Brahma Kumaris

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 14-12-2017

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Soul Sustenance 14-12-2017
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The Beauty Of Giving (Part 2)

A different set of personalities or natures of all the people you meet will always be there and the adjustment of natures with them is what will always be required. Suppose there is an acquaintance of yours who is a little egoistic and at times she can be difficult to please. You give a lot of love and regard to her but she never seems to return it. Such a person can be difficult to interact with and she also may be conditional. She may make the relationship with you dependent on the type of behavior you may show to her. Suppose one day you praise her, she will be very good to you. On another day, you point out her mistake and she will show a different behavior. In the same way suppose you have a close associate who loves people giving him admiration and a lot of remarks about his personality and wealth. One day, someone does not do that and instead praises someone else in front of him, he would feel insulted. This is the way some people will be. They are not givers but they always want something from the other on an emotional level or even on the level of words and actions.

Also, the method of becoming a giver and not someone who is always asking for love and respect from others is to start filling oneself with those treasures first. One can do this by connecting with a Higher Source or God, who is full of those treasures Himself and that too permanently. God never, even for a second, asks for treasures from any human being? He has only one intention - to fill others with everything good he possesses. He possesses every virtue that will ever be seen in any human being – He is an Ocean of all those virtues. We need to train ourselves to make our personality like God’s by having a deep relationship with Him though a medium of remembrance.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

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Message for the day 14-12-2017
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To be free from waste words is to ensure easy success.

Expression:The one who wastes time and energy in gossip or slander has no time for success. All attention is focussed on picking out the mistakes and the negativity of others and so there is no attention on learning new things or picking out the positive. So there is negativity visible in one’s own attitude, words and actions.

Experience: When I am able to free myself from waste and negative words, I am able to use the resource of my words in a positive and useful way. My words will be for the benefit of all. I would also notice that my words would be filled with the power of positivity and faith, faith in the self and faith in others.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 13-12-2017

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Soul Sustenance 13-12-2017
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The Beauty Of Giving (Part 1)

Have you ever wondered why is it so difficult to forgive someone who has wronged you in any way? There are people who do not seem to bother about the hurt and pain that they may seem to receive from people around them. After all pain is our response to people and pain is not given by others to us. Then there are people who can carry the memories of a negative incident for a complete lifetime so much that it can affect their physical health and moods to a very large extent. Is it not easy to forgive and forget? Or is it for some the most difficult thing to do? Why the difference?

There was once a shopkeeper in a little village of Southern India who used to sell coconuts to people. Once while selling his product to a rich trader, he was asked by the trader – Can you lend me a few coconuts for a day? I will return them to you in the evening. The shopkeeper replied – I can sell the coconuts to you at a lower rate if you wish but I cannot lend them to you. The trader needed the coconuts just for a function as decoration. In the same manner, at times we are like this shopkeeper. We indulge in trade in our relationships. We want something in return for everything we give. We want love in return of love. We want happiness when we give happiness to someone. When this does not happen we are hurt and cannot forget what happened. Also, another energy that we often transmit to others is one of begging. We beg for peace, love and joy all the time. What that means is we are always asking for positivity from others, which will not always come. Suppose you are a part of a group of friends with different personalities and a lot of positive and negative characteristics which everyone possesses. Do you always get what you expect from each one? No. So how does one handle this?

(To be continued tomorrow …)

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Message for the day 13-12-2017
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Bringing newness in dealing with life’s situations brings happiness.

Expression:When there is the desire to find new ways of responding to life’s challenges, unhappiness ends which in turn helps to fulfill one’s highest potential. All it needs is the determination to adopt a fresh awareness. Thus burdensome thoughts that drain out positive energy are set aside. The quality of life itself becomes better.

Experience: I experience a lot of happiness when there is newness brought in responding to situations. The potential and the energy of the mind is channelised in a positive way so there is an experience of fulfillment and satisfaction. The mind is not caught up with negative or waste but is busy trying for the best solutions in all situations.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 12-12-2017

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Soul Sustenance 12-12-2017
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Mental Clarity Or Focus

To strengthen yourself you need to have mental clarity or focus. That is possible if there is not so much of excessive thought, so as to generate clouds of unhappiness, suffering, grief, indecision, doubts and negativity - thoughts that your mind produces, thoughts that are weak, useless or wasteful. All of these thoughts cloud your own clarity. Mental focus means to think less, think concretely, concentrate, think in an elevated way, and your thought will have an energy of clarity and inner strength that will help you to put it into practice with greater success. You should strengthen yourself to achieve a state of self-control. For this, you need to study yourself, know yourself and understand yourself. You need inner silence, for there not to be so much mental chatter (noise) from thinking, thinking, thinking and thinking.

