Consistency builds integrity and trust in relationships.

But watch out, as steady and consistent behaviour can easily become monotonous or too comfortable.
It can lead to boredom and lack of initiative.

So, just remember, there's a time to be consistent and there's a time to break the pattern of change, to be spontaneous or do things differently.

Soul Sustenance

Self Transformation (Change) (Part 2) 

Here are some practical reminders and steps we can take to grow spiritually and bring out transformation (change) in ourselves: 

Daily practice 
Having the inner discipline to practise meditation by one's self is necessary because, in reality, we have to be self-reliant as only we can step into our mind and bring it long-term benefit. The mind needs to relax and to refresh itself if a person is to feel positive and strong to live each day peacefully and effectively. When this is recognized, time for inner silence every day becomes a personal priority. 

Start each day with positive silence. Before work, breakfast, or doing anything, let us step inside the self for a little while. In this space of introspection (self-observation), we can connect with our original spiritual qualities, charging up our internal battery with positive thoughts for the day ahead. 

At the end of the day, we can remove any remaining thoughts of past actions - after all 'past is past' - and send our good wishes where they are needed. 

The daily practice of morning preparation and evening clearing, keeps the mind healthy. A healthy mind is light and focused, not disturbed, or burdened easily. 

(To be continued tomorrow….) 

Message for the day

To stay in our self-respect is to achieve success. 

Projection: The opinion of the self is usually based on those around us specially on those who are important to us. We usually find our thoughts being swayed by whatever we hear from others about us. As we continue to hear from others we begin to believe what we hear and consider ourselves the same. 

Solution: We need to recognise our own uniqueness and speciality and make conscious effort to remember and work with them. The more we do this we will be able to maintain our own self-respect. Then we will not be influenced by any criticism but will continue to work for our success. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought for Today 23-02-2013

When hit by rejection, know that you are not alone. 

Beethoven's music teacher declared him "hopeless" at composing, and Walt Disney was fired for "lacking ideas"!

Don't let the rejection hurt you.
Realise that rejection happens! Accept it,
it may be frustrating but it doesn't have to be devastating.

Learn from the rejection. Work out what went wrong,
what you could have done better
and how you can improve your approach.

Soul Sustenance

Self Transformation (Change) (Part 1) 

We nourish the soul by going into the depths of silence and learning to love and appreciate the self. Giving time to do this will bring about a change in how we go about doing things, and this will start to show itself in improved relationships and in quality of life. By adopting a systematic and practical approach, we can assist the changes we wish to bring about in our life, otherwise old patterns of behaviour and the influences of the world will weaken our determination and efforts, like the sea tide washing away a sandcastle. 

Here are some practical reminders and steps we can take to grow spiritually and bring out transformation (change) in ourselves: 

Create a space for silence
Creating a space for inner silence is important and we can also create a corner area or a room used only for this purpose. In that place there is the opportunity, for instance, each morning to prepare for the coming day and, in the evening, to unburden the mind of any wasteful thoughts and feelings that have accumulated during the day. 

(To be continued tomorrow….) 

Message for the day

To remain focused is to fill speciality into everything we do. 

Projection: Sometimes while moving along, we find ourselves becoming unenthusiastic and slack. Everything seems so ordinary and we don't seem to understand how to make each day special for us. We try in little ways to do something different and temporarily find relief. 

Solution: The solution lies instead in changing our consciousness. We first have to make sure that we will never forget our aim in whatever we are doing. Then, no act of ours will be ordinary or waste, as we continue to check if everything that we do is according to our aim or not. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought for Today 22-02-2013

To have self-respect is to get respect from all. 

Anything that is full will remain stable. When I am in my stage of self-respect, I will be humble. I then need not ask for or demand respect. I will become worthy of receiving respect. People will then automatically give good wishes and respect. Today I will take one point that acts like a practice of self-respect. I will take a simple thought reminding of it from time to time. A thought like "I have the right to success" or "I am special and unique" or any other thought of practice helps. 

