Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 31-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 31-10-2012
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Experiencing Positive Thoughts

Positive thoughts emerge from your values and may be experienced as:

Confidence
Contentment
Cooperation
Enthusiasm
Generosity
Happiness
Harmony
Honesty
Hope
Love
Mercy
Peace
Respect
Solidarity
Tolerance
Trust

Let's look at some examples of positive thoughts (with respect to the above values):

Happiness: Happiness raises the spirit of whoever possesses it, and brings out a smile in others.
Love: Be as enthusiastic with the success of others as you are with your own.
Honesty: If I am honest in all my actions, I will never be afraid.
Respect: The only way of receiving respect is to give it first.
Mercy: Do not lose hope in those that have lost hope.


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Message for the day 31-10-2012
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The one who is simple is the one who is free from pain.

Expression: When we are simple we are able to be free from pain or hurt even in adverse situations. We are able to take benefit from the wealth of experiences accumulated over the past without feeling the pain. With simplicity we know that we need to remember the past only to the extent that we have to learn from it.

Experience: When something goes wrong and we find ourselves thinking about it again and again, we need to remind ourselves that all the past experiences are only for us to learn from. The past is finished and we don't have to undergo the sorrow again thinking about the past repeatedly.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 30-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 30-10-2012
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The Five Spiritual And Five Physical Elements (Part 4)

As we have explained earlier in this series, the Supreme Soul always remains an Ocean of the five spiritual virtues or elements peace, purity, wisdom, love and joy right through eternity. The soul is made up of three faculties - the mind, intellect and personality. Meditation is a direct connection in which a human soul, using the two faculties - the mind and the intellect, connects with the most powerful Supreme Source or Soul and draws spiritual power from it. This absorbed spiritual power then transforms the third faculty - the personality, filling it with the five virtues mentioned above. The more the spiritual power absorbed the greater and faster is the filling up of virtues. These virtues then become a balm which heals the many different types of wounds of ego, anger, hatred, hurt, jealousy, possessiveness, greed, criticisms, desires, etc. which have left their mark on the soul in this and many past births of the soul. They gradually restore in the soul the confidence to emerge from the shadows of negativity and to live in the light of its original nature. It is amazing, and heart-warming, when one rediscovers these qualities beneath all the other impressions formed during this and previous lives that have probably been peaceless and sorrowful at times. The journey of meditation bypasses all the negative tendencies and allows the soul to touch these original qualities, experience their truth, and express them in its life.

The other three factors which help us in understanding as well as experiencing peace, purity, wisdom, love and lasting happiness or joy are:

1. The understanding and inculcation of the complete spiritual knowledge of the soul, Supreme Soul and the eternal world time cycle.

2. Attention on the self and checking and changing the self during the entire day and also keeping a daily chart of the main weaknesses or negative personality trait in the self, which is filled every night before going to sleep.

3. Sharing the five spiritual virtues along with spiritual knowledge with others through thoughts, words and actions. Treasures shared with others will bring about a direct increase in the treasures in the self. Also, blessings received from others, by serving them help in the same purpose.

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Message for the day 30-10-2012
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Greatness is visible in simplicity.

Expression: The simplicity within us brings benefit to many. Simplicity doesn't mean we have to give up all we have, but it only means that we give up the attraction and attachment to whatever we are using. With simplicity our lifestyle takes on an easiness that in itself can be a healing source to those around.

Experience: We need to make the practice of being detached even while using everything. We need not give up anything, but while using everything, we need to remember that what we have is for the use of everyone and not to get dependent on it. When we are detached in this way we will be able to bring benefit to all around us.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 29-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 29-10-2012
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The Five Spiritual And Five Physical Elements (Part 3)

As explained in yesterday's message, in the hierarchy of the three entities around which the whole World Drama revolves – the Supreme Soul is right at the top, the human souls are in the middle and nature is at the bottom. So, the process of restoring the balance of the spiritual and physical elements has to be initiated from the top i.e. by the Supreme Soul. The human souls which are in the middle of the hierarchy benefit from this process directly. The human souls, by transforming themselves i.e. by filling themselves up with the five spiritual elements peace, purity, wisdom, love and joy from the Supreme Soul and restoring their balance in their personalities, then bring benefit to nature which is at the bottom of the hierarchy. This is because their doing this causes the positive energy of the five virtues to spread in nature, which results in the balance restoration of the five physical elements earth, air, water, fire and sky and the five spiritual elements or virtues in the personalities of animals, birds, insects (the same principle as explained yesterday). This entire process, explained above, takes place in the Confluence Age which is a small Age between the Iron Age and the Golden Age, which is again the present time. So, the Confluence Age is an Age in which positive transformation takes place. Thus, at the present moment of time, the two Ages - Iron Age and Confluence Age co-exist.

The Supreme Soul does not bring direct benefit to nature, He does that via human souls, who are intelligent enough to catch his directions and connect with Him and as a result transform themselves. So, the human souls when seen with respect to the Supreme Soul, who is the Creator; are the Creation, who benefit from Him. But the same human souls, when seen with respect to nature can be called the Master Creator and nature can be called as the Creation. Here the phrase Master Creator means children of the Supreme Soul, the Creator, but at the same time those children who possess the power to perform the task of balance restoration for the self as well as the Creation, similar to the Creator, under his guidance and by absorbing power from Him.

We shall explain the actual process of imbibing the five spiritual elements from the Supreme Soul in tomorrow's message, which is the last of this series.

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Message for the day 29-10-2012
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Introversion helps us to free our mind from wasteful and negative thinking.