On top of that, other people influence you and so you generate even more thoughts. There are so many influences and inner voices that speak to you. With all of that there cannot be clarity. There is the voice of your fears, of your ego, that of desires and greed, there are influences of the past, thoughts emerging from your values, influences of your neighbors, your children, your husband or wife, your mother or father, the influence of your office colleague's opinion, or your best friend, your doctor, your guru, etc. You can listen to many inner and outer voices and, if you are not strong, your mind weakens under so many influences, which has negative effects on your clarity of mind. Because of all of this you have to strengthen your mind, which means, think less; think slower, concentrated and clear thought; with sense and meaning; of quality, based on a healthy and positive motivation. These thoughts are then like arrows, which have positive strength and clarity.

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Message for the day 12-12-2017
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To be healthy internally is to make the best use of all treasures.

Expression:A healthy intellect acts like a mother, always showing the right path. When internally one is strong, there is the natural ability to treat the mind with love and guide it towards the right direction. Such a healthy state of mind naturally enables the recognition and the proper utilisation of everything available.

Experience: Once I have learnt the art of guiding my mind in the right direction with love, I then never experience the difficulty of having to bring back the mind to the right thinking. Because the mind is totally under control in a very easy and natural way and I don’t have to control it or force it to think or not to think in a particular way.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Monday, December 11, 2017

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 11-12-2017

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Soul Sustenance 11-12-2017
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Discriminating Right From Wrong Wisely

In today’s times it is seen as good and normal to value goods and own things, this is regarded as security. But time shows that security comes only from honest intentions and respectful actions. Desire and fear can take us into adopting beliefs which may never lead us to real happiness.

The ability to discern is about the ability to discriminate the right from the wrong and the truth from false. We can use this ability to discern our sanskars, belief systems and behaviour. When we are able to discern our self, then we are able to use the ability to discern people and situations. Most of us discern based on information we acquire, people’s opinions or belief systems in society. Another common method is to apply logic in order to discern. But we experience that logic does not always prove to be right.

When we withdraw and experience inner silence, we can connect to the sub-conscious or intuitive mind to discern. The ability to discern is about trusting our highest self, even in the face of opposing opinions, or outdated but active beliefs about ways of thinking and being. We need to ask our self – Am I thinking right … what will be the consequence of my karma …is it increasing soul power? We often become judgmental or critical about people’s behavior. Ability to discern makes us analyse their intentions and sanskars which triggered that behavior. This helps us to empathise and respond with our inner peace and not react to their negativity. This ability helps us to remain calm and choose the right response even if no one else is being that way.

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Message for the day 11-12-2017
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To remain happy is to truly live life.

Expression:Life has meaning when there is the happiness of living. Everything that happens brings something new. The more the mind is tuned to see and appreciate this truth, there is the happiness that lasts - whatever the situations may be. The one who is constantly happy is able to creatively use all the resources in the right way and also makes others happy.

Experience: When I am able to maintain my internal state of happiness under all circumstances, I am able to enjoy the beauty of life. I am only able to see the positive in each and everything and also only the specialities and goodness in everyone. I am never let down by situations, people or their reactions, but enjoy everything.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 10-12-2017

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Soul Sustenance 10-12-2017
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The Method Of Realizing Your Purpose (Part 2)

A question that can help you to find the purpose for your self is: when you feel absolutely on top of the world, very much content and full of enthusiasm, what is there in you? Who are you at that moment? What is the energy inside you at that time? What do you give to your surroundings and to others? This stage is something that you want to reach all the time and keep with you. Ask yourself that question. Visualize that moment, which at some time in life you must have experienced. If not, visualize what you would like to experience.

Second question to find your purpose related to the world: What is it that you want to radiate to others? What is it that you want to give? That is, what do you want to devote yourself to? This isn't limited to your job or a hobby or a sport for e.g., but rather applies to what you offer and radiate in the whole day, in relationships, with people through your thoughts, words and actions - in the family, at work, in the market, friends, acquaintances and even strangers.

To carry out this inner inquiry (in both the cases above) you need to go to its deepest part. What is your purpose? Not your purpose for this weekend you want to go for the club meeting or not, or that in the holidays you want to visit a hill station; all these are short term purposes. Your life purpose refers to what it is that you really want to reach. If you clarify it, it will help you to make decisions with clarity and determination in your life.