Soul Sustenance

Benefits Of Realizing The Law Of Action 

Suppose a person from India goes to America for the first time and rents a car over there. He then parks his rented car on the wrong side of the road. He will be charged a fine because parking laws are different in both countries. He cannot simply say ‘I didn’t know, I am ignorant’. It should have been his responsibility, if driving, to find out the laws of the new country but he didn’t take enough care. 

In ignorance, we have done many things against the universal laws of creation – especially the Law of Karma. We did not have the complete knowledge of what are good/bad karmas, what are right/wrong karmas; what different types of effects different karmas would have on me, others and nature. But we cannot just say 'I didn't know'. It was our responsibility to know. If we look at the state of the world now, there may be a few sparks of light or spiritual enlightenment but, generally, there is a great amount of darkness. That gives us an indication of the sorts of karmas the vast majority of us have been performing, due to ignorance, to have produced the situations or circumstances in the world. 

The complete knowledge of the karmic process, which we learn when we are introduced to spirituality, helps us: 

• reduce the burden of the past
• remove any type of suffering or sorrow in our present life 
• change our future as well as that of the world, to make it better and more positive
• experience a positive return from our spiritual efforts
understand all the why’s, how’s, what’s and when’s which surround our life

Message for the day

Humility helps us maintain good relationships with others. 

Projection: When involved in something that we are doing, we naturally come into contact with a lot of people. We sometimes find that we are not able to get along with certain people. We find it very difficult to maintain a good relationship with them and finally avoid dealing with them all together. 

Solution: The first thing to do is to avoid thinking that we cannot get along with someone because of their personality. When we remove this first block in our mind we will be able to see the good in all. We will no longer think that we are here to teach them but will humbly learn whatever we can from them. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought for Today 21-02-2013

To say yes is to have access to the best of qualities. 

Whenever life offers something challenging, it is important to just say yes without worrying. Automatically, this new challenge brings out new qualities that I may not be aware of before. If I say yes and yet have worry or tension, I cannot use my qualities. I will also not be able to use others' help. Today I will accept one challenge which I have been avoiding. I will take it up with the firm faith that I can succeed in it surely. I will then use all my resources to achieve what I set out to achieve. I would then find that others too would start cooperating and other resources will be available to me.

Soul Sustenance

Creating A Meditation Space Of Your Own 

The first step in your journey towards experiencing your true state of inner peace is finding a place or space in your home where you will practice your meditation regularly, even if it's just an armchair. Always use this chair, this space when you can. In this space, place two or three objects, which represent peace to you. Soft music, soft red light and lighting an incense stick ('agarbatti') can make the atmosphere soothing and relaxing. The walls could be decorated with white curtains to create a peaceful and purifying effect. After using this space for your practice of meditation for a few days, you will experience that the atmosphere of this space has elevated itself to a higher positive level and this will help your practice further. 

Message for the day

Trust brings help from others. 

Projection: Many times we find that we are not able to get sufficient help from others. We seem to be struggling all alone. We do expect help from others and might say so in words too, but we find that we are not always able to get full cooperation from others. 

Solution: We will not get help from others if we expect and demand from others. Instead we need to develop faith in others that they will help. For this we need to develop total respect for each and everyone. It is this respect that will naturally encourage the other person to help us. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance

Nurturing My Relationship With Myself 

One of the most significant areas of importance in any human’s life is that of relationships. Someone with very good, close, harmonious and loveful relationships with loved ones, friends, colleagues, etc. is normally considered very fortunate or lucky. But of all relationships, the first and most basic one is the one I have with myself. So, how good, close or deep is my relationship with myself? How well do I know myself? Am I my own friend? If I think over the last week or fortnight, how many of my reactions were unexpected or uncontrolled or basically not the right ones? How many reactions left me confused, sad, unenthusiastic, peaceless, depressed, negative in any other way or in short uncomfortable? If there have been several such situations, it is an indication that there are still things deep within me that I do not know. 

Normally a friend is someone whose company I enjoy, for whom there is love and from whom there is some benefit.As in any worldly relationship, without knowing a particular person to the core I can never have a deep relationship with that person. As the phrase ‘spiritual knowledge’ implies, it is the knowledge of the spirit or the self. Only by knowing myself completely and having a good relationship with the self, can I channelize my inner potential that I have within myself - just as water from a river, when properly channelized, provides water for various purposes. In any worldly relationship, if enough time and attention is not given to it and it is not nourished, it gets affected negatively. In the same way, though it's obvious that I have to spend a large chunk of each day involved in situations arising from my duties, routine activities, responsibilities and worldly relationships; my relationship with myself should also be given enough time and attention, so that it does not suffer. If I am not careful about that, my worldly life may use up my energy completely and discharge my inner battery. I need to find times in the day when I give time to my relationship with the self and recharge myself. The peace and happiness I long for internally will be obtained by having a good, positive relationship with the self. 

Message for the day

To be able to bend means to be a giver. 

Projection: There is usually a demand from situations for us to bow and bend. Even when it is not our mistake we are expected to understand or adjust. It seems very difficult at that time and we usually stand straight continuing to do what we believe in. 

Solution: When such storms come in our life, we need to learn the art of bending, just as a flexible tree would bend to save itself in the storm and straighten once the storm passes over. To bend means to try to understand the other person also and to adopt the value of flexibility. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought for Today 19-02-2013

Most people don't understand themselves or others. We need to make time for this. We get too impatient. Very often, because we are not willing to take this time, misunderstandings continue. We don't take time to listen to someone quietly and try to understand them. Then we start inventing things about them, because we simply haven't taken the time to understand.

Soul Sustenance

Anger Management 

Keep a daily chart for one week for the questions below, the answers to which will help you manage emotions of anger, irritation, frustration, etc. more effectively. Review your progress at the end of each day and then at the end of one week. Having made your observations, make improvements for the next week. Keeping this chart for a month, will help you manage and overcome your anger much better. 

1. During which event today did you get angry or irritated...even a little? 
2. What was the type of your thoughts at that time? 
3. Which negative thought/thoughts contributed to your stress the most? 
4. What positive thoughts helped you to regain your calmness and composure? 
5. How long did it take to regain your calmness? 
6. Why did it take so long to regain your peace? 
7. What would you do differently and more appropriately if the same scene happened tomorrow? 

Message for the day

The practice of positivity enables us to be stable under all circumstances. 

Projection: Usually we find ourselves reacting negatively to situations. At such times we want to maintain a positive attitude but are not able to. We then work hard and think of ways to change the negative situation to a positive one. A lot of time and effort goes into it and we tend to feel tired. 

Solution: The solution lies in maintaining our own positivity rather than trying to change negative into positive. When we have a long time of practice of working with our inner positivity we will be able to be positive even in the most negative situation. Then we will be saved the effort of having to work at transforming our negativity. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought for Today 18-02-2013

True love means creating an environment where others can grow. 

In relationships, we often expect things from those we get close to. 

These expectations can stifle the other person and also stop us from allowing the other person to develop in a way that is right for them.

Soul Sustenance

The Game of Life (Meditation) 

I relax my body… I breathe deeply and let go of all tensions… I centre myself on this present moment… On the screen of my mind, I visualize myself without fears… I let go of all labels, all roles that I play… Now I ‘am’… I am a shining being of light… I am free… I am peace… I am totally free, beyond all limitations… I enter into another dimension, a home full of soft golden red light, a home without any boundaries, my original, unlimited home, the home from where I have come… I stop thinking so much; I simply experience my spiritual presence… 

I am who I want to be… I am me… I do not need to justify myself… I do not need to give explanations… I connect to my inner beauty… I radiate the energy of the beauty that there is in me… 

I let go of the branches… I fly… I fly high… Beyond the body, above this place, the people that surround me, beyond the houses and the streets, beyond the clouds, I fly towards the dimension of light where no physical limitation ties me down… 

I feel the unlimited peace that caresses my being… I let myself be taken by the sensation of freedom that the flight gives me… I see the planet Earth from above… I recognize that everything there below is a game… I relax: everything is a game… I am a player in the game of life… I simply have to learn to play the game being who I am… 

Now, it is time to return… I am here, present… My breathing calmed… I, the soul am relieved… Now I know that, whenever I want, I can fly… Being an observer of the game, and live it with joy and peacefulness. 

Message for the day

The ones with pure love bring benefit to all. 

Projection: Each day of ours is usually spent in doing things for ourselves and providing for our needs and desires. We seem to have no time for others. We are usually caught up with a few people, which brings attachment and expectations. We then find ourselves getting caught up with the weaknesses of others. 

Solution: We need to check if our love for others is pure. Where there is pure true love there is kindness and the attitude of bringing benefit. With this attitude of ours we will be able to see each one's potential for perfection. They too will be able to then work towards their own perfection. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought for Today 17-02-2013

To use resources well is to increase them. 

If I put to use whatever resources I have, I will be able to increase them. Firstly, whatever I use, I become aware of them more and more. They become more and more available to me. Secondly, for having used them, they get sharpened and much better. It also brings back return from others in some way or the other. Today I will recognize at least one special resource which I have not been putting to use. It could be the resource of a skill that I have; some specialty or even something more subtle, like the resource of my thoughts or time. I will start using it consciously, so that I use it more and more, thus increasing it.

Soul Sustenance

Attaining Success Using The Tool Of Visualization 

A study shows that the majority of sportsmen and women, who win at prominent international events, are trained to use the tool of visualization to achieve success. Many months before the actual event, they visualize i.e. they create pictures of success inside their minds that they have already achieved their goal. The same principle of visualization is also used to cure patients from major illnesses including cancer. Patients are taught to visualize their diseased organs free from illnesses or visualize the organs receiving healing energy in some form or the other.Visualization helps people to have 100% belief in themselves that they will achieve the desired goal. The efforts made with this powerful energy of belief have a greater probability of success than when you make the efforts without believing in what you are doing and without visualizing yourself as achieving your objectives. 

If you think about your failures from the past, you stop believing in yourself, lose your enthusiasm and get frustrated. Visualizing images of a positive future helps you work from the present towards the future, without allowing the past failures to have any negative influence on you. You visualize yourself as a person, who has already overcome his fears and negative habits, and the fears are removed and the negative habits are transformed. You see yourself already transformed e.g. you say "I am a soul full of all powers" and not "Iam going to or am trying to fill myself with all powers ". The power of that vision and the positive affirmations, combined together, is such that it helps you to bring about a major change in yourself, not just a small change, because you make it easy for your sub-conscious mind that is sleeping to wake up and realize its potential. You stop always expecting the worst and hope for, visualize and believe in the best. 

Message for the day

To see ourselves in the mirror of knowledge is to bring progress in ourselves. 

Projection: The usual way of looking at ourselves when things don't go right with us is to either look at ourselves with self-pity or to point out others' mistakes. When we do this we lose the opportunity of learning from whatever has happened and so there is no progress. 

Solution: The ideal way of looking at ourselves when things go wrong is to look with a knowldgeful eye and see what we can improve in ourselves. We only have to look and we are sure to find something that we can work on and improve. This brings about real progress in us. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought for Today 16-02-2013

To connect to others' specialties is to get cooperation. 

The one who sees specialties has faith in others. Whatever the person's present action or response may be, when we remain connected to the specialties, we are able to use these specialties with faith. This also makes us have good wishes for them. This automatically makes us easily give and get cooperation. Today I will see only specialties in others. I will think of one person whom I have more interaction with. I will specially focus on the strengths of this person. As far as possible, I will also remind him too of these specialties.

Soul Sustenance

Remaining Relaxed During An Interview Or Meeting 

A state of relaxed alertness will yield best results in an interview or an important meeting. To relax, you need to remove all sense of confrontation, instead see the meeting as a friendly fact finding exchange and an opportunity to talk quietly of your achievements. 

1. Think of your interviewer as someone with whom, very soon, you might find that you have a great deal in common – perhaps not a friend, but someone you enjoy talking to. 

2. If the questions become difficult, visualize the Supreme Being in the form of a person in the room – perhaps standing behind the interviewer. Imagine him as a friend urging you on, praising your handling of the situation, persuading you to succeed. 

3. If the interviewer seems unfriendly, say to yourself: it is because he or she has difficulty with the situation. Respond calmly and pleasantly.