Expression: Instead of being taken by surprise and despairing, introversion helps us to remain steady and creative even during difficult situations. Introversion keeps us free from the grip of negative programming and conditioning that is already in the mind and helps us remain focused and capable.

Experience: Even in the most negative situation, we need to practice being detached and rise above the situation and have the aim of moving forward. This gives us the understanding that there is a secret, tailor-made lesson for our own personal development, in every instance of difficulty in our life.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 28-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 28-10-2012
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The Five Spiritual And Five Physical Elements (Part 2)

There are three entities around which the whole World Drama revolves – the Supreme Soul, the human souls and nature. Nature includes everything non-living like mountains, rivers, seas etc. and living things like plants, trees etc. It also includes living beings like animals, birds, insects etc. which are souls with a lesser evolved intellect than human ones. The human body also comes under the category of nature. These three entities are in the form of a hierarchy, the Supreme Soul is the most powerful at the top of the hierarchy, in the middle are the human souls and at the bottom of the hierarchy is nature. The Supreme Soul always remains an Ocean of the five virtues peace, purity, wisdom, love and joy and is the only entity in which the balance of these virtues is always maintained right through eternity.

In human souls, as explained yesterday, in the beginning of the world cycle, in the Golden Age, these virtues are in balance. As human souls come down in the birth-rebirth cycle and start becoming influenced by body-consciousness or the five vices - anger, ego, greed, attachment and lust, all spiritual building blocks or virtues - peace, purity, wisdom, love and joy start getting depleted. In each soul, some virtues get depleted more, some less. In each and every soul the depletion is different depending on its actions e.g. in some soul the depletion of peace is immense compared to the other because of picking up sanskaras of anger on its journey and bringing them into actions or in some soul the depletion of joy is immense because of picking up a lot of attachment on the way etc. This depletion of the five spiritual elements or virtues upsets the balance between them. This depletion and imbalance causes negative spiritual energy waves or vibrations of sorrow, anger, impurity, hatred, fear etc. from human souls to spread in nature and starts having a negative influence on the five physical elements earth, air, water, fire and sky and even the five spiritual elements peace, purity, wisdom, love and joy in the souls of animals, birds, insects, etc. upsetting the balance of both. This is because nature (as defined in the above paragraph) is lowest in the hierarchy, lesser powerful and easily influenced by the energy that human souls transmit or radiate. This double imbalance of spiritual and physical elements results in peacelessness, sorrow, illness, poverty, natural calamities, accidents, ecological imbalances etc. When all of these reach their maximum extent, that Age is called the Iron Age. This is an interesting principle which needs to be understood clearly.

How do we restore the balance of the spiritual and physical elements? We shall explain that in tomorrow's message.

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Message for the day 28-10-2012
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Introversion helps us to manage our thoughts better.

Expression: With introversion we can very easily manage our thoughts since our mind will be free from waste and negative. Also when we are introverted, we find that there is no need to think as much as we do, but the thoughts required emerge effortlessly. Thus we are able to use our thoughts powerfully.

Experience: When we find ourselves having a lot of thoughts due to some situation, we only need to sit in silence and practice going within ourselves instead of thinking too much about the situation. We need to make an attempt to experience the peace deep within ourselves and we will find ourselves getting calmer.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 27-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 27-10-2012
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The Five Spiritual And Five Physical Elements (Part 1)

There are various ancient teachings in the East including India which describe the five physical elements - earth, air, water, fire and sky as the five pillars of Creation or the building blocks of Creation. These teachings suggest that every particle of the physical Creation is made of these building blocks. The human body is also made of these five primary elements. These elements need to remain in balance for the Universe to stay in order and the human body to stay in order or good health. Bad health generally means one or more of these elements is out of place. There are various techniques mentioned in these teachings which are used to create this balance, including ancient Indian mantras. The popular ancient Indian Vedic Vaastu science, used by many to build homes even today, also works on creating a balance between these five physical elements.

According to spiritual principles given by the Supreme Being or the Supreme Soul, in the same way, on a spiritual level, the soul also comprises of five original constituent qualities or building blocks or elements– peace, purity, wisdom (or truth), love and joy. When the soul first comes down from the soul world and starts playing its part on the physical world, there is a complete balance of these five qualities in its personality. This is the reason that at the beginning of the world cycle, in the period that we commonly call the Golden Age or Paradise or Satyuga, there is complete happiness, love and peace within the self and even in relationships. The balance of the spiritual elements in the souls, causes the five physical elements earth, air, water, fire and sky also to remain in complete balance; hence in the Golden Age, there is complete physical prosperity and richness; there is no trace of illnesses and natural calamities like earthquakes, floods, etc. Due to the double balance, nature is not only in order but very very beautiful. Even the physical bodies are not only healthy but very beautiful. Even the animals and birds are completely full of all virtues and live in absolute love and harmony with each other. So the balance of the five virtues in souls reflects itself not only on a subtle level i.e. in the personalities and interactions but also on a physical level i.e. in the physical bodies, flora (plants) and fauna (animals), nature in general, etc.

In tomorrow's message, we shall explain the reason for this.

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Message for the day 27-10-2012
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Introversion helps us get in touch with our pure, perfect self.

Expression: Introversion means to spend time in silence, enabling us to get in touch with our pure, perfect self. It helps us to go within and recognize our own inner truth. It is not just to stay within but to recognize one's own inner worth and deal with the world with it.

Experience: Even during the worst situations, it is necessary to become introverted, look within ourselves and see our own inner worth. We will then naturally be able to maintain our self-respect. This enables us to be stable and happy, whatever the situation might be.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 26-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 26-10-2012
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Fear And The Law Of Attraction

You should be careful with what you are afraid of, because you can invoke (call for or attract) it.

Fear is like a magnet. If you are afraid that something will happen to you and you get obsessed about it happening, you are effectively invoking it to happen.

If you are very afraid that something might happen to you and you begin to visualize that it might happen or how it might happen, this terrifies you and it closes you into a phobia and a state of fear. What you are doing is invoking it to happen, because the power of the mind and visualization is very great. If you are afraid that you might be robbed, or of meeting with an accident, or of losing, you are invoking the robbery, the accident and the loss. Fear of rejection produces rejection.

That is how extraordinary the power of our mind is. That does not mean to say that we should not take the necessary precautions. An aged woman knows that to fall can mean her bones might break more easily. She should not be preoccupied with a fear of falling; she simply needs to apply attention and precaution when walking. But when precaution is confused with fear, it is not a healthy precaution or one that is free from worries.

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Message for the day 26-10-2012
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Habits are transformed when there is introversion.

Expression: Introversion gives us the power to look within and find the source of the habit that we want to change. Instead of working at a superficial level, we will then be able to recognize and change it from deep within. When such deep transformation takes place, we find that it never emerges again.

Experience: When we want a habit to be changed, we need to ask ourselves why the habit is still continuing in spite of our wish to get rid of it. Along with the recognition of the root cause of the habit, we need to emerge the positive nature that is within us. This gives us the confidence and we find our habits transformed.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 25-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 25-10-2012
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Self Confidence

Self-confidence is very much linked to the understanding that I definitely have something to contribute to life through my own uniqueness. Each one of us is unique. That goes without saying. Unless a person has a sense of contributing, or offering, something to life, they cannot really be happy. I cannot be happy and confident when I am just taking; it simply doesn't work. I can only be happy when I am sharing and offering the best of myself. In that way, I don't feel depleted. When I offer the best of myself in an unselfish way, my happiness and confidence increases - the more I give, the more I receive. We start to understand that the well-being of individuals begins when they can contribute what they are, and what they have, to others. To be a truly self confident human being means to have true spiritual powers, like love, peace and happiness, which are brought into daily life - not just appearing as words or emotions, but truly displaying themselves in our behavior and bringing benefit to others.

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Message for the day 25-10-2012
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Introversion enables us to experience progress.

Expression: When we are introverted we will be able to check ourselves and progress. Introversion gives us the power to see our own mistake, however small it might be. With the recognition of the mistake comes the power to bring about a change in us and we find progress.

Experience: We must remind ourselves that with each mistake that happens, we actually get a chance to learn. When something goes wrong we don't have to feel disheartened, but take it as a learning for our future. This understanding gives us the experience of constant progress whatever the circumstances might be.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 24-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 24-10-2012
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What Are Thought Vibrations?

The word atmosphere has two meanings. One refers to the physical air around us and the other to the more subtle effect that thought vibrations create in a particular space. No one can deny that the atmosphere of a crowded restaurant is different from that of a temple. This is mainly because of the effect of different types of thoughts and feelings in that space. Even someone deaf and blind would have the ability to pick up the difference. Sound vibrations are invisible but their impact isn't. A pneumatic drill or a jet breaking the sound barrier jolt both our minds (non-physical effect) and the walls of our houses (physical effect). Thought vibrations can't be seen but their non-physical as well as physical impact is even more powerful and influential. The panic that people generate during a stampede or an earthquake and the euphoria (absolute joy) of victory in a World Cup final cricket game are examples of how thoughts create an atmosphere.

On a subtler level, many of us have the experience of basic telepathy - ' I was just thinking of you and you called'. Thoughts connect individuals over large distances. Doctors inform us that over 90% of the physical body's illnesses have a psychosomatic (mental) origin i.e. they are a direct or indirect result of our state of mind. That makes the human body the prime example of how thoughts affect matter.

Since the world is made up of the collective, personal worlds of all individuals, then it's easy to see how the international political, economic and social atmosphere is nothing more than the collective effects of all our thoughts.

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Message for the day 24-10-2012
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The way to get blessings is to be open to learning.

Expression: We do get both negative and positive situations in our life. When we are faced with negative situations we usually expect blessings from God or someone great by which the negativity in our life will fully finish. But it doesn't usually happen so.

Experience: The method to receive blessings is to go on learning from the experiences of life. To learn means never to repeat mistakes by learning from whatever has happened. This learning acts as a lift for us, which takes us forward.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 23-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 23-10-2012
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Discovering Inner Compassion (Kindness) –Part 3

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

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 called interpathy 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'.

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Message for the day 23-10-2012
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When we change, our world changes.

Expression: We usually wait for the world to change, sometimes the world at large and sometimes our own little world. Since it is not in our hands we don't find it changing according to what we want and we give up trying. We rarely think of changing ourselves, which is possible.

Experience: When we change, our thoughts and attitudes change too. We are then able to look at the people and our world around us with a different vision. Thus, we find that our world changes, not so much in the situation as much as in our own perception.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 22-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 22-10-2012
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Discovering Inner Compassion (Kindness) – 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 …)

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Message for the day 22-10-2012
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The one who sacrifices name and fame is the one who gets recognition.

Expression: When we make a positive contribution we usually want to get recognition for it. We may not always say it in words but there is always an expectation that others should recognize our contribution.