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Message for the day 10-12-2017
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To forgive is to give correction.

Expression:When there is forgiveness, the harm of the mistake is forgotten. The mistake itself is remembered only to the extent that the correction is to be given. So there are no negative feelings expressed even while giving correction. And the words that are used are few but prove to be very effective.

Experience: When I learn the art of forgiving I am able to be free from the burden of negative and waste thinking. So there is never any difficulty in giving correction when necessary. The mind is free from the attitudes of the past and it creates harmony in relationships even if the opinions or personalities don’t match.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Saturday, December 09, 2017

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 09-12-2017

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Soul Sustenance 09-12-2017
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The Method Of Realizing Your Purpose (Part 1)

Throughout our daily routine right from the time we wake up till we go to sleep at night, we all always have something to think about, to say and/or something to do. We are occupied and are busy. The question is whether everything that we do forms part of our life purpose or whether we are simply occupying time spaces and using our mental, verbal and physical energy in activities, tasks and conversations that do not lead us to anything substantial or whole. We simply pass time doing and talking, but without a sense of purpose. Although the things we do and/or speak about are necessary to be done, if they do not make up part of our life purpose, they will tire us. We will feel an inner emptiness and dissatisfaction, as if we are missing something.

The most authentic purpose is that of fulfilling our ideal, our dream in life. What happens is that, sometimes, we haven't worked out what our true purpose or life dream is. We have to ask ourselves what our true purpose is. There are two purposes – one is a purpose related to the self and the other related to what we want to offer to the world. During the day we are exchanging energy - each one of us is different and can give something to the world during this exchange; each of us can play our musical note in order to contribute to the orchestra of the Universe.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

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Message for the day 09-12-2017
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Good wishes and pure feelings bring easy success while working at a task.

Expression:If there are good feelings for both the task and the one who is carrying out the task, then the result attained by those feelings is automatically special. The feeling of giving love and cooperation, no matter what anyone is like gives good wishes and pure feelings. There is a deep impact of such good feelings which transforms others too.

Experience: When I am able to maintain my own good feelings for others, I am able to enjoy the fruit of my own pure thoughts. I am not disturbed by temporary clashes that I have because of the different nature of the person I am working with, but enjoy working together. So there is also good feelings from the other person too and so there is easy success experienced.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Friday, December 08, 2017

Soul Sustenance & Message for the day 08-12-2017

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Soul Sustenance 08-12-2017
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United We Stand, Divided We Fall (Part 3)

4. The world today needs correct guidance to make their actions beautiful, peaceful and loveful. Sometimes, we see people around us, performing negative actions and we realize that if they had a guiding light in their lives, someone who could be like a parent and explain to them what is right and what is wrong, they would not talk, act and even think in this way. Such a guiding light would be someone who has the divine wisdom of the law of karma and also one who understood what are positive actions and what are negative actions, which is none other than God. God is the only one to whom each and every individual in the world would listen to. Unity in the world will happen very easily if people imbibed God’s wisdom in their minds and hearts. Wisdom will bring a spiritual maturity. Actually negative actions and not loving each other, is a sign of immaturity at the level of the consciousness.

5. The most important foundation of unity is co-operation. Co-operation amongst people is today lacking because the energy of competing and comparing has increased in families as well as workplaces and also friend circles. When people try to overtake others in every sphere of life, then distance between hearts increases. Also, feelings of jealousy, hatred and ego are being filled in every relationship because of this. These feelings need to be replaced with feelings of love and good wishes for each other and also happiness in seeing each other progress in life. Co-operation also means being with each other not only in their moments of joy but also in their moments of sorrow and giving each other the hand of your support. When individuals as well as groups of individuals, become friends at every step and build bridges of co-operation, the river of unity will flow in the world.

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Message for the day 08-12-2017
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Mercy means to give support to the ones who are helpless.

Expression:A negative situation or a person who is in need and is helpless usually stimulates feelings of unhappiness or sorrow. At such a time it becomes very difficult to maintain a positive state of mind. But real mercy is that which gives support through the positive state of one's mind. The more there is the feeling of happiness, others too can be brought to that state of happiness and joy.

Experience: When I am able to remain happy even in negative situations, I am able to maintain my internal state of calm. And this is the best frame of mind where I am able to see things objectively and in a detached way and I am able to make the right decisions. So I find myself becoming a source of support.

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris