Thought of the day 31.08.2015

Meditation

Why has meditation been the core practice of all wisdom paths for over two thousand years? Because it is the most effective method to access your innate wisdom, rediscover inner peace and enhance your creative ability. Meditation restores well being, and once your being is well again, all that you do will be successful and fulfilling. 

Soul Sustenance

The Invisible Law Of The Universe (Part 1) 

We are living in a world full of uncertainities i.e. a world where anything can go wrong in a second. Have you ever wondered what the reason for this is? Tomorrow you step out of your house and you could meet with an accident. You appear for a job interview and inspite of all your hard work, you don’t do as well as expected. Also, sometimes within a few seconds, a close relationship with a friend or a close associate turns negative because of a misunderstanding and you are no longer on good terms with the person. Or in some cases a person, because of his or her own thinking, suddenly goes through an episode of depression and he or she is unable to concentrate his mind on managing his or her family as before. So life events are as unpredictable as the weather. 

We have all got used to watching news on television and reading the newspaper and everyday we listen to all these unexpected events happening in the lives of people around us and all over the world. Does anyone ever wonder why the world is tiring in this way or why the world is no longer that permanently peace and happiness filled? As we spiritual beings spend more and more time on earth, the quality of our actions is coming down and the energy of these actions which radiates into our immediate surroundings is of a similar nature. This energy keeps coming back at us repeatedly. Do you know that each time we think a negative thought, speak a negative word or perform a negative action; the thought, word and action may be forgotten, but all of them leave a negative sanskara or subtle impression on the soul? This attracts negative situations from the people around us and from the nature’s elements in the form of negative situations of different types of the physical body, role and relationships, sometimes immediately, sometimes after a few days, months or years and sometimes even after many births. 

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Message of the day

Faith in others enables them to be powerful. 

Thought to ponder: Faith in others is usually mistaken for blind faith - observing helplessly, only hoping for the best in our heart. We, then, don't consciously do anything but just hope for the best. In such a situation we subtly experience fear or tension. But this is not true faith nor is the outcome usually right. 

Point to practice: Faith in others means to remain alert to what is going on and then to fill the other person with the strength of our faith to such an extent that they feel able to do whatever needs to be done. Our faith will fill them with confidence and they will be able to give their best to the task. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought of the day 30.08.2015

Meditation

A racing mind that reacts sensitively to little things indicates thinking that has lost its spiritual strength.  Meditation restores that strength.

Soul Sustenance

Discovering Inner Compassion (Part 3) 

When we try to describe compassion, it is worth looking at the words sympathy, empathy andinterpathy. 

Showing sympathy towards another person's suffering is acknowledging their suffering, for example - I am sorry that you have hurt yourself. We recognize that they are injured or ill without really engaging at a feeling level. 

Empathy is when we literally share a feeling with someone, we walk in their shoes, for example - I feel really upset that you are so depressed about losing your job. This can bring great comfort to the person we are empathizing with, but the comfort to them can be at our expense and leave us feeling emotionally drained or sad. If we identify too closely with them, it can also make it difficult for us to help them. 

An expansion of empathy is a word calledinterpathy where we relate to another's suffering although we may not understand why they are suffering. This may be because they are from a different culture or because their feelings may seem inappropriate given the situation, but we are curious, we try to understand. 

Compassion is all these words — sympathy, empathy, interpathy - yet it is more and it is less. We acknowledge someone’s sorrow, we sense how they feel, we try to understand how it affects them, yet with compassion we do not become emotionally involved. We are engaged yet detached. We are standing back and looking on with kindness. By showing compassion in this way, it allows us to be compassionate without suffering from compassion fatigue or emotional burnout. 

Message of the day

To bring elevated thoughts into actions is to ensure powerful progress. 

Thought to ponder: All of us, at some point, have had thoughts that are positive and would bring about a change for the better. Such positive thoughts sometimes go unnoticed but when translated into action can bring a lot of benefit. For example, when we see someone working hard to achieve something, we admire him/her. But, if we catch this thought and pick out one point in our life for which we can really work hard, we would find great benefit. 

Point to practice: Today I will spot and catch one positive thought that I can bring into practice. It could be some fleeting thought of positivity. Normally, there is a doubt if it would be successful, but I need to catch this thought and put into practice with great resolve. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought of the day 29.08.2015

Life Can Begin To Flow

As we grow in strength in our spiritual life, we give up the habit of worrying. It serves no purpose other than to make us feel tense and miserable. When I stop fretting about things that are beyond my control and focus instead on generating optimistic and kind thoughts, my life can begin to flow in ever more positive directions. Such a light and easy approach to life enables me to take everything in my stride.

Soul Sustenance

Discovering Inner Compassion (Part 2) 

To really understand compassion, we have to experience it for ourselves. We can observe and admire others; we can even acknowledge that we have behaved compassionately on some occasions, but how do we develop the virtue of compassion inside us? If we can find a place of inner silence where we can slow down our thoughts and touch our deepest nature, we will discover that it is peaceful and compassionate. This is the source of our compassion and the more we experience it the more it will become part of our actions. Meditation reminds us that we are compassionate at our core. 

Most people can remember a compassionate act. It may be an everyday situation or something that stands out as very special. Examples may be sitting holding the hand of a distressed relative or friend, or simply smiling and being positive. Reflecting on such acts helps us to identify the qualities of compassion that a person may express, such as patience, tolerance, generosity and calmness. By thinking about acts of compassion and the people that perform them, we can begin to get a sense of what compassion means and, with further reflection, how we have shown these same qualities ourselves. 

We all use words in different ways to describe how we feel and what we mean, and the meaning can change in different settings. We need to come to some understanding of the word compassion, redefining it for ourselves. Compassion can mean simply kindness; it can mean patience, generosity, respect and understanding. Compassion is unconditional love. 

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Message of the day

To see things with the right vision (third eye) is to ensure that I am not blind to the opportunities that life offers. 

Thought to ponder: Wisdom is to see what is not seen. When I only see what is visible to the two eyes, I miss out important details. To open the third eye of wisdom and see through to the reality of things is to create opportunities for oneself. Wisdom is to see benefit, positive and opportunity in everything. I need to give this training to the third eye. 

Point to practice: Today I will look at things differently. When something happens to me that I am uncomfortable with, I will see what positive there is, hidden in the situation. Negativity remains even after a situation is over, when I think negative about someone, myself or something. So today I will make sure I change my thinking to positive in these three aspects. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought of the day 28.08.2015

Excellence
With the aim of excellence, I bring beauty and quality into each word and action.

Soul Sustenance

Discovering Inner Compassion (Part 1) 

Competence and compassion are the two most important aspects of our professional life. We would contend that compassion needs to be valued at least as much as competence in our work and in education. 

There are many reasons why we find it difficult to be compassionate in our job; often there is not enough time to respond to competing demands, we have to concentrate on our tasks, we feel too exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally to give any more. Then there are the negative feelings that block out compassion. Being clear about what we mean by compassion can help us to understand how it can be an integral part of our work. This will help us to be caring in our work, without suffering compassion fatigue and emotional burnout. 

Our own negative feelings, such as anger, hatred and jealousy, can prevent us showing our compassion. By understanding those feelings and how they affect us, we can release them and allow ourselves to be more compassionate. Compassion can be compared to the sun; it is always there but sometimes it cannot shine through because of the clouds. The clouds are the negativity that hides our true nature of compassion. 

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Message of the day

To have a big heart is to find solutions easily. 

Thought to ponder: To have a big heart, during upsetting times, is to be above the feeling of what is mine and what I have to lose. It is but natural to see what I have to gain, but added to this I also need to see what others are going to gain from this. When I am caught up with my needs and apprehensions, there will be blocks which will not help me create solutions. 

Point to practice: Today I will work to find solutions in such a way, that there is benefit for all. I will not only look at benefit for myself (I will not worry about what I have to lose), but I will also see in what way it can benefit others. This practice will help me find an easy solution and also win the support and good wishes of all around me. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought of the day 27.08.2015

Love

Love is a powerful force. It can take us to great heights and leave us feeling light and airy. Yet it has been the most abused and misused force. Many degraded things pass for love. True love is based on understanding, mutual trust and respect and not simply on transient emotions. Love is being in balance, that is, in harmony with the self, God and each other. Love dwells in the soul. We must allow this love to flow out and around us. Without love, all of life's treasures are locked away from our vision and experiences, for indeed 'love is the key.' 

Soul Sustenance

Discovering God (Part 3) 

I love God a lot, Thank you God, O God please help me, O God please forgive me, O God where are you, O God please make me healthy, O God please grant me a child, O God please make my mind peaceful, O God please shower my life with success and prosperity, etc. are some of our common cries in God's name. We say and they all reach Him, but do we ever wonder how much God loves us, how much He is ready to help us and grant us all of these desires or help us in bringing them in our lives? Does God help each one of us equally? We know He is impartial and loves each one of us equally but at the same time He is a parent who also knows which children of His are more full of qualities than the others. Also, He knows which children of His from amongst the world population have performed higher karmas or actions in their complete journey of birth and rebirth and who are very very pure and humble, not only in the present but also who have been like that in many many lives. Also, how much do we remember God with a clean heart in our present and how much have we remembered Him in our past births? God knows our present as well as our past equally correctly, on the basis of which He sees us. 

There are two sides of God's personality. On the one hand He is loveful and so His love and respect for all His children is equal. On the other side and at the same time, while being lawful, He chooses to be more loveful and respectful for a few, based on all the things He knows about us. Its two sides of the same coin. Both sides are a part of the coin and its only a Supreme Being like God who can keep a balance of both these sides so beautifully. You might question this, but God is commonly a strict being with some souls who are lacking in qualities or whose actions are of a low quality, under the influence of the five vices - lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego, which are like Ravana'sten heads. These ten heads are a symbolic representation of five vices in men and five vices in women. Remember Ravana was Ram's enemy, where Ram is a symbolic representation of God. So, if you want your mind to be blessed with the presence of God or Ram inside it, make sure Ravana or the five vices mentioned above are no longer a part of your personality. 

Message of the day

To be powerful is to be a support for others at all times. 

Thought to ponder: When we face challenges, we may not look for solutions from others, but we definitely tend to look for support from others. Yet, we find that most people today are unable to give support. We then tend to get disappointed, further increasing our negativity. Yet, we need to understand that each one has their own problems and they too are in some way looking for support. We need to be internally so powerful and self-reliant that we can become a support for others, instead of expecting from them. 

Point to practice: Today I will create a simple practice for myself. At least 5 times today, I will tell myself "I am powerful and self-reliant. I am the master, the creator and this situation is just a creation. So I the master will find a way to maneuver and change the situation". This practice will help me stop expecting from others, not even support. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought of the day 26.08.2015

Manage Emotions

When the energy of our consciousness is out of our control - the mind is agitated. We are being emotional. The solution is to detach from the inner storms, stand back and observe the hurricane pass. Detached observation withdraws the energy which your emotions require to sustain themselves. When you watch your own anger, it dies. If you don't detach from it, and observe it ...it will be your master.

Soul Sustenance

Discovering God (Part 2) 

Love for God is incomplete without a complete realization of who God is and what are His nature's different characteristics. Also as the saying goes in Hindi that God as He is and what He is, only a few in crores and even from those few very few will realize Him completely. There can be crores who think about Him and even love Him very much and also realize Him partially or incompletely but only a few extremely pure minds will realize Him completely and accurately and also become like Him. These selected few are amongst us and absolutely normal humans but the only specialty they have is that they are extremely pure and humble, as a result of which God reveals Himself completely to them. Purity of the mind, which means a mind that has made itself completely free of lust and anger, which means not only words and actions but our thoughts are completely free of these two emotions. Also, humility or egolessness while performing actions. Such a mind will be able to perceive God and His nature completely and experience His love in the sacred space of His mind. You might say that what is life without lust, anger and ego as life without these is not possible but then ask those who are on a journey to free themselves of these three emotions and are getting closer to God more and more each day and making others around them a part of their closeness. Such people are very few but they exist and are looked upto by God also. 

It is like the taste of the mango. The one who has tasted it can only know its taste and say it is absolutely delicious. God is the most beautiful being that exists and to have a close relationship with Him means becoming as beautiful as Him over a period of time and as a result getting to know Him more and more in return and fulfill the spiritual heart's desire. This desire exists inside each one of us, but is sometimes hidden because we have become over-involved in materialism and forgotten our eternal relationship with Him. 

(To be continued tomorrow ...) 

Message of the day

To have the right frame of mind is to bring benefit.

Thought to ponder: Difficult situations do come to everyone, and it is during these situations that one needs to give their best to tackle them. Yet, we find it is quite the opposite. Negativity comes creating weakness of the mind. So, whatever decisions we take at this time are not appropriate or fruitful. We tend to lose sight of opportunities and there is loss. 

Point to practice: Today I will pick out one problem that I have been worrying about. I will take the thought that this problem is there to go. It will surely go one day as nothing is permanent. I will then look for solutions with a positive frame of mind. If I still don't find solutions, I will stop thinking about it, because thinking too much about one thing amounts to worrying. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought of the day 25.08.2015

Lightness

Move through life with lightness, touching the hearts of others without leaving a mark.

Soul Sustenance

Discovering God (Part 1) 

When remembering God in our daily lives, we need to sometimes stop and look inwards and ask ourselves that do we remember His complete personality. That means do we, while remembering Him, relate to Him in various different ways and also do we remember His different roles and responsibilities for which He is remembered all over the world. E.g. do we remember God as only the Supreme Father or do we also sometimes see Him as an extremely loveful mother, the One who sustains us with His love and is extremely forgiving while seeing our mistakes? Or, do we remember God only as a strict parent, the One who judges and punishes but forget that He is the Ocean of Mercy also? Or, do we remember God as the Ocean of Peace and Love but not as an Ocean of Power, by connecting with whom, we can overcome all our weaknesses and become as strong as Him? Also, do we remember God just as a Teacher, who gives us knowledge and not as a Guru, who can purify us so much that all our sins of many lives, performed because of ignorance, can be cleaned by His remembrance? Also, do we remember God as someone from whom we can absorb qualities and powers only or someone from whom we can learn the secrets of how the soul functions and how it plays its different roles in the world drama? The list is endless of what I could be missing while trying to discover God and His personality. 

Just as in pure worldly relationships between humans, unless we have known a person for long and know all aspects of his personality, which we commonly call nature, we are not able to have a close relationship with him. That relationship could be your parent or a very close friend or even an office colleague. Also, one person can be someone with whom we are so close that being with him, gives us the joy of all worldly relationships. There can be one person in your life who is like your parent, as well as a friend as well as a teacher and also like a guru, but all of them are not the Supreme or they are not completely perfect. In the same way, God is one, but can play different roles and relationships at the same time, but He is the Supreme or perfect in all these relationships. This is the beauty of God. 

(To be continued tomorrow ...) 

Message of the day

One's interaction with others is the biggest test to know what to check and change. 

Thought to ponder: How people behave with us is a true indication of what our personality is. If most of the people are being negative to me, then definitely I need to check myself. Because, others become a mirror for us to see how we are. Physically too, most people have the habit of checking in the mirror to see if they are alright and if they are not, they bring about a change. In the same way, other people's response becomes an indication for us to know where I need to bring about a change. 

Point to practice: Today I will take criticism as an indication of what I need to bring about a change in myself. When someone says something about me, especially if it is repeatedly coming to me from more than one source, I will see what aspect I need to change. I need to first check what really in me is drawing that criticism. Then I need to bring about that change. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought of the day 24.08.2015

Happiness

The happiness you give makes you happier than the happiness you receive.  

Soul Sustenance

Shedding Off The Attachment To A Positive Past (Part 2) 

Excessive attachment to a glorious past is a subtle shade of the negative emotion of ego which colors my present perception of external events and which affects my present actions and responses, as a result of which not only present but my future is also affected. As I hold on to it, my creativity is reduced and I do everything with a limited perspective, not letting myself grow and shape up a glorious present and future. There are some people whose goal is to achieve something so great in their lives so as to ensure they will gain recognition and respect by others in time to come. This is again a subtle shade of attachment and ego. 

But shedding off this type of attachment is not easy and first requires the realization that this attachment is incorrect and damaging. The next step is sitting in silence and becoming aware of how you lose your identity in a story of past thoughts, feelings, emotions, attitudes and actions and then disassociating or detaching yourself from that story. You do not need to suppress or deny or fight with this story; otherwise its memory gets stronger and more overpowering. You just need to simply see and realize deeply that your past is just a record of a particular set of actions, which you committed at a particular point of time, it is a series of images of previous events that you witnessed and that you were a part of, all of which have left a record in your memory, and in the memories of others, but they are not what you are. This type of practice of disassociation with spiritual understanding fades the excessive memory of the story in your consciousness over a short period of time and these actions then cease to influence you in any way in the present. Here we are talking about an influence, which we have for long deceived ourselves into believing to be a positive one, but which in reality is not. 

Message of the day

Creating quality thoughts brings happiness and lightness. 

Thought to ponder: When there is quality thinking, thoughts are not many, but each thought is special. Quality thoughts are reflected in quality words and quality actions. They reduce tiredness and carelessness as thoughts are fewer in quantity. 

Point to practice: When I have good quality thoughts, I experience sweetness, happiness and self-respect. I am able to recognise my own greatness and move forward with lightness under all circumstances. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought of the day 23.08.2015

Transform

Transform regrets into realisations and therefore ensure that what could be waste is made into something worthwhile.

Soul Sustenance

Shedding Off The Attachment To A Positive Past (Part 1) 

A very powerful mis-identification (incorrect identification) that each one of us indulges in, to different extents, is identifying with our positive or glorious actions of the past. This identification is so strong that almost every day it comes to the surface of our consciousness when we switch on the movie of this story of these actions on the screen of our minds. By rehearsing this story repeatedly we love experiencing the same emotions and feelings that we felt at that time, emotions that we had enjoyed very much. We not only re-experience that pleasure but we also love to share the pleasure by persuading others to see that movie by broadcasting that movie in front of whoever we come across. This is normally done in the form of words by speaking about our professional or personal achievements, our educational qualifications, our experiences, actions for which we gained recognition, our history, etc., all a thing of the past. But this is not talking about the real self, this is just a story, thus it is a false identification with something we are not. Every time we indulge in this type of identification, we strengthen the incorrect belief that we are talking about our self. We believe the past is us. This is the incorrect identification. 

If someone were to ask us to describe ourselves in a few words, instead of talking with humility about our spiritual self, our virtues, powers, strengths, etc., which is the real self, we quickly mention all of the above features of our past, thinking this will give the other an impression of our credibility. Even when we communicate with people over email or some other mediums, we are quick to mention all these things in our signature, etc. believing this is our story and portraying that we are in love with it and other people should identify us with this story as we do and love us for the same. To remember and identify with any memory of action that we created yesterday is to identify with what we do. And we are not what we do. 

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Message of the day

The method to bring about a permanent change is to bring about newness in thinking. 

Thought to ponder: To bring about a permanent change for the better means getting the mind trained to new ways of looking at the same situation. Only with this new understanding will there be a new response. Trying to bring about change in a superficial way will not bring about a long-lasting change. 

Point to practice: When I train my mind to think creatively I'm able to keep my mind busy. In this way I'm able to free it from thinking negative and waste. Also I find myself enjoying every scene that comes in front of me and I also find myself constantly progressing. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought of the day 22.08.2015

Patience

Patience and more patience enable a closed mind to gently unfurl.

Soul Sustenance

Do Love And Suffering Go Hand-In-Hand (Part 3)? 

When there is too much pain we cannot lean back into our true power and experience our energy of love. Only the power of pure love, unconditional love or love of God, can help us to get rid of the suppressed pain inside the subconscious. When you live through a situation that causes pain in you, you have to love yourself, stabilize yourself and enter into silence. Observe that pain without being afraid of it. Observe it to let go of it and understand what it is that it brings about in you. 

The answer, generally, is connected with others:He/she doesn't love me anymore and that's why I feel pain, Things are not like they were before, The company of this loved one doesn't give me the benefits it was giving me before.

If a person loved you and now has stopped loving you, does that make you feel pain? Or is it your own expectation and your desire for that person to keep on valuing you or loving you like before that trap you in pain? Is it that you don't accept change? The truth is, we bring on suffering ourselves. If you don't want to make yourself suffer, starting from now you do not have to bear any more suffering. Nobody can wound you or can cause you pain, except if you allow it. So how do you allow it? By being a vacuum that sucks in everything of the other, the good and the bad, and you suffer. It is expectations from our loved one that make us vulnerable to the experience of suffering. 

Message of the day

True decoration lies in using specialities. 

Thought to ponder: All of us are bestowed with some or the other qualities. Everyone has the inherent tendency to want to be their best. So we tend to really take care about external appearance. But, in the same way, if we take care of our inner qualities, nurture and help them grow, we would find them decorating our personality in the true sense. 

Point to practice: Today I will identify one quality that I feel is unique about me, I will consciously put it into practice and make sure I remind myself about it at least 10 times through out the day. Even if challenges come to shake that quality, I will still continue with my practice for today. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought of the day 21.08.2015

Sow the Seed of Peace

If we plant a positive, clean seed of thoughts and concentrate on it, we give it energy, like the sun gives to a seed in the earth. And as the seed in the earth awakens, stirs and begins to grow, the thoughts on which we concentrate awaken, stir and begin to grow. So let us sow positive thoughts. Each morning before we begin the journey of the day let us sit still, in silence, and sow the seed of peace. Peace is harmony and balance. Peace is - freedom from the burden of negativity and wastefulness. Let peace find its home within us. Peace is our original strength, our eternal tranquility of being.

Soul Sustenance

Do Love And Suffering Go Hand-In-Hand (Part 2)? 

We have the inner belief that love, worry, fear and suffering go together. It is difficult to transform (change) fear until we eliminate that belief. You are love and you need to share that love. Life is a sharing of love, it is loving the body, loving oneself, loving others, loving God, loving nature, loving work. That energy of love in the end purifies us and helps us to go forward. But while the belief exists that love has to be linked to fear and suffering, we will be blocked and will put a brake to the flow of pure love. In the name of love, we worry, we suffer and we are afraid. Instead of helping from a place of freedom in love, we help out of worry and fear, and in doing so we stifle, control, depend, and the other person feels their inner freedom restricted. We do not let them be. 

If we review our personal life and see the moments when we have experienced most pain in our lives, we realize that it is with the people we have most loved, and that have most loved us that we have suffered most. We experience pain in a relationship of love, where there is possession, control, submission and dependence. Other times the pain is caused by a loss that generates an inner emptiness. That person filled me, they gave me wholeness, they were the reason for my existence and now they have either left me or they have gone. In the second case, we wouldn't say that they have died, but rather that they have gone to another level of existence i.e. the soul has taken a new physical costume. 

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Message of the day

To be an embodiment of solutions is to be an embodiment of success.

Thought to ponder: Everyone wants to be successful. But to achieve and feel success all the time, one needs to be an embodiment of solutions. Problems continue to come, but if we go on cursing problems, we will not be able to achieve success. We will only end up spoiling our state of mind. Instead, if we try and find solutions, we will find something somewhere. We will be in the right frame of mind to create solutions.

Point to practice: Today I will only focus on solutions. I will pick out one problem which I have been avoiding or not being able to do anything about. I will then think of some solution, even if it is a small little step that I can take. I will first believe that there is a solution and then find something creative to do.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought of the day 20.08.2015

Happy Outcomes

The loving acts of a generous heart usually bring about really happy outcomes.

Soul Sustenance

Do Love And Suffering Go Hand-In-Hand (Part 1)? 

There are two things that touch or move us in life:pain and pleasure. Both create addiction. We feel pain in the body, and sometimes it is even emotional. But suffering arises in the mind. The suffering in the mind arises from thinking negatively towards the self, towards others, looking at them with a vision or attitude that causes grief, sorrow and suffering. Both extremes, pain and pleasure, can create addiction. On creating addiction it can start to form part of someone's identity. Later if one tries to stop the addiction of pain or suffering, it can almost feel like a threat towards the self, and towards one's own identity as one perceives it, because suffering is identified with. It is too hard to see oneself as no longer suffering. 

An e.g. in this regard is that of a mother, with three children, who was undergoing a meditation course at one of the Brahma Kumaris centers. Her daughter had learned to meditate and became very happy and joyful. Seeing her happiness the mother came to learn to meditate. With a few sessions she felt much more at peace and had very good experiences, but all of a sudden she decided to stop the meditation practice and leave the course because she was starting experiencing a positive detachment, which she perceived as negative. Now, she was no longer feeling afraid of what might happen to her children. The meditation was awakening in her a love free from fears, but it brought on in her an inner clash of beliefs between the old and new beliefs. Her old belief was that to love someone is to suffer about them or create pain related to them. 

(To be continued tomorrow …) 

Message of the day

To have the right company is to ensure progress.

Thought to ponder: The company we keep influences us to a great deal. We might not realise it, but we tend to get subtly influenced by the company we keep. Through out the day, we do come across a lot of people and situations. We have to face them as part of daily routine or as part of our responsibilities. But we need to also have special attention to spend at least some time through out the day with some good company.

Point to practice: Today I will go out of my way to find some good company. It could be a person, a book or even a spiritual place. I will spend at least 15 minutes today. This will help me have a different and more powerful attitude to deal with all other circumstances throughout the day.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought of the day 19.08.2015

Letting Go

Whatever has happened is in the past. Do not think about the past. Learn from whatever has happened and be optimistic about the future. The past belongs to the past. Let me let go of it, because it does not belong to me now.

Soul Sustenance

Resolving Conflicts in Relationships (Part 2) 

During a conflict, it is good to realize that theenergy that you put into the conflict will possibly be the quality of energy that you will receive in return. This is the law of reciprocity (cause and effect). On a subtle level, we radiate according to our attitude, and on a physical level, we radiate according to our behavior. What we transmit on a subtle or/and physical level will return to us in a similar way; unless the ‘other’ is wiser and decides not to give us back the same negative energy, but rather to treat us in exchange with a positive attitude and pro-active behavior. That way, that person won't bring about a dependence inside us, but rather they will help us to free ourselves of our own negativity. 

Often, conflict between two people happens because we do not get the result in a relationship that we want; we are stuck to getting a specific result and we allow our happiness to depend on getting it. On not getting it, we use a wrong method; we generate a conflict, we feel ourselves to be victims, we blame the other, we project our pain onto them; all of this under the belief that others - the other - is who makes us happy or unhappy. This is a false belief. When your happiness depends on your expectations being fulfilled, it is difficult to be happy in a constant way. Often expectations are disguised desires, and where there are desires there is fear - the fear of not getting what you want. When you don't get it you get unhappy and, in so doing, you keep happiness away from you. It is good to set yourself goals of peaceful relationships, but if they are not fulfilled or if these goals take time to achieve, don't lose your sense of wellbeing. Your happiness is a much more valuable treasure than the external achievement of your expectations and of those that others have of you.

Message of the day

To be free from rust is to get attracted with the power of the magnet. 

Thought to ponder: When I perform any action which is against my true nature of peace, happiness or love, I am actually rusting myself. This rust does not allow me to attract the power of the magnet(goodness/God). The more I free myself from this rust, I automatically find that I am attracting the right things. 

Point to practice: Today I will not do anything that will take me go away from my true self. That is, I will keep myself free from things like anger, greed, sorrow etc. Even if the situation warrants for it, I will not react with the negativity. Instead I will just postpone the reaction. Thus, I will ensure I don't add rust to myself. 


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Thought of the day 18.08.2015

Staying Peaceful

Desires cause peace to disappear. You think that acquiring things will make you feel secure, but the reality is that the more you have the more fear there usually is of losing it, and the further you are from peace. Desires are the cause of all conflicts. When you want something and cannot get it you become frustrated. Learning to be free from desires is learning how to stay peaceful. 

Soul Sustenance

Resolving Conflicts In Relationships (Part 1) 

In relationships, sometimes we feel that the other person is not only a problem but also a source of conflicts. We have to be aware that there always have to be two people involved for there to be an unhappy or conflictive exchange. When we are in any conflict, it is difficult to see and understand the true causes and the real energy of the process of the conflict. The emotions that arise inside us during a conflict distract us and even blind us. 

In the first place, it is important to recognize that your response in any situation of conflict is your contribution to the conflict. The process of responding to any person or situation is something that takes place in you. Nothing can make you feel anything without your permission. If you have been in conflict with someone for a time, for sure, you create fear or anger towards them, expressing thus behaviors of resistance when you communicate or relate to them. The other person is not responsible for your emotions or for your behavior. 

Your experience of conflict and your contribution to the conflict begin in your consciousness and you keep them in your consciousness. It begins with your perception of the other (how you see others). If you perceive them negatively you willthink negatively; you will feel negative and create a negative attitude; you will behave negatively, and so you will transmit a negative energy. You don't have to do it like that. Perception is a choice. 

When there is conflict there is mental and emotional pain, even physical. Who creates that pain? You! Who creates at least half of the conflict? You! Where do you dissolve it? In your consciousness - in you. Freeing yourself of the conflict is a matter of a decision. At any moment you can decide not to be in conflict. One party has to dissolve their contribution to the conflict, even if it is temporarily, for the process of resolution to be able to begin. 

(To be continued tomorrow…)