Experience: We need to make sure that we enjoy whatever we do. Since the task itself becomes enjoyable for us, we don't anymore expect recognition. The more we become free from expectations the more we get love from others and recognition too.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 21-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 21-10-2012
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Discovering Inner Compassion (Kindness) - 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 …)

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Message for the day 21-10-2012
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The one with pure thoughts experience safety in all situations.

Expression: When there are negative situations, we usually get negative thoughts very easily. Such negative thoughts take us further into negativity. We get caught in this circle of negativity and we then can't make our thoughts positive.

Experience: We need to take care that we don't blame anyone when we are going through any negative situation. We need to see whatever positivity we can in the situation, and we will find our mind changing to positive too. It is this positivity that acts as a means of safety for us.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 20-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 20-10-2012
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Positive Thinking

What Stops You from Being Positive?

There are many reasons that make it difficult to produce and hold on to positivity in your mind and attitude. The external information we receive is mainly negative, and our thoughts and conversations are based on this information. Other causes include:

* Other people's negativity rubbing off on you; Other people's criticisms influencing you;
* Self-doubt;
* Lacking clear objectives in life;
* Not having recognized your true qualities, virtues and values;
* Lacking self-confidence;
* Not believing you are a positive person;
* Keeping the past in your mind;
* Being egoistic;
* Comparing yourself with others;
* Having low self-esteem;
* Being frustrated or irritated;
* Lacking flexibility or tolerance with people or situations, etc.

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Message for the day 20-10-2012
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The one who serves with the balance of the head and the heart is the one who is successful.

Expression: We usually give directions to people when they go wrong. We also use a lot of logic when we give such directions, but it doesn't always have the desired effect. We then begin to consider the other person to be wrong.

Experience: What we need to do is to have a balance of both the head and the heart while giving our suggestions to others. That means we need to have a lot of love while giving our suggestions to them. Then whatever we say will have its effect on them.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 19-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 19-10-2012
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What Is Karma Yoga?

Karma Yoga implies two things:

• yoga (meditation) by which the karmas are elevated and purified;
• those karmas by which the remembrance of the Supreme Being (God) is maintained and strengthened.

The loveful remembrance of the Supreme, is not just a "sitting" matter. If we approach meditation from this angle (as only a sitting practice), any real change in practical life takes a very long time. We should not only use meditation to improve our actions but also modify our actions to improve our meditation. In this way, theory and practice should be simultaneous. As the soul takes virtues and powers from the Supreme Soul, it gives to the world, thus increasing the capacity to take and give.

In the sitting meditation, be it five minutes or two hours, the soul dives deeply into itself and establishes an unbroken mental link with the Supreme. When the "sitting" finishes and the soul has to go back into the world of action and responsibility, the link need not be forgotten. The hands can be involved with the work and the mind can still be with the Supreme Soul.

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Message for the day 19-10-2012
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The one who is truly fortunate is constantly enthusiastic.

Expression: When we find things going wrong with us, we immediately find ourselves losing all enthusiasm. We then do nothing to change our situation but just begin to curse our fate. With such an attitude we can do nothing to change our fortune.

Experience: When things go wrong, we have to recognise the fact that it is the present that is in our hands. We don't need to think of what happened in the past and curse our fate. Instead we need to fill ourselves with enthusiasm to make the best use of the present to make our future the best.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 18-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 18-10-2012
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A Powerful Consciousness Of Faith In Critical Situations (Part 3)

In the latter part of the birth-rebirth cycle, as our accounts of negative karma increased, we have experienced large number of ups and downs in the four parameters explained in the last two days messages – mind, body, wealth (or profession) and relationships. All these bitter experiences, which we obviously do not remember today, have weakened us and left deep scars on our subconscious mind and are in fact the main cause of the creation of sanskaras of fear, uncertainty, doubt, pessimism, etc. which we find in ourselves today. Repeated experiences cause the formation of similar sanskaras. If we experience peace repeatedly i.e. we think about peace, visualize peace, make peaceful conversations repeatedly, sanskaras of peace are created inside us. In the same way each time something went wrong with any of the four parameters (mentioned above) in the past births; due to a lack of spiritual awareness and power, we experienced sorrow, pain, peacelessness, anxiety etc. and that caused the creation of similar sanskaras inside us. This is the main reason why today we find ourselves in a situation, when faced with a problem, we are not being able to have the faith in ourselves, that we can emerge victorious in the situation.

We have experienced failure in the past births at different points of time and many times and that is why each time something goes wrong, although we emerge thoughts of victory we dilute these thoughts with a large number of weak thoughts, of possible failure. This kind of a weak consciousness during problems is not only prolonging the time period of our problems but is also keeping the solution away much longer. Today, with the help of spirituality, we need to inject the power of faith in our thoughts, words and actions. For that, we need to increase our thought power tremendously, which will have an effect on our words and actions automatically. The food of powerful thoughts through listening to or reading spiritual knowledge and the experience of emotional power through meditation given to the mind only can heal the emotional scars inside us over a period of time, the result of which we can become full of fierce determination and will-power so as to weaken negative situations and not let situations weaken us.

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Message for the day 18-10-2012
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To be strong is to watch situations with detachment.

Expression: 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.

Experience: 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

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 17-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 17-10-2012
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A Powerful Consciousness Of Faith In Critical Situations (Part 2)

Having accepted the reality that negative situations in our mind, body, wealth or relationships will arise in our life from time to time (explained yesterday), a question arises what kind of consciousness do I keep in these kind of situations and how do I ensure that the situation does not overpower my consciousness. Because only a powerful consciousness of faith or victory will keep me protected from the negative emotional (internal) and physical (external) influence of these problems but will also become the most important influencing factor which will help me in overcoming the problem and going towards the solution or attracting it towards me, sometimes immediately and sometimes slowly, but steadily, without losing my inner stability during the period that I wait for the solution to arise.

What is a powerful consciousness of faith when faced with a negative situation? “No negative scene or situation of any type in my life lasts forever and this scene shall also pass and I shall emerge victorious over it using the power of thought, the power of positivity, the power of spiritual knowledge, the power of meditation. Victory is my birthright and it is dead certain.” This is in short a powerful consciousness of faith.

In tomorrow’s message, we shall explain what is preventing us from keeping this consciousness of faith and how we can maintain it in critical situations.

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Message for the day 17-10-2012
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Trust brings help from others.

Expression: 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.

Experience: 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 & Message for the day 16-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 16-10-2012
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A Powerful Consciousness Of Faith In Critical Situations (Part 1)

Almost every single day in our present lives brings with it various ups and downs in mind or sanskaras (when our thoughts or sanskaras are not the way we would like them to be, in spite of us wanting them to be so), body, wealth (or profession or role) and relationships. There is not a single human soul existing in the entire world today that is experiencing a constant state of positivity in the four parameters mentioned above. All parameters are extremely changeable and every now and then seem to bring with them negative surprises. A very simple reason for this is today we stand at the fag end of the eternal world cycle, when every human soul is in its last phase of its journey of birth and rebirth in this respective cycle, a journey in which it has committed many mistakes, especially in the latter part of the journey, as it has continued to lose its power and succumbed to negativity or the consciousness of the physical body.

So the problems from time to time in the four parameters mind, body, wealth and relationships are nothing but a reflection or mirror image of incorrect actions performed by each soul, especially in the latter part of this cycle. If we are expecting a time to come in the present time, when all these will be absolutely fine and they will always be positive, that will not be possible, not until this cycle reaches an end and we return back home to the soul world. Until we return, we will need to settle all our accounts of our past karmas or incorrect actions, by being faced with problems in these four parameters (not necessarily in all of them at the same time, but in one or more from time to time) and overcoming them with ease, positivity and power. Instead of running away from this reality we need to accept it completely and instead of looking at ways of keeping these parameters positive on a physical or superficial level only, which we will be able to do but only to some extent because there will be times when it will not be possible for us to change the negativity in these parameters, in spite of our deep efforts on a physical level. We should do it and we will be able to do it at times, but it will not be possible each time that these parameters will change for the better as much as we want and at the speed we desire.

(To be continued tomorrow…)

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Message for the day 16-10-2012
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To transform waste into something purposeful and powerful is to remain light.

Expression: To successfully transform something waste into something powerful and meaningful is to look beyond the situation and see what it has to teach. When there is the ability to do this, there is the ability to go on in spite of the most challenging obstacles. There is the deep understanding that nothing happens without a purpose. There is no time or energy wasted in wasteful company.

Experience: When I understand the significance of everything that happens, I am able to transform in a second. So I am able to remain light because I am able to put in sincere effort and free myself from the burden of waste. I also find that there is no problem in my relationships too, as I am able to understand others and behave accordingly.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 15-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 15-10-2012
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The Location And The Form Of The Soul (Part 3)

All of the characteristics present in the soul are subtle or non-dimensional (without size) in nature - thoughts, feelings, emotions, decision-making power, personality traits (sanskars) and so on. If they are all without size, then it is reasonable to conclude that the living, conscious energy, the soul, from which they emerge is also sizeless. For this simple reason it is eternal (beyond life and death). Something which has no physical size cannot be destroyed. As a soul I am neither spread throughout the whole body nor am I an invisible duplicate of the physical body. Even though the body of subtle energy exists inside the physical body, it is the effect of the soul being in the physical form and not the soul itself. Just as the sun is in one place and yet its light radiates throughout the solar system, the soul is in one place and its energy is spread throughout the whole body. To express something that exists but has no physical dimensions we can use the word point. The soul therefore, is an extremely small point of conscient (living) light. For the sake of having an image to fix our minds on we can say its star like in appearance. In deep meditation we can experience the soul as an extremely small point of non-physical light surrounded by an oval-shaped aura.

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Message for the day 15-10-2012
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To be merciful means to transform the pain and sorrow of others.

Expression: The one who is merciful always has the feeling of mercy and is able to help those who are in need or in distress. Such a person is able to bring about transformation in others too because of his own pure feelings. He is able to put in effort that becomes a contribution for the progress of others.

Experience: When I have mercy for others, I am able to accept their feelings, emotions and behaviour and provide them with the right kind of mental support. Then I am able to give them courage without being influenced negatively with their feelings of pain and sorrow. So my mercy influences myself positively too as I am able to keep myself positive under all circumstances.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 14-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 14-10-2012
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The Location And The Form Of The Soul (Part 2)

Whenever I say: I feel something within me, pointing to the heart, obviously it's not something within the chest. The physical heart is just an incredibly sophisticated pump for blood. It can even be transplanted – it does not create feelings! Within the real me, the living and thinking being, the soul (situated inside the brain), there is a centre of emotions, moods and feelings. The sensations that I very obviously feel around the body are due to the total connection that exists between the soul and the body in which it resides. For example, when I am afraid of, say, a dog attacking me, the whole system is activated. From the control centre in the middle of the brain, the soul sends messages out all around the body. Adrenalin is secreted to give extra strength to the muscles (so that one can run). The heart starts to pump faster, the breathing becomes shallower and the palms begin to sweat. While it may seem that all the different organs have their own sensing and feeling systems, the whole operation is so split-second fast that the coordination of sensations and responses by the soul from its own special cockpit in the centre of the brain passes unnoticed – it so seems that the body is creating the sensations and responses, but they are actually coordinated and controlled by the soul. In this way, if I feel something in my heart for or from something or someone, it's really being processed by me, the thinking being, the soul and then reflected in my heart.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

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Message for the day 14-10-2012
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The best way to change others is to remain peaceful.

Expression: When there is behaviour seen which is not to my liking or approval, there is a tendency to get upset and worked up about it. So immediately, this is brought into words and actions also. Getting agitated or excited doesn't however solve the problem. When there is the ability to remain peaceful, the right solution is found and there is the right response to the problem at hand.

Experience: When I am able to maintain my inner peace under all circumstances and with all people, I am able to use the power of my thoughts to bring about a change in the mind of others too. I find myself discovering the power of my inner potential and am able to use it for my own benefit and that of others.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 13-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 13-10-2012
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The Location And The Form Of The Soul (Part 1)

When I look in a mirror I don't see my reflection but that of my body. The soul is actually looking through the windows of the eyes from some point inside the head. When viewed from the front, this region appears to be between and slightly above the line of the eyebrows. As the brain is the control centre for all of the various processes of the body - metabolism, the nervous, endocrine, immunological, and lymphatic systems - it makes sense that the soul be located somewhere in the brain. Just as the driver in a car sits behind the wheel with the steering wheel in his hands, the soul sits in a specific point in the centre of the brain. This is important to know for meditation purposes because it is the place to which attention is first directed in the effort to concentrate the thoughts: I am the soul, a tiny point of conscious light energy centered in the spot between the eyebrows.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

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Message for the day 13-10-2012
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Anger comes where there is discontentment.

Expression: When we don't get what we want or when people don't do what we expect them to do we experience discontentment. When there is discontentment, when our desires aren't fulfilled we experience anger. Then trying to do away with anger without knowing the actual reason, doesn't work.

Experience: When we find ourselves getting angry with someone or some situation, we need to first check what is the true reason for our anger. Once we find the cause of it, which is some expectation of ours, we will be able to work at overcoming it. We will then be able to get rid of our anger too.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 12-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 12-10-2012
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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.

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Message for the day 12-10-2012
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To share virtues along with knowledge is to encourage transformation in others.

Expression: When we have to give a suggestion/advise to someone we tend to share a lot of points of knowledge in order to make them understand. We try to prove logically why they have to change. Although the reasoning is right most of the time, the others don't seem to change either because they don't understand or because they don't want to understand.

Experience: When we want to bring transformation in others we need to make sure to share our own virtues along with the points of knowledge. To share virtues means to give them an experience of our love, peace, good wishes etc. When they experience our virtues, they'll be willing to bring about change quickly.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 11-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 11-10-2012
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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 …)

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Message for the day 11-10-2012
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To make our promise practical is to benefit at each step.

Expression: Sometimes we make a lot of promises to ourselves and to others. At such times we are very confident of what we are saying but later find that our promise doesn't come into action. So, that promise gets wasted as we don't take benefit from the intensity of that moment.

Experience: When we make a promise to bring about a change in ourselves we need to immediately make a practical plan that will help us make the promise real. We also need to make sure we understand why fulfilling that promise is important for us. Along with this we also need to remind ourselves again and again about it till it becomes practical.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 10-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 10-10-2012
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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 …)

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Message for the day 10-10-2012
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To think less is to remain happy.

Expression: Usually there is a tendency to think more than normal when there is a challenging situation. Although it is considered to be good to think more, we usually miss out on the fact that thinking more means having lots of waste thoughts along with those that are necessary.

Experience: When we find ourselves thinking a lot we need to ask ourselves if all these thoughts are really necessary. We need to recognize waste thoughts and replace them with something more positive. With this practice we'll find ourselves thinking less and at the same time having powerful thoughts which will keep us cheerful under all circumstances.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 09-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 09-10-2012
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Understanding The Mind And Its Functioning

The mind is a faculty of the soul, the main function of which is to produce thoughts. The thoughts we create are energy. In one day we produce an average of thirty to forty thousand thoughts. How much energy does this represent? What do we do with it?

The mind works constantly, even when we are sleeping. We cannot separate ourselves from it, it is our inseparable companion. If you study your mind you will see that, as well as thinking, it imagines, remembers, dreams, associates, desires and even produces your feelings.

If you think about some incident that made you unhappy ten years ago, you will feel that unhappiness again, perhaps even more deeply than before. If you think of something that made you happy, you will also feel that happiness when you repeat the event in your mind.

If you create positive thoughts about yourself, you will feel good and your self-esteem will be strengthened, and if you create negative thoughts, you will feel depressed, with low self-esteem. The mind opens up the way to the self. By creating the right type of thoughts you can open up your inner potential again, and rediscover that as people we are full of positive qualities.

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Message for the day 09-10-2012
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To be an embodiment of power is to be free from effort.

Expression: When we are faced with a difficult situation we usually try to make our mind positive at that time, but we find it very difficult to do so. We then give up making effort thinking that we don't have the power to change our nature. We continue to work with the weakness and strengthen it further.

Experience: In order to win over our weakness we need to become an embodiment of power. For this we need the practice of a long time of being powerful so that we experience the power within. Then the power that we want at that time will emerge naturally. Like a master we'll be able to order our inner powers and be free from the effort of changing negative to positive.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 08-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 08-10-2012
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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.

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Message for the day 08-10-2012
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True detachment is to be a master of all things that we use.

Expression: Detachment is usually mistaken as being away from things because usually while using the facilities available we tend to get dependent on them. Such dependency is troublesome and so we sometimes give up using these facilities thinking that this is detachment which helps us to be free from their control.

Experience: The solution lies in mentally detaching ourselves from the facilities we are using. That means we use them but we are not dependent on them. For this we need to remind ourselves that we are the creator and whatever facilities are available to us are the creation. This enables us to develop mastery and control over everything.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 07-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 07-10-2012
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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 …)

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Message for the day 07-10-2012
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To do something altruistic each day is to ensure happiness.

Expression: When there is the thought to do something altruistic for someone every day, there is the ability to give happiness unconditionally. Whatever the relationship or whatever the personality of the other person, the one who develops the habit of doing this, is able to remain a source of support for those around.

Experience: The best gift I can give is to give happiness and to finish sorrow. When I am constantly thinking of this, not for any reward but just for the sake of it, I am able to discover and enjoy the fruit of that action. I am free from expectations and am able to enjoy the action itself.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 06-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 06-10-2012
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Going Back To My Original Nature (Personality)

Our present personalities are basically the combined habits of this lifetime (birth), built on the combined habits of previous lifetimes (births), all of which have left their mark (sometimes deep and sometimes not so deep) on our consciousness. It may well be that habits such as becoming angry, upset, anxious, stressed, sorrowful or scared, have been with us for so long that, they feel a natural part of our inner world, so natural that when someone says our true nature is not anger but peace, not fear but love, not aggression but acceptance, not anxiety but calm, it does not feel right. And even if it did feel right for a moment, we have become so attached to our old habitual moods, emotions and behaviors that we do not really want to change. It may even be the case that we have become so weak that we need help to change. It seems much easier to stay the way we are.

As we begin to meditate and develop our spiritual practice, our views on the above subject will fluctuate. When that does happen, imagine you are having a conversation with yourself and teaching yourself. Give yourself permission to be peaceful by nature, full of love and joy by nature, naturally content by nature, wherever you are and in whatever you do. After a while, you won't need to give yourself permission and you will find these states of being are there within you quite naturally at every moment. They are our original and eternal nature. Everything else is acquired or learned. In so many ways introduction to spirituality, like many other approaches to inner awakening, is as much about unlearning (the acquired beliefs) as it is about learning (new beliefs).

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Message for the day 06-10-2012
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To be clean at heart is to give happiness to others.

Expression: The one who has a clean heart is the one who always tries to do the best for those with whom he comes in contact. Thus, the person develops the ability to accept others as they are and ignore anything wrong done by them. Instead, he is able to do the right action without losing the balance. So such a person brings happiness for himself and for others through every action he performs.

Experience: When I have a clean heart I am able to have an experience of my inner qualities. I am able to enjoy the beauty of the different relationships, each relationship and each person being unique. Thus others are able to get in touch with their inner beauty too. So there is happiness experienced by all.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 05-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 05-10-2012
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Relieving The Stress Of Subtle Inner Burdens (Part 2)

We must create the necessary space to share pending matters, messages, ideas and feelings with our loved ones in a safe atmosphere, protected from violence and full of respect. In that atmosphere, we can express ourselves, share and love. We have to create the atmosphere ourselves. It is our responsibility to make the other understand that there is something important that we have to tell them. In order to live in freedom we have to be aware of all the burdens that we have pending from the past, what things we have to fix, solve, clear up and communicate, and free ourselves from all of them.

To start with, make a list of all the pending conversations that you have. Give yourself a date that is soon and realistic in order to have these conversations. Make them happen. Don't put them off any more. Don't allow your mind to keep on making excuses. Imagine that today is your last day. What is it that you have to say, communicate, and/or clarify and with who? Do it soon. Today might be your last day or the last day of the person with whom you have a pending conversation.

Living without pending conversations keeps the path clear, your conscience clear, your heart at peace and your mind light.

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Message for the day 05-10-2012
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Humility is to respect everything that comes our way.

Expression: To love simple things is humility. It teaches to respect all that life brings. That means there is an ability to appreciate and value everything appropriately. So one is able to use everything that comes one way to the fullest extent for the benefit of the self and that of others.

Experience: When I am humble I am able to remain focused on my inner peace and not lose my sense of personal well-being. I am able to simply learn from everything that happens to my life and add on to this sense of well-being. No situation is difficult or impossible to work on, but I am able to overcome all challenges with ease.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 04-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 04-10-2012
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Relieving The Stress Of Subtle Inner Burdens (Part 1)

All of the matters, messages, ideas and feelings that you want to communicate and/or clear up with someone but you still haven't done, mean an inner burden that you sustain. To communicate the essential, and what has meaning to people that you love and are important for you, is an act of love and care. To leave pending conversations and to postpone them means to accumulate things to say, matters to clear up and ideas to dialogue with, inside you. It means a burden that prevents you from living the present with full freedom. You have something pending. There are people who, only on the verge of death, quickly say what they feel, to clarify matters and to communicate feelings. It seems that feeling death to be near gives them the courage to dare to open themselves and communicate that which they have wanted to say for so long but have put off.

Sometimes we feel the burden of not having expressed our feelings to a closed loved one, before he/she has died, about how grateful we are to them or/and how sorry we are for some incorrect action committed towards them. We put off the expression of the feelings until it is too late and the loved one dies. Even after a long time after that, we continue to feel the burden of the postponement within. What might have been, and was not, can no longer be fixed. We simply have to accept how the past happened and not live with regrets that increase our inner heaviness. We have to learn from it, not put off conversations, but clear up matters as they arise and not be afraid to do so.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

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Message for the day 04-10-2012
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To be experienced means not to be deceived by anything.

Expression: There are so many times when a situation takes us by surprise and we make the same mistake that we had made before. It is only when the situation has passed that we realise that we have actually repeated that mistake. What then remains is only repentance as the time has passed where we could have done something.

Experience: Whenever there is a mistake, we need to take care that we learn from whatever has happened. When we continue to move forward in this way there will be no repentance for the mistakes made but there will be learning that'll make us experienced. And when we are experienced we'll never be deceived by situations which make us commit mistakes.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 03-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 03-10-2012
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Filling Myself And Others With Invisible Treasures (Part 2)

In yesterday’s message, we had explained how soul consciousness provides us access to the ocean of the qualities of peace, love and joy that lie hidden inside our consciousness. An important point worth noting in this regard is that along with quenching my thirst, I must also have a big heart, and pass on to others the qualities that I am receiving from my inner ocean. Otherwise, over a period of time my spirituality reaches a standstill and although I am making an effort to fill myself I do not feel as content and fulfilled as before. This is because; the vessel with which I fill from the ocean can’t be refilled unless I am also prepared to keep emptying it. That doesn’t mean I have to drain myself spiritually.

It is just that each time I give or donate a quality from my inner ocean with a positive intention to someone; it flows from inside me and then gets transmitted to the other. Before the person experiences and benefits from the quality, I experience getting filled with it myself. Also, each time the person benefits from or even remembers the benefit in the future, he or she sends me positive energy, which, according to the Law of Karma fills me with the quality that I had donated, further. Sometimes a person might benefit or remember the benefit after 10-15 years or even more than that. Even after such a long time has elapsed, I keep receiving a return from the pure donation I have made, and keep getting filled, even if I am not specifically or consciously aware of the same.

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Message for the day 03-10-2012
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To look closely at one's own behaviour is to bring about a positive change.

Expression: While it is easy to talk about what other people should do to change themselves and their behaviour, it is also important to see what one can do to bring about a change in oneself. When there is the ability to look in this way, effort is put in continuously to change old unwanted patterns of behaviour and replace with more desirable ones.

Experience: When I am able to take a closer look at myself, I am able to see which trait in my personality is getting in the way of my progress. This knowledge helps me accept myself with my shortcomings and yet have the courage to bring about a change easily. So I have the satisfaction of working on myself.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 02-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 02-10-2012
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Filling Myself And Others With Invisible Treasures (Part 1)

Soul consciousness or the awareness of the soul is the key to the internal treasures of the original and eternal qualities of the soul. The moment I switch on the awareness of the soul, a spiritual point of subtle light or energy, situated at the centre of the forehead, I start accessing the qualities of peace, love and joy that lie hidden inside my consciousness. Since these are not physical treasures, they are limitless. It’s like suddenly I become an owner of an ocean of these qualities. The ocean is inside me and not anywhere outside.

When we hear the word ‘ocean’, the first characteristic that comes to mind is limitless. So suddenly I am the owner of an ocean of peace, love, power and bliss. I can draw and drink as much of these qualities as I want and these qualities will never get over, because an ocean is an unlimited, tireless and big hearted provider or giver, never expecting anything in return. The ocean will never refuse me, but, as stated above, the key to accessing the ocean is the awareness of the soul. It is a common experience of many that the moment we are in the consciousness of the body, we suddenly feel empty of these treasures and we experience emotions of peacelessness or sorrow or hatred or jealousy or powerlessness or fear etc., because in those moments, we have lost access to the ocean.

(To be continued tomorrow...)

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Message for the day 02-10-2012
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To use one value with commitment is to guarantee the use of all values.

Expression: Values are related to each other as if they were members of a great family. For the one who is committed to one value is the one who is able to emerge the other connected values. Such a person is able to add quality to everything he does and speaks.

Experience: When I am able to recognise my own special value and use it with commitment in my daily life, I am able to experience success in all I do. This is because I have the satisfaction of giving my best and of having added quality to everything I do.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 01-10-2012

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Soul Sustenance 01-10-2012
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The Causes Of Fear (Part 2)

Yesterday we had discussed some of the causes of fear. Some more are:

• The desire to be recognized, appreciated and valued.
• Experiences of the past that have produced disappointment, insecurity, worry or emotional or mental exhaustion.
• Attachments and dependencies generate fear.
• The habit of seeing situations and people in a negative way.
• Dishonesty - When you have done things that you know are not right, you know there will be negative after effects, and this provokes fear within.
• The ego being afraid to 'die'. It justifies itself and resists. We wear masks that cover our true identity. We become selfish.

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Message for the day 01-10-2012
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Patience brings easy solutions.

Expression: What one cannot achieve with pressure can be very easily achieved with patience. Patience brings a state of calm inside which helps in finding the answers that already lie within. It gives courage to work on the problem in a cool and relaxed way till the solution is found. It brings creativity even to mundane things.

Experience: When I am able remain patient even in the most challenging situations, I am able to remain calm. I don't let go of my inner peace but am able to be aware of my own inner resources. I am able to retain my inner strength which gives me courage to find the solution for every problem.


In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris